Lesson 1198

(Lesson 1198)(01-07-15) Romans 2:25-29

"For circumcision verily profiteth, if thou keep the law: but if thou be a breaker of the law, thy circumcision is made uncircumcision. Therefore if the uncircumcision keep the righteousness of the law, shall not his uncircumcision be counted for circumcision? And shall not uncircumcision which is by nature, if it fulfil the law, judge thee, who by the letter and circumcision dost transgress the law? For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God."

This lesson, in more modern terms, indicates that being a Jew is a good thing: but if one, being a Jew, breaks God's law, that one is no longer a Jew, but rather that one has, in essence and before God, become a Gentile.

　

Wouldn't one being born a Gentile and obeying God's laws anyway make that one one a Jew? And wouldn't being a Gentile who obeys God's laws be in a position to judge the errant Jews by the rules of their own law?

Being a Jew, in the Godly sense, requires much more than just being born into a Jewish family and being circumcised. Being a real Jew requires a state of Godliness in the inner man which can only come from the righteousness of God instilled in him/her through Jesus Christ.

The gist of this lesson is that what people appear to be on the outside, doesn't matter to God at all, but rather it is what we are on the inside (the inner man/woman) that identifies us before God.

Paul was telling the Jews that, just being Jews, no longer guaranteed them any particular advantage over the Gentiles so far as righteousness was concerned, and that they had actually betrayed God by proving themselves to be hypocrites before the Gentiles.~

Lesson 1197

(Lesson 1197)(01-06-15) Romans 2:16-24

"In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel. Behold, thou art called a Jew, and restest in the law, and makest thy boast of God, And knowest his will, and approvest the things that are more excellent, being instructed out of the law; And art confident that thou thyself art a guide of the blind, a light of them which are in darkness, An instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, which hast the form of knowledge and of the truth in the law. Thou therefore which teachest another, teachest thou not thyself? thou that preachest a man should not steal, dost thou steal? Thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery? thou that abhorrest idols, dost thou commit sacrilege? Thou that makest thy boast of the law, through breaking the law dishonourest thou God? For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you, as it is written."

In today's lesson, Paul said a person simply being born a Jew means nothing because they had failed to obey the laws that God gave them.

Until Jesus came, if a Jew sought salvation under the law he/she must needs be entirely obedient to the law while having faith in God that He would eventually send a redeemer, very few of the ancient Jews ever did.

The latter part of the lesson relates the hypocrisy of the Jews as they held themselves up above all others simply because God had chosen them to be the people through which our savior would come.

There are many heretical groups today who still, just like the ancient Jews, hold fast to the fallacy, pomp, and ritual of what they perceive to be Christianity. They bind themselves to the old law on the surface and pretend they obey it, but in their daily lives use Christianity as a mask to cover their true sinful core.

In truth, obedience to the old law will not save a soul. Salvation can ONLY be achieved through the blood of Jesus Christ.

Jesus gave the perfect example in Luke 18:18-22, "And a certain ruler asked him, saying, Good Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life? And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? none is good, save one, that is, God. Thou knowest the commandments, Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother. And he said, All these have I kept from my youth up. Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him, Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me."

That "ruler" was a Jew, and had obviously lived his life according to the law, however, Jesus in essence said, that if the man obeyed all the rules of the law, he would still come up short of salvation. Then Jesus told him what it would take for him to have eternal life, "sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, follow me." Which very simply means that all one need do to inherit eternal life is to give up on the material things of this earth and have absolute faith in Jesus Christ crucified.~

Lesson 1196

(Lesson 1196)(01-05-15) Romans 2:14-15

"For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;)"

Today's lesson explains how the Gentiles, who were technically never under the Law of Moses, obligated themselves to parts of the law because they naturally did many of the things that were required of the Jews under the law.

This short lesson teaches us that a great part of what we consider to be sin today is not sin at all.

Real sins against God, the only ones that now matter, are those things we do that are contrary to His commandments as they were related to us by Jesus Christ Himself. When Jesus was asked "Which is the first commandment of all?, "Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. THERE IS NONE OTHER COMMANDMENT GREATER THAN THESE." (Mark 12:29-31)

Mark, very clearly, relates that the only two rules that now apply, since the coming of Christ, to both the Jews and Gentiles, are those two above mentioned commandments. All other commandments are contained within those two.

