Today’s Reading: Jer 31:1–40, Rom 6:15–7:6, Prov 21:1–12

Today’s Theme: Slaves to God

Libertarian freedom is a stubbornly persistent illusion, the reality of our existence is that none of us are Lord and Master over ourselves. We need to choose a master and serve him, there literally can be no sitting on the fence. Paul paints this in vivid terms stating that man is either a slave to sin outside Christ or a slave to righteousness in Christ.

We are freed from the law of sin and death and are therefore free only to be bound again eternally to God, in a type of matrimony or marriage.

So Yes we are slaves to God. We should not try to sanitise this reality by calling ourselves servants, only because the connotation with servant is of one paid for their services, not one who is owned (He is Lord [owner] and brought us with a price) and in a dependant and devoted relationship to their master like us.

Jeremiah 31:1–40

Everlasting Love

the Lord appeared to him from far away. I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you. (Jeremiah 31:3, ESV)

God’s love for His people is an everlasting love. This is why God keeps covenant and is faithful to us, not because we deserve it or the law demands it, but because of His love.

In His love He has saved us and will save Israel.

The chief and elect nation

For thus says the Lord: “Sing aloud with gladness for Jacob, and raise shouts for the chief of the nations; proclaim, give praise, and say, ‘O Lord, save your people, the remnant of Israel.’ (Jeremiah 31:7, ESV)

Israel is the chief, most elect among the nations. Our egalitarian (everyone is equal) driven culture reels at such a sentiment but that means nothing, it is still true.

The Lord has always saved a remnant of Israel. This is true both physically and spiritually. There have always been a Jewish people and community since the days of Abraham and more importantly in the OT, there was always a remnant of spiritually faithful Jews and in the NT, all the first Christians were Jews, the first missionaries were all Jews and the early church was full of Jews, even today we have Messianic (Christian) Jews who accept Yeshua (Jesus) as Messiah.

So Yes we rejoice, God in His love and faithfulness always keeps a remnant.

The Shepherd of Israel

“Hear the word of the Lord, O nations, and declare it in the coastlands far away; say, ‘He who scattered Israel will gather him, and will keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock.’ (Jeremiah 31:10, ESV)

God is the Shepherd and Father to Israel. This carries over to the church too, as God’s chosen people, because He is our Great Shepherd and Father also.

The slaughter of the innocents

Thus says the Lord: “A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping. Rachel is weeping for her children; she refuses to be comforted for her children, because they are no more.” (Jeremiah 31:15, ESV)

This prophecy was fulfilled when Jesus was born, it was the slaughter of the innocents by Herod which we remember at this season of Christmas.

A secure future

There is hope for your future, declares the Lord, and your children shall come back to their own country. (Jeremiah 31:17, ESV)

Israel has a future in God and so does the body of Christ. In God we can have assurance as we trust His promises, ways and person.

God’s heart yearns

Is Ephraim my dear son? Is he my darling child? For as often as I speak against him, I do remember him still. Therefore my heart yearns for him; I will surely have mercy on him, declares the Lord. (Jeremiah 31:20, ESV)

When God is in relationship with a people as with Ephraim, it is not just technical, God’s heart yearns for reconciliation. God’s heart yearns to be reconciled to you today. Don’t allow your relationship with Him to grow cold.

Personal responsibility

But everyone shall die for his own iniquity. Each man who eats sour grapes, his teeth shall be set on edge. (Jeremiah 31:30, ESV)

We are each responsible for our own sin. Our current culture is so enamoured with self and the central place of man as a good and free being, that personal responsibility has been largely discarded. We instead say there is always a reason for someone’s evil, crime or sin and that they just need to be understood.

This is wrong, we should not withdraw from man his God given responsibility for his own conduct, we should not diminish the responsibility of man unless his responsibility through mental impairment is actually diminished.

By taking the responsibility from man for his own sin, we have given mankind a licence to sin in the name of being a victim of environment, culture, history or parents.

God is clear, everyone will die for their own sin, not for someone else’s.

This is picked up in the NT today, the wages sin pays is death. This is why the gospel message and solution is so radical, Jesus vicariously died in our place for our sin.

The New Testament prophesied

“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, (Jeremiah 31:31, ESV)

The new testament was not an invention of Paul and his friends, it was foretold by God. God said the old covenant would be superseded by a new and better covenant. The new and better covenant is the one made though the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, as proclaimed in the gospel of God.

