Thanksgiving in Colossians

In the second Bible study in this series on the Letter to the Colossians, titled Identification, we studied Paul’s introduction of himself and Timothy and his greeting to the church at Colossae. This greeting of Paul’s identified him as an apostle, a sent out one, of Christ by the will of God. Paul identified himself as a Christian and one who goes out to proclaim the Gospel. By this, the church of Colossae could recognize he was one to whom they should listen. Paul had credentials. Next in the greeting, Paul called Timothy “our brother.” With these two words, he identified to the Colossian believers that Timothy, too, was a believer and one who traveled with and learned daily from Paul. He was one they should consider highly, too. The people of Asia Minor, which included Colossae, knew of Timothy as one of their own since he grew up in their part of the world. The Colossians identified with Timothy as a man of Asia Minor. Paul, being from Tarsus, of Asia Minor, identified as one of their own, too. Between Paul and Timothy, their backgrounds covered people from Asia Minor who had Greek and/or Jewish backgrounds, just as the Colossian church comprised people from Greek and Jewish backgrounds. With the words of Paul’s introduction and greeting, he led the people to identify with him and Timothy and prepared them to listen and heed what he wrote to them in this letter.

With verses three through eight, Paul prayed about the Colossian brethren. This prayer was a thanksgiving to God for the faith of the Colossian Christians, love toward their brethren, and hope for their final reward. Notice, this prayer speaks of a multidimensional Christianity-upward to God, outward to other believers, and forward to eternity - shown by three words, faith, love, and hope.

Thanksgiving

To God

“We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, always praying for you…” (Colossians 1:3 [NASB])

Paul, as Jesus’ sent out one, who identified with Christ and the Colossian Christians, offered a prayer of thanks to God. The word “thanks” comes from the same Greek work from which eucharist comes. The Greek word is eucharisteo. It means to give thanks acknowledging God’s grace works well for our eternal gain and His glory. For God’s grace, Paul thanked Him. Each time a Christian partakes of communion/eucharist/Lord’s Supper, he or she gives thanks for the grace God gave him or her through Jesus Christ. The Lord’s Supper is a time of remembrance of what Jesus did for believers and thanks for His grace He gave through it. Paul said the same thing in this opening of his prayer. He remembered with and for the Colossae Christians what Jesus did for them with His life, death, and resurrection, and he thanked God for the grace He gave them, which they accepted as His gift of love.

With the phrase “to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,” Paul began reminding them of who Jesus is. He alluded to the theme of this letter - Jesus, the Son of God, fully divine. Paul prayed to God, the Father of Jesus Christ, the Son who died and rose from death to give grace, mercy, and salvation. To this One, the One in whom Paul, Timothy, and the Colossian church had faith, he interacted. In this prayer, Paul pointed anew to the supreme deity of God. Because of God’s grace works in and for the Colossian saints, Paul thanked Him. He acknowledged grace and faith come only from God. Paul prayed in faith, praying in the way the Father desires, according to the Father’s heart, that the Colossian church would be persuaded completely and be full of faith in Him. He said he prayed always for the Colossian Christians. Paul prayed according to God’s will continually and in the way He moved him to pray for them. He was connected intimately with God and, through Him, intimately connected with the Colossian believers. He identified with God as His saved and sent out one. Paul identified with the Colossian Christians, too, as one who was a sinner saved by God’s grace through Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection.

Faith and Love

“…since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love, which you have for all the saints…” (Col. 1:4 [NASB])

Paul had heard of the faith and love of the Christians in Colossae. He would have heard it from the man he discipled who was from their region, Epaphras. Because Paul spent lengthy periods of time in Asia Minor on his second and third missionary journeys, he could have learned about the believers in Colossae at those times or from the people who wrote to him. What Paul heard is for what Paul thanked God. He noted their faith, pistis, in Jesus Christ. Notice, this belief is not in one’s self to do things, such as good works, or be things. This belief is in Jesus, the One who saves people from their sins and makes them righteous. Pistis means belief and true faith in Jesus as a gift from God. This faith gift from God is what persuaded them of the truth of Jesus Christ. As they acted on this faith, it produced more faith, so they grew in their relationship with God and in their service to Him. As any believer applies what they know, hear, and receive from God, more faith grows in them. They mature and bear fruit.

This faith and its growth in a believer leads to agape love. Agape love can only come from being identified with Jesus Christ. People cannot manufacture it. This love that is true and devoted; it is pure. Nothing changes it. This love is not hot one day and cold another. Agape love is the pure love from Jesus Christ. Each characteristic of God - Father, Son, and Spirit - comes from this pure love. The agape love Paul said the Colossians showed was love “for all the saints.” These saints of which Paul wrote were other people whom Jesus made holy through the redemption He gives. The Colossian believers enacted their faith in Jesus with pure love for other believers in Jesus Christ. They showed the love of God to other Christians. This shows the Colossian believers’ identification with God. Their faith in Christ led to love of Christ pouring out from them towards the saints. They identified with Jesus and with other believers. These Colossian Christians grew in their faith and showed Christ’s love to others. They had a vertical relationship with God and a horizontal relationship with people that was Christlike, from agape love. For their faith acted upon as agape love lived out among other saints, Paul thanked God.

Hope

“…because of the hope laid up for you in heaven, of which you previously heard in the word of truth, the gospel…” (Col. 1:5 [NASB])

Paul began this next section talking of the third aspect of believers, hope. The first two were faith and love. Paul said in verse five, “...because of the hope…” Hope motivated the believers in Colossae. Hope without substance isn’t hope. Without substance, this describes just possibility. Hope that has a basis, a foundation, such as the Christian hope in Jesus that leads to an eternal reward, is something onto which they could be sure. The Colossian believers could trust and put their confidence in this reward, not because people told them about heaven, but because they believed unto faith in Jesus Christ and received salvation by His grace given because of His shed blood. That truth is the basis for Christian hope. Jesus never fails or lies. He is victorious over sin and death as the fully divine Son of God. The believers in Colossae held onto this hope laid up for them in heaven, which they gained when they heard and trusted in the truth, the Gospel. They lived out their faith with God’s agape love toward other believers because of the hope they had in Christ. The Colossian Christians’ faith, as God gave to them, was genuine as acknowledged by their actions of faith and because they looked toward the future of their completed salvation and acted in the present.

 

Word of Truth’s Sufficiency

“…which has come to you, just as in all the world, also, it is constantly bearing fruit and increasing even as it has been doing in you since the day you heard of it and understood the grace of God in truth…” (Col. 1:6 [NASB])

Paul is famous for his unending and complicated sentence structure. This phrase begins with the last words in verse five. It speaks of the Gospel. The word “Gospel” comes from the Greek word euaggelion, meaning the truth of the good news of the Messiah. Paul stated the Colossians faith, love, and hope came from the Gospel, the good news of the Messiah. This Gospel that came to them and which they heeded was the word of truth. Remember, God is the definition of truth, the source of truth. His character is truth. So, if something comes from Him, it is the absolute truth. Understanding this was important for the Colossian believers because they lived in a city and region bombarded by Greco-Roman gods, Babylonian gods, Greek philosophical thought, and Jewish legalism. This combination of influences with bits and pieces of ideas taken from Christianity led to the beginnings of Gnosticism. The truth from God of the good news, the Gospel, is absolute. Paul inferred no other philosophical thought or faith system is truth if it differs from God’s truth.

