THE BOOK OF ROMANS Monday – July 15, 2013 – Romans 11:5-6 “Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace. And if by grace, then is it no more of works: otherwise grace is no more grace. But if it be of works, then is it no more grace: otherwise work is no more work.” Even as God told Elijah that He had seven thousand who had not bowed the knee to Baal, Paul had to speak to what he knew and not what had been. Paul knew that in all of God’s churches, there were Jews who had turned to Christ and accepted His salvation. A remnant of Israel who were now children of God by grace, by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. There now existed a spiritual Israel inside the nation of Israel. Paul, himself, was such a person. A Jew who had been saved by grace, and he felt particularly able to address the question of grace versus works. After all, what had Paul done to merit God’s grace? Absolutely nothing! Paul called himself the ‘chiefest of sinners’, and based on his background, there were few who would argue his claim. Paul had been an enemy of the church, many still did not trust him, yet God saw fit to save him. When Jesus met Paul on the road to Damascus, Paul was on that road for one reason and one reason alone. He was on his way to Damascus to persecute those who claimed the name of Jesus Christ. When Jesus asked Paul, “Why persecutest thou me?”, He was not asking what Paul had done to deserve His grace. He was not asking what he had done to NOT deserve His grace. Jesus was simply asking, ‘Why are you fighting me?’. Paul knew immediately who he was talking to, and called Him Lord, but I have no doubt he was expecting to die right there. He never expected, considering who he was, that Jesus would say, “I love you”, or “I want to use you to spread My Word”. Paul knew he did not deserve God’s grace, and that is precisely what God’s grace is: Unmerited favor. It is by God’s grace that any of us are saved, not by works for our works are filthy rags. Let’s imagine someone comes to you and says, “I am trying to raise money for little Susie Smith who is dying of a rare disease. I need someone to volunteer to take names of people who participate in this function we are organizing so that we can properly thank each and every one of them” You agree to volunteer for the task and spend hours at the door, taking names and addresses of each person who steps through the door. When it is over, do you approach the organizer and ask for your paycheck? Do you ask how this will benefit you in the long run? No, you volunteered! The organizer had really done nothing to earn your participation, neither had little Susie. You gained nothing personally by doing what you did. Jesus said to His Father, “I volunteer to pay for their sins, to die on a cross and be raised again the third day so that they can come to heaven”. The Father might ask, “Why would you do this? What do you gain by sacrificing your life for a bunch of people who don’t deserve it?”. Jesus would have responded, “Because they cannot do it for themselves and if I don’t do this, they will all burn in hell for all of eternity.” The wages of sin is death, and Jesus died. Price paid, no debt remains; however, when you accept Jesus Christ, you accept the Holy Spirit, and when you accept the Holy Spirit, you accept that He will be making changes to your life. If you have accepted the Holy Spirit, you will love God with all your heart, with all you might, and with all your soul. The fruit of the Spirit, according to scripture, is love, and another verse says that if you have not love you have not God, for God is love. The works we do, we do because of what He already did, not to add to what He did, not to deserve what He did, but because He did it. If we could do anything to earn it or deserve it, it wouldn’t be grace any longer. My prayer for today- God’s grace is sufficient unto me. God’s grace has saved me from my sin, freed me from my bonds, sealed my eternity in heaven. I don’t deserve it, I didn’t earn it, and I cannot pay Him back for it. All I can do is show Him how much I appreciate it. For these daily devotions/studies to truly apply to your life, you must first belong to God. He will welcome you because He loves you, even before you love Him. He loves you so much that He sent His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life (John 3:16). Scripture tells us that if you will confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus Christ, and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart, man believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth, confession is made unto salvation, (Romans 10:9-10). Won’t you confess today and ask Jesus to forgive your sins and be your Savior? He is waiting with open arms…
Posted on: Mon, 15 Jul 2013 13:02:28 +0000
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