Tag Archives: Bible study

The Road Through Romans: The Miraculous Method

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We continue our discussion through Paul’s letter to the Romans. Today we are discussing Romans 1:16,17

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. 17For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”

My  fellowship, the Assemblies of God has 16 fundamental truths that every one of our churches adhere to. Of those 16 fundamentals there are four cardinal or primary doctrines.

  1. Salvation by grace alone through faith alone
  2. Healing spiritual, emotional and physical is found in the atonement
  3.  The baptism in the Holy Spirit with the initial physical evidence of speaking in other tongues is an experience available to every believer in the church past, present and future
  4. Jesus is coming again to judge the living and the dead and shall set up His eternal reign on Earth.

Each of these doctrines speaks of an incredible, miraculous manifestation of God’s grace and presence in the lives of men and women across the face of the globe.Of all those miraculous interventions into the lives of people the most miraculous is the salvation of man from his sin. Jesus died and rose again to perpetuate this miracle in our lives. That alone is an incredible thought.Yet one of the most miraculous things about the miracle of salvation is the way it is applied to the life of a man or a woman.The power of salvation is applied to a person’s life through the gospel. A person gets saved when someone else tells him the story of Jesus and he chooses to believe it.

Paul said it this way, “21For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. 22Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, 23but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, 24but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. ” 1 Cor. 1:21-24

Preaching the gospel as we have said in earlier posts is not just a job for professional ministers. It is the job of every Christian.You may not feel qualified to share Jesus with other people. Honestly who is? We are sharing GOD with people! What ex-sinner could ever be qualified for such a job? That’s part of the miracle, don’t you know? God could have chosen angels to preach. He could have chosen to use supernatural visions or dreams to proclaim the gospel. He could have made the mountains sing it  if He so desired. Instead He chose to use sinful people to proclaim righteousness to other sinful people so that righteousness could be formed in them all!

Ain’t that a hoot?

If you have missed any of our previous conversations they can be discovered on THE ROAD THROUGH ROMANS PAGE

The Road Through Romans: Ashamed How?

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We continue with our discussion through Paul’s Letter to the Romans, verse by verse. Today we reach one of the most famous portions of the letter. In Romans 1:16,17 Paul writes,

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. 17For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”

We are going to camp right here for a few days if you don’t mind because there is a lot I do not want to miss.

If you have missed any of our previous discussions they can be found on THE ROAD THROUGH ROMANS PAGE.

Paul has already discussed that he is obligated to bring the gospel to the Greeks and the barbarians because of a debt he owes them which is actually a debt he owes to God the Son, Jesus. That said he takes things a step further when he says, “I am not ashamed” of the gospel.

We have all been obligated to do things we would rather not do, things that we are forced by some higher power to do that make us almost ashamed, things like: taking your little brother to the movie with your friends because mom says so, dancing the Polka with your little sister in front of the relatives because Gramma thinks you are as good as the dancers on Lawrence Welk or taking your third cousin to the prom because your Dad owes Uncle Innunzio money.

I bet you’re getting the picture here. There is a world of difference between being obligated to do a thing and being unashamed to do it. Paul is letting his readers know that not only is he obligated to do this thing called preaching the gospel he is unashamed to do it. He is glad to do it no matter the consequences. He would choose it even if he was not obliged because he loves God and because whatever anyone else may think Paul is genuinely sold on the concept that the gospel works. Paul is not some used car salesmen playing a numbers game to please the boss man. Paul is a true believer.

I’m a New Englander. I really get the concept of obligation. Duty is practically my nick name. I cut my teeth on the Protestant work ethic and I come from a long line of work-a-holics.  I can put in more than an honest day’s labor. But that alone doesn’t cut it for God. It’s the attitude that is the key. You see, no amount of work can make up for doubting “your product” and to be honest sometimes it is doubt that fuels my work. I wonder sometimes if Jesus is really going to show up and so I work extra hard at being a back up savior in case the REAL ONE doesn’t come through. Can anybody out there relate?