Paul continued explaining how they could know for sure this word of truth they received is the truth. He said a faith in the word of truth constantly bears fruit and increases. He said this word of truth is the same as what had been and was being presented in the entire world. The increase is the number of people from different tribes, nations, and tongues who believed in the truth of God. Know by its increase, its fruit. Just as it bore fruit in the Lycus River valley with actions of godly character and conduct, it was effective beyond there and bore fruit elsewhere, too. This fruit of the Gospel in believers’ lives didn’t just bud then die away, but word came of its growth and maturity. It increased and spread. So, too, did the faith of the Colossians grow richer and deeper. It matured in them. God’s truth didn’t need supplementation by other thoughts or religions. People need nothing else for the Gospel to save them when they believed in Jesus Christ. This word of truth, the Gospel, as the believers in Colossae listened to and understood it from Epaphras, is the grace of God. The Gospel preached to them, which they believed with the faith God gave them and the faith that grew and matured, is God’s truth and is sufficient for salvation from sins and receipt of eternal life with Him. Paul said no person needs to add anything to what they received from God’s sent ones to give them salvation and eternal life. Writing this in his thanksgiving to God foreshadowed what Paul's purpose was for this letter. Jesus’ sacrifice was sufficient.

Faithful to Christ

“…just as you learned it from Epaphras, our bellowed fellow bond-servant, who is a faithful servant of Christ on our behalf…” (Col. 1:7 [NASB])

Paul identified he knew from whom the believers in Colossae heard the Gospel. The verb Paul used is a prolonged verb. What they learned began at a point in time and they kept learning, so it became a part of their lifestyle, continuing to learn from experience as they walked with Christ each day. Paul acknowledged the believers in Colossae not only believed, but they kept on believing and grew in their faith. They matured and increased, as he said in verse six. They learned and kept on learning by living with Jesus every day. Paul mentioned Epaphras because he trusted what he taught and preached to them since he personally discipled him. He knew Epaphras taught the truth of God. Additionally, by mentioning Epaphras, Paul reminded the believers of Colossae to remember and hold on to the truth Epaphras told them. Don’t let anyone water it down with other philosophical thoughts or faith systems.

Paul called Epaphras a “beloved fellow bond-servant.” This phrasing meant Epaphras was one of them; they followed Christ together. Both Paul and Epaphras identified with Christ. He called him a bond-servant. A bond-servant is someone who voluntarily submits to another person. It doesn’t occur by force, authority, or monetary debt. Epaphras, like Paul and Timothy, accepted the truth of the word, the Gospel, and voluntarily submitted to Christ as His Lord and Savior. Wherever God told Him to go and to whoever God told him to speak, Epaphras would obey. God controlled his life because he gave it to Him. By this, Epaphras was a bond-servant of Christ. Besides being a beloved, fellow bond-servant, Paul said Epaphras was faithful. This word comes from the same root word as the word “faith” in verse four, pistos. Epaphras did not begrudgingly obey God. He did not say, “I’ll do anything, except not that, God.” He was a faithful servant. Epaphras, fully persuaded of the truth of the Gospel about Jesus Christ, lived a life of growing and maturing faith upon which he obeyed God. Inspired by Jesus, he carried out His plans for each person to hear the Gospel. Epaphras lived and breathed to tell the Gospel. He became a teacher of the Christian faith as a beloved and faithful bond-servant of Christ. Epaphras’ cause, his purpose for telling others about Jesus, was three-fold. He acted because of the call Christ had on his life. Epaphras identified with Christ. He, too, acted with other men and women to make sure each person heard the Gospel. Epaphras identified with other sent out ones. Finally, he acted out of agape love for other people. He did not want any person to die without knowing the grace, salvation, and eternal life that faith in Jesus gives. He identified with unsaved people because he had been an unbeliever. Because of Epaphras’ faithfulness to Christ, the Colossian Christians could trust completely in the truth Epaphras taught them. They didn’t need new teachers or to add other things to what Epaphras taught them. Epaphras’ faithfulness to God and to the people of Colossae shows pure love, agape love. Epaphras’ and Paul’s faith, hope, and love, resulted in proclaiming the word of truth and being faithful to Christ.

By the Spirit

“…and he also informed us of your love in the Spirit.” (Col. 1:8 [NASB])

In verse three, Paul said he and Timothy had heard of the faith in Christ of the Colossian believers. He did not state from whom he gained that information. In verse eight, Paul wrote that Epaphras told them of Colossians’ faith. A young pastor reported to his mentor/discipler what was happening in the church he planted in Colossae. He wanted Paul to know what was happening in the Lycus River valley. Epaphras excitedly told what was happening in Colossae and the growth he saw in the believers. The first sign of belief in Jesus in a Christian’s life is the love that flows in and through him or her, outward to people and upward to God. Epaphras told Paul of their love. He didn’t tell them of philia love, deep friendship, but of agape love, a love for everyone that has its source in God. The Colossian believers, according to Epaphras, identified with Christ and identified with other believers. He said they did it in the Spirit. Identification with Christ and other believers is not recognizing them, but more than that. Identification is recognizing and loving them without considering their worth. Just as God loves each person. The Colossian Christians’ identification with Jesus and other believers came from love. The Colossian Christians did not love from their own capacity, but with the capacity and unselfish love of God. Epaphras told Paul of the Colossian believers’ maturing faith, Paul wrote.

Thoughts to Consider

Have you understood everything Paul said in this six-verse passage of Scripture? Paul was very precise in what he said. He packed much into his sentences with many dependent clauses. Paul, like any good teachers and mentors, began this letter and his thanksgiving to God for the Colossae church with the good news of the growth of these children of God in love, faith, and hope, the three aspects, or as R.E. O. White says, “the dimensions,” of Christian experience. He thanked God for the people of Colossae who had become Christians because of their faith, which manifested itself through the love and hope that comes from God. Paul recognized these co-heirs in Christ identified with God and with other believers. Paul briefly reminded these believers that Jesus is fully divine, and His sacrifice is sufficient for salvation. They did not need to add another philosophical thought or faith system to Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection to receive salvation and an eternal inheritance in heaven. Paul encouraged the Colossian believers further by telling them what they had heard from Epaphras came from a fellow beloved bond-servant of Christ, just as he himself is an apostle of Jesus Christ by God’s will.

Consider these questions as you process today’s Bible study.

