Bible Study with M.T. Clark – Romans 3 – 12/01/2024

Bible Study with M.T. Clark – Romans 3 – 12/03/2024

Today’s Bible Study, Authored by M.T. Clark

Listen to our Bible Study Discussion at: Romans 3 Bible Study Audio Podcast

Or watch the Video Zoom Session of our Study on YouTube: 

ROMANS 3

Today’s blog post/Bible Study post was created with the use of Zoom AI’s transcript and with a very human editor – Me – M.T. Clark  – The AI did its best to capture what I said and I did my best to correct its (or perhaps my) mistakes. 

[MT Clark] 06:03:44

Good morning. Welcome to the MT for Christ 24×7 podcast. I’m M.T. Clark and this is normally around the time that I would be preparing for Bible study with the Cincotti’s.

[MT Clark] 06:03:57

However, this week the Cincottis are traveling and have taken the weekend off and we’re not meeting for our regular Bible study, but as a disciple of Jesus Christ, I’m up early every day praying and reading the Bible or doing things ministry wise andI’m up anyway.  I was a little stressed about creating a Bible study to do and decided not to do it.

However, I have since rethought that and decided to do something impromptu and simple and to introduce the idea of Bible study to those who may not know what that’s like.

For our program “Bible Study with the Cincotti’s”, Arthur creates the study. He looks at a portion of scripture or a topic and he looks at supporting scriptures, provides word studies, and everything to draw out our discussions.

But as much as we love Arthur and what he does that might seem to be a lot for somebody who’s not familiar with studying the Bible.

And so I decided to look at a portion of scripture, that I read this morning, and to do it as a simple read-through. Romans 3 is the chapter that we’ll be doing.

And How do you study the bible?  Well, you get one of these things… mine’s hidden.  It’s a Bible.You can just read it. It doesn’t have to be very complicated.

This is a New Living Translation Bible that my wife gave me for Christmas. It’s a used copy and she gave it to me because it has large fridge and it’s good for my eyes.

And so to read the Bible, you just pick that book up and read it. However, there’s technology out there and there’s different things we can do for Bible study that could be helpful on our phone or PCs.  I’m talking to you from my laptop.

And so we’re going to share those things and that way I can share the text that I’m reading a little more than just reading it from the book that I have here.

With that said, there’s a couple of programs I recommend.

The first one would be Logos Bible study software and It’s free to download, but they do offer a subscription to it now.

And with that, if you can see my screen, which you should be able to, You can see that I pulled up Romans 3 and you can see I highlighted a lot. Yellow highlights is stuff that stand out to me that’s “good”. Green (highlights) is stuff that’s maybe not so good in the Bible, you know, not good about us.

And on the right here is the commentary that I have, one of the commentaries I have, from John MacArthur, and he draws out the scripture, what it means and everything.

However, you might not have a Logos, although I recommend getting it and adding books to your library and consider subscribing to it. We’re going to assume you don’t want to do that. And we’re going to go real basic by going with something else.

So we’re not going with that. Instead, we’re going to go to real basic. You know, if you were just go to the internet with your browser and go to bible.com (https://www.bible.com/) It would bring you to use YouVersion and you can sign up for a free account. You can see here that I used my Google account to sign in. Press on Bible. And like I said, I like the New Living Translation, although my favorite, I guess, is the New King James version.

New Living Translation is good for youth or new believers. The language is pretty basic and we’ll be using that today as we read through Romans 3.

So, how do you study the Bible? You read the Bible and you consider what it says.

We’ll do that now. Enough explanation. We’ll get right to it.So this morning I read Romans 3 and I was impacted by it. And we’ll read the text and you’ll see why.

Romans 3

God Remains Faithful

¹ Then what’s the advantage of being a Jew? Is there any value in the ceremony of circumcision? ² Yes, there are great benefits! First of all, the Jews were entrusted with the whole revelation of God.

