(#466) Romans 15 - Stop Thinking About Your Sins or the Sins of OthersGod is not a fan of shame.
Welcome To BARAH MINISTRIES a Christian Church Rory Clark Pastor-Teacher
Good Morning!
Welcome to Barah Ministries… a small, intimate, and local Christian Church with worldwide impact. My name is Pastor Rory Clark. At Barah Ministries, our God is the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We make a difference by teaching the Word of God from God’s perspective, and not from man’s perspective…because how God sees things is radically different from how we see things.
TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON - Stop Thinking About Your Sins and the Sins of Others
Psalm 103, Verse 12 says…
PSALM 103:12 As far as the east is from the west…so far has the Lord removed our transgressions from us.
When is this ABSOLUTE AND IRREVOCABLE TRUTH going to become a reality for believers in Christ? Unfortunately, no time soon. You see believers in Christ would rather believe what the flesh has to say than what the Word of God has to say. In today’s lesson, as we conclude the first passage of Romans, Chapter 15, God gives us a clear message that poor treatment of ourselves, and poor treatment of others is not a true reflection of what it means to be a Christian. Welcome to a place where you can learn to love yourself and others…and where you can learn to think of yourself and others from the point of view of who you are in union with Christ.
We are here to study the Word of God. The Bible also calls the Word of God the Word of Life…and Christians are instructed to hold fast to the Word of Life so that it will be obvious, when the Lord returns for us, that we did not run the race of this life in vain! Let’s hear Jeremy Camp sing about the Bible in his song WORD OF LIFE.
MUSIC AND REFLECTION Be Occupied with the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ Enjoy the Singing of His Praises
WORD OF LIFE Jeremy Camp
OPENING PRAYER Let us pray...
We’re grateful, Heavenly Father, for the privilege of studying Your absolute truth...the Word of God…
Thank you for helping us to get a true picture of ourselves as You see us….thank you for giving us a true picture of others through how You see them…through the study of the Word of God…
Help us to remember these lessons in our moment to moment dealings with others and with ourselves…
…we ask this through the power of God the Holy Spirit…in Christ’s name...Amen.
TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON - Stop Thinking About Your Sins and the Sins of Others
In the opening of every lesson at Barah Ministries, we learn something about God. Since today’s discussion about God is a little longer than usual, we started the lesson with the song. Today, we learn that God is not a fan of SHAME.
So here’s a question for you, “How do you treat yourself?” We’ve been studying about how to treat others in Romans, Chapters 14 and 15, but how do you treat yourself?
When Christians think about the destructive sins, I guarantee one of the most destructive sins never crosses their minds. They’ll readily consider the sexual sins…both adultery (sex with someone who is not your spouse) and fornication (pre-marital sex)…they’ll call to mind the sins that alter consciousness…sins involving drugs and alcohol…they may even surface the seven deadly sins…lust…gluttony…greed…laziness…wrath…envy… and pride. But one of the most mentally destructive sins will seldom come to mind… SHAME.
God is not a fan of shame.
There are three categories of sin…mental attitude sins…what you THINK can be a sin…sins of the tongue…what you SAY can be a sin…and overt sins…what you DO can be a sin. The mental attitude sins, of course, are the worst, because they start a chain reaction of sinning…what you THINK becomes what you SAY becomes what you DO.
When I was a child, the neighborhood busybody said to me, “Boy you ought to be ashamed of yourself.” My thought was, “Why?” Shame is a sin… shame is not useful…so I had a hard time figuring out why I should feel shame. What is shame? SHAME A painful feeling held in the conscious mind wherein we blame ourselves for something we have done in the past that we think is dishonorable, improper, or ridiculous, often when the thing we did isn’t even our own fault.
A host of biblical heroes did battle with shame. It all started with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Can you imagine the shame Adam and Eve felt after their sin…the sin that caused the fall of all mankind? They spoiled the perfect creation God had made. They were in a perfect world…they had perfect minds and bodies…and they had perfect fellowship with God…just a few of the many perfect things they enjoyed.
