Today’s Reading: Jer 33:1–34:22, Rom 8:1–17,  Prov 22:1–16

Today’s Theme: God’s Adopted Sons

Today we read about the unimaginable grace of God given to us in the gospel of God, where God gives us His own Holy Spirit and adopts us as His own sons, even giving us an inheritance with Christ.

God has made us His children and has set us free from sin, death and the dictates of the flesh, so that we can live in the Spirit. The obedience of Christ has been accepted on our behalf, fulfilling the righteous requirements of the law.

These truths should fill us with assurance, hope, joy and praise today, as God’s adopted children!

Jeremiah 33:1–34:22

God will heal His people

Behold, I will bring to it health and healing, and I will heal them and reveal to them abundance of prosperity and security.(Jeremiah 33:6, ESV)

Israel are God’s people so they are not cast off forever, but instead have undergone discipline. God desires to heal and restore His people.

Jerusalem will dwell securely

In those days Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will dwell securely. And this is the name by which it will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.’(Jeremiah 33:16, ESV)

Jesus will accomplish this at the second coming, until then there will be unrest and trouble in and around Jerusalem, as there has always been for thousands of years.

The multiplied offspring

As the host of heaven cannot be numbered and the sands of the sea cannot be measured, so I will multiply the offspring of David my servant, and the Levitical priests who minister to me.”(Jeremiah 33:22, ESV)

This points to not only the physical Jews but the one new man, the church who have become priest to God through David’s greatest son, Jesus Christ.

God’s firm covenant

Thus says the Lord: If I have not established my covenant with day and night and the fixed order of heaven and earth, then I will reject the offspring of Jacob and David my servant and will not choose one of his offspring to rule over the offspring of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. For I will restore their fortunes and will have mercy on them.”(Jeremiah 33:25–26, ESV)

God takes His covenant as serious as the natural order He has established. He has said that He will restore the fortunes of Judah and we pray that this will come to pass, that they recognise Jesus as the promised Messiah this passage speaks about.

God desires a just society

But afterward they turned around and took back the male and female slaves they had set free, and brought them into subjection as slaves.(Jeremiah 34:11, ESV)

This was not obedience from the heart. The decree from the king was right, God wanted a just society but this ideal had been abandoned. social justice is important to the Lord.

Romans 8:1–17

Set free

For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.(Romans 8:2, ESV)

Those of us in Christ can no longer be condemned because we have been set free by God’s Spirit, from the tyrany of slavery and bondage to sin.

The law of the Spirit of life is directly opposed to the law of sin and death, they are not however on equal footings, for life swallows up death.

The reign of death brought about by the decay of sin is over for us, and the decree of death for sin has been met in the sacrifice of Christ on the cross, so in every way we are free to live in the Spirit before God, as His adopted sons (the term ‘sons’ is not gender based, the bible means God’s children but the term ‘son’ does carry special significance in regards to inheritance, as we will see later).

Shout praise to God today, for you ARE free!

The interchange

in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.(Romans 8:4, ESV)

Jesus fulfilled the righteous requirements of the law in His perfect life. There is a great interchange when we put our faith in Christ, where His life is exchanged for ours and ours for His. This is why He suffered for our sins on the cross, while His righteous life is imputed to us.

So it is as if we have lived the perfect life of Christ, thus fulfilling the righteous requirements of the law. We can no longer be condemned because Jesus was condemned in our place and His obedience has been accepted for us.

The term ‘walk’ is used to remind us that in line with this great interchange, we have been empowered by God’s Spirit and grace, to walk in renewed obedience to God’s commands and ways.

The mind, set by our lives

For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit.(Romans 8:5, ESV)

Despite the way we tend to think of the flesh as a spiritual inner person given to sin, it is in fact much more than this. When Paul talks about the flesh, he means more than just the body or its passions.

The flesh is very much connected to the ways of the world in its stance of rebellion against God and its domination by the power of sin.

So to walk in the flesh is to live life according to the dictates of this world, while being driven and determined by the power and desire of sin. Walking according to the world’s dictates will naturally draw the mind to dwell on those same things.

We are called to live according to an entirely new order set out, empowered and directed by God, through His Holy Spirit. We are called to constantly live in the Spirit.

A good test for ourselves is to ask what is our mind set on? Is it set on the things of the new life in the Spirit? If not, we must allow the power of God to have its full effect in us, by continually living according to the Spirit so our minds, desires and lives will be transformed.

The hostile mind

For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot.(Romans 8:7, ESV)

Those governed by the flesh are hostile enemies of God because the flesh as a system and mind set, is in constant rebellion against God, so bent by the power of sin that it cannot submit to God and is utterly lost.

This is why we need God to miraculously make us alive and actually save us, because left in the grip of the flesh we could never be saved.

We see the hostility of men’s minds against God in many forms all around us today, through the blasphemy in the sciences, media and arts, not to mention the personal rebellion of every man’s mind in the flesh.

We belong to God

You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.(Romans 8:9, ESV)

All believers have the Holy Spirit, we do not belong to God without it. The Holy Spirit is the guarantee of our ultimate salvation, He is the seal of the full promise and the Spirit which regenerates, adopts and transforms us.

The freedom from sin and the flesh is only possible through the miraculous working of the Holy Spirit.

Rejoice that you have assurance through the indwelling Holy Spirit, that you belong to God today!

Life for the body

If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.(Romans 8:11, ESV)

Notice Paul now talks about the mortal body as opposed to the wider context of the “flesh”.

God makes our bodies alive with energy to live above sin and to walk in health and strength, to serve Him.

We can stand on this truth when we feel fatigued, tired or ill, the same God who raised Jesus from the dead will take the same power and quicken or make alive our physical bodies… Hallelujah!

God’s sons

For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.(Romans 8:14, ESV)

A sign of true conversion is that we are led by God’s Holy Spirit and not driven by the flesh. Our change in direction and desire is evidence that something has really happened.

Adopted by The Father

For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”(Romans 8:15, ESV)

God has adopted us and made us sons in His own house, we are not in the fearful slavery that sin once had us in.

We are free children in God’s house as part of God’s family. This is the great call of the gospel of God, that He seeks to adopt the filthy, poor, orphan children we are in sin, and make us royalty in His own house alongside His own son Jesus.

The witness

The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,(Romans 8:16, ESV)

The wonderful inner witness of the Holy Spirit gives us assurance in our salvation and adoption as God’s own children.

Heirs with Christ

and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.(Romans 8:17, ESV)

This is an unimaginable truth, God has not just fostered us, He has gone through full adoption, making us His own children and so we get to share in the inheritance which rightly only belongs to Christ.

This is the richness of God’s grace, this is why the gospel of God is such amazing news.

With all this amazing grace, riches, acceptance, adoption, love and inheritance, Paul brings balance to help us stay grounded in reality, reminding us that this is all ours but we must be ready to suffer for Christ’s sake.

Proverbs 22:1–16

Rewards for humility

The reward for humility and fear of the Lord is riches and honour and life.(Proverbs 22:4, ESV)

This is wonderful, for walking in humility and fearing God, we are rewarded.

Train and guide

Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.(Proverbs 22:6, ESV)

Children need training and guidance.

The King’s friend

He who loves purity of heart, and whose speech is gracious, will have the king as his friend.(Proverbs 22:11, ESV)

Thank you Lord that you are the King, help us to walk in such a way that we have You as our friend.

The rod

Folly is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline drives it far from him.(Proverbs 22:15, ESV)

The rod is literal here but there is also a figurative meaning which points towards the earlier point of training a child up.

Most of the above post is a copy of the original notes from the same date in 2014.

Additional resources

Desiring God on Romans 8

Today’s Reading: Jer 32:1–44, Rom 7:7–25, Prov 21:13–31

Today’s Theme: God vs Flesh

Today we look at the nature and power of sin made clear by God’s good law, which works through our flesh vs God and His power.

As believers we are in a very real conflict with the power of sin at work through the flesh. We are thankful that nothing is too difficult for the Lord and that He has provided us His enabling grace in our battle against sin.

Jeremiah 32:1–44

Nothing is too difficult for God

‘Ah, Lord God! It is you who have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and by your outstretched arm! Nothing is too hard for you.(Jeremiah 32:17, ESV)

This is a great statement of faith when said sincerely because it is true that nothing is too difficult for God.

God, mighty in thoughts and acts

great in counsel and mighty in deed, whose eyes are open to all the ways of the children of man, rewarding each one according to his ways and according to the fruit of his deeds.(Jeremiah 32:19, ESV)

God is not a mindless force, He has a great mind with great plans and purposes and He doesn’t just will them, but actively gets involved in bringing His will to pass, so His acts are mighty too.

The God of all flesh

“Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is anything too hard for me?(Jeremiah 32:27, ESV)

Major correction to the dualism that has snuck into our theology, the devil is not the god of the flesh and the Lord the God of the spirit. God is the God of all flesh because He created mankind, including our physical bodies.

God reaffirms Jeremiah’s earlier statement by asking the question: ‘is anything too hard for Me?’, the answer is no.