This is a problem that I have had to work through for many years. I am getting better at remembering I am not the Savior nor am I responsible to prove that Jesus is. My only job is to proclaim that He is Savior and Jesus takes it from there. Anything else is just me being ashamed and doubtful that the gospel will really work.

I suppose being ashamed of the gospel can come out in a lot of ways. Have you ever struggled with it? IF so what did that struggle look like?

The Road Through Romans: The Holy Obligation

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We are continuing our discussion through the Book of Romans today and we are moving on to verses 14 and 15 of chapter 1 which reads,

I am obligated both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish. 15That is why I am so eager to preach the gospel also to you who are in Rome.

I am interested in the word right at the beginning of the verse, “obligated”. What does Paul mean when he says he is obligated?

I am also interested in who Paul is indebted to. He is indebted to the Greeks and the barbarians; that is the people of Greece and all the  Gentiles beyond the influence of the Roman empire.

Why is Paul indebted to all these people? Is it because they have been so nice to him?

By the time Paul writes his letter to the Romans he has been stoned by the Ephesians, whipped and unjustly imprisoned by the Philippians, sued by the Corinthians and unjustly arrested by the Jews who also plotted to assassinate him. The debt he owes cannot be one of gratitude.

Could he be talking about a cultural obligation. Is he saying “The Greeks have created western culture! They are so awesome I feel obligated to them!”?

Nah! Paul was a Jew a Pharisee even associating with Gentiles was something frowned upon, never mind considering their culture as something to be admired and feel indebted to them about.

So what did he owe the Greeks and barbarians, money?  I am being totally tongue-in-cheek.

The word “obligated” here is the word, opheiletēs. It refers to a person who owes someone else a debt. It refers to someone who has wronged another and must make amends.

Had Paul somehow wronged the Greeks and Barbarians? No he was not a debtor to any of them strictly speaking. The debt Paul owed was to God. It was a debt he could never pay back. Jesus had taken Paul’s sin and paid for it with His life and Paul owed Jesus, God the Son, an eternal debt of gratitude.

God had transferred Paul’s debt to the Greeks and the Barbarians. Paul owed them the right to hear the gospel not because he owed them but because he owed God.

Every Christian today  owes that same debt to God. God has done the same thing with us that he did with Paul. God has transferred the debt to those people around us. You see God needs nothing from us but they do. They need to hear the message of salvation from us. We owe it to them not because of who they are but because of who God is.

Sharing the triuth we know is an obligation not an option. It is a duty not a choice.

If you have missed any of our previous discussions on the Book of Romans they can be found on THE ROAD THROUGH ROMANS PAGE.

In Other Words: Taking the Narrow Road in 2016

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In Other Words

This week I am taking some time to write a post in response to PATRICIA’S IN OTHER WORDS CHALLENGE.

The quote we are being asked to spin off of is…

“If you spend too much time thinking about
a thing you’ll never get it done.”
Bruce Lee

Find Patricia’s other contributors at the underlined link above:

Here is my post:

Taking the Narrow Road

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by JE Lillie

Jesus said, “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” Ma. 7:13,14

They say “the road to Hell is paved with good intentions.”

While I will take the word of Jesus over the word of “They” any day, I think in this case both Jesus and “They” are talking about the same thing, at least in some respects.

The “wide gate and the broad road” are the “road to Hell”, one and the same. This wide broad road to Hell is filled with well-intentioned people, good people. Some of them are way better and more likable than I am. The fact remains they are on the road to Hell, a real place of real punishment.

That is because good intentions and even good behavior don’t get you to Heaven; Faith does.

Paul said, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23

Later he wrote, “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life inb Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 6:23

Early on in the same letter Paul revealed that the method of receiving this gift of eternal life (Heaven defined) is by faith when he wrote, the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last,e just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”Romans 1:17

Jesus himself said faith was the key when he stated, For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son John 3:16-18

Over the course of my life as a minister I have asked thousands of people to put their faith in Jesus and follow Him. Some have rushed to embrace Jesus as their living hope.  More however waved me off saying things like:

“I’m just not convinced yet.”

“If God will prove Himself to me first then I will believe Him.”

