Category Archives: Romans

Christians Are Dead?

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Colossians 3:1-3 If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. 2 Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. 3 For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.

In this passage, Christians (i.e. those who are “risen with Christ”) are told to keep their focus on heaven and not Earth.  Then we read something rather strange.  Paul writes, “For ye are dead…”  Huh?  I thought we were made “alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 6:11)  What does it mean that we are dead!

When we read the word “dead” in the Scriptures, it needs to be understood as “separated”.  Death is always a separation.  Physical death is a separation of our spiritual part from our physical body.  Spiritual death is the separation of a person from God.  We are told in Romans 6:2 that believers are “dead to sin”, which in context means separated from its penalty, and by extension, its power. When one is dead to something, the thing in question has no power.

So in the passage above, believers are dead to the things of this world.  Therefore, the things of the world should not be our focus.  The life of the believer is “hid with Christ in God.”  It is “hid” in the sense that it cannot be found on the Earth.  It is where Christ is, and that is in heaven.  Christian need to keep looking to Him.

Seeing an Invisible God

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Romans 1:20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:

Many people ask the question, “How do you know that God exists?”  This is a good question.  We live in a physical world, but God is a spiritual Being (John 4:24).  By definition, He cannot be perceived with our physical senses.  However, the physical world around us is irrefutable evidence that God exists. Continue reading →

Do Only Christians Go To Heaven?

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This is a loaded question.  The answer can start a firestorm of outrage over one’s intolerance and close-mindedness.  Let me say that I am not intolerant or close-minded, at least not in the traditional sense.  However, I do believe in absolute truth.  Also, I do believe in logic.  Finally, I believe that the Bible is true and, as a result, that Jesus Christ is the perfect incarnation of God.  That said, let’s answer the question, “Do only Christians go to heaven?”. Continue reading →

Living Under Grace

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Christians have an obligation to live a life of holiness in honor of their God Who is holy (Leviticus 11:44; 1 Peter 1:15-16) and provided a holy sacrifice for their sins in the Person of His Son, Jesus Christ.  This is the only reasonable response believers have (Romans 12:1).  Paul wrote of this in the Epistle to the Romans.

Romans 6:11-15 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.  12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof.  13 Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.  14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.  15 What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid. Continue reading →

The Purpose of the Law

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A large portion of the Old Testament is devoted to the Law of Moses and its practice.  However, we are told that the Law cannot make anyone righteous (justified) before God (Galatians 2:16).  So, what was the purpose of giving the Law and practicing the aspects of it if that did not gain favor with God? Let’s look at what the Apostle Paul wrote on this subject. Continue reading →