Romans – Mt Freedom Baptist Church

Life is difficult in our fallen world – so much so that all creation groans. In his letter to the Roman church, the apostle Paul compared this groaning to the pain of childbirth. Yet Christian believers do not despair as if we had no hope. Instead, we eagerly await the fulfillment of the hope that is founded on the promises of God. God’s Spirit dwelling in the hearts of His children nurtures and strengthens the hope within us even through our inevitable seasons of difficulty and desperation. Therefore we know as Paul wrote to the Romans that God is working all things together for good for those who love God and are called in accordance with His purpose.

The hope we carry as Christian believers isn’t some kind of wishful thinking. Our hope rests on the firm promises of God who in now, always was, and will always be faithful to keep His promises. The promises of God upon which we place our hope are found in His Holy Word – the Bible which has proven time and again throughout history to be trustworthy and true.

We have seen that God defines love because as the apostle John wrote, “God is love.” We also learned that Jesus embodies the love of God in human flesh. Now we look at the work of The Holy Spirit – the third person of the trinity to manifest the love of God in and through the hearts of Christian believers.

We have seen that God Himself is the very definition of love. Love is not an aspect of God’s character. Nor is love one of God’s creations. Love is the very essence of God. Logically then, since God is love, Jesus who is God in human flesh is God’s essence of love embodied. But the love of Jesus is much more than a state of being. Jesus clearly demonstrates His love through action. The apostle Paul wrote that Jesus demonstrates His love for us in giving His own life for sinful mankind. Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross is indeed the ultimate demonstration of God’s loving nature. But Jesus also demonstrated God’s love throughout His earthly ministry by acts of selfless service to His children. Jesus used the example of washing His disciples’ feet on the night He was betrayed – including His betrayer Judas Iscariot! Afterward He commanded them (and us) to serve those around us sacrificially just as He had demonstrated.

In finishing up our series on God’s grace, it’s important to remember that it is certainly God’s grace alone through which we are saved out of death in our sins – His saving grace, and His grace is sufficient for us to carry us through whatever we might encounter in this life – His sustaining grace. Along the way, God’s grace is perfecting us day-by-day into the very image of God’s Son Jesus – His sanctifying grace. Finally, throughout this life and our eternal life to come, God’s grace is and will forever be poured out in infinite measure upon His children who have believed on the Name and Gospel of Jesus for salvation – God’s securing grace.

Our salvation is a three-fold process. We are justified (our eternal life is secured) by God’s saving grace through Jesus’ death on the cross in our faith in His resurrection. This begins the second phase in which we are being perfected into the very image of our Savior Jesus through God’s sanctifying grace.

Proverbs offers us a series of simple comparisons that teach us fundamental truths about life. King Solomon, the wisest man ever known shares with us the difference between pursuing a life of wisdom and pursuing folly. Wisdom being, instruction, knowledge, and understanding while folly is the opposite.

The full armor of God! Paul, in Ephesians 6 informs us about the armor we GET to put on each day.

When our brothers and sisters in Christ behave badly, it’s important for us to recognize that they are not the enemy. Our real enemy – Satan – sometimes uses people to accomplish his wicked purposes within the Church. We need to understand that, and beware of becoming a tool of the enemy ourselves.

Now that we understand the Christian life is not lived on a playground but is instead carried out on a battleground where attacks from the enemy are ever present, we can now begin investigating what it takes to defend ourselves. What does it take? The full armor of God! Paul, in Ephesians 6 informs us about the armor we GET to put on each day.

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