Daily Inspirations

  G oo d mo r ning .  Paul now gives what seems like a r efu t atio n to what James said . What then shall w e say that Abraham, our fo r efathe r acco r ding to the flesh, ha s found? For if Abraham was justified b y works (uh-oh), he has something to boast about, but not be f o r e God. What does th e scriptu r e say? Abraha m believed Go d (whe n H e said tha t A b r a h a m ’ s descendant s would be a s nume r ous as th e stars of the h ea vens), and it wa s c r e d ite d to him as righteousness. Jame s also mentions this verse. He says tha t when Abraha m offe r ed up his son Isaac on the alta r , tha t faith wa s working with his works, and as a r esult of the works, faith was perf e cted ; an d the scriptu r e was ful fi lled which says that Abraha m believed God , and it was r eckoned to him as righteousness. Christian sa y they beli e ve, but d o n ’ t act like it. Abraha m did act like it. He wa s offering up his only hop e tha t his...

  G oo d mo r ning . Why did Go d display Jesus a s a p r opitiation? This was to demonstrate His righteousness, becaus e in the forbea r ance of God He pa ss ed over sins p r eviously committed, for the demonstration of His righteousness at th e p r esen t time, so that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. This is something that mankind was unable to figu r e out. How coul d God b e a just God, an d at th e same time justify His people ? W e des e rved total annihilation; and ye t He wa n te d a people for His own. Som e on e ha d to pay for the wrat h due us. And so the wrath of God fell on Jesus; the only one who did not deserv e it. W e maintain tha t a man is justified by fait h apar t f r om the works of the la w . Or is God the Go d of Jews only? Is He not the God of the Gen t iles also? This brings us back again to what Jame s said. Go d who will justify the ci r cumcised by fait h an d the unci r cumcised th r oug...

  G oo d mo r ning . Befo r e Jesus, your "right standing" be f o r e God de p en d e d on you keeping the la w . Now apar t f r om the law th e righteousness of God ha s been manifested, being witnessed by the la w and th e p r ophets, even th e righteousness of God th r ough faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe. Then one of those oft quoted verses: for all hav e sinned and fall short of the glory o f God, being justified a s a gift by His grace th r ough the r ede m ptio n which is in Christ Jesus. Paul is saying that it is no longer th r ough works that we a r e justified, unlike in the Old T estament. Who m God displ a yed publicly as a p r opitiatio n in His blood th r ough faith. My Bibl e says tha t the G r ee k for this phrase “a s a p r o p i t i a t i o n “ speaks of a sacrifice that sat i sfie s the righteous wrath of God. Once a year th e high priest would bring the blood of a sacrificed animal into the holy of holies, and sprinkle t...

  G oo d mo r ning . What good was it to be a Jew ? They we r e entru s ted with the oracles of God. That is actually a r eally bi g deal. The Jews we r e very meticulous in copying the Scriptu r es an d in taking ca r e of them. If they ha d been entrusted to anyone else, the y w o ul d ’v e been long ago lost fo r eve r . Paul then quotes the scriptu r e that the r e is none who is righteous. By the works of the law no fles h will be jus t ifie d (decla r e d not guilt y , but rather ri g h t e o u s) in His sight; for th r ough the law come s the knowledg e of sin. Of course tha t seems to contradict wha t James said tha t fait h without works is dead; and tha t Abraha m was justified b y works when he offe r ed up Isaac his son o n the alta r . He also sai d that you can see that a man is justified by works an d not by faith alone. How do yo u r econcile the two? Unlike som e people , I d o n ’ t kno w everything. It is possible tha t James w r...

  G oo d mo r ning . Paul talk s about those who “ p r ea c h the l a w “, and yet b r ea k the law themselves. For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles becaus e of you. That is like Christians who p r each against doing one type of sin, and ye t privately do the sam e thing or eve n a diffe r ent sin. That is one r eason why Christians a r e called hypocrites. W e should neve r condone sin, and eve n at times speak against it; but we must r emembe r the goal is to p r each Jesus an d Him crucified. If we lead the m to Christ, then He will tak e ca r e of any sin tha t is in their lives. He then talk s abou t the fact tha t ci r cumcision by itself does not make one accep t able in G o d ’ s sight. For he is not a Jew who is on e outwa r dl y , nor is ci r cumcision that which is outwa r d in th e flesh. But h e is a Jew who is one inwa r dly; an d ci r cumcision is that which is of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the lette r . Not just going...

