There is a great danger in this present world of becoming caught up with ourselves. 

This section points us to the fact that we are not what God is doing, neither me, nor a nation, nor a church but rather we are part of what God is doing. 

This section invites me to take a step back and look at the bigger pitcher 

There is something very broad and expansive about this view of Gods dealings in grace. 

One of the sad things about this section is that many have approached it with a desire to rigidly define…

2 groups of people: 

The Remnant (11:4-7) 
The Rest (11:7-10) 

Whilst we have 2 groups I want to think about 3 conditions: 

Sleeping (11:7-8) 
Stumbling (11:9) 
Sold out for God (11:4-7) 

Conditions (1) and (2) really apply to the one group of people – the rest 

But perhaps we can see that there is decline in their condition 

From bad to worse? 

Sold out for God: 

The Remnant of Grace: 

Communicating with Power (11:4) 
Consecrated to a Person (11:4) 
Committed to a Purpose (11:5-6) 

Communicating with Power…

Romans chp 11 – part of the difficult part of Romans? 

Is there an easy part? 

Romans chps 9 to 11 – a parenthesis – it is, but not that much of a parenthesis 

Is it out of place? 

Chps 1 -3 – Sin 

Chps 3 – 5 – Salvation 

Chps 6 – 8 – Sanctification 

Chp 7 – Struggle with the flesh 

Chp 8 – Victory in the Spirit 

chps 9 to 11 – Israel 

Is it there out of habit? 

Is it there out of place? 

Is it there out of order? 

I think rather out of necessity! 

Perhaps chps 9 to 11 are not really primarily about Israel…

There is no doubt that 'death' brings an end, a closure to matters! 

It is possible to miss the simple message of Romans 6, to get away from the simplicity and clarity of it! 

The Christian life begins with a conversion – an end to the old and a beginning of the new! 

There would hardly be a more clear cut, a more dramatic way of putting it: black and white, right and wrong, life and death! 

This is an absolute! 

We may go on a course, an Alpha Course and answer the questions but if there is no conversion…

Part of our series from Romans chapter 5 on what the bible says on the destiny of the child who dies.

Why is it that over 2000 years and 40 authors the answer to the question appears not to be clearly answered? 

Why do we not have a book, a chapter, an epistle that answers the simple question how can a child be saved? After all we have  many passages of scripture that appear to deal in fine detail with every aspect of life: 

Vegetarianism (Rom14) 
Food sacrificed to idols – (1 Co 10) 
Head coverings – (1…

A walk through the old grave yard in New Cumnock, there lies amongst the many headstones the remains of one, incomplete, on which reads the following: 

their 3 children who were born on the 13th March 1870 

and died a son at birth 

a son aged 29 hours 

Mary Craig aged 20 days 

James Craig their son born 27th October 1878 died 28th October 1883 

Mary Craig their daughter born 13th March 1877 died 1st October 1888 

Bessie their daughter born 7th May 1889 died 19th April 1890 

Robert Craig their son born the…

A heavy chapter of doctrine, 

Great doctrinal subjects such as: 

The sovereignty of God 
The plan of salvation 
The all sufficiency of Gods Grace 

See in the 3 sections that Gods Grace is sufficient for and Gods purposes are Sovereign over: 

1. Life's Problems (5:-5) 
2. Salvation's Plan (5:6-11) 
3. Man's Plight (5:12-21) 

Or to put it another way He is enough for the: 

1. Worries of Life (5:-5) 
2. Weakness of Self (5:6-11) 
3. Wickedness of Man (5:12-21) 

I can rest in His all Sufficient Grace in: 

…

Righteousness is Credited (4:1-5) 

Sin is Cleansed (4:6-8) 

2 Errors of Mark 10:17-31: 

Salvation is Deserved: “what shall I do that I may inherit...” (10:17); “all these have I observed” (10:20) 

Salvation makes no Demands: salvation ultimately makes the demand of discipleship (Mk8:34), implicit in saving faith is that I see the need for salvation and implicit in this is repentance from the way I was going.

