4-11-2012 Vol. 6 Part 21 Book of Romans (Romans 7:1)

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Book of Romans

4-11-2012 Vol. 6 Part 21

Psalms 66:1-7 NKJV A Song of Praise and Worship. Make a joyful shout to God, all the earth! Sing out the honor of His name; Make His praise glorious. Say to God, "How awesome are Your works! Through the greatness of Your power Your enemies shall submit themselves to You. All the earth shall worship You And sing praises to You; They shall sing praises to Your name." Selah Come and see the works of God; He is awesome in His doing toward the sons of men. He turned the sea into dry land; They went through the river on foot. There we will rejoice in Him. He rules by His power forever; His eyes observe the nations; Do not let the rebellious exalt themselves. Father we praise you, we give you all the glory. We thank you for all that you bless us and our families with. We ask that you bless us with rain this growing season so that we may have a bountiful crop. In Jesus name we pray!  Amen!

Romans 7:1 NKJV

In Chapter 7 Paul is analyzing the state of an unregenerate person who is under OT law and accepts its truth, yet is conscious of his or her inability to live a life that pleases God. He is describing a conflict between a person who struggles on his own or her own against the power of sin, demonstrating that we cannot attain justification or sanctification by our own attempts to resist sin and obey the law of God. The conflict of the Christian, on the other hand, is quite different: it is the conflict of a person in union with Christ and the Holy Spirit against the power of sin. In Chapter 8 Paul explains that the way to victory over sin is by the law of the Spirit of life in Jesus Christ that sets us free from the law of sin and death”, which we will get to in future lessons.

Before we get started with the verses, it will be beneficial if we understand some basics about God’s law. Here are some verses that describe the objectives of the law:

A.   The Law’s Credibility

1.        Psalms 19:11 Moreover by them Your servant is warned, And in keeping them there is great reward.

2.      1 Timothy 1:8 But we know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully,

3.  Romans 7:12 Therefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good.

B.    The Law’s Unity

1.       James 2:10 For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all.

2.      Galatians 5:3 And I testify again to every man who becomes circumcised that he is a debtor to keep the whole law.

3.      Matthew 5:19 Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

C.    The Law’s Penalty

1.       Galatians 3:10 For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written, "CURSED IS EVERYONE WHO DOES NOT CONTINUE IN ALL THINGS WHICH ARE WRITTEN IN THE BOOK OF THE LAW, TO DO THEM."

2.      Romans 4:15 because the law brings about wrath; for where there is no law there is no transgression.

3.      2 Corinthians 3:7-9 But if the ministry of death, written and engraved on stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of the glory of his countenance, which glory was passing away,  8 how will the ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious?  9 For if the ministry of condemnation had glory, the ministry of righteousness exceeds much more in glory.

4.      Romans 8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.

D.   The Law’s Possibility

1.       Leviticus 18:5 You shall therefore keep My statutes and My judgments, which if a man does, he shall live by them: I am the LORD.

2.      Matthew 19:17 So He said to him, "Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments."

3.      Romans 10:5  For Moses writes about the righteousness which is of the law, "THE MAN WHO DOES THOSE THINGS SHALL LIVE BY THEM."

E.    The Law’s Impossibility

1.       Romans 3:20 Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.

2.      Acts 13:39 and by Him everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses.

3.      Galatians 3:11 But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for "THE JUST SHALL LIVE BY FAITH."

4.      Galatians 2:16 knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.

5.      Galatians 3:21 Is the law then against the promises of God? Certainly not! For if there had been a law given which could have given life, truly righteousness would have been by the law.

F.     The Law’s Frailty

1.       Romans 8:3 For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh,

Romans 7:1

1 Or do you not know, brethren (for I speak to those who know the law), that the law has dominion over a man as long as he lives? Paul is speaking to his Jewish brothers and to us. He is stating the Law has dominion over a person that is attempting to live by the Law. Law meaning the Ten Commandments, Levitical laws, laws the Jewish people devised, manmade laws, and modern day religious laws. If a person isn’t living under Grace through faith in Jesus Christ and what He did at the Cross, then they are living by law which guarantees eternal failure. How are you living, by Faith or Law?

Did you know we even make up our own laws to live by? It’s true, and here is how it works. You have a daily routine and part of that routine is spending time reading the Bible or praying at a certain time and for a specified length of time. When something happens to your schedule and you miss this time or have to cut it short you become upset. Why did you get upset? Because you made a law out of your ritualistic routine. Breaking your routine is like breaking a Commandment. You get conviction of your failure to comply. This is exactly what law is suppose to do. I have heard of churches requiring their congregation to fast because of it being a certain time of the year or a special season coming up. This is living by law and not faith. If a person is living by faith the Holy Spirit will lay it on a believers heart to fast. Don’t get me wrong, I think it is perfectly OK to ask a congregation to pray about or for something, but to make it a custom every year and at the same time each year, it turns into law when God’s word doesn’t teach it.

The truth of the matter is that we all fall into the trap of the law. Many times we trust in our own laws and efforts instead of trusting in God. Our self sufficiency is our worst enemy which is embedded within our DNA when we came into this world. The Sin Nature! Many times we chide others for their actions while we do the same thing. We claim to be trusting in Jesus, but in reality we are leaning on our own flesh. It is all so subtle and religious it deceives many.

