Articles from Romans

2020 was been a year to forget for many people. I know of people that were not able to see their beloved elderly family for months, numerous people lost jobs or businesses, churches were prevented from doing ministry, and even our church went from a Sunday attendance of 225 to 75, which meant it no longer needed a seminary trained pastor like myself.

            In Paul’s letter to the Romans he told them, “weep with those who weep” (Rom 12:15b, NASB).[1] The Greek word Paul uses here can be translated as “weep, cry, bewail, or mourn.” My guess is that much of the world has spent a lot of time weeping and it will continue for many more months.

            Paul’s point in this brief phrase is that we need each other, and we need to comfort each other. The book of Hebrews tells us, “Let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deed, not forsaking our own assembling together, as in the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near”(Hebrews 10:24-25, NASB).

            When we are going through pain and suffering, we need to sit with others and weep. And we need others to weep with us. While we might not be able to embrace in a hug while inside a Starbucks or restaurant, we can still get together and share our struggles with each other. The simple act of listening helps us weep with those who weep.

            In his book, The Spirituality of Caregiving, Henri J. M. Nouwen provides guidance for how to listen, “Listening, however, is not merely a sympathetic nodding or a friendly repetition of hmm, hmm, hmm. Listening is a very active awareness of the coming together of two lives.”

            He continues describing the healing effect of listening, “two lives are coming together in a healing way. It is like weaving a new pattern with two different life stories stretched out on the same loom. After a story is told and received with care, the lives of two people have become different. Two people have discovered their own unique stories, and two people have become an integral part of a new fellowship. In listening we discover that caring isn’t about the difference between pain and no pain, but about the difference between pain and shared pain.”[2]  

            Right now we need to listen to people who are suffering and weep with them. They have been weeping more than they ever have. Change, lack of touch with others, and restricted fellowship are starting to cause more and more pain. Lets listen in whatever way we can: telephone, six feet away across a table at coffee, on Facetime, or while going for a walk with a friend. We need to “weep with those who weep.”We need it and others do too.

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[1] New American Standard Bible, 1995 revision.

[2] Henri J. M. Nouwen, A Spirituality of Caregiving (Nashville, TN: Upper Room Books, 2011), 36-37.

When I became a Christian at the age of twenty-two I started studying my Bible, regularly attending church, and spent time with other Christians. Those activities started to change my thinking and behavior. I didn’t realize it a first, but my mind was being transformed by God.

            Paul told the believers in Rome, “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect” (Romans 12:2, NASB).

            The instruction to “not be conformed to this world” is something all Christians must heed. The world’s entertainment, advertisements, and sports all direct our attention anywhere other than God. (I’m not saying those things are terrible and that we shouldn’t participate in them, but they often direct our attention away from God.)

            Instead Paul tells us to “be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” The word “transformed” here is a continual process of change from the inside out. The same Greek word is used in Matthew 17:2 when Jesus took Peter, James, and John to a mountain and Jesus “was transfigured before them; and His face shone like the sun, and His garments became as white as light” (emphasis added). Paul tells us we need to be completely changed and in effect be reprogrammed to think and act differently.

            The best way I know to “be transformed” is by memorizing Scripture. It can be hard to memorize Scripture if there is no context for it or need, therefore to successfully memorize Scripture you must incorporate it into your life. For example, I have always struggled with not feeling important and valuable. I have been trying to memorize Ephesians 1:4-7. Every time I feel discouraged and not important I recite those verses as a reminder that my worth comes from God, not from how others treat me or from the ministry I do as a pastor.

            Scripture memory can help us with various situations we face. Perhaps you know you need to reconcile a relationship with someone but find it difficult to restore the relationship. Consider memorizing Romans 12:18. Or you feel that you are being spiritually attacked, then you need to memorize Ephesians 6:12. If there are people you find yourself constantly judging and you want to stop, then memorize Philippians 3:9. Maybe you want to talk to people about God, but you aren’t sure how to share the Gospel, then memorize Romans 10:9-10.

