Unashamed Reading Plan – W4D4
Check out all the previous Unashamed readings here.
Unashamed Reading Plan | Week 4 | Day 4
Prayer
Take a moment to be silent and still. In order to be fully present in body and mind, take a deep breath in and let it out slowly. Do this three times. Ask God to give you His wisdom today.
Bible Reading: Romans 5:6-11
Read these verses three times slowly.
You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
Reflection & Questions
Yesterday, we read how we now have peace with God. It’s almost as if Paul anticipates his readers’ doubts. “Can we really be sure that we have peace with God simply through faith? Seems too good to be true.”
So Paul gives two clear arguments in this passage.
Firstly, this rescue mission wasn’t carried out when we were cleaning up our act. Paul says, Christ went to his death while we were “powerless”, “ungodly” and “still sinners.” In other words, when we were still rotten to the core, unable to turn around or clean up our act, God loved us so much that He sent His son to the cross to save us. There was no other way.
Secondly, Paul says, since it is Christ’s blood, and Christ’ death, it is completely effective in saving us and reconciling us with God. In other words, it’s not an animal’s blood, or another man that we’re trusting in to save us. It is the Son of God who completed this rescue plan.
You see, we can have a humble confidence of our salvation, because God carried it out when we were still his enemies, and it was the very Son of God who did it – God will not reject His own son.
- Are you confident in your salvation? Why or why not? How does today’s verses help?
- How would you help a Christian brother or sister who is having doubts about their salvation?
Prayer
Talk to God in response to today’s reading.
Worship Song
You might use this song today to worship Jesus today:
Bible Reading: Romans 5:6-11
Read these verses three times slowly.
You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
Reflection & Questions
Paul makes a pretty good point here in these verses: “Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person…” Can you imagine donating one of your kidneys so that someone you love could live? You might do it, but it would be scary, right? But what about dying so that someone who is a bully to you can live. You’d think that’d be a definite “NO” but not with God!
Paul explains it when he says, “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Remember, when we sin, we are hurting God. But He still looked at us, loved us, and sent His only son as a sacrifice to die on the cross for us. Even though we were like bullies to Him. Wow!
That last verse has a pretty big word in it: reconciliation. It means that we are restored in our relationship with God. Even though we sinned against Him, He made a way for us to have a relationship with Him again. Not one where He shows us His wrath but where we can have peace. I don’t know about you, but I am super grateful that He made a way for that to happen because we sure couldn’t do it on our own!
- Have you ever had to give up something good that you really wanted so that you could help out a friend or family member? How did that feel?
Pray
Thank Jesus for his gift of forgiveness!
Check out more Bible Reading Plans here.
Questions?
Ed Applegate
