Whether opposition to the gospel comes from moralists, religionists, legalists, or any other opposing body, all resistance to God's Word is designed to diminish the Person of Christ and His finished Work on the Cross, for salvation. Such apostate teachers with their heretical doctrines always insist that salvation requires something to be added to the Cross - that mankind must engage in some meritorious work other than simply believing in the death, burial, resurrection, and ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ, for their salvation.
 The problems Paul warned about in his letter to the Romans are no less a problem in the churches of today, and so we should all take to heart the warnings he gives and the exhortations he makes, to be wise in what is good and innocent in what is evil.
 May we realize that the only way to honor the Lord Who bought us, is to be obedient to His Word and trust His promises. We Are To Stand Fast In The Truth, grow in grace, mature in the faith, walk in spirit and truth, and utterly abhor that which is evil, while clinging to all that is good.
Romans 16:19 Everyone has heard about your obedience, so I rejoice because of you; but I want you to be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil.

 This call to confession is not a summons to the confessional box where a 'priest' becomes a middleman between us and God, there is one God and one Mediator between God and mankind, the Man Christ Jesus. He Alone Is The One To Whom We Confess Our Sins. This is not a call to expose our secret sins to the whole wide world, we are to confess our sins to God and He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
 When we have wronged another person we are called to go to them quickly and admit our sin and seek their forgiveness, this is the will of God for us. We are also called to willingly, graciously, and fervently pray for each other, as we lift up those who may have wronged us to the Lord in prayer, the fellowship of His love will stream into our hearts and minds, removing any nagging bitterness or residue of unforgiveness.
 We are called to be holy for God is holy, but it is only as we confess our sins to one another and to our Father in heaven, that fellowship is renewed and our prayers become effective.
James 5:16 Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous person avails much.

 Christ's Sermon on the Mount covers every area of godly living and right thinking. Unlike the Mosaic Law, it is not a series of rules and regulations. It is not a list of instructions on 'do's' and 'don'ts'. His sermon was an authoritative teaching that laid out general principles for life and living. These principles can be applied to every facet of life and are relevant in every situation we may encounter.
 Christ's sermon was designed to show that entrance into His kingdom did not only depend on good works, but a pure heart and godly motives none of which are attainable by fallen humanity. Jesus was showing that the only way to enter the kingdom of heaven and participate in Christ's millennial rule on the earth is to be saved. We are saved by grace through faith in JESUS CHRIST, and this is non-negotiable.
 Today there are still proud, legalistic, self-righteous, religious-minded men and women who are blinded to The Narrow WAY That Leads To Everlasting Life. There are many that refuse to accept the TRUTH and do not find the path that leads to LIFE everlasting. It is not God's will that any should perish but that all should come to faith in Christ. May we be ready and willing to speak the truth in love to those that are lost in their own self-importance, and by God's grace may some be snatched from the broad path that leads to destruction.
Matthew 7:14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.

Our United Prayer:
Heavenly Father, thank You that in Your grace, You brought us to an understanding that the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to everlasting life. Thank You that by faith in Christ, we have found the Way to life and discovered Him to be the truth of the glorious gospel of grace. We pray that You would have pity on those that remain dead in their sin. Have mercy on those who through pride and their own self-sufficiency, have not yet found the narrow way that leads to life. Use us we pray, in whatever way You choose, to speak the truth in love to those who are on the broad way to destruction, and bring many into Your kingdom this day, In Jesus' name we Pray, AMEN.

 Here we read a highly personal directive to Timothy: "Let no one look down on your youthfulness," was Paul’s emphatic instruction to his young protégé, "but rather in speech, conduct, love, faith and purity, show yourself an example of those who believe."
 Although we are unable to control the attitude of others towards ourselves, Paul helped to equip Timothy to deal with this situation in a most biblical manner. None of us can prevent another person from despising us or expressing contempt towards us, but we are to be responsible for the way that we react to any negative attitude others may show towards us.
In every area of life, we are to demonstrate the same, spiritual maturity in the way we live, the words we speak, the things we do, and the way we react to others in these difficult and challenging times. Our behavior, attitude, actions, and motives should be pure and holy, and should demonstrate the godly wisdom that only comes from above.
 May we seek to display the same Godly Characteristics of Timothy and like him, have a teachable spirit that seeks to honor the Lord in speech, conduct, love, faith, and purity, and may we show ourselves to be godly examples to those who believe.
1 Timothy 4:12 Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.