When Adam and Eve chose to sin against God, all of God’s creation was made the subject of the sin’s effect, which included disease, decay, death, and separation from God for all eternity. Because of Adam’s sin, every human being was born with a sin nature—the flesh—with its natural inclination and endless desire to sin. Romans, Chapter 5, Verse 12…
ROMANS 5:12 Therefore, just as through one man (Adam) sin entered into the world…and spiritual death through sin…and so spiritual death spread to all men… because all were considered to have sinned when Adam sinned…
So Adam and Eve were the first to experience shame…Genesis, Chapter 3, Verses 6 to 10…
GENESIS 3:6 When the woman (Isha) saw that the (forbidden) tree (in the middle of the garden) was good for food…and that it was a delight to the eyes…and that the tree was desirable to make a person wise…she took from its fruit and ate…and she gave also to her husband who was with her…and he ate.
GENESIS 3:7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened…and they knew that they were naked…and (in shame) they sewed fig leaves together and made loin coverings for themselves.
GENESIS 3:8 Then Adam and Eve heard the sound of the Lord God (Jehovah Elohim… God the Son) walking in the garden in the cool of the day…and the man and his wife hid (in shame) from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.
GENESIS 3:9 Then the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?”
GENESIS 3:10 Adam said, “I heard the sound of You walking in the garden…and I was afraid…because I was naked…so I hid myself.”
Adam and Eve did something wrong, and they knew it was wrong, and they felt shame…and then they compounded the error by being afraid of God as if His attitude toward them changed because they sinned…and God’s unconditional love for them hadn’t change at all. Their attitude toward themselves changed though, and it didn’t need to change.
God is not a fan of shame.
The apostle Peter was well acquainted with shame. John, Chapter 13, Verses 37 and 38…
JOHN 13:37b Peter said to the Lord…“I will lay down my life for You.”
JOHN 13:38 Jesus answered, “You will lay down your life for Me, Peter? Truly, truly, I say to you, a rooster will not crow until you deny that you even know Me three times.”
And so Peter’s denial came to pass in Luke, Chapter 22, Verses 60 to 62…
LUKE 22:60b …while Peter was still speaking (after denying that he knew the Lord for the third time)…a rooster crowed.
LUKE 22:61 The Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord…how the Lord had told him, “Before a rooster crows today, you will deny Me three times.”
LUKE 22:62 And Peter went out and wept bitterly (in shame).
God is not a fan of shame.
God’s response after our mistakes is clear…GRACE. Mark, Chapter 16, Verses 6 and 7…
MARK 16:6 …(an angel said the women who were at the grave)…you are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who has been crucified. He has risen from the dead…He is not here…look…here is the place where they laid Him.
MARK 16:7 But go…tell His disciples and Peter…
After His resurrection, the first person the Lord mentions is Peter. The Lord knew what Peter needed. It is clear that God never intends for us to feel shame…nor does He intend for the things we feel ashamed about to stop us from growing and thriving in this life. John, Chapter 1, Verse 12…
JOHN 1:12 But as many as received Him…to them the Lord Jesus Christ gave the right to become children of God the Father, even to those who believe in His name…
You are a child of the Sovereign God of the Universe. A child of the Sovereign God of the Universe has no reason to feel shame. Hebrews, Chapter 12, Verses 1 and 2…
HEBREWS 12:1 Therefore, since we believers in Christ have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us…let us also lay aside every encumbrance (the things that buffet us from all sides)…and let us lay aside the sin which so easily entangles us…and let us run with endurance the race of our lives that is set before us…
HEBREWS 12:2 …and let us keep on fixing our eyes on Jesus…the pioneer and perfecter of faith…who for the joy set before Him endured the Cross…despising the humiliation…and who has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God the Father.
When we feel shame, let us believers in Christ remember Romans, Chapter 6, Verse 4…
ROMANS 6:4 Therefore. we believers in Christ have been buried with Him through the baptism of the Spirit into death…so that as Christ was resurrected from the dead through the glory of God the Father…so we too might walk in newness of the resurrection life. There is no shame in the newness of the resurrected self. Do you love yourself unconditionally? If so, there is no time for shame. Philippians, Chapter 3, Verses 13 and 14…
PHILIPPIANS 3:13 Brethren, I (Paul) do not regard myself as having laid hold of spiritual maturity yet…but one thing I do…forgetting what lies behind…and reaching forward to what lies ahead…
PHILIPPIANS 3:14 …I press on (the Greek word DIOKO…I run fervently with much swiftness) toward the goal…for the prize…of the upward call of God the Father in union with Christ Jesus.