• Has your faith in Jesus shown in love for other believers?
• Have you lived out your faith by telling someone the word of truth?
• Do you look with expectation to receive the hope God laid up for you in heaven?
• Does your faith keep you strong and steadfast in your faith in Christ?
• Have you mixed anything else into your belief in Christ because it seemed like the right thing to do, things like ancestor worship, idol worship, sacrificing animals when you sin?
• When people look at you, do they see a faith in Christ that bears fruit and mature constantly by your heart, words, and actions?
• Are you continuing to learn and grow in your faith and relationship with Jesus?
•  If you are not a believer in Jesus Christ, what keeps you from believing in Him as your Savior?

Paul wrote to the Colossian Christians to do more than boost their morale with his thanksgiving to God. He foreshadowed of the theme for this letter in his prayer we studied today. Jesus is fully divine, and His sacrifice is sufficient for the salvation of every person who repents and believes in Him as the Son of God. As always, Paul’s love for other people caused him to teach and correct them so Satan’s deceptions would not lead them astray.

Paul would later pray for these believers to have the knowledge of God’s will with spiritual wisdom and understanding, to live a life worthy of God, bearing fruit, increasing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with God’s might and power, ensuring and being patient with joy, and giving thanks to God, the One who qualified them to share in the inheritance of the saints. (Colossians 1:9-12)

For us today, we must ask ourselves if we are persuaded fully of the truth of the Gospel about Jesus Christ. Does it impel us to live a life of growing and maturing faith shown by obeying God? We should ask ourselves if we live a life worthy of God. Paul, Epaphras, and Timothy did. Where do you stand with Jesus now?

For next week, re-read Colossians 1:9-12.

If you want to talk about this Bible study or want to know about Jesus so you can receive the salvation from sins He offers, contact me through the contact form on my website. I will write back to you.

“[I] am giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light.” (Colossians 1:12 [NASB])

More than Prayer

“Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving.” Colossians 4:2 [NASB]

Paul wrote this verse is written in the letter to the church at Colossae. He wrote it because of a heresy that was causing problems in this Gentile Christian church. Paul wanted to expose the heresy, stop it, and encourage the church in their faith.

Notice Paul did not write to them and command them to keep praying, being vigilant and thankful when things were good. He commanded these three things when things were gray and troublesome in the Colossae church. What Paul specifically told the Colossian Christians is very important.

He told them to devote/persist, that means to persevere steadfastly. This command uses an active verb. Don’t let something or someone cause you to stop praying. Don’t make your request to God once. Be persistent. Pray and keep on praying. Once you have a relationship with someone, you don’t just suddenly stop relating to that person. That is not relationship. Relationship requires work from humans. It requires commitment and determination to keep on relating. Prayer is relating with God. It is seeking Him, speaking to Him, and asking for His will to be done. Therefore, from the first part of this verse, Paul commanded the Christians of Colossae should pray and keep on devoting themselves to prayer. Don’t stop when you ask once. Keep praying because you are in a relationship with God. Keep praying because God hasn’t answered your prayer yet. Keep praying because asking is not the only part of prayer.

Next in this verse, Paul said, “keeping alert in it.” Again, this is an active continuing verb. This command means you don’t just make your request then go about your business. It goes along with persistently devote yourselves to prayer. Pray and keep praying. Keeping alert or being watchful is an active verb that means to be on the alert, be awake, expect God to act upon your prayer to Him. When you pray, God hears and will answer. Expect Him to answer and wait and keep on waiting expecting Him to answer. This vigilance is like the watchman on the wall of a fortress. He knows the enemy is out there and so he will keep watching so he is not caught off guard. When we pray, we know God is there listening to us and with that knowing-our faith in God-we can expect and should keep on expecting that He will answer in some way. Don’t ask and then walk away. Don’t ask and say, “Oh well, God doesn’t really love me.” He does love you. God might have a bigger plan in action than what you asked for. Watch and He will often surprise you in how He answers your prayers.

The final command of this verse Paul wrote in his letter is “keeping an attitude of thanksgiving.” This verb denotes activity, too. It comes in relation to “keeping alert.” If one does not expect God to answer, one does not anticipate having to give thanks. Keeping alert anticipates God answering prayer. Keeping alert gives an impetus for us to be thankful. As we pray, we can be thankful we have a relationship with God. As we pray, we can be thankful for what God is going to do, though we may not know how He will do it. Devoting ourselves to prayer and being alert should mean we are ready to give thanks when God answers and for how He answers. Finally, being watchful and alert means we thank God afterwards for hearing our prayers and being faithful to His relationship with us.

Without anticipation of God hearing and answering our prayers, we don’t stay alert and watchful and we are not thankful for whatever happens in life. Sometimes God appears not to answer prayer. Sometimes God’s answers seem contrary to that for which we asked. Other times, God’s answers are so beyond anything we could think or imagine, and we are amazed at how He answered our prayers. The first scenario when it seems God does not answer our prayers reveals that we have either not been alert after we prayed, or we have not been thankful and so are blinded by our lack of growth in relationship or self-centeredness. The second scenario when God seems to answer our prayers in ways contrary to what we want or expect reveals the smallness of our thinking and pettiness of mind. We have not grown enough in our relationship with and faith in God to see that how God answered was for our good, though it may have hurt when He answered because He was growing us. The third scenario reveals a person who prayed and kept on praying, stayed alert and watchful expecting God to answer, and was always ready to thank God for who He is, what He was going to do, and what He did to answer our prayers. God answers prayer in ways we expect, in ways we can’t fathom and leaves us amazed, and sometimes waits to answer so that we can grow in our faith and relationship to Him.

Paul taught the Colossian Christians to steadfastly and persistently pray. He taught them to be ever watchful and expect God to answer prayer. Keep alert, he commanded. Finally, Paul taught the people always to be ready to give thanks to God because of His faithfulness to you. You can do this knowing that in whatever way He answered, His love for you and His will are perfect. God is to be thanked and praised for being omniscient, omnipotent, loving, merciful, and faithful to you.

Let’s put this lesson of Paul’s into perspective. This year has been one of the hardest, if not the hardest, my family has endured in almost twenty years and possibly the whole 30 years of my family’s life. We’ve experienced eleven major life stressors this year-illnesses, surgeries, torn ligaments, three deaths, family members walking away from their faith, and a handful of other things. Going through each of these stressors is hard. Going through them back to back is almost life-crushing.

As the year unfolded, we periodically looked back at the year at what happened. We saw where God’s hand entered into our lives to undergird, sustain, protect, guide, and provide for us. We didn’t enjoy going through the stressors. Some of them were downright painful to our hearts and minds. Still, we kept up our relationship with God. We persistently devoted ourselves to prayer daily minute by minute. We know Who reigns over all and Who will always be victorious. We trust God completely. That is how we were able to stand up during this year. We knew God would answer. We didn’t know how, when, or where, just that He is faithful and would intervene. We watched and waited for Him to answer and intervene. It did not seem at times as if He had, but those times of looking back helped us gain perspective to see where God had walked with us and sometimes carried us through the storms. Because of this year, our faith in God is stronger and our relationship, love, and trust of Him has grown exponentially.

