Romans 3:20

Verse of the Day Devotion: Romans 3:20  

“Because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.” – Romans 3:20  

This is an important verse because too often, people look at their actions to denote whether they are saved or not saved.  This was what the Jews believed throughout the old and new testament and in our present times.  And unfortunately, many who call themselves Christians also fall into this trap.  In the time of Christ, the Jews believed that following the Mosaic Law was the way to salvation.  If they just did the things the law said to do and did not do what the law said not to do, then they were, in essence, saved. 

However, Micah laid out what the Lord required of man.  “With what shall I come to the LORD And bow myself before the God on high? Shall I come to Him with burnt offerings, With yearling calves? Does the LORD take delight in thousands of rams, In ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I present my firstborn for my rebellious acts, The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?” Micah 6:5.  Micah starts by asking the question, how shall I approach the Lord?  How shall I come to Him to address my sin?  Is it through sacrifice?  Does the killing of many animals address my wrong doing?  No, and he explains what the Lord does require.  “He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God?” Micah 6:8. He does not delight in sacrifices.  What He desires of us is to act with justice in all we do.  To be merciful to all and walk with humility with Him.  When we look at these three things, we do not necessarily see actions but character.  They are things we do because it is who we are.  Looking at these three again, what God desires is for us to be just, merciful and humility.  It is not the works of the law.

Now, we read in James the following.  “You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone.” James 2:24.  It seems from this verse that works is part of what justifies us.  However, this is made clearer in a previous verse.  “Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.”  James 2:17.  What this clarifies is that it is not works that matter but faith.  However, true faith is proven by works.  Therefore, faith is what Christ is looking for in us, however, if not in conjunction with works, do we have true faith?  We are saved by faith, but our works shows our faith.  Paul comes right out and states it like it is.  “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.” Ephesians 2:8-9. Nobody can be justified in the sight of God due to the works of the law.  The reason for this is that no one has ever kept the law completely with no deviation.  “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” Romans 3:23.  Therefore, we cannot be justified by the law; meaning our works.  However, this does not mean we are without hope.  “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace” Ephesians 1:7.  We could not pay the penalty, but Jesus could, through His perfect life. “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” 2 Corinthians 5:21.  He gave His life for us because He loved us. 

In closing, does this mean we do not need to keep His commandments because He paid the price for us?  Absolutely not.  For by keeping them we prove our love for Him.  “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.” John 14:15. The idea is that salvation is based on the work of Christ, and we accept this work because we love Him and desire to give our everything to Him.  “He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him.” John 14:21. Our salvation is based on Christ’s work on the cross, and not by our works. But our works show the love we have for Christ and our acceptance of that work.  He loves us and pays the penalty, thus we should love Him because He did what we could not do.  What a loving God we serve.   

William Funkhouser MDiv, ThD, Founder and President of True Devotion Ministries. 

Romans 15:1

Verse of the Day Devotion: Romans 15:1  

“Now we who are strong ought to bear the weaknesses of those without strength and not just please ourselves.” – Romans 15:1 

In Romans 14, Paul speaks of how we are not to judge our brothers and sisters in Christ.  “Now accept the one who is weak in faith, but not for the purpose of passing judgment on his opinions. One person has faith that he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats vegetables only. The one who eats is not to regard with contempt the one who does not eat, and the one who does not eat is not to judge the one who eats, for God has accepted him. Who are you to judge the servant of another? To his own master he stands or falls; and he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.”  Romans 14:1-4.  And also not to cause our brother or sister to stumble.  “Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather determine this—not to put an obstacle or a stumbling block in a brother’s way.” Romans 14:13.  These two ideas are very important so that we do not cause spiritual problems for our fellow Christians.