Regeneration of the Holy Spirit

For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. (Jeremiah 31:33, ESV)

This speaks of regeneration by the Holy Spirit and is fulfilled in the New Testament church where God’s people have changed natures, and as both Jews and Gentiles, form God’s own people.

A day will come when this will be more fully realised for the actual nation of Israel too.

The indwelling Holy Spirit

And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” (Jeremiah 31:34, ESV)

This is a further indication that we are talking about the NT experience of being born again by the Spirit of God and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

The remembrance of sin no more, speaks of the redemption and forgiveness through the cross of Christ.

Guaranteed against the cosmos

“If this fixed order departs from before me, declares the Lord, then shall the offspring of Israel cease from being a nation before me forever.” (Jeremiah 31:36, ESV)

Israel’s nationhood is guaranteed against the cosmos. The nation will never be exterminated, despite the threats and evil work of Nazi’s and Islamist’s.

Romans 6:15–7:6

Choose your master

Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? (Romans 6:16, ESV)

We are Slaves regardless, we only get to choose our master. So will you serve sin under the power of the enemy, or righteousness under the power of Christ?

We are not free to do whatever we want, we are instead influenced, driven and moved by the master we are aligned with. This is why we so often find ourselves doing things we had no real intention of doing, either in the bondage of sin or the compulsion by the Spirit, in righteousness, to forgo a natural and sinful reaction for example.

Obey the teaching of the Gospel

But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, (Romans 6:17, ESV)

It is crucial that our obedience is sincere and from the heart.

Without the teaching of the gospel what would we be called to obey? The great commission is to teach the nations the way of Christ.

This is why the bible is so important alongside the ministry of our Pastors and teachers, to proclaim and teach the truth with all authority.

If we just tell people that Jesus loves them and don’t disciple them, how will they know what to obey? Teaching the gospel is essential to the gospel of God.

Our faith is not only composed of a spiritual or mystical element, it very much has a cognitive or thinking element, where the minds of its adherents must be engaged and activated to agree with the teaching of the Gospel of God.

This obedience in faith, to the teaching of the gospel of God, is one of the main themes of the letter.

Make righteousness your master

I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification. (Romans 6:19, ESV)

We should make righteousness our master, this will lead to our sanctification. Paul is quite clear that we need to make a conscious decision to use our bodies righteously, which is part of our call to sanctification and holiness.

God’s free gift

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23, ESV)

This verse is a great summary of the gospel.

Sin will pay wages but the antithesis to this is not anti-sin paying the wages of life, because Paul has already made the case that our righteousness will never do. The gospel breaks the mould of everything being based on good or bad works and the resulting wages, instead we are presented with a totally free gift.

A works based gospel would be the work of righteousness measured against the work of sin, but the Gospel of God is God’s free and unearned gift of eternal life, over and against the earned wages of death in sin. They are not parallel, the free gift of eternal life far supersedes the wages of death for sin.

Union with Christ

Likewise, my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God. (Romans 7:4, ESV)

Our union with Christ precludes that we are actually dead to sin and its law. This is not a fleeting thing but a sure, solid and permanent state.

There is an important point about us bearing fruit unto God, through our union with Christ, as opposed to the fruit of death.

Jesus Himself said He is the vine and we are just branches. If we are in union with Him, then we are connected to life itself, He is the very source of life and of the renewed life in particular, so it follows that being connected to Him, we will bear fruit.

We are dead to, so free from sin (or sin is dead and we are free), so that we can belong to another. Consider the word ‘belong’, it speaks of ownership and deep devotion, which is where the biblical concept of being God’s Joyful Slaves is formed.

Proverbs 21:1–12

Diligent planning

The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes only to poverty. (Proverbs 21:5, ESV)

Lord, we know there are areas here where we really need to improve, please help us to be diligent and disciplined.

Quarrelling is not good

It is better to live in a corner of the housetop than in a house shared with a quarrelsome wife. (Proverbs 21:9, ESV)

Living with someone who likes to quarrel can be a real drain on energy and difficult to bear, so pray for grace if this is your situation, or give thanks if it is not.

Also ask yourself an honest question…are you quarrelsome? If you are make an effort by the Spirit to seek peace.

Most of the above post is a copy of the original notes from the same date in 2014.

