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Bible Question: What
difference, in a practical sense, does it make whether we understand
the teaching of grace righteousness in the book of Romans? If we have
the knowledge and understanding, what difference should it make in
how we live?
Bible Answer: May
I have permission to ask a few difficult questions? Here is the first
question. Is Jesus Christ real? Or, was He a mystical and theoretical
person? Did Jesus Christ's death accomplish something important or
was His death something that is only interesting to know about. Is
His life and death a nice spiritual fairy tale? Did Jesus accomplish
something meaningful and practical? If we say "yes," then
everything we can learn about Jesus is practical.
A young man once asked, "Is this really
important to know?" He had been a Christian for a long time.
But his question revealed the fact that he did not understand why
God wrote the Bible. God wrote it for a reason. He wants us to know
it. It reveals God as person and it reveals who we are. I discovered
later that he was seeking an experience with God. He was not interested
in knowing God. He thought being spiritual was having "spiritual
feelings." Grace and righteousness are important because the
first word reveals God's heart for us and the second word tells us
what God really wants us to be. Everything that God has given us in
scripture is practical. He gave it for a reason!
Practical Issue #1. Each one of us
was born spiritually dead into this world and God in His mercy has
offered us something we do not deserve - eternal spiritual life. He
is able to do this because Jesus Christ died for our sins. By God's
grace we are saved.
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For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not
of yourselves, it is the gift of God . . . (NASB) Eph 2:8 |
We can be saved because of God's grace and by His grace we are made
righteous.
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. . . that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and
believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you
shall be saved; for with the heart man believes, resulting in
righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in
salvation. (NASB) Romans 10:9-10 |
As a result, God can then pour out His grace on us. So the Holy Spirit
says, grace super-abounds or reigns through righteousness.
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