 Romans 9 - 12 Questions and Answers |
| Q. How did Paul feel about His own Jewish kin rejecting their Messiah? | A. Romans 9:1-3 = His heart was filled with bitter sorrow and undending grief for them. He would die for them if it meant they'd be saved. |
| Q. Are the Israelites still a special people to God? |
A. Romans 9:4 = Yes! 1) As the people who first knew God's glory. 2) As the people God made covenant with 3) As the people who have the priveledge of worshiping God 5) As the people who received God's wonderful promises 6) As the people whose ancestors were great people of God 7) As the people who Christ Jesus, their Messiah, was born through 8) As the people God was born as man through. God rules everything and is worthy of eternal praise. Amen! |
| Q. Did God fail in His promise to the Israelites? | A. Romans 9:6 = No. Read on. |
| Q. How so? | A. Romans 9:6-7 = Being born an Israelite doesn't guarantee salvation. Even Abraham had other children besides Jacob (aka, Israel). |
| Q. The promise of being father to a nation was made to Abraham. Who was the promise fulfilled in? | A. Romans 9:7 = Not Isaac, for he and Rebekah had only two children, Esau first, then Jacob. It was Jacob, Abraham's grandson, in whom the promise would be fulfilled, for Jacob was later named Israel, and he had twelve sons who became the tribes of Israel. |
| Q. So Abraham had other children not under the promise? | A. Romans 9:8 = Yes. |
| Q. Who are Abraham's other children? | A. Romans 9:8 = Gen. 16:1-11 = Ishmael was Abraham's firstborn through Sarah's maidservant, Hagar, who received a second promise, which was to have more descendants than she could count, though her son would be wild as a donkey. Ishmael was Abraham's only other child. The Arab nation came through Abraham via Ishmael. |
| Q. Why was Abraham chosen by God? | A. Romans 9:15 = Because God chose him. Not because Abraham was particularly special or had done good deeds (v. 12, 16). |
| Q. Do I receive God's promise by choosing it? | A. Romans 9:16 = No. |
| Q. Can I receive it by working hard for it? | A. Romans 9:16 = No. |
| Q. Who did God choose to reveal Himself to the world in Moses' time? |
A. Romans 9:17 = The Pharaoh of Egypt. Note: God can use anybody and frequently uses unexpected folks to show Himself to people. |
| Q. Why is it useless to talk with some people about God? | A. Romans 9:18 = God shows mercy to some just because He wants to, and He chooses to make some people refuse to listen. |
| Q. So then why are God-deafened people accountable for not listening to Him? |
A. Romans 9:19-20 = That is not a question we can ask because the reasons are hidden from us. Note: God is not copping out on us in answering this question in what seems to be a mocking way. Remember that God answered Job in the swame way. We simply do not have enough information to go there. Trust God, who has all the mysteries of our world in check. They are not mysteries to Him! |
| Q. What do we know? | A. Romans 9:21 = God is at work in both Israel and Gentile nations. See the chart below: |
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| 1) Jar for decoration | 1) Jar for garbage |
| Judgment and Power | Patience in their sins |
| God's riches of glory | 3) God's riches of glory |
| 4) A small number saved; spared in mercy | 4) Newly called and loved by God |
| 5) Tried to get right with God by keeping the Law instead of by faith in Jesus | 5) Made right with God by faith in Jesus |
| 6) May know Messiah Jesus later | 6) Saved by faith while not seeking God. |
| Q. What is true of God? |
A. Romans 9:22 = 1) God has every right to exercise His judgment and His power, but He also has the right to be very patient with those who are objects of His judgment and are fit only for destruction. 2) God has every right to pour out the riches of His glory upon those He prepared to be the objects of His mercy. |
| Q. Who are the objects of God's mercy? | A. Romans 9:24 = Those God has chosen to be from Israel and from Gentile nations. |
| Q. Has this always been the case? | A. Romans 8:25 = No. Through Hosea, God would be calling out children to be His own from the Gentiles (Hos. 2:23). |
| Q. Why has Israel survived? | A. Romans 9:27 = Isaiah 10:22-23 says that only a few Israelites survived. Isaiah 1:9 says that it is because God spared them. |
| Q. So Abraham got it right, just trusting God, believing He would do what He said? | A. Yes. He was made righteous this way. Simple! |
| Q. Then God asked Abraham's descendants through Jacob to believe Him about the coming Messiah and they didn't so they weren't made righteous? | A. Romans 9:33 = Yes. God knew it too. Isaiah 28:16 says they'd stumble right over their Messiah one day. |
