Scripture referenced 18 passages
The passage this message was preached from, in full, with every other passage it reached for.
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Romans 1 the irreligious pagan is guilty
1 Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, set apart for the Good News of God,
2 which he promised before through his prophets in the holy Scriptures,
3 concerning his Son, who was born of the offspring of David according to the flesh,
4 who was declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord,
5 through whom we received grace and apostleship, for obedience of faith among all the nations, for his name’s sake;
6 among whom you are also called to belong to Jesus Christ;
7 to all who are in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, that your faith is proclaimed throughout the whole world.
9 For God is my witness, whom I serve in my spirit in the Good News of his Son, how unceasingly I make mention of you always in my prayers,
10 requesting, if by any means now at last I may be prospered by the will of God to come to you.
11 For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift, to the end that you may be established;
12 that is, that I with you may be encouraged in you, each of us by the other’s faith, both yours and mine.
13 Now I don’t desire to have you unaware, brothers, that I often planned to come to you, and was hindered so far, that I might have some fruit among you also, even as among the rest of the Gentiles.
14 I am debtor both to Greeks and to foreigners, both to the wise and to the foolish.
15 So, as much as is in me, I am eager to preach the Good News to you also who are in Rome.
16 For I am not ashamed of the Good News of Christ, because it is the power of God for salvation for everyone who believes; for the Jew first, and also for the Greek.
17 For in it is revealed God’s righteousness from faith to faith. As it is written, “But the righteous shall live by faith.”
18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,
19 because that which is known of God is revealed in them, for God revealed it to them.
20 For the invisible things of him since the creation of the world are clearly seen, being perceived through the things that are made, even his everlasting power and divinity; that they may be without excuse.
21 Because, knowing God, they didn’t glorify him as God, neither gave thanks, but became vain in their reasoning, and their senseless heart was darkened.
22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,
23 and traded the glory of the incorruptible God for the likeness of an image of corruptible man, and of birds, and four-footed animals, and creeping things.
24 Therefore God also gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to uncleanness, that their bodies should be dishonored among themselves;
25 who exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
26 For this reason, God gave them up to vile passions. For their women changed the natural function into that which is against nature.
27 Likewise also the men, leaving the natural function of the woman, burned in their lust toward one another, men doing what is inappropriate with men, and receiving in themselves the due penalty of their error.
28 Even as they refused to have God in their knowledge, God gave them up to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not fitting;
29 being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, malice; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil habits, secret slanderers,
30 backbiters, hateful to God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,
31 without understanding, covenant breakers, without natural affection, unforgiving, unmerciful;
32 who, knowing the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but also approve of those who practice them.
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Keep this verse
Romans 2
the religious are also guilty
1 Therefore you are without excuse, O man, whoever you are who judge. For in that which you judge another, you condemn yourself. For you who judge practice the same things.
2 We know that the judgment of God is according to truth against those who practice such things.
3 Do you think this, O man who judges those who practice such things, and do the same, that you will escape the judgment of God?
4 Or do you despise the riches of his goodness, forbearance, and patience, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?
5 But according to your hardness and unrepentant heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath, revelation, and of the righteous judgment of God;
6 who “will pay back to everyone according to their works:”
7 to those who by perseverance in well-doing seek for glory, honor, and incorruptibility, eternal life;
8 but to those who are self-seeking, and don’t obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, will be wrath and indignation,
9 oppression and anguish, on every soul of man who does evil, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
10 But glory, honor, and peace go to every man who does good, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
11 For there is no partiality with God.
12 For as many as have sinned without the law will also perish without the law. As many as have sinned under the law will be judged by the law.
13 For it isn’t the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law will be justified
14 (for when Gentiles who don’t have the law do by nature the things of the law, these, not having the law, are a law to themselves,
15 in that they show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience testifying with them, and their thoughts among themselves accusing or else excusing them)
16 in the day when God will judge the secrets of men, according to my Good News, by Jesus Christ.
