Reading Romans

Hey Parents,

Well we're closing in on the close of our "Reading Romans" series....today we're taking a look at what your students hit on this past Sunday when they took a look inside chapter 13....so let's dive in!

Can You Be Counted On As A Citizen (Romans 13:1-7)
As harsh as Roman rule could be sometimes, Paul never entertained the idea that Christians should resist or attempt to undermine the government.  Instead, the apostle affirmed that God established government and assigned it a vital role and authority for people's benefit.

I'll be honest, we didn't spend a lot of time on these verses with the students Sunday, simply because it doesn't exactly hit them in this time of their lives....paying taxes?  That's totally foreign to them right now...unless they have a job!

But for us as adults, theses verses are a little bit more impacting.  In these verses Paul reminds us that Christians are commanded and empowered by the Spirit to keep on being submissive  to the governing authorities.  God expects His people to be model citizens and to relate to the government in a respectful, obedient way.

That's not as easy as it sounds these days....not that I'm worried that all of you guys are out breaking laws left and right, but rather we may light of and joke about our government all the time! (Watched a Saturday Night Live lately??)  God has called us to be respectful followers of those who are appointed to office....we have to remember that God ALLOWS them to have these posts so we must do our best to give them the honor and respect they deserve!  As Paul points out in the very first verses of the chapter that there is no authority except from God, and those that exist are instituted by God.

Can You Be Counted On As A Neighbor (Romans 13:8-10)
Paul reminded the Christians in Rome that as Christians they were to exhibit a higher quality of life than mere good citizenship.  Being good citizens by obeying the law was important, but even more important was fulfilling the law of love as expressed in the divine to love one's neighbor.

Now to clear one thing up...In verse 8, we do not need to interpret the command as a ban on borrowing of any kind.  Paul essentially repeated the directive he stated in verse 7 that Christians must pay their debts, but he did so in this case for the purpose of highlighting the one debt that we can never fully repay.  We aren't to neglect paying this debt; rather we pay its interest daily while the principal remains due and payable.

The ongoing debt that we as Christians owe is to love one another.  Love does no wrong to a neighbor.  When we treat our neighbors with love by the power of the Holy Spirit, we truly fulfill God's law!

Can You Be Counted On As Times Require (Romans 13:11-14)
Ultimately, the apostle urged Christians to live exemplary lives in light of the certainty of Christ's return.  Each passing day gave a fresh urgency for believers to discard worldly living and to live as children of light.  This type of lifestyle would be a strong witness of Jesus Christ to their neighbors and fellow citizens.

This is where we camped out for most of Sunday morning....this idea of waking of from sleep.  A lot of our students are living life with a "sleepy faith".  The view the Christian life as something they can deal with or worry with later on...."I'll deal with that when I'm older" or "I'll deal with that once I get through school".  Our students live in a culture driven by technology...they are connected to each other, the internet, music, movies, TV, sports, etc...at almost every waking hour.  As THE BIBLE challenges us and them to live lives apart from the world, we are facing a lot of opposition.

I encourage you as parents to help your students see that Scripture doesn't put a "time-line" on the life of a Christian.  Once we accept Christ we should WANT to start living differently...we should desire to live a life pleasing to the Lord.  I'll be honest in that we have some concern about the way that many of our students are living....there's no passion to live for Christ....which may lead to a tough thought for some of us to stomach.....maybe some of our students don't have a passion to live for Christ because they don't know Him personally!

Over the next several weeks we're going to be presenting the GOSPEL weekly....on Sunday mornings, Wednesday nights, Sunday nights...the more your student is exposed to the Word of God, the more the WORD has the opportunity to soak into their hearts and minds....and life-change can happen only through the power of the Holy Spirit of God!

Please be in prayer for your kids and the rest of our students as we pray for God to do some major life-change through the reading of His Word over the upcoming weeks!

Next week we're going to focus on the first 12 verses of Chapter 14 so check it out!

Heffe