Here Paul continues to unpack the implications of the gospel in our lives as disciples of Jesus. As Paul makes clear, discipleship impacts both how we think about ourselves in relationship to one another AND how we relate to one another. We are called to humbly serve one another with the gifts God has given to each of us. At the heart of this call is the new reality that in Christ we belong to one another. Our life in Christ is life TOGETHER!

Here we enter into a new part of Pauls letter, but one that is deeply and vitally anchored to all that he has contended to this point. Here he shifts our focus from theology to application and what he makes clear right from the start is that our lives what God has done through Christ has massive implications for how we are to live now as his disciples. Life in Christ will set us on a collision course with the world around us who remain in Adam and in rebellion against God.

In these verses Paul pauses. Over eleven chapters he has delineated the good news, showing readers their need for redemption and then Gods gracious provision of that redemption through Jesus, and the new life in the Spirit that follows. He is about to lead us into the implications of the gospel on our lives the practical living out of these theological realities. But first he pauses in worship. Theological truth reflexively leads to doxological response to worship!

Here Paul speaks of this mystery that he wants to make certain his readers understand. But the mystery is not actually anything new or hidden. It is the message he has been sharing throughout this letter that on the basis of Gods mercy, God is at work saving people both Jews and Gentiles both on that same basis. And this remains true today. Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord Jesus will be saved on precisely that same basis, the mercy and grace of God in Christ Jesus.

All theology is ultimately practical it is about real life so how does what Paul write here, speak into how we are to live? That is the question we need to consider as we explore this text. And what we discover is that God is forming one, unified people for His name, comprised of both Jew and non-Jew saved by grace alone through faith alone. This truth has all kinds of implications for how we ought to live in relationship with others, both within and outside of the church.

Paul begins this passage with a question which is critical to the letter of Romans as a whole and to the situation of his original recipients; Has God rejected Israel? And his answer is an unequivocal No! Even though at that time the majority of Gods people have rejected God, God has not rejected Israel. God in His grace has saved a remnant from among them. And Paul goes on to make clear that this is how God has always worked in the past and that it is how God is working now in the present. By grace He saves a remnant.

Bryan Clarke was our guest speaker.

As we move forward in Pauls argument, we come in this passage in which Paul makes the importance of evangelism very clear. The Word about Jesus must be proclaimed and disciples of Jesus have been called to that vital task. In the course of this passage, Paul also makes it clear that the reason many of his fellow Jews have rejected Christ is not because they have not heard the message. They have. Their rejection at this point in time is rooted in their stubbornness. Yet, God cries out to them, inviting them to call on the name of Jesus and be saved.