Now, moving on to chapter 15, we read our focus verse, “Now we who are strong ought to bear the weaknesses of those without strength and not just please ourselves.” Romans 15:1.  In the two passages above from chapter 14,  Paul is clearly saying we should accept our weaker brothers and sisters in Christ and not pass judgement on them regarding their ways just because we may not agree with them.  We should help them understand what the Word says, but to be careful not to condemn them regarding differences.  On the contrary, our focus verse says we are help them in their weaknesses, and not just focus on our own ways.  I have seen too many incidents where Christians who are new to the faith have been countered strongly in their beliefs, to the point where they felt ridiculed.  And many times they were not necessarily wrong, they just did not agree with what the other was saying. 

Paul is stating here that we are to exhort our brothers and sisters in Christ.  “Each of us is to please his neighbor for his good, to his edification.”  Romans 15:2.  Especially those who are new to the faith, or not as trained in the ways of God.  Yes, we are to show them where changes need to be made and not leave them in their errors.  However, it is to be done with kindness and love.  And we should not do these things to gratify what we desire.  We must work for the benefit and happiness of others.  Paul in his letter to the Church in Philippi put it this way. “Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.” Philippians 2:3-4.  We are not only to labor for our benefit  alone but also, and I would say especially, for the benefit of others.  Our job is to exhort each other in the faith, looking at how we can help others in their walk in a loving way, and to encourage them in times of trials and troubles. 

At the end of this section Paul tells us, “Therefore, accept one another, just as Christ also accepted us to the glory of God.” Romans 15:7.  We are to accept our brothers and sisters just as Christ accepted us regardless of who and what we were.  And not only accept them, but love them, helping them in their weaknesses by strengthening them in their faith.  We are to lift them up when they are down and help them learn of this Christian walk where they may lack understanding.  And in all things in love and patience.  Is it wrong for us to please ourselves?  Not really.  But it was not the way of Christ.  And if we are to be like Christ, then we must look to the betterment of others before ourselves.  It is what He did for us on the cross.  

William Funkhouser MDiv, ThD, Founder and President of True Devotion Ministries. 

Romans 8:6

Verse of the Day Devotion: Romans 8:6  

“For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace,” – Romans 8:6 

This verse speaks of the most extreme dichotomy we can imagine.  This dichotomy results in either death or life.  However, this does not refer to physical death or life but to the spiritual.  Looking at our focus verse, the choice we make that highlights this difference regards what we are focused on.  Is it our fleshly desires that lead to spiritual death, or is it on the Spirit that results in life and peace?

In verse five, Paul says there are essentially two contrasting ways of living life.  “For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.” Romans 8:5.  And each of these depend on what we focus our minds on.  The first one is to follow the dictates of our flesh.  Later in this chapter, he explains why this is the case.  “because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” Romans 8:7-8.  The one who’s mind is on the flesh is contrary to God, in fact, he goes as far as to say it is hostile to God.  The reason being they are more interested in what they desire as opposed to what God does.  They have placed themselves in a position which puts them as more important than God.  As an example, if you have two friends who are very important to you, and they ask you to choose between two different restaurants, you will probably choose from the one which you desire to please the most.  The same idea is seen here.  Who do we find most important in our lives and wish to please: God or ourselves?

The opposite of those whose’ mind is on the flesh are the ones whose minds is on the Spirit.  The idea here is that we place ourselves under the control of the Spirit of God.  When we do this, we desire what God wants as opposed to what we want; that we love God more than ourselves.  Jesus put it succinctly when he said, “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.” John 14:15.  So, this basically leads to a question that we need to honestly answer, do we love God more than ourselves.  The answer to this question decides whether we will set our minds on the flesh or the Spirit. 

Paul lays out in his letter to the Galatians the difference between the actions that come about by our decision.  “Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.”  Galatians 5:19-23.  Let us always strive to follow the fruit of the Spirit and eliminate the deeds of the flesh that may creep into our lives.

And finally, as I intonated above, we should always examine ourselves to see if we are focused entirely on God and His ways.  We should pray and ask Him to show us where we may fall short so we may get back on track.  As David said in calling out to God. “Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts; And see if there be any hurtful way in me and lead me in the everlasting way.” Psalm 139:23-24.  We  may not always know where we stand, however He knows everything about us.  Let Him guide us in His ways and be who He desires us to be.  This is life lived beautifully for God.