God, the persistent teacher

They have turned to me their back and not their face. And though I have taught them persistently, they have not listened to receive instruction.(Jeremiah 32:33, ESV)

God teaches us persistently, He is patient and works hard to redeem and nurture His people.

God and His people

And they shall be my people, and I will be their God.(Jeremiah 32:38, ESV)

The relationship is transformed from a national one to a relational one, which includes all those who are God’s elect, past, present and future.

The fear of God in Our hearts

I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them. And I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me.(Jeremiah 32:40, ESV)

This is fulfilled in Christ and concerning Israel as a particular people, this is yet future.

No man can turn to God on his own merit, God needs to put the right fear of Him in our hearts, as the Holy Spirt and the truth of the gospel bring us to the place of repentance.

The Restoration

Fields shall be bought for money, and deeds shall be signed and sealed and witnessed, in the land of Benjamin, in the places about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, in the cities of the hill country, in the cities of the Shephelah, and in the cities of the Negeb; for I will restore their fortunes, declares the Lord.”(Jeremiah 32:44, ESV)

This is already happening again today as it happened after the captivity, with the forming and thriving of the modern state of Israel.

Romans 7:7–25

Making sin clear

What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.”(Romans 7:7, ESV)

A quick sample of what the law does for us, it makes sin clear.

Sin comes alive

I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died.(Romans 7:9, ESV)

This is in infancy when there is no knowledge of the law in any concrete sense. This is where we get the idea that babies and toddlers are below the age (to do with mental faculty rather than chronological age) of accountability.

So there comes an age where a child understands God’s and their parents commands and it is at that point that sin comes alive… Jolted awake by the law.

The great contrast

Did that which is good, then, bring death to me? By no means! It was sin, producing death in me through what is good, in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure.(Romans 7:13, ESV)

When sin is highlighted by the law, it more grossly manifests itself in our members and conscience, it is at this point that we realise we need divine help.

So the law remains good and it is by the contrast of its perfection and goodness that sin becomes so clearly apparent in the evil and darkness of our flesh.

Slaves to sin

For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin. (Romans 7:14, ESV)

This follows the same idea as earlier; we are slaves to the one we obey so we are sold by our obedience to the dictates of the flesh (or disobedience to the desires of God), as slaves to sin.

We need enabling grace

For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. (Romans 7:18, ESV)

The ability to carry out what is right can only come from God.

God’s grace is not just unmerited favour, it is God’s enabling power to live right and resist sin. We really must think of grace in those terms, to help us in our fight and walk of faith.

As Pastor Dennis has always said: “it is the elevator to lift us up to meet the demands of God’s truth”.

The virus

Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. (Romans 7:20, ESV)

Sin dwells in us like a virus. Paul separates his core self by using the word “I” from sin, this makes sin a power of its own.

This helps us to understand the nature of sin, it is a virus and parasite that seeks to drain the life of its host and eventually occupy every part of the host, killing the person and leaving only driving desires.

Jesus came as and with the cure to the virus which we let in at Eden and has been passed on to all mankind.

The power of sin is that it is inside us and is attached to the will or desire of man, corrupting and corroding the image of God in man, by distorting every good and perfect gift that God so lovingly provides.

The believers battle

For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, (Romans 7:22, ESV)

This is speaking of the believers’ conflict with the flesh, so corrupted by sin versus our delight in God and His law.

If you are not in this battle then serious questions need to be asked… Are you even in the fight?

Serve God with the mind

Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.(Romans 7:25, ESV)

We must fill our minds with the truth of God, through His word. We serve God according to His word.

Proverbs 21:13–31

Help the poor

Whoever closes his ear to the cry of the poor will himself call out and not be answered.(Proverbs 21:13, ESV)

This is a really serious proverb, we must listen to and minister to the poor, it is where the famous poem about helping in time of need and being remembered in our time of need is drawn from.

Fleeting pleasures

Whoever loves pleasure will be a poor man; he who loves wine and oil will not be rich. (Proverbs 21:17, ESV)

This is true, whoever loves to indulge in the fleeting pleasures of this world will end up wasting their money and will not be rich, there are far greater pleasures to be had in God.

Pursue kindness

Whoever pursues righteousness and kindness will find life, righteousness, and honour. (Proverbs 21:21, ESV)

We need to pursue, pressing hard after and making an effort towards righteousness and kindness.

Be generous

All day long he craves and craves, but the righteous gives and does not hold back. (Proverbs 21:26, ESV)

We should give generously!

Most of the above post is a copy of the original notes from the same date in 2014.

Additional resources

The Gospel Coalition on Romans 7

Today’s Reading: Jer 31:1–40, Rom 6:15–7:6, Prov 21:1–12

Today’s Theme: Slaves to God

Libertarian freedom is a stubbornly persistent illusion, the reality of our existence is that none of us are Lord and Master over ourselves. We need to choose a master and serve him, there literally can be no sitting on the fence. Paul paints this in vivid terms stating that man is either a slave to sin outside Christ or a slave to righteousness in Christ.

We are freed from the law of sin and death and are therefore free only to be bound again eternally to God, in a type of matrimony or marriage.

So Yes we are slaves to God. We should not try to sanitise this reality by calling ourselves servants only, because the connotation with servant is of one paid for their services, not one who is owned (He is Lord [owner] and brought us with a price) and in a dependant and devoted relationship to their master like us.

Jeremiah 31:1–40

Everlasting Love

the Lord appeared to him from far away. I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you. (Jeremiah 31:3, ESV)

God’s love for His people is an everlasting love. This is why God keeps covenant and is faithful to us, not because we deserve it or the law demands it, but because of His love.

In His love He has saved us and will save Israel.

The chief and elect nation

For thus says the Lord: “Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob, and raise shouts for the chief of the nations; proclaim, give praise, and say, ‘O Lord, save your people, the remnant of Israel.’ (Jeremiah 31:7, ESV)

Israel is the chief, most elect among the nations. Our egalitarian (everyone is equal) driven culture reels at such a sentiment but that means nothing, it is still true.

The Lord has always saved a remnant of Israel. This is true both physically and spiritually. There have always been a Jewish people and community since the days of Abraham and more importantly in the OT, there was always a remnant of spiritually faithful Jews and in the NT, all the first Christians were Jews, the first missionaries were all Jews and the early church was full of Jews, even today we have Messianic (Christian) Jews who accept Yeshua (Jesus) as Messiah.

So Yes we rejoice, God in His love and faithfulness always keeps a remnant.

The Shepherd of Israel

“Hear the word of the Lord, O nations, and declare it in the coastlands far away; say, ‘He who scattered Israel will gather him, and will keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock.’ (Jeremiah 31:10, ESV)

God is the Shepherd and Father to Israel. This carries over to the church too, as God’s chosen people, because He is our Great Shepherd and Father also.

The slaughter of the innocents

Thus says the Lord: “A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping. Rachel is weeping for her children; she refuses to be comforted for her children, because they are no more.” (Jeremiah 31:15, ESV)

This prophecy was fulfilled when Jesus was born, it was the slaughter of the innocents by Herod which we remember at this season of Christmas.

A secure future

There is hope for your future, declares the Lord, and your children shall come back to their own country. (Jeremiah 31:17, ESV)

Israel has a future in God and so does the body of Christ. In God we can have assurance as we trust His promises, ways and person.

God’s heart yearns

Is Ephraim my dear son? Is he my darling child? For as often as I speak against him, I do remember him still. Therefore my heart yearns for him; I will surely have mercy on him, declares the Lord. (Jeremiah 31:20, ESV)

When God is in relationship with a people as with Ephraim, it is not just technical, God’s heart yearns for reconciliation. God’s heart yearns to be reconciled to you today. Don’t allow your relationship with Him to grow cold.

Personal responsibility

But everyone shall die for his own iniquity. Each man who eats sour grapes, his teeth shall be set on edge. (Jeremiah 31:30, ESV)

We are each responsible for our own sin. Our current culture is so enamoured with self and the central place of man as a good and free being, that personal responsibility has been largely discarded. We instead say there is always a reason for someone’s evil, crime or sin and that they just need to be understood.

This is wrong, we should not withdraw from man his God given responsibility for his own conduct, we should not diminish the responsibility of man unless his responsibility through mental impairment is actually diminished.

By taking the responsibility from man for his own sin, we have given mankind a licence to sin in the name of being a victim of environment, culture, history or parents.

God is clear, everyone will die for their own sin, not for someone else’s.

This is picked up in the NT today, the wages sin pays is death. This is why the gospel message and solution is so radical, Jesus vicariously died in our place for our sin.

The New Testament prophesied

“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, (Jeremiah 31:31, ESV)

The new testament was not an invention of Paul and his friends, it was foretold by God. God said the old covenant would be superseded by a new and better covenant. The new and better covenant is the one made though the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, as proclaimed in the gospel of God.

Regeneration of the Holy Spirit

For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. (Jeremiah 31:33, ESV)

This speaks of regeneration by the Holy Spirit and is fulfilled in the New Testament church where God’s people have changed natures, and as both Jews and Gentiles, form God’s own people.