The neighborhood busybody said to me, “Boy you ought to be ashamed of yourself.” She was wrong. God doesn't want me to feel ashamed. Romans, Chapter 8, Verse 1…
ROMANS 8:1 Therefore, there is now NO CONDEMNATION for those who are in union with Christ Jesus.
When we return from our five-minute break, we’ll take the offering and then we’ll continue our study of Romans, Chapter 15.
FIVE MINUTE BREAK Unconditional Love Donna Summers
TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON - Stop Thinking About Your Sins and the Sins of Others
Let’s welcome Deacon Denny Goodall with today’s offering message.
THE OFFERING Deacon Denny Goodall
OFFERING VERSE
FIRST TIMOTHY 6:9 But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction.
OFFERING VERSE
FIRST TIMOTHY 6:10 For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil…and some by longing for it have wandered away from the faith…and have pierced themselves with many griefs.
OFFERING VERSE
FIRST CORINTHIANS 1:18 For the word of the Cross is foolishness to those who are perishing…but to us believers in Christ…who are being saved…it is the power of God the Father.
OFFERING SONG THERE IS NONE LIKE YOU David Bauer, Instrumental
TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON - Stop Thinking About Your Sins and the Sins of Others
You’ve heard the expression, “Let go…and let God.” It’s true. Here is Ana Laura to sing about it in her song…COMPLETELY.
MUSIC AND REFLECTION Be Occupied with the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ Enjoy the Singing of His Praises
COMPLETELY Ana Laura
TODAY’S BIBLE LESSON - Stop Thinking About Your Sins and the Sins of Others
Welcome back! We continue our study of Paul’s letter to the believers in first century Rome at Chapter 15…
ROMANS 15:1 Now we who are The Strong in Faith are indebted (to God) to keep on bearing with the weaknesses of those without strength (The Weak in Faith)…and we (who are The Strong in Faith) are not to keep on seeking just to please ourselves.
ROMANS 15:2 Instead, each of us is to please his neighbor for our neighbor’s own good …for his edification.
Doing what is good for the edification of another person sometimes means saying NO. We have to choose who will be our God…Galatians, Chapter 1, Verse 10 says…
GALATIANS 1:10 For am I (Paul) now seeking the favor of men…or am I seeking the favor of God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men…I would not be a bond-servant of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Romans, Chapter 15, Verse 3…
ROMANS 15:3 For even Christ did not seek to please Himself…but as it is written (by King David in Psalm 69:9), “The reproaches of those who reproached You, God the Father, fell on Me.”
David is lamenting that his family hates him, even though, and probably because he has a zeal for the Lord. Translated another way, this part of Psalm 69:9 says… “Zeal for your house consumes me…God the Father… and the insults of those who insult you fall on me.”
ROMANS 15:4 For whatever was written (in Scripture) in earlier times was written to teach us…giving us endurance and encouragement through the Scriptures…so that we might keep on having hope. ROMANS 15:5 Now may the God who gives endurance and encouragement grant you to be of the same mind with one another (to think the exact same way…operating in harmony) according to your union with Christ Jesus…
For what purpose?
ROMANS 15:6 …so that with one heart you believers in union with Christ may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
ROMANS 15:7 Therefore, keep on accepting one another…and keep on receiving one another…just as Christ also keeps on accepting us (in unconditional love)…to the glory of God the Father.
The sentiments of Romans, Chapter 15, Verses 1 to 7 also are captured in Galatians, Chapter 6, Verses 1 to 3…
GALATIANS 6:1 Brethren, even if anyone is caught in any trespass, and of course they are, you who are spiritual (The Strong in Faith)…are to restore such a person in a spirit of gentleness…each one looking to yourself…so that you too will not be tempted.
When one person sets out to restore another, and there is no unconditional love in the person’s heart, this restoration with gentleness is impossible to do.
GALATIANS 6:2 Bear one another’s burdens (this is a command)…and thereby fulfill the law of Christ.
GALATIANS 6:3 For if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing…and most do…he deceives himself.
