June 10 Daily Devotional

Bible Reading

Romans 1:1-17:

¹Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God,
²(Which he had promised afore by his prophets in the holy scriptures,)
³Concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh;
⁴And declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead:
⁵By whom we have received grace and apostleship, for obedience to the faith among all nations, for his name:
⁶Among whom are ye also the called of Jesus Christ:
⁷To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.
⁸First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world.
⁹For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers;
¹⁰Making request, if by any means now at length I might have a prosperous journey by the will of God to come unto you.
¹¹For I long to see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift, to the end ye may be established;
¹²That is, that I may be comforted together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me.
¹³Now I would not have you ignorant, brethren, that oftentimes I purposed to come unto you, (but was let hitherto,) that I might have some fruit among you also, even as among other Gentiles.
¹⁴I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians; both to the wise, and to the unwise.
¹⁵So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also.
¹⁶For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.
¹⁷For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.

Devotional

The gospel is the glad tidings of salvation. By nature we are all lost. There is none righteous, no, not one. The whole world lieth in wickedness. We are all transgressors of God's holy law, and have deserved God's wrath. But God loved us with an ever­lasting love. He sent his Son into the world to save us from sin and death and everlasting damnation. He is the propitiation for our sins. He bore our sins in his own body on the tree. The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin. He was made sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. In him we have righteousness and life.

That is the gospel. That is the power of God unto salvation unto every one that believeth. The power of God is an almighty power. God speaks and it is done. The Holy Ghost works faith in our hearts by the preaching of the gospel. Through the power of the gospel people are regenerated, born again, a new creation.

But the gospel is a stumbling block to the Jews, and to the Greeks foolishness. But Paul was not ashamed of it. And he writes to Timothy, Be not thou ashamed of the testimony of our Lord. Neither should we be. Whosoever is ashamed of Christ and his Word, of him shall the Son of man be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.

Prayer

Our Father we thank Thee that in Thy kind provi­dence Thou hast sent the gospel unto us. May we never be ashamed of it, or take offence at it, but may we rejoice in Thy truth, and praise Thy name. Wilt Thou send forth men with the message of the gospel unto those who have not heard it. May many be brought from darkness unto light, and turn from dead idols unto the living God. We ask it in Jesus' name. Amen.

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Scripture in Devotional: Rom. 3:10; 1 John 5:19; Jer. 31:3; 1 John 2:2; 1 Pet. 2:24; 1 John 1:7; 2 Cor. 5:21; 1 Cor. 1:23; 2 Tim. 1:8; Mark 8:38.

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