You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.
Welcome back to Delving into the Scriptures!
The immediate question from todays scripture is this – are you a Christian? You may be more familiar with 2 Corinthians 13:5 (ESV) “Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!”
Does the Holy Spirit indeed dwell within you? Maybe you don’t know what that means! In short, the Holy Spirit is within every Christian – guiding, helping, encouraging, teaching, interpreting and more. So, let’s go further.
Are you a follower of Jesus? Yes? Great! But accepting Jesus as a ‘spiritual guru’ or a ‘guy who knows some stuff’ or maybe even a ‘higher being’ is not enough! Even demons beleive that Jesus is God – but it does them no good! (James 2:19). You still have to go further to be a Christian. Whilst there are hundreds of ways we could explain the road to Christianity, since we are in the book of Romans I would like to pass through what is known as the ‘Roman Road’ – a short path through Romans that brings us all to a clear understanding of where we are – who Jesus is – and how to be in relationship with Him. Also if you are interested there are plenty of studies on this site and around the internet covering the verses listed in more detail!
God Is The Creator Of Life
Romans 1:20-21 (NIV)
For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities–his eternal power and divine nature–have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.
Why We Need Salvation – The Fact Of Our Sin
Romans 3:23 (NIV)
For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.
Our Inability to do anything about it
Romans 3:10 (NIV)
As the Scriptures say, “No one is righteous – not even one.”
The Penalty Of Sin
Romans 6:23a (NIV)
For the wages of sin is death
God’s Plan Of Salvation
Romans 5:8 (NIV)
But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.
God’s Promise Of Eternal Life
Romans 6:23 (NIV)
For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.
Our Responsibility
Romans 10:9-10 (NIV)
If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved.
Romans 10:13 (NIV)
For “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
Results Of Salvation
Romans 8:1 (NIV)
So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.
Romans 5:1 (NIV)
Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us.
So there you have it! A quick (very quick) pass through us, what God has done for us and how we can receive it! Next week we will look more then at these verses and see what we can take from them! If this is something new for you, then talk to someone about it! Don’t know a good local church or friend? Try Need Him Ministries – they have a toll free number in the USA and online people available to email or chat any time – go ahead – do it!
God, we pray that you would teach us, lead us, and guide us to you. Prompt each of us to test ourselves, to make sure we have truly accepted You and are living the way You would want!
The Road to Salvation – Romans 8:9-11