As I sat before the Lord and prepared for today, He began to wash over me with His love. The things we are learning in the book of Romans provide rich foundations for us to understand and know as we prepare for the days ahead. If we do not know and fully comprehend the foundation of our faith, how can we effectively convey it to others? Our focus these last few weeks have been Romans 5-8; today our focus is on Romans 6. 

When we read these chapters, we see what Paul was sharing with the people of Rome, but it’s easy to relate this to today, isn’t it? I thought about the believers of today striving to fight through the various doctrines that come our way. They muddy the waters, don’t they? As we fight through the muddying of the waters that takes place, as we fight through the world’s interceptions in our faith in order to worship our God, the need to press into the Word of God becomes essential to maintaining our walk with Him. His Word is just as applicable today as it was when it was written and without the Word, we will fall into deception. 

 
Romans was written a couple decades after the death and resurrection of Christ. We learned that the Gospel message came forth, the people were saved and the Christian Church of Rome was formed. The Church grew quite rapidly, however, over the course of the last couple decades, false doctrines began to creep in. This is what Paul is addressing in the sixth chapter of Romans. The purity of the Gospel message is something Paul was very passionate about. Why? Because it means the difference between walking the straight and narrow and falling into deception. He’s learned the purity of the Gospel is getting muddied by both the Judaizers and the Antinomians and as such, Paul’s message comes forth as one of cleansing, refining, and bringing forth the purity of the Gospel back into the Church of Rome. 

Who are the Judaizers and the Antinomians? 

In short, the Judaizers believed in the message of grace but added works of the law to grace, insisting that the new converts be circumcised in order to be righteous before God. I’m guessing they were not all jumping in line for circumcision! But more than that, salvation by grace was not just about faith anymore. Woven into this message was added works, circumcision, the Law, and together they began to weave these deceptions in and out of the Gospel message until it became molded into a new religion opposing the purity of the Gospel message. Remember, Jesus came to fulfill the law, not harness believers under the weight of it, right? 

Next, we have the Antinomians. Now, they opposed the law and they believed that we are saved by grace, so the more you sin, the more grace abounds. So in essence, sin it up! The more you sin the more it demonstrates just how much grace God will extend to you, the believer. We know that is not God’s way. Scripture teaches us that our fruit reveals our faith. Paul’s heart, his passion, was to maintain the purity of the gospel and by studying the Word of God, we learn truths that enable us to do the same. 

Recently, the Lord has been really dealing with me on two things:
First, finding my passion. What is your “passion”? A passion is something God puts within you. That is why it is your passion—He puts it in you. Ask yourself, “What is my passion?” Is it music? Is it evangelistic? Lost souls? Is it to see people healed? Is it prayer? What is your passion? 

And secondly, He has been really working with me to learn to “know no bounds.” I’ve shared this before: Know No Bounds. He spoke that to me at the end of 2016 for 2017. 

Why are these things so significant for today? 

Consider for a moment, the process. We get saved, we are very excited about our faith, our new-found faith, and we are full of excitement and zeal for this One who saved us, restored us and brought us newness of life. However, in the beginning, all of this is very superficial; we all know that to be true because we are just babes in Him. Unfortunately, all too often, we get saved, pass through the excitement phase and then we funnel into this place of comfort with Him. There’s not a lot going on, we know we are saved, we love Him, we read the Bible, we pray, etc., but then we begin to wonder, “Is this where God has me or is there more to this thing called ‘Christianity’? Where is the excitement I once had?” The truth is, most live under the misperception that a life with Christ is pretty one-sided. We limit what we can do as a child of the King and we limit what He will do for us as His children. 

The Lord is saying in this hour, “I want you to learn to ‘Know No Bounds’! Quit putting boundaries around Me!” Why? Because when we put boundaries on God, we limit what He can do through us. We are caging God in. If we can find our passion and learn to live a life knowing no bounds, no restrictions on what God will do in and through you or what God will do for the person you are interacting with—if you can find a way to press into that and live your life each and every day with the understanding that God is as real today as He was when He created the heavens and the earth and walked in the Garden with Adam. He’s as real as when He took on the form of man and walked this earth ultimately dying on the cross that we might enter back into that intimate fellowship with Him, 2000 years ago. If we could truly come to grips with that, we would be fulfilling our call
If we understand our passion, that we are not carrying someone else’s passion but the passion that God put inside us, and then take the boundaries off of it, off of God, we could fulfill our call. He wants us to walk in the freedom He’s created for us but instead we limit Him, we limit ourselves, and we limit the message of freedom the Gospel brings!

Each person is uniquely called. I look at Paul and think, this man knew no bounds. It did not matter if he was in prison or if he was free. If he was free, he was preaching the Gospel; if he was in prison, he was writing to the churches in various areas. Why? Because he was going to get the Gospel message out, no matter where he was. Where his body was at the moment was of no concern to him. What he did with those moments—that is where the concern was. What he did with those moments—that is where his focus was. 

To be continued next week…

Blessings & Love,

Ricci