Accepting my own challenge from Wednesday, wow, this chapter says a lot! It says we need Jesus and without Him as Lord of our lives we are in trouble. A couple of excerpts that struck me:
I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile (16).
Jesus is THE way of salvation for everyone. Apparently not all ‘religions’ lead to salvation. Faith in Jesus does.
For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened (20-21).
Some choose not to follow God to faith in Jesus and as the remainder of the chapter discusses, pay the consequences of their non-belief.
In our world of many religions and idealization of pluralism, this chapter teaches me that not all religions lead back to God. I realize that a statement like that isn’t ‘PC’ but it is faithful to the Bible. Learning to say this honestly, but without an edge of personal superiority or I am better than you, is my learning curve. Letting the implications of this truth seep into my soul and affect my actions is another learning curve.
… Growing in utter thankfulness that I have come to believe the Gospel and find God’s way of salvation in Jesus, and
… Understanding that people need Jesus and orienting my life to share that with them. These are some additional learning curves for me.
Lord Jesus, drive these learnings into the fiber of my being. Be relentless with this, Jesus. I pray in Your name and to Your glory. Amen.
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