Day 197 Bible Readings – Romans 3: 21-22 (ESV)

Amos 3 & 4, Romans 3: 9-31, Psalm 106: 32-39

Romans 3: 21-22 (ESV)

“But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe.”

Verses 21 through 22 from Romans 3 shows Paul’s argument that we are saved from our sinful nature because of our faith in Christ Jesus. We are not saved by knowing the law, because our sinful nature will always lead us to break God’s laws. Paul also says we cannot be saved by our deeds. God’s righteousness is apart from the law of the first covenant God made with Abraham. God’s righteousness will only come from our faith in Jesus Christ. We cannot earn righteousness by our faith in Christ. Our righteousness comes through Christ. The gift of righteousness is freely given to all who believe in Jesus Christ, because Christ paid for sins by his death on the cross and resurrection.

Paul lays out a complex argument explaining that God’s first covenant with Abraham never worked, because of our sinful nature. Even when we know God’s laws and try to follow them, our sinful nature will always lead us to break God’s laws. God’s new covenant with his people through the sacrifice and death of Jesus Christ, ensures that grace is freely given to us despite our sinful nature because Christ paid for ours sins in advance with his death. Leon Morris from his book “The Epistle of the Romans” writes that “Through faith points to the fact that faith is not a merit, earning salvation. It is no more than the means through which the gift is given.”

Day 196 Bible Readings – Romans 2: 22-23 (ESV)

Amos 1 & 2, Romans 2: 17-29, Romans 3: 1-8, Psalm 106: 16-31

Romans 2: 22-23 (ESV)

“You who say that one must not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who boast in the law dishonor God by breaking the law.”

Verses 22 through 23 from Romans 2 shows Paul reminding us that all people will be judged by God whether they know God’s laws or not. In David Guzik’s bible commentary, he says that “God applies his law to both our actions and our attitudes…God will hold us accountable for both our motives and actions.” We cannot just teach God’s law. We need to constantly examine our actions and our attitudes to make sure we are also obeying God’s laws. If we only preach the law to other people and not follow it ourselves, then we are hypocrites in the sight of God. I think for Paul this might even mean that God will judge even more harshly those who point out people who break the law, while they themselves are guilty of doing the same thing. While Jesus was alive, he constantly pointed out the rabbis who told people they were sinning by disobeying God while they themselves were guilty of doing the same thing.

Day 195 Bible Readings – Jonah 2: 1-4 (ESV)

Jonah 1-4, Romans 2: 1-16, Psalm 106: 1-15

Jonah 2: 1-4 (ESV)

“Then Jonah prayed to the Lord his God from the belly of the fish, saying, “I called out to the Lord, out of my distress, and he answered me; out of the belly of Sheol I cried, and you heard my voice. For you cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the flood surrounded me; all your waves and your billows passed over me. Then I said, ‘I am driven away from your sight; yet I shall again look upon your holy temple.”

Verses 1 through 3 from Jonah 2 moved me. God wanted Jonah to go Nineveh and ask the people to repent, and Jonah ran away. Nineveh was a Gentile city and Jonah did not want to do as God asked. Jonah ran away and boarded a ship but God sent a storm, and the sailors threw Jonah into the sea and God had a fish swallow him. Jonah was in the belly of the fish for three days and nights before he started to pray to God. These verses moved me because I know what it is like to run away or avoid a task that God has given to me, and for awhile in my life things in my life got worse. And for a while I know I thought that God had abandoned me. I had to rely on my faith like Jonah to get me through this period. My experience was nothing as fantastical as Jonah getting swallowed by a fish, but the experience felt like I was in the “belly of the beast”.

When you have this kind of experience in your life that is of your own making because of something you’ve done or not done, you have to rely on your faith in God to get through this season of your life. It will feel like God has abandoned you, and I can promise you that thought will cross your mind. But let the thought go and renew your faith in God. Trust that God has your best interests at heart, and that this experience will draw you closer to him and you will look back at it and know that it has strengthened your faith.

Spent the weekend in Tucson and getting caught up

I was invited to spend the weekend in Tucson with family in a rented house. The house was beautiful with a pool, and Tucson was so much cooler than Phoenix. It was nice to sit outside at night because it was only in the 90's instead of in the 100s. We swam in the small pool and it was nice to cool down in the water. 

However when I'm on vacation, I get behind in my Bible readings. I don't get to see my family all that often, so I feel like I need to spend as much time with as possible when I'm with them. I do read the Bible readings for the day, but I always seem to never have the time to think about what part of the daily Bible readings spoke to me. 

So I'm getting caught up on my Bible readings, which is nice after the traumatic and shocking events over the weekend. Fires in San Carlos which destroyed many homes. I spent a weekend in March doing volunteer work in San Carlos, so these fires made me sad. The people I met in San Carlos were so nice. And the assassination attempt of former President Donald Trump. I am thankful I have a God that protects our leaders from evil. Reading the Bible reminds to have peace in the midst of chaotic and shocking times.