Satan loves it when we follow our fleshly laws. Why, because he knows there is no victory in living this way, this lifestyle will get progressively worse, and he will have you in his kingdom some day. He also loves it when we are religious, and even loves it more as we age and become very religious. He knows the longer we stay in the religious mode invariable we will not come out of it, because change is difficult. Our human nature is to oppose change, if it isn’t broke don’t fix it. Satan knows there is no salvation in religion and as long as a person stays bound by religion he owns them. When a person truly believes in Jesus, what he did at the Cross, and has a spiritual birth the battle begins. Satan recruits and sends forth his army of Christian law keepers (Non-believers meaning they know who Jesus is as a part of history.) to ridicule, berate, and tell the believer they have gone crazy. Invariably this lifestyle change in the Born Again Christian will cause division between the believer and his family, friends, and people he works with. Believe me this is very true. This has happened to me by family, friends, aunts, uncles, cousins, coworkers, etc. They tell me to stay under law of the religion I was raised in, but I can’t because I have the truth living within me and my faith is in Jesus Christ. I have given up on any religion for salvation, but not on Jesus, I love Jesus more now than I ever have. I belong to the one and only true church that Jesus started through the Acts of the Apostles, but attend a church while still here on earth to fellowship with other Born Again Christians in the task of spreading the Gospel. Jesus tells us as does the apostle John that when a person becomes a true believer there will be division.

Luke 12:51 Do you suppose that I came to give peace on earth? I tell you, not at all, but rather division.

John 7:43 So there was a division among the people because of Him.

John 9:16 Therefore some of the Pharisees said, "This Man is not from God, because He does not keep the Sabbath." Others said, "How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?" And there was a division among them.

John 10:19 Therefore there was a division again among the Jews because of these sayings.

It sounds like to me that the Ten Commandments that God gave us, causes us to sin more, doesn’t it? Why didn’t God give us the capability to obey the Commandments? If the commandments cause us to sin more, then how can they be called good? God knows everything and knew we would respond the wrong way, so why?

1.    The commandments are good they will lead us in the right direction to live our life, but it is our inherited sin nature that gets in the way. Our pride, not listening, not believing, do it my way, your wrong, my way is better, arrogance, greed, I’m better than you, this makes me happy, this pleases my flesh, the list goes on and on and on.

2.    The Ten Commandments are to draw us to God like Epsom salt draws infection out of a wound. Instead our flesh/sin nature being of the evil one sets up a detour and sends us down another path and we get lost in corruptness which leads to more corruptness and a spiral downward.

3.    The Ten Commandments purpose was to point out sin, show us our inadequacies, and they do if we heed them.

4.    The Ten Commandments is a guide for an ideal lifestyle.

5.    The Ten Commandments covers all the aspects of life economically, physically, socially, and spiritually.

6.    The Ten Commandments addresses our relationship with God (Exodus 20:3-11 "You shall have no other gods before Me.  4 "You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth.  5 "You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me,  6 but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.  7 "You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.  8 "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.  9 "Six days you shall labor and do all your work,  10  but the seventh day is a sabbath of the LORD your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you.  11  "For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day and made it holy.) and our fellow humans (Exodus 20:12-17 "Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged in the land which the LORD your God gives you.  13 "You shall not murder.  14 "You shall not commit adultery.  15  "You shall not steal.  16 "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.  17 "You shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife or his male servant or his female servant or his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor.").

So in conclusion of this verse it sounds like a person can be saved by obeying the Ten Commandments, but that is humanly impossible because of our flesh/sin nature. There was a remnant of OT patriarchs that recognized the purpose of the Ten Commandments, and if you study their life, you will see they placed their faith in God to see them through life.

This is why God sent his only begotten Son to atone for our sins so that we will have a way to salvation through Jesus Christ, which is the only way. This is what we celebrated last weekend, the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Knowing this and putting our faith is this not law or religion will get us to Heaven. As I have stated before, our life here on earth is a test of our free will, and what we chose to do with it, determines where we will spend eternity.

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ,

for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes,

 Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me.

Unless you are Born Again, you cannot enter into Heaven, the Kingdom of God."

http://jesus-christ-spiritual-food.blogspot.com/

Bill

Last Week’s Trivia: What is fruit in a person’s life?

Answer: When a person puts their faith in Jesus and what transpired at the Cross. A new nature is born within the individual and the result is good fruit. Galatians 5:19-23 NLT W hen you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures,  20 idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division,  21 envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.  22 But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,  23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things! 2 Corinthians 9:10; Ephesians 5:8-10; Philippians 1:9-11; Colossians 1:9-10; James 3:17-18.

