Romans 6:1-23

In verse 16b Paul contrasts sin and obedience, …you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness, making them almost opposites. Since the clear opposite of obedience is disobedience, by extension we see that sin equals disobedience. That is, when we sin we are disobeying God. That brings it closer to home!

Paul uses the word “slaves” eight times in seven verses (16-2, 17, 18, 19-2, 20, 22). I suggested in my second set of comments from last year (in the second link below) that we play around by substituting “willing servants” for “slaves”. If we play that game a bit we find that we are willing servants to sin (17, 20); willing servants to impurity (19); willing servants of/to righteousness (18, 19); and willing servants of God (22). I like the thought of being a willing servant of righteousness and of God, but the thought that I am a willing servant to sin and impurity cuts deeply. But that’s exactly what it is when we give in to sin. We simply nod to sin and say, “OK, sin, you’ve got me.” What a sad state that is…!!

See also: June 19 / Romans 6:1-14; June 20 / Romans 6:15-23

Romans 5:1-21

Much more… This phrase (and its similarities) occurs six times in today’s reading (Rom. 5:9, 10, 11, 15, 17, 20). Paul is really emphasizing the extent of Jesus’ sacrifice as so much greater than mankind’s sin. I’m imagining Paul (or any preacher) speaking these words out loud. Each occurrence of this phrase suggests (demands!) emphasis. Only in verse 20 – Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more… – does this spoken phrase soften, in that all the more here suggests finality, closure, completeness, rest. Try it, folks. Read these verses out loud. Much more…!!

See also: June 17 / Romans 5:1-11; June 18 / Romans 5:12-20

Romans 4:1-25

For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” (v. 3, quoting Genesis 15:6) My Study Bible had this to say as a comment on this verse: “Abraham had kept no law, rendered no service, and performed no ritual that earned credit to his account before God. His belief in God, who had made promises to him, was credited to him as righteousness.” This comment sums it up nicely!

Folks, I’m no Bible scholar, but I did spend a fair amount of time last year breaking down these readings and I think both of my sets of comments from last year (both links below) would be good for you to review. I don’t think I could comment further today and add any more clarity to this difficult chapter. Paul uses many words to get across one major point: The just (righteous) shall live by faith. (Habakkuk 2:4, Romans 1:17, Galatians 3:11, Hebrews 10:38, in addition to the whole of this chapter).

See also: June 15 / Romans 4:1-12; June 16 / Romans 4:13-25

Romans 3:1-31

I’ve always thought of Romans 3 as one of the more difficult chapters in all of Paul’s epistles. But last year we read it in three readings and I was able to break it down more than I could with just a quick read. I would encourage you to read my comments from last year (in the links below); they were helpful to me last year and again today.

According to The Chronological Study Bible, Paul is pulling from Isaiah and four different Psalms in his quotes in verses 10 through 18. My other Study Bible has his quotes as from Isaiah and six different Psalms. His quotes are not word-for-word what we have in our Bibles today, but I am impressed with Paul that he is able to pull these quotes together at all. I doubt that he had a Psalter readily at his disposal; mostly I imagine these verses popping into his head one by one and him writing them down quickly. Which speaks substantially to his upbringing and his training…! Impressive!

See also: June 12 / Romans 3:1-8; June 13 / Romans 3:9-20; June 14 / Romans 3:21-31

Romans 2:1-29

Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? (v. 4) The first half of this verse reminds me of our pastor back in Richmond whom Carol and I heard say one Sunday morning in a small group lesson time that he did not believe in hell, that a loving God would never assign someone to hell for all eternity. At that point we knew that we had to leave. Unfortunately it took us another three years before we joined St. Andrew’s.

There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil … but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good… (vv. 9a, 10a). These verses sound like truth when our final judgment arrives, but it’s a bit troublesome in our natural world. That is, there are two books, When Bad Things Happen to Good People by Harold Kushner and Why Do Bad Things Happen to Good People by David Arnold that suggest just the opposite, that tribulation and distress fall on good people. Naturally the second half also applies, that glory and honor and peace fall on bad people. Be that as it may, Paul was clearly speaking in the present tense, because after both of these phrases he adds “the Jew first and also the Greek”. I know (in my head, but maybe not in my heart) that trying times for us are meant to teach us something – that if God is allowing difficulties in our lives, He who could right all wrongs is allowing those occasions to happen. So I take these verses as eternal truths with a full understanding in our natural world that God is God and I’m not!

