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All right, my Bible in 365 brothers and sisters, we have arrived at the wonderful book of Romans. And this is a great book. This is one of my all time favorites. Romans is powerful. It tells us who we are, how we live and why we have hope. It is an incredible book. And I'm going to just tell you this right now. It's if you want to dig in depth, you can go to james cadist.com I offer this Bible study at many levels in many different ways, through many different generations of teachings. You will absolutely love it. Now let me just simply say this. The book of Romans gives us one of the clearest explanations of the gospel found anywhere in the Bible. It explains our sin, our salvation, our identity in Christ, even talks about our relationship with Israel. No joke. And the way we're supposed to live once we understand what God has done for us is also clearly defined in this book. And the message could not be more important than right now. This message is critical. We are living in a dark world
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that's filled with deception and confusion and
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fear and all kinds of spiritual bondage. The world is constantly trying to define who we are. It wants to tell us that we are the sum of our failures or our desires or our feelings or yes, even our past. We're certainly none of that, right? Even our circumstances. Romans tells us something completely different. Romans tells us who we are, who we were without Christ. It tells us that we are now in Christ and what that actually means. And it shows us the power that lives inside of us, the faithfulness of God who saved us and, and by the way, the reasonable response that we should be having to everything that he has done for us. And folks, let me just simply tell you this because it's true. The struggle is real. The struggle is real. At the end of Romans chapter 7, Paul describes the frustration of that struggle. And it's amazing the things that he says. He recognizes exactly how tough it is. He says this. He says, the things I want to do, I don't do. The things I don't want to do, I do. And then he goes on to say, who will deliver me from this death trap? And I want you to notice that he answers that question by simply saying, it's Christ. He doesn't say what will deliver me or what philosophy will deliver me or what mindset will deliver me. He says, no, it's Christ. And that is remarkable because it forces us to ask this question. Does what I do determine who I am? Or does who I am determine what I do? And Romans teaches us that who we are determines what we do. Now, if we know that, we understand that, and our identity is wrapped up in Christ and we recognize that, then Romans 8 does something remarkable. It reminds us that we are no longer under any condemnation if we are walking with Christ.
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Guys, the power of such a thing is remarkable. It's our identity.
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Being in Christ is not just our position. It's our identity. We're not trying to earn our way into Christ, or into heaven, for that matter. We're not trying to work our way out of condemnation. We're not trying to do any of those things. Jesus took the condemnation that belonged to us. And because we are in him, there is now no condemnation.
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Now let's get this straight. The enemy is going to accuse us. Sure he will.
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The world is going to condemn us. Of course they will. What do we expect? Our own minds are going to come against us. Our own minds are going to remind us of the very things that we have done wrong and beat us up.
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But God says that those who are in Christ Jesus are no longer condemned. We have been made free from the law of sin and death.
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In other words, the effects of falling short of the perfect law of God is no longer something that we are subjugated to.
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Christ did it for us. The power of the resurrection lives inside of us.
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Let me read to you one of
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my favorite passages in the Bible. It's Romans, chapter 8, verse 11. And it is powerful. What it means is substantial. It says this. It says, but if the Spirit of
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Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwelleth in you.
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Think about what that means. Just think about it for a second. The same Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you and dwells in me.
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We're not powerless, you guys, against sin. We're not helpless against temptation. We are not condemned to remain enslaved to the patterns that once used to control us. Victory doesn't come from the strength of our flesh. If it did, I'd be gone.
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Victory comes through the power of the Holy Spirit of God that lives inside of us. The Spirit of God that gives life.
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He changes our desires. He strengthens us to obey. He gives us the power to say no to the flesh and yes to God.
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That just doesn't mean that as believers, we never struggle.
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Come on, give me a break. We know that that's not true. We know that we struggle. Romans, chapter seven makes it very clear that the Struggle is super real. But Romans chapter 8 makes it equally clear that we're no longer fighting alone, that we are no longer fighting without power. The power of the resurrection of Jesus lives inside of us.
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And that speaks boldly to the fact that we are children of God. We're not slaves to fear, we're not slaves to sin.
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Later on In Romans chapter 8, he says that, and I think it's super important that we understand that we have received the spirit of adoption.
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My mom and my dad gave me one of the greatest childhoods that any man could ever receive, any boy could ever receive. I was
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not physically adopted like I
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got to adopt my children, but one
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of the greatest joys that I have
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received in my life is to tell
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all of my children that I've adopted, that I myself am adopted as well. And my oldest daughter said, well, James Baba, Jitto never adopted you.
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I said, you're right, honey, but the God who created Jitto adopted me just like he adopted you.
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When you put your faith and trust in Him.