A day will come when this will be more fully realised for the actual nation of Israel too.

The indwelling Holy Spirit

And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” (Jeremiah 31:34, ESV)

This is a further indication that we are talking about the NT experience of being born again by the Spirit of God and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

The remembrance of sin no more, speaks of the redemption and forgiveness through the cross of Christ.

Guaranteed against the cosmos

“If this fixed order departs from before me, declares the Lord, then shall the offspring of Israel cease from being a nation before me forever.” (Jeremiah 31:36, ESV)

Israel’s nationhood is guaranteed against the cosmos. The nation will never be exterminated, despite the threats and evil work of Nazi’s and Islamist’s.

Romans 6:15–7:6

Choose your master

Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? (Romans 6:16, ESV)

We are Slaves regardless, we only get to choose our master. So will you serve sin under the power of the enemy, or righteousness under the power of Christ?

We are not free to do whatever we want, we are instead influenced, driven and moved by the master we are aligned with. This is why we so often find ourselves doing things we had no real intention of doing, either in the bondage of sin or the compulsion by the Spirit, in righteousness, to forgo a natural and sinful reaction for example.

Obey the teaching of the Gospel

But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, (Romans 6:17, ESV)

It is crucial that our obedience is sincere and from the heart.

Without the teaching of the gospel what would we be called to obey? The great commission is to teach the nations the way of Christ.

This is why the bible is so important alongside the ministry of our Pastors and teachers, to proclaim and teach the truth with all authority.

If we just tell people that Jesus loves them and don’t disciple them, how will they know what to obey? Teaching the gospel is essential to the gospel of God.

Our faith is not only composed of a spiritual or mystical element, it very much has a cognitive or thinking element, where the minds of its adherents must be engaged and activated to agree with the teaching of the Gospel of God.

This obedience in faith, to the teaching of the gospel of God, is one of the main themes of the letter.

Make righteousness your master

I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification. (Romans 6:19, ESV)

We should make righteousness our master, this will lead to our sanctification. Paul is quite clear that we need to make a conscious decision to use our bodies righteously, which is part of our call to sanctification and holiness.

God’s free gift

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23, ESV)

This verse is a great summary of the gospel.

Sin will pay wages but the antithesis to this is not anti-sin paying the wages of life, because Paul has already made the case that our righteousness will never do. The gospel breaks the mould of everything being based on good or bad works and the resulting wages, instead we are presented with a totally free gift.

A works based gospel would be the work of righteousness measured against the work of sin, but the Gospel of God is God’s free and unearned gift of eternal life, over and against the earned wages of death in sin. They are not parallel, the free gift of eternal life far supersedes the wages of death for sin.

Union with Christ

Likewise, my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God. (Romans 7:4, ESV)

Our union with Christ precludes that we are actually dead to sin and its law. This is not a fleeting thing but a sure, solid and permanent state.

There is an important point about us bearing fruit unto God, through our union with Christ, as opposed to the fruit of death.

Jesus Himself said He is the vine and we are just branches. If we are in union with Him, then we are connected to life itself, He is the very source of life and of the renewed life in particular, so it follows that being connected to Him, we will bear fruit.

We are dead to, so free from sin (or sin is dead and we are free), so that we can belong to another. Consider the word ‘belong’, it speaks of ownership and deep devotion, which is where the biblical concept of being God’s Joyful Slaves is formed.

Proverbs 21:1–12

Diligent planning

The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty. (Proverbs 21:5, ESV)

Lord, we know there are areas here where we really need to improve, please help us to be diligent and disciplined.

Quarrelling is not good

It is better to live in a corner of the housetop than in a house shared with a quarrelsome wife. (Proverbs 21:9, ESV)

Living with someone who likes to quarrel can be a real drain on energy and difficult to bear, so pray for grace if this is your situation, or give thanks if it is not.

Also ask yourself an honest question…are you quarrelsome? If you are make an effort by the Spirit to seek peace.

Most of the above post is a copy of the original notes from the same date in 2014.

Additional resources

Desiring God on Romans 7

Today’s Reading: Jer 29:1–30:24, Rom 6:1–14, Prov 20:13–30

Today’s Theme: Alive to God

Today we learn that we are dead to sin and alive to God through our union with Christ. We should live with this truth in mind, we live under grace and sin’s dominion has been broken… Hallelujah!

Jeremiah 29:1–30:24

Pray for the city

But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.(Jeremiah 29:7, ESV)

So pray for the city you live in, when the city does well, we will do well too. Like the exiled Jews, let’s live our lives on mission.

God’s Pre-Ordained Plan

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.(Jeremiah 29:11, ESV)

God saying He knows the pre-ordained plans that He has for Israel, rather than the lies of the false prophets.

We have adopted this in the church today, to say God knows the plan He has for us and it is true, when we look at Ephesian’s, Philippians, Colossians and Romans, we see the teaching that God has predestined our lives in Christ.

However the original application was really like an encouragement from God to the people of Judah, letting them know that although they will go through 70 years of slavery, God has a plan and purpose in these times of discipline and difficulty.

Lust and lies

because they have done an outrageous thing in Israel, they have committed adultery with their neighbors’ wives, and they have spoken in my name lying words that I did not command them. I am the one who knows, and I am witness, declares the Lord.’ ”(Jeremiah 29:23, ESV)

False prophets always seem to have lust and sexual sin driving them. Pray that God would expose the evil intentions of false prophets today.

God’s mind accomplished

The fierce anger of the Lord will not turn back until he has executed and accomplished the intentions of his mind. In the latter days you will understand this.(Jeremiah 30:24, ESV)

This prophecy can be seen through both a short (at the time in Judah and Babylon) and long lens (The end times). God will accomplish what He has set His mind to.

Romans 6:1–14

Dead to sin

By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?(Romans 6:2, ESV)

We no longer habitually live in sin. We are dead to sin and our desires and nature has been changed in Christ.

Free from sin

We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin.(Romans 6:6–7, ESV)

Sin enslaves all, except those whose old self was crucified with Jesus. We are free from sin, we don’t have to be under sin’s bondage and bullying control.

Let us rejoice in the freedom we have from sin, this is the joyous cry of the gospel of God, that freedom from the bondage and reign of sin has come.

Alive to God

So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.(Romans 6:11, ESV)

This is an argument for us to consider ourselves dead to sin and alive to God, in light of the cross.

What does it mean to be dead to sin? As a dead man has no hunger or desire so should we have no appetite, hunger or desire for sin.

What does it mean to be alive to God? This speaks of our relationship to God, which is only possible through our union with Christ. We no longer live unto ourselves but presently and constantly live before and for God.

Our desires have been awakened to God and we live in that light. We are in union with Christ; through His death we see our sin as dead, through His life we live in righteousness and through His resurrection we are alive, truly, finally, really alive.

Present your body

Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness.(Romans 6:13, ESV)

We can either present our bodies to sinful opportunity or to God.

Our bodies are tools and should be used in God’s service.

We are not just spiritual creatures, God created our flesh and so desires that we can serve Him even with our bodies.

Sin’s dominion is broken

For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.(Romans 6:14, ESV)

We live by grace so sin has no dominion over us, the power of the law which makes sin alive is superseded by grace. This is the glorious gospel of God.

Proverbs 20:13–30

Seize the day

Love not sleep, lest you come to poverty; open your eyes, and you will have plenty of bread.(Proverbs 20:13, ESV)

Sleep is over rated, rise up early and seize the day.

Most of the above post is a copy of the original notes from the same date in 2014.

Additional resources

Desiring God on Romans 6

Today’s Reading: Jer 27:1–28:17, Rom 5:1–21, Prov 20:1–12

Today’s Theme: Peace with God

Today we read about the peace we have with God through the justification we receive by faith, the grace in which we stand and the gift of righteousness we joyfully receive.

This is one of the key promises of the gospel proclamation; the war is over, the King has won and established His kingdom, so end the futile hostility and enter into His peace with us, His former enemies through His abundant grace.

Jeremiah 27:1–28:17

The Sovereign

“It is I who by my great power and my outstretched arm have made the earth, with the men and animals that are on the earth, and I give it to whomever it seems right to me.(Jeremiah 27:5, ESV)

God is declaring His total sovereign rule over all creation.

Restoration, in God’s time

They shall be carried to Babylon and remain there until the day when I visit them, declares the Lord. Then I will bring them back and restore them to this place.”(Jeremiah 27:22, ESV)

Restoration of the children of Israel happened on God’s clock when they were taken to Babylon, and this is still true today, for the restoration of the modern state of Israel and the future kingdom.

The right attitude

and the prophet Jeremiah said, “Amen! May the Lord do so; may the Lord make the words that you have prophesied come true, and bring back to this place from Babylon the vessels of the house of the Lord, and all the exiles.(Jeremiah 28:6, ESV)

Jeremiah was wise and he had the right attitude of heart to the Lord’s decree. What is your attitude towards God’s word?

The biblical pattern

The prophets who preceded you and me from ancient times prophesied war, famine, and pestilence against many countries and great kingdoms.(Jeremiah 28:8, ESV)

Be careful of new prophecies that break the biblical pattern. Every word or prophecy must be measured against the bible.

