Romans

Romans 1:16a really stuck out to me while reading Romans. "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth". I pray that this will always be true in my life. I pray that I will be a light that shines in darkness.

Romans

Romans, awesome book! There's a reason they call it the Romans road to salvation. Romans tells the whole story. Romans 3:23 For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. It also tells the penalty for this sin Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord. Finally Romans 10:9 tells us how we can be saved. That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 

Romans 6:1

"What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?" The story of my life. It seems that no matter how hard I try I keep sinning, as subtle as they may be. Even though I can't do it right, does that mean I should stop trying? What good am I if I purposely sin knowing I am forgiven? What will He say to me when this life is over if I don't put forth the effort? When I am put to the test, I will do my best, and be forgiven for the rest.

Romans

I was reading Romans straight through for this class, and something stuck out to me that I had never felt like I read before. In Romans 6:21, Paul talks about serving sin and the fruits of that being death.
I thought about all the works and the lives that people live that focuses on sin and serving sin instead of righteousness. All of that adds up to nothing, and no fruit is produced that pleases God. It is amazing that people work so hard for nothing, when the Bible teaches that the only way to a truly worth-while life is in God.

2 Corinthians

From reading 2 Corinthians, I was surprised how many times the word "boast" occurred. Paul says in verse 6 of chapter 12, "Though if I should wish to boast, I would not be a fool, for I would be speaking the truth." Wow - what Paul says may sound like pride, but he was just being truthful. He lived a life that everyone could look at as an "almost perfect" model of what Christianity really is. If anyone deserved a right to boast, it would be Paul.

2 Corinthians

While reading this passage chapter 2 verses 5 through 11 is what caught my attention. Paul discusses forgiveness. I thought this was good because without forgiveness, we would be helpless. Everything revolves around God's forgiveness.

2 Corinthians 4:10-11

Dying to self to make Jesus manifest in our own body is something a Christian easily forgets to do. Our mortal flesh is always there: waiting to be satisfied, wanting to be satisfied of its own desires. Looking past that towards Christ and the things of eternal goodness is something I have to remind myself quite often. How many times a day do I "be myself" without even thinking, and in the process put the Christ-like behaivor away? I pray the Lord deliver my natural self to death to manifest His character in me.

2 Corinthians

The verse that really stuck out to me was Chapter 4:18. It talks about looking for the things that aren't seen-- because what we see now will fade away, but we don't see will be eternal. It is hard for me to imagine that this world will be burnt up someday... It is hard to know that we will all eventually die. I am so young and have such a long life ahead of me, and I can't imagine Heaven like I wish I could.

1 Corinthians

We can get caught up in the fact of a "perfect church", even though everyone knows that it is not possible. Even Christians can fall into sin, and we see that in the letter from Paul to the church in Corinth. I notice that Corinth was such a wicked city, so it must have been difficult for all the Christians to abstain from what was so prevalent all around them. Good thing Paul was there to rebuke them and set them straight. I appreciate the Pastors nowadays that will still rebuke sin, so that the Lord can bring holiness back into people's lives.

Galatians

I had never heard the concept, "Sanctification by Grace" before, until Ken was talking about it on Wednesday. When I realized that salvation is by grace and also sanctification is by grace, I realized that life could be a lot less stressful than I am making it. Sanctification by grace means that we as Christians, allow Christ to live through our lives and although we will fall short of God-- our actions no longer determine our state of Christianity-- our relationship with Christ does. I will fall short and I have to understand that I can't live a perfect life-- no matter how hard i try.

Freedom from bondage

Christ made us free according to Galatians 5:1. Living freely means we are no longer in debt to our sins. What a relief! Those that have accepted Jesus as Savior have such a huge burden lifted off their shoulders. We no longer have to worry that any wickedness we performed, or will perform, will send us to the lake of fire. God's law is so perfect and good that no man (except Jesus) has ever been able to live perfectly and therefore is guilty of breaking His law. Breaking His law is is punished by suffering eternal agony in the lake of fire. But, the Law God gave us no longer holds us (those who believe on Jesus) captive because Jesus died for our sins. His grace frees us and there is nothing I did to deserve His grace except believe on Jesus and what he did for me. To be without belief in Him is to be without freedom from eternal punishment. Thank you God for givnig me the truth and sparing my soul. Seeing my future as not being in the lake of fire is comforting enough to make the trials and hardships in this life worth going through.

Galatians

This is an awesome book. It is a banner book for protestant Christians. The righteous will be justified by faith. It is great how we have been set free to live in the spirit. It helps me in that i feel set free by Christ, I am free from the bondage of sin, and free from the Jewish Traditions.