https://esv.literalword.com/?q=Lev+11%3B+rom+1
Observations from today’s readings and today’s S-WOD, Wednesday, 13 April 2022:
Listen to this message on Leviticus 11 by Jon Courson: https://www.blueletterbible.org/audio_video/popPlayer.cfm?id=2325&rel=courson_jon/Lev
Leviticus 11:45 — For I am the LORD who brought you up out of the land of Egypt to be your God. You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.
“God’s law calls us to be exactly what we were made to be: people who reflect the holy character of our Creator. When God gathered the nation at Sinai and gave to them His law and constituted them as a unique commonwealth among all of the nations of the world, He said to His people, ‘You shall be holy, even as I am holy.’ This was not a new calling. That responsibility of being holy because God is holy was rooted and grounded in creation itself. When God made us and fashioned us, He said, ‘Let us make man in our own image.’ An image is a likeness of something. Being created in the image of God among other things means that we, as God’s creatures who bear His image, are called to mirror and to reflect His character. We are to mirror and reflect His holiness.” (R.C. Sproul)
Note: Here is a short video overview of the first four chapters of Romans: https://youtu.be/ej_6dVdJSIU
Romans 1:1 — “Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God….”
Paul uses the word “gospel” four times in the first chapter of Romans, a word that is used over 90 times in the New Testament. Paul says that he has been set apart for the gospel, that he serves with his spirit “in the gospel,” that he is eager to preach the gospel, and certainly not ashamed of the gospel which is “the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.” Jesus preached the gospel and then called us to preach the gospel to “all creation.” So, what is the gospel?
Without digging into the entire word study (though recommended if you have the time), the word “gospel” means “good news.” So, what is this good news for which Paul and so many others have been willing to give their very lives to share? Most Christians will say that the good news is that God has provided the way to salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. Yes, but from what are we saved? Most Christians would answer, “saved from our sins.” However, first and foremost, we are saved from God Himself, from His wrath against us as sinners —
“The gospel is called the ‘good news’ because it addresses the most serious problem that you and I have as human beings, and that problem is simply this: God is holy and He is just, and I’m not. And at the end of my life, I’m going to stand before a just and holy God, and I’ll be judged. And I’ll be judged either on the basis of my own righteousness–or lack of it–or the righteousness of another. The good news of the gospel is that Jesus lived a life of perfect righteousness, of perfect obedience to God, not for His own well-being but for His people. He has done for me what I couldn’t possibly do for myself. But not only has He lived that life of perfect obedience, He offered Himself as a perfect sacrifice to satisfy the justice and the righteousness of God. The great misconception in our day is this: that God isn’t concerned to protect His own integrity. He’s a kind of wishy-washy deity, who just waves a wand of forgiveness over everybody. No. For God to forgive you is a very costly matter. It cost the sacrifice of His own Son. So valuable was that sacrifice that God pronounced it valuable by raising Him from the dead–so that Christ died for us, He was raised for our justification. So, the gospel is something objective. It is the message of who Jesus is and what He did. And it also has a subjective dimension. How are the benefits of Jesus subjectively appropriated to us? How do I get it? The Bible makes it clear that we are justified not by our works, not by our efforts, not by our deeds, but by faith–and by faith alone. The only way you can receive the benefit of Christ’s life and death is by putting your trust in Him–and in Him alone. You do that, you’re declared just by God, you’re adopted into His family, you’re forgiven of all of your sins, and you have begun your pilgrimage for eternity.” (R.C. Sproul)
After Paul’s opening greetings and overview of the gospel which “is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes,” the gospel of “Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace,” he immediately turns to “the wrath of God [being] revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men.” It is the awfulness of God’s wrath that warrants the urgency for salvation and displays the true magnitude of Gods mercy, grace, and love through Jesus Christ.
Unfortunately, too many have lost perspective of the Holiness of God and the seriousness of God’s wrath. God’s wrath doesn’t preach well today. Sinners are often characterized as merely misguided “victims” of circumstances, and sins are just “mistakes,” no longer something for which a person can be held totally accountable. Today’s more popular God has little if any wrath, rather affection all the time; He is now accepting and tolerant of anyone and everyone because “He understands that we are just human.” However, the good news is only as good as the impending bad news — the looming wrath of God. Where there is no sin, there is no need of a savior, the good news becomes seemingly less relevant, certainly not worth total life commitment. Remember, the first recorded word preached by both John the Baptist and Jesus was “repent,” a word uses 65 times in the Bible but less and less from pulpits.
“The preaching of divine wrath serves as a black velvet backdrop that causes the diamond of God’s mercy to shine brighter than ten thousand suns. It is upon the dark canvas of divine wrath that the splendor of His saving grace most fully radiates. Preaching the wrath of God most brilliantly showcases His gracious mercy toward sinners.” (Steven Lawson, Tabletalk Magazine, Ligonier Ministries)
- Revelation 4:8 — Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!
- Revelation 8:13 — Then I looked, and I heard an eagle crying with a loud voice as it flew directly overhead, “Woe, woe, woe to those who dwell on the earth.”
- Psalm 51:17 — The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
- Matthew 5:3 — Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
- Romans 6:23 — For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
- John 14:6 — Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
- Acts 4:12 — And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.
- Proverbs 28:13 — Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.
- 1 John 1:9 — If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
- 2 Corinthians 5:17 — Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
“Cross” Fit S-WOD (Spiritual Workout of the Day) – 13 Apr 22: Proclaim the whole Gospel message to someone today, the Good News within the context of the bad news, the need for repentance and God’s promise of reconciliation.
Defenders Bible Reading Plan 