William Funkhouser MDiv, ThD, Founder and President of True Devotion Ministries. 

Romans 6:1

Verse of the Day Devotion: Romans 6:1 

“What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase?” – Romans 6:1

This is a question Paul asks no doubt in response to what he had said earlier in chapter 5.  “The Law came in so that the transgression would increase; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, even so grace would reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Romans 5:20-21.  He starts by stating that the law came so sin may increase.  What he means by this is that we will be more aware of our sins.  “So then, the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good. Therefore did that which is good become a cause of death for me? May it never be! Rather it was sin, in order that it might be shown to be sin by effecting my death through that which is good, so that through the commandment sin would become utterly sinful.”  Romans 7:12-13.  The law points out what is sin, not to deal with the sin.  That Christ did on the cross.

Going back to Romans 5:20, he says that where sin increases, grace also increases.  This is not addressing the unsaved.  For going on to verse 21 he says, “so that, as sin reigned in death, even so grace would reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Romans 5:21.  First, note the wording in the beginning of this.  “so that. As sin reigned in death”.  This is a past tense statement.  Before we were saved, sin reigned in death.  But afterwards, grace reigns in righteousness.

Now, back to our focus verse.  The idea of this question is that if grace is a good thing, should  we continue in sin in order to increase grace?  His answer is “May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?” Romans 6:2.  Paul is extremely emphatic here.  If we are saved, than we have died to sin.  It should no longer have a hold on us.  It should not control us.  Sin should no longer be what we desire, but righteousness should be our goal.

It is important that we strive to rid sin from our lives.  We probably will stumble, but is should not be because we choose to perform a sinful act.  We must never choose to sin because we know God is merciful and gracious toward us.  John says that if we choose this route, than we are fooling ourselves.  “This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth;” 1 John 1:6-7.  In essence, he is saying that if we think we are in fellowship with Him, and yet walk apart from Him in sin, we are lying and deceiving ourselves.  We cannot say that we are saved, love God, and follow His ways if we choose to sin thinking that His grace will take care of it. 

Jesus said the following that wipes out any possibility of it being true.  “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.” John 14:15.  Choosing to sin because it is what we want to do is showing we truly do not love Him.  And if we do not love Him, then can we truly be saved?   

William Funkhouser MDiv, ThD, Founder and President of True Devotion Ministries. 

Romans 15:4

Verse of the Day Devotion: Romans 15:4 

“For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.” – Romans 15:4       

When we read the Old Testament, we learn a lot about the history of God’s dealings with mankind. First is, of course, our creation in Genesis 1 -2.  How He created the heavens and the earth, and then formed the earth as a perfect place for His ultimate creation, mankind, to live in perfect peace with Himself.  From there, we see the fall of mankind and ultimately the coming of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world.  However, from what Paul tells us from our focus verse, there is more to learn in the Old Testament then the history of mankind.  We also have the opportunity to learn God’s ways in dealing with man, and ultimately with us.  As the focus verse says, “For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.” Romans 15:4. 

The author of Hebrews tells us that God is unchanging, and the way He dealt with the people of the Old Testament is the same as He deals with us.  “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” Hebrews 13:8.  God has not changed one iota regarding how He deals with His people.  If we believe in Him and follow His ways, then God will watch over us just as He watched over Israel in the wilderness.  This should give us incredible hope.  Remember also in Hebrews what hope is.  It is what we look forward to, knowing it will come to pass.  It is knowing it will happen, not desiring it to happen. 