            Are we being “conformed” or “transformed?” I hope and pray we can memorize Scripture and be transformed because it is the “will of God . . . which is good and acceptable and perfect.”   

“I’ll always love you” is something I often tell my son. He’s only three years old, but I want him to know that no matter what he does I will always love him unconditionally. Nothing will separate him from my love for him.

            And God has the same unconditional love for us.

            Paul tells the believers in the city of Rome that they will go through tough times writing, “Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?” (Romans 8:35, NASB). The implied answer is “no, nothing will separate us from Christ’s love!” Paul tells us about seven things that we will experience: tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, and threat of a sword. But those things won’t separate us from God’s love.

            Paul continues and gives us the assurance we need a few verses later, “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39).

            In these two verses Paul lists ten things that cannot separate us from God’s love. Whether it be death, life, angels, principalities (which are demons), fears for today, worrying about tomorrow, the powers of hell, the sky above, the earth below, or all creation, nothing can sever us from God’s love.

            (I’ve always loved Max Lucado’s book on Romans titled, In the Grip of Grace: He Will Love You Forever; it’s a great description of Paul’s letter to the Romans and a book I recommend you read.)

            In Franklin Graham’s autobiography, Rebel with a Cause, he reveals his crazy lifestyle as a young man smoking and drinking lots of whiskey. In an article with the Citizen Times Franklin Graham reflected on his rebellious years and talked about his relationship with his father, Billy Graham. “I remember my father saying, ‘Franklin, your mother and I love you very much, and we want you to know that no matter what you do in life, no matter where you go, our home will always be your home.’”

            We too should be assured that our Father’s home will always be our home. No matter where we go or what we do, He’ll always be ready to welcome us home because He loves us unconditionally.

           A guy I know went to the birthing classes with his wife when they were pregnant with their first child. He learned about the process of delivering a baby and how to help his wife during her labor contractions.

Months later when his wife’s contractions began he knew what was going on in her body based on the science of what he was taught. However, it became very clear that she knew what contractions were on a deeper level than he would ever know! My friend knew intellectually what contractions were; his wife knew what they were from experience.

            Likewise, often we know in our heads that God will work out our circumstances for good, but often we don’t have the experience in our hearts.

            Paul told the believers in the city of Rome, “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them”(Romans 8:28, NLT). One of my favorite Bible teachers—J. Vernon McGee—writes about this verse, “We come now to the new purpose of God. If Romans is the greatest book of the Bible, and chapter 8 is the high-water mark, then verse 28 is the pinnacle.”[1]

            How often is this verse quoted from memory yet not experienced. Like my friend’s limited understanding of his wife’s contractions, sometimes we know that God works out things for our good, but we don’t really feel it. Especially when going through difficult times.

            We also need to remember that this is happening now. “God causes everything to work together”is a present active verb in the Greek (Paul originally wrote in Koine Greek). This is something that God is actively doing. It’s not something He does when He feels like it, when He’s in a good mood, or when we have been loyal to Him. God continually causes everything to work together for good for us.

            Another truth we need to remember is that God has a plan and “purpose” for us “because we are united with Christ, we have received an inheritance from God, for he chose us in advance, and he makes everything work out according to his plan” (Ephesians 1:11, NLT).

            God has a plan even if we might not always understand it. Even if we can’t see Him working out circumstances, He’s using them for good. Warren Wiersbe has said, “We don’t always discern God’s plan, nor do we always understand His plan, but knowing that the Lord is in command puts peace and joy in our hearts.”[2] And that joy should be knowing in our hearts that God works out our circumstances for good.

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[1] J. Vernon McGee, Romans 1-8, Thru the Bible Commentaries (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 1991), 156.

[2] Warren Wiersbe, The Delights and Disciplines of Bible Study (Colorado Springs, CO, 2018), 48.

Any parent, babysitter, or daycare worker has seen a two-year temper tantrum. It’s not a pretty sight!

            When my son used to have one of those famous two-year-old temper tantrums it was not because he was mad that I had taken away what he wanted, or that he was not getting his way. It was because something was wrong, and he didn’t know how to tell me what was wrong.

