Daily Devotion: The Book of Romans - The Christian and Government by J.E. Smith

Bible Reading: Romans 13:1-7 KJV 

Key Verse:  "Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God." - Romans 13:1 KJV

Romans 13 brings us into an area that can sometimes be difficult for Christians: our relationship to civil government and earthly authority. Paul begins with remarkably direct words: “Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers.” The Christian is not called to live as a lawless person. God has established civil authority as part of the order of human society. Government has a legitimate responsibility to restrain wrongdoing, punish crime, protect order, and allow people to live peacefully.

Daily Devotion: The Book of Romans - Let Love Be Without Hypocrisy by J.E. Smith

Bible Reading: Romans 12:9-21 KJV 

Key Verse:  "Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good." - Romans 12:9 KJV

Paul has just explained that believers are members of one body and that God has given different gifts to His people. Now he shows us something that must characterize all of those gifts: Love.

• A person can be gifted and still fail to love.
• A person can be knowledgeable and still fail to love.
• A person can be active in Christian service and still fail to love.

Daily Devotion: Daily Devotion: The Book of Romans - Many Members, One Body by J.E. Smith

Bible Reading: Romans 12:1-8 KJV 

Key Verse:  "For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office:" - Romans 12:4 KJV

Paul has just told us to present our bodies as a living sacrifice and to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. Now he shows us what that transformation looks like when believers live together. Christianity was never intended to be lived entirely by ourselves. We are individually saved, but we are also brought into a spiritual family. We are “one body in Christ.”

Daily Devotion: Daily Devotion: The Book of Romans - A Living Sacrifice

Bible Reading: Romans 12:1-8 KJV 

Key Verse:  "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service." - Romans 12:1 KJV

The word “therefore” is very important. Paul has spent eleven chapters explaining the wonderful mercy of God. We have seen our sin. We have seen God's righteousness.

• We have seen justification by faith.
• We have seen grace.
• We have seen the work of Christ.
• We have seen that there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.
• We have seen God's faithfulness and His mercy.

And now Paul says, essentially: Because of all that God has done for you, this is how you should live.

Daily Devotion: The Book of Romans - The Mystery of Israel by J.E. Smith

Bible Reading: Romans 11:25-36 KJV 

Key Verse:  "For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in." - Romans 11:25 KJV

Paul now tells the Roman believers that there is something they need to understand. He calls it a “mystery.” In Scripture, a mystery is not necessarily something impossible to understand. It is something that God has revealed that was previously hidden or not fully understood. Paul does not want Gentile believers to become proud or assume they have replaced Israel in God's purposes. Instead, he wants them to understand God's larger plan.  

Daily Devotion: The Book of Romans - The Olive Tree by J.E. Smith

Bible Reading: Romans 11:17-27 KJV 

Key Verse:  "Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear:" - Romans 11:20 KJV

Paul has just explained that there is a remnant of Israel according to God's grace. Now he turns his attention particularly toward the Gentile believers and gives them a warning against spiritual pride. He uses the picture of an olive tree. Some of the natural branches were broken off because of unbelief, and wild olive branches, the Gentiles, were grafted in.

Daily Devotion: The Book of Romans - God Has Not Cast Away His People by J.E. Smith

Bible Reading: Romans 11:1-8 KJV 

Key Verse:  "God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew. Wot ye not what the scripture saith of Elias? how he maketh intercession to God against Israel saying," - Romans 11:2 KJV

Paul now begins one of the most important sections of the book of Romans. He has spent much of chapters 9 and 10 explaining Israel's unbelief and their failure to receive Christ as the promised Messiah. That naturally raises an important question: Has God rejected Israel? Paul's answer is immediate and emphatic: “God forbid.”  Romans 11:1 In other words, absolutely not.