Back when we first started Tirzah Magazine, our first devotional was actually through Romans 12:9-21. We called the study “How to Live a Set Apart Life in the Modern World,” because this passage is truly one of the best summaries in the Bible on how to live a Godly life. The instructions found here are timeless and applicable across cultures and generations.

Social media has made comparison a constant struggle, especially for women. Not only do we constantly envy other women’s looks, clothes, and homes, but we also now get to compare our accomplishments, ministries and even godliness to women all around the globe. It appears that the Roman church also had a problem with comparison, likely with people striving for the highest positions within the church, so let’s study what Paul had to say about this.

In today’s world, the concept of presenting our lives as a living sacrifice to God can be hard to understand. Because many of us, especially those living in first world countries, have built up comfortable lives where we get along with the world yet still call ourselves Christians. Very rarely do we find ourselves paying the cost - giving something up for Christ, something valuable to us, something that will leave us with an open need. And very few have been called to give up our lives for the sake of Christ.

Sometimes, we as Christians get comfortable in our faith. This happens especially when life is good and everything appears in order. So, we start to believe that our salvation is safe - that we can let down our guard and enjoy life. And of course, it helps when you compare yourself to people in the world or even other Christians and end up concluding that you or your church is so much more Godly.

Have you ever seen two children squabble over a toy, and when a parent comes into the fray and sorts it out, if it turns out one of the kids actually earned the toy properly, they walk away gleefully as the winner, leaving the other child to sulk or cry? One child feels like they “got” something someone else wanted, while the other feels like something was taken away that should have been theirs.

The gospel is beautiful in its simplicity, but for Israel, a people whose beliefs were steeped deep in the law and tradition, as we studied last week, the gospel became a stumbling block. So, Paul goes back to the teachings of Moses to make his point about where faith comes from and that the message of salvation is for all.

Up until now, Paul has focused on God’s sovereignty, but now we shift to the responsibilities we as humans have in response to God’s mercy and sovereignty. This week, read Romans 9:30-10:4 and journal through the following questions.

Last week, we came to the conclusion that God shows mercy to whom He wills and it is not something we can earn in our own efforts. And for some, that can be a bit disheartening, leading us to ask, “Then why does God still blame us? For who is able to resist His will?” (Romans 9:19).

Have you ever witnessed someone who seems to have it all, waste their life away? Someone who has been given every opportunity, been loved and encouraged unconditionally, and yet, they reject it all and seem to be going nowhere. That’s how Paul saw the Israelites: they were God’s chosen people, but when the Messiah came to them, they rejected Him. Why? Why did God allow it to happen? How does God choose who is saved and who isn’t? Or is salvation our choice? That’s what we’re going to study this week.

If you’ve ever doubted your salvation or if God still loves you after you’ve sinned again or fallen away yet again, this week’s study is for you. But it is also a good reminder for all Christians that nothing can separate us from the love of Christ.

Romans 8:28-30 is often used to support the doctrine of predestination, which is one of the fundamental characteristics of the Calvinist Christian view. Predestination is the belief that God does not just know all who will be saved, but ordains (decides) who will be saved. The people who will be saved are called the “elect”.

We’ve all been in waiting seasons, when you’re somewhere you maybe no longer want to be, dreaming of someday. Or maybe you’re content with where you are, but your heart also longs for a different season, whether that’s a new job, graduating college, moving, falling in love, healing, starting a family, or becoming a mother. That feeling of longing and eagerly expecting something is what this week’s study is about.

Being adopted into someone’s family is life changing. In the Roman times, a childless couple could adopt a son, making him their heir. This was a deliberate decision a father would make to have someone carry on his name and inherit his estate. As a result, the child’s old debts would be canceled, he would receive a new name, he would be set to inherit all of his father’s wealth, and his father would become responsible and liable for the son.

This week’s study focuses on two parallel lives, the root of each stemming from either living according to the flesh or according to the Spirit. Whatever you live according to is determined by what you set your mind on: the things of the flesh or the things of the Spirit. To set your mind is more than just thinking about something though, but instead, it implies a deeper focus on something - to become preoccupied with it, to let your attention and imagination be captured by something.

We’ve all experienced that sinking feeling when you’ve messed up yet again and did the thing you told God you wouldn’t do anymore. You know you shouldn’t have, and for a while, you did so good, but then a hard day or something triggers you and the flesh wins out. And in that moment, the enemy will tell you that you’re the only one like that; like everyone else has it figured out but you’re the only one constantly struggling. Yet, here we have Apostle Paul saying, “For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.” So, if a man like that struggled with this too, where do we find the hope? Let’s study that this week.

