Why I Believe in Christ, Day 7 What we want to do and what we actually do are often not the same thing. Read Romans chapter 7. Paul has explained that we are all sinful and that we need Christ’s perfect sacrifice in order to be made right with God. In chapter 7, Paul goes even deeper to explain that we really can’t do anything good on our own. We have the best of intentions, and we may even want to do the right thing. We often want to be better. However, the sin nature in all of us is so strong that we simply do not do what we…

Why I Believe in Christ, Day 6 We were crucified with Christ. Read Romans chapter 6. Paul has been slowly building his argument. Paul begins the book by explaining just how lost and sinful we are. He works painstakingly to make sure everyone understands the depth of their depravity. There is absolutely nothing that can save them. Paul then starts to build on that understanding. Christ was perfect. Christ was able to do everything we were not. Christ was able to fulfill everything that we were not. Here in chapter 6, we see that Christ’s crucifixion was truly on our behalf, because we were in essence crucified with him. We…

Why I Believe in Christ, Day 5 The sacrifice. Read Romans chapter 5. We can’t possibly do anything to save ourselves. As we have seen from the previous chapters, everything is designed to make us understand that we can’t be holy on our own. God is holy and just, and we are sinful. We desperately needed an intervention. God provided that through Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ became the sacrifice on our behalf. He was perfect and lived the perfect life that God was demanding through the law. He was killed as payment for the sins that we have committed. Jesus Christ’s sacrifice was not required, and he certainly didn’t have…

Why I Believe in Christ, Day 4 Faith, not the Law. Read Romans chapter 4. Paul continues explaining the importance of the law, and yet the inadequacy of the law to actually save us. He goes back and gives an example that all the Jewish people would know: Abraham, the father of the Jewish people. He was the man that they would have considered as righteous as righteous could be. However, Paul wants the people to understand that it was not Abraham following the law that made him righteous. Abraham didn’t even have the law. That was given to Moses centuries later. But Abraham was still considered righteous because of…

Why I Believe in Christ, Day 3 The Law is not in our favor. Read Romans chapter 3. In chapter 3 of Romans, we see Paul spend a lot of time discussing the law from the Old Testament. The Jewish people were taught the importance of keeping the law. They understood the law to be the way into God’s good graces. Keeping the law was how you make God happy. So, Jews would spend every waking moment of their life doing their best to follow every single commandment in the law. However, that’s not possible. Paul says in verse 23 that we’ve all sinned and fallen short of God’s glory.…

Why I Believe in Christ, Day 2 God is just and fair. Read Romans chapter 2. Paul is continuing to explain the reasons behind his faith in Christ. Today, we see that God is indeed fair and just. Admittedly, it doesn’t always seem that way. We see “good” things happening to “bad” people, and “bad” things happening to “good” people and, in our mind, the world is not fair. However, God sees things from a higher and deeper level. God understands that there aren’t “good” people and “bad” people. We’re all just sinful, which makes us all bad and deserving of judgment. God also is holy and just and he…

Why I believe in Christ, Day 1 A declaration of faith. Read Romans chapter 1. The book of Romans has played an incredibly pivotal role in the history of the church. Paul wrote this book appealing to the believers in Rome and asking for their help and support in his ministry. Paul makes a tremendous defense of his faith in the gospel. Versus are used and quoted regularly from this book. Martin Luther was studying this book when he began the protestant reformation. Entire evangelism programs are built around verses in the book of Romans. And, plenty of theological debates and discussions have occurred around the topics throughout this entire…