The danger of false prophesying

In that same year, in the seventh month, the prophet Hananiah died.(Jeremiah 28:17, ESV)

A false prophet is a very dangerous person to others and to themselves.

Romans 5:1–21

Peace with God

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.(Romans 5:1, ESV)

The point here is that those who have been justified by faith into grace, have peace with God.

This is the great gospel of God, that peace between God and man has come through Christ. The war can be over, the relationship reconciled and the offence of sin atoned for.

This is one of the things we celebrate at this time of year, that Jesus came to bring peace on earth.

The gospel of God is the declaration of God’s victory over evil, His conquering of our sin and routing of the enemy. The war is won and peace has come with the King ruling in His kingdom.

This is such great and good news!

Access grace by faith

Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.(Romans 5:2, ESV)

We have right now obtained access to the grace of God by our faith in Jesus. Hallelujah!

We now stand in the grace of God and we are able to do this through faith in the promise of the gospel of God.

This is all done with a rejoicing heart, as we await the manifestation of the glory of God in us and throughout the earth.

Rejoice in Suffering

Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance,(Romans 5:3, ESV)

We are supposed to suffer sometimes and we should rejoice in it, knowing that it is building character and endurance in us.

Desiring God have a good free book on suffering and the sovereignty of God available http://www.desiringgod.org/books/suffering-and-the-sovereignty-of-god

Build character

and endurance produces character, and character produces hope,(Romans 5:4, ESV)

You cannot get character overnight, it can only come through a period of time because endurance can only be tested over time.

God’s love

and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.(Romans 5:5, ESV)

This is an amazing truth, God’s love has been poured into our hearts, we have God’s love in our hearts. Another great comfort is that we all receive the Holy Spirit at conversion.

Jesus died for the ungodly

For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.(Romans 5:6, ESV)

Thank you Jesus, I was so ungodly, and You died for me. We should all thank God for His love for us, that at God’s appointed time, Jesus died for us.

God’s love, demonstrated

but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.(Romans 5:8, ESV)

The substitutionary death of Christ was a demonstration of God’s love.

Now justified

Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.(Romans 5:9, ESV)

Jesus’ blood justified us 2000 years ago and Jesus shall save us in the future from the wrath of God.

Saved by Jesus’ life

For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.(Romans 5:10, ESV)

We are saved by the life of Christ, by the resurrection and the fact that He is alive. We also have His perfect life, lived in victory over sin, imputed to us as if His life were our life and ours were His.

Rejoice in God

More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.(Romans 5:11, ESV)

We are glorifying God by enjoying Him forever, because through Jesus, our relationship has been reconciled and we are at peace.

Sin is universal

Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—(Romans 5:12, ESV)

The universality of Sin is again stated, reminding us that we all have the same problem which Jesus came to solve.

God’s gift

For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.(Romans 5:17, ESV)

We must receive God’s free gift and abundant grace. God’s free gift is actually the righteousness He credits to our account. This is all made possible through Jesus, the last Adam who secured this for all those who believe, setting us free from the curse of the first Adam.

The universal gospel

Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men.(Romans 5:18, ESV)

Justification and life are available to all, not just one race or type of people, but all humanity. It is important that Paul compares Jesus to Adam and shows us that Jesus is the remedy to the curse of Adam, which means He is the solution for the whole world.

Many made righteous

For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.(Romans 5:19, ESV)

The mission of Jesus was no failure, many have been made righteous as they have activated their faith and accessed the grace that God so abundantly provides in Christ.

This does away with the idea of universalism which teaches that all are saved by Jesus’ work on the cross. Only the many who believe are saved. We can rejoice that it is not just a few but many, a multitude so big that they cannot be numbered, as in the vision of heaven in Revelation.

The reign of grace

so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.(Romans 5:21, ESV)

It seems grace and death are both reigning at the moment, one day the reign of death will be over for good and grace alone will reign. Today the grace of God can rule in our lives through the righteousness of God which is fulfilled, satisfied and imputed through Christ.

Proverbs 20:1–12

Don’t be mocked

Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler, and whoever is led astray by it is not wise.(Proverbs 20:1, ESV)

For me, this verse is reason enough to stay away from drink.

Plough at the right time

The sluggard does not plow in the autumn; he will seek at harvest and have nothing.(Proverbs 20:4, ESV)

Lord, please help us to plough at the right time, to get the necessary reward. In this case, the ploughing can be seen as preparation, planning and hard work.

Be faithful

Many a man proclaims his own steadfast love, but a faithful man who can find?(Proverbs 20:6, ESV)

Lord, help us to be faithful.

Most of the above post is a copy of the original notes from the same date in 2014.

Additional resources

Desiring God on Romans 5

Today’s Reading: Jer 25:1–26:24, Rom 4:1–24, Prov 19:1–29

Today’s Theme: Justified by Faith

Today we read about the way we are justified, which is not through a ceremony, moral code or religious rite. We learn that we are justified by Faith in God and what God has done and will do, just like Abraham.

We must have faith in the person and work of God, as revealed in the gospel, to access the inheritance God has offered by His grace.

So, our salvation is based on God’s grace,  our faith in that grace and the God who provides it.

Jeremiah 25:1–26:24

Persistent Leaders

“For twenty-three years, from the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, to this day, the word of the Lord has come to me, and I have spoken persistently to you, but you have not listened.(Jeremiah 25:3, ESV)

We should pray that our leaders are persistent in speaking the word of God to His people, Jeremiah at this point, had been the prophet to Judah for 23 years.

We must pray for ourselves as well that we don’t find ourselves in the helpless state that the people found themselves in, where after 23 years of the prophet faithfully bringing the word of God, they still refused to listen.

God, Lord of time

This whole land shall become a ruin and a waste, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years.(Jeremiah 25:11, ESV)

God was in control the whole time, so He could be very specific about the years. God, not man, the devil or Dr Who, is the Lord of time.

When we get frustrated about the timing of things in our lives, or even a train breaking down or traffic making us late, we must in those times remind ourselves that God is sovereign over time and our days, we are not, so we must continue to trust Him.

Judge of the whole earth

For behold, I begin to work disaster at the city that is called by my name, and shall you go unpunished? You shall not go unpunished, for I am summoning a sword against all the inhabitants of the earth, declares the Lord of hosts.’(Jeremiah 25:29, ESV)

If judgement begins at God’s house… Where will the ungodly be. God is the judge of the whole earth, this is why we need to put faith in God and His grace.

Romans 4:1–24

Salvation is not our due

Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due.(Romans 4:4, ESV)

We cannot work for or work up salvation, otherwise salvation is our due payment for work rendered. This is not God’s way.

Paul has spent time showing us that all men are consigned under sin and that the only solution is God’s own righteousness, shown and fulfilled in Christ.

Now Paul turns to the personal application of the gospel of God for every believer, he outlines the mechanism by which man is justified and makes the case that it is by faith alone.

So salvation is by faith in God’s grace, not by work to our merit.

Believe in God

And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness,(Romans 4:5, ESV)

One of the simple tenants of Christianity, we must not just have faith as a mystical quality and outlook but put actual faith in God, the one who justifies the ungodly.

Believing in God and in what God does, is counted as righteousness for the one who believes.

The father of all believers

He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was to make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised, so that righteousness would be counted to them as well,(Romans 4:11, ESV)

This shows that God’s master plan always included all nations (the uncircumcised), this is why He said that all nations would be blessed in Abraham.

The church cannot be disconnected from its Jewish roots because as believers, Abraham is the father and example to us all.

The figure of Abraham as the example of faith apart from the works of the law, should have served to improve unity between the Jewish and Gentile parts of the church.

We don’t do something to be justified and counted as righteous, instead we believe something which leads to works rather than works leading to belief.

Those who walk in the faith

and to make him the father of the circumcised who are not merely circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.(Romans 4:12, ESV)

The distinction of those who are truly God’s people, has always been those who walk by faith in Him. So even amongst the Circumcised, the true children of Abraham were those who followed the faith of Abraham, which came before the outward expression of faith, which was circumcision.

We too are called to walk in faith like Abraham, as God’s people.

The promise depends on faith

That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring—not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all,(Romans 4:16, ESV)

The inheritance God promises those in the gospel of God, cannot be attained by the works of the law and has never been God’s model, as Paul has just argued.

The reality is that the promise is dependent on faith so that it can be attained by grace and not through the cold, mechanical working of the law.

It is clear that without faith we cannot be saved. Without faith the gospel is just a message and we are lost.

God. Creator and Regenerator

as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist.(Romans 4:17, ESV)

God gives life to the dead, this happens to us when we are saved, the Holy Spirit makes us alive.

God creates out of nothing and is the only being who can do this. This is the God we believe in.

Give glory to God

No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God,(Romans 4:20, ESV)

We will grow strong in our faith as we give glory to God. God is the object and end of our faith so naturally we should think, sing, speak and live to His glory. True faith cannot be disconnected from covenant and relationship with God.

