2024-05-26-Romans10v18-12v6

In this episode of Dwell on Truth, the host gives an overview of the book of Romans. He explains that Romans 1-8 focused on the theological and practical implications of the gospel, while Romans 9-11 discussed its application to Israel. The upcoming chapters (12-16) will focus on Christian living. The host then discusses the importance of faith coming from hearing the word of Christ. He emphasizes that simply hearing the word is not enough; one must also have faith in order for it to be beneficial. He encourages listeners to seek God's help in understanding the Bible and to approach it with an open heart. The host also mentions the rejection of the gospel by many Israelites, despite it being available to them. He concludes by highlighting the significance of the word of Christ and the importance of understanding its message. Good morning. You're listening to Dwell on Truth. I'm your host, Brenton Powers. Let's continue teaching verse by verse. So my heart today, as we're entering into the third major section of this book, is just to give you an overview. Because Romans chapter 12 begins a new section of the book. Romans 1 through 8 was the theological and practical implications of the gospel for salvation for those who believe. Romans 9 through 11 was how it applies to Israel and God's relationship with them. Chapters 12 through 16 returns to the theme of Christians and how we're to apply the gospel. And it's focusing on Christian living. You'll hear as I just begin reading in Romans chapter 10. So let's read to the end of the chapter, starting in verse 17. So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. But I ask, have they not heard? Indeed, they have. For their voice has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. But, I ask, did Israel not understand? First Moses says, I will make you jealous of those who are not a nation. With a foolish nation, I will make you angry. Then Isaiah is so bold as to say, I have been found by those who did not seek me. I have shown myself to those who did not ask for me. But of Israel, he says, all day long, I have held out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people. That's Romans chapter 10, verse 18 through 21. Which describes the rejection of the gospel on behalf of the people of Israel. So in these few verses, we see the fulfillment of God's word. We've already established that a minority of Israelites has received the gospel and believed in Jesus as their Messiah. But sadly, even though the gospel has reached the ears of many Israelites, not many Israelites have believed. Even though at first it seems like Israel should believe, because faith comes by hearing, and hearing the word of Christ, does this verse teach that if someone hears the word of Christ, they will automatically believe? No, obviously that can't be true. Jesus spent his life in Israel during his teaching and preaching. They heard the words of Christ. But notice what it says in Romans 10, 17. So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. We need to properly understand this verse. And so in spite of God revealing his word to them through Jesus Christ himself in the flesh, in spite of them hearing, in spite of them understanding his words and his claims, they did not mix the hearing of the word of God with faith in the word of God. The word did not profit them because it was not mixed with faith. It did not combine faith along with hearing the word of God. You see, God doesn't want you to hear with your ears only, but also with your heart, and understand with your mind. God wants you to see things through the eyes of faith, and hear through the ears of faith, that you may be understanding and perceiving. That's how faith comes, from first hearing. And how does hearing come? Well, hearing comes through the word of Christ. There were some deaf people that Jesus healed. Our very ability to hear comes from Christ. So in order to believe, we need him to give us ears to hear. You see, the majority of people in Latvia today have Bibles in their homes. Do you have a Bible? Or maybe you know someone in your family that does. There are more Bibles in Latvia than there are people in Latvia. The problem in Latvia is not that there aren't enough Bibles. The problem is that people aren't reading the Bibles that they have. They're sitting on the shelf, collecting dust. Perhaps they're put away in a box somewhere, or they've been thrown away. Sometimes people feel like the Bible is a book of luck, and if you have it, then that's enough. And they say, yep, I have one. But it's not enough just to have the written word, because the Bible is the word of God, and you should know what God wants to say to you. God speaks through his written word, the Bible. We need him to illuminate it to our hearts, that we may see what is written there, what it means. You may have a light bulb or a candle that illuminates the words on the page, but unless you have the fire of the Holy Spirit, the enlightening revelation of God, it will just seem like words on a page. It will not make sense to you. Perhaps that's your story. You've tried reading the Bible, but you just don't understand it. Perhaps it's confusing to you. It's so foreign to everything that you've been taught, everything you believe, everything that you think Christianity teaches. It just doesn't seem to fit. It doesn't make sense to you, because it's not presenting a cultural Christianity. It's not presenting a politically correct gospel. It's presenting the truth about Jesus Christ. And often people read it without asking God to help them to understand it. Some people read it in order to argue with it, to try and find contradictions and to find things that don't meet up to their own standards. And if that's the way you read it, well, you're going to find things that you're going to sit in judgment upon. But if you're judging the Word of God, then you can't be keeping the Word of God. You need to submit yourself to the Word of God rather than trying to get God's Word to submit to you. Maybe you're reading it backwards, not realizing that God is on the throne and He's the author of the