My personal goal for this challenge has been to add depth to my devotional experience. I wanted my devotions to have some direction and be more than watching the "10 minute clock". So I decided to use Romans as my study material and I resurrected my prayer journal. My Prayer journal's more of a "spiritual" diary/journal. Instead of "Dear Diary" it's "Dear God" and I write out some of my prayers... and I use it as a processing forum for whatever I just read. And so far so good... Instead of checking the clock to see if it's 10 minutes yet, I look up at the clock when I'm finished and find that I'm usually over the 10 minutes! Skipping devotions on a day (like today) when I did my stretching routine was not an option. And I've been finding myself doing devotions sometimes twice each day...when I wake up and before I go to bed. Romans, though, is one of those books that seems to beg discussion. So I thought that ever so often I'd post here to get some feed back.
Romans 10:9 says that if you confess Jesus as Lord and believe that God raised him from the dead that you're saved. Thought to myself that it seems pretty simple. Then the questions started coming.... Theme so far of the book has been saved by grace and not by works. It's grace that saves us. Not what we do. How does this fit in, though, with the concept that if your "tree" isn't producing "fruit" you get chopped down or something? I mean, why isn't obedience included in the being saved text? Is it assumed that if one truely believes obedience will follow?
And why does Chapeter 9 make God seem so random? Like he picks and chooses who to show mercy on?
8 comments:
It was the fall 2004 that I truly embraced grace. I also heard about grace but I don't think I got it. I too was reading Romans and it was the most wonderful freeing experience. Just believe and be saved. That's all to it.
Growing up I always heard about grace but it was never focused on. Rules, do's and don'ts seemed to be the focus. A "works" mentality really. Grace says I can do nothing to save myself. I have one decision to make - believe or don't believe.
After that initial decision, I think of the spiritual journey kinda like weight loss. You have to do it everyday and the more you do it, the more you become changed.
I think that is where the "fruit" part comes in. I believe that if daily make the decision to chose Jesus we become more like him and we can't help but bear fruit.
Girl, don't get me started on Romans :-) Life altering. Here are some questions (from the BSF class I took last year) based on your questions...
SALVATION
Romans 10:9-10
It is impossible to overestimate the significance of these three words (only two in Greek). "Jesus is Lord" was the starting point of the early Christian preaching as well as the first Christian confession of faith, a confession for which believers of the first Christian centuries were willing to die! How can those three words be that important? The answer is that they are literally crammed with meaning. They testify to three things: the deity of Christ, the saving work of Christ, and the ongoing, all-embracing rule of Christ over his people in the church.
What does each of the following phrases mean?
a. Jesus is Lord
b. Believe in your heart
c. God raised him from the dead
List different aspects of the word "heart" from the following references:
a. Matt 6:21
b. Matt 12:34
c. Rom 1:21-32
d. Gal 4:6
Why is it important to confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord?
How does what you say relate to the condition of your heart?
ELECTION + CALLING
Romans 9
I think Paul anticipates and answers your question within chapter 9 itself.
Is God unjust? v.14-18
-God has the right to give mercy
-God has the right to show wrath
Why does God still hold us responsible? v.19-24
-Humility when speaking of God
-Context (metaphor from Isa 64:6-8)
-The mercy of the potter
This is one of those passages that reminds us of 1. Our limited capacity to understand God and 2. Our true place in the universe. The bible says that we have choice; it also says that God chooses. If we believe the bible to be true and God to be just, we have to come to terms with the fact that these two processes are somehow not mutually exclusive.
The bible study leader for last year's Romans class gave a few examples. The one that stuck with me went something like this...
"Imagine walking up to two separate doors (or gates or whatever) and having to choose between them. You pick the one that's marked "I choose God" and walk through it. BUT as you enter in and look back, you see that on the inside, the inscription reads "chosen by God from the beginning of time." Not a perfect illustration but a way to think about this (seeming) paradox.
Happy reading! Romans is really something.
p.s. For me, the whole notion of being chosen by God was also kind of freeing. It gave new meaning to the word destiny...it's like I'm called to something great -in spite of myself! And...
The chosen thing also shed new light on the adoption metaphor that's used in Romans and elsewhere. I guess it stood out to me because of the kids. It's as though God got me as a "referral" picked me, and now is just waiting to bring me home.
Of course, the fairness and personal choices issues (discussed above) are still in play but that's where the humility and faith come in. On a purely personal level, the realization that God feels for me a million times over what we felt for the girls during the "waiting" period?? The knowledge that he's actively preparing for MY homecoming??
Mind blowing.
Sorry...one more. Romans 6-8 is a good discussion of the link between faith and fruit.
1. The law clearly shows us that we are sinners, BUT
2. We struggle to keep it, SO
3. We DIE with Christ (bury old life, dead to sin), THEN
4. We live with Christ (new life through the spirit, slave to God, controlled by righteousness).
Through FAITH, we die to the law so that we may bear FRUIT. All through the power of the Holy Spirit. The same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead is working in you! Isn't that powerful?
Great info.
Today I came across 1 Peter 1:13-23 that gives a call to Holy Living. This passage spoke to me about the question you posed about fruit bearing aspect.
Thanks for all the feedback! I plan to use some of this stuff Friday night for some further bible study on the topic! May try to engage others of the household.=)
Have fun. It's a great study for family worship. I'll bet the words "justification" and "sanctification" come up in your conversation :-) Interested to hear how it goes...
Well, I used the study guide Ginger had posted for Romans 10 and it turned out great! The terms "Justification" and "Sanctification" did NOT come up but Psalm 103 did with a highlight on vs 10,11,14!
Thanks for all the responses! I thank God often that I have spiritually oriented friends that I can discuss spiritual topics with. It's enriching to get all the different view points and experiences.
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