“I tried Jesus once. It didn’t work.”

“I have a lot of things I want to do first. Religion will come later.”

One man even said to me…

“If I have to accept Jesus to go to Heaven I am perfectly happy to go to Hell.”

Most of these people (even the guy who said he was happy to go to Hell) were people I liked, were people I would want to know for eternity. Most of these people were filled with lots of good intentions even in the midst of what I considered their misguided priorities.

But all those intentions are “wide-road” mentalities, earthly mindsets that will fade with their lives unless they do the one thing which can put them on the narrow road. That one thing is putting faith, hope, focus, love and life energy into following Jesus. Nothing else matters until that commitment is made.

Maybe as 2016 dawns on your life you are wavering over the Jesus decision. To you I give Bruce Lee’s warning as the New Year begins.

“If you spend too much time thinking about
a thing you’ll never get it done.” Bruce Lee

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Will 2016 be the year you begin to trust Jesus as your God?

The Road Through Romans: When Man Plans and God Laughs

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Today we are moving into a whole new realm with our discussion on Romans. For those of you who missed it we just completed a five part series on the gifts of the Spirit using Romans 1:11,12 as our spring board. Those discussions can be found on THE ROAD THROUGH ROMANS PAGE.

Today we will begin moving on to Romans 1:13,

I do not want you to be unaware, brothers and sisters,d that I planned many times to come to you (but have been prevented from doing so until now) in order that I might have a harvest among you, just as I have had among the other Gentiles.

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There are many words I would use to describe Paul. One of those words is not Fly-by-the -seat- of- your -pants. By his own admission in verse 13 Paul was a planner. By his own admission also in verse 13, some of his plans were “prevented” from coming to pass.

Who or what prevented Paul’s plans from coming to pass? Was it the people? Was it lack of money? Was it Paul’s physical condition? Was it the Devil? Was it Jesus? The answer to those questions is: Yes, maybe, probably, assuredly and ultimately absolutely (in that order).

People can get in the way of our plans for sure and for certain.

Money is always an issue when we are trying to walk out the plans we make.

As far as physical condition goes, the older I get the more this becomes a consideration in what I do for Jesus or how I do it for Him in the very least.

The Devil, He sniffs out my plans on a regular basis and always try to put the old kibosh on anything that would benefit me or God’s kingdom.

But ultimately God is in charge of my plans. Sometimes he allows people, money, my physical state and even the Devil to be used as tools to direct and guide me in the way I should go. Everything and I do mean everything is just an implement in His hand to get me going in the direction I need to head in.

Sometimes when I plan a thing (even what I consider a very good thing) I can almost hear God laughing as He puts his own countermeasures in place to change or modify my course. Have you ever been there? Are you there right now?  Don’t despair. Have faith that God is on your side (Read This).

Jesus is pulling for you to succeed and sometimes that means He has to mess with your plans because they aren’t exactly going to get you where you need to go. So stop being angry with God if He seems to be laughing at your plans. Choose to laugh with Him and accept that the course he is charting for you will take you exactly where you need to go even if it is a little different than the course you had planned.

The Road Through Romans: The Thing About Spiritual Gifts Pt. 5

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I know this post was expected four days ago but it got holidelayed (see what I did there?). Today we are moving on from Romans 1:11 to Romans 1:12. We are however continuing our discussion regarding the Gift of the baptism in the Holy Spirit.

If you have missed any of our previous discussion on spiritual gifts you can find them on THE ROAD THROUGH ROMANS PAGE.

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Romans 1:11,12 reads,  “I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong— — that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith.”

Whatever you may believe about the spiritual gifts: how they come upon a person, when they come upon a person or what the first evidence of their arrival is there is one thing that cannot be questioned; That is the purpose of those gifts.

The purpose of the gifts of the Spirit is to encourage those who experience them  in the faith. The purpose of the baptism in the Holy Spirit is to strengthen the force of love in the lives of those who are baptized.

Paul says in effect that the reason he longs to impart the spiritual gift to the Romans is so that they and he may be built up in their mutual faith.

