Romans 1_1-7 (#1.2024.11.03)

Scott Keffer:

Hi. If you're looking for greater hope, assurance, and confidence through the shifting sands of life, then join me on today's episode as we dig deep into the bible to discover rock solid truth for life and living from the God of the bible. I'm your host, Scott Keffer. Hi, and welcome to today's episode. As always, for a deeper experience, you can go to the show notes and download the blank insight sheet. Fill in the blanks along with the group. Depending on how you're listening to this, there will be a link to the episode website at beholdingbibletruth.com, and a sheet with the answers is included as well. Enjoy today's episode.

Scott Keffer:

Well, as I step into, a book in the bible, I'm always reminded these aren't really books. They were letters. They were letters to believers. And in this case, there were letters to believer believers in the church of Rome that Paul had not met before. He had not planted this church as the other letters that he writes as well. So it's a great reminder. I thought it'd be a good thing to read through the book of Romans together. The problem is it's 7,114 Greek words, which would take, on the average, about an hour and a half.

Scott Keffer:

So we would have to read for about an hour and a half together. And if I sit up here, it'd probably be 2 hours to do that. Right? It is a good idea at some point in time for you to invest the time to read through the book of Romans to just try and get it because that's what they would do. Of course, they would get a letter from from Paul, and they would sit down, and they would read it from start to finish. And that these are indeed letters, so that's a great reminder that we're literally read in in the church. There is there is no punctuation. There are no chapters, and there are no verses in the Greek. So they're just he's reading from beginning to end.

Scott Keffer:

t are complete, but there are: 15800

Scott Keffer:

What was the number of words that you said? 7,114, Give or take a couple depending on which manuscript you're looking at. But approximately 7,114 words, which is, a lot of words. Right? If you think about sit down, when was the last time you wrote a 7,000 word letter to anyone. Right? Encompassing really a full so I outlined here this idea of the the need for righteousness and justification. This is kind of an outline. But understand, keep in mind, it was written to be read by the church, and it's a monumental book or monumental letter. So on 386, as he wept, he heard his he heard children playing. He's in the backyard, and he's he's hearing these children playing, and he's weeping about his life.

Scott Keffer:

s moving as anything else. In: 1513

Scott Keffer:

In fact, he was teaching on it, and he read, in thy righteousness, deliver me. And thy righteousness, deliver me. He thought, how could god's righteousness do anything but convict? Right? Anything but convict. So he said night and day, I ponder until I grasp the truth as he's thinking on Romans 117. For in it, the righteousness of god is revealed from faith to faith. He said, I grasped the truth that the righteousness of God is that righteousness whereby through grace and sheer mercy, he justifies us by faith. Therefore, I thought myself to be reborn and to have gone through an open door open doors into paradise. This passage of Paul became to me a gateway to heaven.

Scott Keffer:

That, of course, was Martin Luther. And then the preface to Romans, first, we must mark diligently the manner of speaking of the apostle. And above all things, know what Paul meaneth by these words, law, sin, grace, faith, righteousness, flesh, spirit, and such like, or else read out ever so often, thou shalt but lose thy labor, written by Tyndall in his publication of Romans. Yeah. So we get some kind of sense here. Right? There's a lot going on in the letter to the church at Rome, letter to the church at Rome. So as we think about it, I'm gonna suggest that the summary is really helpful, outlines are really helpful, quotes are really helpful, but we're gonna see the entire book of Romans in these first seven verses, literally. So the first thing that we point out is that God is the subject, that God is the subject.

Scott Keffer:

We tend to think the Bible, you're God's love letter to us, and we tend to think about us because I need no help starting with me. Because I start with me every every day, every every minute of every day. Everything starts with me, and god reminds us that he's the the the beginning and the end. For from him, through him, and to him are all things. So it's a reminder, he is the beginning. Everything has its definition in relation to him. Nothing can be defined apart from him. So god occurs a 153 times, an average of once every 46 words, more frequently than any other New Testament book.