Additional resources

Desiring God on Romans 7

Today’s Reading: Jer 29:1–30:24, Rom 6:1–14, Prov 20:13–30

Today’s Theme: Alive to God

Today we learn that we are dead to sin and alive to God through our union with Christ. We should live with this truth in mind, we live under grace and sin’s dominion has been broken… Hallelujah!

Jeremiah 29:1–30:24

Pray for the city

But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.(Jeremiah 29:7, ESV)

So pray for the city you live in, when the city does well, we will do well too. Like the exiled Jews, let’s live our lives on mission.

God’s Pre-Ordained Plan

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.(Jeremiah 29:11, ESV)

God saying He knows the pre-ordained plans that He has for Israel, rather than the lies of the false prophets.

We have adopted this in the church today, to say God knows the plan He has for us and it is true, when we look at Ephesian’s, Philippians, Colossians and Romans, we see the teaching that God has predestined our lives in Christ.

However the original application was really like an encouragement from God to the people of Judah, letting them know that although they will go through 70 years of slavery, God has a plan and purpose in these times of discipline and difficulty.

Lust and lies

because they have done an outrageous thing in Israel, they have committed adultery with their neighbors’ wives, and they have spoken in my name lying words that I did not command them. I am the one who knows, and I am witness, declares the Lord.’ ”(Jeremiah 29:23, ESV)

False prophets always seem to have lust and sexual sin driving them. Pray that God would expose the evil intentions of false prophets today.

God’s mind accomplished

The fierce anger of the Lord will not turn back until he has executed and accomplished the intentions of his mind. In the latter days you will understand this.(Jeremiah 30:24, ESV)

This prophecy can be seen through both a short (at the time in Judah and Babylon) and long lens (The end times). God will accomplish what He has set His mind to.

Romans 6:1–14

Dead to sin

By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?(Romans 6:2, ESV)

We no longer habitually live in sin. We are dead to sin and our desires and nature has been changed in Christ.

Free from sin

We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin.(Romans 6:6–7, ESV)

Sin enslaves all, except those whose old self was crucified with Jesus. We are free from sin, we don’t have to be under sin’s bondage and bullying control.

Let us rejoice in the freedom we have from sin, this is the joyous cry of the gospel of God, that freedom from the bondage and reign of sin has come.

Alive to God

So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.(Romans 6:11, ESV)

This is an argument for us to consider ourselves dead to sin and alive to God, in light of the cross.

What does it mean to be dead to sin? As a dead man has no hunger or desire so should we have no appetite, hunger or desire for sin.

What does it mean to be alive to God? This speaks of our relationship to God, which is only possible through our union with Christ. We no longer live unto ourselves but presently and constantly live before and for God.

Our desires have been awakened to God and we live in that light. We are in union with Christ; through His death we see our sin as dead, though His life we live in righteousness and through His resurrection we are alive, truly, finally, really alive.

Present your body

Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness.(Romans 6:13, ESV)

We can either present our bodies to sinful opportunity or to God.

Our bodies are tools and should be used in God’s service.

We are not just spiritual creatures, God created our flesh and so desires that we can serve Him even with our bodies.

Sin’s dominion is broken

For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.(Romans 6:14, ESV)

We live by grace so sin has no dominion over us, the power of the law which makes sin alive is superseded by grace. This is the glorious gospel of God.

Proverbs 20:13–30

Seize the day

Love not sleep, lest you come to poverty; open your eyes, and you will have plenty of bread.(Proverbs 20:13, ESV)

Sleep is over rated, rise up early and seize the day.

Most of the above post is a copy of the original notes from the same date in 2014.

Additional resources

Desiring God on Romans 6

Today’s Reading: Jer 27:1–28:17, Rom 5:1–21, Prov 20:1–12

Today’s Theme: Peace with God

Today we read about the peace we have with God through the justification we receive by faith, the grace in which we stand and the gift of righteousness we joyfully receive.

This is one of the key promises of the gospel proclamation; the war is over, the King has won and established His kingdom, so end the futile hostility and enter into His peace with us, His former enemies through His abundant grace.

Jeremiah 27:1–28:17

The Sovereign

“It is I who by my great power and my outstretched arm have made the earth, with the men and animals that are on the earth, and I give it to whomever it seems right to me.(Jeremiah 27:5, ESV)

God is declaring His total sovereign rule over all creation.

