Where I found truth, there found I my God, who is the truth itself. Augustine
It's transformation time. It’s also time for me to ask you to invite others to this study as we begin (officially, next week, this week is the intro). Folks can sign-up here or email me at tiffany@divinelyinterrupted.com and I’ll add them.
If I could only choose a few chapters to keep in my Bible, it would include Romans 6-8. They have been the most frustrating chapters (I lacked understanding) and the most liberating (I finally grasped the truth).
These three chapters and I have a complicated relationship. They were stuck in my brain for years but couldn't get down into my heart. So, I wrestled. I cried. I sinned. I gave in repeatedly to my same lustful, grotesque patterns. And I was exhausted.
I tried to act in faith when God wanted me to understand a fact.
If none of this makes sense to you, you are where I was for so long. But, there is hope, freedom, and transformation ahead in Christ Jesus.
The book of Romans is chocked-full full of delicious truth. The Apostle Paul wrote it, focusing on how we are to live out our faith as believers. The entire book is life-changing, but Romans 6, 7, and 8 are where we will spend our time together — ingesting and digesting the Bread of Life. Christian living depends on Christian learning.
Here's a quick outline of the book of Romans (borrowed this from Warren Wiersbe, Be Right book):
Introduction (Romans 1:1-17)
Sin: Righteousness Demanded (Romans 1:18-3:20)
Salvation: Righteousness Declared (Romans 3:21-5:21)
Sanctification: Righteousness Defended (Romans 6-8)
Victory: the Flesh (Romans 6)
Liberty: the Law (Romans 7)
Security: the Spirit (Romans 8)
Sovereignty: Righteousness Declined (Romans 9-11)
Service: Righteousness Demonstrated (Romans 12:1-15:7)
Conclusion (Romans 15:8-16:27)
Our focal point for this Bible study will be sanctification. That's a fancy word for "holy" or being "set apart" for God's use. As believers, we've put our trust in the work of Christ Jesus: His death, resurrection, and ascension. We recognize that He died for our sins and our need for salvation (see #2 and #3 in the outline above).
We move onward to sanctification now that we have salvation (#4 in outline). In Romans 6, Paul tells us the facts of how to live victoriously.
Before we go any further, we need to let the word fact sink down deep. What we will read and study in Romans 6 over the coming weeks is a fact. It is not a feeling, and it is not faith. It is a fact that you are dead to sin and alive to Christ, and you need to accept it as fact.
Before we even read the first verse in this study, I want you to spend a week meditating, mulling around, and chewing on that what you will study in Romans 6 next is a fact. It is a thing that is known and proven to be true. It's not something we hope for: it's signed, sealed, and delivered. It's in your spiritual bank account. You must reckon the fact (reckon = calculate it and regard it in a specific way), and that's what we're going to do — together.
Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. John 8:32