The Devotional - R001

The Devotional

Comment:

It is with much joy that I begin this new series of devotionals. I have had some prayer with the LORD on the subject and I have been encouraged to move forward. We will be looking into Paul’s Epistle to the Romans. Some in the past have asked me about Eternal Security and this I understand as a lack of understanding the Gospel. The Epistle to the Romans is all about the Gospel of God. Note these few verses in Romans 1:1-7 – Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated to the Gospel of God which He promised before through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures, concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh, and declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead. Through Him we have received grace and apostleship for obedience to the faith among all nations for His name, among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ; To all who are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 

Challenge: Romans: Introduction

The fear of losing one’s relationship as a child of God (eternal security) is mainly due to believing man-made gospels and a lack of obedience to the faith. We will take a look as some of the more popular ones in our churches today, but our main focus will always be on the true gospel of God. The gospel belongs to God alone, mankind has no input to the work of faith or grace to what it takes to believe the gospel. If mankind had any input to the message of the crucifixion of Christ, it would be an unholy lie or untrustworthy.

The apostle did not appoint himself or separate himself to Jesus Christ and begin preaching or teaching the gospel. (Note: Acts 9:1-6) He was called of God to preach and teach the message of the Gospel of God; the same Gospel God promised beforehand through the prophets in the Holy Scriptures. What scriptures are these? These would be the Old Testament Books since the New Testament Books were mostly unwritten and at this point in time were only letters to the various churches and not yet recognized as Holy Scripture.

This sets up the main point, if (and it is true) that the Old Testament proclaimed the Gospel of God, then it certainly did not come from any man’s idea, say from BC 400 to our very present day of AD 2015. In fact the Gospel of God is the focal point of God in Biblical history since Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden. From the dark days of the Garden when God said “ADAM WHERE ARE YOU”? (Genesis 3:9-15) To this very present moment in time, that when the day of salvation dawns in your soul, it is of God alone through His Word (2 Peter 1:19-21).

Yes the Gospel of God is the Holy property (if you will) of God, our pastor just last week from Exodus 38 and 39 explained that ALL THINGS of God are Holy, thus all things of God are beautiful. God is Holy and He is Beautiful, the Gospel of God is Holy and it is beautiful, His Son, the Perfect Lamb of God is holy and beautiful. In John 1:29, John the Baptizer said to those around him, “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” and this my friend is one of the many BEAUTIFUL truths of the Holy Bible.

Well we will be getting into this much deeper, but first we will learn a little bit more about Paul and where and why he wrote this epistle to these Roman gentiles. I encourage you to pray with me as we seek to know the clear Gospel of God in Justification, Sanctification and Glorification. The Gospel is the three phased, planned and completed work of God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, in order for you and me to KNOW this we must believe the Gospel of God. One word about “obedience to the faith” in Romans 1:5, this means that we should have “respect” for the faith (the good news).