Up to now, Paul has repeatedly talked about how we don’t live by the law anymore. Such teaching had the same reaction back then that many Christians do today: religious rules are bad, so we don’t need the law anymore. Such thinking then leads to wanting to live however we please. So, where does the law fit into a Christian’s life? Let’s study that this week.

This week, Paul brings in another analogy to explain our relationship to God and sin: marriage. Let’s study how Paul connects these things.

Paul makes a big statement in this week’s passage: you’re either slave God or sin. In today’s world of a watered down Gospel, some people may try to tell you that there’s a middle ground: that you can live as you please without being a slave to God or to sin. Let’s study what the Bible has to say about this.

In law school, one of the first things you learn is that it is just as important to know opposing counsel’s arguments and case law as it is your own. You need to anticipate their every possible defense and know every piece of law that could support the other side’s argument.

This week, we’re going to get to the heart of the Gospel that for many continues to be a paradox: how could the death of one man provide salvation to an entire world?

One of the questions that drives many people away from God is a variation of: “Why does God allow suffering?” Because our human mind doesn’t understand why a good God would allow bad things to happen, especially to those who are called His. The last few weeks, we’ve been talking about righteousness and justification. This week, we begin to dig deeper into the fruit of what it means to be justified before God and what type of character is produced through suffering.

My single season lasted for over a decade, so through my twenties, this passage is one that I came back to often when I needed to have my hope renewed. Because Abraham waited 25 years to see the fulfillment of God’s promise to him - as the years passed and his and Sarah’s bodies aged beyond child bearing, Abraham had to choose to believe against every type of impossibility. So, that’s what we’re going to study today: how to believe when all your hope is gone.

Paul knew his audience - we see that as he regularly references the Jewish law and, this week, he brings in Abraham and David, both of whom would have been acclaimed as founding fathers for Paul’s intended audience. Like a lawyer presenting his case before a jury, Paul builds on his earlier points by bringing in influential witnesses to prove his points. So, let’s see if we can follow Paul’s case here.

After making his point that none of us are righteous in our own right before God, Paul concludes this chapter with a reminder about pride and identity. To boast means to rely on something that gives you confidence to do something or to behave in a certain way. It is the thing that makes you say: I am a somebody because I have that. I can do this because I am this. What you boast in usually becomes your identity and what you fundamentally rely on.

In a way, this week’s passage is the climax Paul has been building up to. Chapter after chapter, Paul tries to get the reader to understand God is righteous but none of us are righteous; that the law makes sinners out of all of us. And honestly, it feels like a hopeless cause, a dead end, like we’re all doomed. “But” - that one word turns the tide. It’s the first word in verse 21 that transitions from Paul’s earlier point to this week’s lesson: how an unrighteous person can get access to the righteousness of God through faith.

When Jesus opened the door for Gentiles to be numbered with the Jews as those who will one day receive an eternal inheritance, the New Testament Jews appeared to think they had a special advantage because they were Jewish. But in chapter 3, Paul attempts to level the playing field, reminding the Roman church that both Jews and Gentiles are sinners before God.

Legalism in religion is a tale as old as time. When Jesus walked this earth, he would often engage in discussions with religious leaders who very publicly spoke of just how good they were at following religious rules. But Jesus came preaching something new: being justified by faith apart from works of the law (Romans 3:28).

Growing up, I had a friend who always noticed other people’s noses. The reason was simple: she hated her nose, and so the first thing she noticed about anyone she met is their nose (usually in the context of how much better their nose was than her own). It might be a silly example, but to me, it illustrates what Apostle Paul is trying to point out in this week’s passage: judging others for the very things we ourselves do.

Last week, we learned that Paul’s desire to visit Rome stemmed from his eagerness to preach the Gospel. New and mature Christians both often forget what exactly the Gospel is, so this week will be a good reminder for us on living by the Gospel and the fruit that it brings into the lives of believers.

The first paragraph of Paul’s letter (v. 1-7) is essentially an outline of the book of Romans as Paul summarizes the Good News about Jesus Christ who (1) came as a human by natural descent, (2) was part of the Jewish royal line through David, (3) died and was raised from the dead, and (4) opened the door for God’s grace to be poured out on us.