| Q. This must have been a very sad realization for Paul, yes? | A. Romans 10:1 = Yes. |
| Q. What is the state of every unbelieving Jew? | A. Romans 10:2-3 = They are enthusiastic for God, but are misdirected in their zeal. God provided the Law of Moses and the Prophets. Where they are misdirected is in believing that keeping the Law saves them. They won't go along with God's way of salvation. |
| Q. What happened to the Law when Jesus came? | A. Romans 10:4 = Jesus accomplished the whole purpose for the Law so that all who acept Him as God's perfect sacrifice for sin, once for all, is saved. |
| Q. This is different than what Moses taught? |
A. Romans 10:10 = Leviticus 18:15 says, "If you obey my laws and regulations, you will find life through them." So the way of making a person right with God required obedience to all of the Law of Moses. Note: This could never happen because the Law aroused sin, as Paul explained earlier. |
| Q. What is true of salvation? |
A. Romans 10:5-8 = It has always been a matter of the heart, for God has placed the knowledge of Him there. Deut. 30:11-14 says this plainly. Note: Obedience from a heart in love with God is always what God wanted from His people. To bask in God's kindness and love for us washes the cares of this world way. |
| Q. So salvation of mankind has never been far away? | A. Romans 10:8 = Yes. God never questioned how we would be saved. He already knew the Law could not save us. |
| Q. What does it mean that my salvation is close at hand; on my lips and in my heart? | A. Romans 10:9 = I confess with my mouth; I believe in my heart. |
| Q. What? | A. Romans 10:9 = I confess with my mouth that Jesus is Lord and I believe in my heart that God raised Him from the dead saves me. |
| Q. Believing in my heart that I am made right with God saves me? | A. Romans 10:10 = Yes. |
| Q. And confessing it with my mouth this fact saves me? |
A. Romans 10:10 = Yes. Note: Faith in God's way of salvation saves mankind. God has throughout history saved mankind thousands of ways; in wars and in miraculous interventions. He has not changed. He has added a permanent salvation in Jesus. We come to God at a very high price. But to God, we are worth it. Isn't that just like God? |
| Q. What is proof positive that I believe God and all He has done? |
A. Romans 10:11 = I am not disappointed. Note: It is no accident that this comment is written right after the verse about believing God for His way of salvation. He turns no one away! But the way of salvation is stated plainly and we must be knowledgeable about this way of God's in order to come to Him. All false religions, all false ways to God have one thing in common: The starting point of the journey to God is a thousand different places other than the one God provides. It is no secret that the path to God is directly through Jesus. |
| Q. Did God reveal His salvation ways in the Old Testament? | A. Romans 10:13 = Yes. Joel 2:32 says "anyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." It was prophecy. |
| Q. What is true about calling to the Lord to save oneself? |
A. Romans 10:14 = You wouldn't call on God to help you unless you believed He would hear you. Note: When crisis comes, suddenly everyone calls on God. Even the one who fancies himself an atheist calls on God in crisis. This is not to mock the atheist, but to show him what his own heart really knows! |
| Q. So everyone has a God-conciousness, but not everyone understands what they feel. Is this where believers come in? | A. Romans 10:14-15 = Yes. It is our job to tell them the Good News that their hearts already know from conception. |
| Q. What is that attitude of a true evangelist? |
A. Romans 10:15 = He has beautiful feet! Note: A believer sharing the Good News to someone ready to hear it is received well. If you are not received well, you are probably telling the Good News 'in the flesh' to a closed-hearted person that God has not readied for hearing it. |
| Q. Does every person welcome the Good News of salvation — of Jesus? |
A. Romans 10:16 = No. Note: It is possible to that God would soften a heart enough to receive the Good News of Salvation, and still, that heart would reject God? Yes. God softens and people re-harden themselves. |
| Q. What happens when one accepts the Good News? |
A. Romans 10:17 = Faith is born. Note: First the will is exercised — I will believe God about His way of salvation. Then God gives me faith to continue believing. "Faith is the assurance of things hoped for; the conviction of things yet to come" (Heb. 11:1). |
| Q. Is the message of salvation older than Jesus' birth into this world? | A. Romans 10:18 = Yes. It was spoken of in prophecy in Is. 53:1: "Who has believed our message? To whom will the Lord reveal His saving power?" |
