Daily Bread Pastor Mike Anderson

1 Corinthians 1 24 But to those called by God to salvation, both Jews and Gentiles, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 This foolish plan of God is wiser than the wisest of human plans, and God’s weakness is stronger than the greatest of human strength. Paul writes two letters to the Church in Corinth. Corinth was an isthmus (five sided island) just south of Greece. Corinth was a major commercial center, and home to a lot of immorality, due huge cult practice of prostitution, and other forms of debauchery. In fact the term "to Corinthianize", was a synonym for loose living and depravity. It was also an intellectual center for philosophers and debaters of different religions and philosophies. Paul uses the term "wisdom" throughout this chapter to compare worldly wisdom with God's wisdom. Paul says God's wisdom is foolishness to the Jews who seek signs, and foolishness to the Greeks who seek human wisdom. Most likely these new Christians

Romans 16 Paul’s Final Instructions 17 And now I make one more appeal, my dear brothers and sisters. Watch out for people who cause divisions and upset people’s faith by teaching things contrary to what you have been taught. Stay away from them. 18 Such people are not serving Christ our Lord; they are serving their own personal interests. By smooth talk and glowing words they deceive innocent people. 19 But everyone knows that you are obedient to the Lord. This makes me very happy. I want you to be wise in doing right and to stay innocent of any wrong. 20 The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. May the grace of our Lord Jesus be with you. As Paul closes out his letter to the Romans, the first part of the chapter is a laundry list of people he commends for their work with him in the Gospel. Notice most of these names we have never heard before. Men and women who have served alongside of Paul in this mission to reach the Gentiles with the Gospel. While we may hear a

Romans 15 18 Yet I dare not boast about anything except what Christ has done through me, bringing the Gentiles to God by my message and by the way I worked among them. 19 They were convinced by the power of miraculous signs and wonders and by the power of God’s Spirit. In this way, I have fully presented the Good News of Christ from Jerusalem all the way to Illyricum. As Paul closes up his monumental letter to the Romans, he shares some closing thoughts. He hopes to make it back to them, after he drops of the offering the Philippians made to the church in Jersualem. His plan was to return then somehow to make it back to Spain. Rome is the furthest he had reached west, and he says his goal was not to keeping preaching to those who have heard the gospel, but to those who haven't. As he recounts his ministry he states that his message to the Gentiles, who he was called to reach, was by his message and "by the way i worked among them." Then, he clarifies by saying that t

Romans 14 20 Don’t tear apart the work of God over what you eat. Remember, all foods are acceptable, but it is wrong to eat something if it makes another person stumble. 21 It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything else if it might cause another believer to stumble. 22 You may believe there’s nothing wrong with what you are doing, but keep it between yourself and God. Blessed are those who don’t feel guilty for doing something they have decided is right. 23 But if you have doubts about whether or not you should eat something, you are sinning if you go ahead and do it. For you are not following your convictions. If you do anything you believe is not right, you are sinning. As Paul moves to close out his letter to the Romans, he turns to how believers should relate to each other in the body of Christ. Specifically, he is giving advice and counsel on they should handle issues like eating meat or veggies and is there a specific day of the week for worship? In the Jewish

Romans 13 Submission to Governing Authorities 13 Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. 2 Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. 3 For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and you will be commended. 4 For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. 5 Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also as a matter of conscience. So often when we hear about the relationship between church and the governmen

A Living Sacrifice 12 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. Chapter 12 marks the big transition from Paul's laying out the doctrine of the Christian faith in chapters 1-8, the plight of his Jewish brothers and sisters in chapters 9-11, to the practical implications of what it means to respond to the mercy we have been given through Jesus Christ. The big transition word is "therefore". Again it means in lieu of the instruction of the previous chapters, this is then how you should live. First it says, "in view of God's mercy". This makes it clear that our discipleship is completely fueled by what God has done for us. Grace is our

