Romans - Foundations for our Faith

Today, Friday April 30 Foundations For Our Faith Romans 16:25-27 Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery kept secret since the world began but now has been made manifest, and by the prophetic Scriptures has been made known to all nations, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, for obedience to the faith-- to God, alone wise, be glory through Jesus Christ forever. Amen. Today is our last Pastor’s Chat in the Book of Romans! Thanks so much for joining me these past several weeks as we have studied through this wonderful letter by Paul to the believers at Rome. I trust that you have discovered the “Foundations for our Faith” in this book with me. If we do not take the time and effort to dig deep and lay the foundations for our faith we cannot expect to build a strong and lasting spiritual building. Jesus said the wise man was the one who dug deep and laid his foundation on the rock! Jesus applied this to the person who hears the Word of God and then obeys it. I trust you will continue to read, study, memorize and meditate on this book in the years to come. Remember the major theme throughout Romans is the “Righteousness of God” and how it can only be obtained by faith. In the first three chapters we find that we are all guilty sinners before a holy, just and righteous God! In chapters four and five, we learn the reason we are sinners is because of Adam’s sin that was imputed to us. We are not sinners because we sin, but we sin because we are sinners. We also learn by the example of Abraham that it is only by faith, and not by works or keeping the law, that we can have forgiveness of sins though the redemptive work of Jesus Christ on the cross. In chapters six through eight, we see how we are sanctified because we are in Christ and now we have the Holy Spirit working in us to accomplish God’s purposes in our lives. In Chapters twelve and thirteen, Paul gets practical and shows us how to live out our faith in our relationships. Then finally, in the last chapters of the book we are encouraged to be accepting of one another, despite our differences, and whatever we do, we do it to the glory of God! Then the all the nations will hear the wonderful story of this great salvation through Jesus Christ and become obedient to the faith also! Paul’s final word says it all, “to God, alone wise, be glory through Jesus Christ forever. Amen.” God bless!