The Open Word

In Romans 14, Paul turns his attention to the exercise of personal liberties and disputes over doubtful things. We begin our study of this topic by introducing this concept and how to practice it in the body of Christ.

We complete our study of Romans 13 in which Paul exhorts his readers to be alert, because the night is gone and the day is at hand. It is no time to be complacent, rather it is time to put off the works of darkness, and put on the Lord Jesus Christ so that we can walk in the day.

Paul continues his discussion of Christian virtues by discussion the golden rule in Romans 13:8-10. He points out that we should owe no one anything, except to love them and consider others over ourselves. In fact, love is the fulfillment of the law. If we love our neighbors and God as we should, then keeping the Ten Commandments becomes a by-product of that love, and not a duty.

We continue our discussion of the Christian and government. Paul indicates that God has ordained government to provide stability in a society, and that the Christian is responsible to be submissive, pay their taxes, and show honor to those in authority.

We continue our discussion of the believer's response to governmental authorities by exploring the statement of Paul that all authorities, even those that are godless, are appointed by God and as such we are to be good citizens of whatever nation we find ourselves living in.

We begin a new section and topic in the Book of Romans which is the believer's response towards governmental authorities, even those that may not reflect a Christian worldview. This is an important topic, because the New Testament makes it clear that the believer is to be a model citizen, and is to obey governmental authority unless that authority specifically prohibits that which God commands.

Paul completes his discussion of our Christian duties by focusing on how we are to treat our enemies.

Having discussed our duties to ourselves and the family of God, Paul expands the circle in Romans 12:14–16 to all men. In these few verses, Paul packs a host of admonitions on how we are to treat others as representatives of Christ.

In the last part of Romans 12, Paul lays out Christian virtues in an expanding circle from personal duties to the family of God, then to all people, and finally to enemies. In this session we look at the first two circles, personal duties and duties to the family of God.

We complete our study of spiritual gifts in Romans 12.

We continue our discussion of spiritual gifts as found in Romans 12:3-8. Spiritual gifts are given by the Holy Spirit to minister to others in the body of Christ, the Church, and it is the responsibility of all believers to identify their spiritual gift and use it.

In this session we begin a three-week discussion of spiritual gifts. All believers have a spiritual gift that is given to them to minister to the body of Christ. In this, and the next two sessions, we will look at what the New Testament teaches about spiritual gifts, identifying our spiritual five, and the necessity of exercising our spiritual gift for the good and health of the Church.

Romans 12 begins the practical section of Romans. After laying out God's plan of salvation, Paul now turns to practical applications. He begins by exhorting his readers to present themselves wholly to God as a living sacrifice, as this is the only reasonable act of worship given the many blessings God has bestowed on believers.

We finish Romans Chapter 11 by discussing Israel's ultimate salvation. Although the nation as a whole lives in rebellion against Christ - there is coming a day when their eyes will be open, they will be grafted back into the place of blessing, and receive all the promises God gave them in the Old Testament.

Paul continues his discussion of the future of Israel by referring to an agrarian illustration of an olive tree. The Gentiles have been grafted into the olive tree temporarily, and the natural branches removed. But there is coming a day when the natural branches will once again be drafted into the olive tree, just as Israel will someday be restored to the place of God's blessing.

One of the major questions debated my many theologians is the place of Israel in God's future plans. Paul addresses this directly by affirming that God is not done with Israel, but there is coming a day when once again they will take their place of blessing. God is currently working through the Church, but Israel has not been permanently set aside as their rejection of the Messiah is temporary.

Paul explains the national rejection of Christ by Israel by referring back to the teaching in the Old Testament about the remnant. He shows that God has always had a remnant, a small group of true believers. Israel's national rejection does not mean that every Jew rejected, because God always has a faithful few. However, because of the national rejection by Israel of their Messiah, their hearts have been darkened judicially by God. Because they would not believe, now they cannot believe.

Paul completes his discussion of Israel's rejection of Christ by quoting several passages from the Old Testament. He shows that just because Israel rejected Christ, that does not imply that the message of the Gospel is wrong or that Christ is not the Messiah, but rather the problem lies with the unbelief of Israel.

