Romans

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God’s Glory & Service: The Goal of our Lives

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This year, in our church, for a total of sixteen Sundays, we managed to cover the 433 verses that compose the most relevant and important epistle of the New Testament, Apostle Paul’s letter to the Romans. I invite you to visit our Church’s website (click here) and listen to the messages again. Since Romans is a book that covers both the doctrine and praxis of our Christian faith, I believe it is a book that every believer should read, study and meditate on.

In this blog post, I would like to ponder with you the verses with which Paul closes his greatest letter of Romans. From verses 17 to 23 Paul stops his greetings to leave a final warning against the false teachers that were provoking divisions and putting obstacles in the way of the growth of many Christians back then. The commandment of Paul to the believers is to simply avoid these kinds of people. These false teachers only pursue the purpose of serving themselves and not Christ. This warning is still valid for us the church of the 21st century. In an era where communication has expanded to every place, at a time where anyone can use a computer or cell phone to present any message or doctrine to the world and spread it everywhere, we Christians should be alert and wise about what we are consuming to satisfy the hunger and thirst of our spirits.

The mark of the true servant of Christ, Paul points out, is not his eloquence or charisma but his love and service to Jesus Christ. The true servant of Jesus does not seek to be served but seeks to serve others. In the following verse, Paul then commands the church in Rome to be wise and be alert and “to be innocent as to what is evil” (v. 20).

'The true servant of Jesus does not seek to be served but seeks to serve others.'Click To Tweet

Then Paul, guided by the Holy Spirit, gives to the believers in Rome and us here and now, one of the most powerful promises of victory over the enemy that we can find in Scriptures: The God of peace will soon crush Satan under our feet. Because of this promise of victory, believers can burst out in praise and worship declaring that only God is wise and worthy of glory, through his son Jesus Christ, forever and ever, amen. God’s glory is then the goal of our lives and the joy of our hearts.

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Church: A Place for Encouragement and Hope (Romans 15)

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I love the last chapters of the book of Romans since these chapters offer to us a glimpse of the kind of person apostle Paul was. Frequently, I imagine Paul as a really approachable, humble and friendly person. Someone that is always looking for opportunities to present the Gospel of Jesus in a relational way. The last chapters of Romans teach us that the Gospel is 100% relational. It is something that we ought not to only enjoy but share with others.

In the first 13 verses of Romans 15 Paul continues explaining how Christians should treat each other. In these verses, Paul explains to us the importance of helping each other bearing our burdens, the vitality of a church where we seek in every moment the opportunity to build each other up. The key to this, explains Paul, is Christ himself. He gave us the model that we should follow, never pleasing himself but looking to please always the Father and those He gave Him.

I believe this kind of behavior is something rare in today’s society where it seems that everyone is submerged into an individualistic and self-centered lifestyle. But we the Church are just different. I believe that in this time and season the most relevant and significant mark of the church would be not its prosperity, or facility, or cultural popularity but the unity and sense of community of those who form it. The Church is a body, not an institution, a people and not a business modeled structure. The Church is the place where God decided to put us.

' I believe that in this time and season the most relevant and significant mark of the church would be not its prosperity, or facility, or cultural popularity but the unity and sense of community of those who form it.'Click To Tweet

As we read Romans we realize the importance of the Church. And we are called to be an active part of it loving and sharing our lives with others. Romans 15 shows us that it is in his Church where Jesus poured out the encouragement and endurance we need to have hope and be resilient against the constants attacks of this world and the enemy. Take a moment to thank God for his Church and rejoice with other believers in what God is doing and will do with us.

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Faith, Love and Mutual Edification (Romans 14:20-23)

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In the final verses of Romans 14, the apostle Paul continues to emphasize the importance of unity in the community of believers, as well as their shared responsibilities, over our freedom and individual rights. The following are the key points from the last part of the chapter that I want to share with you:

  1. The Work of God (a.k.a. the Church) and its continuing growth in unity, love, and holiness, is more important than my ideas of how things need to be done or how to live out my faith (v. 20).
  2. My brother in Christ is more important than any of my liberties. I will not say anything and I will not do anything that could make him stumble and fall (v. 20-21).
  3. There are things that I need to keep between God and myself. I need to accept that there are situations where the best thing I could do is to keep my mouth shut (v. 22). (I encourage you to read and meditate on James 1:19.)
  4. I need to cultivate my faith and convictions based on the Word of God to never act on doubt and unbelief. That’s just a type of hypocrisy. And I need to understand where my actions and behavior come from. If it doesn’t come from faith, then it will become just sinful (v. 23).

As we see in these verses, faith is the key. Both faith, hope, and love must go hand in hand in our Christian life. Our faith in Jesus, the hope of his prompt return and the love that He has poured into our hearts and through which we can love others. Ask the Holy Spirit this week for different opportunities in which you can show the love of God to another person.

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Identity, Destiny and Journey

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The more I read and study the book of Romans, the more I wonder about the love of God in Christ Jesus for humanity. If we are honest with ourselves, many of us are broken, hopeless and with a great weight of guilt and fear on our backs. But here God shows up, bringing us news of freedom. The book of Romans is that letter of freedom, it is that proclamation of liberation that our anguished soul longs to hear. The reason for all this is found in that Romans is the book of the New Testament where the Gospel is explained and presented in the most simple and complete way. The main theme of Romans is the Gospel and how the Gospel has the power to transform us and bring us back to God.

'The main theme of Romans is the Gospel and how the Gospel has the power to transform us and bring us back to God.'Click To Tweet

Romans is then Paul’s argument that Christ bridges the gap between us and God, and between cultures and race. Jesus is the way God fulfilled His promises to Abraham (in Romans 4 Paul explains this in detail). Christ is the righteousness we all seek and it’s in Him that we come together.

'Christ is the righteousness we all seek and it’s in Him that we come together.'Click To Tweet

Since Jesus changed our spiritual DNA, from earthly and wayward to heavenly and holy, by dying in our place on the Cross, now our true identity has been restored. We are no longer slaves to sin and death, they have no authority over us anymore. Now we have received Heavenly citizenship and we are part of God’s family. Jesus changed it all when He died on the Cross and when He rose from the dead. This was the greatest breakthrough in history!

Since now our true Identity and our Destiny have been revealed to us (Paul spoke about this in chapters 4 and 5), and what we are missing to discover is our Journey. But don’t panic, Romans 6 speaks about that.

Now let me share with you a spiritual principle: When you know who you are (your Identity) and where you are going (your Destiny) then you will be in the best position to know how to get there (your Journey). This is a journey we all share and it leads to eternal life.

'When you know who you are (your Identity) and where you are going (your Destiny) then you will be in the best position to know how to get there (your Journey).'Click To Tweet

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