No Condemnation

Daily Bible Reading – Romans 6:1 – 8:39

What an incredible Thanksgiving message is found in Romans 7 and 8. In chapter seven Paul confesses his ongoing battle with sin. What believer in Christ has not felt the guilt of the struggle with sinful behavior that seems to be ever present in the Christians’ life?

Romans 8 is perhaps the apex of the inspired writings of Paul. Who has not been comforted by the cry of victory over sin that Paul declares in verse 1: “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, ​​who ​​do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.”

These opening verses actually form the conclusion to the argument in chapter 7. Keep in mind that Paul is not dealing with salvation in chapter 7 but with the problem of how the believer can ever do anything good when he has such a sinful nature. How can a holy God ever accept anything we do when we have “no good thing” dwelling in us? It would seem that He would have to condemn every thought and deed! But there is “no condemnation” since the indwelling Holy Spirit fulfills the righteousness of the Law in us. The Law cannot condemn us because we are dead to the Law. God cannot condemn us, for the Holy Spirit enables the believer to “walk in the Spirit” and thereby meet God’s holy demands.

It is a glorious day in the life of the Christian when he or she realizes that God’s children are not under the Law, that God does not expect them to do “good works” in the power of the old nature. When the Christian understands that “there is no condemnation,” then he realizes that the indwelling Spirit pleases God and helps the believer to please Him. What a glorious salvation we have!

All Have Sinned and Come Short of the Glory of God

Daily Bible Reading – Romans 3:1 – 5:21

Verse 21 in chapter 3 can be paraphrased, “But now, in this age of grace, a righteousness—a new kind of righteousness—has been revealed, but not one that depends on the Law.” People today want righteousness by the Law and by works, but Paul has already proved that the Law condemns and can never save. This grace-righteousness was, however, seen in the OT. Abraham, for example, was declared righteous because of his faith (Gen. 15:6). Habakkuk 2:4 says, “The just shall live by faith.” Read Rom. 9:30–33 and see why Israel missed this righteousness by faith.

Note how often Paul uses the word “faith.” Verse 23 can be read, “For all have sinned [once-for-all in Adam] and are constantly coming short of the glory of God.” Then Paul introduces several important terms:

Justified—declared righteous in God’s sight through the merits of Christ, secure in our position in Christ before the throne of God. Justification is God’s righteousness imputed, put to our account. Sanctification is righteousness imparted, or lived out in our daily lives.

Redemption—deliverance from sin and its penalties, by the payment of a price. This price was Christ’s blood on the cross.

Propitiation—Christ’s sacrifice satisfied God’s holy law, thus making it possible for God to forgive sinners and remain just Himself. God’s justice has been satisfied; He may now look with kindness and grace upon a lost world.

“Justified freely by His grace” (v. 24)! What a thrilling statement! Not by works, good intentions, gifts, or prayers, but freely by His grace alone. It is in this letter that Paul explains how God can be both “just and justifier” (v. 26), and the answer is the cross. When Jesus died, He bore our sins in His own body (1 Peter 2:24) and thus paid the price God’s law demanded. But He arose again! Thus He is alive and able to save all who will believe!

Verse 25 teaches that in the ages before the full revelation of the Gospel of Christ, God appeared to be unjust in “passing over” the sins of mankind and forgiving such people as Noah, Abraham, and Enoch. True, He did send wrath in some cases; but generations of sinners seemed to escape the judgment of God. How was God able to do this? Because He knew that at the cross, He would give a full display of His wrath against sin, and yet through Christ’s death provide a redemption for sins that had merely been “covered” by the blood of bulls and goats (Heb. 9–10).

Romans

Daily Bible Reading – Acts 28:1 – Romans 2:29

While all Scripture is inspired of God and profitable, there are some parts of the Bible that contain more doctrinal truth than others. Certainly what Paul has to say in Romans is of more practical value to us than some of the lists in Numbers. St. Augustine was converted through reading Romans. Martin Luther launched the Reformation on Rom. 1:17: “The just shall live by faith.” John Wesley, founder of Methodism, was converted while listening to someone read from Luther’s commentary on Romans. If there is one book that every Christian should understand, it is this epistle. Why?