Our faith in God made us persistent pray-ers and made us stay alert because we knew God had a plan and would answer. Our faith in God meant we could be thankful even before God answered prayer because He is always faithful to His children. He always does what is best for us though at the times it may hurt and seem not to be the best way. Perspective often comes when you look back over that time and recognize God’s hand intervening in places. Only then can you see a better picture of what God was doing for you and in you.

We could thank God for what He would do and Who we know He is. We could also thank God for how He was going to get us through the stressors. When we think we have it all figured out, God often surprises us with His ways because our view is so limited. He sees all possibilities and knows what is best for us, which is to grow us closer to Him and for us to be more like Him. Finally, we can be thankful after going through these stressors because God led us to the stressors and through them. He did not shelter and pamper us from hardships. God loves us enough to want us to grow and allows trials and testing to come into our lives to mold us and make us stronger. He does it because He is stronger than the trial and expects to help us go through them. You see, often people can’t get through hard times because they have forgotten to hold onto the One Who is greater than the trial. We humans lose focus and see the storm instead of the Master of the storms. When we lose our focus, we become like Peter who began to sink into the sea as he looked at the magnitude of the storm instead of the love and power of the Savior. He let troubles blind him to the power of God.

Paul did not teach the Colossians, “Do as I say and not as I do.” He taught from his personal experience with God. Paul had lived through persecution, flogging, imprisonment, and a myriad of other things. Yet he could still say, “Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with an attitude of thanksgiving.” Paul still had a relationship with God as he went through a trial and afterwards. He expected God to answer his prayers and so he kept alert. Paul even praised and thanked the Lord before He answered his prayers. He was bold as to preach while in prison knowing preaching the gospel was what got him put into prison. Paul had learned the reality of an active alert, and thankful relationship with God. He prayed without ceasing because he knew Who is Lord and Master over all things and people. As some say today, Paul had an “attitude of gratitude.” He expected to thank God and so began immediately.

Have you kept your relationship with God during everything that has occurred in your life this year? Have you persistently prayed? Have you actively watched for God to work and answer your prayers? Have you thanked God for what He has done and, even before that, for who He is and what He was going to do? Each of part of this verse, these three commands, is active and continuous. They do not exist in isolation from each other. I encourage you to look back on your year and see where you kept up your prayers to God, where you actively sought Him to work, where you stopped expecting Him to answer your prayers, and where you have given or not given thanks for what He did. If at no other time in this year, this time of Thanksgiving should strongly encourage us to reflect on this year to see how we fared in our relationship with God.

Dear Lord, I am so fallible and sinful. I am selfish and see only my needs and my ways of fixing them. Please forgive me of my sin of self-centeredness. Forgive me of my laziness in relating to You. Forgive me of my lack of thankfulness and praise of You. Teach me, nudge me, remind me to devote myself to our relationship, to actively wait and watch for You, and to keep thanking You even when it seems You are silent. I thank You now for what You have done this year, and what You are going to do now and in this next year. I trust You completely. Let Your will be done.

Coup de Grace: His Blow of Grace

“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:4-7 [NASB]

Verses four through seven spoke to me. We all know these verses, but I don’t think I had seen them this way before. Verses four through six are commands. Verse seven is a blessing of shalom, heart peace that only God can give. After you have done those three things in verses four through six, then you have blessing-from Paul and from God. As I walked through those commands, I was like, “Yeah, yeah,” but then connections were made that hadn’t been there before for me. And I was like “Yes, I am going to have shalom!”  I am claiming. And I prayed that way for my family this morning.

Verse four: “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.” Rejoice at what God is going to do, at what He has done, at what He is doing, and at Who He is-I AM, Immanuel, Creator, Savior, Provider, etc.

Verse five: “Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near.” Don’t let what happens to you deter you from being who God has made you to be. Show the world God’s goodness, kindness, compassion, love, grace, mercy, and forgiveness even when things are not what you want them to be.

Verse six: “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your request be made know to God.” This one has been on my radar for years. Thanksgiving is not something I regularly do. Maybe you are like me. Today, I began thinking of all the things I could be thankful for and recognizing they all come from God’s hands.

Then the coup de grace (There is a reason grace is part of this French idiom.) is in verse seven. “And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” When you do these things, you will have peace because you recognize from where peace comes. God is your peace. Nothing that comes against you will prevail when you thank God for who He is, rejoice no matter what your circumstances, continue to be gentle in spirit, being anxious for no thing at all, but seek to keep in relationship with the Lord. This is how you have peace. And you don’t have it because you manufacture it. You have heart peace because of God’s grace, His blow of grace-the soft breeze that glides by your skin or the tumultuous wind that gets your attention and you know, despite it, you have peace because you are in a relationship with God.

What is coup de grace normally? In French, it’s an idiom that means a mercy killing, or the blow of grace. We could say that is what God does with His mercy toward us. His Son’s crucifixion was a mercy killing to save us from a dying misery. It’s God’s blow of grace on us that gives us eternal heart peace. Paul meant this when he wrote, “And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” God’s blow of grace may be a soft breeze across your mind or heart or may be a stiff knock to get you to that place, but His peace, no matter what your circumstances, will guard you and keep you. It’s a heart peace-shalom-that comes from knowing God, from being in a saving relationship with Him.

Verse seven is the coup de grace when you look at those four verses together. His blow of grace-His heart peace-will keep your hearts and minds when you rejoice always, remain gentle in spirit, stay calm and un-anxious, while giving thanks in expectation. Grow and keep on growing in your relationship with God and this peace, this shalom-heart peace-will be yours. That is coup de grace. This coup de grace is a different way to look at the French idiom, a Christian way.

Then finally we get to the familiar “whatevers” list in verse eight. Dwelling on the “whatevers”-whatever is true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, of good repute, excellent, worthy of praise-can only happen because of having a close relationship with God and because they come from Him. Paul didn’t stop with the command to dwell on them. He told the people to practice them. Why? Because the “God of heart peace will be with you.” Just as Jesus taught people what comes out of a person in words and actions comes from his or her heart, Paul told the people to put into action those excellent things that God puts in them by practicing them. Following these last two commands, Paul gave a promise. The same promise he gave the people in verse seven. When you do these things, God’s heart peace will be with you.

It's not a magic trick. You don’t do things just to get peace. You have peace, God’s peace, the blow of God’s grace, when you are in a saving relationship with Him through Jesus Christ. The grace that brings each of us into relationship with God upon our profession of faith in Jesus as our Savior is how we get this peace. When you are in a relationship with God through Jesus, you dwell on those excellent things that come from God, and you have heart peace because God is with you.

