UNDERSTAND THE PLAN OF YHWH ...
ROMANS 3: 9-20
We are all guilty
9 Then shall we, the Jews, be better off than the Jews? Not at all! I have already shown that all Jews and non-Jews are under the power of sin. 10 As the Holy Scriptures say, "There is not one person who does what is right; 11 There is no one who has judgment; there is no one who worships God. 12 All have turned aside from the right way, all have been lost. There is no one else who does good, there is no one. 13 All lie and deceive without stopping. Out of their tongue are perverse lies, and out of their lips are the words of death, as though they were snake venom. 14 Their mouths are full of terrible curses. 15 They rush to kill. 16 Wherever they pass, they leave destruction and misery. 17 They know not the way of peace, 18 and have not learned to fear God. "19 We know that what the law says is said to those who live under the law. So that all may cease to be justified, and that all the people of the world may be under the judgment of God. 20 For no one is accepted by God to do what the law says, because the law makes people know that they are sinners.
ROMANS 3: 21-31
Salvation through faith
21 But now God has shown that the means by which he accepts people has nothing to do with law. The Law of Moses and the Prophets testify to the following: 22 God accepts people through the faith they have in Jesus Christ. This is how he treats all who believe, for there is no difference between people. 23 All have sinned and are far from the glorious presence of God. 24 But by his grace and without demanding anything, God accepts all through Christ Jesus, who saves them. 25 God offered Christ as a sacrifice so that through his death on the cross Christ might become the means for people to receive the forgiveness of their sins by faith in him. 26 God wanted to show him that he is righteous. In the past he was patient and did not punish people for their sins; but now, by the sacrifice of Christ, God shows that he is righteous. So he is just and accepts those who believe in Jesus. 27 Do we have reason to be proud? Not at all! And why not? Is it because we obey the law? Not; it is not. It is because we believe in Christ. 28 Thus we perceive that the person is accepted by God by faith and not by doing what the law says. 29 Or is it that God is only God of the Jews? Is it not also the God of the non-Jews? Course is! 30 God is one and will accept the Jews on the basis of their faith and also accept the non-Jews by means of their faith. 31 Does this mean that, because of faith, we treat the law as if it were worthless? Not; not at all! On the contrary, we affirm that the law has value.
ROMANS 4: 1-12
The example of Abraham
1 Then what can we say of Abraham, the ancestor of our race? What did he get? 2 If it was because of the things that he did that God accepted him, then he would have reason to be proud, but not to boast before God. 3 For what does the Holy Scripture say? They say, "Abraham believed God, and therefore God accepted him." 4 The wages the laborer receives are not a gift, but the wages to which he is entitled because of the work he has done. 5 But the person who does not put his hope in the things he does, but simply believes in God, is the faith of that person that makes him accepted by God, the God who treats the guilty as if he were innocent. 6 And this is what David meant when he spoke of the happiness of those whom God accepts, regardless of what they do. 7 David said: "Happy is he whose sins God forgives and whose sins he extinguishes!
8 Blessed is the one who does not accuse the Lord of committing sin! "9 Is this happiness that David said to exist only to those who are circumcised? Of course not! It also exists for those who are not circumcised. For we have already quoted the Holy Scriptures, which say, "Abraham believed God, and therefore God accepted him." 10When did this happen? Was it before or after Abraham was circumcised? It was before and not after. 11 He was circumcised later. And his circumcision was a sign to prove that God accepted Abraham because he had faith; and this happened when he had not yet been circumcised. So Abraham is the spiritual father of all who believe in God and are accepted by him, even if they are not circumcised. 12 He is also the father of those who are circumcised. Not only because they are circumcised, but because they live the same life of faith that Abraham, our father, lived before he was circumcised.
ROMANS 4: 13-25
Promise and faith
13 God promised Abraham and his descendants that the world would belong to them. This promise was made not because Abraham had obeyed the law, but because he had believed in God and had been accepted by him. 14 For if those who obey the law will receive what God has promised, then faith is worthless, and the promise of God is worthless. 15 For the law brings the chastisement of God. But where there is no law, there is also no disobedience to the law. 16 Therefore, the promise of God depends on faith, so that the promise is guaranteed as the gift of God to all the descendants of Abraham. It is not only for those who obey the law, but also for those who believe in God as Abraham believed, for he is the spiritual father of us all. 17 As the Holy Scriptures say, "I have made you the father of many nations." So the promise depends on God, in whom Abraham believed, the God who raises the dead and makes what does not exist. 18 Abraham had faith and hope, even when there was no reason to hope, and so he became "the father of many nations." As the Scripture says, "Your descendants will be many." 19 Abraham was almost a hundred years old. But even when he thought about his dead body, or when he remembered that Sarah could not have children, her faith did not weaken. 20 Abraham did not lose faith, nor did he doubt God's promise. His faith filled him with power, and he praised God 21 because he was sure that God could do what he had promised. 22Therefore Abraham, through faith, "was accepted of God." 23 The words "accepted" do not speak only of him. 24 They also speak of us, that we will be accepted, we who believe in God, whom Jesus our Lord has raised up. 25 Jesus was delivered up to die for our sins and was resurrected so that we might be accepted by God.
