Tag Archives: romans

LOVE STRENGTHENS FAITH

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KEY SCRIPTURE: Galatians 5:6. For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.

Our key scripture establishes one basic fact, that, observing the works of the law by one’s effort does not meet God’s approval, but trusting in the Lord to work through you. Circumcision is an act that comes from the effort or works of an Individual, yet faith is not in works but trust in God.

Man by nature likes to do more than to trust. In the garden of Eden God made man like Himself (Gen 1:26-28). They did not need to do any more things to remain that way, but only to trust the word of God and keep pleasing God always. The Bible said when the devil through the serpent told them there was something to do to become like God, they chose to stop believing in God and to eat of the tree. They fell out of faith in God. It is faith that works by love. That is what matters unto God. These two virtues are most important to God. Faith relates more to God, while love relates more to God and our fellow man.

Our heavenly Father wants our actions to be motivated mostly by our faith in Him through our love for Him and our fellow men. Faith in God is strengthened by our love for God. Faith is the force that unites us to God. Faith is God working through a man. Faith is strong in our hearts when love for God is also very strong. 1st John 4:17 “Herein is our love made perfect that we may have boldness in the day of judgement…..”. Having boldness in the day of judgment is a demonstration of our faith. In light of this, if our faith should be strong, our love should be stronger. In light of this, help your faith by focusing on the great love the Father loves us.

Faith takes hold of all that Jesus is and has done. This is what matters in our relationship with God. Human effort or human abilities can not meet God’s requirements. Our key scripture says circumcision or non-circumcision does not matter. These things refer to what men do rather than believing in God. There are several Christians who show outward gestures like giving long religious prayers, putting up religious expressions when fasting and many more. These things are done to attract people’s attention. All these are human efforts not based on trust in God to be justified by Him.

The Christian experience is only acceptable before God when the Spirit of God is the one acting or doing the work through us. It is faith in God that makes the Spirit work through us.

One may preach but with a mind to attract attention to himself or herself. This is of the flesh. Some sing in churches to show how good they can sing. All these have nothing to do with faith. God is not involved with anything, not of faith. Faith always seeks God’s honour, not man’s.

CONFESSION

Everything I do, I do to honour God, and it is done by faith. I do nothing to attract men to myself. All is done to bring glory to Him.

THOUGHT: LOVE IS THE FERTILIZER THAT HELPS FAITH GROW WELL

FURTHER STUDIES.

Hebrews 11:6 ” But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him”.

Hebrews 11:1 …” Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen”

WALK IN THE SPIRIT

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KEY SCRIPTURE: Galatians 5:25 “If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.”

Our key scripture is one of the amazing revelations that the Holy Spirit gave to us. It says all Christians have relocated into the Spirit. They no longer live in the flesh but in the Spirit. (Romans 8:9) “But ye are not in the flesh but in the spirit. If so be that the Spirit of God dwells in you…” The Bible calls this life in the spirit as in Christ.

The dwelling place of the Christian is ‘ in Christ’. We live in the Spirit by our spirit which is one with the Spirit of Christ. (1st Corinthians 6:17). Romans 8:10 says “And if Christ be in you the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness”. A Christian is not a man or a woman of the flesh. It is the Spirit in Him that leads and rules him.

Our key scripture says “If we live in the Spirit let us also walk in the Spirit”. In the New Testament Greek language from which the New Testament was translated, there are several translations in the Greek given to the word “walk” depending on the intended meaning carried by the context of the message. In our key scripture, the word in Greek is “stoicheo” from which the word “stoic”. This word means strong, rigid, firm, and disciplined. The word walk therefore means “to proceed in a row as the march of soldiers, or go in an orderly manner”.

