Cover-to-Cover

Romans 16 In Romans 16, we can learn from the Apostle Paul as he ends his letter. We should be grateful for loyal leaders, we should be on guard for those who cause division and difficulty, we should have discernment between right and wrong, we should value our true Christian friends, and we should always give God the glory. Psalm 109-111 Love isn’t always reciprocated with love. Some people are...

Romans 15:22-33 Results begin to happen when we begin to move. When we start serving someone else, the Holy Spirit shows up. When we do our part, the Spirit of God does His part. If we want to see signs, wonders, and miracles, then we must step out in faith and pray for someone in need, feed someone who is hungry, help someone who can’t help themselves. Paul mentions how...

Romans 15:1-21 Have you ever met a difficult person? Have you ever felt exhaustion dealing with a person who is weak and often making wrong choices? In Romans 15:5, in the Amplified version, we read that God supplies the power for patient endurance and encouragement so we can live in mutual harmony and full sympathy with one another, that TOGETHER we may with UNITED hearts and ONE voice, glorify God....

Romans 14 I think we’ve all done it – criticized someone else, found fault in another person, acted as if we know better than they do about their life or ministry before God. More than likely, we’ve also been on the other end of that stick – we’ve all experienced the one being criticized. It’s not a good feeling, is it? The truth is, we each are servants of God...

Romans 13 To please God, there is a question that we can ask ourselves in any given situation, “What would love do?” If we love God, would we do anything to put ourselves in opposition against God? No. If we love people, would we do anything to harm, take away, or stop supporting that person? No. The rules and regulations of the religious Law were based on performance and control....

Romans 12 Did you know God has given you something specific to do in His kingdom? Yes, and that gift is not meant to work alone, but to come together with other gifts to make up the church. We are to respect the differences in gifts and come together to operate as one church, one kingdom, one body. Romans 12:3 describes having a measure of faith, and then describes each...

Romans 11:22-36 This chapter has principles we can glean from for daily living, as well as a glimpse into the prophetic. God gave a basic timeline for Israel’s future in Daniel 9. The first part of the prophecy was for the Jews and it lasted 483 years. After the 483 years, there was a shift from Jew to Gentile, with the promise of a final shift back onto the Jews...

Romans 11:1-21 At the time this is written, Christianity was just getting started, but Judaism had been in existence for thousands of years. To the Christian Jew, there were questions on changes to their religion. Was it being rejected or done away with? No, Judaism was not being disregarded because of Christ– it was being completed because of Christ. A new binding, blood covenant was made through Jesus. This was...

Romans 10 God’s Word is important in the building up of our faith in God. Romans 10:17 says, “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Faith is dependency, so we can’t lean on God if we don’t know what God wants. When we know God’s plan, we can rely and act on it in obedience surrender! A perfect example of this in found in...

Romans 9 The city of Rome is the epicenter of the Roman Empire. God put a passion on the inside of Paul for Rome before he ever went there. There were still many Jews there, but in the not to distant future, Rome would attack the Jews and send them scattering. Paul was called to his generation, and he went to the heart of the empire to reach them. Paul...

Romans 8:18-39 In verse 18, Paul relates the glory of the life after this, when our bodies are changed, to the sufferings of living in the flesh, life before the resurrection. In verse 26, Paul writes about the Holy Spirit helping us in our weakness in the flesh. One weakness we have is limited knowledge. He says the Holy Spirit will help us to pray when we don’t know how...

Romans 8:1-17 Chapter 7 was written from the viewpoint of a man living under the Law, before salvation. Chapter 8 starts off with the declaration that there is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus, born again. In verse 2, Paul talks about the law of the Spirit of life in Christ. This is not the Old Testament Law. This is a legal system of a covenant Christ made, when...

Romans 7 Paul continues his teaching on grace verses works. In chapter 7, Paul is referring to the person who is under the Law but not yet born again. Paul begins with comparing old and new covenants with remarrying after the first spouse dies. For a covenant to end, one of the covenant partners must die. In God’s covenant with Israel through the Law, Jesus came to fulfill it, die,...

Romans 6 Paul is continuing his thoughts on the first and second Adam, where He speaks of the righteousness given to us through Jesus Christ rather than a right standing achieved by keeping the rules of the Law. He starts chapter 6 with a question, “Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?” In other words, if faith isn’t based on keeping the Mosaic Law but through a free...

Romans 5 Verse 1 starts, THEREFORE. The word “therefore” is used because Paul is continuing his teaching on GRACE THROUGH FAITH when discussing the Mosaic Law. Verse 1 says, “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have PEACE with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” We are whole and sound in a restored relationship with God because JESUS accomplished what we could not do on our own. Verse 2 says...