God is able

fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.(Romans 4:21, ESV)

We must be fully convinced that God is able. This is our faith at work practically. Today trust that God is able.

Believe in God the Father

but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord,(Romans 4:24, ESV)

We are counted as righteous if we believe in God the Father of our Lord, Jesus Christ.

Proverbs 19:1–29

Rage against God

When a man’s folly brings his way to ruin, his heart rages against the Lord.(Proverbs 19:3, ESV)

This is why we so often hear, “why did God let this happen…” etc.

Love your soul

Whoever gets sense loves his own soul; he who keeps understanding will discover good.(Proverbs 19:8, ESV)

If you really do love your eternal souls, you will live for God.

Forgive

Good sense makes one slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook an offense.(Proverbs 19:11, ESV)

This is where we can get glory as men, forgive!

The deep sleep of slothfulness

Slothfulness casts into a deep sleep, and an idle person will suffer hunger.(Proverbs 19:15, ESV)

Dear Lord, keep us from the deep sleep of slothfulness, we do not want to waste our lives.

Charity work unto God

Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will repay him for his deed.(Proverbs 19:17, ESV)

One of our great motivations for charity work and social action.

Discipline in love

Discipline your son, for there is hope; do not set your heart on putting him to death.(Proverbs 19:18, ESV)

Discipline must be done in love, with the intention of instruction and building the child up, not to crush them.

God’s purpose stands

Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.(Proverbs 19:21, ESV)

Open theism (the idea that the future is not set and God does not know the future, but instead responds to the actions of His creatures), is slain with this one verse.

God’s purposes stand because God is not partially God, He is fully God, the one who knows all, He is everywhere and is all powerful. The Sovereign God.

Live and rest

The fear of the Lord leads to life, and whoever has it rests satisfied; he will not be visited by harm.(Proverbs 19:23, ESV)

We will fear you Lord, because this leads to life and rest.

Don’t stray

Cease to hear instruction, my son, and you will stray from the words of knowledge.(Proverbs 19:27, ESV)

This is a verse for all who are not in fellowship and under instruction, accountability and covering.

Most of the above post is a copy of the original notes from the same date in 2014.

Additional resources

Desiring God on Romans 4

Today’s Reading: Jer 23:1–24:10, Rom 3:21–31, Prov 18:1–24

Today’s Theme: God’s Righteousness

God’s plan for our justification and righteousness is expounded powerfully today by Paul in Romans. Man’s righteousness would never do so God saved us by His own righteousness as a grace gift through faith in the Gospel of God concerning Jesus Christ the One who died in our place, meeting God’s righteous requirements and opening the door for us to receive God’s gracious impartation of righteousness… Hallelujah!!!

Don’t just get lost in the words today, praise the King of Heaven for all He has done.

Jeremiah 23:1–24:10

A woe for today

“Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!” declares the Lord. (Jeremiah 23:1, ESV)

This woe is extended today to self centered prosperity preachers and to the dead theologians in the mainline churches who bicker about small points of theology at the expense of the flock.

Thank good for good Shepherds

I will set shepherds over them who will care for them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be missing, declares the Lord. (Jeremiah 23:4, ESV)

Thank you so much for the pastors You have given us who care for us in Your name.

The mention of none being lost seems to point forward to that great shepherd of the sheep our Lord Jesus Christ who said of all the Father gave Him He had lost none and any who come to Him He will in no way cast out.

We can have assurance in our salvation and the joy of eternal security because Jesus is our shepherd.

Jesus the Branch of David

In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.’ (Jeremiah 23:6, ESV)

This branch is the Messiah, here is evidence from the Old Testament that the Messiah will one day reign as king. This will be fulfilled at the second advent when Jesus returns to rule from Jerusalem.

Don’t be led astray

In the prophets of Samaria I saw an unsavory thing: they prophesied by Baal and led my people Israel astray. (Jeremiah 23:13, ESV)

Lord keep Your people from false and demonic prophets and fake “spiritual” people who seek to manipulate Your people through demonic lies to lead us astray. Give us the spiritual discernment needed to see through their deceptions.

Don’t give in to the flesh

But in the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen a horrible thing: they commit adultery and walk in lies; they strengthen the hands of evildoers, so that no one turns from his evil; all of them have become like Sodom to me, and its inhabitants like Gomorrah.” (Jeremiah 23:14, ESV)

The capitulation to the flesh seen in liberal and “word of faith” theology and practise must be resisted.

Vain hope is pointless

Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, filling you with vain hopes. They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the Lord. (Jeremiah 23:16, ESV)

Vain hope is pointless hope, the church is not here to make people feel better but to lead them to and build them up in Christ.

God’s council

But if they had stood in my council, then they would have proclaimed my words to my people, and they would have turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their deeds. (Jeremiah 23:22, ESV)

Let’s pray that pastors will seek God for His council about what to say to the people in the long term (what to study or read together) and short term (what to say at a particular gathering or moment).

God is everywhere

“Am I a God at hand, declares the Lord, and not a God far away? (Jeremiah 23:23, ESV)

God is omnipresent, He is the only one who is everywhere at the same time. He is both transcendent and imminently close while remaining Holy and set apart.

God is not limited by time and the three dimensions of space as we know them. After all He created both time and space and in His infinite wisdom and great power, He is able to occupy dimensions of space and existence that would make our minds boggle in the same way a 3D cube would be beyond understanding to the people on a 2D world.

The Word is a hammer

Is not my word like fire, declares the Lord, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces? (Jeremiah 23:29, ESV)

The word is like a hammer and is like fire. It breaks the hard heart and purifies and sets alight for God the soul of man.

Grow in the faith yourself

Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, declares the Lord, who steal my words from one another. (Jeremiah 23:30, ESV)

Plagiarism and just quoting other men is very prevalent today. We need to seek God in His word and prayer to hear from Him ourselves and not stand on the faith of others but have our own relationship with God. Lets personally and corporately grow in the faith ourselves.

Reckless lies

Behold, I am against those who prophesy lying dreams, declares the Lord, and who tell them and lead my people astray by their lies and their recklessness, when I did not send them or charge them. So they do not profit this people at all, declares the Lord. (Jeremiah 23:32, ESV)

Lord keep us from falling for the reckless lies of false prophets who seem to get so much airtime in the media.

How God chooses to regard you

“Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Like these good figs, so I will regard as good the exiles from Judah, whom I have sent away from this place to the land of the Chaldeans. (Jeremiah 24:5, ESV)

The Lord determines this, He chooses how He will see His elect. They are His and He has redeemed them with a price, thank you Lord for choosing to see us as good figs.

6 I wills of God

I will set my eyes on them for good, and I will bring them back to this land. I will build them up, and not tear them down; I will plant them, and not pluck them up. I will give them a heart to know that I am the Lord, and they shall be my people and I will be their God, for they shall return to me with their whole heart. (Jeremiah 24:6-7, ESV)

Here we see a further 5 I wills of God (the first was in the previous verse where God said I will regard….), when God says He will, no one, not me, no man and no devil can stop Him… He is GOD.. He is the all powerful Sovereign Lord and King.

He declares he will..

• Set His Eyes on them for good
• Build them up
• Plant them
• Give them a heart to know Him
• Be their God

This shows the paternal heart of God for His children who are under His discipline. Lord give us a heart to know you too.

Romans 3:21–31

Righteousness through faith

the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: (Romans 3:22, ESV)

We are made righteous before God through putting our faith in Jesus, this applies to all humanity.

We now leave the teaching on man’s condition in sin to the brighter things of righteousness and how it is and always has been truly attained, which is through faith in God.

Although now the faith is quite specific, the faith is in the message given in the Gospel of God which is through Jesus only.

So let’s be clear, Paul is clearly saying that righteousness with God cannot be achieved but is received or imparted through faith.

All have sinned

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, (Romans 3:23, ESV)

The common need of all men to be saved, religion and human understandings of righteousness can save no one because all have committed sin at some point. This is why it is a gift received through faith.

God’s grace is a gift

and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, (Romans 3:24, ESV)

God’s grace is neither an entitlement or right, it is a gift. This truth alone sets Christianity apart from all the other religions which have a works based righteousness system and gods who are bound to or limited by powers and so are unable to bestow the gift of righteousness.

God’s righteousness

whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. (Romans 3:25, ESV)

This is the crux of Paul’s teaching to us on the Gospel and new covenant. It is not based on the righteousness that man in futility tries to achieve but the righteousness that God already has and graciously bestows.

God’s righteousness was revealed and satisfied in the person, work, death and resurrection of Christ which is the heart of the good news that Jesus became the atoning sacrifice for all who believe so that through the blood He shed they can receive by faith the righteousness God provides by passing over our sin.

Jesus was our atoning sacrifice to appease the righteous requirements of the law, upholding the righteousness of God and God’s gracious love simultaneously.

God, the just, justifier

It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. (Romans 3:26, ESV)

God did not want to just waive away our sins as this would make Him unjust, Jesus on the cross was the solution.

God is a just, justifier of sin because someone did die for our sin making the way open for us to be forgiven and made righteous through faith in Him.

