Worshipping the Lord

" I’m not ashamed of the Good News. It is God’s power to save everyone who believes" (Romans 1:16). Jesus wasn't ashamed of us. He went to the Cross for us. This is the Good News. Jesus is our Saviour. May we be unashamed of Jesus. May we be glad to speak of Him who died for us. May our lives speak for Him - as well as our words. May we not bring shame on His great Name. May we bring glory to His Name - the Name of our salvation. I was reading Romans 1:1-7 . I was asking the question, "What's this about?" There's one simple answer to this question: "This is all about Jesus!"

"Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. 9  You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you" (Romans 8:8-9). The flesh and the Spirit are very different. This is what Paul says here. It's what Jesus said in John 3:6. In John 3:7, Jesus was saying, "You must be born again." Here, Paul is saying, "You have been born again."   

“While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). Is this no longer true just because a lot of people have lost interest in singing the song of salvation? No! This was Good News in Paul’s day. It’s still Good News for today. It will always be the Good News of God’s love. It will always be the great reminder of God’s “for ever” love (Psalm 136).

" When people work, their pay is not regarded as a gift but something they have earned" (Romans 4:4). When God is at work in us, bringing us to faith in His Son, our Saviour, Jesus Christ, everything is very different. His salvation is His gift to us. It's not our reward from Him.   Grace gives to us. We receive from grace. Grace brings us to faith. By faith, we look away from ourselves to the God of grace. We say, " Praise Him, praise Him, alleluia! Praise with us the God of grace." "Jesus, our Lord, was handed over to death because of our failures and was brought back to life so that we could receive God’s approval" (Romans 4:25). Think often of what Jesus had done for you. He died for you. He rose again for you. Thank him for dying for you. Thank Him for rising again for you.

"Since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,  they are justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus" (Romans 3:23-24). Here, we read about our sin and God's salvation. Once we have received God's salvation, we must not forget about our sin. We have been saved by God's grace - but we are always sinners. Our sin has been forgiven - but our sin is still there, trying to get the upper hand, trying to keep us from "growing in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ" (2 Peter 3:18). How are we to grow in Christ? We rejoice in His gift of the forgiveness of our sins - but will we grow in Christ by forgetting that we are sinners? When we come to the Cross of Christ, two things are revealed to us - our sin and God's salvation. The revelation of our sin does not end when we receive God's gift of forgiveness. In love, the Lord keeps on showing us how far we have fallen s...

“… watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned … By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people” (Romans 16:17-18). These are very strong words. They are words which have a great deal to say to the Church at a time when it seems that the voice of permissive society is threatening to drown out completely the voice of Holy Scripture. When Paul addresses the problem of divisions among God’s people, He calls us to be faithful “to the teaching you have learned.” Behind Paul’s words concerning “the teaching you have learned”, there is something else: “according to the Scriptures.” We see this in 1 Corinthians 15:1-4. Paul begins by speaking about “the gospel which I preached to you” (1 Corinthians 15:1). As we look on to 1 Corinthians 15:3-4, it becomes clear that he is not concerned with drawing attention to himself. What he is concerned about is this: “according to the Scr...

Romans 1:1-32 “I am not ashamed of the Gospel: it is the power of God for salvation to every one who has faith” (Romans 1:16). Lord, we thank You for Your Gospel. It is Good News. It comes to us with power. It brings to us salvation. Help us to believe Your Gospel, to release its power and to receive Your salvation. Romans 2:1-29 Help us, Lord, not to come to You with the Pharisee’s pride: “God, I thank You that I am not like other men.” Help us to come with the sinner’s prayer: “God, be merciful to me, a sinner” (Luke 18: 11-13). Help us, Lord, to confess our sin and rejoice in Your salvation: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners” (1 Timothy 1:15). Romans 3:1-31 “All have sinned” (Romans 3:23). Lord, this is more than the Bible’s teaching about sin. It’s our own personal story. It’s the story of our life. Sin – This is not the only story. There’s another story, a better story – the Story of Your salvation. You have sent Jesus to our world. He is our S...

In Romans 7:20 , Paul speaks about "sin living in me." - That was true  of Paul - and it's also true of every one of us. In Galatians 2:20 , Paul speaks about "Christ living in me." - That was true of Paul - and it's also t true of every believer. What we are, in ourselves, is one thing. What we are, by God's grace, is something very different - and very much better. "Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!" (Romans 7:25). By the grace of God, this was the testimony of the Apostle Paul. By grace, it can be our testimony too. Like Paul, we remain deeply conscious of our sin. We will never cease to be sinners - but we can, by grace, become sinners who are learning, more and more, what it means to be saved by the Lord, to belong to the Lord and to bring glory to the Lord.  