book. And if you want to truly understand what He says in it, you need to ask Him to help you to understand it. Because, you see, the Bible is a book. It's a book of books. It's a collection of 66 different books, 39 in the Old Testament and 27 in the New Testament. But it's more than just a book penned by human authors. God used perhaps 40 authors, maybe more. We don't know who a few of the books were written by. But they are the words of God to men who were moved by God to write exactly what was written. To start out with, that's what the Word of God says about itself. So we need the Word of God because all scripture is inspired and useful for teaching. You know, there is a story in the book of Acts, in chapter 8, where Philip the evangelist was led into the desert, and he sees a chariot and a guy reading some scriptures. And he runs up and he hears him reading from Isaiah. And he asks the man, Do you understand what you are reading? And the man said, How can I, unless someone explains it to me? So sometimes, if you're asking God, Lord, help me to understand what this means, sometimes He may send someone to run alongside you and say, Hey, can I explain that to you? And perhaps you tune into this radio station right after asking, How can I understand the Bible here? Maybe you're an English-only speaker living in Latvia. Maybe you're on the internet, listening. Somehow you got this link. Maybe someone sent you this MP3. And it could be an answer to your prayer. Lord, if you're there, help me to understand what this book says and what it really means. I want to believe in you, but help my unbelief. Sometimes God helps you by sending someone to explain it to you. And that person may be filled with the Holy Spirit and given the gift of teaching so that it just turns a lightbulb on for you. And you say, Aha! That's what it says. That's what it means. I didn't realize that. It says what it means, and it means what it says. But until that lightbulb turns on, you don't believe it. Even so, there are people who read the Bible and are praying, God, help me to understand what is written here. But they're not really open. They're really, in their hearts, they're contrary to God. They're resisting Him. They're resisting the Holy Spirit. They're resisting the Holy Spirit. They're resisting the Holy Spirit. They're resisting the Holy Spirit. They're resisting the Holy Spirit. They're resisting the Holy Spirit. They're resisting the Holy Spirit. They're resisting the Holy Spirit. They're resisting the Holy Spirit. They're resisting the Holy Spirit. They're resisting the Holy Spirit. They're resisting the Holy Spirit. They're resisting the Holy Spirit. They're resisting the Holy Spirit. The word of Christ is powerful. Don't get me wrong, because He is the word of life, and He spoke purely from God. But here, this phrase, the word of Christ, could be translated, the word about Christ, or the message about the Messiah. So if you hear the message about the Messiah, and you have ears to hear what the Spirit is saying, that's where hearing comes from. You can really hear the truth when the Holy Spirit opens your ears to it. You say, Lord, here are my ears. I want to hear from you. Would you speak to me? Then I believe that He will speak to you. Because the following verse says, Have they not heard? Indeed they have. Indeed they have. For their voice has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. And then the next question in verse 19 is, But did they understand? Maybe they heard, but maybe they just didn't understand the gospel, and that's why they rejected it. Well, first of all, he makes the point that God predicted that He would make Israel jealous by the Gentiles. That with the Gentiles, He would make the Israelites angry. So you usually don't get angry unless you understand what's happening. Unless you understand that you're not being put first. That's what upsets people many times, when they don't get what they want. Now Israel, even though they proclaimed that they believed in one God, when the one God came to earth, Jesus Christ being God in flesh, they rejected Him. And then Paul quotes Isaiah when Isaiah spoke boldly about God revealing Himself to the Gentiles. Paul is being bold here himself. I have shown myself to those who did not ask for me. God said that He would reveal Himself to those who were not even seeking Him. As we saw in the last chapter, even though they were seeking righteousness, they weren't seeking a righteousness based on faith. That's why they stumbled. Because they stumbled over Jesus. They weren't seeking Him. They were seeking something else. They got their eyes off of Jesus and so they tripped over Jesus. Rather than building their lives and their righteousness on Him, they stumbled. As the last verse in Romans 10 says, But of Israel He says, All day long I have held out my hands to a disobedient and contrary people. Paul is speaking specifically of the Israelites who rejected the gospel. You could say this also about Gentiles who have rejected the gospel. I believe that God is still holding out His hands, inviting us to come to Him, reaching out to us, but we push Him away. We could say no. That's the word disobedient, when we say no to God when He tells us to do one thing. We do the opposite. And contrary, He says. Contrary meaning against. You say this way, then I'll go that way. God is saying come, and people say no. God is saying believe, and people say no. I doubt it. You know, disobedience, the Bible says, is as the sin of witchcraft. It's rebellion against God. That's what sin is. Disobedience. Not obeying God's word, God's will, and God's law. But still, God stretches out His hand towards us. That's amazing that He would do that, because He's a just God, and He could just send us away if He wanted to. That would be just for Him to write us off, to shoo us away with His hand. But instead, He reaches out. He says, I have held out my hands to disobedient people. The offer of mercy stands. God still holds out His hands and says, come, all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Come, sinners. Ask for mercy, and I'll give it to you. All who are