The only way this solution could possibly work was for Jesus to be the unique one and only God-Man.

One God, One Way

Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, since God is one—who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. (Romans 3:29–30, ESV)

We Gentiles and the Jews serve the same God and He seeks to justify us by faith in the Son of God or through faith in the Son of God. It is simple, we are made just as if we didn’t sin, justified, through faith in God’s one solution…. Jesus.

Live righteous lives

Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law. (Romans 3:31, ESV)

Our faith if genuine, leads us to live lives in righteousness. We live according to the righteousness imputed to us by God, we live in honour of it and uphold God’s righteousness in our lives by His grace and Spirit.

Proverbs 18:1–24

Don’t be isolated

Whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire; he breaks out against all sound judgment. (Proverbs 18:1, ESV)

Self isolation is an un-natural and dangerous thing, the asceticism of the monks and nuns is wrong, its only saving grace is that they are in community with each other.

What is your opinion worth?

A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion. (Proverbs 18:2, ESV)

Lord keep us from expressing our opinions which are not profitable and just the sound of our own voice.

Don’t let your mouth ruin you

A fool’s mouth is his ruin, and his lips are a snare to his soul. (Proverbs 18:7, ESV)

The mouth is a dangerous and powerful thing which will ruin our life if not governed by the Holy Spirit. Not in a mystical way but in a very practical way it can ruin relationships, careers etc.

Don’t be slack

Whoever is slack in his work is a brother to him who destroys. (Proverbs 18:9, ESV)

Lord helps us to not be slack in our work.

Godly intelligence

An intelligent heart acquires knowledge, and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge. (Proverbs 18:15, ESV)

Lord help us to have godly intelligence like this and not the devilish so called intelligence of the world.

Use words wisely

Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits. (Proverbs 18:21, ESV)

Our words have great potential for good and bad. Whatever we say we need to be prepared to deal with the result of what we say (it’s fruit). If we use words with wisdom we will enjoy the fruit of well said words.

Use words wisely in this world.

Quality friendship

A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. (Proverbs 18:24, ESV)

Don’t have too many so called friends (companions), instead have friendships which are of a high quality, that are like family.

Most of the above post is a copy of the original notes from the same date in 2014.

Additional resources

The Gospel Coalition on Romans 3

Today’s Reading: Jer 21:1–22:30, Rom 3:1–20, Prov 17:1–28

Today’s Theme: God’s Good Law

Today’s reading is rich with practical and theological truth. It is hard to do justice to the richness of the writing of Paul in Romans in such a short format as these notes.

One of the most important themes we see today is the purpose of God’s good law which makes it clear to us that we are not good and therefore need the good news found in the Gospel of God who is faithful to His word and people.

Jeremiah 21:1–22:30

Fighting a losing battle

I myself will fight against you with outstretched hand and strong arm, in anger and in fury and in great wrath. (Jeremiah 21:5, ESV)

If God fights against you then you are finished, it is like an ant fighting a man, there is no contest. We need to learn to humble ourselves before God not just because of His great power but because of His person.

Surrender and live

He who stays in this city shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence, but he who goes out and surrenders to the Chaldeans who are besieging you shall live and shall have his life as a prize of war. (Jeremiah 21:9, ESV)

To stubbornly take our stand has no virtue, sometimes we need to surrender and live. That was literally the case for the people of Judah. God gave them good advice through the prophet to preserve the lives of those who would humble themselves and listen.

There may be a situation in your life today where God wants you to surrender. Maybe you need to surrender your right to retaliate in a disagreement with someone for example.

Justice in the city

Thus says the Lord: Do justice and righteousness, and deliver from the hand of the oppressor him who has been robbed. And do no wrong or violence to the resident alien, the fatherless, and the widow, nor shed innocent blood in this place. (Jeremiah 22:3, ESV)

God wants to see justice in the city. The church has a big role to play in establishing God’s kingdom in the earth and seeing justice, mercy and truth reign in every place.

We should pray for and practically seek to establish justice in the city we live in and the world in the name of Jesus, to the glory of God for the joy and flourishing of all peoples.

A worker should be paid fairly

“Woe to him who builds his house by unrighteousness, and his upper rooms by injustice, who makes his neighbor serve him for nothing and does not give him his wages, (Jeremiah 22:13, ESV)

It is evil to have a man work for you with no remuneration (payment).

It is also wicked that the third world is exploited in the production of goods for the first world.

We should seek to raise awareness and shop in a way that reflects our beliefs that the trading practices which see a worker on only pennies a day is wrong and not in keeping with Christian values.

What are your eyes for?

But you have eyes and heart only for your dishonest gain, for shedding innocent blood, and for practicing oppression and violence.” (Jeremiah 22:17, ESV)

Lord help us to have eyes and hearts for You, in this context eyes means desire or longing for.

Romans 3:1–20

Replacement theology debunked

Much in every way. To begin with, the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God. (Romans 3:2, ESV)

Replacement theology (the idea that God is finished with the national / physical people Israel, having replaced them with the church) is shown to be an unbiblical teaching here.

Paul has spent the last two chapters consigning all mankind under sin and has shown that both those under the law as Jews and not under the law as Gentiles have the same problem which is the bondage of sin.

If Paul’s theology were over simplified at this point then there would no longer be any distinction and the Jews as an entity would cease to exist, however this is not the case.

Paul asks the question what advantage is there in being a Jew and in having the Jewish people and he answers that there are indeed advantages and distinctions?

Paul’s outline which he will expound upon further in Chapters 9-11 explain that for God to prove Himself faithful to the Jews as a people matters a great deal.

We are given two simple examples to that end here. On the one hand, without the Jews there would be no Old Testament to be fulfilled and on the other they were the ones entrusted with the scriptures upon which we now stand and depend.

So God has not discarded His people Israel. There are promises He has made which are yet to come to pass including Jesus ruling from David’s throne in Jerusalem (not in Rome, London or Washington).

God is faithful

What if some were unfaithful? Does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God? By no means! Let God be true though every one were a liar, as it is written, “That you may be justified in your words, and prevail when you are judged.” (Romans 3:3–4, ESV)

Just because many Jews are unfaithful to God, this does not change God’s faithfulness. God will uphold the covenant and will fulfil every promise and decree.

Many are fulfilled in Jesus but there are some which Jesus is yet to fulfil in context to the actual (not inward or spiritual) Jewish people.

We take comfort from this as disciples of Jesus Christ, if God’s promises, favour and relationship to us was based on our faithfulness we would be without hope, but even when we are unfaithful like many Jews, God remains faithful to us as His people of the New Covenant. Just as He is still faithful to the Jews as His people of the Old and New Covenant.

Us not believing God does not change God but we will suffer for our lack of faith. The proper response to God’s promises and person is to place our trust in Him and remain faithful (theologically and relationally) to Him.

With this in mind let’s pray for the Jews today, because God has not changed, let’s pray that their eyes are opened to be faithful to their own scriptures and will see Yeshua (Jesus) as their promised Messiah and evidence of God’s faithfulness and commitment to fulfil His word.

We all need Jesus

What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, (Romans 3:9, ESV)

The lie of the enemy to make either Gentiles or Jews feel or seem superior is dismantled here. We are all sinners in need of a saviour.

This is something Paul was dealing with in Rome, where Jews had been expelled from Rome the Gentiles began to dominate and disconnect themselves from their Jewish roots and even see themselves as replacing the Jews. On the other hand there had always been Jews who saw themselves as superior and would seek to force others to be circumcised and keep the laws of Moses.

Both of these extremes are of course wrong. Paul holds to the same truth he has been expounding on which is that both Jew and Gentile are bound under sin and so are in need of the Gospel of God which is the power of God to bring salvation through Jesus by the Holy Spirit.

Total depravity

as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; (Romans 3:10, ESV)

This and the following statements make clear that all have sinned.

The Reformers were right in affirming from this letter to the Romans that all mankind is totally depraved in our nature.

We denounce the ancient Pelagian heresy which says man can be righteous or without sin. We also denounce modern day heresy which says there is no sin. We affirm with Paul and the scriptures that every man that has ever lived is not righteous in themselves and have all committed sin except Jesus the Christ.

We also affirm that man’s righteousness is like filthy rags in comparison to the righteousness that God demands.

We finally affirm that true right standing with God is only available through Jesus Christ which is in agreement with the sound teaching of the Bible and the Gospel of God.

It is important to remember that this canvas of the universality, totality and helplessness of man’s condition in sin must be well stated for the Gospel to be needed, make sense and retain its context and power to save.

We are not good

All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” (Romans 3:12, ESV)

No one is good!

Our human centered way of thinking has us believing the lie that man is essentially good when the reality is that man is essentially bad.

This is again why the Way of the Master really have grasped this truth of scripture so well. In their method of evangelism they encourage us to ask a person if they think they are a good person and when they answer yes we help them to see that they are not by reviewing a short number of basic commands.

You can do this as you share the truth today, help people to break the lie of the enemy and see that they are not good and need to be transformed by the power of God found in the good news of the victorious and glorious Gospel of God.