| Q. Have the Jews actually heard the Good News? | A. Romans 10:18 = Yes. They knew it from Psalm 19:4: "Yet their [the heavens] message has gone out to all the earth, and their words to all the world." |
| Q. When did God tell the Jews that salvation was not theirs alone? | A. Romans 10:19 = In Deut. 32:21 to Moses. God punished the Jews for worshiping idols by blessing the Geniles. |
| Q. Were the Gentiles seeking God? | A. Romans 10:20 = No. Isaiah 65:1 says, "People who never before inquired about Me [God] are now asking about Me. I am being found by people who were not looking for Me. To them I have said, "I am here!" |
| Q. What is Israel's problem? | A. Romans 10:21 = God has His arms open to them, but they keep disobeying God and arguing with Him." |
| Q. Is this fact recorded in the Olt Testament? |
A. Romans 10:2 = Yes. Isaiah 65:2 says, "I open my arms to My own people all day long, but they have rebelled. They follow their own evil paths and thoughts." Note: This is true of mankind, God has His arms open to every person. All the while, most will follow their own evil paths and thoughts. No one is immune from selfishness. I encourage you to run every day into God's open arms! |
| Q. Has God rejected His people, the Jews? | A. Romans 11:1 = No. |
| Q. How can I be sure? | A. Romans 11:1 = Salvation came to the Jews in the apostles and in Jesus. |
| Q. Are there faithful Jews? | A. Romans 11:4-6 = Yes. God knws who they are! |
| Q. What is true of God's way of salvation? | A. Romans 11:6 = It is free and underserved. |
| Q. Why do most of the Jews still not believe in their Messiah? | A. Romans 11:7 = God has made them unresponsive. |
| Q. Why? | A. Romans 11:8 = Deut. 29:4 says that God put them in a deep sleep (because of their disobedience to God). |
| Q. Who also is asleep? | A. Romans 11:8 = Paul quoted from Is. 29:10, "For the Lord has poured out on you a spirit of deep sleep. He has closed the eyes of your prophets and visionaries" (because they preferred human wisdom to God's). |
| Q. Who else sleeps? | A. Romans 11:9 = Paul quoted Ps. 69:22-23 = The Jews in King Saul's army who sought to murder David. |
| Q. All verses quoted in the New Testament are directed at sinning Israelites? |
A. Romans 11:9 = Yes. 1) In Moses' time 2) In David's time 3) In Israel's time. |
| Q. What sins were they committing? |
A. 1) In Moses' time, idolatry (v.4) 2) In David's time, attempting murder of David (v.3) 3) In Isaiah's time, many other sins; preferring human wisdom over God's wisdom (v. 8-10). Note: Why do the world's most knowledgeable Christian historians and scholars not speak in tongues, have visions and prophesy? It is because they prefer human wisdom over God's. When they merged the Bible with philosophy and Stoic teaching, they lose God's favor and fall asleep. This happens all the time today. But God is moving today in a huge way. He is confounding heads bloated with facts and mind-dizzying human thought and now even the staunchest, serious, conservative believer is experiencing God. Hold your heart open to God, for He gives the Holy Spirit and His power to anyone who asks! |
| Q. Do the Gentiles have all the blessings of God? | A. Romans 11:12 = No. Those blessings are nothing in comparison to what they will be once the Jews finally come to salvation! |
| Q. What was Paul knows as? | A. Romans 11:13 = The apostle to the Gentiles. |
| Q. What was Paul's desire? | A. Romans 11:14 = To find a way to make the Jews want Jesus, even if just a few were saved this way. |
| Q. What positive thing came out of the Jews rejecting Jesus? | A. Romans 11:15 = God offered salvation to the rest of the world. |
| Q. What will it be like when the Jews are finally woken up? |
A. Romans 11:15 = Much more wonderful! Note: To be an unsaved Jew is a very strange thing. They witness the Gentile believers and want to believe in Jesus, but cannot. They know Christianity is real, but not to themselves. God has made them unresponsive; asleep. In the meantime, they continue preferring man's wisdom to God's wisdom, knowing more of traditions than God's Word. Now and then, a Jew is saved because of God's great mercy and kindness. He has kept for Himself a remnant from every age since Moses. Before Moses, back to Adam, God has kept for Himself believers. |
| Q. When salvation happens to a Jew, what is it like? | A. Romans 11:15 = Waking up from the dead. Wonderful! |
| Q. What is a benefit of being a believer? | A. Romans 11:16 = Our children inherit holiness. |
| Q. How so? | A. Romans 11:16 = Our roots become holy when we believe. Holy roots produce a holy family tree. |
