We must live out of the promises of the Gospel seeking to be unified in our mission as Jesus followers to proclaim the glory of God to all the nations. And we must not judge one another, nor cause one another to stumble, instead we should live sacrificially through love and mutual up building all for the glory of God.
At various times in life we all find ourselves in positions of strength and in positions of weakness. In Romans 14 Paul gives instruction on how to interface as the strong and weak that is as pertinent today as it was two thousand years ago.
For Christians living in the resurrection world, the call to love our neighbor is not only something to be obeyed, but we are given all the resources that we need to respond to the call.
a facet of right relationships for the believer is the right relationship to governing authorities. In these verses Paul lays out God’s gracious ordination of the state and the Christian’s obligations with respect to it.
In light of the Gospel, that Jesus is the Saving King, Paul encourages the Christians of the day, and us that we must love without hypocrisy; with genuine affections for image bearers of God, especially those inside the household of faith. This love is tangible, it's sacrificial, it's costly and it's our strength against evil.
Romans is a call to subversive generosity, hospitality, and grace-filled living in the face of an empire that would coerce conformity to ITS image. Our call is based on and powered by the renewing mercies of God which he has lavished on us without merit on our part.
Carrying on in the work of the gospel with great joy because of the confidence we have that He who began this good work will carry it on to the day of completion.
On this episode of Following Jesus with Christ Church, pastors Andrew Vandermaas and Addison Hawkins talk with David Hopson. David and his family spent time as missionaries in Albania and Macedonia and upon their return to the states David has pursued a career in the police force. David, Andrew and Addison talk about their story, the ups and downs of 2020 and David's perspective as a police officer during this time. Stay tuned.
