Through him and for his name’s sake, we received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience vthat comes from faith. And you also are among those who are called to belong to Jesus Christ.
Through the Jewish nation will come the Gospel to the Gentiles. That is why the opening of this book declares Jesus as the Messiah the Scriptures spoke of: Promised through the Prophets and Scriptures, a descendant of the throne of Davis, and the SOn of God so that the Jews would open their hearts to The Christ. This book is fully intended for both Jews and Gentiles for Obedience FROM Faith.
OK…are you ready, this is AMAZING. Let’s start with 1:18 forward. God’s Wrath Against Mankind”. OK, let me rephrase the statement “Why would God send people to Hell?” If you are ever going to push the Gospel forward this may be the first obstacle you face by a unbeliever. Get your pen out and look at 1:24, 1:26, 1:28…what do you see in common? “gave them over”. God does not put anybody into the path of Wrath, he simply takes his hand off of them and lets them have their own choices. If you read the Old Testament with us one of the most important moments in the Old Testament was when God lifted his hand off his people, the ultimate protection, allowing them to be taken by the hands of the enemy.
God does not send anyone to Hell, He gives them over to themselves. They choose. There is so much to Chapter 1 we could park here for weeks (trust me we could). But let’s move on to Chapter 2 BECAUSE you all stopped at verse 7 and thought, “will Trish write about this” lol right? Well, let’s break this down both in NIV and NLT.
To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. 8But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. 9There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile; 10but glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. 11For God does not show favoritism. (NIV)
He will give eternal life to those who keep on doing good, seeking after the glory and honor and immortality that God offers. 8 But he will pour out his anger and wrath on those who live for themselves, who refuse to obey the truth and instead live lives of wickedness. 9 There will be trouble and calamity for everyone who keeps on doing what is evil—for the Jew first and also for the Gentile. 10 But there will be glory and honor and peace from God for all who do good—for the Jew first and also for the Gentile. 11 For God does not show favoritism. (NLT)
What are we seeking? Glory Honor and immortality. Seeking God. Seeking a life with Christ. How? By Persistence. We seek a relationship like no other, by loyalty, obedience and behavior. Out eternity is not given on the doing “good” but by the seeking of the relationship. When we seek the Lord what does he do? He gives us Grace. That Grace flows through us and what does it look like? It comes out the other end in doing Good. Not By Doing Good. Look at the NLT, you are either living for others or you are living for yourself. The evidence in your seeking relationship with the Lord is acceptance or rejection. And last, the answer to a question we asked weeks ago…do Jews go to Hell? God says in verse 11 He shows no favoritism. The Gospel had been brought to both the Jew and the Gentile and He will not treat them any differently according to Salvation.
OK, this blog is long enough…the rest is soooooooooooooooooooooooooo good though. If anyone has any discussion or comments, I would love to hear them. This is a deep deep book and if when you read it your forehead hurts from concentrating it is ok. Peel off another layer when God reveals more to you. Walk away with the most important part of the read today though:
This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus. (Romans 3:22-26)
Reading the Bible in one year 
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