Live the Word Bible Studies

Romans Study 5: 5:1-6:4

Dear Student of the Word,

It's time to continue our study of Romans with a look at chapter five where Paul talks about the role of Law and grace in the life of every believer, including Gentiles. We then move into a brief introduction of Paul's teaching on baptism in Romans 6. The concepts of grace and Law are a bit difficult to explain, but I make my best effort.  Feel free to let me know how I did.  This week I wrote in part six of this seven-part study:

Study Five, Part Six

19 For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous. 20 The law was added so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, 21 so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

 5:19 – This principle can be applied to your own life, for you can make a difference as one person, just like Adam and Jesus did.  Someone once said that you and God always represent a majority, no matter what situation in which you find yourself. We study history and learn of great leaders who made a difference—they changed minds and instituted new ideas that revolutionized nations and history.  Even Paul made a difference through his refusal to bow to Jewish pressure that Gentiles follow the Law. 

Where are you standing now?  What does God have you doing?  Are you alone? Are you wondering what you can do as only one person?  When you think of it, however, you are not alone.  God is with you.  Therefore be courageous and stand alone if you have to, for you can make a difference.  Trust God that He will help you make the impact He wants you to have. 

5:20 – As mentioned earlier, the Law was given to impart a clear understanding as to what sin was and is.  If you are walking on someone’s grass, for example, you don’t know it is off limits until someone puts up a sign.  Until that sign goes up, you have no idea that you are on private property and doing something wrong.   The Law served the same purpose.  Once the sign goes up, you are then tempted to ignore the sign and walk on the grass anyway.  That sign did not cause your sin, but it gave you the opportunity to disobey and realize that you were sinning.

5:21 – Someone once said that you haven’t preached grace enough until someone accuses you of preaching it too much.  Whenever grace is preached, there is concern that we are being soft on sin and releasing the sinner from the consequences of his or her actions.  Perhaps the greatest example of grace in Jesus ministry is the following story: 

But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group and said to Jesus, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?" They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him. But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her."  Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground. At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. Jesus straightened up and asked her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?"  "No one, sir," she said. "Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus declared. "Go now and leave your life of sin” (John 8:1-11).

Jesus did not ignore her sin or the accusations of those who brought her to Him.  But what a magnificent application of grace and truth we see here! Pray this prayer with me right now:

Lord, I want to be like you.  I want to apply grace to daily life in such a way that sinners can repent but know how great and merciful You are!  Help me, Lord, to be your instrument of grace and peace.  Amen.

As always, I welcome your comments to this week's study. For additional Bible studies, check out my website archive, which contains a complete collection of all my verse-by-verse New Testament studies, along with the unpublished volume of The Faith Files.

Download Romans Study 5

Romans Study 4: 4:1-25

Dear Student of the Word,

It's been a few weeks since I have sent you a Romans installment, so here goes.  In this post, we will focus on the case study Paul included in Romans 4 of Abraham, the father of the faithful. Paul had many important things to say to both Jews and Gentiles when he wrote and the lessons of being justified by faith are still applicable today.  Here is a sample of what I wrote in part one of this seven-part study:

Study Four, Part One

1 What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather, discovered in this matter?  2 If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about-but not before God. 3 What does the Scripture say? "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness."  4 Now when a man works, his wages are not credited to him as a gift, but as an obligation.

4:1 – What matter was being discussed in this chapter?  The topic is whether or not a man is justified by obeying the Law or by faith.  It is interesting that Paul is writing to the Roman church, made up of Jews and Gentiles, but he referred to Abraham as “our father.”  Abraham is the father of those who have faith, not those who can trace their ancestry to him through a family tree or through the practice of circumcision.  Abraham is my father, and yours too, if we have faith. You might say that Paul used a case study here to prove his point, a common educational practice.

4:2 – Paul stated that, if Abraham had found God through his own effort, he had done something to brag about to men, but not to God.  Someone once said that the Bible is a book not about good men seeking God, but a good God seeking men.  The fact remains that God finds us or allows us to find Him. When Paul mentioned “works,” he was probably referring to the specific practice of circumcision.  (Please see the Galatians study for a complete discussion of this important issue.)

4:3 – This important question should be a guideline for all our lives:  What does the Bible say?  Not what do we want it to say, or do wish it said?  What does the Bible say?  That means you must study the Bible and become familiar with it as your guide for life and righteous living.  Yet you cannot put our confidence in the Bible; your confidence must be in the God of the Bible.  I know it sounds strange, but there are some who worship the Bible instead of the God of the Bible.  Let’s review some familiar passages about God’s word:

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work (2 Timothy 3:16-17).

And we have the word of the prophets made more certain, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:19-21).

Jesus replied, "You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God (Matthew 22:29).

You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life (John 5:39-40).