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We were adopted, all of us.
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You know, we're. I don't get me wrong, I. I appreciate the. We are the world, we are God's children.
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But that's a lie.
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You don't become a child of God until you put your faith and trust in Jesus.
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This is the problem with doing this all in one take. Now I have to do this because. Crying. Hold on a second, I gotta mute the mic. We become God's children when we put our faith and trust in him and he changes our identity and we receive the inheritance. By the way, Romans reminds us of God's faithfulness, and it reminds us of God's faithfulness through showing us that God continues to remain faithful to Israel. Romans chapter 9 through 11, if you
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read through that
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it deals directly with Israel and the faithfulness of God.
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Some wrongly will teach that God is
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finished with Israel or that his promises to Israel have somehow been cancelled.
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But Paul asked the question directly and he makes it very, very clear. He says, I say, then has God cast away his people? And his answer is, God forb. For I also am an Israelite of the seed of Abraham, the tribe of Benjamin. God hath not cast away his people, which he foreknew. Paul makes it even more clear later on in. In Romans chapter 11. He says it right in verse 25.
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He says, For I would not, brethren,
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that you be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own conceits. He says, the blindness in part is happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in. In other words, what he goes on to say is that God is not done dealing with Israel. As a matter of fact, when you read the passage that says, for the gifts and calling of God are without repentance, it does not apply to somebody who's fallen away or has committed sin and now is coming back to start serving the Lord. The gifts and calling of God being without repentance speaks directly of Israel.
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Now, why am I making a big deal of that? If God abandons Israel, then we have no hope.
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God doesn't break his promises. His faithfulness to Israel is evidence of his faithfulness to the Church. The God who keeps his covenant with Israel is the same God who promises that nothing can separate us from the love of Christ.
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Our salvation is secure because God's character is unchanging and we see that in the way he deals with Israel. Now, I would be amiss if I did not mention this part because this was one of Charlie's favorite sets of verses in the Bible. After explaining the mercies of God through the first 11 chapters of the book of Romans, Paul tells us how we should respond. This is what he says. Romans, chapter 12, verse 1.
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He says, I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
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Then he says this. He says, be not conformed to this
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world, but be you transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
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Notice what Paul says. He says, by the mercies of God, because everything God has done because of
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the fact that he justified us. He freed us from condemnation. He placed his spirit inside of us. He adopted us as his children. He secured our future. And he demonstrated that he always keeps his promises. Our reasonable service is to give him our entire lives. A living sacrifice means we belong completely to Him. Our minds belong to Him. Our bodies belong to Him. Our decisions belong to Him. Our time belongs to Him. Our resources belong to Him. Our future belongs to Him.
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In a world filled with deception,
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we
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must refuse to be conformed to to the thinking of this insane world. We have to. I need you to see this. The world wants to shape our minds. Guys, please listen to me when I say this. The world wants to shape our minds through fear, through propaganda, lust, pride, you name it. Bitterness, confusion. But God wants to transform us by renewing our minds through His Word. We don't overcome darkness by becoming more like the world.
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We never Will we overcome darkness by surrounding ourselves completely around the word of God and surrendering ourselves to God?
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The message of Romans is a message of hope. Yeah, certainly. Sin is real. The struggle is real. The world is dark. Believe me when I say this. Deception is increasing. Make no mistake. But there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. The same spirit who rose Christ from
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the dead lives inside of us to give us victory over sin. We are not slaves to fear. We are children of God. God. God has not abandoned Israel. He will never abandon those who belong to Christ because of that and because of his mercy. Our reasonable service is to present ourselves
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to him as living sacrifices, refusing to be conformed to this world and allowing him to transform us by the renewing of our minds. The darkness does not define us.
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The deception will never control us. The world does not determine our identity. We, we belong to Christ.
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We have the power of his spirit living inside of us. And because God always keeps his promises, we have every reason to be filled with hope. That's the story of Romans. This is one thing that I think is so critical for me to leave you with. At the end of Romans, specifically In Romans, chapter 16, he says this. He says, be innocent of those things which are evil. And what does he want us to do instead? He says, be excellent in that which is good. What does that mean? Surround yourself with the word of God and allow that to be the thing that influences you, engulfs you with insight and wisdom, and gives you the victory that God has already promised you. Oh, there's so much more in Romans. Go through my Bible studies on there. We're more than conquerors. All things come together for the good. There's so much we can learn in this book. It's incredible. It even answers the questions about what about the pygmies? And what about people who've never heard the gospel? Romans is a powerhouse. Get in there, explore it. You're gonna love it. By the way, see you at the Q and A in a few days. I love you guys. God bless you and keep fighting the good fight.