“Religion” has become as a bad word, a source of division and hypocrisy, or, even among Christians, something that points to our own efforts over and against God’s grace. The Christian faith necessarily includes the religious worship of the Eucharist and other sacraments that enable us to relate to God in a tangible, human way. Romans Chapters 12 and 13 needed to be viewed as a single unit. Romans Chapter 12 outlines a Christian’s duties to the church. Believers in Christ are spiritual beings, we have a spiritual gift, and we are in unity with other believers in Christ as the body of Christ.
We do not act out of self-interest (I hope). Even if my friends never help me move, I will always help when I am called upon. Even though my child could realistically never pay me in full for giving them life, and guiding them through it, as a parent, I still sacrifice my sleep and leisure for them becaase I love them. My dear brothers and sisters, going back to the story of Genesis – when God created everything – what did He command or require from humanity vs. all other creatures? To take care of creation, to watch over, to tend – in one word to be stewards. When we act in faith, when we follow God’s commandments – how many of us think of it as a purpose rather than a means?
The Seriousness Of Our Slavery To Sin And Satan
It was wiping your slate clean and making you new inside. Complete reconciliation with God by grace through faith in the Messiah. As you go forth into your week, here’s a song from June Murphy encouraging you to find a new way to look at the challenges of your life…with LOVE…here’s June with her song COUNT IT ALL JOY. These are just a few of the sins that when committed hurt others. Jesus Christ is…in His very Person…LOVE… UNconditional love. He loves you totally…He accepts you totally…and nothing you do ever surprises Him or disappoints Him. Jesus Christ is 100% God and 100% man in one Person…and as such He the is unique Person of divine history…there never has been and there never will be anyone like Him.
- It is not because we deserved forgiveness for even one sin, and certainly not for a googolplexian sins!
- The nine think that God owed it to them to no longer be lepers.
- Of course not, because that was his job.
- When a pastor tells someone, “Come to Jesus and be made completely new!
When the servant is done plowing or keeping sheep, does the master tell the servant to sit at the table for dinner? Of course not, the master tells the servant to make the dinner and serve the master while he eats. After the master has had his meal, only then does the servant eat and drink.
How Does Jesus Pay Our Debt To God?
With a strong emphasis on the grace of God and with a prophetic voice, Pastor John preaches and teaches in churches, conferences, and crusades both locally and throughout the world. He has produced books, tapes, and other teaching materials to empower, enable, and equip Believers with the Word of God. Pastor John is married to his wife Candy who with their three children, Krista, Joanna, John Anthony, and two son-in-laws, Matt and Doug, serve together in the ministry. After graduating from Kent State University, Pastor John pursued a career in professional baseball before accepting the call to the ministry. He and his wife, Candy, received their ministry training from Rhema Bible Training Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma. 9 It pleased God to make man perfect, but with freedom to choose.
The Bible expresses right religion first in the imperfect sacrifices of the Old Testament and then in the perfect offering that Christ made of himself on the Cross. Jesus unlocks the meaning and purpose of religion by showing us that what we owe God is the complete sacrifice and gift of ourselves back to him in love. Religion ultimately points to the communion that God desires to have with us. Those who are saved, those who are truly healed, and those who are in the kingdom of God are those who recognize that God owes them nothing and owe God everything.
By doing all that God has commanded, we are simply being a servant. We are not anything special and have not done anything extraordinary. All the good we can possibly do is only our duty. We must move our hearts and minds to the place where we understand that we deserve nothing from God and he demands everything from us. To save this article to your Google Drive account, please select one or more formats and confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you used this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your Google Drive account.
God made us to love, honor, and obey him in thought, word, and deed. Every time we fail to do that perfectly, we accrue a debt to God. Every person has sinned against God, and hell is the eternal prison for spiritual debtors who have stolen from God by living sinful lives. In verse 15 we read that when one of the lepers realized he had been healed, turned back, praised God with a loud voice, and fell on his face at the feet of Jesus, giving him thanks. Where are the rest of the people who were healed? How many of us are like the nine who have received the blessings of God, but never thank God for what we have received?
We’re studying Romans, Chapter 13, and in the first seven verses we learned that the apostle Paul had to deal with the issue of authority in first century Rome. The bible is interpreted in the time it was written, and at that time the leaders of The Jewish Race, God’s chosen people, did not want to obey the Roman Gentile rulers of the day. The Jews thought Gentiles were beneath them. No one could blame The Jews for not wanting to respect leaders like Herod, Nero, and Pontius Pilate. Christians in the first century church had the same feeling… “Do we really have to respect evil authority?
Even though the New Testament uses the imagery of being living sacrifices and slaves to God, we misunderstand if we assume that a life set apart for God’s pleasure and glory is not freedom. The call to a Christian is to be ALL IN. We owe everything to Jesus for what He has done for us. We give to others and steward our resources to show that we are indeed living out the fact that we owe everything, including our lives, to the One who gave His life for us. This was way back in 1982 that the word came from the Lord. Today, several millions were connected to Shiloh 2021 through various social media platform; Facebook, YouTube, website streaming etc. We have these millions from over one hundred and seventy-one (171) nations.