Romans

I never tire of reading the Bible. Even though I have read it from cover to cover numerous times and some books, like Romans, again and again and again, God's word is always fresh, always new, always alive. That's one of those God things that I don't understand - the Bible being alive (Hebrews 4:12) - but that I believe it because I have experienced it in my life.

Part of what I love about Romans is God's plan of salvation made extremely clear.

"for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God," (Romans 3:23) As my pastor would say, the Greek word for all means...all. If you are a person, you are part of "all". Doesn't matter who you are, what you do, where in the world you live, rich or poor, "good" or "bad" - ALL of us fall short of God's perfection.

"but God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8) Since we are all sinners, God's love is poured out for all of us - everyone, every where. Christ died for all humanity. God loves us and sent Jesus to bear our punishment for our sins. He wants us so much He did everything necessary to make us right with Him.

"For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 6:23) Death or life? That is the question before each of us and a choice has to be made.

"because if you confess with your mouth 'Jesus is Lord' and believe in your heart God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved." (Romans 10:9) God did not make this complicated. No pilgrimages to make, no service to perform, no steps to climb. Believe and confess."For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved." (Romans 10:10)

"For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." (Romans 10:13) EVERYONE - no matter our age, our race, our economic status, our nationality; no matter how heinous or trivial our sins by human standards. Everyone who can confess Jesus is Lord will be saved.

I am so grateful to this loving God who pulled me up out of the mire of sin, the pit of despair and set my feet on solid ground. The way to God is simple - but there is only ONE way. That's what throws so many people off. They want THEIR way, not God's way. Jesus said, "Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few." (Matthew 7:13-14)