October 9, 2008

Bible Study: Romans (Part 5)

Today I'm continuing the study I have been doing on The Book of Romans. If you missed the past part you can find it here.

Without God's law there is sin and there is still sin with his law. Sin did not "go away" when God gave us His laws nor when Jesus came to earth. Sin still exists. (Romans 2:12)

His law is what we will be judged by. Hearing (knowing/reading) the law is not what makes us justified, it is obeying His law that justifies us. Obeying God's law because of "intuition" shows us that God's law rules His creation, whether we "know" the law or not. His law is within us as His creation, He put it in us to recognize His commands because we were created by Him. He speaks directly to us with His law which is in us by nature. (Romans 2:13 - 15)

God will judge us - by what we have done, even though no one else may know about it He knows about all that we do. God's people need to know His law, and learn from it... obey it, and use it to teach others about Him. We need to realize that the truth is in His word. (Romans 2:16 - 20)

We also need not be hypocritical, we must "practice what we preach". Being hypocritical about teaching God's Word is blasphemy. We do not show ourselves to be Christians if we are hypocrites. Non-Christians could theoretically be mistaken for Christians by their actions (if they are "good", so to speak) and can actually judge Christians because of their "good deeds". (Romans 2:21 - 27)

Although we are commanded to obey God's law, our actions are not what makes us a Christian. It is our hearts. Our commitment in our hearts to Christ. It is not by men that we are to be judged but by God Himself. Yes, we need to obey God's laws but not to the point to thinking that that is what leads to our salvation. Our hearts need to be turned to Christ to be saved. (Romans 2:28 - 29)

I'm really enjoying this study, I hope you are too. I'd love to have some comments and hear your insights as well.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Thanks Michelle! It isn't enough to just read our Bibles over and over is it? We can know every word hidden inside, but unless we are actually listening, obeying, and following through with the commands, it all is worthless. It's good to be reminded that is more than just the action of reading that is important.