A big sigh is expressed as relief and release enters and we understand much better than before. Rejoice. Show your gentle spirit from God. Be anxious for nothing but pray and supplicate with thanksgiving. These things come from the mind and “the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ.” More than this, dwell on excellent and praise-worthy things, which only come from God, then practice them. And again/still, the God of peace shall be with you. Three verses of commands, then a promise of God’s peace. Next, two commands, and again a promise of God’s peace, heart peace.

Are you ready to breathe that sigh of relief? Are you seeking heart peace, the peace that passes all understanding? God gives it through His Son, Jesus Christ. Come walk in relationship with God. Rejoice. Be anxious for nothing. Have access to the Father through the Son. Be thankful before God answers prayer. Think on excellent and praise-worthy things and practice them. Receive unending heart and soul peace, the blow of God’s grace across your heart, soul, mind, and body. His merciful love calls to you.

Lord, God, many times I did not rejoice always. I was anxious and did not seek You first. I acted and reacted based on my best judgments or on my fears. Help me to walk with You so I can keep my eyes focused on You. Help me to recognize Your grace and merc,y and sway towards Your ways instead of my own ways. Forgive me my stubbornness and conceit thinking that I always know what is right. Without You, I flounder and fail. With You, I have learned I can have Your peace-heart peace-even in the middle of difficult times because You are God and nothing surprises You. Amen.

Paul's Heart and God's Righteousness

Introduction

In the last Bible study when we studied Romans 1:1-7, we learned the typical way Paul began his letters to churches and Christians he visited or aimed to visit. He began this letter to the Romans similarly. From the beginning verses of the letter to the Romans, Paul stated to the readers and hearers his authority for teaching and preaching. He told of Jesus making him his apostle. Paul made sure his intended hearers and readers recognized his background and authority for teaching and preaching so they would not doubt his earnestness or the authenticity of the gospel of which he spoke. Besides this, he ensured the people knew the basics of the gospel.

From the end of verse six, Paul told us to whom he wrote this letter, the Roman Christians. He called them saints and used the word hagios, which means to be different as in set apart from other things, holy unlike other things that are unholy. Paul said God made them holy by cleansing them from their sins and setting them apart to be His children through the death of His Son, Jesus Christ.

After identifying the addressees, Paul greeted the Roman Christians with a prayer of blessing on them. He asked for God’s grace, His favor, to be on them. He asked for God’s peace to be on them, too. This peace for which Paul prayed is greater than the legendary peace of Rome, pax Romana. He understood two types of grace and peace exist-that from God and that found in the world that is not everlasting, but fades.

In this Bible study, we will consider Romans 1:8-17. In these few verses, Paul gave thanks for the Roman Christians, thanks for who they are and what they did, and thanks for what God would do for and to him because of being with them. He told in detail about what he was thankful regarding the Roman Christians. Paul then proclaimed his great desire to be with them and teach them so they would be established and encouraged. Along with his thankfulness for the Romans, he expressed his obligation because of Jesus making him an apostle to preach and teach Greeks and barbarians, and wise and foolish. The Roman Christians would have understood Paul’s heart of care for the salvation of every person no matter their background.

The final element of any Pauline letter was the incorporation of a summary of the main theme of his writing. Paul made sure people understood the purpose of his writing. He more than alluded to it in his opening statements. For the Romans, Paul stated the theme of this letter is the righteousness of God. Let’s now study verses eight through seventeen of Romans chapter one.

Thanksgiving

Another of Paul’s typical inclusions in the opening of his letters to other churches and here in Romans was thanksgiving to God. For what did he thank God regarding the Romans? Let’s consider what he said in verses eight through ten. Paul said,

First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, because your faith is being proclaimed throughout the whole world. For God, whom I serve in my spirit in the preaching of the gospel of His Son, is my witness as to how unceasingly I make mention of you, always in my prayers making request, if perhaps now at last by the will of God I may succeed in coming to you. (NASB)

Paul told the Romans two things for which he prayed to God in these three verses. He said he thanked God for the Romans. Why would Paul thank God for them? He said people around the whole world proclaimed their faith (vs. 8). Paul said he thanked God for the faith of the Roman Christians. Remember the history of Jews and Christians in Rome was one of persecution. (See the Bible study titled Romans, the Background.) The Roman Christians began by worshiping with the Jews, God-worshipers, in their synagogues in Rome. They identified with the Jews because they worshiped Yahweh, too. Since the Christians of Rome were a small group, they worshiped alongside the Jews. The leaders of Rome, therefore, considered the Christians of Rome an offshoot of Jews, not a separate faith. When the Emperors of Rome expelled the Jews, the Jewish-background believers in Jesus also had to leave Rome. That left the Gentile-background believers in Rome with no one else with whom to worship Yahweh and nowhere to worship so they began small house churches. When the Emperors who expelled the Jews died or repealed their expulsion, the Jewish-background believers returned to find established Christian churches in Rome. Through the series of these Emperors, the Christians of Rome kept the faith. Their conviction of the truth about Jesus Christ remained firm, and they continued to worship the Lord despite the upheaval. For this, Paul thanked God for the Roman Christians. These Christians, though faced with loss of worship place, home, leadership, and expulsion from Rome, stood strong in their faith in Jesus Christ.

With verse nine, Paul told these believers how big his heart was for them. He said he prayed unceasingly to God, whom he served, for the Roman Christians. Paul noted he served God. He willingly submitted himself as a bondservant for God’s service as an apostle to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ, God’s Son. Paul, as God’s servant, claimed in verse nine God was his witness how often he prayed for the Romans. Claiming God as his witness was like taking an oath. God witnessed Paul’s unceasing care and prayer for the Roman Christians. No one higher exists and Paul attested to that with this oath emphatically letting the readers and hearers know if he lied, God would judge him. With this statement, the Roman Christians would realize without doubt Paul’s love for them since he prayed for them unceasingly. Paul loved the Roman Christians enough that he prayed for them ceaselessly and thanked God for them.

·         Do you pray unceasingly for anyone? Why or why not?

·         When you pray for someone regularly, do you find your heart grows closer to that person?

·         Why did Paul pray unceasingly for the Roman Christians? Is this why you pray unceasingly?

·         Do you suppress godly love for others and keep yourself from praying unceasingly for other people?

·         Could it be that you have not willingly submitted to God, and that keeps you from praying ceaselessly for other people?

Paul’s Heart

Strengthening Believers

Paul’s love for the Roman Christians went beyond praying for them when he remembered them. He desired to be with them. In Acts 19:21, Paul said, “I must also see Rome.” This “must” comes from the word dei and means what is imperative. Paul said he must absolutely appear in Rome. “See” comes from the Greek word horao and means to see, look upon, and experience; to see with the mind. Paul prayed for the Roman Christians because of what they experienced and their continued faith. He prayed for them to continue to be a testimony to God through their faith to the world. Paul desired to be with the Roman Christians to see them and experience their life with them because of his love for them. He trusted and prayed to God that he would “succeed” in going to the Romans (vs. 10). “Succeed” comes from the Greek word euodoo and means to grant prosperous and expeditious journey. Paul prayed God would grant him permission to go to Rome to see and be with them, and to be His apostle to them proclaiming the gospel there. He wanted to go at once, but he waited for God to make a way for him and send him. Though Paul’s desire was to be in Rome immediately, God’s timing for his visit there was for later.