We continue our discussion of what it means to confess Christ. What does it mean to believe in one's heart? Is mere head knowledge sufficient, or is there something more? We will be exploring these questions as we look at verses 11–14 of Romans 10.

Romans 10:5–13 contains one of the clearest descriptions on how one appropriates salvation by placing one's faith in the finished work of Christ. In this session we look at the passage at a high level, focusing on what it means to confess Christ and believe in one's heart.

Paul bears his grief for his fellow Israelites who missed salvation by seeking to be justified by their works. His heart for them comes true when he says he almost could wish himself cursed for their sake. How did the Jews miss it salvation? It is because they rejected Christ for a righteousness of their own, a righteousness that can never save.

In Romans 9:30–33, Paul shows that the Jews who pursued a righteous by works missed the righteousness that God requires for salvation whereas the Gentiles, who pursued a righteous by faith, are the ones who received justification and salvation.

In this short section of Scripture, Paul makes the point that just because someone was an Israelite, that did not necessarily mean they were all part of the covenant and by extension redeemed. He brings up the idea of a remnant, a small number in Israel who were truly redeemed, and unless God had such a remnant, Israel would have gone the way of Sodom and Gomorrah.

Paul continues his discussion of God's sovereignty by turning to the illustration of a potter over the clay. As the potter, God has the right to choose those to whom He will show mercy, and leave others to their own sin. He closes this section with a quote from Hosea in which Paul shows that God has now included the Gentiles as part of His chosen people. Those who were formerly unloved, are now loved. And those who were formerly not God's people, are now his people.

Paul addresses one of the most controversial topics in our passage today: election. Paul confronts the belief that God is unfair, and makes the argument that God is not. Rather He is sovereign. Instead, God has the prerogative to show mercy on whom He will, and to show His wrath to the others.

Paul makes the argument that the problem that Israel as a whole has not believed is not because God's word or promise has failed, but that just because someone is descended from Abraham does not automatically make them a "true Israelite." Not every descendant gets an automatic pass. His illustration is Abraham had two sons, Isaac and Ishmael, but only one was the child of promise. Isaac had two sons, Esau and Jacob, but only one was the child of promise. 

In Romans 9–11, Paul turns his attention to the question of the Jewish people. If Christ was their Messiah, and He was, then how is it that the Jewish nation missed it? Paul begins his discussion of this topic in Romans 9:1–5 by showing his true heart and concern for the Jewish people. 

In Romans 8:31–39 we find one of the greatest assurances for the believer, that is their eternal security. Paul describes this security in terms that leaves nothing in the universe out, and that shows that those who have placed their faith in the Gospel are forever secure as nothing can separate them from God's love.

In this session we discuss one of the most hotly debates themes in all of Scripture, that of election, predestination, and the sovereignty of God in salvation. Romans 8:29–30 is a key text in understanding this debate. Although there is still an element of mystery surrounding this topic, there are some comforting truths to be examined in this text.

What does it mean that all things work together for good to those who love God and those who are called according to his purpose? In this session, we explore this promise that God sovereignly orchestrates all the experiences of the believer to bring about His eternal purpose and the believer's best interests.

One of the greatest ministries of the Holy Spirit is His intercessory work on behalf of believers. In this session we explore His intercession in the realm of prayer, where when we do not know for what we need to pray, He does, and intercedes on our behalf.

Paul continues his discussion of the redemption of nature when the Lord returns and those of us who are believers receive our glorified bodies. Nature is personified as a living thing that longs for that day, the day we receive our full adoption and the curse on the created order is lifted.

Perhaps one of the greatest illustrations Paul uses to describe our salvation is that of adoption. In Romans 8:15–17 Paul explores this metaphor, and shows the meaning and significance of what it means to be adopted as one of God's children. Not only does God become our Father, but we are co-heirs with Christ in His inheritance!

What does it mean to be led by the Spirit of God and what does that look like? In this session we examine Romans 8:12–14 in which Paul gives us the answer to these two important questions.

Having described the unbeliever, that is, one who lives according to the flesh, Paul now describes the characteristics of a believer. These are 1) they have the indwelling Holy Spirit, 2) the body of sin has been destroyed, and 3) someday the mortal will put on immortality.

