Dissecting God's Word........

Good morning everyone. Been a rough few days for this ole' boy but, praising Him for all he has blessed me with. I will ask for your prayers though. Hurt my back and might have a disc issue. I have an MRI scheduled and pray it is just muscular. Well, I want to talk to you a little bit today about this awesome book in the Bible called Romans. So, let's dig into some of the good stuff.

Bible Verse: Romans 1:1 Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated to the gospel of God.

The book of Romans will challenge you and show so much if you study it and dissect God's Word. It presents some great doctrinal truths such as justification, sanctification, adoption, judgment, and identification with Christ. First, let's look at justification. It's God's action of declaring that sinners are made righteous by faith in Jesus Christ. God forgives their sins and becomes their friend. God gives you the power to live right but, you must choose. Justification is possible because Jesus died to take our punishment for our sins. Next, there is sanctification. It means you to be set apart for God's use. Christian sanctification is an ongoing process. The Holy Spirit moves in and helps you become more and more like Jesus but, again you must work at it too! Third, we have adoption. Know this as a believer, you don't need to be a slave to the fear of death and final punishment. When you accepted Jesus as your Savior, you were adopted! You are a child of the King. You can come before Him without fear. Fourth, is judgment. In the New Testament, judgment can mean to criticize or disapprove of someone. But wait, the Bible says the Christians are not to criticize one another. So, I guess you don't do that do ya. Judgment can also mean in the end God will judge sin, and reward those people who have lived for Him. Last, but not the least is identification with Christ. How do you identify with Christ? Wearing a Christian t-shirt, cross around your neck, carrying your Bible, going to church, praying at lunch for your food. How do people know you are a Christian? Do they know? What sets you apart from anyone else. I know these are hard questions but, we should ask ourselves them constantly.

I want to talk about someone who was set apart, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, a man called to be a apostle, separated to the gospel of God. His name is Paul. He wrote 13 of the 21 epistles or letters in the New Testament. But, I want us to go back a few years before all that and look at who he was. See, Paul was born Saul of Tarsus and was taught as a boy by Gamaliel, the great teacher of the Pharisees. Just like all Hebrew boys he was taught a trade. He was a tent maker. Now, I want to skip ahead a few years. Saul was in Jerusalem and was present at the stoning of Stephen, the first Christian martyr (Acts 7:54). So, what was he doing there? Did he cast a stone? No, but he did take care of the coats of those who did. Saul, was a persecutor of Christians and he went on to kill many and imprison many. Then all of the sudden on the road to Damascus to persecute more Christians he ran smack dab into Jesus. I am not going to tell the whole story but, I wanted to give you a set up to today's verse.

So, Romans 1:1 let's dissect it and see what it shows us. Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ. A bondservant or "Doulos" in Hebrew was a common word in the New Testament for servant. Now, the word servant is used 464 times, servants is used 515 times, and serve is used 204 times in the Bible. That 1183 times, do you think it is important? Paul raises the word in the Hebrew sense to show it as a servant who willingly commits himself to serve a master he loves and respects. Basically, it's pretty important to him.

Next, it says "called to be a apostle." A apostle is a person chosen and sent out as a messenger. In the New Testament it usually referred to the 12 men Jesus chose to be His special disciples. Some other leaders in the early church were also called apostles. My question to you today is. can you be an apostle? A messenger of the good news of Jesus Christ.

The last part of the verse says "separated to the gospel of God." Hey, the gospel of God is a message that God will forgive sins, deliver us from the power sin has on us and give us eternal hope. Some of you today might need to hear that if you read this far and didn't throw in the towel because this devo is a little long. This is not just an empty offer. It is the real deal and you can take it to the bank. I pray that this was as helpful and fun to read as it was for me to study. Exposing God's Word! Let's study to show ourselves approved! Have a great day and God bless.