The latter was truly Paul’s heart. He said in verses eleven and twelve,

For I long to see you that I may impart some spiritual gift to you, that you may be established, that is that I may be encouraged together while among you, each of us by the other’s faith, both yours and mine. (NASB)

Paul desired with his whole being to be with the Roman Christians and to be in Rome. Why he did it comes in the succeeding verses. He wanted to become acquainted with them by experience, not just by hearing about them. Paul wanted to impart something to them. “Impart” comes from the Greek word metadidomi and means to impart, share, or give over. Paul said he wanted to impart a spiritual gift. If we conclude his thought there instead of going through the end of the verse and going through verse twelve, we will make a mistake in understanding. Paul did not mean he wanted to lay hands on the people so they would receive spiritual gifts. This impartation of gifts is tied to the purpose of Paul’s letter. The purpose of Paul’s letter, he said, was to establish them and make them strong, and to encourage them. Verse eleven is emphasized and given its purpose with verse twelve. Paul did not emphasize his laying on of hands to pass supernatural spiritual gifts to people. His passing on of a gift came through his preaching of the gospel. The Romans probably had not received the preaching before by an apostle of Christ. Paul desired to be there to teach them the full truth of the Gospel so they would have a firm foundation and stand strong in their belief as they faced persecution then and in their future, especially since Jews had faced persecution by Emperors in the recent past already.

The “being established” Paul spoke of at the end of verse eleven means to place firmly, fix, strengthen, and make constant. Paul’s gift of teaching and preaching the gospel in Rome would help the Christians there to hear the whole truth of the gospel so they would stand firm and constantly fixed in their faith with the hope God gives through their salvation by Jesus Christ. He recognized a difference between standing firm through one’s own strength and personal fortitude and that given by God through salvation and the Holy Spirit. Paul loved the Roman Christians because God put His own love for them in his heart. Because Paul loved them, he wanted to make sure they understood well so they could stay strong through their faith in God and the empowering of the Holy Spirit.

Paul continued his thought from verse eleven. The first thought was he longed to be with the Roman Christians so he could impart a gift for their establishment. The second thought is he longed to be with them so he would be encouraged with them by their mutual faith. The word “encouraged” comes from the Greek word sumparakaleo and means to call upon, invite, or exhort at the same time together or to strengthen with others. Paul wanted to be together with other believers to strengthen them and gain strength from them. Remember, the Roman Christians knew about persecution or knew it from firsthand experience. Paul experienced persecution, too, throughout his ministry as an apostle of Jesus. He mentioned it often in his writings and spoke of his “thorn in the flesh.” Paul did not want to go to Rome just to give encouragement. He wanted to receive it, too. Christians who gather together find this happens as they associate, teach, strengthen, and pray for each other. These are some of the reasons God calls His children to worship Him in His temples, synagogues, and churches. Each Christian can bless others through the blessings with which God blessed him or her. They reciprocally and mutually encourage each other by their faith.

·         Do you attend church regularly? Why or why not?

·         What does Paul’s spoken need for encouragement make you feel or think?

·         Consider finding an evangelical Christian church near you, attending, interacting with the people there, and praying for God to bless you and the people there with whom you meet.

Proclaiming the Gospel

Paul’s first love was God. Circumcised on the eighth day, and trained as most Jewish boys in the Talmud, Paul studied under Rabbi Gamaliel strictly according to the law of the fathers of Israel. He was zealous for God and persecuted the Way, Jesus-followers (Acts 22:3-4) (NASB). Even while Paul was a Pharisee, he loved God, though some might say he loved the law more. While on his way to Damascus to persecute and take Jewish Jesus-followers from there to Jerusalem for punishment (Acts 22:5), Jesus met him in a very bright light. From that day, Paul loved Jesus and the God of salvation more than he did the law. At the moment Jesus met him, he became blind. Jesus told Paul to go to Damascus where He would reveal His appointed purpose for him. Paul entered Damascus and the priest, Ananias, told Paul, “The God of our fathers has appointed you to know His will and to see the Righteous One, and to hear an utterance from His mouth. For you will be a witness for Him to all men of what you have seen and heard.” [Acts 22:14-15 (NASB)]. From that moment, his heart for God leaped to its greatest height. Paul’s love for the unsaved grew because of God’s heart within him.

This heart of God within Paul compelled him to preach and teach the gospel. It gave him the desire to go to Rome. In Romans 1:13-15, Paul said,

And I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that often I have planned to come to you, and have been prevented thus far, in order that I might obtain some fruit among you also, even among the rest of the Gentiles. I am under obligation both to the Greeks and to the barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. Thus, for my part, I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome. (NASB)

As he said in Romans 1:13, he “often planned” to go to them and God prevented it so far. Before we sail past this point to understand why Paul said he planned to go to Rome, let’s consider what he meant when he said he “had been prevented” from going earlier. The word “prevented” comes from the Greek word koluo and means to hinder, prevent, or forbid. During Paul’s three first missionary journeys, God forbade him to go to Rome. He gave Paul the task to preach to the unsaved in the east (Greece, Turkey, Cyprus, Syria, and Israel) and to encourage and strengthen them. Once churches started and Paul trained and left men behind to help them grow, God opened the door for Paul to go to Rome.

Paul’s going to Rome, he said, was like going to Macedonia, Ephesus, Corinth or any of the other places he visited. He wanted to preach the gospel so people would come to saving faith in Jesus the Christ. Though Paul had learned about Christians living in Rome, he realized there were many other people among the masses who lived or visited the metropolitan trade center who did not believe in Jesus and had not heard of Him.  For these people, Paul desired to preach the gospel so all people would receive salvation (1 Corinthians 9:19-23). Paul, having freedom to travel easily within the Roman empire since he was a Roman citizen, used that freedom to take the gospel farther than any other apostle. He desired to go as far as Rome and Spain (Romans 15:24 & 28). He expressed his desire for the people in Rome in Romans 1:13 when he said he planned to go there so he “may obtain some fruit among you also even as among the rest of the Gentile.” Paul heard about the Christians in Rome, but understood there were thousands more who worshiped gods from the pantheon worshiped by Roman citizens and people who visited there.

The love Paul felt for God and for other people compelled him, obliged him, to preach to the people in Rome. He expressed this compelling in verse fourteen when he said he was under obligation to the Greeks and barbarians. This word “obligation” comes from the Greek word opheiletes and means one who owes another or is bound by a duty. Paul, the man who persecuted and ordered the deaths of Jesus-followers in Israel, felt obliged to God for saving him and for calling him as an apostle. He felt compelled to declare God’s gospel so other people, people like himself whom God created and loved, would know Jesus and receive salvation and eternal life. That shows Paul’s love of God and humankind. He did not decide Jesus could only save the Jews and so kept himself within Israel. Likewise, Paul did not decide only wise and socially acceptable people should hear the gospel. He determined each person he met, whether Greek or barbarian, wise or foolish must hear the gospel of salvation and receive the opportunity to accept Jesus as his or her Savior.