thirsty, come. I will give you living water. Jesus is still saying that. Do you have ears to hear? Do you understand the heart of love that's behind that call? And not only is He holding out His hands to such an unworthy people, He does it all day long, it says. And He speaks this of Israel. Of Israel, I have held out my hands all day long. Even though there are disobedient and contrary people, He still continues to hold out His hands. And to the Lord, a day is a thousand years. And a thousand years to us is like a day to God. God has no limitations of time. You see, He's eternal. But He sees that we are temporary. Our lives are fleeting, like a vapor. You go out early in the morning and you breathe out and you see a cloud of vapor for a second, and then it disappears. That's what your life is like. That's what my life is like. God has all the time in eternity, but we don't. We need to make a decision. He's calling. Am I going to respond and turn to Him? Or am I going to respond by turning away from Him? That Him who has an ear hear what the Spirit says to the churches. I am Brenton Powers. You're listening to Verse by Verse. Continuing our Verse by Verse study through this great letter that the Apostle Paul wrote by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. This great systematic book of theology. But it's more than just theological. It's practical because it's about the gospel and how the gospel is the power of God for salvation for everyone who believes. So it will change your life. If you get the theology, then it will result in practicality. God used this book to set me free from a lot of legalism where I was trying to do things to get God's favor and blessings. But this book teaches us that we're saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone. That God is just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. So where does that leave those who do not have faith? And in chapter 11 of Romans, Paul discusses what about those in Israel who do not have faith? What about the Jews? Does God still have a plan for them? So I'm going to read in chapter 11 starting in verse 1. And we'll just go verse by verse. So let's read. Romans chapter 11, verse 1 and following. Say then, has God cast away his people? Certainly not. For I also am an Israelite of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God has not cast away his people whom he foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah? How he pleads with God against Israel, saying, Lord, they have killed your prophets and have torn down your altars, and I alone am left. And they seek my life. But what does the divine response say to him? I have reserved for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal. In other words, verse 1 through 4 says that there are more Israelites, more faithful. The faithful remnant is bigger than it might appear. And today, there are more Jews for Jesus than you might know. They may go by different terms. Messianic Christians. They may be called Jews for Jesus. They may be called fulfilled Jews who believe that the Scriptures were fulfilled in Jesus. They may call themselves believers in Yeshua HaMashiach, which means Jesus is the Messiah. So that's point number one, that there may be more faithful Jews than meets the eye. There may be more Christians who are also Jews than you may read in some statistics. Elijah the prophet was wrong. He thought he was the only one. But there were seven thousand in his time. And these verses also said that God has not cast away his people. He has chosen Israel, and he hasn't cast them away as if he has no future planned for them. So let's go on. So that means that the church does not replace Israel. You can't take all the promises from the Old Testament that God made to Israel and apply them to the church. Yes, there are spiritual blessings that apply to us as believers, as children of Abraham by faith. But there are other promises that God gave to the people of Israel concerning land, concerning sacrifices and the customs and cultures and civil laws that may have a spiritual foreshadowing of Jesus, but there still may be some future plan for his people, Israel. They are still his people, his chosen people. But in the present time, he's working through mostly Gentiles, but the church is made up of both Jew and Gentile. You know, I have some Jewish friends who are Christians, and they have an open heart to the Lord. They're faithful, but we know there are many who are not faithful right now. So what about them? Romans 11.5 goes on to say, Even so, then, at this present time, there is a remnant according to the election of grace. That word remnant is important. We've talked about it before, because in Romans chapter 9, it talks about the remnant. But notice, this is a faithful remnant at the present time, not even talking about the future in this verse. It's talking about right now. There's a faithful remnant. Who are they? They're those who are elected according to grace. You know, God doesn't choose people based on their works. He chooses based on their grace. And He chooses to give people grace who believe. Rather than based on your works, God blesses you based on faith. And there are Jewish Christians today that are chosen by God's grace. Verse 6. And if by grace, then it is no longer of works. Otherwise, grace is no longer grace. But if it is of works, it is no longer grace. Otherwise, work is no longer work. So this verse tells us we need to get our definitions right. Grace means given as a gift that we didn't earn. Work means we're working for something. We're trying to earn it. So it cannot be both by grace and by works. God's choosing of us. God's blessing of us. God's saving of certain people. It's by His own choice, based on His grace, not based on works. So if you're trying to work for your salvation, you're trying to earn eternal life, trying to do things so that God would bless you and give you favor, then you're not basing your relationship with Him on grace. You're basing your relationship on works. And that will not stand. The only way to have a solid and assured relationship with God is based on grace. In English, you could break