October 30

Written by Bill Grandi on October 30th, 2024

In my daily Bible reading, I began this morning in the book of Romans. Considered Paul’s magnum opus, it is chalk full of truth. All kinds of truth. The purpose of this devotion today is not to give an overview of the whole book, but to give a glimpse into chapter 1.

  • Verses 1-7 has Paul greeting the Roman followers of Christ. He gives some serious doctrinal truth as to who Jesus is.
  • Verses 8-17 has Paul grateful for the Roman followers of Jesus because the love they have for Jesus has spread and others have heard about their love. He gives, perhaps, the most succinct purpose of the Gospel in verses 16-17: “For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes-the Jew first and also the Gentile. This Good News tells us how God makes us right in His sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, ‘It is through faith that a righteous person has life.'” (NLT)

But then he lowers the boom. He writes about God’s displeasure with sin-all sin. His approach is multi-pronged:

  1. There are those who disregard God Himself. They deny His existence. I would put them in the “We can’t see Him so He is not real” camp. Paul says they are without excuse. (v.20). He says those who want to think that way are fools. Instead of worshiping a real God, they worship a fake god (images of people, birds, animals and reptiles).
  2. Then comes a very distinct and very confrontational passage: verses 24-27. These are called “clobber verses” because they are used as clubs to confront, judge, condemn and beat people over the head who struggle with SSA. In all honesty, only those who want to justify theirs-or someone else’s actions-can overlook this. BUT…
  3. I am stopped dead in my tracks by verses 28-32. Lest I get arrogant and stand on a self-righteous soapbox, there is a laundry list of sin that condemns us all. We may say, “SSA? Not me!” and feel good about ourselves. But hold on! Look at the list: every kind of wickedness, sin, greed, hate, envy, murder, quarreling, deception, malicious behavior, and gossip. Then Paul writes, “They are backstabbers, haters of God, insolent, proud, and boastful. They invent new ways of sinning, and they disobey their parents.” As each one is leveled, we start hopping around lest His divine foot stomp nail our feet to the floor and expose our sinful heart.

Short recap I know. There is so much more to say. I simply say: investigate on your own. Read this chapter slowly, all the while asking God to speak to your heart. The message will not only be clear; it is one you cannot escape. I think we all need the message of Romans 1, but I especially am grateful for the simple words about Good News in verses 16-17 (see above).

 

6 Comments so far ↓

  1. I will revisit these verses in Romans 1 today, Bill. Thanks for encouraging us to do so.
    Blessings!

    • Bill Grandi says:

      You are more than welcome Martha. Any encouragement I can give to get into the Word is worth it. 🙂

  2. gail says:

    I am reading through Romans now, that letter of Pauls has so much information, its hard not to highlight the entire book. Romans is an awesome book, Paul is an awesome teacher. I have often said if you are going to read only three books of the Bible they should be the gospel of John, Romans, and Psalms, but you have to get to Revelations sometime. Honestly the entire Bible in its entirely is the best book and the only book you can read that will change your life.

    • Bill Grandi says:

      I would concur on your picks Gail. I would add Proverbs on a daily basis. 🙂 As for Revelation, I’m done studying it for awhile. Least I won’t skip it next time I get there reading. You are right on the Bible being the one book that will change a life.

  3. Ed says:

    I’m just amazed that people still worship snakes and idols… One will usually bite you, and the other will do nothing about it.
    How stupid can people still get?

    SSA though? What’s that? Did I miss something?

    • Bill Grandi says:

      It is amazing Ed that people will worship inanimate things. SSA is Same Sex Attraction.