Joshua Handford

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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…

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…”

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 11:11-36

Romans 11:11-36

“What will motivate us to persevere in faith?: ‘the kindness and the severity of God.’ The kindness of God cannot be truly appreciated as a gift of his grace unless the severity of God is contemplated as the just penalty for forsaking him…Although our salvation flows out of God’s gracious and unconditional election, this does not mean that we are merely passive recipients of that final salvation. We are called to live by faith; and if we choose disobedience and unbelief, we cannot expect any better of an outcome than Israel has experienced.”

Romans 11:1-10

Romans 11:1-10

“Throughout, we need to recognize that what Paul says here is not only true of Jewish people, but also gives us an example of the faithful character of God and his promises which can be relied upon by all believers today…Like you and I, Paul was not more likely to choose faith and obedience. He was the least likely to convert, from the least likely of people. God makes this clear through the Scriptures, that Israel was not chosen for their righteousness but for their weakness. This is God’s modus operandi, his M.O…They were not chosen based on God’s foreknowledge - something which the Bible never says…but they were chosen by grace…Now church, we must defend this doctrine of unconditional election so vigorously, because the denial compromises the biblical gospel, that justification is by grace alone through faith alone. The Protestant Reformation was propelled by people coming to believe in and preach passionately these doctrines of grace…”

Romans 10:14-21

Pastor Josh continues to teach us through Paul’s Epistle to the Romans:

“There is a responsibility and a necessity under the sovereignty of God, to preach the gospel and to send preachers. It is defiant insubordination to say that we will just ‘trust God to save whomever he wills’. He has already establishede that he will save through our obedience…Human responsibility and divine sovereignty are not played off against each other so that one nullifies the other; instead human responsibility is always subordinate to the sovereignty of God without ‘emptying human choices of their authenticity or validity’…”

Romans 10:5-13

Romans 10:5-13

"The clear message is that saving righteousness is a work of God alone.  What did you do to accomplish your salvation?  Did you go up to heaven and send Jesus down to save us?  No?  Maybe you went down to the dead to raise Christ up from that place?  Perhaps not.  Did you bring the word of God near to you?  Preach the gospel to yourself?  Did you place the word of faith in your own mouth and circumcise your own heart? No!  God has taken the initiative.  He sent his Son and raised him from the dead.  He gives new hearts to understand, eyes to see and ears to hear.  There is no one else in heaven or on earth who could do it. Since these things have been done by God, our response is not to do anything to gain righteousness, only to respond in God-given faith.

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The Church as Christ Will Find Her (Matthew 25:31-46)

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The Church as Christ Will Find Her (Matthew 25:31-46)

“We worship God by rightly enjoying what He has provided and sharing it equally with the community. It is given to the community on God’s behalf…Will Christ return to find that we have cared for his brothers and sisters? Have we fed the hungry, clothed the naked, welcomed the stranger, visited the shut-in, and provided for the one who has been persecuted and imprisoned…No one can give anything to God. He does not need our stuff. But what we do to the least of his disciples, we do it to Jesus…”

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