grace – Page 6 – Be Still…

Matthew 18:21-35 – Unlimited Forgiveness

I love it when Jesus uses parables to convey his intention or direction for our lives. This one is really something. After talking about how to handle it when someone sins against us in our last text , Peter rightfully asks the question, “How many times should we forgive?”

What was Jesus response? 70×7. 490 times! I’m not sure who would even keep track. That was just a crazy amount to show us we need to forgive. Period. We shouldn’t try to quantify it or keep score. Then Jesus told the story.

Romans 7:1-6 – The Law is Powerless to Save

Read Romans 7:1-6

Being under God’s grace and not under the law does NOT give us the go-ahead to sin. We have seen this in the last two days as Paul warns his readers. But this grace does give us freedom from the bondage of sin and the propensity to sin. We are given a new beginning, a fresh slate, and we can now be mindful of our sinfulness.

Romans 6:1-14 – Set Free

Read Romans 6:1-14

There is so much to digest in today’s passage. I don’t even know where to begin. How many times have you heard people say, “well if God forgives me for my sins, then I guess I can keep sinning.” (And, if you haven’t audibly heard anyone say this, then you can certainly watch their behaviors and figure that’s what they must be thinking.)

It’s not a new thought, and Paul calls it out! “Of course not!” He says. Such an attitude is taking advantage of God and his gift to us. He’s not saying we won’t sin, because we will, but we shouldn’t sin on purpose. That would surely show we don’t understand the seriousness of sin in our lives and how precious God’s forgiveness is – Jesus had to die!

Romans 5:12-21 – Adam vs. Jesus

Read Romans 5:12-21

I would not want to be compared to Jesus, I would fall flat on my face. Even though I try every day to be more and more like him. As we all should. Then there’s Adam. He really messed up. Thanks to him, we all have the curse of sin on our heads.

Although, in Adam, we have a good example of what not to do. We know from watching Adam’s faux pas that we should listen to God. God has the best plan for us. We mess things up when we try to make our way without God. When we listen to the lies of the world (Satan) we are just setting ourselves up for failure and sin.

John 8:12-20 – Light of the World

Read John 8:12-20

How could they not recognize Jesus as God’s son? They had only been reading about him and waiting for him as long as they could remember. It was intentional. It was God’s plan. We already know it is God who calls us to himself. These religious leaders had to be indifferent or the “time” would never come, and Jesus would not have died a sacrificial death. But I am getting ahead of myself. We aren’t even halfway through the book of John. Continue reading “John 8:12-20 – Light of the World”