down the word grace into the five letters that you spell it with. G-R-A-C-E. G. God's. Riches. At Christ's. Expense. See, God wants to give you His riches, His spiritual blessings in the heavenly places. But they didn't come at your expense. They came at Christ's expense. Jesus Christ earned these blessings. He lived the perfect life. But then He died on the cross, paying the highest expense in order to redeem us from our sins and to give us His blessings. So they're at Christ's expense. A simpler definition of grace is God's unmerited favor. The fact that God likes you is not based on what you do. It's not earned or merited by you. God just chooses to give you His favor. In spite of what you've done, based on His grace, He favors you. So, coming back to the topic of Israel's rejection of God, it's not that God chose Israel because of their works. He told them that in the beginning. Don't think I chose you because you're greater than other people. He said, I chose you because I chose you. It's not based on you. It's based on God's choice. Verse 7 of Romans chapter 11 goes on to say, What then? Israel has not obtained what it seeks, but the elect have obtained it, and the rest were blinded. So, there are those in Israel who are trying to work for their salvation. They're seeking eternal life by devotion to the Word and discipline in their lives. But they haven't obtained that eternal life that it's seeking for. Israel as a whole, in general, has not attained to the righteousness that others have attained to. And how have the others obtained to it? By faith. It says right here, the elect have obtained it. God has chosen believers to obtain His righteousness. He gives it to them. And what about the rest of the Israelites who don't believe? It says the rest were blinded. They're blinded. That's the problem. They can't see that that's the way God wants to give them righteousness. They can't see who Jesus Christ really is. They can't see the difference between works and grace. Romans 11.8 Just as it is written, God has given them a spirit of stupor, eyes that they should not see, ears that they should not hear, to this very day. So, this is interesting. God has given them this blindness. You know, Israel is unique as far as being the only people in the world that have a spiritual blindness that God has placed upon them. In other passages, like in Corinthians, Paul says about non-believing Gentiles that the God of this age has blinded them that they should not believe the gospel. That's speaking of Satan who is worshipped by Gentiles, maybe not directly by name, but Satan is in control of them. And they worship Satan indirectly by obeying him. When he tempts them, they just follow. And then, Romans 11.9 And David says, Let their table become a snare and a trap, a stumbling block, and a recompense to them, and a recompense to them. Let their eyes be darkened so that they do not see and bow down their back always. So, Paul here is quoting from the Old Testament and that supports the fact that there are many in Israel throughout their history, Old Testament times, in the times of the New Testament when Jesus and the apostles were alive on the earth, and even today. There is still a spiritual blindness on the part of many Israelites. It's like you talk to them and things that seem obvious to you are not obvious to them. And it's not that they're not smart. They're very smart. They're very shrewd and wise. But they just can't see it. You know, I talked to one Jewish lady and I asked her, What do you think about Jesus? And she said, Eh, eh. She just shrugged her shoulders. She said she didn't know. And she didn't get excited about him. But he's the one that can give us eternal life. He's the way, the truth and the life. No one can come to the Father but through him. And yet she's like, Eh, I don't see it. Because she's blind. As the scripture says, their eyes are blind. That's why they don't see. And that's why they turn their backs. Because they don't see the glory of God in the face of Jesus. So that's Romans 10. Sorry. So that's Romans 11, verse 1 through 10. The next section in Romans 11, from verse 11 until the end, declares that Israel's rejection is not final. What about God's future plan for Israel? In the present time, it's a very sad situation. Many Israelites are blind and don't believe in Jesus, as they should. But it's not going to last forever. There's going to come a time when the blinders will be removed and the doubts will be removed. And they will look on him whom they pierced and they will weep and they will rejoice to be restored. There's a future plan for Israel. God is not done with them. And there are still Israelites getting saved today. Many Jews' eyes are opening today to the fact that Jesus is the only one that could be their Messiah. And they're getting saved. And yet God has an even greater plan for them in the future, for all Israel to be saved. Because he does not delight in the death of the wicked. But he would choose that they would repent, turn and live. And Jesus said, if you don't repent, you will perish. So we're looking forward to seeing a repentance, a national repentance in Israel, as God unfolds his future plan for them. And let me end today's broadcast with the last verses in this chapter, Romans 11, verse 32 through 36. How unsearchable are his judgments and his ways past finding out. Amen. You're listening to Dwell on Truth. I'm your host, Brenton Powers. And we hope that you're blessed as you continue to study, through God's Word, book by book, chapter by chapter, and verse by verse. I'm Brenton Powers. So if you'll open your Bible with me, I'll begin reading, starting in Romans 11, 11. So I ask, did they stumble in order that they might fall? By no means. Rather, through their trespass, salvation has come to the Gentiles, so as to make Israel jealous. Verse 12. Now if their trespass means riches for the world, and if their failure means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full inclusion mean? Verse 13. Now I am speaking to you, Gentiles, inasmuch then as I am an apostle to the Gentiles. I magnify my ministry in order somehow to make my