| Q. And this is why we know the Jews will finally know their Messiah? | A. Romans 11:16 = Yes. |
| Q. How do Jews and Gentiles blend? | A. Romans 11:17 = Some of the branches from Abraham's tree have been broken off. Branches from a wild olive tree represent Gentiles. These branches were grafted into Abraham's tree. |
| Q. What kind of tree does God use to describe mankind? |
A. Romans 11:17 = Abraham = olive tree Gentiles = wild olive tree Note: Wild because Gentiles lived in a world without the Covenant and presence of God that the Jews had. |
| Q. Now the Gentiles share the same blessings as the Jews? | A. Romans 11:17 = Yes. |
| Q. What is this blessing? | A. Romans 11:17 = Rich nourishment of God's special olive tree. |
| Q. What should Gentile believers always remember about being in Abraham's tree? | A. Romans 11:18-21 = Not to brag. Anyone can be broken off Abraham's tree like the other Jews were because of disobedience. |
| Q. What should be the Gentile believer's attitude? |
A. Romans 11:21 = To fear God and know he is just as capable of disobedience as anyone else. Note: Bow humbly to your God and ask Him to keep you from being deceived. We are all vulnerable! |
| Q. What is true about God? | A. Romans 11:22 = God is both kind and severe. |
| Q. Who is God severe with? | A. Romans 11:22 = Those who disobey His Word. |
| Q. Who is God kind toward? | A. Romans 11:22 = Those who trust in God's kindness. |
| Q. What if I stop believing in God's kindness? | A. Romans 11:22 = I get cut off from His kindness. |
| Q. What is the fate of those Jews who were cutt off from Abraham's tree? |
A. Romans 11:23 = If they turn away from their unbelief and back to God, they are grafted back into Abraham's tree. Note: It is not our job to judge them for this, or anyone else. God loves a repentant heart. |
| Q. What does God want for errant Jews? | A. Romans 11:24 = To be grafted back into the tree where they belong. |
| Q. So we know that some of the Jews sleep a divine sleep. They are cutt off Abraham's tree when rejecting Jesus. What else describes their plight? | A. Romans 11:25 = They have hard hearts also divinely so. |
| Q. Why? | A. Romans 11:25 = So that the complete number of Gentiles will come to know Jesus first. |
| Q. Then what? | A. Romans 11:26 = All Israel will be saved. |
| Q. Is this a prophecy yet to be fulfilled? | A. Romans 11:26-27 = Yes. In Isaiah 59:20-21, Paul quoted, "'The Redeemer will come to Jerusalem,' says the Lord, 'To buy back those in Israel who have turned from their sins. And this is my covenant with them,' says the Lord. 'My Spirit will not leave them, and neither will these words I have given you. They will be on your lips and on the lips of your children and your children's children forever. I, the Lord, have spoken!'" |
| Q. What is true of today's Israelites? | A. Romans 11:28 = They are enemies to God's way of salvation, to the benefit of the Gentiles. |
| Q. Why is this beneficial to Gentiles? |
A. Romans 11:28 = Because they reject Jesus, God turned to the Gentiles. If they hadn't rejected Jesus, God would not have turned to the Gentiles. Note: God foreknew that the Israelites would turn from Him. He taught them that salvation was through the Law, then ended that covenant and began a new one through Jesus. The Jews needed more proof that this Jesus was God's plan, but God wouldn't give them that extra assurance. So a few Jews have believed that God did indeed end the covenant of the Law of Moses and the rest still bank on salvation by keeping the Law, however badly. The strategy has worked perfectly to the benefit of the Gentile nations — now fully being carried out as planned from the beginning of time. |
| Q. So Gentiles are God's adopted people into Abraham's tree. Where do Abraham's natural offspring, the Israelites, his grandchild, stand today? | A. Romans 11:28 = Still God's chosen people. |
| Q. How? | A. Romans 11:28 = Through the promises made to Israel's grandfather Abraham, repeated to Isaac, their father and confirmed again through Jacob, Israel's namesake. |
| Q. So they are not spared for the sake of being the Israeli nation? | A. Romans 11:28 = No. Only because they hvae a righteous grandfather, Abraham. |
| Q. And Abraham was made righteous by believing God? | A. Romans 11:28 = Yes. |
| Q. So faith saves Israel? | A. Romans 11:28 = Yes! |
| Q. How do we know that God still loves His now-enemy of the cross, Israel? |
A. Romans 11:29 = God's gifts and His call to people can never be withdrawn. Note: God never changes His word about people once He's called them to be His own. |
| Q. What exactly did the Israelites refuse from God? | A. Romans 11:30 = God's mercy. |