This week’s Trivia: What does this phrase actually mean? He led captivity captive. Ephesians 4:8

3-28-2012 Vol. 6 Part 20 Book of Romans (Romans 6:15-23)

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Book of Romans

3-28-2012 Vol. 6 Part 20

Psalms 65:1-13 Psalm of David. Praise is awaiting You, O God, in Zion; And to You the vow shall be performed. O You who hear prayer, To You all flesh will come. Iniquities prevail against me; As for our transgressions, You will provide atonement for them. Blessed is the man You choose, And cause to approach You, That he may dwell in Your courts. We shall be satisfied with the goodness of Your house, Of Your holy temple. By awesome deeds in righteousness You will answer us, O God of our salvation, You who are the confidence of all the ends of the earth, And of the far-off seas; Who established the mountains by His strength, Being clothed with power; You who still the noise of the seas, The noise of their waves, And the tumult of the peoples. They also who dwell in the farthest parts are afraid of Your signs; You make the outgoings of the morning and evening rejoice. You visit the earth and water it, You greatly enrich it; The river of God is full of water; You provide their grain, For so You have prepared it. You water its ridges abundantly, You settle its furrows; You make it soft with showers, You bless its growth. You crown the year with Your goodness, And Your paths drip with abundance. They drop on the pastures of the wilderness, And the little hills rejoice on every side. The pastures are clothed with flocks; The valleys also are covered with grain; They shout for joy, they also sing. Father we praise you, we give you all the glory. We thank you for all that you bless us and our families with. We thank you Father God for sending your only begotten Son to us. We thank you Jesus for dying on the Cross for us so that we have a way to Heaven by putting our faith in your death and resurrection.  In Jesus name we pray!  Amen!

Romans 6:15-23 NKJV

In the previous lesson we heard Paul’s answer to those who thought they should “go on sinning that grace might abound.” Paul responded that they had died to sin, how then could they go on sinning? He went on to explain his answer, emphasizing that the key to living a life free from sin’s dominance was to reckon themselves dead to sin but alive to God in Jesus Christ and to stop presenting themselves as instruments of unrighteousness, and to present themselves as instruments of righteousness to God.

15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not! Once again Paul anticipates his listener’s questions and addresses them before they can ask the question. This lesson starts out with a question that is very similar to how last week’s lesson started, but is different. It started with (v. 1); Romans 6:1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? (v. 1) is asking “shall we continue sinning” and (v. 15) is asking “shall we sin”. The results are different also. In (v.1) the anticipated result is that grace can multiply unto the individual by continuing in sin, and in (v.15) the anticipated result is, being under grace and not the law, then we can  sin because grace abounds. The answer to both is no, you can’t have it both ways. Anyone proposing to sin or continue to sin whether in Paul’s time or our current time is rationalizing that there are no longer any moral restraints and that every man can do what was right in their own eyes. Jude warns us about such people and grace preachers.  Jude 1:4 For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ. To summarize these two verses, grace is not a ticket for us to sin, but to free us from sin. Grace not only justifies a believing sinner, it transforms him.

16 Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one's slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death (Satan), or of obedience leading to righteousness (God)?  What this verse is telling us is that we are slaves to sin, Satan, which leads to everlasting death, Hell, or slaves to God, which leads to everlasting life, Heaven. All of us are, or have been slaves to one or the other. Jesus makes this very clear to us in the Gospel of John. John 8:31-34 Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed.  32 And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."  33 They answered Him, "We are Abraham's descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can You say, 'You will be made free'?"  34 Jesus answered them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin.

These two powers, sin and obedience oppose each other and are constantly at battle. Paul tells us that in Galatians 5:17 For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.

It is impossible to be a slave to both of these powers at the same time. Jesus tells us that in Matthew 6:24 "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other (Believer), or else he will be loyal to the one and despise (meaning to think lightly of; know about, but disregard) the other (Non-believer)..………..

We proclaim who we serve not by what we say but by what we do. Jesus tells us that in Matthew 7:20-23 Therefore by their fruits you will know them.  21 "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.  22 Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?'  23 And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'

John tells us that we can proclaim to have fellowship with God, but if we continue in sin then we are liars. 1 John 1:6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. John also tells us if we proclaim to know Jesus but don’t keep His commandments we are liars too. 1 John 2:4 He who says, "I know Him," and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.

17 But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. Paul is giving praise that his listeners had stood fast in the faith they were delivered into. They were delivered from sin bondage by a regeneration of a new nature from the inside out. The old universal reality of the natural nature of man was put to death when they accepted the Gospel.

18 And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. This verse is stating the fact that when a person accepts Jesus as their saviour, they are delivered from the bondage of the inherited sin nature, but only to become bound to a life of righteousness. This bondage is one of glory. It isn’t bondage in a believers eyes, because they are eager to serve the Lord.

19 I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness.  Paul is referring to the term slave when he stated, “I speak in human terms”. He is keeping it simple so we can understand what he is alluding to. The rest of the verse is pertaining to our body parts. Remember last week when talked about our body parts causing us to sin. Here Paul is emphasizing that our members can cause us to sin and continue to sin until sin is out of control like cancer. Sin can be viewed as a type of cancer where if left unchecked it will consume us and cause spiritual death, Hell. Paul is telling us to use our members now to promote our sanctification by doing things for the Glory of God Almighty. We should shout out to God and say here I am God, use me as you see fit.

20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. Verse 20 is referring to our state of being, as a sinner, righteousness is something we don’t think about much. We sin and justify our sinfulness with other people’s actions, or say it is the thing to do in modern times. For instance it is common now days for couples to live together without getting married. If confronted the response is come on, get with the times, you old fuddy duddy, but the pure and simple fact is that they are sinning in God’s eyes, with this type of lifestyle.