The baptism in the Holy Spirit must make a palpable difference in the lives of those who are baptized. It should also make a powerful difference in the lives of those around the one baptized otherwise the baptism is all for nothing.

In 1 Corinthinas 13:1-3 Paul says it this way,  If I speak in the tongues[a] of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast,[b] but do not have love, I gain nothing.

The long and the short of it is that  a person can be baptized in the Spirit and still miss the point. The gifts: tongues, interpretation of tongues, prophecy, healing, working of miracles…all of these things are just the method, not the point. If the gifts are manifested but they do not increase the three things which will last forever (faith, hope and love) then it is all just so much useless noise and wasted energy.

I don’t know about you but I have no time or energy to waste! I must let the baptism in the Holy Spirit drive me deeper into faith, hope and love!

Road Through Romans: The Thing About Spiritual Gifts 4

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We have been discussing the baptism in the Holy Spirit in relationship to Romans 1:11 “I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong—”

If you need to play catch up you can do that on THE ROAD THROUGH ROMANS PAGE.

The question I want to discuss today is this, If the baptism in the Holy Spirit is such an important part of the Christian experience, how does one obtain it?”

The baptism in the Holy Spirit is a gift, a promise. In one sense there is nothing we can do to obtain it. Jesus said, “I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.” Luke 24:49

According to this, Jesus sends the Holy Spirit and He clothes us with the Holy Spirit (baptizes us). Our job or part according to Acts chapter 1:4 is to wait for it, to put ourselves in a resting position focused on Christ until He baptizes us.

In my own experience I waited for two weeks. I spent time every day waiting quietly before the Lord, worshiping both at the church altar and at my bedside. I believed that it could happen and one day when I was worshiping I felt this great emotional swelling from the pit of my stomach. I can’t say why exactly but I knew this was it. I opened my mouth and began to speak words that came to mind. They were not English words. I don’t know what they were but I knew the experience was changing me. The feeling in the pit of my stomach just grew stronger and brighter and I was filled with a new certainty a deeper certainty of the reality of Jesus.

There are many misconceptions about tongues:

Some think that talking in tongues is a sign of being out of control. Not so. When I speak in tongues I am aware of what I am doing. I can start and stop at will. Many times now I even understand what I am praying about in the foreign tongue. I can even control the volume and the timing of  it. Not being able to control tongues is actually a sign of inner carnality.

Some would say that tongues is a sign that you have arrived and are on a higher spiritual plane than other believers. Nothing could be further from the truth. Tongues is a manifestation of the Spirit but does not indicate a person’s actual level of sanctification. The baptism in the Spirit can lead a person deeper into spirituality but only if that person allows the Spirit to move beyond the display of tongues into the work of inner sanctification. Many choose to stop at the side show and go no further. They allow themselves to be satisfied with making people think they are spiritually superior rather than actually growing in the things of the Spirit.

Tongues according to Paul in 1 Corinthians is the least of all the gifts. I consider it the gateway to the other gifts and a passage way to a higher level of sanctification. I need to go through the gate to get to what Paul calls the greatest gifts 1 Corinthians 13. If I choose to go through the gate and then hang out at the gate though I accomplish little (and believe me there are plenty of tongue talkers hanging out at the gates).

My goal in receiving the baptism in the Holy Spirit was not to talk in tongues but to become strong in the Lord and the power of His might and that thought will lead us on to tomorrow’s discussion in Romans 1:12

I know some of my thoughts are controversial even among conservative Christians. That’s Ok. Feel free to comment and share your thoughts on Holy Spirit.

Road Through Romans: The Thing About Spiritual Gifts Pt. 3

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Last time we had a discussion on Paul’s letter to the Romans, we were dealing with Romans 1:11. I mentioned that I thought perhaps the spiritual gift Paul wanted to impart to the Romans was the actual baptism in the Holy Spirit.

I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong— Ro. 1:11

If you missed that discussion you can catch up with it on THE ROAD THROUGH ROMANS PAGE.

