[Linux4christians] Tuesday - Romans 8:31-39

[dcolburn at bibleseven.com]

    Tuesday


      Romans 8:31-39



8:31 What then shall we say about these things? If God is for us, who 
can be against us?

8:32 Indeed, he who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us 
all -- how will he not also, along with him, freely give us all things?

8:33 Who will bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies.

8:34 Who is the one who will condemn? Christ is the one who died (and 
more than that, he was raised), who is at the right hand of God, and who 
also is interceding for us.

8:35 Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will trouble, or 
distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?

8:36 As it is written, "/*For your sake we encounter death all day long; 
we were considered as sheep to be slaughtered*/."

8:37 No, in all these things we have complete victory through him who 
loved us!

8:38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor 
heavenly rulers, nor things that are present, nor things to come, nor 
powers, 8:39 nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in creation will 
be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.



      Prayer


Lord, You are the cause and the power that makes the gift of salvation 
possible, and once we belong to You we are yours forever. May I not be 
confused by the many extra-Biblical doctrines and rather cling to Your Word.



      Summary & Commentary


Paul reviewed God's requirements for salvation and His power for 
righteous living:


* Jesus, the Son of God, would be the first among many brothers and sisters

* God predestined believers to be conformed to the image of Jesus 
[righteousness]

* God, Who created time, knows the end from the beginning, knows who 
will be in His eternal family [Note: This is not intended to say that 
God caused what He knows, that would violate His declaration of a free 
will choice for Jesus. Knowing something does not make one the cause of 
it any more than God is the cause of sin because He knows - apart from 
the constraints of linear time - that sin will occur. Good scholarship 
requires that one be consistent in the application of principals in 
Bible study.]


* Those who love God are called to His family and His ministry according 
to His purpose

* God's standard for salvation is unchanged, those who meet it are 
predestined to be saved

* God justifies the saved, through Christ, to protect them from the judgment

* God glorifies the saved upon admission to Heaven

* Nothing in the spiritual or physical world can separate us from the 
love of Christ Jesus


[Note: Paul's purpose here is not to teach fatalism, that God 
predetermined who would be saved and not and then just timed their 
salvation with no regard for His commitment to free will, evidenced in 
the Garden, and repeated elsewhere. This is, instead, Paul reminding us 
that God's standards are high and His commitment to people of faith 
consistent. The One true God is never arbitrary or inconsistent.]


      Interaction


        Consider

Once we, through volitional acceptance of the gift of Christ -- and our 
submission to His Lordship that comes with it -- belong to Him, there is 
no power on earth or in heaven that can separate us from Him.


        Discuss

The terms "elect" and "predestined" have been the source of great 
confusion and conflict but can you see where the Lord God says that the 
"elect" are those who accept the gift and are then transformed from the 
"non-elect" and once they are among the "elect" they are "predestined to 
be conformed to the image of Jesus [righteousness] through the 
indwelling work of the Holy Spirit?


        Reflect

The victory of the believer is not over earthly enemies, it is not over 
worldly imperfections (e.g. disease, loss, troubles), but it is over 
death-itself. The focal purpose of salvation is on eternity and not our 
temporary existence here on earth.


        Share

When have you contemplated the change in you from before your 
intentional surrender to Jesus and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit?



      Faith in Action


        Prayer:

Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you someone who is confused about 
"elect" and "predestined".


        Action:

Today I will pray for the one to whom the Holy Spirit has directed me. I 
will respectfully offer to study these verses in Romans, and others in 
the B7-series, which clarify the matter of "elect", "predestination", 
and "free will" in a Biblically-consistent manner.


        Be Specific ______________________________________________________



    Wednesday's text will be:


      Romans 9



-- 

Draw nearer to the Lord and He will bless you,
Have an http://Ultrafidian.com Day!
David M. Colburn, DMin. MaCo
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Savannah-Statesboro needs a Bible College/Seminary!
Personal Site: http://bibleseven.com
Bible Resources: http://bible.org
Teacher's Verse: John 7:16
I don't google I SEARCH! Yippy.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://www.thelinuxlink.net/pipermail/linux4christians/attachments/20111121/18c9b3bb/attachment.html>