“Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.” Romans 5:9 NKJV
RELATIONSHIP:
Do you already have a relationship with a powerful God who cares about your every need because He loves you? Did you know my God can communicate with you and protect you – He has a plan for you to prosper if you just submit to His will and let His plan play out in your life!!! God wants a relationship with you and has already made a plan for your life. He loves you so much He sent His son to this world, to die as a sacrifice for your sins and rise from death with victory over sin and the ability to have a personal relationship with you.
Do you want to know truth? Be able to discern lies? Know how to figure it all out in these confusing times and have peace? The Bible says Jesus is the truth. I have experienced it and it has changed my life. I was once a hot mess of sin, promiscuity, drug and alcohol use and so much more. But I was lost and when I could not find my way, or find a truth, I numbed it with bad choses. When I found Jesus, and truth – I found peace and deliverance from those things.
If you want a relationship with God without truth you will get the counterfeit, hypocritical Christianity that has kept some of you away for too long. You need truth and relationship. You need to be honest with yourself and God (including honest repentance) and God will reveal truth to you. It becomes the two way, interaction that your relationship with God is built on. This is why Jesus is called the truth, because he is our only way to the Father.
“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. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.” Romans 10:9-10 NIV
Here is a prayer for you to pray:
Jesus, I believe you are the way, the truth, the life, and the only way to the Father. I believe you are the son of God, you came to Earth and lived. That you died on the cross as a sacrifice for my sins, and rose again so that I may be saved from my sins and be able to get to know you. I declare: Jesus, you are Lord!
Therefore, I confess that I am a sinner and I ask that you forgive me of my sins and come into my life. Help me to turn away from my sins and transform me into what you have lovingly created me to be. Help me through a real personal relationship grow and accept your will for my life – that I may live in your blessings. Please walk with me, and talk with me – I accept a relationship with you and with our Father God, through you. In the name of Jesus I pray ~ Amen
BIBLE READING:
Dear Heavenly Father – Please give us the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of who you are, who Jesus is, and who the Holy Spirit is. Open the eyes of our understanding, please, so we may know the hope of our calling and the vast sovereignty and power of the grace of the cross. Please do not let us miss out on what you want and need from us today. Lord, I pray that your word prepares us and not scares us! We forbid the works and influences of fear over your word and our sound mind. And please keep us and bless us and shine your face upon us and pour out grace over us and give us peace! Thank you! – In Jesus name we pray, Amen
Today’s reading is the Book of Romans chapter 5 (embedded below for your convenience in the NKJV).
Faith Triumphs in Trouble
5 Therefore, having been justified by faith, [a]we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces [b]perseverance; 4 and perseverance, [c]character; and character, hope. 5 Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
Christ in Our Place
6 For when we were still without strength, [d]in due time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. 10 For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. 11 And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.
Death in Adam, Life in Christ
12 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned— 13 (For until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. 14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come. 15 But the free gift is not like the [e]offense. For if by the one man’s offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many. 16 And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned. For the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift which came from many [f]offenses resulted in justification. 17 For if by the one man’s [g]offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.)
18 Therefore, as through [h]one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one[i] Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. 19 For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous.
20 Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more, 21 so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Footnotes
- Romans 5:1 Some ancient mss. let us have
- Romans 5:3 endurance
- Romans 5:4 approved character
- Romans 5:6 at the right time
- Romans 5:15 trespass or false step
- Romans 5:16 trespasses
- Romans 5:17 trespass
- Romans 5:18 Or one trespass
- Romans 5:18 Or one righteous act
MEMORY VERSE CHALLENGE:
Isaiah 41:10 – “Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.”
STUDY/DEVOTIONAL:
On Monday, I challenged us all to take a few actions daily to help get us some healthy roots and to root out any sins within us. It is still copied here, for all of our ease of use. I hope you, like I am, are serious about making more changes in our lives and becoming more Christ-like.