After making this point to the Roman Christians, Paul said it was because of this, his love for God and every person, and God’s calling on His life to preach and teach that he was ready to go to Rome. He said he was “eager” to preach the gospel. For Paul and for us, this means he was ready and willing. Often God asks a person do to something for Him, but that person is not willing. He/she knows God made him/her ready to do what He called him/her to do, but he/she is unwilling to do it. Paul stated in verse fifteen, he was ready (prepared by God) and willing (personally accepting and doing) to do what God asked of him. Eagerness implies God preparing you for a task and you being willing, consenting, and then doing what God called you to do. Paul did not preach grudgingly. He preached with a great desire to see all people come to know Jesus, receive salvation from their sins and gain eternal life with Him in heaven. To have this intense desire required him to love the Lord totally and to love his fellow man and woman enough to go anywhere to reach them and preach to them. Paul’s response to Jesus’ love for him, was love for God. God’s love for Paul and each person pierced Paul’s heart so he had the heart of God. Paul was ready. He expressed his willingness. Paul was eager.

·         God trains each of us for His service. He uses accountants, nurses, presidents, teachers, students, etc. to share the gospel and tell of His love.

·         You are trained. If you have accepted the love of God shared through His gospel and are a Christian, He made you ready.

·         Are you willing to do what God tells you to do? Eagerness comes from being ready and willing?

·         What will it take for you to be willing? What stops you from willingly giving up mastery of your life to the Master and Lord of all life?

Main Theme of Romans

Paul received God’s love for all people within himself, recognized it and his love for God, and acted upon his debt to God by willingly doing what God appointed him to do. God appointed him to preach the gospel. Paul recognized this calling and eagerly acted upon it for the rest of his life.

The main message of Paul’s preaching and teaching is what he primarily addressed in the letter to the Romans. He proclaimed his testimony in verses sixteen and seventeen. Paul said,

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it, the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “But the righteous man shall live by faith.” (NASB)

The righteousness of God was Paul’s main theme in this letter and in other letters. First, though, Paul attested he was not ashamed of the gospel. He was not embarrassed or afraid of his association with God and His gospel that came through the death of Jesus Christ, His Son. Paul expressed this conviction in 2 Timothy 1:12 when he said, “For this reason I also suffer these things, but I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed and I am convinced He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day.” (NASB) His conviction of God’s mercy, love, and provision of salvation drove him to tell as many people as he could about the gospel.

Paul expressed why the gospel was important and essential for all to hear and accept. He said, “It is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.” People have difficulty trusting in what they cannot see. This regularly gave an excuse for denying this gift God gives. Paul explained the gospel of God is not powerless and is real and vibrant. He said the gospel is the power of God. This “power” comes from the Greek word dunamis. Dunamis is the word from which we get our English words dynamite and dynamo. Dunamis is the power, strength, and ability inherent in God by virtue of His nature. God is the One who created the universe-rocks, land, seas, animals, plants, sun, stars, moon, wind, gravity, oxygen, and humankind-by His will, hands, and breath. He created everything out of nothing-ex nihilo, meaning “creation from nothing.” This powerful and creative God provided a way for people, people who have sinned and are unholy, to return to a right relationship with Him, the holy God. This way is the gospel Paul and all Christians proclaim. It came through the birth of Jesus, His Son, in human form to live as people live, in a sinful world, yet to be without sin. This Son then died though He did not sin, so that by His death, we sinful people could receive salvation from the death penalty of sin we deserve and wipe us clean from the stains of our sins. This cleansing from sins makes a person who believes in Jesus holy so he or she can be in God’s presence and have a relationship with Him. This gospel that proclaims God’s love and mercy toward us came through His Son, Jesus Christ. It is the power of God to save people if they repent and trust in Jesus Christ. 

Paul meant this when he wrote verse sixteen. God made His righteousness available to people through His power to save so each person who believes will become righteous-made right with God-and be in His presence from that day and forever. This gospel Paul preached is for the Jews, Greeks and barbarians, as his heart told him. He said in verse sixteen God’s powerful gospel of salvation is for everyone, “to the Jews first and also to the Greeks.” God wants everyone to come to a saving knowledge of Him.

With verse seventeen, Paul explained only by the righteousness of God will His people live. From their first steps in the faith through growth in their faith until the end of time, people will see God’s righteousness and hear His people testify about Him. Righteousness is the virtue of being right without tarnish of sin in thought, feeling, or action. God’s character defines righteousness and rightness. He is the epitome and definition of righteousness.  The salvation He gives people who repent and believe in Jesus makes them righteous by Jesus’ cleansing of their sins. Jesus Christ and the faith of believers reveal God’s righteousness. From the first encounter of salvation through to the end of a believer’s earthly life, God’s righteousness is revealed. From justification through sanctification to glorification, the righteousness of God shows through the person because of what God did through Jesus Christ.

Justification occurs when a person receives Christ as his or her Savior and received the cleansing from sins His sacrificial death made possible. Christ’s righteousness is credited to believers so they are made right with God and can have a relationship with Him. Paul said in Romans 3:21-22, “But now apart from the Law, the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe.” (NASB)

“Sanctification” and “saint” come from the same root Greek word, hagios. They each relate to holiness. “Saint” means to be holy as set apart from something that is unholy. To sanctify something is to set it apart for special use. So, to sanctify a person, a saint/believer, is to make him or her holy for God’s use. Jesus spoke about sanctifying His disciples in John 17:17. Sanctification is being made separate for God’s use. All believers enter this state of sanctification when they receive new life through Jesus Christ. Through Jesus, believers receive sanctification (1 Corinthians 1:30). God is the One who sanctifies a person. We cannot sanctify ourselves since we are not holy. Only one who is holy, who is clean from sin, can make something clean, holy, that was full of sin and separate it from the unholy. Sanctification is a progressive experience. As a person becomes more obedient to God that person becomes more holy. We set aside ourselves for God’s service, for His holy work, and grow in holiness through our obedience to Him. Peter called this “growing in the Lord” when he said, “But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” [2 Peter 3:18 (NASB)] Paul spoke of it in Philippians 1:6 when he said, “For I am confident of this very thing, that he who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.” (NASB) This progressive sanctification carries the idea that God sets apart to do the His purposes in the world just as Jesus set Himself apart for God’s purposes as John said in John 10:37. Jesus acknowledged God intended His children to go into the world to tell about Him in John 17:18-19. He said, “As Thou did send Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth.” Sanctification comes through Christ, through a relationship with Him. Peter said believers were to seek holiness. In 1 Peter 1:15, he said, “But like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in your behavior.” (NASB) Finally, Hebrews 12:14 says, “Pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord.” (NASB)

Sanctification is a process from the point of justification to the time when God’s kingdom comes on earth and He resurrects believers to live with Him eternally. When Paul said in Romans 1:17, “The righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith,” he understood and taught that a Christian’s faith grows from its first baby steps at profession of faith through the person’s glorification. Going from faith to faith means following God’s leading and growing closer to Him with daily prayer, Bible study, and meditation. A believer reveals the righteousness of God more and more as his or her faith grows from its first aspiration and spoken words of acceptance throughout his or her life in love and obedience to God. Just as God is revealed through creation, conscience, Christ, and the Bible, so He and His righteousness is revealed through a believer’s life of faith. Paul meant this when he wrote in Romans 1:17, “The righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith.” Paul’s faith revealed God’s righteousness so that he declared in verse seventeen he is “not ashamed of the gospel.”