  G oo d mo r ning . Speaking of the righteous judgment of God: who will r ender to each person acco r ding to his deeds. T o those who by persev e rance in doing good seek for glor y and honor and immortalit y , ete r nal life. Sometime s we d o n ’ t perseve r e , an d give up. But to those who a r e selfishly ambitiou s and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, wrath an d indignation. W e get upse t becaus e Go d does not zap them right awa y . As one fellow used to say: God will get them in the en d – I ’ m not saying which end He will get the m in, but He will get them in the end. The r e will be tribulatio n an d dist r ess for every soul of ma n who does evil (Je w or G r ee k ), but glory and honor and peace to everyone who does good (Jew or G r ee k ). For the r e is no partiality with God . For all who have sinned without the la w will also perish without th e la w , an d all who have sinned under the la w will be judged by th e law...

  G oo d mo r ning . T oda y you see politicians an d others condemning certain activities; an d then late r you find out they we r e doing the same thing, and mayb e even worse. This is f r om chapter 2 of Romans: the r efo r e you have no excuse, everyone of you wh o passes judgment, for in that which you judge anothe r , you condem n yourself; for yo u who judge practice the sam e things. Oops! But d o you suppose this, when you pass judgment on those who practice such things and d o the same thing yourself, that you will escape the judgment of God? Of course we all sa y , get the m God! But: do you think lightly o f the riches of His kindness an d toleranc e and patience , not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to r epen t ance ? W e so want others to get their just dess e rts now; but when it come s to us, we want Go d to be pat i ent . If God judged us the way w e want Him to judge others, we would be toast! But becaus e of your stubbo ...

  G oo d mo r ning . S o G o d ’ s divine natu r e is clearly seen in what H e has made . Then a vers e that is so applicable today: even though they kne w God, they di d not honor Him as God or give thanks, bu t they became futile in their speculations, an d their foolish heart wa s dark e ned . P r ofessing to be wise, they became fools, and mad e their idols. The r e fo r e God gav e them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurit y , so that their bodies would be dish o no r e d among them . For they exchange d the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped an d served th e c r eatu r e rather than th e C r ea t o r , who is blessed fo r eve r . People toda y may not serve physical idols like Paul was talkin g about, but the y have othe r things that become idols in their hearts. And because they do not look to God as their sou r ce , they look other places to find meaning in their lives. They cannot believe in an all powerful, loving C r eato r , so th...

  G oo d mo r ning . Paul was talking about th e Gospel : For in it the righteousness of God is r e v eal e d f r om faith to faith, as it is written, “but the righteous man shall live by f a i t h “. People like th e gospel becaus e it gives the m their fi r e insurance; but the y d o n ’ t like th e demand that it puts on the way the y live. W e came into the kingdom of God by faith, and w e a r e to live the Christian life by faith also. This sam e vers e f r om the Old T estament is in the book of Galatians. The r e is whe r e Martin Luther r ea d the quote, and tha t b r ought about th e Reformation. The just shall live b y faith. For the wrath of God is r ev ea led f r om heaven against all ungodliness an d unrighteousness of men who supp r ess the truth in unrighteousness, becaus e that which is known about God is evid e nt within them; for God made it eviden t to them. For since the c r eation of the world His invisible attribu t es, His ete r nal p...

  G oo d mo r ning . I do not want you t o be unawa r e, b r et h r en, that often I hav e pla nn ed to com e to you (and hav e been p r ev e nted so f a r ) so that I may obtain som e fruit among yo u also, even as among the r es t of the Gentiles. It ha d been P a ul ’ s goal for a good while to get to Rome . The phrase “ r e s t of the G e n t il e s“, just like the one f r om befo r e whe n he sai d “ o b e d i e n c e of faith among all the G e n t iles“ seems to confirm that this chu r ch was mostly Gentiles. I am under obligation both to G r eeks an d to barba ri ans, both to the wise an d to the foolish. Even though this was Rome, the philosophy etc. of the G r eeks was g r eatly adm i r ed . People who we r e not sophisticated we r e a lot of times called barba ri ans. And then a vers e we should all live by: for I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvatio n to everyone who believes, to the Je w first an d also to th...