fellow Jews jealous, and thus save some of them. For if their rejection means the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance mean but life from the dead? Verse 16. If the dough offered as firstfruits is holy, so is the whole lump. And if the root is holy, so are the branches. Verse 17. But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, although a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among the others, and now share the nourishing root of the olive tree, do not be arrogant toward the branches. If you are, remember it is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you. Then you will say, Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in. Verse 20. That is true, they were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand through faith. So do not become proud, but fear. Verse 21. For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will He spare you. Verse 22. Note then the kindness and severity of God. Severity toward those who have fallen, but God's kindness to you, provided you continue in His kindness. Otherwise, you too will be cut off. Verse 23. And even they, if they do not continue in their unbelief, will be grafted in. For God has the power to graft them in again. Verse 24. For if you are cut from what is by nature a wild olive tree, and grafted, contrary to nature, into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, the natural branches, be grafted back into their own olive tree? Verse 25. Lest you be wise in your own sight, I want you to understand this mystery, brothers, a partial hardening has come upon Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. Verse 26. And in this way all Israel will be saved. As it is written, the Deliverer will come from Zion. He will banish ungodliness from Jacob. Verse 27. And this will be my covenant with them when I take away their sins. Verse 28. As regards the gospel, they are enemies of God for your sake. But as regards election, they are beloved for the sake of their forefathers. Verse 29. For the gifts and calling of God are irrevocable. Verse 30. For just as you were at one time disobedient to God, but now have received mercy because of their disobedience, Verse 31, so they too have now been disobedient in order that by the mercy shown to you they may also now receive mercy. Verse 32. For God has consigned all to disobedience that he may have mercy on all. Verse 33. Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord and who has been his counselor? Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid? For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever. Amen. That's Romans 11, verse 11 through 36. Verse 11 through 25 is about the Gentiles being grafted in. And verse 25 till the end is about the mystery of Israel's salvation in the future. You know, it's amazing and it's a mystery to us how God can use Israel's rejection in order to save the world and how he can use saving the world to save Israel again. You see, God's heart is to show mercy to all. But sometimes you have to hit rock bottom before you look up and cry out for mercy. Sometimes you have to realize that you have nothing good in and of yourself to deserve his blessing before you ask for his blessing based on his mercy. Think about David, for example. King David committed a sin with Bathsheba by committing adultery with her and having her husband killed. And for a year about, and for about a year, he was under the conviction of the Holy Spirit, feeling guilty but not in repentance. And when he finally was confronted by the prophet Nathan, he confessed what he had done. And he wrote one of the greatest prayers of repentance, a great example of a sinner's prayer who's coming back to God. And he said in Psalm 51 that God's hand was heavy upon him and his energy was sapped. And he approached God on the basis of his mercy, not on the basis of his uprightness or his integrity or his good works. When he was truly a broken man and he realized how desperately lost he would be without God's mercy, he pleaded for mercy. He cast himself upon the mercy of the Lord, asking for forgiveness and compassion and mercy instead of receiving the justice that he deserves. Of course, God is a just judge and he still had to punish the sin. But in David's case, he received forgiveness as a gift. We saw that earlier in Romans chapter 4 where Paul cited David as an example of someone who received justification by faith. When he said, Blessed is the man whose sins are forgiven, whose lawless deeds are not counted against him. And that's what Israel needs to discover once again or that they will one day discover at some point in the future. That God's way of showing them mercy in the future is to show the Gentiles mercy today. We're living in the day of grace where God is showing grace toward any nation who comes to him. They don't have to keep all of his laws to have a relationship with him because it's based on grace. And so, we Gentiles, us non-Jews, we get to enjoy God. And this is the way that God is stirring up that desire in the Israelites to come back to God on the basis of his mercy by seeing what we are enjoying in Christ. When we talk about the love of God, oh, how wonderful it is that God so loved me that he gave his only son so that I would not perish. I just boast in the Lord. And through that boasting, through that rejoicing in Jesus, I hope that they are stirred up to jealousy, that they would want to have that relationship. Hey, this is their God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. They should be the ones rejoicing in him. You see, because God has elected them. But for the present time, they have stumbled, but they haven't completely fallen. That's Paul's point. It's that they're like that olive branch that was severed from the tree. There was a problem between God and Israel, and there was a separation that took place. And you can read about it in the Old Testament and the New Testament. And God's way of restoring them to right relationship with him is a plan that's been unfolding for thousands of years. One day, Paul says, all Israel will be saved. There will be a day when all Israel will turn back