Restoration, in God’s time

They shall be carried to Babylon and remain there until the day when I visit them, declares the Lord. Then I will bring them back and restore them to this place.”(Jeremiah 27:22, ESV)

Restoration of the children of Israel happened on God’s clock when they were taken to Babylon, and this is still true today, for the restoration of the modern state of Israel and the future kingdom.

The right attitude

and the prophet Jeremiah said, “Amen! May the Lord do so; may the Lord make the words that you have prophesied come true, and bring back to this place from Babylon the vessels of the house of the Lord, and all the exiles.(Jeremiah 28:6, ESV)

Jeremiah was wise and he had the right attitude of heart to the Lord’s decree. What is your attitude towards God’s word?

The biblical pattern

The prophets who preceded you and me from ancient times prophesied war, famine, and pestilence against many countries and great kingdoms.(Jeremiah 28:8, ESV)

Be careful of new prophecies that break the biblical pattern. Every word or prophecy must be measured against the bible.

The danger of false prophesying

In that same year, in the seventh month, the prophet Hananiah died.(Jeremiah 28:17, ESV)

A false prophet is a very dangerous person to others and to themselves.

Romans 5:1–21

Peace with God

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.(Romans 5:1, ESV)

The point here is that those who have been justified by faith into grace, have peace with God.

This is the great gospel of God, that peace between God and man has come through Christ. The war can be over, the relationship reconciled and the offence of sin atoned for.

This is one of the things we celebrate at this time of year, that Jesus came to bring peace on earth.

The gospel of God is the declaration of God’s victory over evil, His conquering of our sin and routing of the enemy. The war is won and peace has come with the King ruling in His kingdom.

This is such great and good news!

Access grace by faith

Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.(Romans 5:2, ESV)

We have right now obtained access to the grace of God by our faith in Jesus. Hallelujah!

We now stand in the grace of God and we are able to do this through faith in the promise of the gospel of God.

This is all done with a rejoicing heart, as we await the manifestation of the glory of God in us and throughout the earth.

Rejoice in Suffering

Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance,(Romans 5:3, ESV)

We are supposed to suffer sometimes and we should rejoice in it, knowing that it is building character and endurance in us.

Desiring God have a good free book on suffering and the sovereignty of God available http://www.desiringgod.org/books/suffering-and-the-sovereignty-of-god

Build character

and endurance produces character, and character produces hope,(Romans 5:4, ESV)

You cannot get character overnight, it can only come through a period of time because endurance can only be tested over time.

God’s love

and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.(Romans 5:5, ESV)

This is an amazing truth, God’s love has been poured into our hearts, we have God’s love in our hearts. Another great comfort is that we all receive the Holy Spirit at conversion.

Jesus died for the ungodly

For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.(Romans 5:6, ESV)

Thank you Jesus, I was so ungodly, and You died for me. We should all thank God for His love for us, that at God’s appointed time, Jesus died for us.

God’s love, demonstrated

but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.(Romans 5:8, ESV)

The substitutionary death of Christ was a demonstration of God’s love.

Now justified

Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.(Romans 5:9, ESV)

Jesus’ blood justified us 2000 years ago and Jesus shall save us in the future from the wrath of God.

Saved by Jesus’ life

For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.(Romans 5:10, ESV)

We are saved by the life of Christ, by the resurrection and the fact that He is alive. We also have His perfect life, lived in victory over sin, imputed to us as if His life were our life and ours were His.

Rejoice in God

More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.(Romans 5:11, ESV)

We are glorifying God by enjoying Him forever, because through Jesus, our relationship has been reconciled and we are at peace.

Sin is universal

Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—(Romans 5:12, ESV)

The universality of Sin is again stated, reminding us that we all have the same problem which Jesus came to solve.

God’s gift

For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.(Romans 5:17, ESV)

We must receive God’s free gift and abundant grace. God’s free gift is actually the righteousness He credits to our account. This is all made possible through Jesus, the last Adam who secured this for all those who believe, setting us free from the curse of the first Adam.

The universal gospel

Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men.(Romans 5:18, ESV)

Justification and life are available to all, not just one race or type of people, but all humanity. It is important that Paul compares Jesus to Adam and shows us that Jesus is the remedy to the curse of Adam, which means He is the solution for the whole world.

