Time Principles from Romans 15:23-33

The Apostle Paul gives us a rare glimpse into his understanding of time as he explains in what may seem to be a routine note, to the Romans, his plan for a visit.

What principles of time are you employing in business, ministry, and life? I would like to suggest seven that we can extract from Paul.

Principle # 1
Free Time

¬“ (from the NIV) Romans 15:23 - But now that there is no more place for me to work in these regions, and since I have been longing for many years to see you,”

Here we catch a glimpse of an unspoken concept – that of free time. Free time is time to do the things that your heart desires but your priorities prevent.

For Paul, his missionary work took priority in his schedule. If he could be useful and busy about his mission, that came first. At the same time, he desired to spend his time in certain places with certain people when and if the opportunity presented itself.

That was free time.

What do you desire to do with your free time? It is a legitimate desire. It is a possibility. Make a list and then work to free some time for doing that very thing. Who will you be with? What will it be like? State it as Paul did.

God has given you a big picture dream and vision which drives your life mission, but it does not erase all of the things that you would like to do when you are free to do them. Life is never primarily about vacations, side trips, and lunch breaks, but these things occupy our longings and give us both incentives and diversions.

Let’s get our work done and then play a bit.

Principle # 2
Passing Through Time

“ (from the NIV) Romans 15: 24¬ - I plan to do so when I go to Spain. I hope to visit you while passing through and to have you assist me on my journey there, after I have enjoyed your company for a while.”

So often, our free time is the time we grab when we are passing through on our way from somewhere and to somewhere else. It is an entirely valid pursuit to fit things in to the cracks of our lives. If we didn’t, so many things would never get done.

Businesses would not be built.

Hobbies would not be cultivated.

Friendships would not be nurtured.

Books and music would not be enjoyed or even created.

So much of what is good in life happens when we are passing through life. If we do not take advantage of the opportunities along the way, they will be lost.

Paul had two excellent reasons for stopping by Rome along the way. One was to have the Roman believers assist him on his journey. The other was to simply enjoy their company.

Do not discount either motive.

Principle # 4
Service Time

“ (from the NIV) Romans 15: 25 - Now, however, I am on my way to Jerusalem in the service of the saints there. 26 - For Macedonia and Achaia were pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem.”

The primary reason for Paul being on this upcoming journey is service. Specifically, it is service to God’s people in Jerusalem. They were experiencing a time of need. Perhaps it was because, as Barclay suggests, that they had lost their jobs in the industries that supported Temple worship. These were controlled by a small and select group of men who were particularly opposed to the Christian movement.

Having been excluded from the economy of Jerusalem because of their faithfulness to Jesus Christ, they were hungry. Paul saw it as an obligation and an opportunity to help them.

Another group of poor believers in Macedonia and an Achaia had embraced the opportunity and had freely given of themselves and their limited resources. They understood that whatever had been entrusted to them was a stewardship and that the only way to preserve resources is to give them back to God.

So it is with time. Time spent in service is never time wasted, nor is it lost.

What are you doing with your time to serve other people? Is some part of your day spent, each day, in reaching out to others and touching human need? Is your time filled with significance?

Principle # 4
Obligated Time

“ (from the NIV) Romans 15:27 - They were pleased to do it, and indeed they owe it to them. For if the Gentiles have shared in the Jews' spiritual blessings, they owe it to the Jews to share with them their material blessings. “

What made this use of Paul’s time and the other believers’ money and obligation?

Fellowship is the reason.

Fellowship is partnership and sharing. Paul reminds the Romans that they have shared the spiritual heritage and benefits of the Jewish people, the legacy of the law, the rich traditions of the God’s hand at work in the history of Israel, and especially, the Messiah, Jesus Christ.

They owe something to the believers in Jerusalem.

Material and spiritual blessings are sometimes interchangeable. They are not equal, but they are in close communication, one with the other.

Likewise, we are a part of each other and owe each other love, respect, fraternal caring, service, and help. God has molded and melded the church from a conglomeration of people groups and backgrounds and has gathered us into one family.

If nothing else, we need to spend time together and to take the time to meet one anothers’ needs.