I believe the baptism in the Holy Spirit is a very important even (dare I say it) necessary part of salvation. Oh I am not saying we need the baptism in the Holy Spirit to get to Heaven. I am saying we need it to make us strong.

Jesus said it this way:

“very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. 8 When he comes, he will prove the world to be in the wrong about sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 about sin, because people do not believe in me; 10 about righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; 11 and about judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.

12 “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. 13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. 14 He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. 15 All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.” John 16:7-15

In another place he said,

“Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. 5 For John baptized with[a] water, but in a few days you will be baptized with[b] the Holy Spirit….you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Acts 1:4, 5, 8

What is the baptism in the Holy Spirit?

Maybe our fellowship’s statement will help you understand a little better.

 

All believers are entitled to and should ardently expect and earnestly seek the promise of the Father, the baptism in the Holy Spirit and fire, according to the command of our Lord Jesus Christ. This was the normal experience of all in the early Christian Church. With it comes the enduement of power for life and service, the bestowment of the gifts and their uses in the work of the ministry.

This experience is distinct from and subsequent to the experience of the new birth.

With the baptism in the Holy Spirit come such experiences as:

  • an overflowing fullness of the Spirit, John 7:37-39 [KJV/NIV], Acts 4:8 [KJV/NIV]
  • a deepened reverence for God, Acts 2:43 [KJV/NIV], Hebrews 12:28 [KJV/NIV]
  • an intensified consecration to God and dedication to His work, Acts 2:42 [KJV/NIV]
  • and a more active love for Christ, for His Word and for the lost, Mark 16:20 [KJV/NIV]
  • The baptism of believers in the Holy Spirit is witnessed by the initial physical sign of speaking with other tongues as the Spirit of God gives them utterance.
    • Acts 2:4 [KJV/NIV]- Taken from ag.org

This gift was important to Jesus and as we learned in the last post it was important to Paul. I think in light of that it should be important to us.

Thoughts?

The Thing About Spiritual Gifts Pt. 2

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We are still in Romans 1:11 in our discussion through the book of Romans. If you have missed any of our conversations you can find them on THE ROAD THROUGH ROMANS PAGE.

Romans 1: 11 reads,

 I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong—

The things about spiritual gifts is that they are spiritual. That may seem obvious, but for those of us in the western world when we think “gift” one of our first go-to thoughts is not “Oh I hope it’s a spiritual gift. I really like spiritual gifts.”

Some of my first thoughts when someone says they want to give me a gift are:

“How big is it?”

“How much did it cost?”

“Will it fit in my house?”

“Will I use it?”

I go to the functional. The useful. The practical aspects of the gift. Don’t you? Maybe you are more spiritual than I.

I seldom think.

“Will this gift make me a better person?”

“Will this gift make me a more effective Christian?”

“Will this gift help me to win people to Christ?”
“Will this gift help me to crucify the flesh?”

But the spiritual gifts are more important than any earthly gift could ever be.

The first spiritual gift we are given is salvation. The gift of eternal life. It comes when we put our faith in Jesus Christ and call Him Lord.

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.- John 3:16

If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. Romans 10:9

It is this first spiritual gift that Paul spends a good deal of the next 15 chapters expounding on. I wonder though, is this the spiritual gift he wanted to impart? I am thinking it is not. I am thinking his letter imparts the spiritual gift of salvation quite well. I am thinking perhaps the letter is a foundation, a 101 class, for another spiritual gift he desired to impart to the Roman church. It is a gift he imparted to many other churches as he worked his way through Asia and into Europe.

In Acts 19 we read,

While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at Ephesus. There he found some disciples 2 and asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when[a] you believed?”

They answered, “No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”

3 So Paul asked, “Then what baptism did you receive?”

“John’s baptism,” they replied.

4 Paul said, “John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus.” 5 On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues[b] and prophesied. 7 There were about twelve men in all.

Could this “baptism in the Spirit” as it is called, with the evidence of speaking in tongues, have been the spiritual gift Paul wanted to impart to the Roman Church? If so what is it? What is it for?

I would love to hear your thoughts and we will explore more tomorrow.