God is good and He seeks to save us bad people, remaking us in His good image, making us conform to the perfect and good example, Jesus Christ.

The purpose of the law

Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. (Romans 3:19, ESV)

God’s law shuts the proud mouth helping them realise they are not good and need God’s grace.

God’s law holds the whole world accountable before God.

Some say talking about God’s law makes us legalist but that is not true because then Paul would be a legalist as well.

We speak about the law to bring context to our need for not only salvation but supernatural transformation by the regenerative power of the Holy Spirit who makes us alive in Christ as new creatures.

As new creatures with new natures and motivations we live by faith in the Son of God and through our love for God and for His glory keep the moral law. It literally becomes our nature as new creations and is the natural outworking of a genuine and loving relationship with God.

So the point is the law has a purpose in defining the need for the Gospel and must not be absent from our Gospel presentations.

The law CANNOT justify us

For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. (Romans 3:20, ESV)

The law was not designed for justification before God but to highlight and give knowledge of what sin is before God so we would see our need for God.

We can’t be justified by it because it was not designed or purposed to that end. It serves as a large signpost on the road to our destination. Our destination is God.

The end of the Gospel is to have God as our greatest treasure and to enjoy Him forever. God is the Gospel because it is He who has come to save us, transform us, forgive us and keep us forever.

Use the signpost of the law to point others to the Gospel of God and ultimately to God Himself.

Proverbs 17:1–28

The crucible purifies

The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold, and the Lord tests hearts. (Proverbs 17:3, ESV)

The analogy with the crucible and furnace shows that when the Lord tests our hearts it is a purifying process.

Cover offence

Whoever covers an offense seeks love, but he who repeats a matter separates close friends. (Proverbs 17:9, ESV)

Lord help us to be those who cover offence to seek love and so we do not separate close friends.

Take rebuke deeply

A rebuke goes deeper into a man of understanding than a hundred blows into a fool. (Proverbs 17:10, ESV)

Learn to take rebuke deeply, to the roots to grow and learn by it.

Quit the argument early

The beginning of strife is like letting out water, so quit before the quarrel breaks out. (Proverbs 17:14, ESV)

Lord help us to quit early before the quarrel breaks out and causes a mess.

True friends

A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity. (Proverbs 17:17, ESV)

Lord help us to be true friends and brothers.

The medicine of joy

A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones. (Proverbs 17:22, ESV)

Lord help us to have the medicine of joy in our heart.

Be cool

Whoever restrains his words has knowledge, and he who has a cool spirit is a man of understanding. (Proverbs 17:27, ESV)

Lord help us to have a cool spirit, not to be hot tempered people who fly off the handle.

Most of the above post is a copy of the original notes from the same date in 2014.

Additional resources

Desiring God on Romans 3

Today’s Reading: Jer 18:1–20:18, Rom 2:12–29, Prov 16:12–33

Today’s Theme: The Conscience

Today we read about the natural law of the conscience which God has given to all men, which means we are without excuse and so are in need of the Gospel.

We also see God as the great potter who reworks us into a vessel for His use, the one who transforms our hearts making us His true people by faith.

Jeremiah 18:1–20:18

Reworked vessels

And the vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter’s hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to do. (Jeremiah 18:4, ESV)

Let’s be clear, this refers to the nation of Israel at a specific time in history, however we can find application for our own lives because like Israel each of us is a vessel in God’s hands and are even a corporate vessel as the church in His hands for His use.

We are clay in God’s hands, He moulds us as He wills. We should not become hard and brittle but supple in the Master’s hands so He can rework us into the vessel He wills us to be (not the one we will us to be).

Hope for our nation

and if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I intended to do to it. (Jeremiah 18:8, ESV)

So there is still hope for our nation too, please go to the prayer fuel area today and pray today’s prayer over our nation posted by Pastor Dennis at this time in 2014 http://www.wwmf.org/2014/12/09/prayer-fuel/daily-prayer-for-our-nation/

God desires your repentance

Now, therefore, say to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: ‘Thus says the Lord, Behold, I am shaping disaster against you and devising a plan against you. Return, every one from his evil way, and amend your ways and your deeds.’ (Jeremiah 18:11, ESV)

God in His love and tender care is calling the men of Judah to repentance. At the same time He openly lets them know that He is planning disaster for them in judgment upon their sin if they do not repent.

God’s desire has not changed, He desires that all men everywhere would repent.

The blood of the innocents

Because the people have forsaken me and have profaned this place by making offerings in it to other gods whom neither they nor their fathers nor the kings of Judah have known; and because they have filled this place with the blood of innocents, (Jeremiah 19:4, ESV)

The wickedness of Israel had become so great that slaying their own children had become common place. We look at this in horror but then must remember the genocide our western society is guilty of today through the abortion of unborn children. We realise that we too have the blood of the innocents on our own hands.

Don’t be stiff necked

“Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, behold, I am bringing upon this city and upon all its towns all the disaster that I have pronounced against it, because they have stiffened their neck, refusing to hear my words.” (Jeremiah 19:15, ESV)

Today if we hear His voice we should repent. The worst thing we can do is to become stubborn in our sin and against God. Don’t become rigid or stubborn, be humble and pliable in God’s hand.

Fire in my bones

If I say, “I will not mention him, or speak any more in his name,” there is in my heart as it were a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot. (Jeremiah 20:9, ESV)

When the Lord gives His servants an urgent word they just have to get it out. The fire speaks of passion, zeal and urgency. This is the spirit we should hold the word in so when it is released it is done with power in the Spirit.

Lord let that fire be shut up in our bones as it were like Jeremiah for your word today.

Romans 2:12–29

Hearing alone is useless

For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified. (Romans 2:13, ESV)

Paul makes the point that man is rightly judged on performance not hearing. Therefore those who seek justification by the law must keep the whole law which has been impossible for all human beings except Jesus.

So Paul takes away the false security in religion and moralism to leave the canvas blank for the presentation to both Jew and Gentile of the Gospel of God which is the only means of salvation.

The Conscience

They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them (Romans 2:15, ESV)

God has given all men a conscience to know right from wrong so all men are without excuse.

Here are a few definitions from Greek dictionaries (BDAG and Mounce) on the word used for conscience which is syneidēsis.

• Awareness of information about something, consciousness
• The inward faculty of distinguishing right and wrong, moral consciousness, conscience
• Attentiveness to obligation, conscientiousness
• Conscience, as an inward moral impression of one’s actions and principles
• The inward faculty of moral judgment
• The inward moral and spiritual frame

Even those who have never heard the law, Bible or Gospel are without excuse because the conscience gives all men moral judgement against the law written on their own hearts.

The moral structure inside the human being is universal, all men know murder, lying and stealing are wrong because we have a moral creator who made us as moral creatures having an innate sense of right and wrong.

This is why appealing to the conscience can be useful in evangelism as demonstrated by Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron in the Way of the Master.

Live your talk

For, as it is written, “The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.” (Romans 2:24, ESV)

We can cause people to speak evil of the Lord when we do not live right. This is why we must teach, judge and preach to ourselves before we open our mouths to share with others.

Inward Jews

But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God. (Romans 2:29, ESV)

Paul’s point here is that circumcision is not the way to salvation. Outward works are worthless if they are not a reflection of an inward reality.

This is not new, God has always called His people in Israel to have circumcised hearts pointing to the true meaning of circumcision.

A Jew is identified as one of God’s covenant people. We are truly God’s covenant people by our hearts and relationship to God not by birth.

God praises the true Jews, the inward Jews who like all the faithful of Israel believe in God and have a relationship with Him and not with dead religion.

Jews and Gentiles who believe in Jesus form a new humanity. A true Israel of God made of only those who are inwardly Jews in the sense that their hearts are circumcised.

God is the one who brings transformation to our hearts and makes us truly Jewish (this is one reason Christianity should not be severed from its Jewish roots) and in that sense God’s own people here in the earth.

Proverbs 16:12–33

Get wisdom and understanding

How much better to get wisdom than gold! To get understanding is to be chosen rather than silver. (Proverbs 16:16, ESV)

Wisdom and understanding are the most precious things in the world. Lord we ask you afresh this day that You would help us attain both, that You would graciously bestow these on us in Jesus’ name.

Guard against pride

Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. (Proverbs 16:18, ESV)

Lord please help us to guard against this in all areas.

Give thought to the word

Whoever gives thought to the word will discover good, and blessed is he who trusts in the Lord. (Proverbs 16:20, ESV)

We should meditate on and study the word.

What are you hungry for

A worker’s appetite works for him; his mouth urges him on. (Proverbs 16:26, ESV)

Hunger will drive us to work hard. What are we hungry for, if we hunger for righteousness we will be filled?

Rule your spirit

Whoever is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city. (Proverbs 16:32, ESV)

This is the true test of a great man.

God controls dice

The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord. (Proverbs 16:33, ESV)

There is no such thing as chance, God even controls apparently random acts like dice throwing.

Most of the above post is a copy of the original notes from the same date in 2014.