Scott Keffer:

So as the letter is written, right, the the the idea of law, you can see 72 times half as many Christ, sin, Lord, and faith, but god occurs. Right? He is the beginning and the end. The other thing that I remember because usually when when people go through books and I find it kind of interesting. They give you background on the offer, and then there's a lot of argument about who broke this and all of that kind of stuff. And it seems to be meandering to me because, I'm reminded that God is the author of every word in scripture. God is the author of every word in scripture. So he says, know this first of all. Know this, first of all, primary, foundational.

Scott Keffer:

This is the basis on which you need to consider and understand scripture. He said, what? No prophecy of scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God. So what does that mean? It means that that men moved by the Holy Spirit would write out scripture, and they didn't it says in there, they didn't understand it. And that the old testament prophets would search and search for what did I write about because they didn't understand. And then no

Speaker B:

prophecy is a matter of their own interpretation. In other

Scott Keffer:

words, this isn't about your interpretation of interpretation.

Speaker B:

In other words, this isn't about your interpretation of scripture. It is about the

Scott Keffer:

author's interpretation. That prophecy was written through them, and they didn't understand it oftentimes because it was men moved by the Holy Spirit, what, spoke underline this, spoke from God. You would think that we are spiritual mechanics. In other words, we love to figure out the how. And if I don't understand the how, then I say, well, I don't understand it. It. That doesn't make sense to me. How did he do that? How did he do that? Only when they wrote, not at other times.

Scott Keffer:

What was that about? How did it happen? Here's the answer. I have no idea other than it's true. Men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God. I don't need to figure it out. You know, they'll argue, well, you know, the canon of scripture, where did it come from? And it wasn't in place before, and it is now, and I have no idea. All I know is I trust god as sovereign in the compilation and the writing of scripture. Trust him in that. So I don't need to worry about all of that.

Scott Keffer:

Right? Why do I know that? Because he says it. He says, know this first of all. Right? No prophecy of scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation. Yeah. But sometimes I just don't get it. Oh, just as also our beloved brother, Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you as also in all his letters, speaking of them of these things in which there are some, oh, that's interesting, hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort as they do the rest of scripture. So Peter confirms that Paul's writing, he saw them as scripture. And, oh, by the way, there are things hard to understand.

Scott Keffer:

Gee, is that a surprise? The eternal god who spoke all things into being, who sustains all that there is, who is working his purposes all through history, that me, a finite creature, would have trouble understanding his purposes? And that if I don't understand, then something must be wrong. There is my perspective or the thought that I can understand fully. All that there is. If you see god and don't have some significant questions left with I don't get it, the evangelicals believe they have to have the answer to all things all things. Right? All things. But there are some things that are hard to understand. Yeah. And all scripture is inspired by God, literally breathed out by God, and it is profitable for what? Teaching, reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness that the man of God may be adequate.

Scott Keffer:

Adequate would be fully. Right? We think about it as just enough. Though, adequate in the greed, this would be fully. Right? Adequate. Equipped for every good work. All is profitable. All is profitable. So God is the subject.

Scott Keffer:

He's also the author. Therefore, there are some things that are hard to understand, and there will be. If you stay with me through the entire journey, you will be you will be shocked and rocked for sure. If you walk through the entire book of Romans, there'll be some things that you say, I don't understand. I don't agree with. I don't make sense to me. I'm gonna argue about blah blah blah blah blah blah blah, but we're gonna walk through it together. And, hopefully, you will see some things you haven't seen before.

Scott Keffer:

Alright. Flip over. So as we look at this, sometimes if you've been through scripture before, you tend to come with all your understanding. And so so as we come to scripture, I like to set it aside and say, Lord, speak afresh. Let your word fall afresh upon me. And you're gonna see some things maybe you've seen before. I don't know. So So you'll be reminded of some things you've seen before and and some new.

Scott Keffer:

And I love this because Paul not only identifies that he's the author, which is important, but he shows that his identity and his purpose are clear. Paul's identity and his purpose are clear. How many of you wanna know that you have a purpose, that your life matters, that it makes a difference? Right? And, you know, we're we're born and we grow up and we're we spend our life searching for who am I. Like, who am I really? Right? Who who am I really? And is there an unchangeable identity that's part of me, or am I just, like, you know, dust in the wind, like, Kansas talked about? Right? Right? Is it you know, who who am I really? And Paul's talking about not only who he is, but from that, we can understand how to understand that. So he says, first of all, my identity is, oh, I must be an apostle. How many would say that role would carry with it a lot of a lot of cred. You'd say, I'm an apostle. There aren't many of us.