  G oo d mo r ning . W ell it only took two days to get th r ough P a ul ’ s first sentence. First, I than k my God th r ough Jesus Christ for you all ( d o n ’ t you mean y’ a ll? ), becaus e your faith is being p r oclaimed th r oughout the whole world. How would you like that to b e said abou t you - that your faith was bein g p r oclaimed th r oughout the whole world? Even when h e was abou t to zap somebod y , Paul starte d his letters saying something nice abou t the people . For God, who m I serve in m y spirit in the p r eaching of the gospel of His Son , is my witness as to how unceasingly I make mention of you , always in my prayers making r equest , if perhaps now at last by th e will of God I may succeed in co m ing to you . Other tha n perhaps family o r for r eally good friends, how man y people do we unceasingly pray about? This, and Paul had neve r met thes e people . He was praying though, that he might succeed in coming to them. W e ...

  Good morning. We continue with Paul’s introduction. He was very famous for extremely long sentences. Speaking of Jesus – who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all the Gentiles for His name’s sake, among whom you also are the called of Jesus Christ; to all who are beloved of God in Rome, called as saints: grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. That plus all we did yesterday is one sentence. Until Jesus was raised from the dead, He was just an extraordinary man with miraculous powers. There have been numerous people throughout the ages who have performed miracles such as He did; but none of them were raised permanently from the dead. All three members of the Godhead are mentioned at work in this sentence. Paul says that his designation as an apostle came stra...

  Good morning. Today we begin the book of Romans. He has not been to Rome yet. My Bible says that there is a verse near the end which talks about the collections that he was going to take to Jerusalem, which is the occasion near the end of Acts which got him into trouble. Paul basically introduces himself at the beginning and gives his qualifications for writing. He says that he was a bond servant of Christ Jesus. My Bible says that this is different from being a hired hand. He completely belonged to his owner, Jesus. Called as an apostle. There are too many people who are designated by others or even by themselves as apostles. The true ones, like Paul, are designated by God as apostles. Set apart for the gospel of God, which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy Scriptures. God did not make up everything as He went along. He had everything completely planned out and revealed it through hints to His prophets in the Old Testament. Concerning His Son who was born o...

  Good morning. The Jews replied, we have neither received letters from Judea concerning you, nor have any of the brethren come here and reported or spoken anything bad about you. That was good. They did not have any preconceived notions about him. Thank goodness they did not have cell phones back then. They could judge for themselves based on what he said. But we desire to hear from you what your views are; for concerning this sect, it is known to us that it is spoken against everywhere. They came back another day, and Paul explained to them by solemnly testifying about the kingdom of God and trying to persuade them concerning Jesus, from both the law of Moses and from the prophets, from morning until evening. Just like all the places that Paul went, some were being persuaded by the things spoken, but others would not believe. Paul finished his presentation by saying, the Holy Spirit rightly spoke through Isaiah the prophet to your fathers, saying, you will keep on hearing, but wi...

  Good morning. The father of the leading man of the island was sick. Paul prayed for him, and he was healed. After this, the rest of the people on the island brought their sick to be healed. It doesn’t say whether or not Paul shared the gospel with them; but it certainly gave him a golden opportunity to do so. At the end of three months we set sail. What is ironic is that if they had stayed for the winter where Paul told them to, they would probably have gotten to Rome at about the same time, and they would have avoided all of the stress and strain they endured on the ship. Finally Paul makes it to Rome. He was allowed to stay by himself, with a soldier who was guarding him. I guess this was kind of like house arrest. During all of this, Paul did not say, woe is me. He knew he was on a mission. He called together the leading men of the Jews. He explained to them what had happened in Jerusalem and in Caesarea. When the Romans had examined me, they were willing to release me because...