17 Indeed you bear the name of a Jew, and rest on the law, and glory in God,
18 and know his will, and approve the things that are excellent, being instructed out of the law,
19 and are confident that you yourself are a guide of the blind, a light to those who are in darkness,
20 a corrector of the foolish, a teacher of babies, having in the law the form of knowledge and of the truth.
21 You therefore who teach another, don’t you teach yourself? You who preach that a man shouldn’t steal, do you steal?
22 You who say a man shouldn’t commit adultery. Do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples?
23 You who glory in the law, do you dishonor God by disobeying the law?
24 For “the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you,” just as it is written.
25 For circumcision indeed profits, if you are a doer of the law, but if you are a transgressor of the law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision.
26 If therefore the uncircumcised keep the ordinances of the law, won’t his uncircumcision be accounted as circumcision?
27 Won’t the uncircumcision which is by nature, if it fulfills the law, judge you, who with the letter and circumcision are a transgressor of the law?
28 For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh;
29 but he is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit not in the letter; whose praise is not from men, but from God.
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Romans 3
reiterates that we are all guilty
1 Then what advantage does the Jew have? Or what is the profit of circumcision?
2 Much in every way! Because first of all, they were entrusted with the revelations of God.
3 For what if some were without faith? Will their lack of faith nullify the faithfulness of God?
4 May it never be! Yes, let God be found true, but every man a liar. As it is written, “That you might be justified in your words, and might prevail when you come into judgment.”
5 But if our unrighteousness commends the righteousness of God, what will we say? Is God unrighteous who inflicts wrath? I speak like men do.
6 May it never be! For then how will God judge the world?
7 For if the truth of God through my lie abounded to his glory, why am I also still judged as a sinner?
8 Why not (as we are slanderously reported, and as some affirm that we say), “Let us do evil, that good may come?” Those who say so are justly condemned.
9 What then? Are we better than they? No, in no way. For we previously warned both Jews and Greeks, that they are all under sin.
10 As it is written, “There is no one righteous; no, not one.
11 There is no one who understands. There is no one who seeks after God.
12 They have all turned away. They have together become unprofitable. There is no one who does good, no, not so much as one.”
13 “Their throat is an open tomb. With their tongues they have used deceit.” “The poison of vipers is under their lips”;
14 “whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.”
15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood.
16 Destruction and misery are in their ways.
17 The way of peace, they haven’t known.”
18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
19 Now we know that whatever things the law says, it speaks to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be closed, and all the world may be brought under the judgment of God.
20 Because by the works of the law, no flesh will be justified in his sight. For through the law comes the knowledge of sin.
21 But now apart from the law, a righteousness of God has been revealed, being testified by the law and the prophets;
22 even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ to all and on all those who believe. For there is no distinction,
23 for all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God;
24 being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus;
25 whom God sent to be an atoning sacrifice, through faith in his blood, for a demonstration of his righteousness through the passing over of prior sins, in God’s forbearance;
26 to demonstrate his righteousness at this present time; that he might himself be just, and the justifier of him who has faith in Jesus.
27 Where then is the boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith.
28 We maintain therefore that a man is justified by faith apart from the works of the law.
29 Or is God the God of Jews only? Isn’t he the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also,
30 since indeed there is one God who will justify the circumcised by faith, and the uncircumcised through faith.
31 Do we then nullify the law through faith? May it never be! No, we establish the law.
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Romans 4
hits the guilt note again, offers a little hope
1 What then will we say that Abraham, our forefather, has found according to the flesh?
2 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not toward God.
3 For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.”
4 Now to him who works, the reward is not counted as grace, but as something owed.
5 But to him who doesn’t work, but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness.
6 Even as David also pronounces blessing on the man to whom God counts righteousness apart from works,
7 “Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, whose sins are covered.