So, when we look in the Old Testament, we see how God guided His people through the wilderness, giving them a beautiful and prosperous land as their inheritance.  No matter what trials they came upon in their journey, God delivered them.  We can take comfort in this as well, knowing that whatever trials we come upon, He already knows about them  and will bring us safely through them.  There were several times when God’s people experienced times of famine, and again, God brought them through.  And He will do the same for us.  When they needed to hear from God, He spoke to them, either through prophets or directly.  Great examples of this were King David, Moses, and Joshua.  And He will speak to us as well when we need to hear His words.  And remember when Elijah was challenged by the prophets of Baal: that God made it known that He was God, and then comforted Him in the wilderness when they wanted to kill Him.  (1 Kings 18:20-40)

I want to encourage everyone reading this to look at the Old Testament not only as a means to learn history, but also as a way to be encouraged that as He took care of His people in the Old Testament, He will take care of us as well.  We need to use these  scriptures to see the blessings Israel had from God, knowing that He will bless us in a similar way.  And through this, it will help us to see the hope we have in God, and how He will never leave or forsake us, and our future is just as wonderful too.    

William Funkhouser MDiv, ThD, Founder and President of True Devotion Ministries. 

Romans 11:6

Verse of the Day Devotion: Romans 11:6 

“But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace is no longer grace.” – Romans 11:6     

This is an important idea to keep our minds focused on.  I felt compelled today to discuss the idea of grace verses works.  Is works important?  Yes, but not to provide us with salvation.  There are many verses in scripture that speak of this truth.  First, we see it in our focus verse.  “But if it is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace is no longer grace.”  Romans 11:6.  Salvation is by grace, through the work of Christ, for we can do nothing, on our own, to address our sins.  It is a gift from God to sinful man.  “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.” Ephesians 2:8-9. 

It is essential that we understand we cannot be justified by works.  “Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God; because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.”  Romans 3:20.  The problem with relying on the keeping of the law for justification is that it requires absolute perfection.  “For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all.” James 2:10.

So then, why should we be concerned about works?  It is not for justification, but for proof of your commitment to Him.  James puts it this way.  “What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith, but he has no works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is without clothing and in need of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and be filled,” and yet you do not give them what is necessary for their body, what use is that? Even so faith if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.” James 2:14-17.  What he is essentially saying is this.  If you claim faith in God and the work of Christ on the cross, yet your actions and works do not show evidence of it, then we must question our faith.  Doing the work of God shows the proof of our faith.  It should show a life that desires to please God in all ways.

Is works important?  Absolutely.  It shows the world the reality of our faith.  This is vital in evangelism for if they see we live it out, they may be more willing to take a closer look rather than brush it off.  Let us be His hands and feet here on the earth in spreading the truth to a lost world and living it as proof of its reality and our faith in Christ.  Our works is not for our salvation, but to help others hear the truth and accept Christ.

William Funkhouser MDiv, ThD, Founder and President of True Devotion Ministries. 

Romans 3:23

Verse of the Day Devotion: Romans 3:23 

“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” – Romans 3:23 

This particular section of Romans deals with the idea that we all have sinned, and none of us can address our own sins before God.  Earlier in this chapter, we read “What then? Are we better than they? Not at all; for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin; as it is written, “There is none righteous, not even one;” Romans 3:9-10.  In speaking to the church in Rome, Paul declares that both Jews and Gentiles are guilty of sinning.  The Jews believed that they were in a much better situation because of their being descendants of Abraham.  However, just because they follow the law and performed the duties within the law gave them no greater advantage.

He now goes on to describe what he means by “None is righteous, no, not one”.  “no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one. Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive,The venom of asps is under their lips. Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood; in their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they have not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes.” Romans 3:11-18.  This is not a pretty picture of mankind.  What we see is a string of OT quotations confirming the universality of sin, along with  a variety of sins that define what we see in humanity.  (Note: see Psalm 14 as an example).  He then ends this section by declaring that the law speaks to those under the law, but only declares what sin is, not how to address it.  “Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.”  Romans 3:19-20. 

Now, the next two verses declares the righteousness of God is apart from the law.  “But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it—the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction:” Romans 3:21-22.  And then he states in our focus verse, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” Romans 3:23, after which he says, “and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,”  Romans 3:24.  Yes, we all have sinned.  Yes, we could not rectify this situation on our own.  However, Christ came to rectify it for us, not based on anything we have done, but what He has done.

Now, based on all this, we have several things to remember.  First, all people have sinned, from Adam and Eve to all alive today.  None of us are innocent in the sight of God prior to giving our life to Him and accepting the work Christ did for us.  It is through justification that we are absolved of our sins and declared not guilty, for He paid the penalty for us.  We did nothing but accept His work.  Therefore, it is important that when we go out and present the gospel to the lost, we are to help them understand their guilt, but also see the remedy.  We should not look down upon anyone who needs to accept the work of Christ in their lives.  We can and should denounce the sin, without denouncing the sinner.  For as much as they need Christ, we also needed what He did in order to be declared righteous.  Stealing a candy bar may look less bad than killing someone, but both were enough to require Christ’s justification for us.  No one, no matter what they have done, is beyond salvation, and our focus should be on leading them to Christ.  We must not look at anyone as being beyond Christ’s ability to save, just as we should not look at someone as having an advantage because of a good heart.  God sees us all as sinners who can be saved.  We need to see them this way as well, and then help to make it happen.

William Funkhouser MDiv, ThD, Founder and President of True Devotion Ministries.

Romans 8:31

Verse of the Day Devotion: Romans 8:31 

“What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?” – Romans 8:31   

The apostle Paul has just declared the assurance those who love God have, that everything will work toward our good.  “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.”  Romans 8:28-30.  Everything will definitely, without question, work toward our good if we place our trust in God.  He knew we would give our lives to Him, therefore He predestined us to be conformed to Christ. And because we are in His image, we are called to do His work on this earth, just as Christ was called to die for us.  And because of this, we are declared not guilty because of the work Jesus did on the cross.  And because we are justified, we will be glorified for He has already decreed it so.

Now we come to our focus verse.  “What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?” Romans 8:31.  He starts out his answer to this rhetorical question with the following.  “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?” Romans 8:32.  He has already freely given to us His Son, His only begotten Son, to pay the penalty for our sins.  If He did this, would He not also give us all things?  Because we are now justified due to the gift of His Son, we are now considered His children. “For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father! The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.” Roman 8:15-17. 

Then Paul asks a series of, again, rhetorical questions to solidify his point.  “Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies;” Romans 8:33.  No one can legitimately bring a charge against us because we have already been justified: He has paid the penalty for our sins.  He then asks, “who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us.” Romans 8:34.  Jesus died for us, then rose from the dead and is at the right hand of God interceding on our behalf declaring, in essence, ‘ The penalty has been paid.’  And lastly. “Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?” Romans 8:35.  The answer is found in the last two chapters of Romans 8.  “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:38-39. 

So,  in answer to the question in our focus verse;  If God is for us, who can be against us?  People may not like us and plan evil against us, however, they can do nothing unless God allows it.  And if He does, then it is for our good.  But ultimately, they can do nothing that will cause us permanent harm, for our eternity has already been set.  Our sins have been forgiven, we have been justified by the shed blood of Christ, and He has already decreed we will be glorified and spend all eternity with our Heavenly Father and Jesus the Christ.  If anyone is against us, then it really does not matter.

William Funkhouser MDiv, ThD, Founder and President of True Devotion Ministries.

1 Peter 1:14

Verse of the Day Devotion: 1 Peter 1:14 

“As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance,” – 1 Peter 1:14    

When we are saved, we are not the same person after as we were before.  Before giving our life to Christ, we did as we chose.  If we wanted to get drunk, we drank till we were intoxicated.  If we wanted to curse, we thought nothing of it.  We did not have the Holy Spirit in us, and we felt as long as we did not harm anyone or was not too illegal, it was OK.  But when we received Christ as our Savior, it is not just our thoughts that have changed, or our beliefs.  It was much more than that.  “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.” 2 Corinthians 5:17.  We are not the person we were prior to committing our life to Christ.  We are not just mended, having our broken areas fixed.  We have essentially been made new. 