To walk in the Spirit therefore means to be disciplined and go in a strict order of the Spirit. There is no grounds for personal considerations. Every step must be in the path the spirit goes. One may ask, what is the practical way to walk in the Spirit? This question is answered in the following scripture. Romans 8:5 “For they that are after the flesh do MIND the things of the flesh; but they that are after in the spirit the things of the spirit”. The state of your mind determines where you are, whether the flesh or Spirit. The things of the Spirit are simply what the word of God talks about. When your mind is filled with the word of God and your considerations and desires are to honour what the word says, then you are in the Spirit.

To walk in the Spirit is to do what the word of God says. Living a life of faith is walking in the Spirit. This is the place of true liberty and peace.

CONFESSION

I live in the Spirit and walk in the Spirit. I live above the dictates and influences of this world and the flesh. My life continually experiences God’s peace blessings and prosperity in Jesus’ name.

FURTHER STUDIES.

Galatians 5:16 “This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh”.

Romans 8:9 “But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.”

RECKON YOURSELF DEAD TO SIN

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KEY SCRIPTURE: Romans 6:11 “Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

In our previous study, we looked at the first action to take so we could live above the demands of sin.

I wish to make a few points proceeding out of the previous study clear. We learnt that because we died with Jesus the body of sin was destroyed and therefore sin no longer lives in us. The question that many would ask is, why are we tempted or even have the desire to Sin as Christians? I would answer this question by taking us to the time of Adam and Eve. Before Adam and Eve sinned, did they have any sinful nature? The answer is no, yet they were tempted and sinned against God.

Their state was like the present state of the Christians. The challenge is that we live in a body made from the earth. This earthly body has appetites and desires relating to its source. The urge to satisfy these appetites, may not have any spiritual or negative influence but because our bodies are of the earth, we would go for the things of this earth.

Our Lord Jesus did not have any sinful nature in him, yet he got hungry after He fasted because He had an earthly body. It was His relationship to the Father and the understanding He had coupled with His decision to honour God always that put Him in a state never to sin, no matter the temptation.

Please let us take the scripture as the Bible reveals it. In our crucifixion with Jesus, the body of sin is destroyed. The body of sin no longer resides in you. Colossians 2:11 says “In whom also you are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands in putting of the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Jesus”. In this instant, the Bible teaches that through the crucifixion with Jesus, the body of the sins of the flesh has been put off.

Dear child of God you don’t have the nature of sin in your flesh now. Don’t think of yourself as a sinner. Every desire and urge to do wrong may either be your flesh yearning for something wrong or a demon stirring up that wrong desire in you.

In this light, our key scripture comes into play. It reads
“Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin but alive unto God through Christ Jesus our Lord”.
To reckon means to count it as truth. Settle it in your heart that you are truly dead to sin. This means, you have no business with sin, rather you are alive unto God, by responding favourably to what He says.

Let your mind come to such a decision and consciousness. After knowing, you must acknowledge and accept that you are indeed dead unto sin but alive unto God.

CONFESSION

I am crucified with Jesus and I know as a certainty that I am dead to sin but alive unto God. Sin cannot rule over me.

FURTHER STUDIES.

Romans 6:7. ” For he that is dead is freed from sin.”

Romans 6:14. “For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under the law but under grace.”

GRACE MEANS VICTORY OVER SIN

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KEY SCRIPTURE: Romans 6:1 “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?”

In Romans chapter six, the Holy Spirit teaches the church of God how to lead an overcoming life free from the control of sin.

He begins by correcting those who misunderstood what he said earlier that when sin abounds, grace also abounds. The argument was that if it was so, then should we continue sinning so grace would keep abounding? He answered this misunderstanding in the following study.

Apostle Paul argues in verse 2 that how shall we who are dead to sin live any longer there in? The Christian died with Jesus unto sin. Sin is alive and active, but through our Lord Jesus, we are dead to it. How does the Christian live or apply the scriptures such that he or she would continually live above the deceptions of sin?