What we learn in the first passage of Romans, Chapter 15 is that the strong are indebted to the weak. This is a commentary about the Lord Jesus Christ’s thinking toward His creatures. He felt indebted to take care of the sins of the weak, so He shed blood and laid down His own life for us at the Cross. He did not merely “put up with us.” In God’s eyes, the strong are the servants of the weak.
The Lord is always teaching us about Himself through our circumstances. If we look at the lesson titles of Barah Ministries over the last two months… aggregating them captures well the sentiments of this first passage of Romans, Chapter 15…which is really the final passage of Romans, Chapter 14. The lessons for Christians, especially The Strong in Faith, are…
Honoring God ONLY is not Enough…The Lord Expects Us to Follow His Example in the Treatment of Others…The Lord Wants Us to Do Unto Others as they Want to Be Done Unto…If you are strong in faith, Don’t Whack People Over the Head with Your Knowledge…Instead, Honor the Journey of Others…Value the Differences Between You and Others…Be Who God Wants You to be When No One is Looking…Because Unconditional Love is the Trademark of Christianity.
Romans, Chapter 15, Verse 4…
ROMANS 15:4 For whatever was written (in Scripture) in earlier times was written to teach us (for learning)…giving us endurance (patience with ourselves and with others) and encouragement (comfort that God will do it for us) through the Scriptures…so that we might keep on having hope.
Three powerful words…Learning and Patience and Comfort! God gives us the challenges of tribulation (LEARNING)…so that we learn to trust Him more (PATIENCE)…and so that we learn to trust ourselves less (COMFORT). This reminds us of our study of Romans, Chapter 5, Verses 3 to 5…
ROMANS 5:3 …we believers in Christ exult in our tribulations…knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance…
ROMANS 5:4 …and perseverance brings about proven character…and proven character brings about hope…
ROMANS 5:5 …and hope does not disappoint…because the unconditional love of God has been poured out within our hearts through God the Holy Spirit who wasgiven to us (as a pledge of our inheritance). In Romans, Chapter 15, Verses 5 and 6, the apostle Paul’s prayer for us in light of learning how to treat others…
ROMANS 15:5 Now may God the Father (THE SOURCE)…who gives endurance and encouragement (to the Old Testament saints)…grant you (New Testament saints) to be of the same mind with one another (to think the exact same way…operating in harmony…from the source of the enabling power of God the Holy Spirit) according to your union with Christ Jesus…
ROMANS 15:6 …so that with one heart you believers in union with Christ may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The resurrected Lord never mentioned the failures of His apostles during the fifty days that He was on earth after being resurrected from the dead. They had all betrayed Him…they had all abandoned Him…and the Lord never said a word about it. Why? Because our guilt and our helplessness were covered by the Lord’s shed blood at the Cross! We would do VERY well to imitate Him by forgetting about our sins…and the sins of others. The Weak in Faith are conflicted by these thoughts. They can’t stop thinking about their mistakes.
In Romans, Chapter 15, Verse 7, Paul’s concluding thought for this passage is acceptance…
ROMANS 15:7 Therefore, keep on accepting one another (and yourselves)…and keep on receiving one another (and yourselves)…just as Christ also keeps on accepting us (in unconditional love)…to the glory of God the Father.
The Lord accepted us when we were powerless, ungodly, unrighteous sinners and enemies of the Cross of Christ. We happily bear the burdens of others…we happily release our own burdens to God…we simply accept where we are now and press on to the upward call.
GOD WANTS YOU! Make the Most Important Decision of Your Life
The closing moments of our study are for the benefit of anyone who does not have a personal relationship with the Sovereign God of the Universe, the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We want you to know that GOD WANTS YOU.
If you closed your eyes in this life right this moment…and found yourself standing before the Sovereign God of the Universe, the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ…and the Lord asked you, “Why should I let you into heaven?” …what would you say?
Many would talk about what a good person they are. Many would talk about all their good works…the things they have done to earn and deserve entrance into heaven. The bible has bad news for good people and for those who want to work their way into heaven…Romans, Chapter 4, Verse 4…
ROMANS 4:4 Now to the one who works for salvation…the wage for his work is not credited to his account as a favor from the grace of God…but his wage is credited as what is due for the work.