In this session we examine Romans 8:5–8 in which Paul describes those who walk according to the flesh. There are some who see these as carnal believers, that is, believers who are living in sin, but it is best to see them not as believers, but as unbelievers.

We continue our examination of Romans 8 by looking at the freedom we have in Christ. Not only are we no longer under condemnation, but what the law could not do, Christ did for us. We could not meet the righteous requirements of the law, but Christ did! For those who place their faith in His finished work fulfill the righteous requirement as well, not because of what they have done, but because of what Christ did for them.

We begin what I believe to be one of the greatest chapters in the Bible - Romans Chapter 8. In this first session we discuss the wondrous truth that Christ has freed us from the principle of sin and death that Paul outlined in Romans 6-7. Because of this, we are no longer under condemnation!

Paul continues his struggle with indwelling sin by discussing the war that rages within each believer over their flesh, their unredeemed fallenness, and their new life in Christ, their desire to live holy. Thankfully, there is a resolution, which is in Chapter 8, but before the resolution can be appreciated, the struggle needs to be understood

In this passage of Scripture Paul describes his frustration of living the Christian life. The things he wants to do, he does not. And the things he does not want to do, he does. Why? It is because he is fleshy, and his fallen humanness does not allow him to do that which he wants.

We continue our examination of Paul's argument that just like a woman is free from her husband to marry another if her husband dies, so also we have died to sin so we can be joined to another, Christ. We are no longer under the bondage of sin, but now have new life in Christ.

We begin Romans 7 in which Paul makes the argument that the believer has been freed from sin so that we are no longer in bondage to our old master, which leads to death, but are free to server a new master, Christ, in which we now have new life in the Spirit. He uses the axiomatic truth of marriage, in which each member is bound to the other as long as that person is alive, but if their spouse dies they are free to marry another without being called an adulterer.

We complete our look at Romans 6 by looking at verses 20-23 in which Paul contrasts the wages of sin with the free gift of eternal life. Men may think that they are free in their sin, but Paul tells us that those who live in sin work hard to receive wages, which will result in eternal death. On the other hand, God offers a way to eternal life by the free gift of salvation in Christ. 

We continue our discussion of Romans 6 by looking at several passages regarding our need to see ourselves as slaves to Christ and not slaves to our flesh.

In our continuing look at Romans 6, we find Paul asking the question in verse 15, "If we are under grace and not law, then can we continue to sin since, after all, we have been forgiven?" His emphatic answer is "NO!" Why? Because it is an axiomatic truth that we are slaves to that which we obey. We have been freed from sin to serve Christ, why would we want to continue to serve sin? The only response for a true believer is to not obey sin, but to obey Christ.

In this session we look at how our identification with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection has freed us from bondage to sin. We are no longer captive to sin, and due to our identity with Christ, we can now experience victory.

Paul continues his discussion of our union with Christ by showing that when Christ died, we died with him, and in doing so the power of sin has been broken in our lives. Sin has no power over those who are dead, and since we died with Christ, sin's power over us has been cancelled.

What enables us to have victory over sin? It is our union with Christ. In Romans 6:3, Paul begins a discussion on this topic by showing that our identification with Christ in His death, burial, and resurrection has freed us from the tyranny of sin.

Romans chapter 6 and 7 deal with the issue of indwelling sin. Why is it that those who have been justified continue to struggle with sin? Does not the Holy Spirit give us victory over sin? In Romans 6:1-2, Paul answers those who believe that if God is glorified in showing grace to us when we sin, they why don't we really sin, so He can be really glorified?

One of the greatest hymns, in my estimation, is Grace Greater Than All Our Sin. In Romans 5:18-21 we read of God's grace, a grace than all of our sins. Some may think that they can sin so much that God gives up on them - but that is not possible. No matter what we have done, and no matter how many times we have failed Him, God's grace is greater.

The bad news that Adam's sin brought death to the entire human race is balanced by the good news that the death of Christ on the cross brings life to all who believe. All men are under the curse of sin but birth, but by placing one's faith in the finished word of Christ, the curse of sin is replaced by the free gift of eternal life.