to God, and they will do so through Jesus Christ. They will see him whom they pierced, and they will weep in repentance, and yet also with joy. Because as they repent and plead for God's mercy, then he will give it to them through Jesus Christ. He can even use our disobedience to bring us to him. It's amazing how God made it so that all of us would have to cling to his mercy in order to have a relationship with him. Since Adam and Eve sinned, we've all been born with a sinful nature. And as it says here, God has bound all men under disobedience. Once you start sinning, then you're in that category. There's no way out of that category of being a disobedient child of wrath, as it says in Ephesians chapter 2, except through regeneration. Because we are dead in our sins, and it's God who can make us alive, and has made me alive. And I want him to make you alive. Don't you want to receive his life from the dead? Don't you want to receive mercy in spite of your disobedience? But some foolish people say, No, I just want what I deserve. Whatever I deserve, God will give it to me. And that's foolish for one of two reasons. Either you think you're better than you are, and you think you deserve heaven and all of God's blessings, as you are, which is false, because you're not good. Or the other reason why it's foolish is if you know you're not good enough, and you deserve God's wrath, and you just settle for that. Yeah, that's all I want, God's wrath. No. Nobody wants to fall under God's wrath. Nobody wants to experience the terror and the severity of the Lord. As you read Revelation, when he's going to pour out his wrath, people will go into the caves and the mountainsides and cry out for the mountain to fall on them, because the day of his wrath has come. They will seek death to escape his wrath, but they will not escape his wrath. And in the end, his wrath is upon those who do not receive his mercy before they die, and after they die, they will be under his wrath still. There is no escaping then. The only escape is if, in this lifetime, you receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior, that he is the Messiah who came to take the wrath of God for us. As it says in Isaiah chapter 53, he was wounded for our trespasses, and he was bruised for our iniquities. By his stripes we are healed. It's through Jesus Christ's suffering that we are spared from the wrath of God, because Jesus took the wrath of God for us. Remember in the garden he cried out, If there's any other way, let this cup pass from me. And the cup he was referring to was the cup of God's wrath that he would have to drink in full strength. As the prophets predicted, he will pour out his wrath. And since there is no other way, Jesus went ahead and took that cup of wrath when he was on the cross. And that's why he cried out, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? It's because the Father, at that moment, had to turn away from his Son, because his Son became a substitute for us. He who knew no sin became sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in him. That's what the Bible says. And so it's through God's mercy, extended through Jesus Christ, that he inspires others to believe in the future. God wants to use us Christians to stir up the Jews to jealousy, so that they would want what we have. He shows them through our relationship with him. So don't be ashamed to testify to the Jews about your relationship with God through Jesus Christ. Don't be ashamed to share how much you love him and how much he has loved you, even though you're not worthy of his love. The Bible says, Let him who boasts, boast in this, that he understands and knows the Lord. Jesus said, This is eternal life, that you may know the only true God, and Jesus Christ, who he has sent. That's what Israel needs, is to know God. And so let's make him known. That's my mission, that I may make him known to others. And by doing that, God is going to be glorified. You see, the more you know God, the more you see how glorious he already is. And he opens your eyes to his great glorious light. How pure, how good, how beautiful, how true and faithful he is. And as a result of knowing him, we get to see him face to face in the future. And that's our great hope, isn't it? We look forward to seeing Jesus. He takes us up to heaven in his full glory. We'll see him, and we'll be changed to be like him. We'll worship God day and night because he's so worthy to be praised. It won't be boring. It'll be exciting when we see what truly God looks like and how holy, holy, holy he is. And so it's this joy, this love and excitement, it's this relationship with God that we need to have in order to win others to a relationship with God. Let's continue teaching verse by verse. We're in Romans chapter 12, beginning in verse 1. So my heart today, as we're entering into the third major section of this book, is just to give you an overview. Because Romans chapter 12 begins a new section of the book. Romans 1 through 8 was the theological and practical implications of the gospel for salvation for those who believe. Romans 9 through 11 was how it applies to Israel and God's relationship with them. Chapters 12 through 16 returns to the theme of Christians and how we're to apply the gospel. And it's focusing on Christian living. You'll hear as I just begin reading in Romans chapter 12, starting at verse 1. And let's see how far we can get, shall we? Verse 1. I appeal to you, therefore, brothers, by the mercy of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. Verse 1 through 2 is about being changed by the mercies of God. And you may have noticed in the beginning, he said, I appeal to you, therefore, brothers, by the mercy of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God. So, he appeals back to the mercy of God. Based on God showing us mercy, as he described in Romans chapter 1 through 11, God has shown us mercy through Jesus Christ because we've believed that he lived the perfect life, he died on the cross for our sins, taking the punishment we deserve, so that God can see us as having already been punished through him. And he can now show us mercy. He is both