See also: June 10 / Romans 2:1-16; June 11 / Romans 2:17-29

Romans 1:1-32

Homosexuality is an issue that the church has been dealing with for some 2,000 years, as Paul writes in today’s reading: For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men… (vv. 26b-27a) It’s an issue that (in part) brought St. Andrew’s to where we are today. The ordination of a gay bishop in New Hampshire during the Episcopal Church’s Triennial Convention in 2003 led many committed believers and entire church bodies to leave the Episcopal Church. Many individuals simply found new places to worship, but entire groups of individuals, like our St. Andrew’s “founders” chose to start new congregations, many of which aligned with the Anglican Church. It was a tough beginning for our St. Andrew’s Anglican Church, but our Lord has clearly blessed that decision. No doubt all of us have family and friends who are gay or who support gay relationships. It’s also surely the case that not even in our congregation does everyone agree with the ACNA stand on same-sex issues, but that’s a personal item between each of us and God. I pray that all of us seek the Holy Spirit daily and let Him lead our hearts as He chooses.

See also: June 8 / Romans 1:1-15; June 9 / Romans 1:16-32

II Corinthians 7:2-16, 13:11-14

So today we finish our reorganized readings of II Corinthians. Reading in a different order has helped my understanding, but there’s still so much of it swimming in my head that I find myself confused as to what we have read. And if II Corinthians is, in fact, parts from three or four letters and if there is a lost letter somewhere – all that makes it all the more confusing. Still, however, we can glean from Paul’s writings helpful advice and solid theology. There are probably a dozen or more verses in these thirteen chapters that are well known, often quoted. We are not Biblical scholars, we are not able to put it all together, but we can still use this Bible text that we have for our own personal spiritual growth.

One other item of interest to me is when the Bible proves itself. Paul writes in II Corinthians of his reunion with Titus in Macedonia (II Cor. 2:12-13, 7:5, ff.) and two weeks ago we read Luke’s account of Paul leaving Ephesus and traveling to Macedonia (Acts 20:1-2). So between Luke’s and Paul’s writings we can get a better chronology of Paul’s travels. It’s never exact, but by putting these pieces together we can come to a solid conclusion that Paul did, in fact, write II Corinthians from Macedonia. Now we move on to Romans, Paul’s greatest theological tome. No need for rearranging that epistle – Paul lays it out in a perfectly organized structure. We have some heavy reading ahead!!

See also: May 29 / II Cor. 7:1-16; June 7 / II Cor. 13:1-14

II Corinthians 6:1-13

I would encourage you to read my comments from last year. Rewording the prepositions adds (for me) a great deal of clarity as to how Paul sees his ministry.

You are not restricted by us, but you are restricted in your own affections. (v. 12) A confusing verse… What does Paul mean by You are not restricted by us? Clearly he is restricting them – matters of sexuality and food come immediately to mind. He also has talked about the “freedom” that they seem to have, freedom to do “whatever” and are seemingly unrestrained in doing so – which has implications for the second half of that verse. Again the NKJV translation is helpful here: …you are restricted by your own affections. I can easily see myself restricted by my own desires! Later on we will read of Paul feeling the same way: For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. … For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. (Romans 7:15a, 19) Things haven’t changed much in 2,000 years!

See also: May 28 / II Cor. 6:1-18

II Corinthians 5:1-21

Reconciliation. In three verses Paul mentions “reconciliation” and derivatives from “reconcile” five times: All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to Himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making His appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. (vv. 18-20) I think we all understand God reconciling us to Himself though Jesus’ death and resurrection. But I doubt that we think enough about our own ministry of reconciliation. It is a troublesome thought to me that someone I know and love on this earth could spend eternity in hell. I have one (maybe two) of my own brothers in mind as I write this; Carol and I have shared extensively with Dickie and his health is not good. But he is adamant in his refusal to acknowledge God. How will the Holy Spirit ever reach Him? Please folks, pray for those you know who need Jesus. Pray for the Holy Spirit to reach them. And when possible, be yourselves those ambassadors for reconciliation, the one and only ministry that God has entrusted to us.

See also: May 26 / II Cor. 5:1-10; May 27 / II Cor. 5:11-21

II Corinthians 4:1-18

In the years following my born-again experience I began to look back at the Catholic faith in which I was raised and how it was continuing to affect me in my new life. One item that I came to realize was (what I perceived to be) a very strong emphasis on Jesus’ death with a lesser focus on His resurrection. I remember Lent, the Stations of the Cross, and Good Friday as major imprints on my life. Even today, as it was back then, it seems like every Catholic home has a crucifix (not a cross) or the Sacred Heart (or both) displayed. Again, to me, there seemed to be a much smaller spiritual focus on Easter Sunday and Jesus’ resurrection. For me, Easter, like Christmas was as much a secular holiday as it was a spiritual celebration.

I thought about all this as I read through verses 10-12 this morning: …always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death is at work in us, but life in you. Yes, each “death” item in these verses is followed by a “life” item, but that life item seems so much a dependent clause with respect to the death mention that precedes it. I’m probably making too much of this, but I grew up with Jesus’ death, His suffering and crucifixion and it stays with me today. And that’s not a bad thing, to remember Jesus’ suffering on our behalf. It makes my love for Him that much stronger!!

See also: May 25 / II Cor. 4:1-18