Additional resources

Desiring God on Romans 2

Today’s Reading: Jer 16:1–17:27, Rom 1:18–2:11, Prov 16:1–11

Today’s Theme: The Wrath of God

Today’s theme is the wrath of God toward every sinner regardless of their nationality or background. Here Paul lays the canvas on which the beautiful picture of redemption is skilfully painted.

Without the reality of God’s personal and active wrath and judgement then the cross and Gospel lose their context.

Sub themes include man’s depravity in sin and the rewards earned through fruitfulness or judgement through unfaithfulness.

Jeremiah 16:1–17:27

Don’t follow your evil will

and because you have done worse than your fathers, for behold, every one of you follows his stubborn, evil will, refusing to listen to me. (Jeremiah 16:12, ESV)

The modern and western exaltation of the will is a very dangerous thing… it seems we all have rights to choice and will except God.

Don’t follow your own stubborn, evil will, instead listen to God.

Who will you follow?

Thus says the Lord: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the Lord. (Jeremiah 17:5, ESV)

The first two (trusting in man and human strength) result in the third (heart turns from the Lord). Who will you trust today, whoever you trust, your heart will follow.

Well placed and watered

He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.” (Jeremiah 17:8, ESV)

Yes Lord we want to be like this well watered, well placed tree, always bearing fruit without anxiety.

This is the state of those who really do have a healthy, biblical relationship with The Lord. The evidence is in the fruit.

Total depravity

The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? (Jeremiah 17:9, ESV)

This is every mans problem, total depravity. This is not just true of some men or those who commit a particular sin, it is true of all Adam’s children who have inherited sin and are evil by nature (the teaching of Original Sin).

We will read more about man’s depraved state in sin in our New Testament reading today.

Paid according to fruit

“I the Lord search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.” (Jeremiah 17:10, ESV)

With this being true, Lord we need Your help, mercy and grace.

God will pay every man that has ever lived, if the payment has not been made for an individual in Christ then God will pay with his wrath.

Again we are called to be fruitful as this will determine our reward.

God actually saves

Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved, for you are my praise. (Jeremiah 17:14, ESV)

God actually saves, not potentially saves. If God saves you then you are saved and can rest in that calm assurance that those He saves, He keeps.

Romans 1:18–2:11

God is angry

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. (Romans 1:18, ESV)

The truth of God’s active, personal, revealed wrath (anger) and judgement against all mankind’s sin is a teaching that has fallen on hard times.

Many attempt to teach today that God is not angry. This is not true. Paul begins his argument by consigning all men under the present and future wrath and resulting judgement of God.

This is connected to verse 17 from yesterday’s reading where we read the righteousness of God is revealed. It stands in contrast to the anger of God revealed against those who stand opposed to his righteousness which can only be received by faith through the power of the Gospel message.

God’s wrath is against all sin not just select ones and it is not against sin as some abstraction from the sinner He is angry with the sinners themselves who by their sin supress the truth.

Preaching about the reality of God’s wrath is essential to the presentation of the Gospel. It is the canvas on which the beautiful picture of grace and reconciliation is painted.

God’s anger is an important part of who God is, we do not need to sanitize God, He is who He is and He is righteously angry with the self destructive treason of man.

No excuse

For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. (Romans 1:20, ESV)

Paul now makes the case that man in his sin is suppressing the very basic truth all men know, that God is God, Creator and King worthy of worship and honour.

Creation is a testimony to all men even atheists who are all liars, lying to themselves that there is no God when the creation is clear evidence of the creator.

This is often called general revelation, the truth that creation testifies to the reality of God to every creature and even the fact that we are moral creatures points to God.

All mankind are without excuse. Our sin is the wilful suppression of the truth about God.

Foolish, dark hearts

For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. (Romans 1:21, ESV)

Paul continues to build his argument to show just how depraved man is in sin. He asserts that although all mankind knows who God is through creation, all (not just some men or sinners but all men) do not honour or thank God.

This wilful rebellion and thanklessness leads to God giving all men over to a futile, foolish dark heart.

Mankind is totally depraved in his thinking because he does not honour the Creator and so have become fools even asserting that there is no God.

God gave all men up

Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, (Romans 1:24, ESV)

We all need to recognise what a desperate condition we were in as children of wrath, we were all given up to a reprobate, lust driven mind.

We may try to sanctify our own past in sin as being respectable “natural” sins as opposed to the spectacular, gross “unnatural” sins but this is a false economy.

All sin at it’s core is the same, it is open rebellion against the King of Heaven, it is an honouring of the creation instead of the Creator.

God in His wrath gives men over to their sin which is in a sense the present judgement for their sins because sin by its corrosive nature will rot and destroy the life it holds.

Don’t worship creation

because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. (Romans 1:25, ESV)

Naturalism, Evolution, New Age even some Environmentalism is all guilty of this as well as the core nature of sin which is self and creation worship.

Homosexuality defined

For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. (Romans 1:26-27, ESV)

The Bible is bold in talking about homosexuality, it is called unnatural so it can never be redeemed as a way of life or being.

Homosexuality is described as a shameless act which receives a due penalty because of the wrath of God and the breaking of natural law. We see this today in sexually transmitted diseases like AIDS which used to be called GRIDS (Gay Related Immune Deficiency).

There is no confusion in the Bible, homosexuality in men and women is a sin that must be repented of if someone claims to be a follower of Jesus Christ.

One of the problems with sin worshiping the creation is that creation was not made to handle worship and so the undue honour distorts the creation resulting in the most deplorable and unnatural deviations from God’s plan and created order.

A debased mind

And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. (Romans 1:28, ESV)

Not an unredeemable but a worthless mind in sin. If we are willing to be honest all our minds were debased and reprobate in sin when we consider what we should be before God.

The death penalty

Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them. (Romans 1:32, ESV)

The wages of sin is death as decreed in Eden, the reason men die is the penalty of sin not old age, sickness or happenstance. All sinners (not just the worst) actually deserve to die for their sin.

Don’t be a hypocritical judge

Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things. (Romans 2:1, ESV)

All mankind have no excuse! When we start to judge one sin over against others and in light of our own sin we are being hypocrites hiding our sin behind the condemnation of others.

The proper response is to judge our own sin first and seek God’s grace and from that place judge all sin against the word of God…now without hypocrisy.

Kindness should lead to repentance

Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? (Romans 2:4, ESV)

What do we do with God’s grace, goodness, kindness and mercy to us. Is it a licence to live in any way we like… Of course not… The goodness and grace of God should lead us to initial repentance from sin and perpetual repentance in our daily walk with Him.

Do not be presumptuous, God will not be fooled or used.

Stored up wrath

But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed. (Romans 2:5, ESV)

This is a word to all those who knowing the truth harden their hearts and refuse to repent.

It is also a word to those who seek to abuse God’s grace and will not repent.

In both cases God’s very real wrath is being stored up and not general but personal and specific judgement will be meet out on the day of judgement.

Jesus took the judgment and wrath due to us on Himself on the cross.

Judged by works

He will render to each one according to his works: (Romans 2:6, ESV)

We may not be saved by works but we are judged by them so be fruitful.

The reward of Eternal Life

to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; (Romans 2:7, ESV)

We must endure in doing well, the reward/gift is eternal life.

A level playing field

For God shows no partiality. (Romans 2:11, ESV)

We are one in Christ, now we are all judged on our works this is why we need Jesus to be saved and then to be fruitful.

Proverbs 16:1–11

Avoid self deception

All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the spirit. (Proverbs 16:2, ESV)

Dear Lord, please keep us from thinking our ways are pure or right, help us to know our own spirit and be genuine so when You weigh each of our spirits we are not found wanting.

Commit your ways to the Lord

Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established. (Proverbs 16:3, ESV)

As I read through my notes on this today I read a prayer I wrote this time last year committing every area and plan of my life to the Lord, the prayer included family, ministry and my career. I would encourage you to do the same today.

Sovereign over the wicked

The Lord has made everything for its purpose, even the wicked for the day of trouble. (Proverbs 16:4, ESV)

God is sovereign even over the wicked.

Punishment will come

Everyone who is arrogant in heart is an abomination to the Lord; be assured, he will not go unpunished. (Proverbs 16:5, ESV)

Arrogance will be punished by the wrath of God so humble yourself today.

Fear God and repent

By steadfast love and faithfulness iniquity is atoned for, and by the fear of the Lord one turns away from evil. (Proverbs 16:6, ESV)

There can be no repentance without the fear of the Lord.

Seek to make peace

When a man’s ways please the Lord, he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him. (Proverbs 16:7, ESV)

He makes his enemies be at peace with him, they are not at peace with him by default of his ways pleasing the Lord but a man whose ways please the Lord will seek to make his enemies at peace with him.

Make a plan

The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps. (Proverbs 16:9, ESV)

At least make a plan and the Lord will lead.

Glorify God in business

A just balance and scales are the Lord’s; all the weights in the bag are his work. (Proverbs 16:11, ESV)

Good and fair business brings glory to God.

Most of the above post is a copy of the original notes from the same date in 2014.

Additional resources

The Gospel Coalition on Romans 1