The Normal Christian Life: A Journey Through Romans
Saturday, January 14, 2006
My Prayer Today
Heavenly Father, as our first week of study of the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Romans draws to a close, I thank You once again for Your written word, which is the “instruction manual” for my life. I pray that You will continue to open my heart and mind to understand that word, and that by the power of Your Holy Spirit I may live it out in my life. I pray that You will show me ways that I can share Your word with others, and I pray that when I have the opportunity to tell others about You, or comfort them in Your name that You will bring to my mind the Scriptures I have read and know as a testimony to You. On this Saturday, I pray that You will order my day and then order my rest this evening that I will be rested and eager to worship You with sisters and brothers through Your Son, Jesus Christ, tomorrow. This I pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
God’s Word Today—Romans 1:1-7
1This letter is from Paul, Jesus Christ’s slave, chosen by God to be an apostle and sent out to preach his Good News. 2This Good News was promised long ago by God through his prophets in the holy Scriptures. 3It is the Good News about his Son, Jesus, who came as a man, born into King David’s royal family line. 4And Jesus Christ our Lord was shown to be the Son of God when God powerfully raised him from the dead by means of the Holy Spirit. 5Through Christ, God has given us the privilege and authority to tell Gentiles everywhere what God has done for them, so that they will believe and obey him, bringing glory to his name.
6You are among those who have been called to belong to Jesus Christ, 7dear friends in Rome. God loves you dearly, and he has called you to be his very own people.
May grace and peace be yours from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Reflecting on God’s Word
As we have already noted, Romans 1:1-7 is the Apostle Paul’s “salutation” to the Roman Christians. As we have seen, Paul made it clear who Jesus is, who he was, and who the Romans were in relationship with Jesus. Consider this: if the Apostle Paul was to write a letter to you, what do you think he would write? How would he address you? Take a few moments right now and reflect on these questions. When you have finished your reflection, you may want to write any thoughts below:
A Deeper Exploration of God’s Word
Take the time to look at the salutation and closing of each of Paul’s letters in the New Testament. Note how often the phrase “grace and peace” occurs. Compare it to the occurrence in Romans 1:7. What are the similarities and differences. (Note: This may take a bit of time, but it is well worth the effort, as it shows how vital God’s grace and peace are in our lives.)
Understanding God’s Purpose for Us
Now that you’ve completed your exploration of Romans 1:1-7 scan through and look for key “purpose” words, words such as privilege, authority, calling, etc…. You may want to take a little time and underline, highlight or circle such words and reflect on what they say about God’s purpose for your life right now and for eternity. You may even want to highlight the words in your Bible, so every time you return to this passage of Scripture, you’ll remember how much God loves each of us and the plan He has for our lives!
Applying God’s Word to Our Purpose
Write down any additional applications of this week’s Scripture to your life right now. You may want to review the daily application points from this whole week and see how you have done about actually applying them! Remember it isn’t how many times we go through the Bible that is the key. It’s how many times has the bible gone through us! Write any additional insights and applications below:
Thoughts - “The Normal Christian Life”
You may have noticed that the title of our daily studies through Romans is “The Normal Christian Life Bible Study.” The title is borrowed from a book of the same name by Watchman Nee. Nee was a Chinese Christian pastor and evangelist of the 20th century. Nee held a powerful influence in Chinese Christianity in the first half of the 20th century, so much so that when the communists took control of the great nation and sought to crush Christianity, the church went “underground,” and far from dying, it actually flourished. There is little doubt that God used Watchman Nee powerfully in this process. Nee wrote dozens of books, and “The Normal Christian Life” is one of his most noted works. Some of you have studied it with me in the past. The Book is actually a study of the first eight chapters of the letter to the Romans, and the key to the title is that Nee always believed that the life in Jesus Christ portrayed by Paul in Romans 1-8 is the “normal” Christian life. Nee admitted that while the Christian life as portrayed in 1-8 is “normal” it is seldom actually lived out by followers of Jesus. The life Paul portrays for us is one that recognizes our helplessness to overcome sin on our own, but the victory we obtain over sin through our relationship with Jesus Christ. As we work our way through Romans this year, my prayer is that we will all come to live the “normal” Christian life, that is that we will recognize the reality that we are DEAD in sin, and destined to be separated from God forever, by virtue of having been born as human beings. That’s the bad news! Once we get there, we can recognize the Good News—the GREATEST news of all—that while all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God that we are JUSTIFIED—that means just as if we never sinned—freely by grace through faith in Jesus Christ! Once we receive that salvation from sin and death which Jesus purchased on the cross, we can live it by the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit! I pray that you will read along each day, that you will pray for faith to come into an obedience to Jesus that will give you a normal Christian life! That’s what I’m praying for in my life and for all of you as well!
This Week’s Memory Verse:
They will believe and obey Him, bringing glory to His name. Romans 1:5b