... in the name of the Father, and of
the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. Through the prayers of our holy Fathers, Lord
Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us. Amen. Glory
to You, our God, Glory to You.
O Heavenly King,
the Comforter, the Spirit of truth, You are everywhere and fill all things, Treasury
of blessings, and Giver of life: come and abide in us, and cleanse us from every
impurity, and save our souls, O Good One.
Holy God, Holy Mighty, Holy Immortal,
have mercy on us (three times).
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost, as it is now, was in the beginning, and ever
shall be, world without end. Amen.
The
Epistle
Romans 1:1-7
1Paul, a slave of Jesus Christ, a called
Apostle, having been severed into God’s good message, 2which He
foretold through His prophets in sanctified writings,[1] 3about His Son,
having come from the seed of David according to the flesh, 4being declared the Son of God in [the] power of
sanctification according to [the] Spirit, from[2] [the] resurrection
of [the] dead,[3] Jesus Christ our Lord.
5Through Whom we received joy[4] and apostleship for [the]
heeding[5] of conviction[6] in all the nations, on
behalf of[7] His name, 6in
Whom you all are also called by Jesus Christ,
7To all being in Rome, beloved by God, called
saints,
Joy to you all, and
peace from God our Father and [our] Lord
Jesus Christ.
The
Gospel
John 3:13-17
No man has ascended
up to heaven, except He Who came down from heaven, even the Son of Man Who is
in heaven. As Moses lifted up the
serpent in the wilderness, even so the Son of Man must be lifted up; so that whoever
believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life: for God so loved the
world, that He gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him would
not perish, but have everlasting life: for God sent not his Son into the world
to condemn the world; but that the world might be saved through Him.
Jesus
Jesus is the pivotal person behind
every breath of Romans.
Jesus is the sole reason that
Paul is happy to be His slave.
Jesus is the motivating force
that makes Paul an Apostle.
Jesus is the sharp two-edged
sword[8] that severs Paul from his
former life, and grafts Paul into the newness of God’s good message.
Jesus is the subject matter of
the Old Testament, the Author about Whom they foretell.
Jesus is the lawful heir to
David’s earthly throne.
Jesus is lawful heir of the
heavenly throne, as the Son of the Right Hand.
His credentials are flawless.
Jesus is the cause of our joy,
the bringer of our continuing shared apostleship, the foundation of all our
convictions.
Jesus is the foundation, by Whom
we all are equally called to stand together with Paul, and with all Christians
of all time: all the Christians who have ever lived, or ever will live.
Jesus is the reason we can stand
before the Father cured of our diseases, and healed of our infirmities: absolved,
adopted, expiated, forgiven, justified, reconciled…. Loved.
Jesus did not come to condemn
us, but to save us, and with us to save the Cosmos.
Conclusion
“How can we neglect so great a salvation?”[10]
[1] We
understand this to mean the Old Testament Scripture, but such wisdom may have
escaped the average Greco-Roman listener.
Paul is making a friendly point, not sharpening an axe.
[2]
Out of, not far away from
[3]
The power of resurrection declared by the Holy Ghost on the day or Pentecost in
33 AD. Jesus is resurrected (singular)
from among the dead (plural). However,
in conquering death by death, He is bringing about the eventual resurrection of
all; some of whom follow Him and walk about Jerusalem in the flesh in 33 AD.
[4]
This word is frequently translated, grace.
This completely removes the idea that the root word is about joy. Grace is something that flows from and
through joy in the Holy Ghost.
[5]
Obedience is too strong a translation; hearing is too weak a translation.
[6]
The obedience of faith conveys only part of the meaning. Faith and pathos (experience: joy and
suffering, ending in death) have the same root idea. Modern society seeks a faith without pathos,
and that is impossible to achieve. Real
faith carries with it the costs of commitment and conviction, as well as the
price of Christ’s death on the cross.
There is no such thing as easy belief or cheap grace. The grace of joy comes through a veil of
tears. To follow Christ in faith is only
to follow Him in His passion.
[7]
Above, supported by
[8] Matthew
10:34; Hebrews 4:12; Revelation 1:16; 2:12, 16
[9] Daniel
2
[10]
Hebrews 2:3
[11] If
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No rights are reserved. They are
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