...only through the power and sufficiency of Your grace.

Romans 1:1 - “Paul, a bond-servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God”

I love the way that Paul introduces himself. He acknowledges that his whole identity is in Christ.

"a bond-servant of Christ Jesus and called as an apostle set apart for the gospel of God"

He acknowledges that he was called, or chosen, to be an apostle. We also know this because of the account of Paul on the road to Damascus.

But what is interesting to me is the term bond-servant. This term is not translated correctly. We, humans, as a race have become squeamish. We don’t like taboo words. Anything that could be inappropriate or possibly insensitive is removed. That is what has happened here.

The Greek word that is used here is doulos. The definition of doulos is someone who belongs to another; a bond-slave, without any ownership rights of their own.

“Without any ownership rights of their own”

Paul is saying here that he belongs to Christ. That Christ owns him. All of who Paul is belongs to someone other than himself.

We, as Christians, just like Paul, are part of the elect, chosen by God to be His children. But the important thing here is that there is nothing we are or have that belongs to us. Our heart, our mind, our entire being belongs to God.

By grace we have been saved and through that incredible grace, God has provided everything we need for eternal life and godliness. We have been sanctified and justified through the death of Jesus Christ. His death purchased us. He paid a price we can never afford and therefore we belong to Him.

Nothing we have done or will do can take away or withhold what God plans to give to you. That is the power of His abounding grace.

Knowing this, why would we use our bodies, Christ’s property, to dishonor and disobey God by choosing to sin?

Yes, we are still human and therefore we will never be without sin while we are in this world, but… BUT!

In response to the most incredible, priceless, amazing gift of grace, why would you not want to respond with love to the One that gave it to you?

...because You are worthy of my praise.

Humans. What strange creatures. We were created by God, we reject God, He then draws us out of our sin and into His grace, He gives us a promise of eternal life in Heaven with Him, and still we choose to seek instant gratification in this life.

It isn't even sin, necessarily, but objects and possessions. The next iPhone, the next movie, the next TV episode, and the next this or the next that...Well I guess that does make it sin, doesn't it? Things that take away from God and what He has given and what He promises to give.

How many gods do you serve? One? You sure? I have found that I end up serving myself more than anything. I become my own god. What about you? Have you spent more time giving yourself what you think you need than giving God what He commands? I'll be the first to say that I do that.

We live in a time and culture that lives off of indulgence. Just about anything can be gained in an instant. It just depends upon the cost. Is it $50? $150? $500? Maybe a treasured possession? Or maybe the cost is your soul?

There is only one instant gratification that can truly satisfy. That is God's forgiveness of your sins. Being truly contrite and repentant of those sins, God will be faithful to forgive them.

But what about the cost? There are those who would tell you that there is no cost.

That is a LIE.

The cost is your soul.

The cost is slavery. The cost is that your body and soul are now owned by another, for you were bought for a price. A very high price.

There was a man who saw your life. He saw that you are owned by that which you cannot escape. This man then decided to allow others to murder him so that you would be able to escape. This man, this Jesus, this perfect Son of God, purchased you by giving up His life.

He did this because we, humans, are sinners. We have broken God's law. God is just and holy. He cannot allow us to live. This rebelliousness has to be punished, but God does not want anyone to perish. Therefore He offered His son, Jesus, as a substitution for that punishment and Jesus went willingly.

The Bible promises that anyone who confesses that Jesus is Lord (ruler and authority over your life), and truly believes that God raised Him from the dead, that person will be saved.

However, you must know the cost. The cost is serving a God who promises glory and holiness for you in Heaven, while living in a world that hates God. This will not be easy and this will not always be painless, but it will be glorifying to God and sanctifying for you.

The Bible teaches that God causes all things (the good, the bad, and the horrible) to work together for good to those that love Him. That doesn't mean you will have the best life on earth. It means that God is working to complete and perfect you for your life with Him in Eternity.

Serving God may be difficult, but greater is He who is in me, than he who is in the world.

...for Your glory and honor and praise.

For those of you that remember, there was the movie Unstoppable by Kirk Cameron. He attempted to address the question: “Why do bad things happen to good people?”

There is a bit of vagueness to this question. The Bible teaches that there are no good people because the heart of man is entirely wicked. (If you do not believe the Bible to be the ultimate authority on Earth, then you will not believe that sentence. If you would like to ask any questions, I am completely open to them. Fire away.)

For argument’s sake, say that Kirk Cameron was trying to be politically correct by saying “good people” instead of “Christians”. After all, if you saw the movie, you could tell this was a movie aimed at Christians.

There is a verse with which you could answer this question:

“And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” – Romans 8:28

Okay, cool. What does that mean? Let’s take a look at the first half of this verse.

God causes all things – The God of the Universe; the infinite, holy, ever present God is in control of everything; every minute detail. Does this mean He does bad things to people? Most certainly not, but he does allow it (I’ll address that later).

To work together for good – So God is in control of everything. He allows bad things to happen. Why does He do this? He does them ultimately for good. God is in the business of doing things for a big picture (Stay with me. I know it can be confusing).

For good to those who love God – Here we see a caveat. All things, good or bad, are for the good of those that love God. Wait, so I have to love God? But that’s weird. How can you have feelings for God? It isn't about feelings. Love is not an emotion. Affection, adoration, attraction are emotions that culturally have been added to the definition of Love. If I say I love my mom, dad, brother, sister, girlfriend, grandparents, what does that mean if I don’t do anything to honor them? I could honor them by doing something they ask like chores or picking up something from the store for them. Sometimes, even surprising them with something they enjoy like a movie or favorite desert or the music they really wanted. Love is an action.

Christians are called to love God. We love Him by obeying His word, the bible. If we love God, then He causes everything to work for good to us. But the good the bible talks about, is not going to happen while you are alive on Earth. Yes we receive blessings and good things from God but it is not God’s goal to make us happy here.

His goal is our sanctification.

“After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you.”  1 Peter 5:10

God causes good things and allows bad things to happen in our life to cause our sanctification. Something we cannot do without God. God is working on our sanctification and our glorification.

Paul Tripp said this: “God will take you where you did want to go to produce in you something you could not achieve on your own.”

This is the whole point of it all. This is the end game of God for us. To be sanctified and become glorified but this cannot happen in a fallen world.

This will happen on the day of your death or the day of Christ’s return.