Many made righteous

For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.(Romans 5:19, ESV)

The mission of Jesus was no failure, many have been made righteous as they have activated their faith and accessed the grace that God so abundantly provides in Christ.

This does away with the idea of universalism which teaches that all are saved by Jesus’ work on the cross. Only the many who believe are saved. We can rejoice that it is not just a few but many, a multitude so big that they cannot be numbered, as in the vision of heaven in Revelation.

The reign of grace

so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.(Romans 5:21, ESV)

It seems grace and death are both reigning at the moment, one day the reign of death will be over for good and grace alone will reign. Today the grace of God can rule in our lives through the righteousness of God which is fulfilled, satisfied and imputed through Christ.

Proverbs 20:1–12

Don’t be mocked

Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler, and whoever is led astray by it is not wise.(Proverbs 20:1, ESV)

For me, this verse is reason enough to stay away from drink.

Plough at the right time

The sluggard does not plow in the autumn; he will seek at harvest and have nothing.(Proverbs 20:4, ESV)

Lord, please help us to plough at the right time, to get the necessary reward. In this case, the ploughing can be seen as preparation, planning and hard work.

Be faithful

Many a man proclaims his own steadfast love, but a faithful man who can find?(Proverbs 20:6, ESV)

Lord, help us to be faithful.

Most of the above post is a copy of the original notes from the same date in 2014.

Additional resources

Desiring God on Romans 5

Today’s Reading: Jer 25:1–26:24, Rom 4:1–24, Prov 19:1–29

Today’s Theme: Justified by Faith

Today we read about the way we are justified, which is not through a ceremony, moral code or religious rite. We learn that we are justified by Faith in God and what God has done and will do, just like Abraham.

We must have faith in the person and work of God, as revealed in the gospel, to access the inheritance God has offered by His grace.

So, our salvation is based on God’s grace,  our faith in that grace and the God who provides it.

Jeremiah 25:1–26:24

Persistent Leaders

“For twenty-three years, from the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah, to this day, the word of the Lord has come to me, and I have spoken persistently to you, but you have not listened.(Jeremiah 25:3, ESV)

We should pray that our leaders are persistent in speaking the word of God to His people, Jeremiah at this point, had been the prophet to Judah for 23 years.

We must pray for ourselves as well that we don’t find ourselves in the helpless state that the people found themselves in, where after 23 years of the prophet faithfully bringing the word of God, they still refused to listen.

God, Lord of time

This whole land shall become a ruin and a waste, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years.(Jeremiah 25:11, ESV)

God was in control the whole time, so He could be very specific about the years. God, not man, the devil or Dr Who, is the Lord of time.

When we get frustrated about the timing of things in our lives, or even a train breaking down or traffic making us late, we must in those times remind ourselves that God is sovereign over time and our days, we are not, so we must continue to trust Him.

Judge of the whole earth

For behold, I begin to work disaster at the city that is called by my name, and shall you go unpunished? You shall not go unpunished, for I am summoning a sword against all the inhabitants of the earth, declares the Lord of hosts.’(Jeremiah 25:29, ESV)

If judgement begins at God’s house… Where will the ungodly be. God is the judge of the whole earth, this is why we need to put faith in God and His grace.

Romans 4:1–24

Salvation is not our due

Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due.(Romans 4:4, ESV)

We cannot work for or work up salvation, otherwise salvation is our due payment for work rendered. This is not God’s way.

Paul has spent time showing us that all men are consigned under sin and that the only solution is God’s own righteousness, shown and fulfilled in Christ.

Now Paul turns to the personal application of the gospel of God for every believer, he outlines the mechanism by which man is justified and makes the case that it is by faith alone.

So salvation is by faith in God’s grace, not by work to our merit.

Believe in God

And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness,(Romans 4:5, ESV)

One of the simple tenants of Christianity, we must not just have faith as a mystical quality and outlook but put actual faith in God, the one who justifies the ungodly.

Believing in God and in what God does, is counted as righteousness for the one who believes.

The father of all believers

He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was to make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised, so that righteousness would be counted to them as well,(Romans 4:11, ESV)

This shows that God’s master plan always included all nations (the uncircumcised), this is why He said that all nations would be blessed in Abraham.

The church cannot be disconnected from its Jewish roots because as believers, Abraham is the father and example to us all.

