Brilliant takes

Listen here:  https://www.pastorwoman.net/podcast/episode/450680ea/brilliant-take...

Brilliant takes from Romans.  March, 2024.

‘Phew!’ I heard one woman sigh.  And I knew what she meant—'this Romans study is finally over.  It was hard--parts of it were dark and a whole bunch of it I did not understand.’  While I totally get her thinking, I just can’t turn the proverbial page yet. 

The first time I taught through the book of Romans (more comprehensively than this past season), I remember feeling completely intimidated to even start; however, more study means greater understanding. And several of Paul’s thoughts are my favorites in all of the Bible.  So … I propose you get a hard copy of the Scriptures if you are able and look through each of the 16 chapters and find take-aways that you want to remember.

Here is a partial list of what jumps off the pages of my Bible:

Romans one – I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes…. v.16a

What may be known about God is plain to them because God has made it plain to them.  For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. v.20-21

Romans two – do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you toward repentance? v.4

Romans three – This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.  There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. v.22-24

Romans four – check it out:  this is Paul quoting the psalms, David specifically, from Psalm 32.1-2: Blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.  Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him. v.7-8

O, and I love that Paul commends Abraham for ‘being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.  Amen!  v.21

Romans five – Therefore since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ… v.1

Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die.  But God demonstrates his own love for us in this:  while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.  v.7-8

Romans six – For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace. v.14

What does it mean to be under grace?? stay tuned for our next study!

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. v.23

Romans seven – I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate to do…..nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out…

What a wretched man I am!  Who will rescue me from this body of death?  Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!  v.15, 17b-18, 24-25

Romans eight – Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.  Amen, and thank you, Lord!  v.1-2

for many years now, verse 26 screams off the page and shoots straight to my heart and mind:  the Spirit helps us in our weakness.  We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.  

But really Romans 8.28-39 is a passage that breathes life into my soul—purpose, love, hope and overcoming!  https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Romans+8.28-39&ver...

Romans 9 – It does not, therefore, depend on man’s desire or effort, but on God’s mercy. v.16. It = God’s choosing us

Romans 10 – at my neighborhood Bible study the other day, we were discussing how one becomes a ‘Christian’, ‘saved’, a ‘follower of Jesus Christ’ . . . here it is:  if you confess with your mouth, Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. v.9 [got it?  No good works will save you, even though I’m sure you are a really good  person] For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. v.10. That, right there, is the best news you will hear all day!  I pray it never gets old for you.

Tap your toe, clap your hands, sing along to this: God So Loved, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iq5URsXbKXs

Wisdom to live by,

Christine

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