ROMANS 5: 1-21
God accepted
1 Now that we have been accepted by God through our aith in him, we have peace with him through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 It was Christ who gave us, through our faith, this life in the grace of God. And now we stand firm in this grace and rejoice in the hope of sharing in the glory of God. 3 And we rejoice in our sufferings, for we know that sufferings produce patience; 4 Patience brings the approval of God, and this approval creates hope. 5 This hope does not leave us disappointed, for God has poured out his love into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which he has given us. 6 In fact, when we had no spiritual strength, Christ died for the wicked at the time chosen by God. 7 Hardly anyone would accept to die for a person who obeys the laws. It may be that someone has the courage to die for a good person. 8 But God hath showed us how much he loves us: Christ died for us while we were still in sin. 9 And now that we have been accepted by God through the death of Christ on the cross, it is more certain that we will be made free from the punishment of God through him. 10 We were enemies of God, but he made us his friends through the death of his Son. And now that we are God's friends, it is even more certain that we will be saved by the life of Christ. 11 Not only that, but we rejoice because of what God has done through our Lord Jesus Christ, who has now made us friends of God. Adam and Christ 12 Sin entered the world through one man, and his sin brought death with him. As a result, death has spread throughout the human race because all have sinned. 13 Before the law was given, there was sin in the world; but when there is no law, God does not take sin into account. 14 But from the time of Adam to Moses, death dominated all human beings, even those who did not sin like Adam, when he disobeyed the command of God. Adam was the figure of him who was to come, 15 but there is a difference between the sin of Adam and the gift that God gives us. In fact, many died because of the sin of one man; but the grace of God is much greater, and he gives salvation freely to many through the grace of one man, who is Jesus Christ. 16 And there is a difference between what God gives and the sin of one man. For in the case of sin, condemnation came because of one sin. But in the case of salvation, God forgives those who have committed many sins, even though they do not deserve forgiveness. 17 It is true that, because of one man and through his sin, death began to dominate the human race. But the result of what was done by one man, Jesus Christ, is much greater! And all those whom God accepts and who receive his immense grace as a gift will reign in the new life through Christ. 18 Therefore, just as one sin condemned all human beings, so also one act of salvation liberates all and gives them life. 19 And just as many human beings have become sinners because of one man's disobedience, so many will be accepted by God because of the obedience of one man. 20 The law came to increase evil. But where sin increased, the grace of God increased even more. 21 And it came to pass that, just as sin overpowered and brought death, so also the grace of God, which leads him to accept people, would dominate and bring eternal life. This life is ours through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Ephesians 2: 1-22
From death to life
1 Formerly, because they had disobeyed God and because they had committed sins, you were spiritually dead. 2 At that time you followed the evil path of this world and did the will of the one who governs the spiritual powers of space, the spirit that now controls those who disobey God. 3 In fact, we were all like them and lived according to our human nature, doing what our body and mind wanted. So, because we are human beings like the others, we too were destined to suffer the punishment of God. 4 But the mercy of God is very great, and his love for us is so great, 5 that when we were spiritually dead because of our disobedience, he brought us into the life we have in union with Christ. By the grace of God you are saved. 6 Being united with Christ Jesus, God raised us up with him to reign with him in the heavenly world. 7 God did this to show in all the times of the future the immense greatness of his grace, which is ours through the love he showed us through Christ Jesus. 8 For by the grace of God you are saved through faith. This does not come from you, but it is a gift given by God. 9 Salvation is not the result of your efforts; therefore no one can boast of having it. 10 For it was God who made us what we are now; in our union with Christ Jesus, He created us to do the good works He had already prepared for us. United through Christ 11 Remember that you, the non-Jews, were called uncircumcised by the Jews, who call themselves circumcised for practicing circumcision. Remember what you were in the past. 12 At that time you were separated from Christ; were foreigners and did not belong to God's chosen people. They had no part in their alliances, which were based on God's promises to his people. And in this world they lived without hope and without God. 13 But now, united with Christ Jesus, you who were far from God were brought near to him by the death of Christ on the cross. 14 For it was Christ who brought us peace, making the Jews and the non-Jews one people. Through the sacrifice of his body, he overturned the wall of enmity that separated Jews from non-Jews. 15 He has broken the law, along with his commandments and regulations; and of the two peoples formed one people, new and united with him. That's how he brought peace. 16 By his death on the cross, Christ destroyed the enmity between the two peoples. Through the cross he united them in one body and led them back to God. 17 So Christ came and announced to all the good news of peace both to you and to the non-Jews who were far from God, and to the Jews who were close to him. 18 It is through Christ that we, both Jews and non-Jews, can go by the power of one Spirit to the presence of the Father. 19 Therefore you, the non-Jews, are no more strangers or visitors. Now you are citizens who belong to God's people and are members of His family. 20 You are like a building and are built on the foundation that the apostles and the prophets placed. And the cornerstone of this building is Christ Jesus himself. 21 He keeps the whole building firm and makes it grow like a temple dedicated to the Lord. 22 So you also, united with Christ, are being built together with others to become a house where God lives by his Spirit.
PLEASE SHARE WITH ALL THEY YOU KNOW. THANK YOU.
