Dove Creek Bible Church's Podcast

Here in Romans Paul discusses the ongoing debt of love that fulfills the law. He explains there how love seeks to make itself manifest.

What is a Christian's civic responsibility to governing authorities? Is the counsel to submit to governing authorities in Romans 13 and 1st Peter 2 qualified of unqualified? In other words, does Paul's counsel here mean something different in a democratic republic than it would in a communist regime? What are some different ways Christians have approached this issue of what was their justification

In these verses Paul instructs us on how to relate to people who are causing your grief in some way. He cautions we should avoid our natural instincts and leave any vengeance to God. Furthermore, somewhat counter-intuitively Paul exhorts us to not just resist our natural desire to fight back, but to show kindness to our enemies.

In chapter 12 of Romans, Paul looks at the different relationships of the Christian. First, he deals with our relationship to God in verses 1 and 2 which is to be one of sacrificial devotion, next he addresses our relationship to ourselves in verse 3 which involves evaluating ourselves with sober judgment, and then he spoke of our relationship with others in the church which involved the sharing of our gifts beginning in verses 4 through 8. Verses 9 through 16, which are the verses we will cover today, Paul shows us how we're to love our brothers and sisters in the Lord.

Paul, thus far has described the problem of righteousness which is condemnation because of sin (Romans 1-3:20), the provision of righteousness which is justification in Christ (Romans 3:21-5:21), the power of righteousness which is sanctification enabled by the Spirit (Romans 6-8), and the program of righteousness in the case of the nation of Israel (Romans 9-11). From chapter 12 to the end of the book we learn of the practice of righteousness or the outworking of righteousness through our service to Christ. Verses 1-2 deals with our relationship to God which is to be one of sacrificial devotion, next he addresses our relationship to ourselves in verse 3 which involves evaluating ourselves with sober judgment, and then we consider our relationship with others in the church through the sharing of our gifts in verses 4 through 8.

Romans 11 is about Israel's future, but not everyone is agreed on who or what constitutes True Israel. Paul seems to suggest Israel has been temporarily set aside for now as God concentrates on the Gentile nations...or does he? What are we to learn from God's dealings with Israel? This sermon addresses these and other questions.

In chapter 9 of Romans we learned about about Israel’s past; chapter 10 is about Israel’s present and what we find is that Israel has been set aside as God’s primary vehicle in revealing Himself to the world. Paul gives four reasons why they were set aside in today's sermon.

What is the real context of Romans 9? Is Paul making a defense of election or something else? Is it possible we don't see the forest for the trees when it comes to Romans 9? Romans 9 is actually a continued defense of grace over works. We tend to make it about election as we argue over what it means that God hated Esau, what it means that God hardened Pharaoh's heart and what it means that God made some pottery for noble use and some for common use. In Romans 9:14-33, Paul addresses the objections of those who basically argue God's choices should be based upon merit.

We're at the midpoint of our study of the book of Romans. Romans has been described as a book that has eight chapters of gospel in the beginning, four chapters of application at the end and three chapters of puzzlement in the middle. The absolute worst of the three chapters of puzzlement is the one we start today - chapter 9. What about the chapter is hard to accept? The first 13 verses deal with God making a distinction between certain people. God chose to work through Isaac, not Ishmael. God chose to work through Jacob, not Esau. Being chosen by God led to blessings and benefits. Not being chosen led to separation and ruin. Is this fair? Why and how did God make the choices He made?

Pastor D'Amato pesents the unfathomable depth and height and length of God's love.

Merry Christmas to everyone and let's celebrate the gift of Jesus in our lives each day, not just on Christmas.

In Romans 8:31-39, Paul asks six questions about adversaries and adversities which may threaten to try and separate from the love of God in Jesus Christ. Assurances are given that on one and nothing will be able to do that for in Christ there is no condemnation and no separation from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord.

One of the main controversies in the evangelical world is the interplay of God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility. Is everything in our lives predestined so that freewill is an illusion or are we truly free to choose our destiny? Perhaps, in the course of arguing over the details of “how” predestination and election work, we lose sight of “why” the doctrine is presented to us in the first place. In other words, we are so busy arguing about the "how" that we fail to really consider the "why"? This sermon tries to figure out the “why” even if we are still confused about the “how”.

Earlier in Romans 8, Paul said despite the fact that Christians presently suffer because of sin in the world, we are nevertheless assured of a glorious inheritance in a future world. Paul said suffering and glory are inseparable, but now he adds they’re also incomparable. Why do we suffer? How do we maintain hope in suffering? These issues are addressed in this sermon.

In Romans 7 the key word was "I" -- 53 times in those verses Paul said "I ... me ... my ... myself". But the secret of Christian living is not living the Christian life on our own, but letting the Holy Spirit live through us and the key word of Romans 8 is the word "spirit". The word "spirit" is not used once in Romans 7 and it’s used 19 times in Romans 8. The secret to success in overcoming the power of sin is the power of the Holy Spirit.

If my old nature in Adam was crucified with Christ, according to Paul in both Romans 6 and Galatians 2, and I was given a new heart and a new spirit as a new creation in Christ, why do I still sin? The answer may surprise you.

Romans 6:1-14 begins the sanctification section of Romans. In order for sanctification to work we have to know what God says, believe what God says and then act like we believe what we know. If our knowledge is unclear, our belief will be hazy, and our follow-through will at the very least be inconsistent, if not altogether non-existent. In these verse Paul explains what we have to know, what we have to believe, and how we are to act on this knowledge and belief.

When you’re a kid one of the first lessons in life you learn is that one person can ruin it for everyone else whether it is in the classroom or on the fields and courts of recreational sports. One kid can annoy the teacher so badly that the whole classroom suffers. One kid can drop the ball that causes the whole team to lose. The passage we look at today is based on the principle of the effect of the actions of one person upon many other persons. Paul contrasts and compares Adam and Jesus and how a singular act by each man affected others.