PRAYER FOR FORGIVENESS:
Dear God, I am sorry for being filled with all/any unrighteousness, and/or sexual immorality, and/or wickedness, and/or covetousness, and/or maliciousness, and/or envy, murder, and strife, and/or deceit and evil-mindedness, and/or being a whisperers and backbiters, and/or haters of God, and/or violent, and/or proud and boasting, and/or inventors of evil things, and/or disobedient to parents, and/or undiscerning, and/or untrustworthy, and/or unloving, and/or unforgiving, and/or unmerciful, and/or for practicing such things are deserving of death. Please forgive me even though I knew better and I understand the righteous judgment of You, God. Please wash me with the Blood of Jesus. Cleanse me and help me turn from my evil ways – convict me strongly when I do wrong that I may notice and stop. And send a fresh filling of your anointing to break the yokes of bondage and help me destroy the roots with a mindful effort and focus on you. Please reignite the fire in my belly that I may burn for you in boldness. In the name of Jesus we pray ~amen
HEALTHY ROOTS CHALLENGE: this challenge is to heal and strengthen our roots
One – Give God ALL the Glory
Two – Dedicated time for thanksgiving, and be thankful for all things!
Three – Guard our hearts and mind, rebuking and stopping sinful or not godly thoughts, not letting our minds wander and be prayerful and intentional in thinking.
Four – And finally, let us be humble. Humble enough to say I do not know it all and God has something new to reveal to me in this book and in this day.
(Please review the blog post from 4/25/22 for an explanation as to why we are doing this daily and for the scriptural reference instructing us to make these things a practice in our lives. Until they flow from us naturally, we can intentionally and with all of our hearts, scheduled them into our lives and watch them heal and reroute our unhealthy roots that gave sinful/evil fruits.)
Now, staying humble and honest with ourselves – let us look at chapter five where Paul explains the importance of the work of the cross, not just to save us, but in a larger plan to fulfill scripture and overcome the curse of man.
“1 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.”
I think we all understand the justified by faith part as we discussed it yesterday. And today we return full of a fresh faith and ready to go! OR – we grasped that lesson and spent the evening fighting to keep it. It seems like such an easy truth we should all be extremely inspired by, yet the enemy fights hard to keep us from it. And once we have grappled with keeping it, we should have peace. Peace is another thing we must fight diligently to keep.
Yesterday and last night, I had an allergy attack. It was bad. And it also caused pain, intense pain in my sinuses. I took the usual over the counter drugs for it, increased my fluids and prayed. I prayed fervently. I put oil on my head and cast it off me, kicked it out, quoted scriptures, prayed in the spirit, yelled, cried, and shuffled through sitting, laying and standing as each caused the pain to be in a slightly different spot. I did not get much sleep. And when I went to write this study this morning THAT was when I finally fell asleep. This tells me we are flying over a target. We are above something very crucial for our walks with God, our witness to the world, and something that can devastate the enemy.
Hold our peace, hold and increase our faith – so we can access grace. Grace that is sufficient, grace that help us stand. Grace to rejoice and glorify God and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Let’s talk about hope for a moment. I referred to the doubt filled hope as we define the word today. I can say we are going to our friend’s today, which means we are going. Or I can say I hope we are going to my friends, which means there is a chance we will not be. Hope is just a feeling of desire for something to happen, if it will happen or not. When Paul uses the word hope – he is using the archaic definition. Hope is a feeling of expectancy and trust. It is still used in legal documents to declare trustworthiness. So Paul is saying our expectancy and trust of the glory of God!
“3 And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; 4 and perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”
So as I pray to God for healing in my sinuses and the lingering pain – he basically tells me to shut up and glorify him! God does have a strange sense of humor. But I am here for it – last night while praying I also played a worship song. It is a Spanish song and I do not speak Spanish, but I love it and I know it translates to “Glory! Glory” and it literally is glorifying God. I woke up still singing it in my head. I am giving God glory, even in my tribulations.
