Romans 9:30-33 & 1 peter 2:8-11
Romans 9:30-33
Isreal’s unbelief
What does all this mean? Even though the Gentiles were not trying to follow God’s standards, they were made right with God. And it was by faith that this took place. 31 But the people of Israel, who tried so hard to get right with God by keeping the law, never succeeded. 32 Why not? Because they were trying to get right with God by keeping the law instead of by trusting in him. They stumbled over the great rock in their path. 33 God warned them of this in the Scriptures when he said,
“I am placing a stone in Jerusalem that makes people stumble,
a rock that makes them fall.
But anyone who trusts in him
will never be disgraced.”[c]
I peter 2:9-11
8 And,
“He is the stone that makes people stumble,
the rock that makes them fall.”[e]
They stumble because they do not obey God’s word, and so they meet the fate that was planned for them.
9 But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests,[f] a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light.
10 “Once you had no identity as a people;
now you are God’s people.
Once you received no mercy;
now you have received God’s mercy.”[g]
11 Dear friends, I warn you as “temporary residents and foreigners” (of this earth) to keep away from worldly desires that wage war against your very souls. 12 Be careful to live properly among your unbelieving neighbors. Then even if they accuse you of doing wrong, they will see your honorable behavior, and they will give honor to God when he judges the world.[h]
what do you guys think that this means?
what i think it means is that, we are not saved by our actions, we are given the ability to be saved by his mercy and grace. we are saved by our faith. the dictionary definition of faith is “obedience or loyalty to a person or cause”.
James 2:17-19
17 So you see, faith by itself isn’t enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless.
18 Now someone may argue, “Some people have faith; others have good deeds.” But I say, “How can you show me your faith if you don’t have good deeds? I will show you my faith by my good deeds.”
19 You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God.[f] Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror. 20 How foolish! Can’t you see that faith without good deeds is useless?
James 2:26 Just as the body is dead without breath,[i] so also faith is dead without good works.
So here is the call for Holy living. When i was your age, i went through the motions. I had the belief that God was real, i knew God was real, but knowing he is real isn’t enough. Even the enemy Satan himself knows that God is real. Is satan going to get into heaven? HECK NO he isn’t. What separated me from Satan at the time? nothing. I was no different. We both knew that God was real and that Jesus died on the cross for the worlds salvation, and neither of us were holding up the the discipline and obedience to his will and doing anything to advance his kingdom. That brings me back to my heart for this group. I don’t want to see you guys just going through the motions saying you are saved with out producing any fruit and with out changing your lives more and more to be more Christ like as you go through the various stages of your life. Julie and I are here to help you with your walk with Jesus which brings me to my next thing. Let us break up into groups and then discuss what we are going through in our own lives. If you feel uncomfortable talking about things in front of eachother, you can see us individually, if you do not want to talk to us at all, then that is your choice to try to do this on your own, then that is your choice, and we can’t force you to do anything. We will not Judge you, We will not make fun of you. We are here to help you live a more christ centered life. Don’t tell me that you are just that AWESOME and aren’t sinning at all. That is called complacency and not studying the law that reveals our sin.
In 1 john 1:8 it says “If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth.” So on that note, let divide up into our groups and have a little chaty chaty.