When we become new creatures, this should mean that everything about us is new.  The first three words of our focus verse say’s ‘as obedient children’.  Peter is telling them that their life should be one that exemplifies obedience to God.  This is the way our lives should be.  Just reading the word is not enough.  We should also obey it.  “But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.” James 1:22. We are to do what His Word says, since we are now a new creature that does not live as our old self.  In fact, Jesus says we are wise in doing so.  “Therefore, everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock.” Matthew 7:24. So, Jesus and James tell us that we are to be obedience to God and His word. 

Peter goes on to say, because they are obedient children, they should not be conformed again to the former lusts in their old life of ignorance.  Paul says essentially the same thing when he writes, “Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.” Romans 12:1-2.  It can sometimes be too easy to go back to the old ways, becoming conformed to the world, and I do not say this loosely, as the newness of that life begins to fade.  We cannot go back to our old life and lustful ways and still live a life of obedience.  We are to live a holy life.  Again, our focus verse, “As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance,” but then he continues, “but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, You shall be holy for I am holy.” 1 Peter 1:15-16. 

So, what can we do to help us live as the obedient children noted above?  By reading His word, fellowshipping with Him in prayer, and staying away from anything that could draw us into that old life again.  Also, if you are struggling, go to a fellow Christian and ask them to pray for you, asking God to take these old ways away.  It is important that we completely walk away from the old life and submerge ourselves in the new.  Life will be so much more beautiful when we do.

William Funkhouser MDiv, ThD, Founder and President of True Devotion Ministries, Inc.

Romans 3:10

Verse of the Day Devotion: Romans 3:10 

“As it is written, there is none righteous, not even one;” – Romans 3:10 

Paul here is addressing a false idea the Jewish people had regarding their relationship with God.  “Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the benefit of circumcision?” Romans 3:1.  The Jews believed that because they were God’s chosen people, descendants of Abraham and that, regarding the males, were circumcised, they had a special place with God.  In verse 2, Paul agrees to a degree, but not in the way they thought.  “Great in every respect. First of all, that they were entrusted with the oracles of God.” Romans 3:2.  Paul is telling them their advantage was they were given and entrusted with the revelation of God’s will, through Moses and the Law given to him.

However, this advantage did not give them a better position with God.  “What then? Are we better than they? Not at all; for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin; as it is written, There is none righteous, not even one;” Romans 3:9-10.  The Jews do not have any greater advantage when it comes to their righteousness, for both they as well as the non-Jews are under sin.  And because all have sinned, they are under the same penalty.  “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”  Romans 3:28.  It only takes one sin to be under the penalty.  And this is why Christ had to come and pay the penalty for us.

Now, let us look at this idea from a different perspective, for many today see themselves as better than others because they go to church, read their bibles, and pray every now and then, believing they are OK regarding their walk with God.  Now, the Jews back then believed that by following the ordinances set forth in the Law that they were in good shape.  What they did not understand was who Jesus was.  He was prophesied about throughout the Old Testament.  But they were so tied to the traditions, they failed to see the truth.  I believe there are many today in our churches who are in the same situation.  They do the traditions but fail to see what God really desires, and that is all of us.  This is what He has called us to.  “Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.” Romans 12:1-2.  God wants us to present ourselves completely to Him in service, obedience, and love; eliminating any ways our lives are conforming to this sinful world. We must let God transform it through our thoughts and beliefs and actions to one which is pleasing to Him.  Living this Christian walk by giving ourselves to His service. 

There are times I find myself slipping into the pattern of doing the does for the does sake, and not for God.  When I do, I go somewhere and pray that God will first forgive me, then help me see again what it is He desires of me and move on.  I want to encourage everyone who is reading this to do the same if you see yourselves slipping into the same pattern.  God loves everyone of us and wants to guide us in the ways He calls us to.  Have ears that are open to hear His words, and eyes that are open to see His ways.  Devote your whole self to His service.  You will find it is a beautiful life indeed.

William Funkhouser MDiv, ThD, Founder and President of True Devotion Ministries.