Romans 5:11-21 God's Wisdom

Paul answered the question, "How did Christ take our place on the cross?  How was such a substitution possible?"

My commentary said, "Because you and I were lost in Adam, the head of our human race, we can be saved in Christ, the Head of the new creation.  So how do we know that we are human-racially united to Adam?  We know that all men die.  But death is the result of disobeying the law.  There was no law from Adam to Moses, but men still died... What is that cause?  It can be only one thing -- the disobedience of Adam.  When Adam sinned, he ultimately died.  All of his descendants died, yet the law had not yet been given (until Moses).  Conclusion:  they died because of Adam's sin.  Romans 5:12 means 'all have sinned in Adam's sin.'  Men do not die because of their own acts of sin; otherwise, babies would not die.  Men die because they are united human-racially to Adam."

"Skeptics sometimes ask whether it was fair for God to condemn the whole world just because of one man's disobedience.  The answer, of course, is that it was not only fair, but it was also wise and gracious.  If God had tested each human being individually, the result would have been the same:  disobedience.  But even more important, by condemning the human race through one man (Adam), God was then able to save the human race through one Man (Jesus Christ)."

Father, thank You for knowing us so well and yet loving us anyway!

Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford

Romans 5:1-11 Seven Spiritual Blessings

Paul listed seven spiritual blessings that assure us that we cannot be lost once we are saved, my commentary said.

Peace with God - "The unsaved person is at enmity with God because he cannot obey God's law or fulfill God's will.  Condemnation means that God declares us sinners, which is a declaration of war.  Justification declares us righteous which is a declaration of peace."

Access to God - "When Jesus died, He tore the veil and broke down the wall ... Justification has to do with our standing; sanctification has to do with our state.  The child of a king can enter his father's presence no matter how the child looks."

Glorious hope - "Peace with God takes care of our past; He will no longer hold our sins against us.  Access to God takes care of the present -- we can come to Him at any time for the help we need.  Hope of the glory of God takes care of the future;  one day we shall share in His glory."

Christian character - "Justification is no escape from the trials of life ... But for the believer, trails work for him and not against him ... trials bring us closer to the Lord and make us more like the Lord.  Suffering builds Christian character."

God's love within - "As we wait for this hope to be fulfilled, the love of God is poured out into our hearts ... It is the inner experience of this love through the Spirit that sustains us as we go through tribulations."

Salvation from future wrath - "God saved us when we were enemies ... He will keep on saving us now that we are His children.  There is a wrath to come, but no true believer will experience it."

Reconciliation with God - "Paul explained how men declared war on God, and because of this, deserved to be condemned eternally.  But God did not declare war on man.  Instead, He sent His Son as the Peacemaker, that men might be reconciled to God (Eph. 2:11-18)."

Father, thank You for these spiritual blessings which I in no way deserve, but which You have given to me as Your child.  I love You!

 

Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford

Romans 3:21-4:25 An Explanation of Justification

My commentary described possible questions that Jewish Christians might have raised after Paul's statements about all people needing to be saved by faith.  One was "What about Abraham?"

"Paul stated three important facts about Abraham's salvation that prove that the patriarch's spiritual experience was like that of believers today.  He was justified by faith, not works ... God told him to look at the stars...'So shall your descendants be!'  God promised and Abraham believed God's promise ... It was this faith that counted for righteousness."

"He was justified by grace, not law ...The Jews gloried in circumcision and the law.  If a Jew was to become righteous before God, he would have to be circumcised and obey the law... But Abraham was declared righteous when he was still in the state of uncircumcision.  From the Jewish point of view, Abraham was a Gentile ... Abraham was 99 years old when he was circumcised.  This was more than 14 years after the events in Genesis 15.  The conclusion is obvious:  circumcision had nothing to do with his justification."

"He was justified by resurrection power, not human efforts...Verse 14 mentioned, '...who quickens the dead.'  Paul saw the rejuvenation of Abraham's body as a picture of resurrection from the dead, and then he related it to the resurrection of Christ ... God had permitted Abraham and Sarah's natural strength to decline and then disappear... From a reproductive point of view, both of them were dead ... But what God promises, He performs ... It was Abraham's faith that gave him strength to beget a son in his old age."

I noticed in verse 5 it said, "God justifies the ungodly."  My commentary explained, "But God justifies the ungodly -- because there are no godly for Him to justify! ... Once we are justified, our record contains Christ's perfect righteousness and can never again contain our sins.  Christians do sin, and these sins need to be forgiven if we are to have fellowship with God, but these sins are not held against us.  God does keep a record of our works, so that He might reward us when Jesus comes, but He is not keeping a record of our sins!"

