Sept 8, 2008

I totally do not know where to start. I cannot even begin to share the things we have been taught on, so I guess I will not try. Michael Turray, pastor of church in Sierra Leone has been with us since Wednesday of last week. He will be here through Thursday. It has been absolutely outstanding. His mission was to teach us an understanding of Romans, focusing on chapters 6, 7, &8 in a way that when he was finished we would truly understand the entire book. So far, we really have only covered Rom 1:16, 17.

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, as it is written “The righteous shall live by faith”

To start off, it is important to understand the basics of these verses. The righteousness of God is revealed from “faith” (a beginning, saving faith”) to faith (a lifetime of experiential faith) as it is written… the righteous man shall live by faith.
Michael was quick to make us aware that last phrase is truly a terrible translation of Greek. In the Greek language, the word faith is not attached to the word live, but to the righteous man. Really, it should say something to the extent of “the righteous man by faith shall LIVE.”
You see, it is not that a “righteous” man CAN live by faith; it’s that a man is made righteous through belief in the gospel and therefore he has LIFE.
It’s not some kind of work! It’s what Jesus has given us, a free gift of salvation, yes, and in addition to that, His righteousness and true life. You have to know it to live it.

We have gone through Scriptural proof of the deity of Jesus Christ; that He is God’s Son and that His character is the complete essence of God the Father. Jesus Christ was a God-man. He had to become perfect humanity to be our Savior, and High Priest, to be the mediator between God and man and to fulfill the promise of the Davidic covenant.
“In the person of Jesus Christ since His physical birth there are 2 natures, undiminished deity and true humanity in one person forever! The 2 natures remain distinct and are inseparable united without mixture or loss of identity, without loss or transfer of attributes. This means that the Lord Jesus Christ is just as much God as God the Father and God the Holy Spirit and at the same time He is also just as much human as you and I.” 200% mind boggling isn’t it?

The Greek work Kenoo means to deprive ones self of proper function. Jesus voluntarily restricted divine attributes to comply with the Father’s plan for the incarnation.

Those are just a couple points that have been covered. There is so much to learn and so little time! I say Hallelujah to the depth of God the Father, the Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. By grace we will actually grasp the things that we are studying- there is SO MUCH. I’ve been so convicted of my lazy-reader Christian self. There is so so much to discover! Occupation with Christ- being so occupied with Christ that nothing else matters to you. No matter what the expression of my love to my God, it will be obedience. It is a waste of time to do anything but serve Him.