In the apostle’s discourse, he made use of certain VERBS, which we have to identify and act on. They are as follows:

Romans 6:6 ” Knowing this that our old man is crucified with Him (Christ), that the body of sin might be destroyed, that from now on we should not serve sin.” The verb is ‘ KNOW‘
The second verb to consider is found in
Romans 6:11 “Likewise reckon you also see yourself to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God through Jesus Christ our Lord”. The verb of consideration here is RECKON

The next verb is found in
Romans 6:13 “Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin: but yield yourself to God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God”. In this verse, the verb for our consideration is ‘yield not‘

Last but not least is found in
Romans 6:16 “Know you not, that to whom you yield yourselves servants to obey his servants you are to whom you obey whether of sin to death, or of obedience to righteousness.” The verb is ‘Obey’

In Romans 6:6, the verb or action word for our consideration is that we must know: It means you must learn to know. It also means to become aware of a fact. Know that your old man, who was a slave to sin, is crucified with Christ. Until you know you remain in the dark.

Many Christians still think that they’re ruled by the old man and are slaves to sin. Some still believe the old man is in them, in the sense that they are half sinners and half righteous. The Bible says to get to know the truth. The truth always sets men free (John 8:32). Our old man was crucified with Jesus, and the body of sin might be destroyed or rendered ineffective. This word ‘might’ is not in the permissive sense but in the ‘causative sense.’ It means if the old man is crucified, then the body of sin would be ineffective. The ineffectiveness of sin in your life is because the body of sin has been crucified with Jesus. You have to know this fact.

CONFESSION

I know that my old man was crucified with Jesus, so the body of sin is destroyed. I lead a crucified life as I continually remain dead to sin and alive unto God and righteousness.

FURTHER STUDIES

Hosea 4:6 KJV “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children“.

John 8:32 KJV” And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free“

DEAD TO THE LAW

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KEY SCRIPTURE: Galatians 2:19 “For I through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God”.

Apostle Paul once again reveals a truth that is an answer to the struggle of many people. In the key scripture, he states that through the law, he is dead to the law that he might live unto God. This statement expresses his victory over sin as a result of the weakness of the flesh. What is the law in the context of our key scripture? The law is God’s righteous demand for all men to fulfil. Why do we need to be dead to the law? Now, although the law is right men are slaves to sin, so the righteous law exposes the weakness of men fully and makes them very helpless before the law.

In Romans chapter seven, he reveals the great struggle of many who have not come to terms with the reality of the gospel. Apostle Paul in Romans 7 shows how sin taking advantage of the commandment or the law slew him. Romans 7:11 “ For sin taking occasion by the commandment of the law, deceived me and by it slew me”. From here, he went on to state the fact that the law is holy and just, but it slew him. Why did that which is holy just make him a slave? The answer is that sin was alive in him, and therefore, the law only exposed his weakness, which has always been there. He lamented that the good things he wanted to do, he was not able to do them, but the wrong things that he dislikes that he commits. He further asked the following question in Romans 7:24 and finally exclaimed “O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death? ”

Are you at your wit’s end? The answer is in the gospel of our Lord Jesus. In the gospel, we find the grace of God. The Lord Jesus was delivered for our offences (Romans 4:25). This means he died for us and in our name. His death also meant the condemnation of sin in our flesh. Romans 8:3 “For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh.” The death of our Lord Jesus meant the destruction of the power of sin in our flesh (Romans 6:6). If you have believed in Jesus, then sin’s power through the law is destroyed, and therefore, you are free. In effect, your old man is dead to the law, and the new man is alive unto God.

Don’t accept the power of sin over your life. In Christ, the sin question is answered. Jesus died not only to forgive our sins but also to break the power of sin over our lives.

CONFESSION
I am crucified with Jesus. This means I am dead to the sin, and it has no power over me. I now live unto God in righteousness and true holiness.

THOUGHT: IN CHRIST, WE DIED TO THE LAW, BUT ALIVE UNTO GOD BY GRACE

FURTHER STUDIES.

Romans 7:25 ” I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin”.

Romans 8:4 “That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit “