I received a nice letter from my niece the other day. She told about the things her family had done this past year. I really did enjoy reading about the details of her life. I'm sure glad she included me on her list. Pictures were included, so that was such a bonus. Don't you enjoy reading letters or emails from loved ones? Paul's letter was different, but the same. He sent greetings to specific friends at Rome in chapter 16. Paul taught many basic principles for Christians to live by and obey.
"Each of these Epistles is a teaching letter. In each the Holy Spirit is speaking to communicate, to the belivers of the first century and to us today, basic principles on which our lives together as God's people are to be based," writes Lawrence Richards in Illustrated Bible Handbook.
A personal handwritten letter by Paul, Romans was penned by Tertius and delivered by Phoebe to the Christians at Rome. Paul wrote the letter while on his third missionary journey at Corinth. However, it is also a handwritten letter from God to us. There were so many things for us to pick up along the way.
Charles Swindoll tells us, in his book Coming to Terms with Sin, that the main message from Paul in Romans is "the just live by faith." Paul gives us the fact of sin, good news of salvation, sanctification, divine sovereignty, and Christian service.
Remember, under Nero, great persecution hit the church at Rome during A.D. 64. Pagan historians of the period tell of the torture and execution of "a huge multitude" of Christian martyrs. The gospel of God had been heard and believed in the very center of the empire. (Resource: Illustrated Bible Handbook)
I picked up a few solid rocks along our walk in Romans. How about you? (They can be used for witnessing, also.) Here are just a few:
1. Condemnation
Romans 3:10-There is none righteous, no, not one.
3:12-There is none that doeth good, no, not one.
3:23-For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.
6:23-For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ
our Lord.
2. Justification-the sinner declared righteous by God
Romans 1:17b- The just shall live by faith.
5:8-But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners Christ
died for us.
3. Sanctification-a consistent walk with Christ that has holiness as its goal.
Romans 6:12-Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts
thereof.
8:1-There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who
walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
8:38-39-Nothing shall seperate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our
Lord.
4. Predestination
Romans 8:28-30-And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to
them who are the called according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow,
he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he
might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom he did
predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified:
them he also glorified.
5. Restoration
Romans 11:19-Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be grafted in.
6. Application
Romans 12:1-2-I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your
bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable
service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the
renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that Good and acceptable,
and perfect, will of God.
12:19b-Vengence is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.
13:8-Owe no man any thing but to love one another; for he that loveth another hath
fulfilled the law.
14:21-It is good neither to eat flesh, nor the drink wine, nor any thing whereby they
brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak.
7. Conclusion
Romans 15:13-Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye
may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.
15:6- That ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ.
The Blackabys in their daily devotional book Experiencing God Day-By-Day said:
Your life affects those you have contact with, whether you intend it or not. It may be a positive experience or a negative one, but your life will affect others.
I don't think there is anything else to say, but to thank the Lord for encouragement of this book.
Another one of Paul's letters begins tomorrow-1 Corinthians.
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