In short, if one loves God with all he/she has, loves everyone and treats them as he/she would treat him/herself, that one is guilty of NO sin other than that sin which is inherent in all mankind because of Adam's disobedience.~

Lesson 1195

(Lesson 1195)(01-04-15) Romans 2:12-13

"For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law; (For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified."

Today's quote is a short one but it is very important to note. Herein, Paul said that those who were under the Law of Moses, that being the Jews, had no means of eternal salvation without that law. And, since the law was given to the Jews, they were bound to obey all of it.

In other words, Just being a Jew and having read, or heard the law, does not, in itself, save one's soul, Jew or otherwise. The Jews having been given that law were bound to completely obey it in order to achieve eternal salvation. Paul said they must be "doers of the law" not just hearers.

"Christians" today are much like those ancient Jews, we have Jesus' simple plan for eternal salvation written in the pages of His holy Word, ("For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." (Romans 10:13), yet so many still reject it and act as if simply knowing God's will but failing to act on it will save them. Jesus' plan of salvation is as simple as this: "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast." (Ephesians 2:8-9)

Just as the Jews of old were condemned and cast out because of their failure to obey God's law, those "Christian's" today who neglect to humble themselves before God, confessing their sins and placing absolute faith in the soul saving blood of Jesus Christ, just as God promised those ancient Jews, there is a very dark end coming.~

Lesson 1194

(Lesson 1194)(01-03-15) Romans 2:3-11

"And thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God? Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance? But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God; Who will render to every man according to his deeds: To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life: But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile; But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile: For there is no respect of persons with God."

Today's quote relates the penalties that God has in store for those who reject His grace and continue in sin without Him. ("unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile".)

The quote also describes the reward that awaits those who accept the soul saving righteousness and justification that comes through faith in the blood of Jesus Christ. ("To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life".)

Paul also makes it very clear herein that God no longer views the Jews as a select and called out people so far as his judgment is concerned; "For there is no respect of persons with God."

Therefore, we are all judged by the same measure.

NOTE: The phrase; "to the Jew first" means that God, in the beginning, Put His blessing upon the Jews exclusively, but after they failed Him miserably, God made His saving grace available to the Gentiles also, "and also of the Gentile".~

Lesson 1193

(Lesson 1193)(01-02-15) Romans 2:1-2

Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things. But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them which commit such things.

It is incumbent upon all those who refer to themselves as Christians to study this lesson over, and over.

It seems that the majority of today's preachers spend much of their pulpit, "worship", time wrongly condemning someone else's "sins" when they should be looking inside their own hearts and begging forgiveness.

Just as Paul says in today's quote, every living soul is born in sin, sin is inherent in all of us. The only righteousness that any soul will ever be capable of will come from that righteousness which is imputed into that soul when he/she accepts God's grace through faith in the death, burial, and resurrection of His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ.

Paul said, "Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself".

When we judge the sins of others, we also judge and condemn ourselves because we are guilty of the same sins as those whom we judge.

This thought translates back to yesterday's lesson concerning homosexuals. There are many like myself who find the homosexual lifestyle to be despicable, knowing that it is contrary to the will of God to usward. Therefore it is easy for Christians, like myself, to imagine that lifestyle as a special major sin. Sin is sin! All sin is the willful rejection of God's grace in favor of one's on lusts. Whether that lust be homosexuality or idol worship. It is NOT therefore, our place as Christians, to condemn the actions of ANYONE, homosexuals or otherwise! God has already condemned them and anyone else who purposefully defies His divine will.

There is good news, however. God is faithful to forgive ALL sin if a person is willing to admit guilt, turn from it, and accept the righteousness that comes through faith in the blood of Jesus Christ.~

Lesson 1192

(Lesson 1192)(01-01-15) Romans 1:26-32

"For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;

Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, Without understanding, covenant breakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them."

Today's quote relates a list of the things that caused God to remove the "chosen" status from the Jews.

Mankind has always been guilty of this list of abominations. Today's text describes the mind set of the majority of the world's population today, including most of those hypocrites who present themselves as "Christians".

This lesson also exposes the idiocy of those who contend that homosexuality is "natural", as Paul so clearly states: "For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;". Herein we find that God has already turned those who practice these abominable sins, over to a "reprobate" mind.

The dictionary defines "reprobate" as; "a depraved, unprincipled, or wicked person: a person rejected by God and beyond hope of salvation."

Therefore, scriptural justification for ANY of the above listed acts, does NOT exist. Homosexuality CANNOT be tolerated in, or condoned by, the Church, EVER.~