The figure of Abraham as the example of faith apart from the works of the law, should have served to improve unity between the Jewish and Gentile parts of the church.

We don’t do something to be justified and counted as righteous, instead we believe something which leads to works rather than works leading to belief.

Those who walk in the faith

and to make him the father of the circumcised who are not merely circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.(Romans 4:12, ESV)

The distinction of those who are truly God’s people, has always been those who walk by faith in Him. So even amongst the Circumcised, the true children of Abraham were those who followed the faith of Abraham, which came before the outward expression of faith, which was circumcision.

We too are called to walk in faith like Abraham, as God’s people.

The promise depends on faith

That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring—not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all,(Romans 4:16, ESV)

The inheritance God promises those in the gospel of God, cannot be attained by the works of the law and has never been God’s model, as Paul has just argued.

The reality is that the promise is dependent on faith so that it can be attained by grace and not through the cold, mechanical working of the law.

It is clear that without faith we cannot be saved. Without faith the gospel is just a message and we are lost.

God. Creator and Regenerator

as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist.(Romans 4:17, ESV)

God gives life to the dead, this happens to us when we are saved, the Holy Spirit makes us alive.

God creates out of nothing and is the only being who can do this. This is the God we believe in.

Give glory to God

No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God,(Romans 4:20, ESV)

We will grow strong in our faith as we give glory to God. God is the object and end of our faith so naturally we should think, sing, speak and live to His glory. True faith cannot be disconnected from covenant and relationship with God.

God is able

fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.(Romans 4:21, ESV)

We must be fully convinced that God is able. This is our faith at work practically. Today trust that God is able.

Believe in God the Father

but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord,(Romans 4:24, ESV)

We are counted as righteous if we believe in God the Father of our Lord, Jesus Christ.

Proverbs 19:1–29

Rage against God

When a man’s folly brings his way to ruin, his heart rages against the Lord.(Proverbs 19:3, ESV)

This is why we so often hear, “why did God let this happen…” etc.

Love your soul

Whoever gets sense loves his own soul; he who keeps understanding will discover good.(Proverbs 19:8, ESV)

If you really do love your eternal souls, you will live for God.

Forgive

Good sense makes one slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook an offense.(Proverbs 19:11, ESV)

This is where we can get glory as men, forgive!

The deep sleep of slothfulness

Slothfulness casts into a deep sleep, and an idle person will suffer hunger.(Proverbs 19:15, ESV)

Dear Lord, keep us from the deep sleep of slothfulness, we do not want to waste our lives.

Charity work unto God

Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will repay him for his deed.(Proverbs 19:17, ESV)

One of our great motivations for charity work and social action.

Discipline in love

Discipline your son, for there is hope; do not set your heart on putting him to death.(Proverbs 19:18, ESV)

Discipline must be done in love, with the intention of instruction and building the child up, not to crush them.

God’s purpose stands

Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.(Proverbs 19:21, ESV)

Open theism (the idea that the future is not set and God does not know the future, but instead responds to the actions of His creatures), is slain with this one verse.

God’s purposes stand because God is not partially God, He is fully God, the one who knows all, He is everywhere and is all powerful. The Sovereign God.

Live and rest

The fear of the Lord leads to life, and whoever has it rests satisfied; he will not be visited by harm.(Proverbs 19:23, ESV)

We will fear you Lord, because this leads to life and rest.

Don’t stray

Cease to hear instruction, my son, and you will stray from the words of knowledge.(Proverbs 19:27, ESV)

This is a verse for all who are not in fellowship and under instruction, accountability and covering.

Most of the above post is a copy of the original notes from the same date in 2014.

Additional resources

Desiring God on Romans 4

Today’s Reading: Jer 23:1–24:10, Rom 3:21–31, Prov 18:1–24

Today’s Theme: God’s Righteousness

God’s plan for our justification and righteousness is expounded powerfully today by Paul in Romans. Man’s righteousness would never do so God saved us by His own righteousness as a grace gift through faith in the Gospel of God concerning Jesus Christ the One who died in our place, meeting God’s righteous requirements and opening the door for us to receive God’s gracious impartation of righteousness… Hallelujah!!!

Don’t just get lost in the words today, praise the King of Heaven for all He has done.