21 What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. Verse 21 is asking a question of what good things did you produce while living in the old lifestyle the sin nature. When a person has a Spiritual Birth the veil is lifted from the person’s heart and now the believer sees all the sinful things they were doing in the old life. They all of a sudden realize how much they have offended Jesus with their old life. They are heartbroken and see how awful they were and they didn’t produce any fruit that was worthy to offer to God. They see their old man was sending them to eternal death, Hell.

22 But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life. Verse 22 is once again stating the fact that when a person is set free from the sin nature by placing their faith in what transpired at the Cross they become servants of God. What comes forth from then on, from this saved person is fruit of holiness. New love for God, new language, new actions, new love for people, etc. This fruit ends with everlasting life, Heaven, provided the person keeps his eyes focused on the Cross of Christ.

23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Verse 23 reiterates the fact the all mankind is born with the inherited sin nature which leads to eternal death, Hell. But by believing in the sacrifice Jesus endured for us on the Cross and what it stands for; the gift of eternal life, Heaven, can be granted to a person. This gift of eternal life is the only way to Heaven.

Our sin nature is put to death when we become a believer. Another way to view this transformation is that our old human nature was replace with a new human nature. The old human nature was one that allowed us to sin and we had no pre-conviction or after sinning conviction. We just shrugged it off. Why did this happen this way? Because all you have is your own human conscience to guide you and it is corrupted by what Satan did in the Garden of Eden. He deceived Eve resulting in both she and Adam eating of the fruit, resulting in every human being born with the inherited sin nature. Before a person has a Spiritual Birth they are living to please their flesh and self gratification of worldly things. In short how a person is living pleases Satan, they are actually living for Satan, because flesh and worldly things belong to Satan.

Here is an example of the old and new nature. When horses run in the wild there is a pecking order. There is always an alpha horse that rules. All the other horses submit to the alpha horse because the alpha horse sets the law and commands obedience. Then I come along and take one of these wild horses and start breaking it. The first couple days the horse is disrespectful of me and wants to do things his way according to his wild nature. As days go by and I lay down the law to the horse, the horse starts to submit to me as the new alpha being. Trust, respect, obedience, and love become the new nature of the horse. The horse gives it all to me and becomes a new horse, the horse is attentive and strives to please me in whatever I try to teach it, it takes on a new nature, the old wild disrespectful horse dies to me and the wild nature no longer has dominion. This is the way it is when a person becomes a believer. This is what Paul is telling us and trying to help us understand the transformation of a person when they have a Spiritual Birth.

One other thing I would like to take the opportunity to point out with this example is our free will that God has given us. Take this newly transformed horse and turn it back out into the wild and it will go back to its old way of life. Lead me not into temptation, but deliver me from evil. We as human being have to choose what lifestyle we will live, and the life style we choose is the lifestyle we become. Sin or Holiness?

So you see the old nature dies to the new nature, but it is still present and continues to battle with the new nature. If we don’t focus on Jesus and what he did on the Cross for us, and study his word daily, our old sin nature will take over and dominate again. This is why the Holy Ghost takes up residence in our body to assist us in this battle.

When the new nature takes over, the old man, the old human nature is crucified in Jesus death and buried. The Holy Ghost takes up residence within our bodies. Then we have the Holy Ghost telling us in a much bolder way than our conscience ever could, when we even think about sinning. If we disregard the warning of the Holy Ghost and carry out the sin, the Holy Ghost will place such conviction within you, that you will find no peace until you make things right and repent. Any true believer will know what I’m saying here and will agree, but an unsaved person will not understand because they have no experience concerning this matter. They will doubt what is being said just like Thomas doubted instead of believing in what he was being told. This thought alone should drive an unbeliever to seek God with a passion to know the truth. This should peek the human nature of an individual to know if they are saved and going to Heaven or Hell when they die. But it doesn’t, because being a human being and having the inherited sin nature from eating the fruit of good and evil they view themselves as being good, which is mans point of view and not God’s.

A person receives an automatic sin alarm, the Holy Ghost, when they become a true believer. The Holy Ghost is there to convict you even if you contemplating doing something wrong.  You see the indwelling of the Holy Ghost is like a rail road crossing gate in a dense fog. You drive up to a rail road crossing and the gates are down with the red lights flashing. You sit there awhile and then roll down your window and hear nothing. Then the temptation enters your mind. Should I go around the gates? Should I disregard the warning? Should I put faith in what I know and take matters into my own hands and proceed? You decide not to heed the gates, red lights, and the traffic law and as you proceed across, a train broadsides you and kills you, all because you decided to do it mans way. You didn’t put your faith in Jesus to take care of you, you didn’t heed the gates and red lights (Holy Ghost), you didn’t obey the law (God’s Commandments). The Trinity consists of 3 functions, which is a study of its own.

You say this isn’t reality because if a person rolled down their window they would have heard the train, but I didn’t mention the fact that you had the radio blaring, or you were on your cell phone, or you were busy texting someone, which all represent distractions of the world which is Satan’s goal, to take our eyes off Jesus and doing things our way to please him.

I pray and hope you are understanding what we are when we have a Physical Birth, and what we can become when we have a Spiritual Birth.

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ,

for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes,

 Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me.

Unless you are Born Again, you cannot enter into Heaven, the Kingdom of God."

http://jesus-christ-spiritual-food.blogspot.com/

Bill

Last Week’s Trivia: How can we apply Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego’s actions toward Nebuchadnezzar to modern day living?

