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For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.Eph 2:9 |
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| Archived Manna: | |
Dear
Friend,
If you do not already have a habit of gathering daily manna the first thing in the morning (we can look at the example given to us in Exodus 16 and find the pattern for collecting daily manna), make it a habit. Establish your life and your schedule to allow you the necessary time to do your daily collection first thing every morning to give you the strength to make it through the day. And remember that today’s manna will not be sufficient for tomorrow; tomorrow’s manna must be collected tomorrow morning. Thursday, October 18, 2018
Today's Passage : Today's Passage:Subjecta:Slaves to Righteousness Bible Verse:Romans 6:15-19 (ESV) "What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification." Message:
Notes on the Scripture
I
f this passage sounds familiar, it is because it is very similar to a previous argument in Romans. But Paul “grinds exceeding small.” He previously countered the argument that we should sin more often, so that God might forgive us more often, and therefore there would be more of God’s grace in the world. Here, he counters a slightly different, more sensible argument.
We are to be forgiven for all of our sins through our belief in Christ, so why be concerned if we sin? It has no practical effect on us; God’s grace is boundless, his forgiveness a bottomless well. In his infinite power and mercy, he can forgive Hitler or Stalin as easily as Mother Theresa.
The last paragraph, where Paul essentially apologizes for speaking in “human terms,” refers to the analogy to slavery. Having written about a difficult abstract concept, “death to sin,” Paul attempts to make his point more concrete and understandable. Slavery was widespread in the Roman Empire and particularly in Rome itself, where as many as half the population may have been some sort of slave. It was accepted and a major part of their daily life. Moreover, some slaves were voluntary — akin to what we might call indentured servants.
Let My People Go
Let My People Go
Rose Ruth Starr
The analogy is unfortunately dated; to modern people, slavery is terribly negative, an anathema; whereas, in the history of the world before about 1800, it was considered the normal order of things. We might be better served to think of ourselves as people who have left the nation of evil and immigrated to a new country, the nation of Christ.
We have moved to the this new country because we are in search of righteousness before God, and we know that its laws are righteous. However, in the new country, there are no police, no courts and no jail. So what do we do? Do we flout the law, knowing that we will not be punished? Or do we seek to obey the law?
The very fact that we have taken the trouble to emigrate from the nation of evil speaks what is in our heart. We have come to a new land because of our belief in it. We follow the laws of our new nation because they represent the deepest desire of our heart. It simply makes no sense to say that we would move to the nation of Christ in order to disobey the law.
Belief in Christ is belief in goodness. It is our belief in goodness, not our fear of punishment, that makes us want to obey God’s commandments in the depths of our heart. To commit sin and not feel remorse is impossible if we truly believe in Christ.
Meditation : . Prayer : I pray that I may be blessed every step of my path this day by the great God of light. May your sun shine upon me; as the moon moves the tide, may your Spirit move my emotions with every grace and magic; may my heart sing with the voice of your angels and my hearth be warm; and may this and every blessed day You have given me be filled with joy......Amen |
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