Principle # 5
Opportune Time

“ (from the NIV) Romans 15:28 - So after I have completed this task and have made sure that they have received this fruit, I will go to Spain and visit you on the way. “

The opportunity has arisen, in the mind of Paul, to do to things. The primary thing is to go to Spain, the western frontier of his known civilized world, a place bustling with opportunity and influence where some of the most innovative thinking on earth was taking place in Paul’s time.

It was time for the gospel to go to Spain – at least it seemed that way to Paul.

Paul was always looking for opportunities.

The second opportunity was to stop by Rome on his journey – to visit with friends and share the benefits of fellowship.

Opportunities can sometimes be planned and at other times, simply emerge.

Curiously, this opportunity did not materialize, a fact that we will visit in a moment. However, Paul was ready for it and we need to be ready for the opportunities that come our way.

What opportunities might await you this very day and how will you greet them?


Principle # 6
Precious Time

“ (from the NIV) Romans 15:29 - I know that when I come to you, I will come in the full measure of the blessing of Christ.”

Time spent in cultivating friendships in Christ is precious time, blessed and valuable.

We must cherish such time and see it as part of the full blessing of Christ. Isn’t it wonderful that God, in His love, mercy, and wisdom gave us such wonderful comrades on the journey of faith and service?

I have been sitting over a cup of coffee with dear Christian friends, in the midst of a conversation about deep matters or heart and eternal truth and suddenly realized, “The is holy ground.”

There are sanctified moments in our memories, flashes of time, indelibly etched upon our consciousnesses that nurture us at the core of our being.

Are you allowing time for precious moments in your life? Are you making time for those snapshots of seconds, minutes, and hours that give you great strength and encouragement for how you will use the rest of your time in the service of the master?

So often in our businesses and ministries, we do not value the shorter, precious moments that God affords us. We must appreciate them as we anticipate them, as we participate in them, and as we look back upon them.

Principle # 7
Prayer Time

“ (from the NIV) Romans 15: 30 - I urge you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in my struggle by praying to God for me. 31 - Pray that I may be rescued from the unbelievers in Judea and that my service in Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints there,”

Perhaps the most neglected time in the day of any busy Christian is prayer time. It is time spent in the struggle preparing for the struggle. It is time when we can identify closely with the challenges that are faced by our brothers and sisters near and far.

The word used for struggle has the same root as that for “agony.”

This call to pray together is rooted in the very person of Jesus Christ whose entire life was about intercession and in the love of the Holy Spirit.

“Pray for me,” Paul suggests, “and you will be part of me.”

When we pray for someone, we join them. We share in their successes as well as their pain and disappointments.

Paul had two pressing and legitimate concerns:

First, he prayed for deliverance from those who were “gunning for him” in Jerusalem. He was a man with a price on his head and he had many enemies. This was such a legitimate request that it may come as no surprise to learn that God answered this prayer in a funny sort of way. When he did make it to Jerusalem, Paul was arrested and spent four years in prison.

The deliverance came in the fact that those became ironically effective years and productive times. Epistles were written. Influence was shared. Lives were changed. Believers were encouraged.

So the second prayer request is of even greater significance. Paul prayed and requested prayer that his ministry would be effective and acceptable.

God allowed something that seemed to be Him ignoring the first request in order to accomplish the second. In fact, God never stopped answering Paul’s prayer for deliverance, but that is a different story.

Time spent in prayer is never wasted.

Principle #8
Refreshing Time

“ (from the NIV) Romans 15:32 - so that by God's will I may come to you with joy and together with you be refreshed. 33 - The God of peace be with you all. Amen.”

What Paul looked forward to most was a time of mutual refreshment with the Roman believers. They needed it and he needed it.

While it would not happen the way he predicted, he relished the thought.

In fact, Paul would come to Rome within a few short years – in chains. Yet, he would also come in joy and his presence would bring refreshment and courage to the church there.

He valued, as must we, the will of God and gladly submitted to that will. He associated it with joy and refreshment.

The most refreshing experience of time is to be found in the will of God, doing what He wants us to do, being where He wants us to be, speaking what he wants us to speak, enjoying the company of those He brings into our paths, and exercising our ministry and influence among them.

So, we see that Paul values time and takes the expenditure of time very seriously. You have today – at least for now and you may have tomorrow. What will you do with it?

