“Eight Blessings of Belief” (A Study of Romans 5:1-5) Blessing #1

From The Theology of Calvin . . . and Hobbes (Education?)

Here is something that I noticed in reading this chapter:

Here are the eight blessings that I see in this passage:

1. Justified through faith (v. 1)

2. Peace with God

3. Gained access into this grace (v. 2)

4. Boasting in the hope of the glory of God

5. Glory in our sufferings (vv. 3-4)

6. A hope that does not put us to shame (v. 5)

7. God’s love poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit

8. The Holy Spirit has been given to us

We will think about each of these blessings — one by one — in subsequent posts. Let’s notice this morning the first blessing: WE HAVE BEEN JUSTIFIED BY FAITH!

Finish and comment this blog article at: https://larrydixon.wordpress.com/2020/12/29/ruminating-on-romans-some-thoughts-on-pauls-great-epistle-12-eight-blessings-of-belief-a-study-of-romans-51-5-blessing-1/

A Vision for Believers

Matthew 28:16-20 ¹⁶ Then the eleven followers went to Galilee. They went to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. ¹⁷ When they saw Jesus, they worshiped Him. But some did not believe. ¹⁸ Jesus came and said to them, “All power has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. ¹⁹ Go and make followers of all the nations. Baptize them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. ²⁰ Teach them to do all the things I have told you. And I am with you always, even to the end of the world.”

Most people have aspirations for their life. Some aim for a high-powered career or financial success, while others dream about having close friendships or impacting the world. But no matter what our personal goals may be, we should be aware of the vision God has cast for all of His children. Known as the Great Commission, Matthew 28:19-20 charges us to “go and make disciples of all the nations.”

But what does it mean to “make disciples”? Some Christians think this refers to adding new church members. However, God is not interested in numbers or external appearances; He’s concerned about genuine heart change. So He commissions His followers to lead others, first to saving faith in Jesus Christ and then to baptism as a public declaration of their trust in the Savior.

Once Jesus shared these objectives, the disciples spent the rest of their days fulfilling them. In fact, almost every one gave his life to accomplish them.

This command has not changed. Our Father still expects us to share the good news of the gospel, to teach people how to be followers of Jesus Christ, and to baptize those who are saved.

Are you living with God’s purpose as your guide? Ask Him for the courage to share His message of hope and love.

Praying with Faith during Battle

by Michael Summers

To what genre of scripture do you turn to learn about prayer? The Psalms include many prayers, and from them we learn much about prayer, about God, and about the faith of the writers/singers who penned those prayer-psalms. Prophets like Jeremiah, Isaiah, and Micah included passionate prayers filled with both faith and despair in their books. Paul told recipients of his letters why and what he prayed about and for them. The Sermon on the Mount and the sermon we call “Hebrews” include both prayers and teaching about prayer. The history of Acts records prayers and James, the brother of the Lord, writes in his letter about when prayer is both needed and effective. The prayers of Revelation praise and petition God and his Son.

But, what about genealogies? Many readers skim through the lists of generations, or skip them altogether. Sometimes, what seems an aberration commands the reader’s attention. Five somewhat scandalous women intrude into Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus? What similarities connect them? What distinguishes each? Why is each one included in a genealogy that concludes with the Messiah? Luke’s genealogy stresses that Jesus is the Son of David, the Son of Abraham, and the Son of Adam, but he is above all the Son of God. How or when, if ever does prayer, play a part in the writing or reading of genealogies?

Read more of this at: https://public-api.wordpress.com/bar/

Gospel Grace in 1 Peter

A Broadcast with Steven Lawson In a world that appears to be growing darker and darker, Christians can draw strength from the promise of God’s preserving grace. Today, Steven Lawson shows us from the book of 1 Peter that the doctrines of grace are ultimately doctrines of comfort. LISTEN NOW

A Powerful Message

Romans 1:16-17 ¹⁶ I am not ashamed of the Good News. It is the power of God. It is the way He saves men from the punishment of their sins if they put their trust in Him. It is for the Jew first and for all other people also. ¹⁷ The Good News tells us we are made right with God by faith in Him. Then, by faith we live that new life through Him. The scriptures say, “A man right with God lives by faith.”

The word gospel comes from euaggelion, a Greek word meaning “good news.” It was translated as gōdspel in Old English. Salvation in Christ truly is good news, for though sinfulness reigns in men’s hearts, God can redeem us.

This is the message of the Bible. In Genesis, we see the love of God for man, but we also witness how sin entered the human race, with the result that mankind was lost. There was no permanent solution until Jesus took our sins upon Himself. As our substitute, He endured the penalty we all deserved and defeated death with His resurrection.

