THE BOOK OF ROMANS Thursday – October 10, 2013 – Romans 16:19-20 “For your obedience is come abroad unto all men. I am glad therefore on your behalf: but yet I would have you wise unto that which is good, and simple concerning evil. And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen.” The International Standard Version of the scriptures says, “For your obedience has become known to everyone, and I am full of joy for you. But I want you to be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil.” The obedience, which is the result of their faith, was well-known throughout the Roman empire and beyond. The church at Rome, having been established by many who had learned at the feet of Paul, perhaps even led to Christ by Paul’s preaching, had developed a reputation very early on of being a solid church. They believed the gospel in its simplicity, and had faith to trust God in the complex world they lived in. The people of that church were a God-fearing, God-loving kind of people and Paul knew a lot of them (evidenced by the previous verses). Certainly this is a big part of why he so desired to visit with them. Paul felt wonderful having had such a major part in such a church, but he had a warning for them as well. “But I want you to be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil.” It is so easy to get complacent about what we do sometimes, and Paul wanted to be sure to warn these people that Satan would be doing everything he could to destroy them. He does not have the power to destroy the person once they belong to Jesus Christ, but if he can confuse their beliefs and destroy their testimony, then he has prevented them from spreading the truth to anyone else. Peter said, “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:” (I Peter 5:8). Being a Christian is not easy, if truth be told. We must come to Jesus as children, with unquestioning faith in Him, but then we must grow up to the fact that Satan will be seeking us to devour our testimony, to discourage us, to make us doubt what God has done for us. The faith of a little child is such that he believes without physical proof, yet that same faith makes him susceptible to false teachings. Children believe in Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, and the Easter Bunny; but they also believe in monsters in the closet and under the bed, ogres and gremlins and dragons. It is much harder to convince them there are not monsters in the closet or under the bed, than it is to convince them that a bunny comes in the night and hides decorated eggs and chocolates around the house and yard. Paul wants the church at Rome to be wise to proper bible teaching, yet innocent of the evil that surrounds them, and he encourages them by telling them that “the God of Peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly.” Satan is powerful, of that there is no doubt. He can mimic the miracles of God and appear as an angel of light; he knows the scriptures forward and backward, better than any man ever has or could; he can appear in whatever form is necessary to sway his ‘victim’. He also knows that the book of Revelation, the last book of the Bible, spells out his end. He loses! God wins! The battles have already been won by Christ; what remains in our lives is only that we accept His victory, trust in His love and guidance, and lean on Him for our every want and need. Paul makes reference to a verse of scripture in the book of Genesis, chapter 3 and verse 15, wherein God says, “I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” Man had sinned and created a gulf between him and God. As a result of that sin, God came into the garden seeking the man (And He is still seeking man, not the other way around). He promised a long term battle in which Satan would bruise man in many battles, but one would come that would bruise Satan. Before Christ, man won the battles through obedience to the laws of God. After Christ, man cannot win the battles, for Christ has already won them. How encouraging Paul was when he told the church at Rome to remain faithful, for Christ would defeat Satan and set man free. My prayer for today- The battles are won, the victory has been claimed. Lord, may I lean on that truth as I face the temptations that Satan puts in my way each and every day. May I trust that I don’t have to fight those battles on my own, for Christ has already claimed the victory. Strengthen my resolve, Lord, and help me to quit trying to fight these daily battles on my own. For these daily devotions/studies to truly apply to your life, you must first belong to God. He will welcome you because He loves you, even before you love Him. He loves you so much that He sent His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life (John 3:16). Scripture tells us that if you will confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus Christ, and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart, man believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth, confession is made unto salvation, (Romans 10:9-10). Won’t you confess today and ask Jesus to forgive your sins and be your Savior? He is waiting with open arms…
Posted on: Thu, 10 Oct 2013 09:42:03 +0000