 Of all the gifts and graces that are poured out in great abundance into the lives of believers, there are three that out-shine and out-last all others. When prophecy is complete, languages cease, signs are silenced, and miracles of health, healing, provision, and protection are no longer needed. We are told that these three spiritual fruits of God’s amazing grace will continue and will remain and abide into the eternal state: faith, hope, and love.
 But love is a gift of God, and love is the primary a fruit of the Spirit that will continue to grow and expand beyond our wildest imaginations. The love of God that has been poured into our hearts will continue to increase and multiply, The love of God is eternal, and the love of God is broader than the measure of our mind. The loving heart of the Eternal is most wonderfully kind.
 Our faith in Him will stand fast forever, and our hope in Him will be forever realized. But it is the love of God that He has for us that will move us ever closer to the love that we have for Him as we abide in Him and He in us, through time and into eternity.
1 Corinthians 13:13 And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

 Godly Love is the exact opposite of the unspiritual behavior. Love does not envy, love is not boastful or conceited, nor it is jealous, arrogant, argumentative, carnal-minded, discontented, immoral, inconsiderate, unloving, self-inflated, selfish, or critical of others.
 This thirteenth chapter is considered by many to be the supreme treaties on love, and as we read through this passage that is beloved by many, we discover that only the name 'JESUS' could easily be substituted throughout for the word 'LOVE'. Justifiably so, Jesus is patient, and Jesus is kind.
 Jesus does not envy, and Jesus is not boastful nor conceited. Jesus is not rude nor does He insist on His own way. Jesus is neither irritable nor resentful, and Jesus does not rejoice at wrongdoing He rejoices with the truth, He is the Truth. Only in and through Jesus are we able to bear all things, believe all things, hope all things, and endure all things.
 When we consider this passage, let us look deeper into the significance of its true meaning, and earnestly pray that Christ may be formed in us so that we are enabled to love as He loves.
1 Corinthians 13:4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.

 To Rejoice In Hope is to have that unfaltering assurance in God's Word as fact, knowing that our hope of glory is secured for us in heavenly places for the eternal ages to come, simply because God's Word is true and cannot be broken. Our hope is built on nothing less than trusting in the Cross of Christ and taking God at His Word.
 To be patient in affliction is to know and accept that in this world we will have tribulation, but to wait patiently in our suffering without murmurings. We are to be of good cheer, knowing that His strength is sufficient to see us through every difficulty of life because He has already overcome sin and death – and we are united with Him and His victory.
 To be constant in prayer is to recognize that prayer is one of the chief weapons of the spiritual warfare in which all Christians are engaged. As saints of God we should all be instant in prayer, constantly lifting our hearts and voice to the Lord in prayers of thanks and praise and intercession and requests, and laying them before the throne of God's grace in the name of JESUS - knowing that greater is He that is in us than he that is in the world.
 Let us exercise all Paul's short, crisp instructions for godly living that are found in this final section of His letter to the Romans, as well as taking time to study this lengthy and weighty letter that has been written for our learning so that we too may live a life that is pleasing to the Lord. And may Christ be seen in me, and also in you.
Romans 12:12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.

 It may be a simple instruction to the Church but it is one of the greatest challenges with which any of us can be presented. It is the Holy Spirit of God Who calls us to live as Christ lived and to love as Christ loved. Such divine love is an impossibility in our own limited, human strength. It is only as the Holy Spirit is given a way to carry out His work within, that this impossible command can be carried out.
 It is as we abide in Christ and He in us, that we begin to learn the lesson of love - godly love - sacrificial love. It is as we die to self in all things and live for Christ alone that we begin to be formed into the image of Christ. It is as we permit the Holy Spirit to carry out His good work in and through our lives, that we can become a channel through whom His love can flow out to others.
 Every action and every attitude, every word and every work, each thought of the heart, each decision of the mind and even the motives that influence the choices we make, need to be bathed in the purifying gaze of the Holy Spirit, washed in the fountain of God's divine love and covered with the unconditional grace of Christ Who for love of His Church went to the cross willingly so that like Him, everything we do may be done through HIM - in LOVE.
1 Corinthians 16:14 Let all that you do be done with love.