4:4 – Paul presented a basic fact of economics:  wages are not considered a gift.  Of course Paul has made it clear that salvation is a gift and cannot be the result of something due to man.  Salvation is something God freely bestows through His own grace and not the efforts of man.  Whatever you have, you have not earned; it is a gift.  Even if you have disciplined yourself and have received something from God, it still had its roots in the free gift of God’s salvation through Christ.  There is no reason, therefore, to feel proud of your accomplishments.  They are God’s gift to you.

As always, I welcome your comments to this week's study. For additional Bible studies, check out my website archive, which contains a complete collection of all my verse-by-verse New Testament studies, along with the unpublished volume of The Faith Files.

Download Romans Study 4

Romans Study 3: 3:1-31

Dear Student of the Word,

Let's take a look at this next installment from Paul's letter to the Romans.  I just found out that I will be teaching Romans next year at the college level, so I am glad to be into this study at this point in time.  I hope you feel the same way.  In the first chapters, Paul was reiterating the superiority of faith in Christ over keeping the Law.  That must have been a hot topic for the Romans to have Paul spend so much time discussing it.  This week I wrote in part seven of this seven-part study of Chapter 3:

Study Three, Part Seven

27 Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. On what principle? On that of observing the law? No, but on that of faith. 28 For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law. 29 Is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles too? Yes, of Gentiles too, 30 since there is only one God, who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through that same faith. 31 Do we, then, nullify the law by this faith? Not at all! Rather, we uphold the law.

3:27 – No person can brag about how he or she earned God’s salvation through anything he or she done.  As we have seen so far, the basic theme of Romans is superiority of faith in Christ as opposed to faith in man’s ability to keep the Law.  Although we have covered other verses that pertain to the role of the Law, let’s look at one more passage:

They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not know what they are talking about or what they so confidently affirm. We know that the law is good if one uses it properly. We also know that law is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious; for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, for adulterers and perverts, for slave traders and liars and perjurers-and for whatever else is contrary to the sound doctrine that conforms to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which he entrusted to me (1 Timothy 1:7-11).

The Law must be applied properly for it to be effective and the most effective use of the Law is to show man that he is sinful.  The Law, however, cannot deliver from sin; it only make us conscious of sin.  When we are conscious of sin, then we must put our faith in Christ to deliver us from that sin.

3:28 – There are so many verses that say this same thing.  Perhaps you want to do your own study to find them.

3:29 – The Jews did not have exclusive rights to God (although they thought they did).  You don’t have them either.  He is your God, but not in the sense that you have exclusive rights to His presence.  When anyone thinks he owns God, then he is in some measure of trouble for this often leads to spiritual pride.  God is bigger than any one movement, nation or doctrine. 

3:30 – You can read my Galatians Study to review Paul’s arguments against circumcision being seen by some as a necessary rite to go along with faith.  God justifies everyone through one thing and one thing only, and that is faith!  There can be no room for any other interpretation.  That doesn’t stop man from trying to come up with other interpretations.  Today there are some that put their faith in other spiritual disciplines—reading, praying, fasting, stopping some habitual sin, etc.—but the only way to please God is through faith.

3:31 – The Law teaches man about sin but the Law cannot deliver from sin.  Only faith in Christ can do that.  If Paul spent this much time teaching about this, we need to pay attention.  In fact, as we close this week’s study, perhaps you need to ask the Spirit to show you any area that you have replaced your faith with some other work or habit.  Are you walking under any legalism?  Have you put others under any bondage of legalism?  Were you saved by faith, but now walking in a mentality that you must earn your daily grace?

This is such a sensitive issue.  For instance, you need to pray and read, and you must discipline yourself to do these.  You can put so much trust in your disciplines or your spiritual practices, however, that you look down on those who don’t or can’t match what you do. 

Ask the Spirit to show you where you stand on this issue.  I am reading and praying more than ever, but it is a result of the work of the Spirit in my life.  I was saved by faith and I am growing by faith.  Faith isn’t an event; it’s a way of life that is evidenced by the actions or works I perform.  Yet those actions are never the basis for my justification or standing before God. They are proof of my right standing that is made possible through faith and faith alone.

As always, I welcome your comments to this week's study. For additional Bible studies, check out my website archive, which contains a complete collection of all my verse-by-verse New Testament studies, along with the unpublished volume of The Faith Files.

Download Romans Study 3

Romans Study 2: 2:1-29

Dear Student of the Word,

It's been two weeks, so let's take a second look at Paul's letter to the Romans in this second in my series on Romans. I first wrote this study nine years ago, so it is time that I edit and update it, and I am enjoying the work.  This week I wroe in part four of this seven-part study:

Study Two, Part Four

12 All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law. 13 For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God's sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous. 14(Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law, 15 since they show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now accusing, now even defending them.) 16 This will take place on the day when God will judge men's secrets through Jesus Christ, as my gospel declares.

2:12 – This verse deals with the common belief that everyone will be judged according to what they know concerning God, so that someone who never heard the gospel could indeed be saved.  The truth is that those who heard the Law will be judged according to the Law and those who did not hear the Law will be judged by what they knew to be true according to the moral law that worked within them and the general revelation that was all around them. 

