Romans 1
COMMENTARY:
: 4 And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead. (1411 “power” [dunamis] means ability, abundance, might, strength, mighty work, force, wealth or inherit power.)
DEVOTION: We conclude the book of Acts with Paul in Rome. Here we find Paul writing to the church at Rome. He has left and wants to come back. He has further instructions for them. He spent at least two years there in a rented house preaching and teaching while under guard.
He is praying for the church at Rome. He has heard of their witness for the LORD. He complements them on their faith.
He instructs them in the fact that every human being can see the creation of the world around them and realize that it didn’t happen with a big bang or any other theory presented by the world or the liberal church. God created the world in six literal
twenty-four hour periods. He rests on the seventh twenty-four hour period. HE told the children of Israel to rest on the Sabbath day which commemorated HIS creation. Paul wanted the Christians in Rome to realize that if people looked at the Natural Revelation of Creation, they could see God. However, people would rather worship creation rather than the Creator. They would worship idol that looked like animals or humans or they would worship the sun, moon and stars rather than the God who created them.
Paul wrote most of the New Testament which is Special Revelation given to him by the Holy Spirit. Only those who see God in creation will accept the Special Revelation given in the Word of God because they are blind and have no understanding otherwise.
God gave those who rejected HIM over to their own form of sin. They rejected his General Revelation and HIS Special Revelation [Bible]. HE said OK, have it your own way. There will be a judgment day for those individuals and they will spend eternity in the Lake of Fire. They will be given over to the Second Death.
When we study the life of Christ we watch him manifest his mighty works on everyone he meets. He healed those who were sick. He challenged the religious leaders. He taught the people with parables. He gave the interpretation of his parables to the disciples. He trained the disciples to continue his work on earth. He promised the Holy Spirit. He was willing to die for our sins. He manifested his ability at every turn. He told of his resurrection from the dead on the third day. He was our substitute. He paid the penalty for our sins.
Paul said that God’s dynamite happened in the resurrection of Christ from the dead. God declared that HE was Almighty by HIS work of raising HIS Son from the dead. Paul was a witness to the resurrected Christ. He saw HIM on the Damascus Road.
We are forgiven. Now he gives us grace to live in obedience to him while we are on this earth. We have strength given to us from him to face each day. It is not just regular strength. It is dynamite strength to face all the trials HE allows in our life to cause us to be more like Jesus. Praise his name!
CHALLENGE: Put in your memory bank that God has given you dynamite power to witness for HIM each day. Put in your memory back that HE will help you each day. You are a child of the KING, if you are a follower of Jesus Christ.
: 16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ for it is the power of God to salvation to everyone that believes; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. (2098 “gospel” [euaggelion] means good tidings, good news, good news concerning the now present instantiation of Jesus’ divine dominion and way of salvation by His death and resurrection, news that makes one happy, or a good message.)
DEVOTION: The gospel is defined as “good news.” It is also stated in the Bible to be a statement concerning the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is the beginning of our understanding of the message God has for all those who are going to be believers.
There is no “hole” in the Gospel. People try to add to the teaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Gospel is how we understand our basic belief in Jesus Christ. If we don’t believe that HE lived a perfect sinless life we don’t understand how HE could be the perfect sacrifice for our sins. HE was the only appeasing sacrifice the Father could accept for our sins. Without HIS sacrifice we would spend eternity in the lake of fire with the devil and his angels.
We have to believe that HE died on the cross as our sacrifice. We have to believe that HE was buried in a tomb for three days. We have to believe that HE arose from the grave on the third day. This is the teaching of the Gospel. We are not to add to or take away from this message.
People we share this message with will either become a believer or not. It is not our responsibility it is theirs. They have to make a choice. Nothing is missing from the message.
Once someone accepts the message they need to repent of their sins and follow Jesus. Once a follower they need to learn how to share these truths with others. It is not a message that we should keep to ourselves.
CHALLENGE: We have to be like Paul and not be ashamed of the “good news” he shared with all those he came in contact with no matter their position in life.
: 30 Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents. (545 “disobedient” [apeithes] means impersuasible, not compliant, contumacious, ungodly, or not obeying or complying with commands of those in authority.)
DEVOTION: Children are supposed to obey their parents in the LORD. If a child finds themselves in a home that is trying to honor the LORD they need to follow their parent’s instructions.
Godly parent need to learn as much as they can about raising their children to honor the LORD. This requires the right attitude and right correction when necessary. We will learn that fathers can provoke their children to anger. We will learn that mothers are to train their daughters to be those who have a gentle and quiet spirit.
The Bible can be a great instruction book regarding the raising of children that will obey their parents. In the list of sins that are condemned in this chapter one of them is that children “disobey their parents.”
This is a sin that can affect the rest of the life of the child. It needs to be addressed starting before age six according to all studies. So if you have children under the age of six start now. If they are older pray that the LORD can give you strength to deal with attitudes that are wrong before they become adults. Sometimes parents might even have ask forgiveness of their children for not raising them according to the standard the LORD set for parent in the Bible.
This doesn’t give any excuse for the child who is disobedient. They have to answer for their actions as well. God doesn’t like disobedient children and HE chastens them to prove it.
Obedience of parents is a lifelong commitment. Children can honor their parents even when they are out of the house on their own. Some children never walk a step in the shoes of their parents to see how they were raised.
Some parents never received the right training from their parents and that means that they have learn from no example. They might be doing the best they know how – give them a break and pray for them.
CHALLENGE: There should be parents in every church who understand Biblical principles for raising children and who are willing to help others. Be an example!!
: 32 Who, knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them. (4909 “pleasure” [suneudokeo] means be pleased, allow, consent, applaud, give approval, hearty agreement, or be feel gratified with.)
DEVOTION: There is a long list of sins that the LORD doesn’t like in our world. Included on this list are all kinds of sins. HE doesn’t think one sin is worse than another. It is thought by some that pride is the worst sin but that might not be true.
What we see especially is that HE doesn’t like the people who not only practice any of these sins but they hearty agree with others committing sin. It is a warning to us that we need to inform people, who claim Christ, when they are doing something that is displeasing to HIM. It is not an easy thing to do.
Each of us can have friends who don’t think it is wrong to do some of the things that are listed above. They might think that if we say something, we think we are better than them. That is a wrong thought on their part. We should never come across that we are better than someone else.
Our life is made up of occasions where we sin and have to confess them to the LORD. If we see someone don’t things that we have been guilty of doing in our past we should come alongside of them and help them conquer the sin.
When people tell jokes that are off color we should make sure that we walk and away and not laugh. Our testimony to those outside of Christ needs to be one of caring but condoning their actions. They know the difference.
God the Holy Spirit inspired Paul to list these sins right at the beginning of the book of Romans to help us understand that no one is exempt for sin. No one is accepted without repentance. This is the message Paul wants us to share with those around us each day.
CHALLENGE: Never condone sin by not saying something when given an opportunity to confront someone on an individual basis. Always do it in love.
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