From Dream to Deliverance
Saturday, September 11, 2004
My Prayer Today
Dear Heavenly Father, Thank You for sending Jesus Christ to be my Savior! Without His sacrifice I would not have the grace to seek You or follow You. I admit that my "flesh" is weak, and sometimes my sinful nature wants to arise, but I ask that You would capture me by Your grace so that I may know You and make You known to others. Today, I ask that Your grace would be abundant in my life so that I may be victorious against my sinful nature. I ask this all in Your Son's name. . . Amen.
God's Word For Me Today
Romans 7:21-8:4
7:21 "It seems to be a fact of life that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. 22 I love God's law with all my heart. 23 But there is another law at work within me that is at war with my mind. This law wins the fight and makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. 24 Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will set me free from this life that is dominated by sin? 25 Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ out Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God's law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin."
8:1 "So now there is now no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. 2 For the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you through Christ Jesus from the power of sin that leads to death. 3 The law of Moses could not save us, because of our sinful nature. But God put into effect a different plan to save us. He sent his own Son in a human body like ours, except that ours are sinful. God destroyed sin's control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins. 4 He did this so that the requirement of the law would be fully accomplished for us who no longer follow our sinful nature but instead follow the Spirit."
Reflecting on God’s Word
According to Romans 8:3, why could the "law of Moses" not save us?
Is Paul assuming that the "law of sin" is more powerful than the "law of Moses?" Why?
What is the "different plan" that God put into effect to save us?
A Deeper Exploration of God’s Word
According to verse 3, why is it important that Jesus came in a "human body like ours?"
Did Jesus have a sinful nature to contend with?
Was Jesus born into sin? Was "death" active in Jesus' body in any way?
Understanding God’s Word
According to verse 4, why did Jesus become a sacrifice for our sins?
What is "the requirement of the law?"
According to verse 4, do Christians follow their sinful nature? Why or why not?
Applying God’s Word to Our Lives
Are we as Christians under "law" or "grace?" What does this mean?
What is grace? How does it work?
What are three things you have seen in your life this past week that have been works of God's grace?
Thoughts...
Have you ever said that you were going to read your Bible and pray early in the morning, and then when the alarm went off, you decided to sleep in just a little bit longer? It is as if our hearts are willing, but somehow our "flesh" is weak. We want to do the right thing, but our flesh doesn't have the energy and the strength to do it. Our sinful nature takes over and we would rather do something else, rather than seek the Lord. It takes discipline and will power to be able to be committed to seeking God, but most importantly it takes His grace.
Grace is something that we do not deserve, however, God gives it to us anyway through the power of His Holy Spirit. The apostle Paul says in Romans 3, "The law of Moses could not save us, because of our sinful nature. But God put into effect a different plan to save us. . ." The new plan that God has given us is a plan of "grace." The sacrifice of Jesus Christ upon the cross is the evidence that God loves us and wants to extend His grace toward us. What is grace? Grace is essentially "getting something we do not deserve." The grace of God empowers us to do things and be the kind of people He desires, even though we cannot do it on our own. He gives us the enablement, though we do not deserve it, to be witnesses for Jesus Christ. When our "flesh" wants to take over and sleep in, for example, the grace of God comes and enables us to seek God. Thank God we are under a new plan of grace!