(1) It presents doctrinal truth—justification, sanctification, adoption, judgment, and identification with Christ.

(2) It presents dispensational truth in chapters 9–11, showing the relationship between Israel and the church in the eternal plan of God.

(3) It presents practical truth, teaching the secret of Christian victory over the flesh, the duties Christians have toward each other, and their relationship to government.

Romans is a great exposition of the faith. It is the complete and most logical presentation of Christian truth in the entire NT. While some topics (such as the priesthood of Christ and the return of the Lord) are not dealt with in detail, they are mentioned and related to the other great doctrines of the faith.

If a Bible student wishes to master any one book of the Bible, let it be Romans! An understanding of this book is a key to unlocking the entire Word of God.

Romans is the first epistle in the NT. You will note that the order of the NT letters follows 2 Tim. 3:16, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for . . .”:
Doctrine—Romans (the great doctrinal book)
Reproof—1 and 2 Corinthians (where Paul reproves sin)
Correction—Galatians (where Paul corrects false teaching)
Instruction in righteousness—Ephesians and Paul’s remaining letters (where Paul teaches holy living based on Christian doctrine)

Paul’s basic theme in Romans is the righteousness of God. The word “righteous” in one form or another is used over forty times in these chapters. In chapters 1–3 he presents the need for righteousness; in 3–8, God’s provision of righteousness in Christ; in 9–11, how Israel rejected God’s righteousness; and in 12–16, how righteousness must be lived in daily practice.

Almost Persuaded

Daily Bible Reading – Acts 25:1 – 27:44

Paul, in Acts 26 once again shares his testimony, this time before the Jewish king – Agrippa. “Then Agrippa said to Paul, ‘You almost persuade me to become a Christian.’” (28)

Agrippa was thoroughly alarmed, for Paul's thrusts came far too close to home. He is typical of many a person quite willing to listen to a sermon, even to take a deep, philosophical interest in that sermon-just so long as the preacher does not make personal the claims of Christ. Many will discuss and debate the issues of the gospel but will balk at a personal decision for Christ.

There is an emotional old hymn, once greatly used in gospel campaigns and evangelistic services, that runs:

Almost persuaded, now to believe,
Almost persuaded, Christ to receive.
Seems now some soul to say, Go, Spirit, go thy way;
Some more convenient day On Thee I'll call.

That hymn is based on Agrippa's dilemma, but in actual fact there seems to be no reason for thinking that King Agrippa was "almost persuaded" any more than Festus was. The arrow of conviction may have sunk deeper into the soul of Agrippa than into that of Festus; but that was because of his religious training. He was still opposed to the gospel. He had no wish to give up his sins, have a radical change in life-style, lose face before his peers, and run the risk of Jewish spite, Roman snobbery, and Greek scorn. He shied away at once. So far as we know, the Holy Spirit never gave him another chance. Heaven's most gifted, persuasive, and Spirit-filled ambassador had presented him with the demands of God's throne. He shrugged them off, afraid, no doubt, of being told by Festus that he, too, was mad. Well, he was mad. So was Festus. So are all who refuse to give up that which they cannot keep in order to gain that which they cannot lose.

God has a plan

Daily Bible Reading – Acts 22:1 – 24:27

There is nothing like a personal testimony. In Acts 22, the apostle Paul shares his conversion testimony for the second time. In verse 10 the visibly shaken Paul tells of speaking to the Lord who has just revealed Himself to him. “So I said, ‘What shall I do, Lord?’ And the Lord said to me, ‘Arise and go into Damascus, and there you will be told all things which are appointed for you t do.’”

His whole life lay in ruins about him. He had spent himself in persecuting the infant church and in reviling Jesus, the One he now knew to be the Lord from heaven. “What shall I do, Lord?” was his broken cry. At once he discovered that the risen Lord had a plan for his life. The full scope of that plan was not revealed at once, but the next step was made clear. He must go into Damascus and await further enlightenment.

