Pondering the Character of God

Lesson from Romans 1:1-17

I. Genuine faith is marked by obedience and submission. “obedience to the faith”( v.5)

a. What is our motivation? It is NOT out of obligation or duty or guilt. It is rather about gratitude, humility and love.
b. We are only capable of glorifying God and obedience to God by God portioning out grace (v.5) and
because of his love (v.7).
c. Paul is permanently transformed.
i. Mind of Christ vs. persecution and law bound
ii. Heart of Christ. Hatred, cynical legalism vs. joy and zeal.
iii. A transformed life. He was gripped by God

II. Genuine faith participates in fellowship.

a. It is necessary to sustain our faith.
b. It is a witness to the world (v.8)
c. Answers prayer. (v.9)
d. Learn from each other (v.11)
e. Encourages us (v.12)
f. How often do we fellowship with believers? Can you tell the difference when you do? If we don’t want to,
what does that reveal about the reality of our relationship with God?

III. Genuine faith is filled with pure joy.

a. Not ashamed of the gospel.
b. Not weighed down by the burdens and expectations of what we think faith in God looks like.
c. Not constant happiness. Happines and joy are very different.
d. Awe-struck by his demonstration of grace, mercy and unconditional love for us.

(NOTE: This outline comes from a lesson I developed for a women’s bible study in my neighborhood.)

Yesterday morning I woke up with a really bad attitude. I woke up with a bad headache, irritated, tired, and frustrated. I came downstairs to my 3 children (5, 4, and 1 year old) and started being very short, ugly and impatient:

• “You can get that yourself Sarah.”
• “Just let me do it Abigail (we were prepping the food for the crock pot), I can do it faster.”
• “You’ve already had breakfast, go upstairs right now and get dressed….and stop whining.”
• “You are crowding me at the table, can you move over?”

And so it went for the next two hours………..ugly, ugly, ugly. I would have been embarassed if an adult had been in the house. Not one positive word came out of my mouth. As we sat down to have our morning devotions at 10am I couldn’t even read the bible story without being frustrated. Then the Lord spoke to me in a small whisper…..

You need to ask for forgiveness and get your heart right. You have your first women’s bible study coming over your house in 9 hours. God can’t use a grumpy heart. Don’t let Satan spring a sneak attack on you.

I closed the devotional without finishing it. “Girls, I need you to pray for mommy. Mommy has a very grumpy heart this morning and I am being very ugly to you guys. I am sorry that I am getting frustrated with you and not speaking kindly to you. Will you pray for me and ask God to get rid of my grumpy heart and give me a loving heart?”

The prayers my two girls lifted up on my behalf were utterly amazing. It changed my day and made for an incredible women’s bible study. God did some amazing things during the study and lives were changed. Amen!

My 1.5 year old son, Luke, is really hysterical. It is interesting to see how he manages with two older sisters who often think he is one of the baby dolls to torture (I mean play with) as they see fit. I also find it extremely interesting how much more effort he puts in to making a mess. Case in point: the other day I was cleaning up my room and I looked in my bathroom to see Luke removing the box of 250 Q-tips from my drawer and dumping them all over the floor. I told him “no” and hurried to pick them all up. Upon completion I turned around to see him with my Costco size bottle of lotion. He had the bottle upside down and was pushing the pump up and down on the carpet to see all the cool designs he could make on my carpet…..”No Luke!” I hurry to get a wet towel and clean up the mess when I hear this loud crash. I look in the hallway and see Luke experimenting with the laws of gravity by throwing things off the loft balcony.

We go downstairs so that I can make lunch. He goes into the play room and dumps out the box of markers, the tub of playdoh, and the box of dominoes all in record time before I can even react. Dinner was even more interesting. The pantry door would not fasten shut so that Luke could get easy access to the pantry (before I go any further you should know that I called John an demanded that the door be fixed as soon as he got home from work after my experience). As I was trying to prepare dinner Luke helped himself to yogurt raisins and apple sauce. No sooner had I removed those from his hands than he pulled on the trash can and dumped the entire contents all over himself!!! He was devasted. 😦

Sometimes it is just one of those days that all you do is chase the latest disaster and catch your breath later! *sigh*

It seems like there is usually a time in our life when we really experience God in our life. He becomes real and demonstrates his power and presence in our life in an amazing way. Can you think of what that time was for you?

We are usually overjoyed and inspired by these experiences, only to lapse into ho-hum bordome. We find ourselves trudging through life: going to work, preparing dinner, getting our children to their activities, getting them to bed, attending meetings, doing the laundry. Where has our joy gone?

I found it encouraging to read Romans 1. Paul was so overwhelmed by his meeting with God that he was not content to just send letters to churches to encourage and disciple them from long distance. He felt compelled to visit them all in person so that they could share in the joy together. He reiterates that his joy and salvation were solely the grace of God. Paul feels honored and humbled that God has chosen him to share the “good news.” Paul sees it as a privilege and is eager to travel and share God’s message, even though it means shipwrecks, jail and persecution.

Where is our joy? Perhaps we need perspective. Everything we have is only be the grace of God. Maybe if we realized the amount of love God pours out on us and the amount of mercy he extends us on a daily basis. To grasp undeserved love… What would it take us to maintain God’s joy? What would it take for us to be so overjoyed by God’s grace and love we would actually share that with others? Isn’t that how joy is expressed? You fall in love, are getting married, getting ready to have a baby….you are so overjoyed you share with everyone. Why aren’t we doing this for God redeeming us?

As I was reading the first chapter of Romans I was struck by the fact that Paul uses the word “call” four times in the first seven verses.

And you also are among those who are called to belong to Jesus Christ. To all in Romen who are loved by God and called to be saints. Romands 1: 6, 7

It would seem from this scripture and many others in the new testatement that we are called by God to salvation and to ministry. God’s call on our lives can be radical as demonstrated by Paul himself. Paul testifies in an authoritative manner on this subject. In Paul’s personal testimony in Philippians 3:1-7 he outlines his worldly accomplishments for admission to heaven: circumcised, Israelite, Benjamite, Hebrew, Pharisee, zealot, persecuted christians (to defend his Jewish faith), and legalistic righteousness. But in the end Paul discovers none of this was profitable. Only a “righteousness from God” [e.g. Jesus Christ] and a “righteousness that is by faith [in Jesus Christ]” (Romans 1:17) will accomplish salvation and satisfaction for God Almighty.

The most important part of this story is that Paul did NOT figure this out on his own. God pursued Paul. God found Paul where he was. God stopped Paul on his journey to Damascus and revealed himself. God spoke truth to Paul. He called Paul out to be a follower. Paul responded.

We are dead in our transgressions and sins. If we are dead, we are unable to choose God. He finds us, resurrects us, and gives us new life in Him. If it were up to us, even our response, all hope for our salvation would be loss.

How comforting is it to know that God chooses us, God calls us, God pursues us. We are able to work nothing for our salvation, but by God’s grace and mercy, he redeems our lives and establishes a covenant relationship with us!

I was reading The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis and was grabbed by something he stated. He is discussing what happens when we hear God’s voice telling us to do something, e.g. repent, witness, forgive, etc. and choose not to respond to God’s voice.

“The more often we feel without acting, the less we will be able ever to act, and, in the long run, the less we will be able to feel.”