8 Blessed is the man whom the Lord will by no means charge with sin.”
9 Is this blessing then pronounced on the circumcised, or on the uncircumcised also? For we say that faith was accounted to Abraham for righteousness.
10 How then was it counted? When he was in circumcision, or in uncircumcision? Not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision.
11 He received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while he was in uncircumcision, that he might be the father of all those who believe, though they might be in uncircumcision, that righteousness might also be accounted to them.
12 He is the father of circumcision to those who not only are of the circumcision, but who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham, which he had in uncircumcision.
13 For the promise to Abraham and to his offspring that he should be heir of the world wasn’t through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.
14 For if those who are of the law are heirs, faith is made void, and the promise is made of no effect.
15 For the law produces wrath, for where there is no law, neither is there disobedience.
16 For this cause it is of faith, that it may be according to grace, to the end that the promise may be sure to all the offspring, not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all.
17 As it is written, “I have made you a father of many nations.” This is in the presence of him whom he believed: God, who gives life to the dead, and calls the things that are not, as though they were.
18 Besides hope, Abraham in hope believed, to the end that he might become a father of many nations, according to that which had been spoken, “So will your offspring be.”
19 Without being weakened in faith, he didn’t consider his own body, already having been worn out, (he being about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb.
20 Yet, looking to the promise of God, he didn’t waver through unbelief, but grew strong through faith, giving glory to God,
21 and being fully assured that what he had promised, he was also able to perform.
22 Therefore it also was “credited to him for righteousness.”
23 Now it was not written that it was accounted to him for his sake alone,
24 but for our sake also, to whom it will be accounted, who believe in him who raised Jesus, our Lord, from the dead,
25 who was delivered up for our trespasses, and was raised for our justification.
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Romans 5
while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us
1 Being therefore justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ;
2 through whom we also have our access by faith into this grace in which we stand. We rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
3 Not only this, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces perseverance;
4 and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope:
5 and hope doesn’t disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
6 For while we were yet weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.
7 For one will hardly die for a righteous man. Yet perhaps for a righteous person someone would even dare to die.
8 But God commends his own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
9 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we will be saved from God’s wrath through him.
10 For if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we will be saved by his life.
11 Not only so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.
12 Therefore as sin entered into the world through one man, and death through sin; and so death passed to all men, because all sinned.
13 For until the law, sin was in the world; but sin is not charged when there is no law.
14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over those whose sins weren’t like Adam’s disobedience, who is a foreshadowing of him who was to come.
15 But the free gift isn’t like the trespass. For if by the trespass of the one the many died, much more did the grace of God, and the gift by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many.
16 The gift is not as through one who sinned: for the judgment came by one to condemnation, but the free gift came of many trespasses to justification.
17 For if by the trespass of the one, death reigned through the one; so much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one, Jesus Christ.
18 So then as through one trespass, all men were condemned; even so through one act of righteousness, all men were justified to life.
19 For as through the one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the one, many will be made righteous.
20 The law came in besides, that the trespass might abound; but where sin abounded, grace abounded more exceedingly;
21 that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
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Romans 7
the things I want to do I don't do, oh wretched man that I am
1 Or don’t you know, brothers (for I speak to men who know the law), that the law has dominion over a man for as long as he lives?
2 For the woman that has a husband is bound by law to the husband while he lives, but if the husband dies, she is discharged from the law of the husband.
3 So then if, while the husband lives, she is joined to another man, she would be called an adulteress. But if the husband dies, she is free from the law, so that she is no adulteress, though she is joined to another man.
4 Therefore, my brothers, you also were made dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you would be joined to another, to him who was raised from the dead, that we might produce fruit to God.
5 For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were through the law, worked in our members to bring out fruit to death.
6 But now we have been discharged from the law, having died to that in which we were held; so that we serve in newness of the spirit, and not in oldness of the letter.
7 What shall we say then? Is the law sin? May it never be! However, I wouldn’t have known sin, except through the law. For I wouldn’t have known coveting, unless the law had said, “You shall not covet.”