| Q. What did they choose instead of God's mercy? | A. Romans 11:30 = Rebellion against God. |
| Q. So God gave a gift to the Jews which they refused, and that gift stayed on earth because once give, God's gift cannot return to Him? |
A. Romans 11:29-33 = Yes. It fell to the Gentiles instead; God's gift of mercy needed a resting place! Note: There is almost nothing God cannot do. There are a couple of things I remember He cannot do from my studies: 1) God cannot lie 2) God cannot take back a gift He bestows 3) God cannot be in the same room with sin |
| Q. What irony is in what happened with the Jews? |
A. Romans 11:31 = 1) The Jews rebelled and God turned His mercy elsewhere. 2) The Gentiles rebelled and God shoed them mercy while they were still in rebellion. Note: There is a difference here: The Gentiles broke no covenant with God, neither did they know there was a Heavenly Father out there! They sinned openly and proudly. |
| Q. What do Jesus and Gentiles have in common? |
A. Romans 1:9 = God placed the knowledge of Himself in them both at conception. Note: God would not have done that if He didn't mean to save Gentiles, of which Abraham was first to be declared righteous. Think about this: 1)God called a Gentile to be the father of a nation that was destined to be God's own people. 2) Abraham, the Gentile, descended from Seth, Noah Adam, the Gentiles. 3) This is pre-Israel time. See how far off the mark the Israelites were in Jesus' time and now. 4) It has always been faith that saved. |
| Q. When will the Israelite nation share in God's mercy with the Gentiles? | A. Romans 11:31 = Some day! |
| Q. What is the state of unbelieving Israel? | A. Romans 11:32 = Imprisoned in their own disobedience. |
| Q. Why keep them there? | A. Romans 11:32 = So God's mercy could spread to all people. |
| Q. Is it okay if all this is hard for me to comprehend? | A. Romans 11:33 = Yes. God's great riches, wisdom, knowledge and cleansing are impossible for us to completely understand. His methods are beyond us. |
| Q. Why is this true? | A. Romans 11:34 = God acts based on His full knowledge of events. We have only a glimpse of what is going on, while God makes decisions based on all the facts, all the time. |
| Q. Did God reveal this to the prophets? |
A. Romans 11:34 = Yes. Isaiah wrote about this in Is. 40:13 = "Who is able to advise the Spirit of the Lord? Who knows enough to be His teacher or counselor?" Note: I don't know enough about what goes on around me to be able to judge properly. But God does! |
| Q. What is true of mankind? |
A. Romans 11:35-36 = God owns everything. We cannot give Him back what He already owns. Note: Pastors may use this Scripture to encourage folks to tithe more. In other words, God owns our money, so give it back to Him. But that's not the point of this verse. The point is that God is the only one knowledgeable about absolutely everything that happens in the universe and beyond. He knows when we lose a single hair. He knows on every head how many hairs remain. He wants us to trust Him with His salvation plan and to know He is always in charge and will be His wonderful self to us, with thousands of good thoughts only toward each of us. |
| Q. How does everything exist? | A. Romans 11:36 = By God's power. |
| Q. Why did God make everything? |
A. Romans 11:36 = Ultimately, to glorify Himself. Note 1: Non-Christians have a hard time not seeing an egotistical God in this verse. Let me clarify this: All things exist for the purpose of revealing to all God's living presence as loving Father. It all shines a big spotlight on God to a world living in otherwise ignorance of Him. He wants us to know Him! So to God be the glory evermore. Amen! (v. 36) Note 2: To people, religion is a set of rules not to break. Do not, do not, do not decide that you are not going to lust, steal, lie, gossip, commit adultery, worship idols, dishonor parents or covet and leave it at that. It will never be enough to decide not to sin. As the demon-possessed man that Jesus referred to, who cleaned his house, but didn't put godly behaviors in place of every sin he turned from, he actually backslid into seven times worse sin because the devil had more room to torment him. So to avoid his plight, you must insert each behavioral space with godly behavior. The Holy Spirit will help you in this. This is what the Holy Spirit does! |