Answer: The answer is very simple. At the sound of the designated music, they would not bow down and worship the golden image Nebuchadnezzar had set up. First it was a man made law, second it was to worship something other than God. Their faith was in God and his laws, they didn’t practice idolatry. The same hold true today for a believer.

This week’s Trivia: What is fruit in a person’s life?

Verse List:

·         2 Peter 2:18, 19

·         Colossians 1:21, 22

3-21-2012 Vol. 6 Part 19 Book of Romans (Romans 6:8-14)

Note: To download/print the document, click on the above title and when the Google Document window opens click on the word "File" under the word Google.

Book of Romans

3-21-2012 Vol. 6 Part 19

Psalms 64:1-10 To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David. Hear my voice, O God, in my meditation; Preserve my life from fear of the enemy. Hide me from the secret plots of the wicked, From the rebellion of the workers of iniquity, Who sharpen their tongue like a sword, And bend their bows to shoot their arrows—bitter words, That they may shoot in secret at the blameless; Suddenly they shoot at him and do not fear. They encourage themselves in an evil matter; They talk of laying snares secretly; They say, "Who will see them?" They devise iniquities: "We have perfected a shrewd scheme." Both the inward thought and the heart of man are deep. But God shall shoot at them with an arrow; Suddenly they shall be wounded. So He will make them stumble over their own tongue; All who see them shall flee away. All men shall fear, And shall declare the work of God; For they shall wisely consider His doing. The righteous shall be glad in the LORD, and trust in Him. And all the upright in heart shall glory. Father we praise you, we give you all the glory. We thank you for this early Spring and beautiful weather. We pray that what is going on in the political arena is your will and if it isn’t we pray that elected officials will rule for the people and not for their own benefit. Give us the discernment to know who to support and vote for. In Jesus name we pray!  Amen!

Romans 6:8-14 NKJV

Paul’s message from the beginning of Romans 6 has been the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, for us, in our place. We rejoice that the death of Jesus secured for us freedom from the penalty of sin. Paul begin to show us that Jesus death has done more than simply provided a kind of “fire insurance” from eternal punishment. His death, burial, and resurrection have freed us from the very dominion of sin and has given us the ability to live lives that are pleasing to Him and fulfilling to ourselves.

God’s purpose for us goes beyond our initial response to His offer of grace and forgiveness. His desire is that we may become in practice (sanctified) what He has already declared us to be by position (justified). Meaning He desires us to live a lifestyle modeled after Jesus (sanctified), since God has declared us holy by forgiving our sins (justified) when we had a spiritual birth. 1 Thessalonians 4:1-3 Finally then, brethren, we urge and exhort in the Lord Jesus that you should abound more and more, just as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God;  2 for you know what commandments we gave you through the Lord Jesus.  3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification: ……. Philippians 1:6 being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;

8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, 9 knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him.

In verses 8 & 9 there are two words that hold the key for a person to put to death their old life style where the sin nature has dominion. The first one is “knowing”. It is this knowledge that a person gains and what they do with it. They can read and study the Bible without the message of God sinking into their lives and making a difference, or they can believe what it says and submit to God’s word and allow it to change their life. Yes, “believe” is the second word. If we don’t believe what is stated in the Bible a person can ask Jesus to come into their life until they are blue in the face and it will never happen. Why would this be? First of all God can see what is in our hearts and what we truly put our faith in. Such as religious denominational laws, rules, regulations, doctrine, etc. He knows what we idolize such as money, sports, shopping, drinking, sex, praying to manmade saints, believing in old wives tales, etc. If God is not included in every part of your life, making decisions, praying unceasingly, praising, giving thanks, etc. then He takes a back seat in your life. He knows this and He is a jealous God and wants first place in your life. If this wasn’t important to God, then why did he make it the first commandment? Exodus 20:3-6 "You shall have no other gods before Me.  4 "You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth;  5 you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me,  6 but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments. We as humans are lazy when it comes to picking up a Bible and reading and studying it to find out the truth in what man is teaching us. We would rather go to church on Sunday for a half hour or hour and listen to what a minister, preacher, priest, etc. has to say and then leave with the thought of I have done my religious duty for the week and a quarter mile down the road our minds focus on what’s for breakfast or lunch at our favorite eating place.

Going back to verse 8 Jesus died to sin, resulting that anyone that believes dies to sin also. Jesus knew no sin, nor was he able to sin. He was, and is, the sinless spotless sacrificial lamb. It was through this sacrifice that all mankind was redeemed. Just as Jesus knew no sin and was able to resist all temptation of sin He defeated the effects that sin can do to a person, by nailing it to the Cross. It is through this sacrifice, that when a person becomes a true believer and starts living for Jesus, the believer has the power of the Holy Spirit within, to say no to sin, their old life style. Jesus disconnected the power cord of sin by unplugging it from a Born Again Saint at the time of conversion. If you can grasp the meaning, you will understand how it applies to your life.

10 For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God.

In verse 10 the phrase, “He died to sin once for all”, is a very misleading statement and diverts the reader’s attention to “all”. This leaves the reader focused on Jesus dying for all which he did, but what is being said is that Jesus die once and only once as a sacrifice. There is no need for any other sacrifice or ritualistic type of sacrifice that some religious denominations practice. I like how it is stated in the KJV and Catholic Bible over other bible versions, they leave the “all” out. The emphasis is left on the fact that Jesus died once, and nothing else is required.