Romans 3:23 and 6:23 in Song

Romans 9:30-33

The Stumbling Stone

30 - What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith; 31 - but Israel, who pursued a law of righteousness, has not attained it. 32 - Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the "stumbling stone." 33 - As it is written: "See, I lay in Zion a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame."

What shall we say to what?

The answers regards what we are to say to this whole question of God’s election through unmerited grace and sovereign mercy, narrowing the focus of His choice of who will bring His message to the world and receive His salvation to those who will come through Jesus Christ.

Uncle Hinky’s fabled and not-so-bright cousin, Lem got himself a quarter section south of Skunkville back in 1946. Someone had already started to build a house there and old Lem wanted to finish it up and live in it himself. One day Hinky dropped by the see how things were going. The house was sort of lopsided and leaning with a frame stuck in the dirt and a big pad of cement next to it.

“What’s going on, Lem?”

“Ah Hinky, it’s going OK considering that big piece of cement in the way there. We’ze always trippin’ on it. As soon as we get the house built the way we want it, we’re going to break it up and slide the house over there.”

Those numbskulls were tripping over the foundation that the previous owners had left.

And we trip over Jesus to our ultimate detriment.

Paul says that unlikely people have been called and have received righteousness from God and have been enveloped into His purpose and calling. He says that some who thought they had it together on false premises have been left out in the cold. It is not God’s plan to make people stumble, but it is inevitable that those who do not come by faith will do so.

In other words, the Christmas message is intended to be good news for the whole world, but for some, it is very bad news. It is confounding and confrontational. What it is to you is your choice.

These verses tell us how we stumble over Jesus:

1. We stumble over Jesus when we pursue what is in our power alone according to verses 30-31. That is called “works” and our works are untrustworthy and inadequate to save us. What does a “works” salvation mean? It can be spelled out: W-O-R-K-S.
   
   
1. W - It is WEAK. (8:3 reminds us that God in Jesus Christ did what the law could not do because it was weak in the flesh.) Works are powerless to save us. We need to give that message to the world that so easily misunderstands ‘self-righteousness” and confuses it with Christianity. When we rely on works to save us, we stumble over Christ because we don’t have any strength left. We wear ourselves out trying to please God with our own efforts.

2. O – It is OBSTINATE. That means prideful and pride just does not please God. Remember the story Jesus told of the two men who went up to the Temple to pray. One was a religious man and was proud of his religious accomplishments. He thanked God that he was not like other men – like the scoundrel next to him for example. The scoundrel prayed a simple prayer, “God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” Some translate that, “THE sinner.” Jesus said that man went away justified. Pride causes us to stumble over Christ.

3. R – It is RETRO-RIGHTEOUS as an out-of date concept of righteousness which REJECTS God’s way of salvation. Have you ever tried to play an 8-track video in a DVD player? It doesn’t work. You are mixing an out-of-date technology with a current technology. There is no relationship. God has sent a memo that says, “The old system is obsolete. From now on, it is the grace-faith connection, pure and simple – no other c odes to learn.” We reject that and we reject Him and stumble over Christ.

4. K – It KILLS – (II Corinthians 3:6 says – The letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.). The letter of the law is designed to convict us of sin. It does that very well. We, on the other hand, according to II Corinthians 3:6, have been made ministers of a new covenant of grace. Christ is at the center of it. He is God’s elect and faith in Him is God’s way of bringing us life through the Spirit. To turn away from Him is to stumble over Him.

5. S – And so, we can write a great big S across the manual of works salvation. It is an S for STUMBLE. It STUMBLES over everything Jesus is, did, and said. We decide not to stand on the Rock, but to butt against it – HIM!

2. According to verse 32, we stumble over Christ when we fail to pursue faith. Hebrews 11 tells us that without faith, it is impossible to please God. Romans 9:32 implies that faith is the pursuit of righteousness. For some time, I have been teaching a dual definition of righteousness from the scriptures:

1. First, it is a right relationship with God. It is through Jesus’ sacrifice and victory that righteousness is “imputed” to us by faith. That means that God puts it on our account by grace, freely given and undeserved. We pursue righteousness as a right relationship with God when we come to Him through Jesus Christ. You can come today? It is not complicated? It doesn’t take a lot of time. It does not require you to prepare a resume or go through a big ritual. You can simply, where you are, as you are, decide to trust Christ as your Savior and Lord and commit your life to him. You can start openly declaring Him as the King of your life. In less than a noon-second, you will cross over from the old to the new. That is the pursuit. It begins with one simple step of faith.