MT: God revealed himself to the Jews from the beginning with Abraham and his son Issac, and then his son Jacob and his 12 sons led to the 12 tribes of Israel, and on and on and on. So yeah, God revealed Himself and gave his law to Moses. That’s what Paul’s talking about here and the covenant of circumcision was through Abraham. And so what’s the benefit of all that? You were given the truth about God.  And so that was great to be a Jew, but we’ll see if it goes beyond just being Jewish, to knowing God.  Paul continues,

³ True, some of them were unfaithful;

MT: Who are the unfaithful Jews? The ones who didn’t believe in Jesus.

… but just because they were unfaithful, does that mean God will be unfaithful? ⁴ Of course not! Even if everyone else is a liar, God is true. As the Scriptures say about him,

“You will be proved right in what you say,

and you will win your case in court.”

MT: That’s from Psalms 51, 4.

⁵ “But,” some might say, “our sinfulness serves a good purpose, for it helps people see how righteous God is. Isn’t it unfair, then, for him to punish us?” (This is merely a human point of view.) ⁶ Of course not! If God were not entirely fair, how would he be qualified to judge the world? ⁷ “But,” someone might still argue, “how can God condemn me as a sinner if my dishonesty highlights his truthfulness and brings him more glory?” 

MT: Some people say, well, you know, “Me being a sinner just shows how good God is.” That’s really a messed up argument.

⁸ And some people even slander us by claiming that we say, “The more we sin, the better it is!”

MT: They say “let sin abound because grace will abound”, meaning God’s grace will be really be utilized because it’s got to cover all my sins, as I continue in it. But that’s not the way it should be.

…Those who say such things deserve to be condemned.

MT: as Paul tells us here. We continue Romans 3:9.

All People Are Sinners

⁹ Well then, should we conclude that we Jews are better than others? No, not at all, for we have already shown that all people, whether Jews or Gentiles, are under the power of sin. ¹⁰ As the Scriptures say,

“No one is righteous—

not even one.

¹¹ No one is truly wise;

no one is seeking God.

¹² All have turned away;

all have become useless.

No one does good,

not a single one.”

¹³ “Their talk is foul, like the stench from an open grave.

Their tongues are filled with lies.”

“Snake venom drips from their lips.”

¹⁴ “Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.”

¹⁵ “They rush to commit murder.

¹⁶ Destruction and misery always follow them.

¹⁷ They don’t know where to find peace.”

¹⁸ “They have no fear of God at all.”

¹⁹ Obviously, the law applies to those to whom it was given, for its purpose is to keep people from having excuses, and to show that the entire world is guilty before God. ²⁰ For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are.

MT:  And here, Paul basically points out the total depravity of man, that no one seeks after God. No one is good, in their own. person, there’s no such thing. “I’m just a good person.” No, the scripture tells us that we all have sin and fall short of God’s glory.

MT : Here Paul, in verse 19, he says that the law applies to those to whom it was given. That’s the Jews… and all of us, basically, as we’ll see. We’re supposed to follow the law. We’re not supposed to break it. We’re supposed to follow it. However, no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands and the law simply shows us how sinful we are. The Lord points out what sin is and shows that we can’t obey it and thus we need a savior. And as we move along, we’ll see Christ took our punishment.

Christ Took Our Punishment

²¹ But now God has shown us a way to be made right with him without keeping the requirements of the law, as was promised in the writings of Moses and the prophets long ago. ²² We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are.

M.T.: And that’s huge. God made us a way. We were desperately wicked and we had sin that we couldn’t repay. And as Moses and the prophets spoke of a messiah to come, who would make things right. And that Messiah is Jesus Christ. We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes no matter who you are. So will everyone be saved? No, only those who believe in Jesus and put their faith in Jesus. Those people will be made right with God. And we continue..

²³ For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. 

M.T. But now God has shown us a way to be made right with him without keeping the requirements of the law. As was promised in the writings of Moses and the prophets long ago, we are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who you are.

²⁴ Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. 

²⁵ For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past, ²⁶ for he was looking ahead and including them in what he would do in this present time. God did this to demonstrate his righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he makes sinners right in his sight when they believe in Jesus.