All Israel Will Be Saved 25 I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in, 26 and in this way all Israel will be saved. Paul closes out this sub section of Romans (chs.9-11) commenting on the plight of his fellow Jews. In this final section, he makes a bold statement, " All Israel will be saved." This has been a hotly debated subject over the years. What does Paul mean? Will every Jew be saved by being born into a Jewish family? Is Paul speaking in terms of the 'New Israel' made up of all those who believe in Jesus? Will the Jews final inclusion in those who are saved be part of the end times? What does the full number of Gentiles mean in terms of numbers? What relationship does all this have with that 144,000 representing the 12 tribes of Israel who are saved from judgment in the book of Revelation? As you can

Romans 10 9 If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved. 11 As the Scriptures tell us, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be disgraced.” 12 Jew and Gentile are the same in this respect. They have the same Lord, who gives generously to all who call on him. 13 For “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Paul makes it clear throughout the whole book of Romans how we are saved, or made right with God. It is by faith, trusting in the promises God made with us through Christ. What the Law could not do for us, Jesus did by dying for us on the cross. So when Paul says today, "If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead you will be saved", he is not advocating you have to do anything to be saved.

Romans 9 God’s Selection of Israel 9 With Christ as my witness, I speak with utter truthfulness. My conscience and the Holy Spirit confirm it. 2 My heart is filled with bitter sorrow and unending grief 3 for my people, my Jewish brothers and sisters. I would be willing to be forever cursed—cut off from Christ!—if that would save them. 4 They are the people of Israel, chosen to be God’s adopted children. God revealed his glory to them. He made covenants with them and gave them his law. He gave them the privilege of worshiping him and receiving his wonderful promises. 5 Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are their ancestors, and Christ himself was an Israelite as far as his human nature is concerned. And he is God, the one who rules over everything and is worthy of eternal praise! Amen. One of the hardest things when you are a believer is when a person in your family doesn't hold the same beliefs as you do. You can pray for them, try to share your faith in word and deed with them, but whe

Romans 8 5 Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit. 6 So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace. 7 For the sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God’s laws, and it never will. 8 That’s why those who are still under the control of their sinful nature can never please God. 9 But you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you. (And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them do not belong to him at all.) 10 And Christ lives within you, so even though your body will die because of sin, the Spirit gives you life because you have been made right with God. 11 The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from

Romans 7 Paul says today, what all us I am sure have said at one point or another in our lives, "I am all too human!" The one thing about Paul is that he had seen how trying to obey the law in his own power didn't work. The Law's purpose was to reveal his fallen human nature and to show him his need for Jesus. I love Paul's honesty about his own powerlessness when he says, "I don't really understand it. Though I want to do the right thing, I don't do it. Instead I do the opposite." In another version he concludes, "What a wretched man I am!" Paul says it is not the Law that it is problem, but the problem is with me. It is great to see Paul taking personal responsibilty for his own attitudes and actions. This is something that is often missing in our world today. People want to blame the authorities, or their parents, or someone else, rather than admitting that the problem lies within ourselves. But the Good News is that God has gi

Romans 6 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. Talk about the setting of the minimum wage has been in the news a lot lately. A reported 21 states are considering raising their minimum wage for its workers. When someone works they certainly deserve to be paid in some way. Paul himself says, "A worker deserved to be paid for his work." Of course, there are arguments on both sides, and that is not the purpose of mentioning it here. Paul says today in Romans 6:23 that the wages of sin is "death". Meaning what we deserve for our sin is death. The minimum wage in God's economy is "death". That seems harsh doesn't it? Well maybe not. Another way of putting it might be, "the natural outcome of our sinful nature is death". Left unchecked our sinful nature will ultimately destroy us. Why? Because the essence of the sinful nature is that we become "turned in on ourselves&q

Romans 5:3-5 3 We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. 4 And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. 5 And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love. How often do we think of rejoicing when we have problems and trials in our lives? It is much easier to feel sorry for ourselves and be resentful about why we have been dealt such a bad deck of cards. Trust me, I know what that is like because I do it from time to time. It seems soothing at the time to marinate in bitterness and resentment. But there is only one problem with that strategy? It doesn't change the problem or change us. It really doesn't make us feel any better. Those around us pay the price as well by our handling it this way. Finally, it can even eat at our relationship with Go