just and merciful to us through the cross. And so, based on God's mercies, what are we to do then, as brothers and sisters in Christ? He says, present your bodies a living sacrifice. That means offer to God your life. Jesus Christ was the final sacrifice for sins. Now, since Jesus gave his life and died for us, how much more ought we to live for him? So we offer our lives and our bodies to him, not just our spirits and our minds, but our bodies. Lord, how would you like to use my hands and my feet, my eyes and ears and mouth, my arms and legs? Well, according to the gospel, God can use our bodies, and he can see us as a holy and acceptable sacrifice. This is our spiritual worship. You see, our bodies and our spirits are not to be separated when we consider serving the Lord. It's not like I can serve God with my spirit and not with my body. No, we offer God spiritual worship by offering him our bodies to do what we should do with them and not offering our bodies to sin. We read about that in Romans 6. So we offer our bodies instead to God. That makes sense, right? And so if we're going to do that, then we're going to be changed, not to be like the world, but to be more like Jesus Christ. Amen? So he says in Romans 12 too, Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that through testing you may discern what is the will of God. Now, many people are asking, What is the will of God for my life? How can I know what God wants for me? Well, here it says, First of all, offer your body as a living sacrifice to God. Secondly, don't be conformed to the world. Third, be transformed by the renewal of your mind. That's how you can find out the will of God for you. If you're already committed to him, if you've already decided, I'm not going to be like the world. I want to be changed. It starts in your mind. How? It says that by testing you may discern what is the will of God. Test and discern. The Bible doesn't tell us to test God. It says, You shall not tempt the Lord. But how do we test whether something is of God or not? Paul said, Test all things and hold fast to that which is good. Well, we need a standard to test it by. And what is that standard? God's Word. If something is revealed in the Bible as God's will, then that is the will of God for your life. If something is revealed in the Bible as not God's will, for example, this is the will of God, that you should avoid sexual immorality. Well, that's what the Bible says is the will of God. That's how you'll prove what it is by applying that test. What does the Bible say? But what about cases where the Bible doesn't have an answer one way or another? For example, Who should I marry? What kind of job should I get? Where should I live? Should I tie my right shoe or my left shoe first? What should I have for breakfast? Those are questions that God doesn't answer in the Bible. But there are principles in the Bible to help you to make the right decision. So test. Search the Scriptures to see what's so. And start seeing the world through that lens. Well, what does the Bible say about this situation? What kind of person I should marry? Well, I shouldn't be unequally yoked. I should marry a believer that's following after Jesus like me. Because can two walk together unless they are agreed? I just quoted a few different Scriptures without the reference just because I have them in my heart. You know, I went to Bible college because I wanted to get into the Word and to let the Word get into me. And so let the Scriptures transform your minds. Begin to see the world in a different way. And then God will reveal His will to you. It won't be a big mystery. Yes, you'll need to also pray. You may spend months seeking the Lord about whether to marry this person or whether to move to this city or even country. Whether to be a missionary to foreign lands or to stay at home and serve God in the church that you grew up in. I can't answer all those questions for you. But God can. So let your mind let your mind be renewed by studying the Word of God, praying, staying in fellowship with godly believers who also may give you ideas and counsel and take that back to the Lord and say, Lord, which of these ideas is from you? If any of them. As Paul says, Romans 12 verse 2, to discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. God's will is perfect. It doesn't conflict with itself. It may conflict with what your flesh desires. But if you've already offered your body to God as a living sacrifice, it's good. And He will work all things out for good for those who love Him. Now in Romans chapter 12 verse 3 through 8, there's some discussion about using the spiritual gifts. And here we have an actual list in Scripture of some of the spiritual gifts. Spiritual gifts are supernatural abilities that the Holy Spirit gives to believers when He fills them or baptizes them. Baptism in the Holy Spirit is different than the baptism in water. And I don't have time on this radio show to get into what the baptism of the Holy Spirit is. But we can look at some of these spiritual gifts as we go through Romans chapter 12. Just some general rules for humility before He lists the gifts. I think that's important because some people think that because they have a spiritual gift, they really are more important than others. No. We need to have a humble view of ourselves. He says in verse 3, For by the grace given to me I say to every one among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment. Now let me pause there. I don't know about you, but when I went through school, and even as we listen to movies and music and commercials and the media today, we hear that we should have a high self-esteem. We should value ourselves and put ourselves first. But I think that's a big problem in today's society. The Bible says don't think too highly of yourself. Not to have a higher self-esteem than you should. There's a proper self-esteem. Also, it's not saying to have a lower esteem of yourself than you should. There's a proper way to think about yourself, and that is through the grace of God. Don't think that you're higher than other people. At the foot of the cross, we are all equal before