BIAY - Conquering Grace
Romans 6-8, Proverbs 21:1-16
Welcome to the Bible in a Year for 2025. Intro to this series and resource links available here, plus here’s how I’m approaching this year.
Scriptures for Today:
Reflection:
Like all of Romans, these chapters are really dense with rich theology. It’s impossible to highlight everyone I might want to, so here’s just a few passages.
Dead to sin, alive to God (6:1-14) - One of the powerful images of baptism is that of burial. While I affirm all traditional modes of baptism (sprinkling, pouring, immersion), this picture is clearly seen in immersion baptism—being buried with Christ (ritually/spiritually sharing in His death) and being raised to life (ritually/spiritually sharing in His victory of life over death). This truth about our salvation, symbolized in baptism, is the foundation for Paul’s instruction that we are to count ourselves as “dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus” (6:11). This is true of us if we have put our faith in Jesus. Now we must live into that truth.
Wrestling with myself (7:14-25) - Paul articulates a classic conundrum — that we have something we want to do yet we find ourselves not doing it. I appreciate the way he puts it here: “So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me.” (7:21) I haven’t met anyone who doesn’t identify with that statement. We need Jesus not only to be reconciled to God relationally, but to be restored in the image of God in our heart, mind, and soul. This process is called “sanctification”—the theological term for becoming spiritually mature in Christ.
“In all things, God works for the good of those who love Him” (8:28) - This is a great promise and affirmation in scripture. For those who love God, He is working for our good no matter what. Nothing that happens to us—the good, the bad, the ugly—cannot be commandeered and incorporated into God’s plan for our good. Not everything that happens to us falls within the will of God, but nothing is beyond God’s ability to bring good from somehow.
“More than conquerors through Him who loved us” (8:31-39) - When Paul lists the various trials and tribulations, he knows what he’s talking about. He had dealt with all of those and more after becoming a follower of Jesus and an apostle for Him. Paul insists that we are not only survivors or victors but more than conquerors. Amazing.
Questions:
Have you put your faith in Jesus and received the life He wants to give you?
What do you need God to work some good out of in your life?
Are you content with getting by or are you ready to trust Jesus to grow you into more than a conqueror?
What else might the Holy Spirit be speaking with you about in the text today?
Prayer: Lord, help me to step into the fullness of life that you call me to in Jesus. Help me to be led by the Spirit today. Amen.
“But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.” (Matthew 13:23)
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