Scott Keffer:

I'm called to God. But what does he begin with? He says, I'm a bond servant. I'm a bond servant of Jesus Christ. Well, Paul, I I wouldn't put that first. I mean, if you're doing your resume here, because you're listening on your resume, don't put the bond servant of so this is the idea that he has complete and utter devotion, that he has a deep and binding obligation, which is foundational in his life. Who in the heck would call himself a bond servant? Think about that. I mean, if somebody said, so yeah. Who are you? What do you do? I'm a bond servant of Jesus Christ.

Scott Keffer:

Well, that guy's weird. Right? I mean, you think that guy's weird. Right? Because we're the captain of our own ship. We're the master of our own destiny. I'm not a slave or a servant to anyone. Not a slave or a servant to anyone. And, of course, we're gonna find out in Romans that's not the case. We find out that we're all bondservants.

Scott Keffer:

Then he's a called apostle, so we see his calling and his role. He's really cute. I'm a called apostle. Gives my life definition. It gives my life focus. It gives my life, right, a narrowing, and his purpose was he was set apart from birth. So in Galatians, he says, when the lord had set when he who had set me apart, when did he set him apart? Even from my mother's womb, which, of course, has the indication that the the plan and the purpose were even before he was born, of course, but from from his mother's womb and called me through his grace. Everybody's got a different story, right, growing up.

Scott Keffer:

Some good, some bad. Some have good heritage. Some have not so good heritage. But Paul's reminding us that your story was written from the womb, from the point of conception beyond, set apart from his mother's womb and called me through his grace. And he's called for the gospel. He said, I'm called for the gospel. All for the gospel. What gospel? Your gospel, Paul? Somebody else's gospel? Whose gospel?

Roger:

That's what Paul

Scott Keffer:

He says it's God's gospel. It's the gospel of God. It's the gospel of God. So he was set apart, separated, which was really an indication of who he was before he was a Pharisee, which literally meant separatist. They were separated. And so Paul was separated for the law. He's now separated for the gospel. So there's all there's this idea that in there, there's a transformation, a transformation from what you were and who you were.

Scott Keffer:

Right, before he was a bondservant, just served someone else. He served himself. He served the law. He served the the Pharisees. Right? So this idea that he identifies at the core as a bondservant, one who is in complete and utter devotion to the lord Jesus Christ. As a result of that, there's purpose in his life. There's calling. There's a role.

Scott Keffer:

There's purpose. All of it is a design. All of it indicates that the creator had a design had a design for Paul, and it's all wrapped up in the gospel of God. And he says this gospel, the gospel of God, is a fulfillment. It's a fulfillment of what? God's plan, but his promise specifically. Yes. With his plan, he made a promise. It's God's promise beforehand.

Scott Keffer:

The protoevangelium. What's that mean? The first gospel. When did the gospel when was the gospel preached? The gospel was preached in the garden. I will put in the tea between you and the woman and between your seed and yours and her seed, he shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel. So sin and the fall of man and god preaches the gospel right away. The gospel is preached. Preached in Genesis 315. The first gospel.

Scott Keffer:

So he's saying, this is a fulfillment, this gospel, which was preached, right, in the garden, but it was planned, as you said, where? From all we're gonna see, from all eternity, from all eternity, this gospel. And it was concerning Jesus Christ. And we think of that, that's his name. It isn't named, but it it's an indicator of who he is. He's Jesus, the man. Jesus, the man. That's his humanity. He was born the son of man.

Scott Keffer:

He was born of a descendant, seed of David. His humanity, born the son of man, and he's Christ. What does Christ mean? Yeah. He's deity. He's the Messiah. He's the promised one. He's the sent one. He's the Messiah.

Scott Keffer:

So his humanity and his deity and literally, I loved it. It says he was declared to be the son of God. He's declared. God demonstrates and he declares. He demonstrates, and he declares. In order to give you evidence, he validates, if you will. Right? This declaration is the word that we use now for horizon. The horizon sets the the line between here and above, if you will.