Paul slides right from our tribulation to Jesus’s. Paul always kept it in perspective. I suppose that was how Paul managed to keep his peace in God. And this is the point of today’s chapter = fully understanding the work of the cross, of Christ dying in our place, and defeating the curse of Adam.
“6 For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
Some of this doesn’t need much discussion to understand it deeply. We were dirty rotten sinners unworthy of what God did for us. But God loves us so much, so much, so much and NOT because of us or anything we did – that he sent Jesus to die for us, in our place.
“9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.”
And there is the summary of the first four and a half chapters.
A side note is, the wrath and hell and the price of rebellion and sin was put in place for satan and his followers. It was not made for or ever intended for man. satan tricked Adam and Eve into sinning and being subject to this same punishment. Besides the fact that God made us to commune with Him and we were now separated by sin – God also needed to rescue us from hell. But we do have free will.
God through His son in the water as a life preserver, that whoever grabs on, can be saved.
“10 For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. 11 And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.”
And then, when you think about it you realize you weren’t even on Team Jesus when he suffered for you. You were actually His enemy.
I do not feel like I have any enemies in my life. I used to have a witch who would curse me and harass me to no end. I did NOT pass the test of loving my enemies at that point. Jesus set the example and died for His enemies. And I think wow! Because all I wanted to do was take that witch down. Instead I prayed for her and prayed for her and struggled to forgive her. Aren’t we all works in progress?
“12 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned— 13 (For until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. 14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come. 15 But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man’s offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many. 16 And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned. For the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift which came from many offenses resulted in justification. 17 For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.)”
Did you follow that? Through one man sin entered the world, Adam. (Let’s not correct Paul and throw poor Eve under the bus.) Paul is making an archetypal symbol of Adam, on in which the Hebrew community has always associated with: one man brought in sin and one man would wash it away – the Messiah would be a type of Adam. Although we do not have a deep rooted expectation of an Adam like Messiah, we can still understand the thought process here and the need for Paul to explain it this way to show to the Roman Jews he was writing to how Jesus completed the prophecies. So he needed a quick explanation of the law imputing sin and how that did not stop people from sinning, it only made sin more obvious to point it out. And how Jesus is a free gift and in comparing it is the exact opposite of the curse. That is why it had to happen the way it did – to be the opposite and negate it. The free gift of Christ came through many sins, onto one death and resurrection for our justification through grace.
“18 Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. 19 For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous.”
By one man we all fell, and by one Man we all have the opportunity to be made righteous. It is a free gift for us to partake in and accept.
“20 Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more, 21 so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Grace is so much more than just “God’s favor” – it has the power to transform, to input righteousness, to reign through righteousness bringing us to eternal life in Jesus Christ. My son doesn’t see his need for God or salvation. In his mind, he isn’t a sinner and is doing his best and God is a mythological construct that doesn’t always work. Easy to buy that lie when he has never seen the lame walk, the blind see, the deaf hear and all sorts of signs and wonders. We have failed him and his generation. But where sin abounds unchecked and there is no law – it is not imputed and grace multiplies. Grace is always sufficient and multiplies to be enough to draw my son to God. If my son accepts it or not, well, that is his stubborn free will. But there is an abundance of grace over his life so that he can see God in the midst and in the greater plans and feel the call drawing him.
Someday, my son will have a face to face encounter with grace and be completely transformed. Paul was highly qualified to speak on grace in this way as he experienced grace on the road to Damascus. Paul was killing Christian Jews – Jesus had every right to smite him dead. Paul knew it – but grace! Oh if not for grace!
Well, we are back to another weekend – time to read more of the Psalms and gain some wisdom. Feel free to continue to focus on healing your roots and practicing daily repentance through the weekend. And hopefully (yes, I am doubting) you will come back on Monday ready to face grace head on and be transformed by our discussions next week. Come back with the Paul kind of Hope!
***
Thank you for reading in 2022 – a Year of Wisdom and Salvation
May the God of peace keep you and bless you. May you stay focused on Christ and covered in grace.
Maranatha ~ Come Lord Jesus!
If Not For Grace 