THE BOOK OF ROMANS Tuesday – September 17, 2013 – Romans 15:14 “And I myself also am persuaded of you, my brethren, that ye also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another.” Paul did not write this letter to the Church at Rome to be critical of them or to brow-beat them about their weaknesses. He says here that he personally is persuaded that they are strong in the Lord. He says that what he has seen and heard of their assembly has convinced him that they are full of goodness, that is, full of the Spirit of God. He tells them that it is because of their strength in the Spirit that he is able to be so frank, so direct with them. Too often, when the preacher gets firm in his message (as I believe he ought always to be), members of the congregation feel like he is preaching directly to them. They feel personally attacked and will often leave the church rather than accept the message as from the Holy Spirit and make adjustments or corrections in their life. In many churches today, the preacher tries to please everyone, preaching for large numbers in his church rather than preaching the Word of God and preaching against sin. Unfortunately, some of the largest churches in recent years are those who preach the ‘power of positive thinking’. They do not preach against sin, as the scriptures do, but seek to reinforce people’s egos in the hopes that his ‘membership’ will grow, and the ‘tithes’ along with it. The preacher that preaches the Word of God without apology, perhaps stepping on a few toes along the way, is the preacher that is being true to his calling. Christ did not forgive my sin so that I could continue sinning, and feel good about myself at the same time. Christ died for my sin because “the wages of sin is death” (Rom 6:23). He died that I “might have life, and have it more abundantly” (John 10:10). We are told to “Study to shew thyself approved unto God” (II Timothy 2:15), not to make ourselves feel better. The strong Christian is the one that looks at the cross and knows that he is the reason Christ died there. The faithful Christian is the one that sees the blood flowing from His body and knows that He is bleeding so that I might live. When the angels of heaven rejoice over your salvation, it is not because they are so blessed to have such an important and impressive new member of the family of God, it is because by accepting Christ as your savior, you are admitting that without Him you are nothing. Your acceptance of His gift tells the angels that the God they love is now loved by another, you. Paul tells the church at Rome that they are mature enough Christians that he knows they will be able to teach each other the things of God and, I think more importantly, they will learn the things of God from each other. Instead of allowing your feelings to get hurt because the message today was directed at you, learn from it, make changes, strive to be pleasing to God. When we stand before Him, He will not care how proud we are of the life we lived, He will be pleased if that life was lived with a desire to please Him. My prayer for today- Why, Lord, do so many of us think more highly of ourselves than we ought? Why do more of us not realize that without you, we are nothing, and with you, we are still nothing but are able to be used by You for Your honor and glory. I am but a clay vessel, made of the dust of the earth and put here to be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth with souls that belong to You. If I love You, I will keep Your commandments, and I will share Your love with as many as I can, as many as You allow into my life. 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: Tue, 17 Sep 2013 11:07:32 +0000
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