Scott Keffer:

Think about the horizon. It means to determine, to appoint, to set boundaries that he set boundaries. He determined, he appointed, He set the boundaries with the son of God. The son of God is the defining line. He is the horizon, if you will, the separating line. How do you do that? With power by the resurrection. With power by the resurrection. From the dead.

Scott Keffer:

From the dead. So in other words, he made it irrefutable that Jesus Christ is the one. Irrefutable. There is as we looked the end of Matthew, there is enough evidence by the power of the resurrection of Christ. He set the horizon. And he said according to the spirit of holiness, which gives us the sense that in him in him was man and with god, right, fully man, fully god with the spirit of holiness. In other words, in him, all the fullness of deity dwells in bodily form. In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God, and the word became flesh, and tabernacle among us.

Scott Keffer:

The word became flesh. The uncontainable stepped into a container, keeping his full deity. That by itself is like. What? The uncontainable stepped into a container. Right? According to the spirit of holiness. So this gospel is a promise fulfilled, and it's concerning Jesus Christ, man and God. And it proclaims Jesus Christ as lord. It proclaims Jesus Christ as lord.

Scott Keffer:

So in Philippians, it says, consider him. Right? The lord Jesus Christ, who, although we existed in the form of god, did not regard the quality with god a thing to be grasped. But he'd emptied himself, taking on the form of a bondservant and being made in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient, obedient to the point of death on a cross. Cursed is the man who hangs on the tree. Think about that. So he gave us this picture of bondservant and obedience. And God says, as a result of that, God highly exalted him and gave him a name, which is above every other name.

Scott Keffer:

Right? That the name of Jesus, every knee should bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. Lord to the glory of God the father. This is a fulfillment of Isaiah. And in Isaiah, literally, the verse is every tongue will swear allegiance. Every tongue will swear allegiance. Well, that seems a little bit more serious than I'll bend my knee and I'll confess. Swear allegiance. Swear allegiance.

Scott Keffer:

We don't get it because we grew up pledging allegiance to a flag to the country. Right? As a Christian, we swear allegiance to Jesus as lord, to Jesus as lord. I don't know about you, but there's something that just rattles inside of me. I don't wanna swear allegiance. I don't want a lord. I wanna help her. I want you to be there when I need you. I want you to fix my life and take care of me and give me all the stuff I want, but I don't wanna swear allegiance.

Scott Keffer:

I don't wanna bend my knee. I don't wanna proclaim that I serve you. But he says, swear every tongue will swear allegiance. So the gospel proclaims the lord Jesus as lord as lord. We haven't grown up with the house of lords. We haven't grown up with the king. We haven't grown up even with that idea. Right? The good thing about America is freedom is the key here.

Scott Keffer:

Problem is we grew up free. I like to be free. Like, be free and add the Lord. Like, be free and just add him to fix the things. Right? Challenging. And all of this is the grace of God through Jesus Christ. Paul says it's the grace of God. It's the grace, which is why I've titled Romans the sovereign grace sovereign grace of almighty God.

Scott Keffer:

Because we're gonna see the sovereign grace of God and how it is all the grace of God and his sovereign grace as we go through here. But he says, it isn't just for that. There's an outcome. What's this for? He says what? Faith among the Gentiles for his name's sake. No. The Obedience of oh, I hate that word. Don't you hate that word? Yes. Obedience.

Scott Keffer:

Like this lord thing in obedience. Dang. I wanted to like the benefits of faith among all the Gentiles. That's what I wanna put in there the benefits of faith. Right? Dang. That's why I hate to teach line upon line, precept upon precept, because I like to pick the verses I like. I kind of need I want these hard ones. Benefits.

Scott Keffer:

No. What for? The obedience of faith. Be that makes it from from a theory to a practical, doesn't it? It's the obedience of faith. And particularly, among whom? Yeah. Scripture is very clear. You'll see this. Salvation is to the Jews first and then the Gentiles, sometimes called Greeks. Right? And that in the middle are the call.