Think about the strength of the gospel. God’s Word isn’t simply ink on a page; it is living, active, sharper than a sword (God’s Word is living and powerful. It is sharper than a sword that cuts both ways. It cuts straight into where the soul and spirit meet and it divides them. It cuts into the joints and bones. It tells what the heart is thinking about and what it wants to do. Heb. 4:12), and powerful enough to transform anyone—even sinners like us.

Think about what divine truth is able to do: It can break the chains of sin, heal brokenness, and change hearts. It also guides us into wisdom and choices that bring life. Friend, we have access to the most powerful message in existence.

What’s your response to the gospel? Are you grateful for being entrusted with God’s life-giving Word? This is why we must meditate on Scripture daily and eagerly obey what it says, as it’s the life-source for our soul.

Taking Up the Cross

A Broadcast with R.C. Sproul

The Christian life is more costly than we realize and more precious than we know. Today, R.C. Sproul continues his exposition of the gospel of Mark to help us soberly assess the price of following our crucified King.

LISTEN NOW

Thoughts: 10 Suggestions For Home Bound Christians

https://thepreachersword.com/2020/03/22/sunday-seed-thoughts-10-suggestions-for-home-bound-christians/

Reason to boast

[You’ll forgive me for my notes on the passage (the bolding, the comment “It’s not a waste!”)? These are the first thoughts that hit me as I read the passage.]

Notice two points in this text:

(1) We boast in the hope of the glory of God (v. 2)

(2) We also glory in our sufferings (v. 3)

I’m not certain what the first statement means, but I want to focus on the second. “We glory in our sufferings.” WHAT?! Is Paul crazy? How could he say such a thing?!

This same Paul talks about his “thorn in the flesh” in 2 Corinthians 12 and actually says there that he “delights . . .  in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties.” (v. 10). But, notice please, I left out some critical words: “for Christ’s sake”! The Christian life is not pathological, but purposeful. Whatever we suffer — it is for Christ’s sake!

Here in Romans 5, Paul wants us to glory in our sufferings because —

Read the rest of Larry’s post at: https://larrydixon.wordpress.com/2020/12/27/ruminating-on-romans-some-thoughts-on-pauls-great-epistle-11-not-wavering-through-unbelief-a-study-of-romans-51-5-11-two-reasons-to-boast/

God’s Wisdom Revealed

1 Corinthians 2:6-16 ⁶ We speak wisdom to full-grown Christians. This wisdom is not from this world or from the leaders of today. They die and their wisdom dies with them. ⁷ What we preach is God’s wisdom. It was a secret until now. God planned for us to have this honor before the world began. ⁸ None of the world leaders understood this wisdom. If they had, they would not have put Christ up on a cross to die. He is the Lord of glory. ⁹ The scriptures say, “No eye has ever seen or no ear has ever heard or no mind has ever thought of the wonderful things God has made ready for those who love Him.” ¹⁰ God has shown these things to us through His Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit Who looks into all things, even the secrets of God, and shows them to us. ¹¹ Who can know the things about a man, except a man’s own spirit that is in him? It is the same with God. Who can understand Him except the Holy Spirit? ¹² We have not received the spirit of the world. God has given us His Holy Spirit that we may know about the things given to us by Him. ¹³ We speak about these things also. We do not use words of man’s wisdom. We use words given to us by the Holy Spirit. We use these words to tell what the Holy Spirit wants to say to those who put their trust in Him. ¹⁴ But the person who is not a Christian does not understand these words from the Holy Spirit. He thinks they are foolish. He cannot understand them because he does not have the Holy Spirit to help him understand. ¹⁵ The full-grown Christian understands all things, and yet he is not understood. ¹⁶ For who has the thoughts of the Lord? Who can tell Him what to do? But we have the thoughts of Christ.

In today’s reading, the apostle Paul discusses godly wisdom. This kind of knowledge isn’t available through human reasoning. It is of a higher realm and comes through divine revelation.

This supernatural insight is the only way to accurately know the Lord and His ways. People who lack it will often try to fit God into their preconceived image of Him. This amounts to custom-designing a god, based on their own ideas, to fit their preferences.

The Bible is our most reliable source of divine revelation. When we search for truth, we must consider the entirety of God’s Word instead of just picking and choosing verses we want to believe. For example, imagine if we were to focus only on passages about the Lord’s lovingkindness while disregarding those that deal with His holiness and justice—we’d end up with a lopsided understanding of His true nature.

So let’s take the entire counsel of Scripture into consideration. And remember that divine wisdom is available to every believer through the Holy Spirit, who searches the depths of God. May we never try to limit Him to fit our preferences. Instead, let’s allow the Lord to enlarge our minds so that we can know Him fully.  

If this is Heaven, Then Give me Hell

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SoittnX373g

A possible new mission field that we are considering supporting this year — women escaping polygamy in LDS cult offshoots. We are checking into a Christian outreach at: polygamy what love is this” at https://www.whatloveisthis.tv