2. Second, it is a lifestyle of repentance whereby we are moving in the right direction. Repentance is a simple word that means turning around – a 180 degree turn from the pursuit of self-interests to the pursuit of God’s interests. It does not mean we are yet perfect, but that we have changed our course and are heading the right way – also by grace, also through faith. We pursue ongoing and ever deepening righteousness in our lives as we continue to walk by faith in the power of the Holy Spirit. We sometime stray; we sometimes falter; but we get up and continue to course of the pursuit of right belief and right living by faith. Our compasses are set God-ward and we continue on course. When we start veering away, the Word of God and the Holy Spirit are adequate to correct us and set us in the right direction as long as we are committed to walk by faith.

3. Finally, we stumble over Christ when we do not trust Him to be the cornerstone according to verse 33. Paul has quoted from two passages in Isaiah, 8:14 and 28:16-17. In these passages, we are given four different insights into who the coming Messiah will be as compared to a great stone.

1. He is a Sanctuary Stone in 8:14. A sanctuary is a place of refuge and safety and so Jesus is our Rock of safety and refuge. In the old westerns, the cowboys would take shelter behind big boulders in the high desert when they were in a shootout. Bullets would bounce off the rocks and they would be safe. It was a wonder anyone ever got shot. The other wonder I have about those old movies is why more of the horses didn’t trip over those monstrosities and their riders rode them recklessly through the hills. The answer was that they were paying attention and they knew the terrain. If you ignore the Sanctuary Stone, but Isaiah and Paul are here to inform you that you will stumble over Him and the fall could be very, very hard. Nevertheless, He is your sanctuary from the storms and bullets of life.

2. He is a Tested Stone according to 28:16. He is tested as a precious stone of great value – like gold for instance. Trusting in Him will, according to both Paul and Isaiah, preclude shame. No one who trusts in Him will ever be put to shame. That means that He will not let you down. There is a saying among credible people in the sales industry that goes like this: Under-sell and over-deliver. That way, you never have to apologize for your product. People are delighted when they discover that what you have put in their hands has more uses, is over better quality, and is more valuable than you ever told them. Jesus is such a tested and precious stone. He is of infinite value. It is amazing that people would trip over such a treasure.

3. He is the Cornerstone. Lem refused to see that the obstacle in the way of his “works” was actually the foundation that would have kept the house from being lopsided and tilted. We must recognize that Jesus Christ is the foundation upon which we can build a strong and productive life. It works because He works. In this month of mission emphasis and Advent, we can be confident that the Christ we preach to the nations is a strong, sturdy, and precious foundation for every people, nation, and culture. Let us never be ashamed to proclaim Jesus. We have no responsibility for quality control over the life He brings to people. It doesn’t matter how badly a person’s house of life is toppling over, he can and will rebuild it. We can be confident as we trust Him, the Cornerstone.

4. And so, He is a trustworthy stone. And what do you do with that which is trustworthy? You place your trust dead center in Him. You do not waver. You do not hold back.

Do you trust Him today?

• With your salvation?
• With your reputation?
• With your family and finances?
• With your business?
• With your mission in life?

Pray with me.

Romans 9 – Election and The Sovereign Mercy of God

1 -I speak the truth in Christ—I am not lying, my conscience confirms it in the Holy Spirit— 2 -I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. 3 - For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, those of my own race, 4 - the people of Israel. Theirs is the adoption as sons; theirs the divine glory, the covenants, the receiving of the law, the temple worship and the promises. 5 - Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them is traced the human ancestry of Christ, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen.

• The BIAS of every Christian is for the salvation of one’s community. That is the kind of heart that God wants us to have toward our neighbors. It is the sort of love that we see in Jesus Christ who actually did what Paul could not do – alienate Himself from God in order to bring many to God. Isn’t it amazing that only God could do that? Paul loves His brothers, the people of Israel.

It is impossible for me to understand how any Christian could ever be anti-Semitic. That is such a contradiction. In the movie, “The Hiding Place,” Corrie Ten Boom’s father makes this remark about the Nazi’s who would eventually imprison and murder him for hiding Jews in Holland during the Nazi occupation, “I pity them, for they have touched the apple of God’s eye.”