Scott Keffer:

Some born Jewish, the rest born not Jewish or Gentile. Only 2 kinds of people in the world. Either you were born Jewish or you were born not Jewish. And so from spiritual standpoint, it's either that. In the middle, there is the calls. There are all the calls. Some from Jewish, background heritage, some from Gentile heritage, the Greeks, Jews, the Greeks and the Jews. So what do we get from this? So Paul then applies this.

Scott Keffer:

Right? It goes from him to you. He says, you also are the called of Jesus Christ. Called of Jesus Christ. What's that suggest? If you were called, somebody calls you, they call you for a purpose. Of course, there were a reason. They call you. You're not just called. You're called of Jesus Christ.

Scott Keffer:

Right? You're in the call of Jesus Christ, and you are set apart by grace. You're set apart by grace. We're gonna think about grace as we go through here. Unmerited favor. He didn't call you because he needed something from you. He didn't call you because you're super special or you deserve. You're called and set apart by grace, unmerited the unmerited favor of almighty God. And if we go through here, you'll be stunned by what it means.

Scott Keffer:

You'll be stunned. So the gospel, the grace of the lord Jesus Christ. He also says, you're called of Jesus Christ set apart by grace and beloved of God. Beloved of God. That's a weird word because you never say I never say to Beth, oh, I would love you. Well, I never call her my beloved one. We just don't. But it it because it has a deeper it it just says a deep sense.

Scott Keffer:

And I remember when he says, this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. There's something about beloved. Right? It's the favor and the covenant love of God that is set apart and intrinsically woven into. But put on their chosen, accepted, cherished by God, eternally secure, and eternally secure covenantal relationship. It is about a relationship, beloved of God. And you're not only beloved, you're bud beloved by the one the only one that really matters. The only one that really matters. Right? In Galatians, he reminds because everybody says, this is when I came to know God.

Scott Keffer:

No. God says it's not important when you think you're known by you knew me. What's important is known by God. Because people say, I know the Lord, and he'll say, I never knew you. The key is not whether you think you know the Lord. The key is whether he knows you. What's his opinion and what's my standing with him? He's saying you're standing as a result of prices that you were beloved by God. Does that feel like you're beloved? Not most days, does it? And if life goes through its ups and downs and ins and outs, we start to wonder, does anybody really love me? Yeah.

Scott Keffer:

Right? Am I really beloved? Right? But he's saying you can know that. You can absolutely know that. And God doesn't waver. You're beloved by God because he says it. Because you're in Christ. Called, set apart, beloved by God. Not any different from God's eyes than Saint Augustine or Saint anybody. Because he says you're called saints.

Scott Keffer:

He says you're called saints. Not called a saint, you're called saints. Pagio means a holy one. You're called a holy one. You're set apart, which means we're direct or we're distinct from the world distinct from the world, set apart. We're dedicated to god, and we're designed for his purpose. We're set apart for God's purposes, which means we're designed for purpose. So we're distinct, dedicated, and designed.

Scott Keffer:

And the lord calls that a saint, a holy one. I don't feel very holy. I don't act very holy. What's up with that? Wrapped up in this is the future glorification that he has brought about as a result of the fact that he set you apart in Christ, that we will indeed all be saintly, if you will. Right? All be saintly. So he says, you've been set apart set apart. So you're called of Jesus Christ, set apart by grace, beloved of God, you're called saints. So I thought about this.

Scott Keffer:

So Paul gives us a picture. This is not just Paul laying out Paul. This is Paul laying out the way to understand your identity. It's a way to understand. So I think in there, who is bondservant? BU. Who is bondservant? BU. Write down the words sworn allegiance, question mark. Sworn allegiance, question mark.

Scott Keffer:

To whom have you sworn allegiance? Think those kind of questions. So usually at this point in time, we either ignore the question or we think, you know who needs to hear this. We call it a PFO Proverbs for others. This and you know who needs to hear this message. Right? So there's a once for all and an all the time. In other words, there's that settled sense that, yeah, the lord Jesus Christ. Right? A bond servant. I'm having trouble with that, lord.

Scott Keffer:

I am really having trouble with being a bond servant. Because there's a once for all kind of surrender sworn allegiance through the one. Right? And then there's the daily in there. The daily surrendering. Right? I urge you by the mercies of God to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. What is worship coming here and singing? No. Your spiritual service of worship is presenting our bodies. Right? Living out our allegiance.