8 But sin, finding occasion through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of coveting. For apart from the law, sin is dead.
9 I was alive apart from the law once, but when the commandment came, sin revived, and I died.
10 The commandment, which was for life, this I found to be for death;
11 for sin, finding occasion through the commandment, deceived me, and through it killed me.
12 Therefore the law indeed is holy, and the commandment holy, and righteous, and good.
13 Did then that which is good become death to me? May it never be! But sin, that it might be shown to be sin, was producing death in me through that which is good; that through the commandment sin might become exceedingly sinful.
14 For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am fleshly, sold under sin.
15 For I don’t know what I am doing. For I don’t practice what I desire to do; but what I hate, that I do.
16 But if what I don’t desire, that I do, I consent to the law that it is good.
17 So now it is no more I that do it, but sin which dwells in me.
18 For I know that in me, that is, in my flesh, dwells no good thing. For desire is present with me, but I don’t find it doing that which is good.
19 For the good which I desire, I don’t do; but the evil which I don’t desire, that I practice.
20 But if what I don’t desire, that I do, it is no more I that do it, but sin which dwells in me.
21 I find then the law, that, to me, while I desire to do good, evil is present.
22 For I delight in God’s law after the inward man,
23 but I see a different law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity under the law of sin which is in my members.
24 What a wretched man I am! Who will deliver me out of the body of this death?
25 I thank God through Jesus Christ, our Lord! So then with the mind, I myself serve God’s law, but with the flesh, the sin’s law.
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Romans 8:1-18
the main passage preached through
1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who don’t walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.
2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus made me free from the law of sin and of death.
3 For what the law couldn’t do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God did, sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh;
4 that the ordinance of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.
6 For the mind of the flesh is death, but the mind of the Spirit is life and peace;
7 because the mind of the flesh is hostile towards God; for it is not subject to God’s law, neither indeed can it be.
8 Those who are in the flesh can’t please God.
9 But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if it is so that the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if any man doesn’t have the Spirit of Christ, he is not his.
10 If Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the spirit is alive because of righteousness.
11 But if the Spirit of him who raised up Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised up Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.
12 So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh.
13 For if you live after the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.
14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are children of God.
15 For you didn’t receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”
16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God;
17 and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ; if indeed we suffer with him, that we may also be glorified with him.
18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which will be revealed toward us.
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Romans 13
owe nothing except to love one another, love is the fulfillment of the law
1 Let every soul be in subjection to the higher authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and those who exist are ordained by God.
2 Therefore he who resists the authority, withstands the ordinance of God; and those who withstand will receive to themselves judgment.
3 For rulers are not a terror to the good work, but to the evil. Do you desire to have no fear of the authority? Do that which is good, and you will have praise from the same,
4 for he is a servant of God to you for good. But if you do that which is evil, be afraid, for he doesn’t bear the sword in vain; for he is a servant of God, an avenger for wrath to him who does evil.
5 Therefore you need to be in subjection, not only because of the wrath, but also for conscience’ sake.
6 For this reason you also pay taxes, for they are servants of God’s service, attending continually on this very thing.
7 Therefore give everyone what you owe: if you owe taxes, pay taxes; if customs, then customs; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.
8 Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.
9 For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,” and whatever other commandments there are, are all summed up in this saying, namely, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
10 Love doesn’t harm a neighbor. Love therefore is the fulfillment of the law.
11 Do this, knowing the time, that it is already time for you to awaken out of sleep, for salvation is now nearer to us than when we first believed.
12 The night is far gone, and the day is near. Let’s therefore throw off the deeds of darkness, and let’s put on the armor of light.
13 Let us walk properly, as in the day; not in reveling and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and lustful acts, and not in strife and jealousy.
14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, for its lusts.
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1 Peter 5
the devil is like a roaring lion, your adversary
1 Therefore I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and who will also share in the glory that will be revealed.