Jeremiah 23:1–24:10

A woe for today

“Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!” declares the Lord. (Jeremiah 23:1, ESV)

This woe is extended today to self centered prosperity preachers and to the dead theologians in the mainline churches who bicker about small points of theology at the expense of the flock.

Thank good for good Shepherds

I will set shepherds over them who will care for them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be missing, declares the Lord. (Jeremiah 23:4, ESV)

Thank you so much for the pastors You have given us who care for us in Your name.

The mention of none being lost seems to point forward to that great shepherd of the sheep our Lord Jesus Christ who said of all the Father gave Him He had lost none and any who come to Him He will in no way cast out.

We can have assurance in our salvation and the joy of eternal security because Jesus is our shepherd.

Jesus the Branch of David

In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.’ (Jeremiah 23:6, ESV)

This branch is the Messiah, here is evidence from the Old Testament that the Messiah will one day reign as king. This will be fulfilled at the second advent when Jesus returns to rule from Jerusalem.

Don’t be led astray

In the prophets of Samaria I saw an unsavory thing: they prophesied by Baal and led my people Israel astray. (Jeremiah 23:13, ESV)

Lord keep Your people from false and demonic prophets and fake “spiritual” people who seek to manipulate Your people through demonic lies to lead us astray. Give us the spiritual discernment needed to see through their deceptions.

Don’t give in to the flesh

But in the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen a horrible thing: they commit adultery and walk in lies; they strengthen the hands of evildoers, so that no one turns from his evil; all of them have become like Sodom to me, and its inhabitants like Gomorrah.” (Jeremiah 23:14, ESV)

The capitulation to the flesh seen in liberal and “word of faith” theology and practise must be resisted.

Vain hope is pointless

Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you, filling you with vain hopes. They speak visions of their own minds, not from the mouth of the Lord. (Jeremiah 23:16, ESV)

Vain hope is pointless hope, the church is not here to make people feel better but to lead them to and build them up in Christ.

God’s council

But if they had stood in my council, then they would have proclaimed my words to my people, and they would have turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their deeds. (Jeremiah 23:22, ESV)

Let’s pray that pastors will seek God for His council about what to say to the people in the long term (what to study or read together) and short term (what to say at a particular gathering or moment).

God is everywhere

“Am I a God at hand, declares the Lord, and not a God far away? (Jeremiah 23:23, ESV)

God is omnipresent, He is the only one who is everywhere at the same time. He is both transcendent and imminently close while remaining Holy and set apart.

God is not limited by time and the three dimensions of space as we know them. After all He created both time and space and in His infinite wisdom and great power. He is able to occupy dimensions of space and existence that would make our minds boggle in the same way a 3D cube would be beyond understanding to the people on a 2D world.

The Word is a hammer

Is not my word like fire, declares the Lord, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces? (Jeremiah 23:29, ESV)

The word is like a hammer and is like fire. It breaks the hard heart and purifies and sets alight for God the soul of man.

Grow in the faith yourself

Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets, declares the Lord, who steal my words from one another. (Jeremiah 23:30, ESV)

Plagiarism and just quoting other men is very prevalent today. We need to seek God in His word and prayer to hear from Him ourselves and not stand on the faith of others but have our own relationship with God. Lets personally and corporately grow in the faith ourselves.

Reckless lies

Behold, I am against those who prophesy lying dreams, declares the Lord, and who tell them and lead my people astray by their lies and their recklessness, when I did not send them or charge them. So they do not profit this people at all, declares the Lord. (Jeremiah 23:32, ESV)

Lord keep us from falling for the reckless lies of false prophets who seem to get so much airtime in the media.

How God chooses to regard you

“Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Like these good figs, so I will regard as good the exiles from Judah, whom I have sent away from this place to the land of the Chaldeans. (Jeremiah 24:5, ESV)

The Lord determines this, He chooses how He will see His elect. They are His and He has redeemed them with a price, thank you Lord for choosing to see us as good figs.

6 I wills of God

I will set my eyes on them for good, and I will bring them back to this land. I will build them up, and not tear them down; I will plant them, and not pluck them up. I will give them a heart to know that I am the Lord, and they shall be my people and I will be their God, for they shall return to me with their whole heart. (Jeremiah 24:6-7, ESV)

Here we see a further 5 I wills of God (the first was in the previous verse where God said I will regard….), when God says He will, no one, not me, no man and no devil can stop Him… He is GOD.. He is the all powerful Sovereign Lord and King.