Scott Keffer:

What do you got for me today, Lord? Where are you going before? Not I'm heading out there. Be sure to come with me. It's just what we normally do. Right? We get out of bed. We head out. Okay. Here's what I'm doing, Lord. Be sure you come with me.

Scott Keffer:

And if I need trouble, let me pull out the fire alarm. Right? Where's the god alarm? So who's our bond servant? And the sense of your settled identity, if I surrender, hardest part of life is recognizing that most of the things that we think about and talk about and worry about, they're they're not even in your bucket. Think Think about all the things you talk about. Do you have any control over them? You've done. Why don't we spend the Lord's saying, what are you doing in that bucket?

Speaker B:

First of

Scott Keffer:

all, that's my bucket. I'm sovereign over the world. I'm sovereign over the country. I'm sovereign over the history. I'm sovereign over this. So why are you in that bucket? Tell you when you're get out of there. What about you? I'm giving you a plot. Dwell in the land.

Scott Keffer:

Cultivate faithfulness. Dwell in your plot. You have a you had a purpose, which I've given you. Right? Dwell in the land. Cultivate faith. Yeah. But it's more fun to be in your bucket, Lord. Talk about things I can't control.

Scott Keffer:

So then Paul says, not only I'm a settled sense that I surrendered my life, that my life, my identity rises not from what I do in that sense, not from people's opinions or what's happening around me, good or bad. My identity is rock solid on the fact that who I am in Jesus Christ. And with that, there's an identity, a call, a role, and a purpose. The calling, a role, and a purpose. And Paul's saying, it's not just I'm an apostle called and set apart. So are you. You're not an apostle, but you have a role. You have gifting.

Scott Keffer:

You're a calling. Let's see. Remind us that you're every life matters. It doesn't matter if you're young or you're old or you're infirmary or not. That calling and purpose goes with you. Just means wherever you are, you still have great purpose. So we should be able to say this is who I am. This is my role.

Scott Keffer:

This is my calling. This is my purpose. That purpose doesn't get nullified just because your circumstances change or your resources are different. That make sense? That means we can carry that out no matter where we are, no matter what's going on because he will carry that out. It's his calling on us. It gives purpose to our life even when it seems like, dang. That's why he said, I'll strengthen Lord, strengthen them with power through his spirit so that Christ can dwell in your heart by faith and that you would know. What will you know? The breadth, the length, and height, and depth, and to know the love of Christ, that you might be filled up to all the fullness of him.

Scott Keffer:

They might strengthen you with all power according to his glorious might. For what? The attaining world's steadfastness and patience. What does that mean? It ain't easy. But is your purpose lost? No. So your purpose remains. So understand you have an identity, you have a calling, you have a role and a purpose. No matter what's happening in your life, it doesn't go away. Whether you're sick or you're broken or you're whatever that is, that that calling comes with you.

Scott Keffer:

Paul opens every book, the spirit of God through Paul, opens every book and ends every book with what I've titled this book, right, this study, which is grace. Grace to you. He opens you with read every letter. Grace to you ends with grace to you. And so he opens this. He says, grace to you. Is that great? What a great greeting. Grace to you.

Scott Keffer:

Unmerited favor. The blessing of almighty god upon you. And he says, shalom. Peace from god our father and the lord Jesus Christ. Grace to you and peace. How many want grace and peace? 2 great things, aren't they? Grace and peace. So he says here, I have given you in these first seven verses, this is the gospel of God, that you are called set apart with purpose and identity and favor, that you're beloved of God, that you are a saint of the almighty God, that you have a share you share in the inheritance of the Lord Jesus Christ. Because I've called you out of darkness.

Scott Keffer:

I put you into the kingdom of my beloved son. That's the gospel. Is it good news? No. It's great news. The gospel is great news. So he says, just like that's the center of what we are going to look at and talk about. And so you need grace. You need peace on a regular basis to walk in that.