2 Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, exercising the oversight, not under compulsion, but voluntarily, not for dishonest gain, but willingly;
3 neither as lording it over those entrusted to you, but making yourselves examples to the flock.
4 When the chief Shepherd is revealed, you will receive the crown of glory that doesn’t fade away.
5 Likewise, you younger ones, be subject to the elder. Yes, all of you clothe yourselves with humility, to subject yourselves to one another; for “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
6 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time;
7 casting all your worries on him, because he cares for you.
8 Be sober and self-controlled. Be watchful. Your adversary, the devil, walks around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
9 Withstand him steadfast in your faith, knowing that your brothers who are in the world are undergoing the same sufferings.
10 But may the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a little while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you.
11 To him be the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen.
12 Through Silvanus, our faithful brother, as I consider him, I have written to you briefly, exhorting, and testifying that this is the true grace of God in which you stand.
13 She who is in Babylon, chosen together with you, greets you; and so does Mark, my son.
14 Greet one another with a kiss of love. Peace be to you all who are in Christ Jesus. Amen.
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James 2:10
if you have broken the law at any one point, you have broken the whole law
10 For whoever keeps the whole law, and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all.
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Micah 6:8
what God requires, love mercy, walk justly, walk humbly with the Lord
8 He has shown you, O man, what is good. What does Yahweh require of you, but to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?
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Colossians 3:1-3
keep on seeking the things above, set your mind on things above, not on things of earth
1 If then you were raised together with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated on the right hand of God.
2 Set your mind on the things that are above, not on the things that are on the earth.
3 For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
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Matthew 16:21-23
Peter rebukes Jesus, Jesus says get behind me Satan, you are setting your mind on man's interest not God's
21 From that time, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and the third day be raised up.
22 Peter took him aside, and began to rebuke him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord! This will never be done to you.”
23 But he turned, and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me, for you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of men.”
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Galatians 5:19-23
works of the flesh listed in contrast with the fruit of the Spirit
19 Now the deeds of the flesh are obvious, which are: adultery, sexual immorality, uncleanness, lustfulness,
20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, strife, jealousies, outbursts of anger, rivalries, divisions, heresies,
21 envy, murders, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these; of which I forewarn you, even as I also forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit God’s Kingdom.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith,
23 gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
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2 Corinthians 4:17
our light affliction which is but for a moment is working a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory
17 For our light affliction, which is for the moment, works for us more and more exceedingly an eternal weight of glory;
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Hebrews 13
benediction, the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus
1 Let brotherly love continue.
2 Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers, for in doing so, some have entertained angels without knowing it.
3 Remember those who are in bonds, as bound with them; and those who are ill-treated, since you are also in the body.
4 Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the bed be undefiled: but God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterers.
5 Be free from the love of money, content with such things as you have, for he has said, “I will in no way leave you, neither will I in any way forsake you.”
6 So that with good courage we say, “The Lord is my helper. I will not fear. What can man do to me?”
7 Remember your leaders, men who spoke to you the word of God, and considering the results of their conduct, imitate their faith.
8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
9 Don’t be carried away by various and strange teachings, for it is good that the heart be established by grace, not by food, through which those who were so occupied were not benefited.
10 We have an altar from which those who serve the holy tabernacle have no right to eat.
11 For the bodies of those animals, whose blood is brought into the holy place by the high priest as an offering for sin, are burned outside of the camp.
12 Therefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people through his own blood, suffered outside of the gate.
13 Let us therefore go out to him outside of the camp, bearing his reproach.
14 For we don’t have here an enduring city, but we seek that which is to come.
15 Through him, then, let us offer up a sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of lips which proclaim allegiance to his name.
16 But don’t forget to be doing good and sharing, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.
17 Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they watch on behalf of your souls, as those who will give account, that they may do this with joy, and not with groaning, for that would be unprofitable for you.