Israel has never stopped being the apple of God’s eye.

However, the principle here is the bias that we as Christians and as a church are to have in all of our programming and prioritizing for the salvations of our communities at home and around the world. Nothing in a balanced doctrine of election relieves us of the burden and responsibility for sharing the good news of Jesus Christ with the world – and using words when necessary as St. Francis said.

6 - It is not as though God's word had failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel. 7 - Nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham's children. On the contrary, "It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned." 8 - In other words, it is not the natural children who are God's children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham's offspring. 9 - For this was how the promise was stated: "At the appointed time I will return, and Sarah will have a son."

• The BEGINNING of election is the promise of God. As sacred history proceeded, God narrowed the scope of His promise and covenant. He did not nullify that which He made with those who were excluded from the next level because He has a purpose for every person – even the wicked for the day of destruction according to Proverbs. Rather, in narrowing His focus, He began to fashion a peculiar and elect people who would carry out that mission. I do not believe that this scripture or the rest of the Bible teaches a replacement theology where the church usurps Israel. However, Paul is saying that the church is included in the promises of Israel to the point where she becomes the focus of His mission to bring the good news of salvation to the rest of the world.

10 - Not only that, but Rebekah's children had one and the same father, our father Isaac. 11 - Yet, before the twins were born or had done anything good or bad—in order that God's purpose in election might stand: 12 - not by works but by him who calls—she was told, "The older will serve the younger."13 - Just as it is written: "Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated."

• The BOTTOM-LINE of election is the purpose of God. Election is not primarily about who goes to Heaven and who goes to hell. It is about who God is using and in what way to accomplish His purposes. Careful Bible reading reveals that God’s purpose in electing Israel was a missionary purpose. That is the purpose of Christ being God’s elect and the church being elect in Him – to bring salvation to the world, not to hoard it to themselves.

The theology that seeks to understand election and predestination merely in terms of personal salvation – who is and who isn’t saved, is quite man-centered. The doctrine of election is 100% God-centered and focused on His purposes. In our system of government, not everyone can be elected to high office. Yet, every citizen has a purpose and a rkole.

14 - What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all! 15 - For he says to Moses,
"I will have mercy on whom I have mercy,
and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion."

• The BANTER of the world is that God is somehow unjust in His exclusivity. Man’s reaction goes to fairness and lack thereof. It is a child’s reaction. No offense to our precious children, but one chant we hope that they all grow out of is the whine, “It’s not fair.”

They want some sort of justice that they deem just. Micah 6 says that we are to DO justice, but love mercy and walk humbly with our God.

The bottom line of fairness is that God is God and He can do as He pleases. When He determines to show mercy, that is a gigantic bonus.

16 - It does not, therefore, depend on man's desire or effort, but on God's mercy. 17 - For the Scripture says to Pharaoh: "I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display my power in you and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth." 18 - Therefore God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden.

• So, the BASIS of salvation is the mercy of God. What if God’s mercy hardens someone’s heart? It can happen. Can’t it? You have seen it. Have you ever tried to make a wait-person nicer with a big tip? Sometimes it works; sometimes it doesn’t. It depends on many factors. The overtures we make toward loving someone may harden them if they are so inclined.

This is not about God being manipulative. This is another application of the same principle we found in 8:28 – God causing everything to work together for the good of His people and His glory. God’s purposes will be fulfilled whether or not we receive His mercy.

19 - One of you will say to me: "Then why does God still blame us? For who resists his will?" 20 - But who are you, O man, to talk back to God? "Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, 'Why did you make me like this?' " 21 - Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for noble purposes and some for common use?

• The BEAUTY of election is in its rarity - not all receive it. It is precious. One illustration of this would be when I write devotionals for our people to take home and read. I write them with contradictory assumptions. In the forefront of my mind is the idea that everyone will read them and use them because God has given me a word for His people and everyone will be eager to receive it. The other assumption is that not everyone will take them and of those who take them, most will not read them. That is a reality I know – yet I always write with the idea that everyone needs this and the knowledge that it may only be received by a few.

