Romans 6:11-12

Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts.

Personal Challenge

How do I reckon myself to be dead to sins and alive to God? I cannot do this on my own accord. This process starts by being given over to Christ and letting Him be the Lord of my life. Through Him, or in Him, I cam begin the journey of being victorious over sin in my life. This is why we believe there are three phases of salvation: I have been saved, I am saved, and I will continue to be saved. My life must be a constant journey whereby I strive to be more in the image of Christ. I must decrease and He must increase. A critical part of this journey is striving to give more and more of my will over to Christ so that I choose not to sin as often. This begins by recognizing and controlling my passions, which are gluttony, lust, greed, anger, sadness, acedia, vanity, and pride. Just like every journey that we take in our temporal life, there will be bumps, breakdowns, and detours along the way, but even these are important parts of the journey. Glory be to God!

Romans 11:33-36

Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!

“For who has known the mind of the Lord?
Or who has become His counselor?”
“Or who has first given to Him
And it shall be repaid to him?”
For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen.

Encouraging Words

I am so finite and know so little. God is so infinite and not only knows all but is the creator and source of all. Even in this great difference, He chooses to seek me out and be in a relationship with me. He gave His Son even unto death so that I might enter into a relationship with Him that will continue on into eternity. Why? Love! I know that I am so unworthy to be loved this way. I do not deserve to be in a relationship with God and yet He continues to pour out His grace and mercy upon me. Why? Love! Oh, how blessed I am to be a recipient of this unmeasurable love. Glory be to God!

Matthew 3:36

He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.

Encouraging Words

How is it that we could get to a place in some Christian faith practices where we begin to qualify who does or does not constitute as being saved by our own parameters? How do we get to that place where we put God in a box and say that He has already selected who is saved and who is not based on our own definitions. This comes from adopting teachings that are new or different from what has been taught for centuries and applying our own rationalizations and thoughts so as to create new doctrines. This is how heresies enter into the Church. Sometimes they start with small, seemingly harmless changes that take on a life of their own. Sometimes they are blatant departures from the teachings of our Fathers. Either way, they are still heresies. It is our responsibility to remain true to those truths that have been taught from the beginning and trusted for millennia within the crucible of the Church. Glory be to God!

Matthew 18:15-18

“Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that ‘by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.’ And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector.”

“Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”

Encouraging Words

Much of what we get from the western version of Christianity is that I have all that I need to personally have a relationship with God, interpret His teachings, and apply guidelines such as this one about correcting a brother or sister who has offended me so that I am “unoffended”. However, the eastern version of Christianity, and therefore, the one that these verses were originally written to and interpreted by, would argue that Christianity is not a personal thing, but a collective thing. We are Christians in the fellowship and community of our church, the Church. Therefore, this process of discipline must happen in the community. It is done for the edification of the community and not just for me. It will also involve my willingness to be forgiving and loving. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner.

Romans 6:23

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Encouraging Words

What are wages? That which I receive for my labors. What is a gift? That which I receive without doing or being anything. The gift is often unmerited and yet in itself can be full of merit. Even though I continue to sin and stack up wages that are due to me, which is death, my God still has in store for me a gift that fully and completely counteracts those wages. This is the gift of eternal life. What an awesome, loving, and merciful God He is!

Romans 7:17 & 20

But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. … Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.

Personal Challenge

Paul presents to us the dilemma that we all face every day of our lives We have been created in the image of God. He has breathed His life into us by giving us a soul. And we live in a fallen and sinful world. Since I have chosen to sin in my life I now have that sin dwelling within me and my entire life will be filled with the struggle of fighting against that sin and how it wants me to stray from my God. Jesus, by living the life of a human being, and living it pure and sinless, has conquered sin and provided the way for me to be victorious over sin as well. Glory be to God!

“There is none righteous, no, not one;
There is none who understands;
There is none who seeks after God.
They have all turned aside;
They have together become unprofitable;
There is none who does good, no, not one.”


Encouraging Words


It is always interesting to see how the grid that we perceive life through, the paradigm, the perspective, or whatever else you want to call it, informs us of what we think the scriptures and teachings of our Lord says. If I view this passage through the belief system that all of mankind is totally and hopelessly depraved then I will see these verses, and those surrounding them as saying that we are worthless heaps of dung and that there is no hope for us in the eyes of God. However, if I read these from the perspective that God loves us, created us in His image, and views us as diamonds covered in the muck of our sins, then I see a God who made His creation so that it would point to Him, a God who entered into a covenant with the Jewish people so that He could give them the Law and the prophets so that they could be a beacon to the lost world, and a God who sent His Son so that He could be a redeemer. these verses then become reminders of how much I need the love of God and the work of Jesus for my salvation and that He has offered this to me and to everyone else. He does not exclude anyone from this offering. Glory be to God!

Romans 2:1

Therefore you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are who judge, for in whatever you judge another you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things.

Personal Challenge

There is only one who has the right authority to pass judgment upon another and that is God. On top of that, who am I to say how God will pass His judgment? If I expect that He will judge some harshly and with anger should I not expect the same for myself since I too am a sinner? If I desire that He show me grace and hope that His love will cover me should I not have that same hope for every other human being, because I know my own sin and how great it is? If I choose to play the role of God and judge others for their sins and their choices then I must be ready to be judged accordingly for my own sins and choices. I prefer to try my best to live my life loving my neighbor and loving my enemy and saying “No!” to being their judge. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!