Romans 1:16 ; 1 Corinthians 2:2 ; 1 Corinthians 6:19–20 ; Galatians 6:14 Paul was no silent disciple, no half-hearted follower of Jesus. He was not ashamed of his Lord. He was glad to say, "I am not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to every one who has faith" ( Romans 1:16 ). Why was Paul bold to say, "God forbid that I should glory save in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ" ( Galatians 6:14 )? Why was Paul so emphatic in saying, "I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified" ( 1 Corinthians 2:2 )? The answer is very simple and straightforward. He was a man who had been grasped by the power of the Gospel. Through the power of Christ, Paul was no longer his own. He belonged to Christ. This was why he was able to write to the Corinthian Christians, "You are not your own; you have been bought with a price" ( 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 ). He was a man filled with the power of the Holy Spirit....

"How can mere mortals prove their innocence before God? 3  Though they wished to dispute with Him, they could not answer Him one time out of a thousand." (Job 9:2-3) " Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God." (Romans 3:19) Why does God speak to us about our sin? This is just the beginning of His work in us. He shows us our sin - " through the law we become conscious of our sin." (Romans 3:19) - so that we might see our need of the Saviour and come to Him, and receive, from Him, the forgiveness of our sins - " But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22  This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe." (Romans 3:21-22) 

“… watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned … By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people” (Romans 16:17-18). These are very strong words. They are words which have a great deal to say to the Church at a time when it seems that the voice of permissive society is threatening to drown out completely the voice of Holy Scripture.  When Paul addresses the problem of divisions among God’s people, He calls us to be faithful “to the teaching you have learned.” Behind Paul’s words concerning “the teaching you have learned”, there is something else: “according to the Scriptures.” We see this in 1 Corinthians 15:1-4. Paul begins by speaking about “the gospel which I preached to you” (1 Corinthians 15:1). As we look on to 1 Corinthians 15:3-4, it becomes clear that he is not concerned with drawing attention to himself. What he is concerned about is this: “according to the Sc...

"From him will come the cornerstone... they shall be as mighty men, treading down their enemies... because the Lord is with them" (Zechariah 10:4-5). * Jesus Christ is "the cornerstone" upon which our faith is built  - "The Church's one foundation is Jesus Christ her Lord" (Samuel John Stone). * In Christ, we are "more than conquerors" (Romans 8:37) - "From victory unto victory His army shall He lead, till every foe is vanquished and Christ is Lord indeed" (George Duffield). * Jesus is with us. He is our Saviour. He has forgiven our sins. He is our Lord. He leads us in triumph over Satan.

"T here is no comparison between God’s gift and Adam’s failure" (Romans 5:15). Adam's failure and God's gift - What a difference there is between the two! What Adam could not do, God has done. Salvation is never our achievement. It is always God's gift.

" In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12  Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires" (Romans 6:11-12). Be what God has made you "in Christ" - not what sin has made you without Christ.

"I have reason to glory in Christ Jesus in the things which pertain to God" ( Romans 15:17 ). Where has the blessing come from? Does it say something about how worthy we are? No! It's not about us. We haven't done anything to deserve God's blessing. The blessing comes from the Lord. To Him be all the glory!

Is this no longer true just because a lot of people have lost interest in singing the song of salvation? No! This was Good News in Paul’s day. It’s still Good News for today. It will always be the Good News of God’s love. It will always be the great reminder of God’s “for ever” love (Psalm 136).

Where has the blessing come from? Does it say something about how worthy we are? No! It's not about us. We haven't done anything to deserve God's blessing. The blessing comes from the Lord. To Him be all the glory!

God's way of righteousness begins with this - He is " just " - and leads to this - He " justifies those who have faith in Jesus " (Romans 3:26). "For our salvation Christ came down from heaven" (Nicene Creed) - This is Good News for sinners.  As we rejoice in the "for our salvation" message of the Gospel, let us never forget the "for His glory" message!  "To God be the glory, great things He has done! So loved He the world that He gave us His Son, who yielded His life an atonement for sin, and opened the life-gate that all may go in.   Praise the Lord!  ... Give Him the glory! "

"His dominion shall be ... to the ends of the earth" ( Zechariah 9:10 ). God's purpose was moving on. He had begun with Israel. Their deliverance from bondage in Egypt was a mighty demonstration of His saving power. This was only the beginning. God was moving on to Jesus - "the Saviour of the world" ( John 4:42 ). In Jesus Christ, crucified for us, God was reaching out, in love, to "the whole world" ( 1 John 2:2 ). The Gospel is not only for the Jews: "It is it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek" ( Romans 1:16 ). Jesus is calling us, His redeemed people - empowered by the Holy Spirit - to take His message of salvation to the ends of the earth: "You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth" ( Acts 1:8 ).

"They will receive blessing from the Lord ... " (Psalm 24:5). Sometimes, it seems to us that it is impossible for us to be blessed by the Lord. We have sinned so much and so often. How can we possibly be blessed by the Lord? Are we overstating our sinfulness? The more we think about it, the more we realize that it is true - "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). Then our thoughts move away from ourselves to Jesus - and we realize that God loves sinners - "God showed His love for us in this - while we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8).That's when we begin to see the wonderful truth of the Gospel of God's love - "the free gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Romans 6:23).