MT: That’s a great passage of scripture. It tells us that Jesus pays for the penalty, pays the penalty. God doesn’t just excuse us. The penalty was paid through Jesus Christ. And when we put our faith in him, our penalty is paid, through Jesus. And he’s a sacrifice for our sin.

²⁷ Can we boast, then, that we have done anything to be accepted by God? No, because our acquittal is not based on obeying the law. It is based on faith. 

M.T. We’re set free. We’re acquitted of our sin debt, not by our obedience. It’s based on our faith.

²⁸ So we are made right with God through faith and not by obeying the law.

M.T. : It’s by faith alone that we’re saved, faith in Jesus alone, that we’re saved and our penalties are paid. We’re forgiven and made right with God. We have peace with God through the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ.

²⁹ After all, is God the God of the Jews only?

M.T.  right now,  see,  some people would say “we’re God’s people.” Well is God only the God of the Jews? Well, no.

Isn’t he also the God of the Gentiles? Of course he is. 

M.T.  As verse 29, says here.

³⁰ There is only one God, and he makes people right with himself only by faith, whether they are Jews or Gentiles.

M.T. : So anybody can come to faith. You don’t have to be a Jew to come. You don’t have to be born into a Christian family to be right with God. You’re right with God when you, individually, put your faith in Jesus Christ. That’s how you’re saved, how you’re forgiven of your sin. There is only one God and he makes people right with himself only by faith, whether they are Jews or Gentiles, through faith alone.

³¹ Well then, if we emphasize faith, does this mean that we can forget about the law?

M.T.: So that’s the big question, right? We’re only saved by faith. So we can do whatever we want. We can sin and it’ll be glorious to God?

…Of course not! In fact, only when we have faith do we truly fulfill the law.

M.T.: Now you’re given new and eternal life. Well then, if we emphasize faith, does this mean that we can forget about the law?

…Of course not! In fact, only when we have faith do we truly fulfill the law.

M.T.: When we put our faith in Jesus, God gives us the power to over you know get frees us from sin. It gives us the power to say no to sin like we’ve never had before.It’s through the indwelling presence of this Holy Spirit that we’re able to overcome.

And in my walk, I’ve overcome addiction to alcohol and drugs, sex addiction.And started living a discipled life, a surrender life in Christ. But it was only after I put my faith in Jesus, and made the free choice to follow in Jesus’s ways, that I was able to overcome.

I’m not a perfect person. I’m not a sinless person, but the victory and freedom I do have is because I put my faith in Jesus. And so that’s the message we preach. And it’s based on scripture, and our experience, but It’s the scripture that matters. It’s the truth. I might get things wrong, but the word God is true and it can be trusted and it can encourage us. You know, this is a very encouraging passage from Romans 3.It tells us that we don’t have to worry, that we’re made right through our faith in Jesus Christ and that it is through our faith that we can fulfill the law, meaning we can say no to sin.

And so I hope this encourages you and it shows you how easy Bible study is.

[

You just read the Bible and you can really dive into this, you know, even in this tool, they tell you different

scriptures to reference and you know where all this stuff comes from. It tells you As Paul’s quoting scripture, we don’t know that, but the people here at You Versionput the scripture references in so we can see those, as you can see, you know, basically.It gives you definitions and scripture references but

That’s it for today. I didn’t want to get on too much. I’m really relying on AI to produce the blog post for this.

As I put on the transcript and we’ll see how that turns out.

We’ll definitely post the video to YouTube as we’re just encouraging Bible study today and the fact that we’re saved by faith alone.

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We hope you enjoy it and we encourage you to subscribe to MT for Christ 24 7 on YouTube to get a daily blast of encouragement from us. We encourage you to check out our other teachings on our playlist page and all the things we share on our playlist page because we either did them,  or we were encouraged by them to walk by faith.

Have a great Sunday. Welcome to the season of Advent! As we draw into December, Let’s keep Christ in Christmas and let’s keep walking and talking with God.

[MT Clark] 06:20:56

Thanks. Bye.

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