He declares he will..

• Set His Eyes on them for good
• Build them up
• Plant them
• Give them a heart to know Him
• Be their God

This shows the paternal heart of God for His children who are under His discipline. Lord give us a heart to know you too.

Romans 3:21–31

Righteousness through faith

the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: (Romans 3:22, ESV)

We are made righteous before God through putting our faith in Jesus, this applies to all humanity.

We now leave the teaching on man’s condition in sin to the brighter things of righteousness and how it is and always has been truly attained, which is through faith in God.

Although now the faith is quite specific, the faith is in the message given in the Gospel of God which is through Jesus only.

So let’s be clear, Paul is clearly saying that righteousness with God cannot be achieved but is received or imparted through faith.

All have sinned

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, (Romans 3:23, ESV)

The common need of all men to be saved, religion and human understandings of righteousness can save no one because all have committed sin at some point. This is why it is a gift received through faith.

God’s grace is a gift

and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, (Romans 3:24, ESV)

God’s grace is neither an entitlement or right, it is a gift. This truth alone sets Christianity apart from all the other religions which have a works based righteousness system and gods who are bound to or limited by powers and so are unable to bestow the gift of righteousness.

God’s righteousness

whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. (Romans 3:25, ESV)

This is the crux of Paul’s teaching to us on the Gospel and new covenant. It is not based on the righteousness that man in futility tries to achieve but the righteousness that God already has and graciously bestows.

God’s righteousness was revealed and satisfied in the person, work, death and resurrection of Christ which is the heart of the good news that Jesus became the atoning sacrifice for all who believe so that through the blood He shed they can receive by faith the righteousness God provides by passing over our sin.

Jesus was our atoning sacrifice to appease the righteous requirements of the law, upholding the righteousness of God and God’s gracious love simultaneously.

God, the just, justifier

It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. (Romans 3:26, ESV)

God did not want to just waive away our sins as this would make Him unjust, Jesus on the cross was the solution.

God is a just, justifier of sin because someone did die for our sin making the way open for us to be forgiven and made righteous through faith in Him.

The only way this solution could possibly work was for Jesus to be the unique one and only God-Man.

One God, One Way

Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, since God is one—who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. (Romans 3:29–30, ESV)

We Gentiles and the Jews serve the same God and He seeks to justify us by faith in the Son of God or through faith in the Son of God. It is simple, we are made just as if we didn’t sin, justified, through faith in God’s one solution…. Jesus.

Live righteous lives

Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law. (Romans 3:31, ESV)

Our faith if genuine, leads us to live lives in righteousness. We live according to the righteousness imputed to us by God, we live in honour of it and uphold God’s righteousness in our lives by His grace and Spirit.

Proverbs 18:1–24

Don’t be isolated

Whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire; he breaks out against all sound judgment. (Proverbs 18:1, ESV)

Self isolation is an un-natural and dangerous thing, the asceticism of the monks and nuns is wrong, its only saving grace is that they are in community with each other.

What is your opinion worth?

A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion. (Proverbs 18:2, ESV)

Lord keep us from expressing our opinions which are not profitable and just the sound of our own voice.

Don’t let your mouth ruin you

A fool’s mouth is his ruin, and his lips are a snare to his soul. (Proverbs 18:7, ESV)

The mouth is a dangerous and powerful thing which will ruin our life if not governed by the Holy Spirit. Not in a mystical way but in a very practical way it can ruin relationships, careers etc.

Don’t be slack

Whoever is slack in his work is a brother to him who destroys. (Proverbs 18:9, ESV)

Lord helps us to not be slack in our work.

Godly intelligence

An intelligent heart acquires knowledge, and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge. (Proverbs 18:15, ESV)

Lord help us to have godly intelligence like this and not the devilish so called intelligence of the world.

Use words wisely

Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits. (Proverbs 18:21, ESV)

Our words have great potential for good and bad. Whatever we say we need to be prepared to deal with the result of what we say (it’s fruit). If we use words with wisdom we will enjoy the fruit of well said words.

Use words wisely in this world.

Quality friendship

A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. (Proverbs 18:24, ESV)

Don’t have too many so called friends (companions), instead have friendships which are of a high quality, that are like family.

Most of the above post is a copy of the original notes from the same date in 2014.

Additional resources

The Gospel Coalition on Romans 3