God. Apart from Jesus, we have no good thing. So start with that. Anything good we have is a gift from God. And it says even our faith is a gift from God. Look, it says each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. Do you know where faith comes from? God has assigned it. God has granted to you not only to believe in His name, but also to suffer for His name. And with the measure of faith that we've received, we're to apply it to our lives. Not to just believe in our minds. How do you know if you believe? By what you do. Verse 4. For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function. Pause there. He's making a comparison between the body of Christ, that is the church, and a human body. There's many different parts, aren't there? There's the head. There's the legs. There's the arms, generally. There's fingers and toenails and ears and eyes. And they all have different functions, different uses, different purposes. They do different things. But they all help the body. Verse 5. So we, though many, are one body in Christ and individually members of one another. Verse 6. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us. Let me pause there. Even though we all belong to the body of Christ as Christians, we're not to be called so-called. We're not so-called cookie-cutter Christians, where we have to be the exact same shape, size, use the same tone of voice, have the same, you know, style of clothing and of worship and teaching. There's great variety within the one body. It's amazing. Why should we be surprised by that? God made the heavens and the earth and look how diverse life is. So the body of Christ is allowed to have members that differ from one another. You're still members of one another. Unity is not uniformity. We don't need to conform to one another. We need to complement one another. That means fit with each other, though we're different. One person may be weak, another strong. One person emphasizes evangelism, another emphasizes discipleship and another emphasizes worship or children's ministry or jail ministry. That's okay. I don't have to convince everybody to be like me. And that's a huge weight off my shoulders. But what Paul says next is that whatever gift we have, we should use it. He says, having gifts that differ, let us use them. So we should see a variety of gifts being used in the body of Christ. Well, what kind of gifts is he talking about? He lists a few. If prophecy. What is prophecy? It's the ability to speak God's word for a specific situation. Now in the Bible, there's prophecies that are predictive and foretelling of future events. And how did we know they were of God? Well, they came to pass. If they're regarding Jesus' first coming, they came to pass. There are still prophecies yet to be fulfilled about His second coming. But there's another kind of prophecy in Scripture that we see used in the church, in the book of Acts. And that's not foretelling so much as it is foretelling the word of God, telling it forward to someone who needs to hear it. And it may involve opening a scripture and reading it to them and saying, I think the Lord wants to remind you of this. And then just reading it. Oftentimes, a pastor is teaching through the Bible and he may not even realize it, but the words are hitting someone's heart powerfully. Or it may be a predictive prophecy. You know, God is not done speaking predictive prophecies. He gave instructions to the church in Corinth how to use prophecy and how edifying it is for the church. And we didn't need to write down every single prophecy that was spoken in that church for it to be legitimate. Some people today would say, no, let us not use the spiritual gifts because they're not valid today anymore. Well, where do they get that from? It's not in the Bible. Although they may try to twist scriptures like 1 Corinthians 13 to say that, you know, the spiritual gifts have ceased because that which is perfect has come. And they interpret that which is perfect to be the Bible. But I interpret that which is perfect to be Jesus. And he has not yet come. So the spiritual gifts are still useful because we don't have all knowledge. We don't see face to face yet. We see as through a mirror dimly. So let us use our spiritual gifts. If prophecy, that's the first one mentioned, let's not despise prophecy. As the Bible says, don't despise prophecy. God wants to speak. Don't you want to listen? If God wants to speak to you, it could change your life forever. You know, people have prophesied over me things that I didn't believe in the beginning. But I look back now and they've come to pass. When I was 18 years old, someone prophesied and said that I would be sharing God's word to many nations. At that time, I sort of laughed at that. I was thankful for the attempt of this man to prophesy about me, but I didn't have any desire to leave my home country or to be a preacher or a teacher of God's word. I was happy to serve in my youth group running the sound. But now, after 20 years, I've been to some 20 countries. Outside of America, I've been to Germany, Austria, Hungary, Romania, Ukraine, Poland, Czech Republic, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, England, and Israel. And I hope to go to many more countries because I've discovered I don't have anything to be afraid of. If it's God's will, that's the best place for me to be. The safest place for me to be is in the center of God's will. And it's exciting to see God work through me, to see Him speak through me. I get to share His holy word with you in Latvia or wherever you are in the world that's listening to this. You know, if you're somewhere in one of these countries that I mentioned or one that I haven't mentioned yet, let me know. I'd love to hear from you. My email is brentonpowers at gmail dot com. If you would like more information about Verse by Verse, you can go to versebyverse dot podomatic dot com. There you can download some past episodes. And so, I thank you, God, for teaching us through the book of Romans as we've looked at Romans chapter 1 through 11 that the just shall live by faith. So thank you, God, for your word. I pray in Jesus' name. Amen.