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Romans 13:11-14

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Romans 13:11-14

For Paul, one is either in Adam or in Christ—the old person or the new person.  But this reality must also be lived!  Although believers are in Christ, they must actively renounce sin and vigorously embrace righteousness! “Cast off” and “put on” are action words. We have a choice to make. God does not call us to simply rest in Christ - He calls us to act in light of the fact that Jesus is now our Lord. To put on the Lord Jesus Christ is a command to be what we are in Christ.  This is the morality of the NT: Be who you are!

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Romans 13:8-10

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Romans 13:8-10

Paul masterfully defends the grace alone gospel by asserting that obedience is the central demand of the gospel, in that it produces sincere love for our neighbour, and thus provides for the law’s complete fulfillment. Obedience is part and parcel of the gospel, not separate, not a balance of grace and law, but obedience comes as a result of hearing and believing the gospel…

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Leviticus 16:11-22 (Resurrection Sunday)

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Leviticus 16:11-22 (Resurrection Sunday)

“God’s righteousness, his holiness, elicits more than just the automatic result of death and destruction of wickedness, it means also, that he consciously abhors evil as well. Rightly, he is filled with just rage and anger over sin and wickedness, which is why the bible uses the word wrath, he hates evil as it is utterly incompatible with his holiness…Talk of an angry God seems to some, a belittlement, that wrath ought to be beneath the God of the bible. But this is terrible logic. You and I should want a King who champions good and punishes evil. Anything other is itself wickedness. Anger against sin exists because of love for righteousness, holiness, purity and good.”

Romans 13:1-7

Romans 13:1-7

“Our passage this morning still falls under the main heading of Romans 12:1-2.  We are still exploring what it means “to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship,” and this will require that we are not “conformed to this world,” but instead are “transformed by the renewal of your mind,” so that we will be able to discern the good and acceptable will of God…We are also still exploring the subheadings of Romans 12:9 and 21, and what it looks like to live out The Love Genuine by “overcom[ing] evil with good.”  Giving ourselves wholly to God, and being transformed in our thinking, is expressed in how we relate to all of the various earthly authorities in our lives. God’s instructions regarding how to relate to our government are part of “the obedience of faith” to which we are called, part of what it looks like when the gospel transforms our lives, and part of how we ensure that our worship to God is holy and acceptable…”

Mark 9:30-50

Mark 9:30-50

“This teaching, above any other, strikes directly against all our most precious and ingrained inclinations. The christian church has been called the upside down kingdom, because these few words, coupled with Jesus own servant-like actions, flip on its head what it means to be a human created in God’s image. There is nothing more carnal and normal, natural yet so heinously sinful than looking out for number one. And Jesus says, there is nothing more spiritually necessary, than to die to self and considering others more important than yourself. So Jesus says, If anyone would be first, he must be last and servant of all.”

Romans 12:14-21

Romans 12:14-21

“Even though believers can be severely mistreated by others we should never forget that we are dearly loved by God, chosen to be his own. Rejection by others is a deep wound, but remember the mercies of God. The salve of God’s love is our healing. But because God created us with an innate desire for justice - at least when it comes to others - we will not be able to conquer feelings of revenge unless we recognize that God will eventually set all accounts right. We will fall prey to retaliation in the present if we did not know that God will vindicate us in the future. The recognition that God will judge our enemies is crucial for overcoming evil with good. When we are mistreated and abused and our rights are infringed upon, we are not to give in to the desire to set things right. We are not to give into the desire to make this fair…to get back at them. Rather, we are to place the fate of our enemies firmly in God’s hands, realizing that God is the only one who is qualified to judge, and the only one who can really give people what they truly deserve.  It is only appropriate and reasonable, with this in mind, to resist seeking revenge, because you and I cannot rightly judge…”

Romans 12:9-13

Romans 12:9-13

“Paul is not now just listing random pious acts. But he is teaching us that a church which offers itself to God must do so out of a sincere love that expresses itself in these ways. And if the impetus - the motivation for these acts - comes from knowing the mercies of God, and this gospel is all about being reconciled to God and adopted into his family, then we must devote a great deal of our energy to communicating with God so that our relationship can grow. If the genuine love we express to one another is motivated and empowered by the love of God experienced, then we must grow in that love. Friends, your relationship with God is not an individualistic thing, because it affects all of us; everyone around you and everyone who is influenced by them and so on and so on until the whole church is strengthened by the Spirit’s work in you!”

Romans 12:3-8

Romans 12:3-8

“It may shock you, in this modern age, to see that Paul does not deal with the problem of pride by appealing to the concept of equality…Paul’s larger emphasis in these chapters is the unity of the church….(T)he shocking thing here is that the church is not called to unity by seeing our equality, but by seeing our diversity.  Certainly, Paul has earlier emphasized the equality of all people - in that we have nothing of value to offer God and have done nothing to deserve anything good from God at all.…(but) the central point here is that each believer has something unique to contribute to the proper functioning of Christ’s body, and that despite our many inequalities, we can have unity when we each offer ourselves as living sacrifices to God by existing for each others’ good…”

Romans 12:1-2

Romans 12:1-2

“So why does Paul wait until now to begin discussing Christian living?  That’s what he should be focusing on right?  Obeying the command of Christ to “Go and make disciples”… Why the long theology lesson? And shouldn’t the message of the church just focus on victorious Christian living and godly behavior?  Theology confuses and doctrine divides, right?

If we start with a list of instructions, we will tend to start trying to accomplish those things without the gospel motivation required in order to genuinely fulfill them from a motivation of love towards God. I can tell you: be humble, be generous, be selfless; But these are worthless instruction unless we begin to understand what God has done as a free gift; the mercy he has shown to undeserving sinners like you and me; the people God has formed from among those who had no right by birth or by merit to be called the children of God.”

ROSE CITY BAPTIST CHURCH   •   6406 44B AVENUE   •   CAMROSE, AB   •   T4V 0B6   •   780.672.4832