The bad news is that your goodness as a person and your hard work are not good enough to get you into heaven, because they are not perfect. You were born with a problem. From the moment of your physical birth, God considered you a sinner. Romans, Chapter 3, Verse 10…
ROMANS 3:10 …it is written, “There is no creature who is righteous, not even one…”
Romans, Chapter 3, Verse 23…
ROMANS 3:23 “…all creatures have sinned and fall short of the glory of God…”
In addition to being a sinner, you commit personal sins. Sinners and those who sin simply don’t meet God’s absolute righteousness standard, because God requires perfection to get into heaven. So being a good person, or trying to work your way into heaven with good deeds, does not impress God at all. It’s not your fault that you’re a sinner from physical birth, but it is your circumstance. Unfortunately being a sinner has a penalty. Romans, Chapter 6, Verse 23…
ROMANS 6:23 For the payment earned for being a sinner is both spiritual death and physical death…
The Lord Jesus Christ Himself passed along this very bad news to a self-righteous Pharisee, Nicodemus, in John, Chapter 3, Verse 3…
JOHN 3:3 Jesus answered and said to Nicodemus, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you are born again (the spiritual birth) you cannot see the kingdom of God the Father (in heaven).”
This gospel message is the good news concerning what God the Father did to fix the bad news for a sinner. Romans, Chapter 5, Verse 8…
ROMANS 5:8 But God the Father demonstrates His own unconditional love toward all mankind…in that while we were yet sinners (while we were unrighteous, ungodly unbelievers)…Christ died (a sacrificial death) for us.
Who is this God who saves you? The apostle Paul describes the Lord Jesus Christ…in First Corinthians, Chapter 15, Verses 3 and 4…
FIRST CORINTHIANS 15:3 For I (Paul) delivered to you as of first importance what I also received… that it was Jesus Christ who died for our sins according to the Scriptures…
FIRST CORINTHIANS 15:4 …and that He was buried…and that He was raised from the dead on the third day…according to the Scriptures…
Absolute righteousness is the admission ticket to heaven and the key to eternal life…the resurrection life…and it is yours FREE OF CHARGE if you want it. Romans, Chapter 10, Verses 9 to 11…
ROMANS 10:9 …if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord (that He is God)…and if you believe in your heart that God the Father raised Him from the dead…you will be saved…
ROMANS 10:10 …for with the heart a person believes…resulting in the imputation of absolute righteousness (your admission ticket to heaven)…and with the mouth a person confesses (choosing faith in Christ alone)…resulting in salvation.
ROMANS 10:11 For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in the Lord Jesus Christ will not be disappointed.”
If you closed your eyes in this life right this moment…and found yourself standing before the Sovereign God of the Universe, the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ…and the Lord asked you, “Why should I let you into heaven?” …what would you say? It’s easy… Acts, Chapter 16, Verse 31…
ACTS 16:31 “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and everyone in your household who also believes.”
All you have to say is, “I believed in You when I was alive, Lord. That’s all it takes to get to heaven.” And you’d be right! So heed the invitation and the warning in John, Chapter 3, Verse 36…
JOHN 3:36 “He who believes in the Son has the resurrection life right at that moment… but he who does not obey the command to believe in the Son will not see the resurrection life…instead the wrath of God (the Lake of Fire) abides on him.”
There is a hell…and it is described this way in the bible…Matthew, Chapter 13, Verses 41 to 43…
MATTHEW 13:41 The Son of Man (the Lord Jesus Christ) will send forth His (elect) angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks (unbelievers), and those who commit lawlessness (unbelievers)…
MATTHEW 13:42 …and (the elect angels) will throw unbelievers into the furnace of fire (the Lake of Fire)…in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
MATTHEW 13:43 Then the righteous (believers in Christ) will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father…
For those without a relationship with Christ, He’ll just ask them to step to the left and to take the “HELLIVATOR.” Just press down! Don’t let that be you! Sinners need a Savior. That Savior is the Lord Jesus Christ. Believe in Him and you will be saved!
When we are saved…we choose to WALK IN THE LIGHT…here’s June Murphy to sing about it.
CLOSING SONG WALK IN THE LIGHT June Murphy
CLOSING PRAYER Let us pray...
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