Scott Keffer:

To walk in that. So we're gonna walk together through the book of Romans. We're gonna see all of this unfolding in terms of what it means. But he's given us a sense of who we are in the Lord Jesus Christ and what he has accomplished through his son. Alright. Write down the inside or an application, and we'll share some It's fancy tech. Alright. With an insight, they like to share it.

Scott Keffer:

That's like that's you know, I'll confess you, Lord. I might bend my knee, but I swear allegiance. Like, oh, smokes. Right? Holy smokes. Right? So it's the idea that we wear allegiance. But I think it reminds us, we've all sworn allegiance to something and someone. Right? So he's just saying, decide who you're gonna swear allegiance to. Where you're gonna hang your hat? Where are you gonna put your trust? Right?

Roger:

Yeah. As we go through this, I think we're gonna see the logic that Paul uses. My first introduction to Romans was from a Muslim professor. I had grown up Catholic, went to Catholic schools. We never looked at the Bible in the sixties and math was still Latin. So no idea that. But we, I took this course of logic in and I've changed my name. I'll be doctor Hodge because I just completed the trip to Mecca, and then my name is Kate.

Roger:

And he previewed the book, and he's looking at Aristotle and Plato with Socrates, character guards on in the middle is Romans chapter 68 of the fall. So I want you to note that because we're not looking at Romans because of religious beliefs. I'm a Muslim. But looking at this book because of the incredible logic that Paul uses throughout this book to make his arguments.

Scott Keffer:

Interesting. Yeah. Well, you figure if if the spirit of God is the author, he's pretty logical. Right? Yeah. And I'm gonna put this, the logic of God, because he's gonna and and my favorite, most logical question comes up in Romans 8. So if you hang around long enough, we'll be get there. But Yes.

Speaker B:

For

Speaker D:

those of you who've been around for a while, one of my mottos is drill deeply on the important things and don't spend time on the superfluous things. And Tyndale's list here and Paul's topics in Romans fit this motto. Tyndale's words here, law, sin, grace, faith, righteousness, flesh, spirit. These are basics. These are fundamentals that we need to always drill deeply on and not pass over lightly. This is where we need to spend our time. We can't be a mile deep on everything. Let's be a mile deep on the important things and inch deep on the superfluous things.

Speaker D:

Just as a kind of anecdote, more than 30 years ago, when I was in a job search, I was at a an outplacement firm, and we met with other people who were in the same unemployment pool. We all had business cards for the purpose of distributing out to potential employers. And one of the guys had on his business card his name and usually where your title goes, his words were bond servant of Jesus. So this was his primary item on his resume was bond servant of Jesus. I was too naive at that point to have an in-depth discussion with this man, but I certainly remember that the boldness that he went to the job market declaring himself as a bond servant of Jesus. And I respect that, and I it gives me great encouragement to do likewise.

Scott Keffer:

Good stuff. Thank you, Roger. Thank you. Thank you. Good. Any other final thoughts that you're joining for the journey? This should be, good. Roger, would you close us in prayer, please?

Speaker D:

Father, thank you for the opportunity to draw together of those who you have called by your grace that we can gather to explore your truths even more deeply. That as Scott has said, we will find things that we've seen before. We will find things that we have never seen before, and we will find things that we need to see afresh. So, father, I just pray for each of us that we would have open hearts, open minds, and that would be willing and open to the teaching of the spirit and anoint Scott in his preparation of future lessons. That the message of Paul and the glorious news of your grace as part of our journey would come through and embed itself in our heart and then would express itself in our lives. Thank you, father, for this opportunity this morning. Bless our day and bless our ways for we pray in Christ's name. Amen.

Scott Keffer:

Amen. Amen. And may the god who's called you and set you apart for his purposes, may he bless you. May he keep you. May he cause his face to shine upon you. May he lift up his countenance and grant you a shalom deep in your soul. And may the grace of the lord Jesus Christ, the love of god the father, and the fellowship of the holy spirit be with you now and every minute of every day until he comes again. Amen? Amen.

Scott Keffer:

Thanks for listening. I hope you have greater hope, assurance, and confidence in your life and a deeper trust in the God of the bible and his son, Jesus Christ. Until next time, may the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. And may the lord lift up his countenance on you and give you his peace, his shalom in your soul and in your life. Until next time, may god bless you and keep you.