Father, thank You for giving Paul the insight we need today to understand this.  Thank You for Your faithfulness and Your grace!

 

Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford

Romans 3:1-20 It All Started With Man Saying No To God

Paul declared that all men were sinners and proved it with several quotations from the Old Testament.  Psalm 14:1-3 - "The fool hath said in his heart, 'No, God!'  It all started with man saying no to God ... The whole of man's inner being is controlled by sin:  his mind (none that understand), his heart (none that seek after God), and his will (none that does good).  Measured by God's perfect righteousness, no human being is sinless.  No sinner seeks after God.  Therefore, God must seek the sinner."

Verses 13-14 emphasize human speech ... The sinner is spiritually dead by nature, therefore only death can come out of his mouth ... Verses 15-16 pictured the sinner's feet ... His ways are destructive ... Verse 17 deals with the sinner's mind:  he does not know the way of God's peace ... he prefers to believe Satan's lie ... Verse 18 describes the sinner's arrogant pride -- 'There is no fear of God before their eyes.' ... No flesh can obey God's law and be justified ... This inability is one way that men know they are sinners.  When they try to obey the law, the fail miserably and need to cry out for God's mercy."

"It is only when we stand silent before Him as sinners that He can save us.  As long as we defend ourselves and command ourselves, we cannot be saved by God's grace."

Father, thank You for helping me see all those years ago that my raging at You and defending myself was nothing more than what is described here.  I'm so glad You finally brought me to see that all I can do is stand silent before You and accept Your grace.

 

Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford

Romans 2 - Paul Tells The Jews That They Are Guilty, Too

After confirming to his Jewish readers that the Gentile world was guilty, Paul really surprised them by saying that the Jewish world was just as guilty!  "It would not be an easy task to find the Jews guilty since disobedience to God was one sin they did not want to confess," my commentary said.  "Paul summoned four witnesses to prove the guilt of the Jewish nation."

The Gentiles:  Jews called them Gentile dogs and despised them.  "Paul used this judgmental attitude to prove the guilt of the Jews, for the very thing they condemned in the Gentiles, they themselves were practicing!  They thought they were free from judgment because they were God's chosen people.  But Paul affirmed that God's election of the Jews made their responsibility and accountability even greater."

God's blessing:  "Instead of giving the Jews special treatment from God, the blessings they received from Him gave them greater responsibility to obey Him and glorify Him ... Even after Israel crucified Christ, God gave the nation nearly 40 years of grace and withheld His judgment.  It is not the judgment of God that leads men to repentance, but the goodness of God -- but Israel did not repent.

God's law:  "The Jews boasted in the law ... But Paul made it clear that it was not the possession of the law that counted, but the practice of the law.  The Jews looked on the Gentiles as blind, in the dark, foolish, immature, and ignorant!  But if God found the deprived Gentiles guilty, how much more guilty were the privileged Jews! ... The Jewish people had a religion of outward action, not inward attitude."

Circumcision:  "The tragedy is that the Jews depended on this physical mark instead of the spiritual reality it represented!  A true Jew is one who has had an inward spiritual experience in the heart, and not merely an outward physical operation.  People today make the same mistake with reference to baptism..."

Paul has certainly gotten everyone's attention and pretty much knocked the props out from under any haughty attitudes, readying them to hear what God has told him to say next.

Father, I need my own props knocked out every now and them to remind me of Your grace and of my own connection with You.  I would be nothing without You and would have no hope in this life or the next if You hadn't called me to Yourself and saved me.  Thank You!

 

Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford

Romans 1:16-27 The Gentile World Is Guilty

Paul affirmed his confidence in his message:  "Any message that was handed down from Caesar would immediately get the attention of the Romans.  But the message of the gospel is from and about the very Son of God! ... How could Paul be ashamed of such a message, when it cam from God and centered on His Son, Jesus Christ?" my commentary said.

It originated with God, operated through the power of God, and its outcome was the power of God unto salvation.  It's outreach was to everyone who believed, my commentary added.

"God does not ask men to behave in order to be saved, but to believe.  It is faith in Christ that saves the sinner ... In the death of Christ, God revealed His righteousness by punishing sin; and in the resurrection of Christ, He revealed His righteousness by making salvation available to the believing sinner.  The problem 'How can a holy God ever forgive sinners and still be holy?' is answered in the gospel.  Through the death and resurrection of Christ, God is seen to be both just and justifier."

"In the next section, God makes three declarations that together prove that all men are sinners and need Jesus Christ," it said.  The first was:  "The Gentile world is guilty:  Devolution is taught -- that man started high and, because of sin, sank lower than the beasts," moving from intelligence to ignorance, to indulgence, and to impenitence.