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Replace lust with passion for God's Word Replace stealing with giving Replace lying with truthfulness Replace gossip with declaring a blessing Replace Replace adultery with closeness to God Replace idol worship with God worship Replace coveting with counting your blessings Replace dishonor of parents with finding a way to honor them, even if that means you bless them for giving you life Replace hating a neighbor with finding a way to love him Replace loving anything else more than God with loving God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. These are the behaviors I take on which nourish my soul and spirit. Never repent of sin without immediately installing its perfect opposite. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you. Pray and ask God for passion for His Word, give generously, be truthful, have a tongue ready with a blessing for others, draw close to God, with a heart that worships Him with endless joy, always count your blessings, honoring parents in action and thought, love your neighbor in deed, and be one who loves God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. Do, do, do right! Such behavior overwhelms sin and temptation, for love covers a multitude of sins. |
| Q. What does Paul teach about this good behavior? | A. Romans 12:1 = He pleads with people to see its importance in God's plan of salvation of every man. |
| Q. How? | A. Romans 12:1 = God asks us to give our bodies to Him. |
| Q. How? |
A. Romans 12:1 = By letting our bodies be a holy sacrifice by the way we now live (see above). Note: As only unblemished animal sacrifices were accepted by God, so we are to be unblemished by sin in doing what is right. We make ourselves acceptable sacrifices to God by choice. Don't you want to draw as close to God as possible in the way you live? |
| Q. What motivates a person to live right? | A. Romans 12:1 = By thinking of what God has done for me to make it possible to draw near to Him! He bloody died for me! |
| Q. How does the world apart from God act? | A. Romans 12:2 =People copy each other's bad behavior. Just like sheep! And they copy the world's customs too. (We behave this way because we always have. We do things a certain way. They ask, "don't you want to fit in?") |
| Q. What is the opposite behavior I should incorporate? |
A. Romans 12:2 = God changes the way I think. Note: Every time you open your bible, every time you read a verse, God transforms your mind a little more. The Holy Spirit helps you! |
| Q. What is the idea of waiting for God according to His Word? |
A. Romans 12:2 = 1) What God wants me to do is in these pages. 2) How great that is for me to know! Note: How good God is, how pleasing to me His will is (God is really for me!) 3) How perfect God's will really is! It is exactly what we were made for! We fit into God like a perfect puzzle piece. |
| Q. So the way I think in an unsaved state now affects my life how? |
A. Romans 12:2 = 1) I copy the customs of the world that influences for evil 2) I think like satan. 3) I learn satan's ways and do well what he wants me to do. 4) I think that evil is good and come to love it. |
| Q. What is really happening when I copy the world and satan's ways? |
A. Romans 12:2 = 1) I think like the devil 2) I have no clue as to how God thinks 3) I have no idea what God wants me to do 4) I have no idea how good and pleasing and perfect God's will really is. |
| Q. Can anyone fall under satan's influence? |
A. Romans 12:3 = Yes. Paul warned Christians to 1) be honest with themselves 2) to measure our value by how much faith God has given us (I'm worth my weight in faith!). |
| Q. What is true of all believers? |
A. Romans 12:4 = 1) We are all part of Jesus' one body 2) We belong to each other 3) Each of us needs all the others 4) We each have a special function that all the other believers need to be whole. |
| Q. Where do our special abilities come from? | A. Romans 12:6 = God. |
| Q. What are some special abilities? |
A. Romans 12:6 = 1) Prophesying 2) Serving others 3) Teaching 4) Encouraging 5) Giving of our money 6) Leading 7) Showing kindness to others |
| Q. I have done must of these. But how do I know if I am doing them well? |
A. Romans 12:6-8 = 1) If you prophesy, do you speak out when you have faith that God is speaking through you? 2) Do you serve others well? 3) Do you do a good job when you teach? 4) Are you actually evangelizing others? 5) Do you share your money generously? 6) Do you take your leadership responsibilities seriously? 7) When you show kindness, do you do it gladly? Note: Don't think any of these special abilities are yours unless they are done in the proper attitude. |
| Q. What is the proper way people try to use these abilities, but are not called by Papa God to use? |
