Into the Heart of Romans
A Deep Dive into Paul’s Greatest Letter
Justified and Glorified (2|3)
Pages 162-169
Exodus 19:5-6 (NIV) Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’
Isaiah 45:20-22 (NIV) “Gather together and come; assemble, you fugitives from the nations. Ignorant are those who carry about idols of wood, who pray to gods that cannot save. Declare what is to be, present it—let them take counsel together. Who foretold this long ago, who declared it from the distant past? Was it not I, the LORD, and there is no God apart from me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none but me. “Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other.
2 Corinthians 5:20-6:1 (NIV) We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. As God’s co-workers, we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain. For he says, “In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.” I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.
Paul teaches that those who love God are not only saved by Him but are also called for a purpose. What might need to be “unlearned” in our understanding of salvation as something God does for us to something God does through us, as we are “called according to His purpose”?
Scripture holds together God’s love for His people and God’s purpose through His people, rather than separating the two. Where do you see God’s love and God’s purpose intersecting in your own life, not just what God has done for you, but what He may be doing through you?
Paul teaches that God’s loving call is not about escaping the world, but about being rescued for a purpose, so that God’s glory is made known through His people, especially in their suffering and prayer. Where do you sense God inviting you to let His glory be revealed through you, not despite difficulty, but possibly through it?
Paul writes confidently about God’s people “reigning” or “exercising royal authority” in God’s renewed world, “a vision that can sound troubling or outdated to modern ears”. What fears or assumptions do we need to set aside in order to imagine “reigning on earth” not as control or coercion, but as wise, healing, and servant-hearted authority?
Paul assures believers that even amid danger, suffering, lament, and disunity, God’s purposes are moving forward through the witness of His people. How does understanding Romans 8:28 as God working with and through those He has “foreknown” shape the view of our present “vocation”?