Romans 4 We have been saying that Abraham’s faith was credited to him as righteousness. 10 Under what circumstances was it credited? Was it after he was circumcised, or before? It was not after, but before! 11 And he received circumcision as a sign, a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. So then, he is the father of all who believe but have not been circumcised, in order that righteousness might be credited to them. 12 And he is then also the father of the circumcised who not only are circumcised but who also follow in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised. Circumcision was a sign of the covenant God made with Israel through Abraham. When Abraham's long awaited son Issac was born, God commanded all Jewish boys and men to be circumcised before becoming eight days old. Genesis 17 describes this covenant, Then God said to Abraham, “As for you, you must keep my covenant, you and your descendants

Romans 3 21 But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22 This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. We always hear the words, "So and so is a good person." And while they may be somewhat of a good person, what does that mean?" They are better than the next person, or better than most. And what does that look like when we compare that to what Paul calls the "righteousness of God". Literally when we use this word, the original meaning is the justice of God. Or, God is always just. Here is a good explanation of the righteousness of God, We must then say the righteousness of God is evident in the way He consistently acts in accord with His own charact

Romans 2:6-10 6 God “will repay each person according to what they have done.” 7 To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. 8 But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. 9 There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile; 10 but glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. 11 For God does not show favoritism. When I first read these verses, I was thinking these words of Paul might be misconstrued that he is advocating "works righteousness". Meaning that one is justified before God by their good deeds. But what he is really doing is speaking to those who were judging others by their own standards. The Jews were especially guilty of this, as they looked down on Gentiles because they weren't Jewish. So Paul uses this argument that God judg

Romans 1:20 20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. One thing you will hear a lot is, "How can God judge those who have not even heard about Jesus and the forgiveness he offers?" That is a good question. Though the bible has been translated into 1,000's of languages, there are still some people who have not had the gospel translated into their own language. But what can they know about God? As we begin Paul's letter to the church at Rome, which he would soon be visiting, he starts out with the sinfulness of humankind. His first point is that everyone on the earth has a basic knowledge of God just by seeing the Creation around them. In the theological world we call this "General Revelation". If we look at the sun, moon and the stars, as King David said in Psalm 8:3, who is mankind that God is m

Acts 28 23 They arranged to meet Paul on a certain day, and came in even larger numbers to the place where he was staying. He witnessed to them from morning till evening, explaining about the kingdom of God, and from the Law of Moses and from the Prophets he tried to persuade them about Jesus. 24 Some were convinced by what he said, but others would not believe. 25 They disagreed among themselves and began to leave after Paul had made this final statement: “The Holy Spirit spoke the truth to your ancestors when he said through Isaiah the prophet: 26 “‘Go to this people and say, “You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.” 27 For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.’ 28 “Therefore I want you to know that God

Acts 27 21 After they had gone a long time without food, Paul stood up before them and said: “Men, you should have taken my advice not to sail from Crete; then you would have spared yourselves this damage and loss. 22 But now I urge you to keep up your courage, because not one of you will be lost; only the ship will be destroyed. 23 Last night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood beside me 24 and said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand trial before Caesar; and God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you.’ 25 So keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me. 26 Nevertheless, we must run aground on some island.” As they sail on for Rome for Paul's trial before Caesar, the 276 men on the boat, including prisoners like Paul, are in danger of losing their lives. Despite Paul's warnings to stay put where they are, they go on almost to their own disaster. Though Paul is a prisoner on the sh

Acts 26 5 “I am not insane, most excellent Festus,” Paul replied. “What I am saying is true and reasonable. 26 The king is familiar with these things, and I can speak freely to him. I am convinced that none of this has escaped his notice, because it was not done in a corner. 27 King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know you do.” 28 Then Agrippa said to Paul, “Do you think that in such a short time you can persuade me to be a Christian?” 29 Paul replied, “Short time or long—I pray to God that not only you but all who are listening to me today may become what I am, except for these chains.” As Paul is brought before King Agrippa, he recounts his story on how he was a Pharisees and hunted down Christians, because of his zeal for Judaism. He even went to foreign cities to find them and cast votes to have them killed. Then, he described his conversion, as he and his colleagues were blinded by the light and Jesus appeared to them and said, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting

Acts 25 9 Festus, wishing to do the Jews a favor, said to Paul, “Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem and stand trial before me there on these charges?” 10 Paul answered: “I am now standing before Caesar’s court, where I ought to be tried. I have not done any wrong to the Jews, as you yourself know very well. 11 If, however, I am guilty of doing anything deserving death, I do not refuse to die. But if the charges brought against me by these Jews are not true, no one has the right to hand me over to them. I appeal to Caesar! 12 After Festus had conferred with his council, he declared: “You have appealed to Caesar. To Caesar you will go!” Today, we see that the Jews set up an ambush plan to have Paul killed, as he went from Caesarea to Jerusalem. They tried to get Festus (Felix's successor) to buy into their plan by dismissing the case to be tried back in Jerusalem. Festus, wanting to pacify the Jewish leaders for his own politically motivated reasons, asked Paul to go to Jerusa

Acts 24 24 Several days later Felix came with his wife Drusilla, who was Jewish. He sent for Paul and listened to him as he spoke about faith in Christ Jesus. 25 As Paul talked about righteousness, self-control and the judgment to come, Felix was afraid and said, “That’s enough for now! You may leave. When I find it convenient, I will send for you.” 26 At the same time he was hoping that Paul would offer him a bribe, so he sent for him frequently and talked with him. One of the interesting things about Paul being brought before several governors and commanders, was that he got a chance to testify about what they call in this chapter called "The Way". This is what the early church was called the people of the "Way". This meant they were people who followed the "Way" of Jesus Christ. Jesus said in John 14:6, "I am the way, the truth and the life." Secretly Felix was interested in what Paul had to say and checked it out with his Jewish wife,

Acts 23 6 Then Paul, knowing that some of them were Sadducees and the others Pharisees, called out in the Sanhedrin, “My brothers, I am a Pharisee, descended from Pharisees. I stand on trial because of the hope of the resurrection of the dead.” 7 When he said this, a dispute broke out between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. 8 (The Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, and that there are neither angels nor spirits, but the Pharisees believe all these things.) Paul finally appears before his accusers in the Sanhedrin, with an angry mob waiting in the wings. When the high priest calls to have him struck on the mouth, Paul strikes back at him not knowing he was the high priest. When he finds out he is the high priest, he apologizes citing the law in Exodus, "to respect your leaders". You can see Paul still has respect for the Law given by Moses. Then, Paul uses another strategy to get himself out of harm's way. Paul brings up the

Acts 22 Paul the Roman Citizen 22 The crowd listened to Paul until he said this. Then they raised their voices and shouted, “Rid the earth of him! He’s not fit to live!” 23 As they were shouting and throwing off their cloaks and flinging dust into the air, 24 the commander ordered that Paul be taken into the barracks. He directed that he be flogged and interrogated in order to find out why the people were shouting at him like this. 25 As they stretched him out to flog him, Paul said to the centurion standing there, “Is it legal for you to flog a Roman citizen who hasn’t even been found guilty?” In this chapter, Paul continues to try and convince his fellow Jews that Jesus is the Messiah. He tells them his story of how he was one of the most devout Jews, and was there for the stoning of the first Christian martyr, Stephen. Then, he recounts his conversion story, as he was struck down by the light on the road to Damascus and met the Risen Jesus. Jesus said to him, "Saul, Saul w

Acts 21 Paul Returns to Jerusalem 0 When they heard this, they praised God. Then they said to Paul: “You see, brother, how many thousands of Jews have believed, and all of them are zealous for the law. 21 They have been informed that you teach all the Jews who live among the Gentiles to turn away from Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or live according to our customs. 22 What shall we do? They will certainly hear that you have come, 23 so do what we tell you. There are four men with us who have made a vow. 24 Take these men, join in their purification rites and pay their expenses, so that they can have their heads shaved. Then everyone will know there is no truth in these reports about you, but that you yourself are living in obedience to the law. 25 As for the Gentile believers, we have written to them our decision that they should abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality.”26 The next day Pau