A. Romans 12:6-8 = 1) Prophets are not intimidated to speak. If you think you know Papa is speaking through you, but you are embarrassed to share it, either you need to do it anyway, or else it's not Him. Sometimes, you just need to take a step of faith and see what's at the other end :) 2) How do you serve? Happily? Or complaining and resenting? Or do you serve so that you can be with your church friends? A servant's heart that sees his brother greater than himself is pure in his motivation to serve. 3) What kind of teacher are you? Well-prepared? Or do you scramble for teaching material every week? Do you understand how accountable you are as a teacher? Everything you teach changes your students. Be very careful to mold, to bring to maturity, every person under your influence. Now you have the right motivation to teach! 4) How do you encourage others? Do you search the Scriptures for answers they need and then show them how much Papa loves them? Do you remind them that Papa has only thousands of good thoughts for them? Do you hug, shake hands, pat on the back, and stay with one who is distressed? Or do you run away with just a word of blessing that takes no time from your routine and no sacrifice of time? 5) How do you give your money away? At every need Papa shows you, you can do something. Only believers have the audacity to give without expecting praise or accolades in return. Don't turn your back on the needy. They are everywhere and provide you an opportunity to die to self. Their needs are exactly what the rich need to find balance. Don't put all your money in the offering plate on Sunday. You'll need it the rest of the week to give away. Don't give your money just because Uncle Sam will reward you with a tax break. They are nice, but when you give spontaneously as Papa shows you where it is needed, you won't get that tax break. Do it anyway. Don't count your donations on the everyday generosity train. Give gladly or Papa won't count you as generous. 6) How do you lead? Why do you lead? Prestige? Man's honor? Or because Papa asked you because people need to follow a shepherd? Be wary of your behavior. People learn by example. If you grumble, so will they. If you isolate yourself and close your heart to others, so will they. If you hold your heart open, be vulnerable to people, your friends may betray you eventually. Because you trust Papa with your all, then they will too. They will mature, grow in faith and trust in Papa because you showed them how to by example. 7) How do you show kindness? In a rush, put out because you had to break routine? Or excited that Papa broke your routine for such an opportunity as this? Remember Joseph. Be genuinely kind. Be glad for the opporutunity to be kind to everyone and anyone in your path today. |
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| Q. What other things should we be doing as believers which takes no special ability? |
A. Romans 12:9 = 1) Love people genuinely -- don't pretend! 2) Hate what is wrong. Note: If you don't hate something Papa has said in His Word is to be hated, ask Him to give you a hate for that thing. Or else you won't be able to stop loving it! 3) Choose good over evil and defend good. 4) Be affectionate. Note: My daughter is 22. She tolerates my affection now better than she did at 17 :) 5) Take delight in honoring each other. Note: Affirm one another. All of us need recognition in our roles in the body of Christ Jesus. When we don't do this, fellowship is weakened. Encourage each other to use your gifts. Prayer warriors are sometimes physically weak. Affirm them and tell them what a vital role they play in your church and in your life. Many a new church has fallen from not honoring its people. |
| Q. What is the right perspective to have about my life's unexpected changes? |
A. Romans 12:12 = Be glad for all Papa is planning for you. Note: Remember that it is Papa who is ordering the changes! |
| Q. How do I handle trouble? | A. Romans 12:12 = With patience and prayer. |
| Q. How often should I pray? | A. Romans 12:12 = Always. Be a prayerful person. Speak in tongues quietly all the time in public. Tongues has a way of keeping Heaven's gates open above your head. You're ready for anything! |
| Q. When a believer is in need, what should I do? | A. Romans 12:13 = Be the one to help him out. |
| Q. I've never been a party host. Does Papa want me to be one? |
A. Romans 12:13 = Papa wants us to get i the habit of inviting guests over for dinner. Note: This is awkward at first, especially if your house is cluttered naturally! But don't worry about that! |
| Q. What about sleepovers? | A. Romans 12:13 = If a brother needs lodging, offer it gladly. |
| Q. What do I do with a person persecuting me for my faith? |
A. Romans 12:14 = Don't curse him! Pray that Papa would bless him! Note: This blesses you too. His curse cannot enter your soul and take root if you bless him immediately. If you remember too late, break the curse, replace it with a blessing on yourself and then bless the person who gave it. |