But whether or not one had access to the Law prior to the final judgment will be taken into consideration by a just God.  Consider these two passages that speak to the severity of judgment for those with or without knowledge of the Law:

But I tell you, it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you. And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted up to the skies? No, you will go down to the depths. If the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Sodom, it would have remained to this day. But I tell you that it will be more bearable for Sodom on the day of judgment than for you" (Matthew 11:22-24).

"That servant who knows his master's will and does not get ready or does not do what his master wants will be beaten with many blows. But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked” (Luke 12:47-48).

So the God of justice will judge each man, but will hold those who were exposed to and disobeyed specific revelation to a higher standard, and they will incur a stricter judgment.  At the same time, all will be judged according to whether or not they put their trust in Jesus Christ for salvation.

2:13 – There is a subtle deception in many, even today, that hearing and giving mental assent to the truth is enough to make one righteous.  But it is only those who hear and do the words of God who will be considered righteous.  Jesus said the same thing:

"Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash" (Matthew 7:24-27).

Are you doing what you hear in regards to God’s will?  Don’t be lulled into a false sense of security just because you agree with what you read and hear.  God honors action that comes from faith in Christ.

2:14&15 – Many have used this verse to prove the existence of God.  Let me explain.  C.S. Lewis and others have pointed out that there is a moral standard or right and wrong in each person.  This standard seems to be a universal rule of good behavior, although it varies somewhat from person to person and culture to culture.  But many people “feel bad” if they are selfish or mistreat someone else.  They may ignore these feelings, but they are there. 

These feelings reside in what is called the conscience, which either tries to defend bad behavior or seeks to correct it.  Some feel that “conscience” is the remnant of the image of God in which all mankind was created.  This moral standard in all people therefore proves the existence of one righteous God, apart from man, who holds every man accountable for his or her deeds.

One side note about conscience:  it is not infallible or perfect.  It can be so ignored that it becomes warped or almost nonexistent, and it must be educated to fully understand the righteous requirements of God.  So someone may do wrong and not “feel bad” or not have their conscience accuse them (see also 1 Timothy 4:2).

2:16 – Paul once again referenced the last judgment and Jesus made constant reference to the judgment as well.  It is impossible to believe that there is no accountability for all men not according to what they knew but according to what God required of them.

As always, I welcome your comments to this week's study. For additional Bible studies, check out my website archive, which contains a complete collection of all my verse-by-verse New Testament studies, along with the unpublished volume of The Faith Files.

Download Romans Study 2

Romans Study 1: 1:1-32

Dear Student of the Word,

Greetings from Kenya!  I have found a bit of time to edit my first installment of our next study and that will be Paul's letter to the Romans!  This week, we dive into Paul's introductory remarks, which lead to his startling explanation of sexual impurity being rooted in idolatry!  I hope you enjoy this next online study.  Here is a sneak peek at what I wrote in this week's study:

Study One, Part Five

18 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19 since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.  20 For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities-his eternal power and divine nature-have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.

1:18&19 – These next verses clearly explain the source of much of the world’s perversity, wickedness and sexual impurity.  It all starts when men suppress the truth—truth that is plain for all to see.  There are always implications when anyone suppresses the truth—someone once said if you don’t deal with what’s in you, what’s in you will deal with you.  If you hate, and suppress the truth that God wants you to see about love and forgiveness, then that hate will manifest itself in other ways.  God’s wrath will ultimately rest on that hatred and it will come to light, perhaps through slander, bitterness or even, God forbid, murder.

God makes things plain for all to see, but you can make things complicated so that you won’t have to face the truth.  That is the human condition—God is pursuing man, but man is running from God and from His truth.

Are you suppressing the truth in any area?  Are you avoiding your purpose, or something that God wants you to do?  Are you ignoring a heart issue that bubbles to the surface every now and then to beckon you to deal with it? 

1:20 – This verse refers to what theologians call “general revelation.”  All creation speaks to the existence of God.  It is possible for someone to sit on a hillside, look up at the stars and the expanse of heaven, and conclude that there is a God.  Someone else may see a baby born, or the vastness of the oceans and determine that there is a God.  Either of these are examples of general revelation.  General revelation cannot reveal God’s plan for salvation or the need to put faith in His Son, but it can point men to the knowledge of God’s existence. 

And obviously, God holds men accountable to come to the proper conclusion that He exists from this general revelation.

1:21 – Men who knew God refused to glorify Him or give thanks.  When that happens, the mind becomes darkened and logic leads to futility.  If God isn’t given His proper place, over time all men’s efforts lead to foolishness.  That is certainly the condition of the modern world.

As always, I welcome your comments to this week's study. For additional Bible studies, check out my website archive, which contains a complete collection of all my verse-by-verse New Testament studies, along with the unpublished volume of The Faith Files.

Download Romans Study 1