It is for mass distribution in terms of availability, but, in ultimate reality, it is written only for those who will choose to read it. The blessings contained in the scriptures to which I point will only be received by the “elect” who elect to receive and apply them. That is election.

God has chosen to save mankind though His Son. He offers that gift to all, but not all will receive it. He knows that, but proceeds as if all will.

It is like a mother cooking a meal for her large family. Somewhere inside of her, she knows that not everyone will show up for dinner, but she prepares plenty of food and sets the table with every member in mind. I think that is how it is with God. Some will want to make their own plans and will show up an hour late or the next day, but the meal is served when it is served and God has the right to determine the conditions.

22 - What if God, choosing to show his wrath and make his power known, bore with great patience the objects of his wrath—prepared for destruction? 23 - What if he did this to make the riches of his glory known to the objects of his mercy, whom he prepared in advance for glory— 24 - even us, whom he also called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles? 25 - As he says in Hosea:
"I will call them 'my people' who are not my people;
and I will call her 'my loved one' who is not my loved one," 26 - and,
"It will happen that in the very place where it was said to them,
'You are not my people,'
they will be called 'sons of the living God.' "

• The BOUNTY of election is that some unlikely souls do receive it. The God who is ready to judge the unrighteous is reluctant to do so – yes for their sake, but also for ours who will ultimately come to Him. He bears with people because unlikely people, the kind Brennan Manning calls ragamuffins, will, come.

God is a bountiful God in His mercy and generosity. He is unwilling for any to perish. He calls people into inclusion who have been excluded. He uses folks that the world discards. He is an amazing God, who, through the mystery of election, calls the unlovely, unlikely, and unimpressive to be more than they ever imagined they could be.

Unfortunately, some who have felt entitled on false premises miss the boat. God has chosen Jesus Christ as His elect and the church as the Body of Christ. In future weeks, we will show how Israel continues to be part of God’s plan for the earth, but for now, we focus on this narrowing of the call upon the church to broadcast, as unlikely messengers, the Word of salvation to the world.

27 - Isaiah cries out concerning Israel:
"Though the number of the Israelites be like the sand by the sea,
only the remnant will be saved.
28 - For the Lord will carry out
his sentence on earth with speed and finality."

29 - It is just as Isaiah said previously:
"Unless the Lord Almighty
had left us descendants,
we would have become like Sodom,

we would have been like Gomorrah."

• The BAD-NEWS is that many miss out. Just like the remnant who read my stuff, there is only a remnant who are saved.

We ask, “WHY?” And the answer is shrouded in MYSTERY. Let’s spell it and see if we can understand it:

M – MERCY is God’s mysterious way of plucking brands from the burning.

Y – YESTERDAY is all we have to help us understand the mysteries of tomorrow. So, we are given examples from the past to illustrate election. These are helpful, but inadequate by themselves.

S – SALVATION is really not the main issue here. The main thing is our place in God’s plan. We always gravitate toward a man-centered understanding. That is inadequate. Nevertheless, our willingness to receive the gospel determines our salvation.

T – THANK God for the mystery of your inclusion. We have a debt to Israel according to verse 5.

E – EYES have not seen what God has in store for those who love Him. (I Corinthians 2:9)

R – REALITY and REVELATION teach us that greatness is a RARE commodity, but everything and everyone has a purpose.(V. 21 and Proverbs).

Y – YEARNING for the salvation of others is a God thing and, therefore, a good thing. (I Timothy 2:1-6)

1. This is the beginning of a long train of thought where Paul struggles with the seeming displacement of Israel’s place in God’s plan through the inclusion of the Gentiles.
2. It culminates with 10:13 (as well as 10:9-10) and continues from there.
3. It begins with yearning for the salvation of all Israel.
4. It ends with the hope of salvation for all.
5. It places a choice in our laps. Will we follow the many to destruction or will we choose the narrow road which is Christ?

Next week, we shall examine this verse in depth as we begin our Advent and Missions emphases:

30 - What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith; 31 - but Israel, who pursued a law of righteousness, has not attained it. 32 - Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the "stumbling stone." 33 - As it is written: "See, I lay in Zion a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame."

What is your choice? Next week, we will consider, “The Stumbling Stone” and examine why Jesus is such a stumbling block for so many.