            I learned that he was either hungry, thirsty, or tired. He knew something was not right, but he didn’t know how to tell me what was wrong. Maybe he didn’t even know what was wrong. He just knew that he was unhappy.

            As Christians there are times in our lives when things aren’t the way we think they should be. We know that we should pray, but we aren’t sure what to pray for or even how to pray for it.

            Thankfully, God helps us in this area. Paul told the believers in Rome, “And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will” (Romans 8:26-27, NLT).

            What’s even more important, is to note that the Holy Spirit helps us with more than just prayer. “For example” in verse 26 is an explanatory phrase. Meaning, the Holy Spirit helps us in our weaknesses, and one of the ways that he helps us in our weaknesses is through prayer.

            The help the Holy Spirit gives us isn’t just a casual help. The text says that he “pleads” for us believers. The dictionary defines “pleads” as a request from someone on behalf of someone else. “To argue a case or cause” (Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, 11^th edition) or “to make an emotional appeal” (Concise Oxford English Dictionary).

            In other words, this isn’t a casual thing that the Holy Spirit does. He doesn’t help us because he has free time, or when he is in a good mood, or thinks that we deserve it. It’s something he actively does on our behalf. It’s part of who he is as a person.

            My job as a loving parent was to give my son what he needed even when he didn’t know what he needed. And our loving God, who also is our spiritual parent, helps us when we don’t know how to pray or what to pray for.

In the first few months after my son was born I would often look at him and think about how helpless he was. As a newborn he needed help from someone to live. He couldn’t eat, clean himself after bowel movements, or describe his needs to anyone (but he could put himself to sleep).

            He depended on his mom and me for everything. Without someone to care for him he would die. He was utterly helpless.

            Like a newborn baby, every person is utterly helpless in the spiritual realm. And because we were utterly helpless, Christ came as one of us and did what we could not do on our own. Paul describes that event and its results in Romans 8.

            “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit” (Romans 8:1-4, NIV).

            In this passage Paul tells us that we have “no condemnation.” Because Christ died for us and took the punishment that we deserved, we have a righteous standing before God.

            Paul also tells us what the “law was powerless” because it was “weakened by the flesh.” This meant that Christ had to come to earth to fulfill the law. We could never fill the requirements of God’s Old Testament Law. That’s why we needed Christ to come “in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering.”

            There was a need for Christ and he fulfilled it. That’s why Paul tells us that we now live “according to the Spirit.” It was the Spirit who “gives life” and has set us “free from the law of sin and death.”             Like my son who was once a newborn and completely relied on his mom and me to care for him, those who are saved and who will spend eternity in heaven depend completely on Jesus Christ for that salvation. They would never have survived God’s judgement without the loving sacrifice of Jesus Christ and the Spirit that gives life.

“Yummy, yummy, strawberries” my two year-old son often says when walking out onto our back patio. He knows mom’s garden is just around the corner where ripe strawberries await him. He looks for the red ones and eats them as fast as he can pick them. When they are all gone he smiles with strawberry juice dripping from his chin onto his shirt. He’s happy with the fruit from mom’s garden.

            Every person on this earth produces fruit and God wants there to be good fruit in our Christian lives. The apostle Paul talks about the fruit of Christians in Romans 7. The Greek word for fruit is karpophoreo and it’s used in two ways in the New Testament. One use is as literal fruit (see Mark 4:28) and the other is a metaphor for conduct, which is used in Romans 7:4, 5.

            Before becoming a Christian the fruit of following sinful, passionate desires was death, “For when we were in the realm of the flesh, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in us, so that we bore fruit for death” (Romans 7:5, NIV).

            The New Testament Greek scholar, A.T. Robertson, called this the “seeds of sin working for death” because the non-Christian doesn’t know God and he’s controlled by his sinful passions. Those sinful passions lead to sinful activities, and the fruit of those activities is death.  

            But when we become a Christian those sinful passions die and are replaced by God’s presence in our lives. This is described in Romans 6:4: “We were therefore buried with him [Jesus] through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.”Now we are united with Christ. “For if we have been united with him [Jesus] in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his” (Romans 6:5).