  Good morning. Therefore keep up your courage, men, for I believe God that it will turn out exactly as I have been told. But we must run aground on a certain island. Now God could’ve had them make it safely to Rome; but they may have gotten there before He wanted them to. Also there were some people on the island that needed to hear about God. After 14 days in the storm, the sailors realized they were approaching some land. Some of the sailors tried to escape in the ship’s boat; but Paul told the centurion that unless they remained in the ship, you yourselves cannot be saved. I’m not sure why that is true. They finally run aground, and the ship is being broken up by the waves. The soldiers wanted to kill the prisoners so that they could not escape; but the centurion, wanting to bring Paul safely through, kept them from their intention. One way or another all 276 persons made it to shore. The natives of the island received them with kindness and started a fire for them. As Paul was...

  Good morning. So the ship was caught in a nor’easter, and they could not make it go the way they wanted. They gave way to the wind and sailed under the shelter of a small island. My Bible shows a map of where they were. Remember they were only a short distance from the city where they wanted to go. The island was south west of where they wanted to go – because they were hit from the north east with the storm. Of course there was no way to know exactly what path they went after that because they were in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea. The map just shows a squiggly line until they get to the island where they were grounded. The storm went on for many days and the and men lost all hope of being saved. So what did Paul say – I told you so. I told you not to go. Yet now I urge you to keep up your courage, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship. For this very night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood before me, saying, do not be a...

  Good morning. When it was decided that we would sail for Italy, they proceeded to deliver Paul and some other prisoners to a centurion. Notice that “we“ returns. Luke has not been mentioned during the entire two years that Paul was at Caesarea. I guess it is safe to assume that he was in the area during this time. We will leave out the names of a bunch of places where they passed. They had sailed for a good many days and began to have trouble with the wind. This was a warning of what was about to happen. When considerable time had passed and the voyage was now dangerous, since even the fast (Day of atonement) was already over, Paul began to admonish them to not continue, because he perceived that not only would there be a loss of the cargo but also of their lives. The centurion was more persuaded by the pilot and the captain of the ship than by what was being said by Paul. They did not want to get stuck for the winter in the port where they were located. They actually were only g...

  Good morning. Paul continues his message to King Agrippa. I declared, even to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds appropriate to repentance. That’s the same thing that John the Baptist told the Pharisees when they came to be baptized. He tells how the Jews wanted to put him to death, but he obtained help from God. I state nothing but what the prophets and Moses said was going to take place; that the Christ was to suffer, and that by reason of His resurrection from the dead He would be the first to proclaim light both to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles. So Paul has given King Agrippa the gospel in a nutshell, tailoring it to both Jews and Gentiles. My Bible says that King Agrippa was allied with the Sadducees. Remember that his relative, the first King Herod, was extremely upset when the Magi said they were seeking the One born king of the Jews. While Paul was talking to King Agrippa, he was also talking to Festus, who was a Gentile. Festu...

  Good morning. Well they had a big to do: The king and a bunch of dignitaries came together to hear Paul. Festus said, I found that he had committed nothing worthy of death; and since he himself appealed to the emperor, I decided to send him. I have nothing definite about him to write to my lord. Therefore I have brought him before you so that after the investigation has taken place, I may have something to write. For it seems absurd to me in sending a prisoner, not to indicate also the charges against him. He was caught between a rock and a hard place. He knew that the Jews had no case against Paul; but he didn’t want to let him go free and get the Jews angry at him. Since Paul had resorted to an appeal to Caesar, Festus had to indicate the charge. He was afraid that Caesar would want to know why Festus was wasting his time with such a flimsy reason. Paul starts out by flattering King Agrippa. I consider myself fortunate that I’m about to make my defense before you today; es...

  Good morning. While everything was being prepared for Paul to go to Rome, King Agrippa and Bernice came to pay their respects to Festus. My Bible says that he was the last of the Herods. Festus tells them about Paul’s case. When the accusers stood up, they began bringing charges against him not of such crimes as I was expecting, they simply had some points of disagreement with him about their own religion and about a dead man, Jesus, whom Paul asserted to be alive. We need to realize that the world does not understand what we believe. They think that we are talking about something completely different. They may not think it’s the same as this, but it is very different from what we truly believe. When I asked Paul whether he was willing to go to Jerusalem and there stand trial on these matters, he appealed to be held in custody for the emperor’s decision. I ordered him to be kept in custody until I send him to Caesar. Then Agrippa said, I also would like to hear the man myself. Hi...