My Online Faith Journal

Romans 5:10-11   "For  if, when we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!  Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation."        Over the last few months, I have been looking at the book of Romans.  It has seemed to me that as I studied this that one of the main ideas that comes up is reconciliation.  In other words, what is our spiritual stance before God now.  Not just when we get to heaven, but now.  In his book "Classic Christianity" Bob George talks about this and he points out that as a believer, I am not only forgiven, but accepted in God's eyes now.        I think this is important because if we are not careful as believers we can get into the trap of the "performance wheel" that characterizes many other relationships.  The "I will accept you if" relationship th

6  But it is not as though the word of God has failed.   For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel.   7  Neither are they all children because they are Abraham’s descendants. [ e ]   On the contrary,   your offspring will be traced [ f ] through Isaac. Romans 9:6-7, NIV      It would at first appear that there is a great shift in chapter 9 of Romans.  In the last few chapters, the focus would be on the way in which a person is justified before God.  Now, in the next three chapters, Paul focuses on the Jewish people.  He talks about a hard subject which is predestination and election.  He talks about how he is full of sorrow because of the lost state of the Jewish nation.  He doesn’t hate these people.  Rather, he says he would rather be accursed than to see these people lost.  He has a great heart for them.     But, justification is still the point of these verses.  IN verses 1-13, Paul talks about how even though many are descendants of Abraham, not all are desce

"But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us." Romans 8:37           My study today was in Romans 8:31-39 one of the most uplifting parts of the letter to the Romans so far.  Paul is talking about who we are in Christ and the victory that is ours because of what Christ has done.  He starts verses 31-32 by saying that God was willing to give up his only son, so why would he not also be willing to freely give us all things?  It is another rhetorical question.  The answer is obvious.  The one who has not withheld the very best that he has will have no hesitation in giving the rest.     Not only that, but God who is judge over all is the one who justifies us.  As it says in Romans 8:1, There is now no condemnation.  This is all as it relates to the one who is "in Christ".  Not only that, but our prayer partner, is Christ Himself who intercedes for us verse 34.  In Romans 8:26 the spirit inside of us intercedes with groans too deep for