| Q. How do I relate to people? |
A. Romans 12:15-16 = 1) Be happy with one who is happy. 2) Be sad when someone is sad. Sympathize, empathize. 3) Live in harmony with each other. 4) Don't try to act important. Instead, enjoy the company of ordinary people. 5) Don't ever think you know it all! |
| Q. What do I do about social conflict? When someone does evil against me? | A. Romans 12:17 = Refrain from any obvious or subtle revenge tactics. If you act honorable 24/7, people will see that and the evil will pass with no harm done. |
| Q. What is the right way to respond to the evil done against me? |
A. Romans 12:18 = Continue in your part living in peace with everyone, as much as possible. Note: Consider hard people, crazy people, whacked out people, etc., to be a challenge to keep the peace with. People are troubled, have histories, circumstances, distresses, etc., that only Papa is aware of. When they react to their own journeys in this life, sometimes the spillover hits the nearest warm body! What they need is peace. Be the one to grant it! Holy Spirit Sarayu will help you. Welcome to the ministry! Jesus did the same thing! |
| Q. When can I avenge myself? | A. Romans 12:19 = Never. Papa will do it for you. Only He can handle it properly! |
| Q. Has this always been true? |
A. Romans 12:19 = Yes. In Deuteronomy 32:35, which Paul quoted here, Papa says, "I [Papa] will take vengeance and I will repay those who deserve it. In due time, their feet will slip. Their day of disaster will arrive, and their destiny will overtake them." Note: This is why we pray for our enemies. Their coming doom is pending. We should never anticipate someone's destruction. And we should never applaud when disaster strikes them. Remember that Papa punished Israel for rejoicing when Papa destroyed its enemies. Pray rather that your enemy would be granted mercy and be saved from this fate! |
| Q. If I treat my enemy with kindness and a servant's heart, what will result? | A. Romans 12:20 = He will be ashamed of what he has done to you. |
| Q. And this response of mind is instructed in the Law? |
A. Romans 12:20 = Yes. In Leviticus 19:18, Paul quoted it here in Romans. Here again is the full verse: "Never seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord." |
| Q. Did Paul expound on this verse? | A. Romans 12:20-21 = Yes. "If your enemies are hungry, feed them. If they are thirsty, give them something to drink, and they will be ashamed of what they have done to you." |
| Q. What Old Testament Scriptures does Paul quote here? |
A. Romans 12:20-21 = Proverbs 25:21-22 = "If your enemies are hungry, give them food to eat. If they are thirsty, give them water to drink. You will heap burning coals on their heads, and the Lord will reward you." Note: Taking revenge may seem to satisfy some itch, but it never does satisfy. On the other hand, Papa's reward does satisfy the itch! |
| Q. When I take revenge, what really happens? | A. Romans 12:21 = I let evil get the best of me. |
| Q. How do I conquer evil tendencies in my life? |
A. Romans 12:21 = By doing good. Note 1: Blessing enemies conquers your evil tenencies. Always have a blessing ready to speak on your powerful tongue! Note 2: In the movie "Fiddler on the Roof," Tevia and hiw wife sang a blessing to their daughters every Sabbath. What a wonderful tradition! Why not putting some time aside every week to bless your enemies? Whomever is acting against you is your enemy. Sometimes your friends act against you. So bless them at those times too. Here is Tevia's song modified to fit any person, especially enemies: May the Lord protect and defend you. May He always shield you from shame. May you come to be In Israel a shining name. May you be like Ruth and like Esther. May you be deserving of praise. Strengthen them, Oh Lord, And keep them from the strangers' ways. May God bless you and grant you long lives. (May the Lord fulfill our Sabbath prayer for you.) May God make you good mothers and wives. (May He send you husbands who will care for you.) May the Lord protect and defend you. May the Lord preserve you from pain. Favor them, Oh Lord, with happiness and peace. Oh, hear our Sabbath prayer. Amen. Take Tevia's words and fit them into a blessing for every person in your life. Papa will reward you! |
| Q. How do I replace my fleshly, sinful behavior? |
A. Romans 12:20 = Instead of your sinful behaviors, do what the Scripture says. The more you practice this choice, the more it will be your own. Note: In the presence of good behavior, bad behavior has no room to play :) |
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