            This was done so that we could bring forth fruit. “So, my brothers and sisters, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God” (Romans 7:4).

            Fruit is showing love to others when they don’t deserve it. It’s sharing our faith with others and telling them about the gospel. It’s being kind to someone that is mean to us. The purpose of our Christian life is “so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God” (Colossians 1:10).   

            God is happy when He sees fruit in the lives of His people. He looks at them and says, “yummy, yummy” for His people are pleasing to Him.           

It feels American to get what we deserve. This is our concept of “justice” and we want it enforced.

            God wants it enforced too, except His idea of justice is different from ours. There is justice given to those who don’t know Him, but also a free gift given to those who do know Him. The apostle Paul explains this justice in Romans 6:22-23, “But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”[1]

            Let’s take a look at three important parts of this passage from Paul.

            First, Paul wrote “you have been set free from sin.” This is a one-time act. Jesus freed us from sin when He died on the cross for us, which is good because those sins meant we would die. The truth of the gospel is what sets us free and saves us, “Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:32). And in another place, “Through Christ Jesus the law of Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death” (Romans 8:2).

            Second, Paul also wrote that his readers “have become slaves of God.” While being set free from sin is a past one-time act, this phrase tells us we have a present condition as slaves of God.

            According to Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary, a slave is “one that is completely subservient to a dominating influence.” And the Concise Oxford English Dictionary defines slave as “a person who is legal property of another and is forced to obey them.”

            Being a slave of God means we get the gift of eternal life and live freely. “Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as God’s slaves” (1 Peter 2:16). 

            Third, Paul shared the “result is eternal life.” We get eternal life because we have accepted Christ’s death for us and we have been freed from sin. Unbelievers will be separated from God forever in hell (Luke 16:24-25; Romans 5:12; 7:13). But Christians receive eternal life, “For you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls” (1 Peter 1:9). Salvation will be eternal life with God in heaven (John 3:16, 36). This gift cannot be earned (Ephesians 2:8-9; Titus 3:5).             We believe in the concept of justice that people get what they deserve. But God has a different view of justice. He has freed us from slavery to sin (in which we deserved death) and we are now slaves to God. And because of that we will get to spend eternity in heaven with Him.

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[1] All translations are from the NIV, 2011 revision.

“You won’t be included in the team picture” my coach told me. I thought to myself, “How could he do this? Had I done something wrong? Made a bad decision? Been careless? Was I not trying?”  Each day I practiced my golf game and worked hard to improve. I tried my best. But my performance was not good enough.

            There were thirteen of us on the college golf team, but only five of the guys were able to travel to tournaments each week. I started out as one of the five guys. Even if I didn’t play great in the tournaments, I had peace that I was good enough to be part of the traveling team while eight of the lesser players were left home. But over time my game struggled. Eventually my performance dropped me out of the five guys that traveled each week.

            I thought when it was time to take the team picture I would be included in it. I could enjoy some peace knowing I was still part of the thirteen-guy team even if I wasn’t part of the five guys that traveled to tournaments.

            But I wasn’t. Why? My performance was not good enough. I was devastated. The golf team was my community. Now I was pushed out because of my poor performance. I tried my best, but my best effort was not good enough.

            Thankfully, my participation in community with God is not based on performance. Paul wrote to the believers in Rome, “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand” (Romans 5:1-2, NIV). I am grateful that it is through my faith in Jesus Chris that I have peace.

            In his book, The Bumps Are What You Climb On, Warren Wiersbe writes, “It is a great mistake to build your happiness on circumstances or things, because circumstances change and things have a way of wearing out and losing their value. True internal peace cannot be based on changing external things. We need something deeper and more satisfying.” That thing that is deeper and more satisfying is Jesus Christ, “For he himself [Jesus] is our peace” (Ephesians 2:14, NIV). The peace Christians experience is based on Christ and faith in him, not performance. Christians don’t make peace; they enjoy it.

            I am grateful it is by faith that I am saved, and that I have peace with God. I know that when it’s time for a picture to be taken in heaven, I will be included in it.