Romans 6:10 KJV For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.

Romans 6:10 DRB For in that he died to sin, he died once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.

What Jesus did for us by being the ultimate sacrifice, put an end to man being the intercessor between God and man. There is no longer a need for a priest to offer sacrifices for the atonement of sin. Jesus is our one and only intercessor to God for us. Man cannot forgive sin, only God. Luke 5:21 And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, "Who is this who speaks blasphemies? Who can forgive sins but God alone?" Luke 5:24 But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins"…………

Hebrews 7:26-27 For such a High Priest was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens;  27 who does not need daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the people's, for this He did once for all when He offered up Himself.

Hebrews 9:12 Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.

Hebrews 9:28 so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.

Hebrews 10:10 By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

1 Peter 3:18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit,

The last part of verse 10 applies to us as believers and living to God. Accepting the truth you will receive the assurance from God you are saved and just a Jesus you will live a life as He does. Because of Christ's death and resurrection, we need not ever fear death. That assurance frees us to enjoy fellowship with him and to do his will. This will affect all your activities, work, worship, play, Bible study, quiet times, and times of caring for others. When you know that you don't have to fear death, you will experience a new purpose for and in life. Hebrews 2:14-15 Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil,  15 and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.

11 Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. 12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts.

Reckon; what is Paul getting at here. Reckon is the key word. The Greek word is logizomai; log-id'-zom-ahee; meaning to take an inventory, that is, estimate (literally or figuratively); come to a conclusion, conclude, (ac-) count (of), reason. In short what Paul is telling us, is that everyone claiming to be a true Christian must examine their lifestyle and compare it to Jesus lifestyle. Compare it to God’s standards. Are you living according to the 10 Commandments? Is the corrupt nature, called the old man, inherited from our first father Adam, crucified with Christ? Is the sin nature in a dying state, even though it struggles for life and victory in a believer? Is the whole body of sin, whatever is not according to the holy law of God, done away with? Being a Christian is like being an athlete. We must study and practice daily to achieve holiness (sanctification), and practice what we preach. 1 Corinthians 9:27  But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified. Every true believer, by the grace obtained at the cross, must shed their sin nature, so they will no longer be a slave to sin, but live to God, and find happiness in his service.

13 And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.

Paul is telling us that we are not to allow our members to become tools for the purpose of unrighteousness and sin. Our body members can be used as weapons by the enemy of our soul, in getting his work done.

Are you wondering what body members? There are quite a few and here is a list to get you started in thinking about others. Christians should devote every member of the body to God and to his service. Their tongue should be consecrated to his praise, thanksgiving, the office of truth, kindness, and benevolence, and not to vain, gossiping, and filthy language. Their hands should be employed in useful labor for him and his cause. Their feet should be swift in his service, and should not go in the paths of iniquity or lead a person into places where sin may occur. Their eyes should contemplate his works to excite thanksgiving and praise and not fall upon lusts that excites the flesh. Their ears should not be employed to listen to words of deceit, or songs of dangerous and licentious tendency, or to persuasion that would lead astray, but should be open to catch the voice of God as He utters his will in the Bible. Their minds should be focused on God, tuned to His voice, and trained to discern the truth and not on worldly pleasures. Their heart should be opened and trained in loving God with all their heart, mind, soul, and strength, and loving their neighbor as themselves, and not on me, me, me. He speaks to us every day, and we should hear Him. He spreads his glories before us, and we should survey them to praise Him. He commands, and our hands, heart, and feet should obey. Romans 13:14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts. Colossians 3:1-3 If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God.  2 Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.  3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.

14 For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.

The last part of this verse ties right in with verse 15 which we will address next week. What this verse means in a nutshell is when a person accepts Jesus as their saviour they have the capability to recognize sin in a whole new way and turn from it by the power of the Holy Spirit dwelling within them. Sin no longer has a hold on the person. When under the law, the law of obedience (Ten Commandments) sin was our master. Don’t think that what I just said means we can disregard the Ten Commandments, because it doesn’t. What I’m saying is the Ten Commandments are to show us right from wrong and bring us to God. The law (Ten Commandments) does not justify us, or gives us the power to overcome sin. It condemns every transgression and every unholy thought without providing a way of eradicating evil or the pardon of sin. But now that we are bound to Christ, he is our Master, and he gives us power to do good rather than evil. We are under God’s grace that provides all the things that the law could not provide.

NOW THAT IS SOMETHING TO SHOUT ABOUT!

HALLELUIAH!      PRAISE GOD ALMIGHTY!      THANK YOU JESUS!

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ,

for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes,

 Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me.

Unless you are Born Again, you cannot enter into Heaven, the Kingdom of God."

http://jesus-christ-spiritual-food.blogspot.com/

Bill

Last Week’s Trivia: Hagar/Sarah = Old Covenant/New Covenant = Man’s Way/God’s Way = Hell/Heaven = Physical Birth/Spiritual Birth = Eternal Death/Eternal Life = Living by Sin Nature/Living by Spirituality = Born of Water/Born of Spirit = Flesh/Spirit = Mortal/Immortal = Carnal/Spiritual. Do you understand why all are equal?