This week, we will suffice to say that we can choose between faith and works. When we choose faith, we come into the glorious election of God not only for service, but for salvation. We choose between Jesus Christ being our cornerstone or the stone we trip over.

Stop now and behold the stone that God has laid in Zion. You must deal with Him now or later. How about now.

Bow your heads with me.

Life in the Spirit – Romans 8:1-14

Life in the Spirit is Grace-Based.

1 -Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2 - because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. 3 - For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, 4 - in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit.

• There is no condemnation.
• God’s requirements are satisfied.

Life in the Spirit is Desire-Driven

5 - Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. 6 - The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; 7 - the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. 8 - Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.

• It is the result of a new mind-set.
• It results in submission.

Life in the Spirit is Spirit-Led

9 - You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. 10 - But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. 11 - And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.

• The vivid contrast between sin-control and Spirit-control.
• The vital contrast between death and life.

Life in the Spirit is Relational

12 - Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation—but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it. 13 - For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, 14 - because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15 - For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba, Father." 16 - The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. 17 - Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.

• We are sons of God and know it.
• We are heirs of God with all the benefits and responsibilities.
• We are co-heirs with Jesus Christ.

(Scripture quotations, NIV © 1999, International Bible Society)

Romans 5:1-2 – A Free P.A.S.S. : (Rom 5:1 -2 NIV) 1 - Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2- through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.

(Rom 5:1-2 – The Message) By entering through faith into what God has always wanted to do for us--set us right with him, make us fit for him--we have it all together with God

1. Peace - The well-being factor
2. Access – The welcome factor
3. Standing The well-put factor
4. Shouting The well-spring factor

Romans 4

First – Consider the Giver - We Must Believe God

¹What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather, discovered in this matter? ²If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about—but not before God. ³ What does the Scripture say? "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness." ⁽Gen. 15:6; also in verse 22)

The Message puts it this way: "Abraham entered into what God was doing for him, and that was the turning point. He trusted God to set him right instead of trying to be right on his own."

Second - Consider the Gift - We Must Stop Counting on Our Works and Count Only on God’s Gift.

⁴Now when a man works, his wages are not credited to him as a gift, but as an obligation. ⁵However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness. ⁶David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:

The Message puts it this way: “If you're a hard worker and do a good job, you deserve your pay; we don't call your wages a gift. But if you see that the job is too big for you, that it's something only God can do, and you trust him to do it—you could never do it for yourself no matter how hard and long you worked—well, that trusting-him-to-do-it is what gets you set right with God, by God. Sheer gift. “

Third – Consider the Cost – The cost is forgiveness and forgiveness is costly.

^7"Blessed are they
whose transgressions are forgiven,
whose sins are covered.
⁸Blessed is the man
whose sin the Lord will never count against him.” (Psalm 32:1,2)

Fourth – Consider Your Response – There is a twofold response.

⁹Is this blessedness only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? We have been saying that Abraham's faith was credited to him as righteousness. ¹⁰Under what circumstances was it credited? Was it after he was circumcised, or before? It was not after, but before! ¹¹And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. So then, he is the father of all who believe but have not been circumcised, in order that righteousness might be credited to them. ¹²And he is also the father of the circumcised who not only are circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.

A Two-Fold Response

q Take the Seal.

q Walk in Faith.

Fifth – Consider the Benefits

^13It was not through law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith. ¹⁴For if those who live by law are heirs, faith has no value and the promise is worthless, ¹⁵because law brings wrath. And where there is no law there is no transgression. ¹⁶Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham's offspring—not only to those who are of the law but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all. ¹⁷As it is written: "I have made you a father of many nations."^[c] He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed—the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were.

q Great Promise

q Great Possibilities

Sixth - Consider Two Great Examples

¹⁸Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, "So shall your offspring be."^{[d] 19}Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah's womb was also dead. ²⁰Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, ²¹being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. ²²This is why "it was credited to him as righteousness." ²³The words "it was credited to him" were written not for him alone, ²⁴but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. ²⁵He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.

q Abraham demonstrated faith.

q Jesus died, in faith, for all who would come by faith.

Footnotes:

a. Romans 4:3 Gen. 15:6; also in verse 22

b. Romans 4:8 Psalm 32:1,2

c. Romans 4:17 Gen. 17:5

d. Romans 4:18 Gen. 15:5