18 Pray for us, for we are persuaded that we have a good conscience, desiring to live honorably in all things.
19 I strongly urge you to do this, that I may be restored to you sooner.
20 Now may the God of peace, who brought again from the dead the great shepherd of the sheep with the blood of an eternal covenant, our Lord Jesus,
21 make you complete in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
22 But I exhort you, brothers, endure the word of exhortation; for I have written to you in few words.
23 Know that our brother Timothy has been freed, with whom, if he comes shortly, I will see you.
24 Greet all of your leaders and all the saints. The Italians greet you.
25 Grace be with you all. Amen.
World English Bible · Read it in another translation
Recap
The message in order, in a few minutes of reading.
Pastor Mike opened Father's Day morning by walking First B through Romans 8:1-18, a passage the church has been approaching slowly through its daily email devotional. His central concern was what it actually means to be free from condemnation, and what that freedom requires of us day to day.
What was said
Romans 8 opens with "therefore," and Pastor Mike was careful to say that word carries the weight of everything in the first seven chapters. Paul has already established that the irreligious person is guilty, the religious person is guilty, and every one of us falls short. The "therefore" lands here: for everyone who is in Christ Jesus, there is no condemnation. The adversary knows the charges and knows we are guilty, but the only righteous judge has declared us free. The phrase "in Christ Jesus" is the operative one, appearing in both verse one and verse two.
To explain what it means to be set free by "the law of the Spirit of life," Pastor Mike drew a comparison to the law of gravity. Gravity applies to every created thing whether or not anyone believes in it, and the law of sin and death works the same way. But just as flight allows a bird to rise above gravity without abolishing it, the Spirit of God empowers believers to rise above the law of sin and death. God accomplished what the law could not, by sending His Son in human flesh, who walked out a perfect life and offered that perfect record on the cross.
That sacrifice was given with a purpose, and Pastor Mike spent time on the grammar of verse four, where Paul writes that the requirement of the law "might be fulfilled" in us. He explained that "might" here is a subjunctive mood, not a statement of doubt. It reflects two wills: God has provided everything necessary, but fulfillment is contingent on our willingness to receive and walk in it. The requirement itself, he said, comes down to what Jesus named as the two great commandments: loving God and loving people. The first four of the ten commandments concern our relationship with God; the last six concern how we treat one another.
From there the sermon turned to a real danger for believers. Paul says those who set their minds on the flesh are hostile toward God, and Pastor Mike was direct that Christians can and do make that choice. He pointed to Peter being rebuked by Jesus, called Satan not because he was Satan but because he was setting his mind on human interests rather than God's. Colossians 3 commands believers to keep setting their minds on things above, and Pastor Mike noted that the command exists precisely because the alternative is possible at any moment.
The Spirit given to every believer is the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead, and Pastor Mike returned to that point more than once. The power available to forgive someone who has wronged us, to be generous, to come alongside someone hurting, is not a different or lesser power than resurrection power. Galatians 5 provided the contrast: the works of the flesh lead toward death, while the fruit of the Spirit, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, grows out of a life surrendered to God.
He closed with the adoption language of Romans 8:15-17. Believers have not received a spirit of slavery and fear, but a spirit of adoption as sons, with the full inheritance that carried in that culture. By that Spirit we cry out "Abba," a familiar word for father. The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and therefore heirs. Suffering is part of that road, Pastor Mike acknowledged, because free will given to all of us means the choices of others will cause pain. But Paul's own assessment is that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed.
Doing a Bible study?
Here is a guide we have prepared for you: the passages in order, questions for the group, and room to write.
- Pastor Mark walked through Romans 1 through 7 as the buildup to the 'therefore' in Romans 8:1, showing that both the irreligious and the religious are guilty. How does understanding that long buildup change the way you hear the words 'there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus'?
- Pastor Mark used the contrast between the law of gravity and the law of flight to illustrate how the law of the spirit of life works. What does that picture bring up for you about the difference between knowing what is right and actually being empowered to live it out?
and 3 more questions in the guide
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