Answer: The left side is all about man and the right is all about God. The son born to Hagar, Ishmael, was a result Sarah and Abraham taking things into their own human hands to obtain a child instead of waiting for God to act. We as human beings are often not patient enough to allow God to move in our lives, so we decide to do it our way and as a result we normally mess things up. When we act upon the things on the left side of the slash the result will be putting our faith in man resulting in difficulties, but if we act upon the things on the right side of the slash and put our faith in Jesus and what he did at the Cross for us the result will be much better.

This week’s Trivia: How can we apply Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego’s actions toward Nebuchadnezzar to modern day living?

Verse List:

·         Romans 7:5

·         Romans 7:23

·         1Corinthians 6:15

·         1 Corinthians 12:12

·         1 Corinthians 12:18

·         1 Corinthians 12:20

3-14-2012 Vol. 6 Part 18 Book of Romans (Romans 6:1-7)

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Book of Romans

3-14-2012 Vol. 6 Part 18

Psalms 63:1-11 A Psalm of David When He Was in the Wilderness of Judah. O God, You are my God; Early will I seek You; My soul thirsts for You; My flesh longs for You In a dry and thirsty land Where there is no water. So I have looked for You in the sanctuary, To see Your power and Your glory. Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, My lips shall praise You. Thus I will bless You while I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name. My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness, And my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips. When I remember You on my bed, I meditate on You in the night watches. Because You have been my help, Therefore in the shadow of Your wings I will rejoice. My soul follows close behind You; Your right hand upholds me. But those who seek my life, to destroy it, Shall go into the lower parts of the earth. They shall fall by the sword; They shall be a portion for jackals. But the king shall rejoice in God; Everyone who swears by Him shall glory; But the mouth of those who speak lies shall be stopped. Father we praise you, we give you all the glory. We thank you for all that you do for us. We ask that your love and grace super abound within us and shine forth.  We seek your face and ask for your love and guidance in all we do. In Jesus name we pray!  Amen!

Romans 6:1-7 NKJV

In this lesson Paul brings about a discussion that takes us from justification as a sinner to a discussion of the holy life of a saint that we become when we submit our lives to Jesus. The first five chapters of Romans deals with the past, what we were, and what we have become through Jesus Christ, the key word being justification. Chapters 6-8 deals with the present, with the key word being sanctification.

Right from the beginning of Romans Paul has been presenting his case for justification. He has clearly demonstrated mans inability to justify himself. In the first three chapter he has powerfully proven all men are guilty without excuse. Whether pagan or religious, Jew or Gentile, wise or unwise, all are guilty before God.

In chapters 4 & 5 Paul demonstrates what man could not do for himself, God has done for him through Jesus Christ our Saviour. This work of God that was done at the Cross is called justification. It is separate from any work which man can do, because Jesus has done it all at the Cross.

Up to Romans 6 Paul doesn’t discuss the holy life of the saint, and likewise from chapter 6 forward he doesn’t discuss the salvation of the sinner. The important truth of chapter 6 is the relationship between justification and sanctification. Justification is man’s eternal position before God through Jesus Christ; the salvation of the sinner. Sanctification is the putting into practice the new person you become through a spiritual birth. To become holy!

·         Justification is an act – Sanctification is a work

·         Justification is for us – Sanctification is in us

·         Justification is a transaction – Sanctification is a transformation

·         Justification is the means – Sanctification is the end

·         Justification declares the sinner righteous – Sanctification makes the sinner righteous

·         Justification removes the guilt and the penalty of sin – Sanctification removes the growth and power of sin

1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Paul knew what his audience was thinking so he addresses it right away. Their thoughts were if God loves to forgive, why not give him more to forgive? Or if forgiveness is guaranteed, do we have the freedom to sin as much as we want to? Many would think that if sin caused Gods grace to abound then they could go on living the same way they had been living. They were thinking they could have the best of both worlds, sin and eternal life. This is present even today. Many people call themselves Christians, but live a life style of sin, based off of their actions and what they say. People will twist scripture so that it will fit their life style. It is how they justify their actions. Anyone that thinks they can continue sinning does not understand the seriousness of sin. God's forgiveness does not make sin less serious; his Son's death for sin shows us the dreadful seriousness of sin. Jesus paid with his life so we could be forgiven. The availability of God's mercy must not become an excuse for careless living and moral laxness. Jude even made the statement that people believe that God’s forgiveness and grace would abound and a person could live a life of sin. Jude 1:4 NLT I say this because some ungodly people have wormed their way into your churches, saying that God's marvelous grace allows us to live immoral lives. The condemnation of such people was recorded long ago, for they have denied our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.

What it boils down to is a person may think they are Born Again by reciting a pray, or going through some type of ritual, but the cold hard fact is they aren’t. You can’t live a life of sin and declare yourself saved. The true meaning of verse one is that if a person is sincere and asks the Lord into their life, then God’s grace is much more powerful than any sin and God loves you so much He will forgive you. That is how God’s grace abounds.