"Human history began with man knowing God, but man turned from the truth and rejected God ... They suppressed this truth in order that they might live their own lives and not be convicted by God's truth ... Man knew God, but man did not want to know God or honor Him as God.  Man refused to thank God or give Him the glory He deserves.  Man was willing to use God's gifts, but he was not willing to worship and praise God for His gifts."

"Man was left without a god, and man is so constituted that he must worship something.  If he will not worship the true God, he will worship a false god, the first of which is man ... If man is his own god, then he can do whatever he pleases and fulfill his desires without fear of judgment ... man exchanges the truth of God for the lie and abandons truth completely."

"When man began to feel the tragic consequences of his sins, you would think he would repent and seek God, but just the opposite was true ... 'God gave them over' this time to a depraved mind -- a mind that cannot form right judgments.  They now abandoned themselves to sin ... But the worst is yet to come.  Men not only committed these sins in open defiance of God but encouraged others and applauded them when they sinned."

Father, how it must have broken Your heart to see Your children in such open defiance after all You have given us, including life itself.  I am sickened that I, too, succumbed to sin, yet I am eternally grateful that You sought me out, helped me to believe, and saved me by the death and resurrection of Your Son.  What a gift to me!  Thank You for not giving up on me!

 

Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford

Romans 1: 1-15 What Brought Martin Luther Out Of Mere Religion

My commentary said, "The one Scripture above all others that brought Martin Luther out of mere religion into the joy of salvation by grace through faith, was Romans 1:17 - 'The just shall live by faith.' ... Imagine!  You and I can read and study the same inspired letter that brought life and power to Luther and Wesley!  And the same Holy Spirit who taught them can teach us!"

Paul presented his credentials:  He was a servant or slave of Jesus Christ, he was an apostle, he was a preacher of the gospel, and he was a missionary to the Gentiles.  "He then proceeded to forge a second link between himself and the believers in Rome.  He expressed his concern:  He was thankful for them, he prayed for them, he loved them, he was in debt to them (he could not be free from his debt until he had told as many people as possible the good news of salvation in Christ), and he was eager to visit them."  Next he will affirm his confidence.

Father, I thank You for those You have charged with loving me and praying for me.  Without them and their prayers, I don't know where I'd be right now, but I sure don't want to find out!  Keep them praying for me, loving me, and lifting me up!

 

Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford

Daniel 12 -- The End Of The Book

Daniel was told about the Tribulation period and that the last three and a half years would usher in a time of terrible suffering.  But my commentary said, "God's elect people will be preserved ... God will keep His covenant with Abraham and see to it that the Jewish remnant will enter into their promised kingdom."

"Nations will submit to the rule of Antichrist, but there will be growing dissent and opposition even though his work is energized by Satan."  Then the battle at Armageddon occurs, and "the sign of the returning Son of Man will appear in the heavens and the opposing armies will unite to fight Jesus Christ.  But the Lord will descend from heaven with His armies, defeat both armies, and take captive Satan, Antichrist, and the false prophet and cast them into the lake of fire ... Jesus will stand on the Mount of Olives, and be king over all the earth and will establish His glorious kingdom for a thousand years ... The Father has promised a kingdom to His Son, and He will keep His promise.  One day Jesus will deliver that promised kingdom up to the Father."

"Daniel humbly asked God for the wisdom that he needed.  But He may not tell us.  He knows how much we need to know and how much we can take."

"I shall be satisfied, when I awake with thy likeness."

I'm looking forward to the end, Father!

 

Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford

Daniel 11 -- God Knows

The prophecy comes fast and heavy in this chapter, and my commentary nailed down the ones which have already been fulfilled.  "Only an omniscient God can know future events accurately and direct His servants to write them down."  Speaking of one of the fulfilled prophecies, it said, "In spite of the deception on both sides, the Lord was still in control and was watching the calendar.  He has His appointed times and He is always on time."

Regarding the desecration of the Temple, this isn't just an event that will someday occur.  My commentary said, "On December 14, 168, Antiochus desecrated the temple by erecting an altar to Zeus and by offering a pig as a sacrifice ... The future Antichrist will put his own image in the Jewish temple when he breaks his covenant with the Jews ..."

"Daniel knew that his people would endure great suffering for their faith, that some would apostatize and join the enemy, and that others would trust the Lord and do exploits.  No matter how difficult the times, God has always had His faithful remnant, and He will keep His covenant with His people to the very end."

Let me be one of Your faithful remnant, Father.

