{"id":22762,"date":"2022-08-21T22:00:36","date_gmt":"2022-08-22T05:00:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/deuteronomy34_1-12-copy\/"},"modified":"2022-07-26T16:32:27","modified_gmt":"2022-07-26T23:32:27","slug":"romans-1_1-7","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/romans-1_1-7\/","title":{"rendered":"It\u2019s All Through Jesus and For Jesus"},"content":{"rendered":"

Romans 1:1-7 \u00a0 Click here for Bible Verses<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs!<\/p>\n

\n
\n

Today we begin our study of the book of Romans.\u00a0 Romans is a letter written by the apostle Paul in approximately 56 A.D. probably while Paul was on his third missionary journey and probably while he was staying in Corinth, a city in Greece (see Acts 20:2-3).\u00a0 Because Paul\u2019s goal had always been to preach the Gospel in places where Christ was not yet known (Romans 15:20), Paul had his heart set on going to Spain and saw Rome as a critical stopover on his way to Spain.\u00a0\u00a0 So Paul writes this letter to the Christians in Rome, whom he had never met, as a way to introduce himself before he went to visit them personally.\u00a0 In particular, Paul attempts to give a clear and thorough statement of the gospel as Paul understood it, especially since his message had been misunderstood and misrepresented by some in the past.\u00a0 Perhaps for this reason Romans is the longest of all of Paul\u2019s letters.<\/p>\n

Although Romans is a letter addressed to the church in Rome, because of its purpose, it is no surprise that many churches outside of Rome would be helped by it.\u00a0 Even to this day, Romans is for us a significant book which helps us to the most important and foundational truths of Christianity.<\/p>\n

When it comes to getting the most out of the book of Romans, I find that reading it slowly is important.\u00a0 If you will take the time to stop and consider specific words that Paul uses in this letter, it can open up worlds of truth and revelation for you with the help of the Holy Sprit.\u00a0 That\u2019s what we\u2019ll attempt to do together as we go through Romans verse by verse and passage by passage.<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is Romans 1:1-7.\u00a0 Let\u2019s go!<\/p>\n

Romans 1:1-2 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n1\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God–
\n2\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 1-2:\u00a0 The \u201cgospel\u201d is the good news that Jesus Christ the Son of God died for our sins and rose from the grave to conquer death for us.\u00a0 The word \u201cgospel\u201d itself comes from the old English term \u201cgodspell\u201d, which means \u201cgood news\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0 Paul, who didn\u2019t speak English, used the Greek term \u201cevangelion\u201d, which has since been translated \u201cgospel\u201d in English.<\/p>\n

Although the gospel is good\u00a0news<\/em>, here Paul says that this good news is not new\u00a0per se\u00a0<\/em>in that it had actually been \u201cpromised\u201d long ago \u201cthrough the prophets in the Holy Scriptures\u201d.\u00a0 In other words, all of the Old Testament was pointing to and foreshadowing this good news about Jesus.<\/p>\n

Romans 1:3-4 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n3\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0regarding his Son, who as to his human nature was a descendant of David,
\n4\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0and who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 3-4:\u00a0 Here Paul says who the gospel is all about: Jesus Christ.\u00a0 Paul tells us a number of important facts about Jesus.\u00a0 Jesus is both human and divine.\u00a0 As to Jesus\u2019 human nature, Jesus was a descendant of King David (3).\u00a0 As to Jesus\u2019 divine nature, Jesus is the Son of God, as testified to by the Holy Spirit (\u201cthe Spirit of holiness\u201d) and as proven by Jesus\u2019 miraculous resurrection from the dead.<\/p>\n

Romans 1:5 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n5\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Through him and for his name’s sake, we received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verse 5:\u00a0 Paul says that he and his team have been given \u201cgrace\u201d (undeserved kindness from God) and \u201capostleship\u201d (appointment as messengers for God) to call people from among all the Gentiles to this faith, and not just to this faith, but \u201cto the obedience that comes from faith\u201d.\u00a0 In other words, Paul is saying that God\u2019s desire is not simply that we believe in Jesus but that as a result of believing in Jesus we would live our lives in obedience to God.<\/p>\n

Also, Paul says that their role in calling people to faith is both \u201cthrough him and for his name\u2019s sake\u201d.\u00a0 It\u2019s all\u00a0through<\/em>\u00a0Jesus and\u00a0for<\/em>\u00a0Jesus.\u00a0 May you and I see our lives in that same way:\u00a0it\u2019s all\u00a0through\u00a0<\/em>Jesus that we can live, and it\u2019s all\u00a0for\u00a0<\/em>Jesus and His glory that we live.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Romans 1:6-7 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n6\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0And you also are among those who are called to belong to Jesus Christ.
\n7\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 6-7:\u00a0 Though Paul is addressing Christians in Rome, the statements Paul makes here can apply just as much to all of us today.\u00a0 We are \u201ccalled to belong to Jesus Christ\u201d (v6), that is, God has given us an invitation to have a relationship with Jesus and to be part of His family.\u00a0 We are also \u201cloved by God (v7) with a love that is not based on our performance or goodness.\u00a0 And we are \u201ccalled to be saints\u201d (v7), that is, we are called to be God\u2019s people, which effectively is the same thing as believing in Jesus as our Lord and Saviour, for in the New Testament anyone who believes in Jesus as Lord and Saviour is called a saint.\u00a0 (The Catholic and Eastern Orthodox practice of venerating certain individuals as \u201csaints\u201d if they lived an especially pious and holy life is not found in the Bible.\u00a0 For in Jesus Christ, we are all saints, not because we earned it but because of God\u2019s undeserved kindness, His grace.)<\/p>\n

Father God, thank You that I am loved by You and that through Your Son Jesus and for His name\u2019s sake, You have called me to a relationship with You.\u00a0 Thank You that I was made to live through You and for Your glory.\u00a0 May I do that today.\u00a0 In Jesus\u2019 name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs!<\/p>\n

Today we begin our study of the book of Romans.\u00a0 Romans is a letter written by the apostle Paul in approximately 56 A.D. probably while Paul was on his third missionary journey and probably while he was staying in Corinth, a city in Greece (see Acts 20:2-3).\u00a0 Because Paul\u2019s goal had always been to preach the Gospel in places where Christ was not yet known (Romans 15:20), Paul had his heart set on going to Spain and saw Rome as a critical stopover on his way to Spain.\u00a0\u00a0 So Paul writes this letter to the Christians in Rome, whom he had never met, as a way to introduce himself before he went to visit them personally.\u00a0 In particular, Paul attempts to give a clear and thorough statement of the gospel as Paul understood it, especially since his message had been misunderstood and misrepresented by some in the past.\u00a0 Perhaps for this reason Romans is the longest of all of Paul\u2019s letters.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22764,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22762","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22762","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22762"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22762\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22765,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22762\/revisions\/22765"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22764"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22762"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22762"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22762"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}