2 Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? A person that has a Spiritual Birth dies to sin. It doesn’t mean that person will never sin again, because being human they will sin. What it means is that through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit the sin nature no longer has dominion over the believer. The believer now has the ability to identify much more what sin is. In fact, just the thought of something that would lead to sin, now convicts the believer it is wrong and the believer is capable to turn from that sin. Recognizing the temptation and turning from it is only possible with the help of the Holy Spirit living within the believer. I’m not talking about big sins, I’m talking about little sins like lying, faking your sick to stay home from work, stealing by using the company copy machine, stealing grapes by eating them in the grocery store, etc. Sin has no dominion over the believer any more, the Holy Spirit has dominion over the sin. Can a believer disregard the conviction of the Holy Spirit when he is tempted? Yes he can because God has given us free will, but it will be very difficult for the believer to do this. Why, because when he became a believer a light bulb went off within his heart and he became fully aware of what God and Jesus did for him at the Cross. He all of a sudden realized how wretch and sinful he was and that it should have been him on that Cross instead of Jesus dying for him. Colossians 3:3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 1 Peter 2:24  who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed. A true Christian is dead to sin, they do not live to sin, and sin has no dominion over them. They live in Jesus and Jesus Spirit lives in them. John 15:4  Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. (See verse list for other verses.)

3 Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?  This verse is telling us that when we are baptized we are baptized into Jesus Christ. Water plays a role in baptism, but has nothing to do with salvation, as I will explain how it fits in with the next couple verses. This act of baptism is a profession by the individual that they identify themselves as being in Christ and Christ in them through Jesus death and resurrection. It is their expression now of fully understanding what transpired on the Cross, the death, and resurrection of Jesus. They have become fully aware in their heart what salvation and God’s grace is all about and through this act of baptism, they want to identify themselves with Christ in His death and resurrection, and serve Him. Colossians 2:12 buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.

4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.  5 For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection. Paul is telling us that baptism by being submersed in water represents Jesus death and resurrection. When a person gives their life to Jesus and becomes a new creature in Jesus, the act of Baptism is the person’s way of identifying themselves with Jesus death and resurrection.

Here is how it all works. When a person is submersed completely under water, it represents Jesus death and burial. When the person comes up out of the water, it represents Jesus resurrection from death and new life. When a person becomes a believer their flesh, sin nature, living for self and worldly things is crucified and left buried under water, just as Jesus was crucified and was buried and he left our sins buried. When a person comes up out of the water it represents a new person and a new life, just like Jesus was raise with a new body and new life. The Christian life is a life of newness; a new heart, Ezekiel 36:26; a new spirit Ezekiel 18:31; a new song, Psalm 40:3; a new name, Revelation 2:17; a new creation, 2 Corinthians 5:17; a new creature, Galatians 6:15; a new self, Ephesians 4:24.

United together means Jesus death was our death, His burial was our burial, His resurrection was our resurrection. He not only died for me. He died as me. Being united together also gives us the truth about eternal life through His resurrection. When we become a Born Again Christian, then we are united with Jesus, and his resurrection is our resurrection, and assurance of Heaven. 1 Corinthians 12:13  For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit.

The tragedy is that many mistake the symbol of water baptism as the means of salvation instead of a demonstration if it. We’ve studied this in the past and I want to make it clear that water baptism will not save a person. In the Bible baptism was always after a person accepted the Gospel. Mark 16:16 He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. See verse list for other instances.

6 knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.  7 For he who has died has been freed from sin.

Our old man is referring to our life style before being saved. (Ephesians 4:22  that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, Colossians 3:9  Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old man with his deeds,) The life we had when we catered to the sin nature and justified our actions with fellow human beings instead of Gods standards. When Jesus died on the Cross it was made possible for anyone to come to Him and accept Him as their saviour. Anyone believing in this sacrifice and what it represents that Jesus perform for us can be assured, the body of sin (sin nature) will be defeated and will be set free. PRAISE GOD! THANK YOU JESUS!

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ,

for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes,

 Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me.

Unless you are Born Again, you cannot enter into Heaven, the Kingdom of God."

http://jesus-christ-spiritual-food.blogspot.com/

Bill

Last Week’s Trivia: There are many messages from the follow verse, but one in particular comes to mind reflecting a message of a previous lesson. Can you figure it out? Genesis 39:5 So it was, from the time that he had made him overseer of his house and all that he had, that the LORD blessed the Egyptian's house for Joseph's sake; and the blessing of the LORD was on all that he had in the house and in the field.

Answer: A few lessons back I was explaining how people justify their lifestyle by the good things that happen to them, thus declaring God blesses them. I also explained how God sends rain and sunshine and it falls on both good and bad people. Read the above verse carefully again and see how God blessed the household because of Joseph. It was because of Joseph that Potiphar and his house prospered.

This week’s Trivia: Hagar/Sarah = Old Covenant/New Covenant = Man’s Way/God’s Way = Hell/Heaven = Physical Birth/Spiritual Birth = Eternal Death/Eternal Life = Living by Sin Nature/Living by Spirituality = Born of Water/Born of Spirit = Flesh/Spirit = Mortal/Immortal = Carnal/Spiritual. Do you understand why all are equal?

Verse List:

·         Romans 5:21

·         Colossians 1:13

·         Acts 26:18

·         Philippians 3:20

·         Ephesians 2:19

·         John 8:34-36

·         1 John 3:9

·         Romans 6:14

·         Galatians 2:20

·         2 Corinthians 5:15

·         Ephesians 4:22

·         Colossians 3:9

·         Acts 2:41

·         Acts 8:12, 13

·         Acts 8:37,38