Romans 3-4

These chapters in Romans basically sum up the common-sense basics of what it means to be a TRUE Christ-follower. Paul says that if we are to be called followers of our Lord, we have to live like it. Now-a-days, there are so many skewed ideas of what it means to be a Christ-follower and of who our Lord even is. There are many hypocrites who believe they are doing what it takes to be saved from hell, when in fact, all they are doing is justifying their sinful ways through meaningless banter and driving a larger and larger wedge between them and the Lord. Sin has control over their lives, there is no room for another governing force. If we want to gain a relationship with the One who will save us, it requires slaying our egos and denying ourselves. Those are the first and biggest steps towards really knowing our Savior. We can't live for Him until we completely relinquish the reigns of our lives to Him. We have all made mistakes and we all struggle with things, but the Lord wants to relieve us of the burden of being in control. Many, such as myself, cringe at the idea of not being in control. I thought everything I did was ok because I was totally in control of my choices. Big surprise, the life I thought was justifiably still Christian ended up gaining control of me. There is nothing but sadness and brokenness within the options the world has to offer us. Living for earthly things, though seemingly controlled, leads to nothing but a dead-end into depression due to regrets that none of us have control over. The reason we suffer is because we don't have control over our temptation. By giving into whatever that may be, we allow it to gain control over us. The Lord made us to only have one governing force and that is Him. Nothing else will satisfy. If it is not the Lord, it is not as it should be.

Once we make the choice to relinquish power, the Lord will save us. He will heal us of our wounds from the mistakes we made. No matter what we have done or how far we have strayed, once we give the Lord our all, He will restore us. That is why He sent His son to die (Romans 3:30). Once the Lord saves us, it will not be all unicorns and butterflies. Our human nature will forever pull us one way, but we need to cling to our Savior with the everlasting knowledge that He can and will make beauty out of our mess (Romans 3:21-26). That is where faith comes in. Faith is the founding principle of what we base our lives on. If we don't have total faith that every aspect of what we are living for is real (including God's promises), why even try? We have already proven that we can not run the show, God HAS to lead or things won't work. We can't have a relationship until He leads and we whole-heartedly follow. God has a plan for each and every one of our lives, but He will not begin work in us until we truly trust God with our life (Romans 4:13). With an undying faith in the Lord and what He can and will do through us, great things will come about. With faith comes good works, with good works, we are teach-able, mold-able. God wants to bless us and do great things through us. The founding necessity in this is self-less faith. God did amazing things through Abraham because he trusted that the Lord would do what He promised. We have the opportunity to be a testament to God's grace. All it requires of us is realizing that every good thing that occurs in our lives is about God and because of God (Romans 4:3). None of us can fathom what God can and will do through us. You are a true Christ-follower when you trust Him to do what you know you can not (Romans 4:5). Even when things appear hopelessly impossible, we need to ignore what we know we can not do, and rather, put our faith in and find strength through what God said He would do (Romans 4:18). Once we are saved, it is a never-ending cycle of joy and amazement in the Lord. There is no point in relying on an ever-changing world with ever-changing excuses as to why wrong is acceptable. God stays the same, honest, pure, loving, faithful, and redeeming (Romans 3:1-8). We need to focus on Him and find all that we need through Him. Being swayed by human justifications is a sure-fire way to end up with crippling fear and regret. Romans 3 and 4 are all about the connection we have the opportunity to form with Christ. We can not be defined by the label, all that matters is self-less faith. Rely on God to do the rest.