Physically blinded but with a soul ablaze, Saul was led helpless into the city, and there he was left-left with time to think, time to pray, time to reevaluate his whole life and the tragic mistake he had made in persecuting Jesus and His followers.

When life's great crises come, we all need such times of stillness. We read of Jacob, for instance, that after he came to the Jabbok and after he had made all his own arrangements to right the wrong he had done to Esau and to ensure his own safety and that of his family, he was “left alone” (Gen. 32:24). It was then that the Jehovah Angel came to him, wrestled with him, broke him, and brought him into blessing.

“Be still, and know that I am God” was the Lord's word to the psalmist (Ps. 46:10). Thus Saul of Tarsus was left sitting in his blindness, so that out of the ashes and ruins of his life Paul the apostle might be born.

A Prayer for the Church

Daily Bible Reading – Acts 20:1 – 21:40

Paul has been described as “an apostle of the heart.” He had a God-given burden for the people of God and the church of God. Before departing for Jerusalem at the end of his third missionary journey, Paul met with the leaders of the Ephesian church. He had been part of an incredible work of God in which Acts 19:10 gives a summary statement, “and this continued for two years, so that all who dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks.”

The time of his departure had now come and as was Paul’s custom “he knelt down and prayed with them all.” (20:36)

We are not told what Paul said in this prayer for the Ephesian elders. His epistle to the Ephesians, however, includes two of his prayers for them. (2:15-23; 3:14-21) Perhaps his prayer here was modeled along the same lines. Glance at those two prayers. The great theme in the one is that the Ephesians might be bathed in Divine light; in the other, that they might be bathed in Divine love. The theme of the one is the lordship of Christ, a lordship beyond all competition; the theme of the other is the love of Christ, a love beyond all comprehension. The theme of the one is His inheritance in us; of the other, our inheritance in Him. The one prayer extols His greatness as that greatness is magnified in the church; the other extols His glory as that glory is magnified in the church.

If Paul prayed along these same lines for the Ephesian elders, he must have lifted them into the heavenlies indeed.

Disciples of John

Daily Bible Reading – Acts 18:1 – 19:41

When Paul arrived at Ephesus, he met a dozen men whose understanding of Christianity was much the same as that of Apollos before he met Aquila and Priscilla. Paul entered into conversation with them to find out just where they stood in relation to the gospel. Like Apollos, they knew only the baptism of John. More, they had never heard of the Holy Spirit, which seems strange because John the Baptist preached about the Holy Spirit as well as the coming of the Messiah (Matt. 3:11).

Paul asked them a question that has often been quoted out of context by those who hold erroneous views of the Spirit. He said: “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” Their answer could be the answer of many today: “We have not so much as heard whether there is a Holy Spirit.” Perhaps they meant, “We have not heard that the Holy Spirit was given.”

The popular but false teaching in some quarters is that believers must ask God to give them the Holy Spirit. The gift of the Spirit is one of the benefits sovereignly and eternally bestowed upon a believer at the moment of conversion. Romans 8:9 says, “if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.” Either one has the Holy Spirit, in which case he belongs to Christ and is saved, or else one does not have the Holy Spirit, in which case he is not saved. It is wrong to ask God to give us something He has already given to us. The baptism of the Spirit and the gift of the Spirit are inter-related. The baptism puts me in Christ; the gift puts Christ in me. The one makes me a member of His mystical Body; the other makes my material body the Holy Spirit's Temple.

It is equally wrong to ask God to give me more of His Spirit. The Holy Spirit is a Person, and one cannot receive a person by installments.

When you accepted Christ as Savior, God gave you the gift of His Holy Spirit. You received that marvelous Person into your life. The Christian life is largely the process of finding out more and more the vastness of the wisdom, the love and the power of the amazing Person who has come to share His life with those who trust Christ as Savior.