Faith in Christ means turning away from sin, Satan and self. 

Often emphasises the 2 sides to a…

3 Key Words: 

Righteousness (v21) – a “righteousness apart from the law” - we considered Gods righteous Standard in chapters 1 – 3 and in this transitional verse we noted a Righteousness from God that is able to bring salvation rather than damnation, justification rather than condemnation. We found an example of a righteousness of God that saves in the book of Joshua, in Rahab the Harlot saved on the basis of righteousness! Gods Righteousness is not only a standard but it also becomes a standing by faith in…

3 Key Words: 

Righteousness (v21) – a “righteousness apart from the law” - we considered Gods righteous Standard in chapters 1 – 3 and in this transitional verse we noted a Righteousness from God that is able to bring salvation rather than damnation, justification rather than condemnation. We found an example of a righteousness of God that saves in the book of Joshua, in Rahab the Harlot saved on the basis of righteousness! Gods Righteousness is not only a standard but it also becomes a standing by faith in…

God Shows His Righteousness in Salvation 

There is a light that shines through the whole of scripture from Genesis 1 to Revelation 22. 

The Word of God makes me aware that that Light and the apparent source of that Light are not one and the same! 

The Word of God distinguishes between the source and the substance 

Generally the ancient mind failed to do this: the commonest god to be worshiped by pagan man: Romans, Egyptians, Philistines, Hindus was the sun god. Why? Because the sun was regarded as the…

 Surely the very first discovery that we make on our spiritual journey is that there is a God! 
We make come to this discovery by means of considering: 

Creation – the subject of Romans chp 1 
Conscience – the moral order Romans chp 2 
Covenant – God speaking by His Word – Romans chp 2 
Cross – Romans Chp3 – there were those of course who first came face to face with the reality of Christ at the Cross: the centurion: “Truly this man was the son of God” (Mk 15:39); the thief on the cross: “And he said unto…

Vs 1- 7 – The Reality of the Gospel – Confidence of Paul 
Vs 8-17 – The Results of the Gospel – Converts at Rome 
Vs 17-32 – Requirement for the Gospel – Condition of Fallen Humanity 

Vs 1- 7 – The Reality of the Gospel – Confidence of Paul 

Don't need to understand everything 

Our faith doesn't lie in the fact that we have answers to all of the possible questions that could be asked but rather our faith is founded upon certainties, we at the moment see through a glass darkly. 

Vs 8-17 – The Results of the…

3 Categories of Sinners: 

Rotten Sinners of chp 1 
Self-Righteous Sinners of 2:1-6 
Religious Sinners for chp 2 

Rotten Sinners of chapter 1 

The pagan idolaters 

Self-Righteous Sinners (2:1-6) 

They are able to discern sin but not to dispense with sin! 
Judge sin in others but not in self 
No repentance from their own sin 
Notice that the condemnation of these self-righteous sinners is NOT that they fail to live a perfect life - which cannot be expected of any man but rather they fail to repent from the sin…

If you are going to give your life for Christ and the Gospel, you need to have confidence / need to be convinced that it is real 
Paul gave his life for the gospel 
He needed total confidence in the message 
Sometimes our service for Christ can be hindered by a lack of confidence in Christ and in the message: 

Is it real? 
Is it reliable? 
What about all the other messages? 
Can so many people be wrong? 

When faced with doubts there are 3 things we can so: 

Deny them - they tend to come back 
Be Destroyed by them…

'If its new its not true and if its true its not new' 

How authentic is this message? 

Did it come from man? 

Did it come from God? 

The authenticity of the Gospel. 

verse 1 - The Man 

verse 2 - The Message 

Hardly a more important question than this - is it real? 

Reasons the Gospel is Real: 

Personal Experience (v1) – Paul – Servant, Sent One and Separated 
The Promise (v2) - The Gospel lies (not very well) hidden in OT promises 
The Person (v3) - The Lord Jesus Christ is real 
The Power (v4) - The power of…