·         Do you recognize the reality of God in His creation, in your conscience, in the lives of your Christian friends, and/or the Bible, but still push His gift of righteousness and salvation away? Why?

·         If you are a Christian, do you take time with God each day so that your faith grows along with your holiness? If not, why not?

·         Do you deny the power of God in your life even though you believed in Jesus Christ and received His salvation? Why do you refuse to grow with God and allow His Holy Spirit to guide and guard you each day?

·         Now is the time to consider each of these and decide if you will recognize God and accept His forgiveness, salvation, and power.

Recap

What is important about these ten verses to our lives today? Why should we pay attention and act upon them? First and foremost, the gospel is important. As Paul and other Bible authors stated, God’s love for humanity is paramount. Because of His love, He provided a way for each person to be in a right relationship with Him. This right relationship requires righteousness on both sides, but we humans do not have it because of the wrong things we have done, said, or considered. Through the death of His Son, Jesus Christ, God wipes away the sins of humankind when a person believes in Him as the Son of God and repents of his or her sins. Because Jesus took the death penalty we each deserve for our wrongdoings, we do not owe for our sins. When Jesus allowed the Romans to crucify Him, He took the judgment for sinners. By His death, He gave us righteousness, God’s righteousness. When we believe in Jesus Christ as the Son of God who took our sins away, God makes us righteous and able to be in His presence, in a relationship with Him. That is most important for us in these verses.

Because of Paul’s encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus, Paul believed in Jesus as his Savior and has a love for God and humanity deeper than he ever had. His desire is to go where God tells him and to preach and teach the gospel. This desire, this love for the souls of other people, comes from the heart of God He put in him when Jesus saved him. Paul’s love for other people allows him to pray with thanks for them and to pray ceaselessly. In praying ceaselessly, Paul gains a greater heart and love for the people, comes to understand them better, and knows better how to pray for them. This back and forth dynamic occurs anytime we pray to God. As we pray, we know God more and we pray better. When we pray, we recognize God’s heart for people more and know the people better so we love deeper and better.

Relevance and Conclusion

What is the “take away” for this lesson? How is this relevant to us now? Paul’s love for God and submission to Him as a bondservant is most important here. He went when God told him to go. Paul went where God opened doors. God gave him a heart for Himself and the people, especially Gentiles. Because of Paul’s love for God, he willingly submitted to God as His Lord and Master. Paul said he was eager to preach the gospel. Using the Greek definition of eager, he was ready and willing. God made Paul ready. He put His heart for Himself and other people in Paul. God trained Paul in the Jewish laws for which he had been fiercely protective. He instilled in him the need for intent of the heart in worship, not mere ritual. God taught him how to preach when He had Paul train with Gamaliel. He prepared him to defend the gospel when he trained to be a Pharisee. God made Paul ready for the task to which He would call him. When Paul received the love of God through his salvation and expressed his love back to Him, it resulted in willingness to do the tasks to which God called/appointed him.

Our love of God shows in our obedience to what He asks of us. Paul’s voluntary submission to the Lord’s appointing him an apostle showed the depth of his love for Him. Our love for God shows in how we relate to other people. Do we love them like God loves them? Paul loved the Roman Christians enough that he prayed for God’s grace and peace on them and gave thanks to God for them though he had never met them or visited their city.

Our challenge, our calling by God, is to love Him and to love the people whom He loves. That would be all people. Both Moses and Jesus taught what loving God means. It means loving Him with your whole being, heart, soul, mind, and strength (Deuteronomy 6:5 and Mark 12:30). To get to this depth of love, we must recognize, realize within ourselves, and choose to live out the love God gives us through the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus, for our salvation just so we can have a right relationship with Him and live eternally with Him. When we truly understand the magnitude of His gift of love through the death of His Son, our whole being will compel us to express our great gratitude and love to Him. We will reach deep within ourselves and give from the depths of our being from all parts of ourselves to try to express the depths of our gratitude and love back to Him. This means our love will show, will shine out, in gratitude and obedience to Him to do willing whatever He asks of us. We will scratch the depths of our being to find the last ounce of ourselves to express our love to God. This depth of love is most likely from where Paul loved and served God and from where His love of all people came.

If you are already a believer in Jesus Christ, you now must decide if you love God to the very last ounce of your being and are giving Him everything you are to serve Him willingly in the task for which he has made you ready and to which He called you. Are you eager to do what God asks of you? If not, what keeps you from loving God with absolute obedience? What keeps you from loving people with the love God put in your heart for them? God waits for you to love Him willingly and join Him in sharing the gospel of His righteousness so each person will hear and receive salvation.

If you are not a believer, what in yourself keeps you from accepting God’s gift of salvation from your sins, the power of sin, and the power of death? What is keeping you from accepting the full degree of His love? Today you heard the basics of the Gospel from Paul. The gospel of Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection is the power of God for salvation to all who believe. Right now, as an unbeliever, you live under the weight of your wrongdoings. Those wrongdoings separate you from God. He won’t be in your presence because He is holy and you are not. When you confess and believe in Jesus, He makes you holy so you can be with God now and forever. Without His salvation, you live powerless against temptation and death. The only strength you have is your own fortitude, and that is feeble. Sometimes you fail yourself. We all do. But, with the strength of God’s power, His dunamis, you would no longer have to struggle. God would give you the power of Himself through the indwelling of His Holy Spirit if you claim it, hold onto it, and walk through life with it. As a Christian, you would have power over sin. He gives you power over death. That means your soul would not die, be separated permanently from God, but will be with Him in His presence for eternity.

We each must decide what we will do about and with God’s love given through the sacrificial death of His Son, Jesus. Will you accept it? Will you stand in the power He offers? Will you show your love and gratitude to God by obeying His calling? Or, will you hold back and not accept His righteousness or not accept His calling?

Are you eager, ready and willing, to answer the call of God’s righteousness?

“For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. But if I am to live on in this flesh, this will mean fruitful labor for me, and I do not know which to choose.” [Philippians 1:21-22 (NASB)]