 

Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford

Daniel 10 -- Hearing THIS From God!

One thing I can't get over is reading this over and over:  "Daniel, God loves you very much," -- because God has let me know that He says the same thing to me and to all of His children -- even those who are running away from Him and want nothing to do with Him.  It's just really unfortunate that often Satan stops up our ears.

Daniel was shown another vision.  The men around him knew something was happening, but they couldn't see it, and they ran away in fear.  Daniel lost his strength, went pale, and fell into a deep sleep.  It's only then that he hears it again... "Daniel, God loves you very much.  Stand up, because I have sent you ... Some time ago, you decided to get understanding and to humble yourself before Your God.  Since that time God has listened to you."

In other words, once he decided to get understanding and humble himself, God started listening to his prayers.  It was scary for Daniel.  He even said, "Master, how can I, Your servant, talk to You?  My strength is gone and it is hard for me to breathe!"  That's perhaps a very appropriate response when we are in God's very presence.

Father, I sensed Your presence strongly last night.  Please continue to move among the young men at my home for Disciple Now.  Move big, Father.  Let them encounter You as Daniel did.  Let them hear You say, "I love you."

 

Daniel 9 -- Hearing Gabriel Deliver God's Message

My commentary noted three steps in Daniel's experience with the message Gabriel delivered.

1)  Insight:  Learning God's Plan:  "Daniel started studying afresh the scroll of the prophet Jeremiah ... One of the beautiful things about the inspired Word of God is its constant freshness; no matter how often we read it, there is always something new to learn or something familiar to see in a new light."

2)  Intercession:  Praying for God's Mercy:  "When God showed Daniel visions of future events, the prophet wasn't satisfied until he had asked for an explanation.  Prayer was a vital part of Daniel's life ... He prepared himself to pray ... It would be his holy task to confess the sins of the Jewish nation, asking God to forgive His people and receive them back again.  He humbled himself in sackcloth and ashes; he fasted; and he directed his heart and mind to the Lord."

3)  Instruction:  Discovering God's timetable:  "The angel had come to explain to Daniel what God had planned for Jerusalem, the temple, and the Jewish people."  Gabriel described a 49-year period, a 483-year period, and a 7-year period.  "But Gabriel didn't tell Daniel what would happen between the 69th and 70th 'weeks'.  Between Daniel 9:26-27 there is a strange parenthesis which has to do with the church:  the body of Christ, which was a mystery God had hidden in Old Testament times and didn't reveal until the time of Christ and the apostles."

Father, thank You for Your revelations.  Your wisdom and planning are incredible and I can't wait to learn more!

 

Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford

Daniel 8 -- More Visions From God

Chapter 8 through the end of the book was written in Hebrew, while the first seven chapters were written in Aramaic, my commentary said.  It is suggested that this indicates that the Gentiles were to understand the first seven chapters as relating mainly to them and the remaining chapters related to the Jews.

This time Daniel received a vision with the help of Gabriel.  My commentary said that the vision identified Cyrus as the one who would defeat the Babylonian army and eventually let the Jews return from captivity to the Holy Land.  It also identified Alexander the Great and his four commanders who divided his territory after his death, along with Antiochus Epiphanes (who was the little horn) who prevented the Jews from worshiping in the Temple and sacrificed a pig on the Temple altar.

The vision also described the Antichrist who would come later.

Father, I can see why Daniel became physically ill upon hearing all of this.  What's happening in the world today is having the same effect on Your children.  Please watch over us and protect us and come quickly.

 

Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford

Daniel 7: 9-28 What A Vision!

"In this dramatic vision, he'd seen the vast sweep of history, beginning with the Babylonian kingdom and closing with the thousand-year reign of Christ on earth ... How did Daniel respond to this great revelation?  He was deeply troubled and his face turned pale, but he didn't tell anyone what the Lord had shown him."

"Verses 18, 22, and 27 describe the saints as victorious over their enemies, while verses 21 and 25 inform us that the Lord permits them to be defeated before their enemies.  The saints receive the kingdom, possess the kingdom, and the kingdom is given to them.  All of this is the work of the Most High God.  He permits Antichrist to rise to power and rule the world and even allows him to make war on the saints and temporarily win the victory.  The phrase 'wear out the saints' describes Antichrist's continual oppression of God's people and his blasphemous words against the Lord and His people."

"No matter what Satan and the Antichrist do on earth, God is still on the throne and He executes judgment."

Father, the world sure seems to be spinning toward this.  I am so thankful that You have a plan and also have the power and ability and desire to protect us.  Thank You for being sovereign over all!

 

Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford