Beholding His Glory ~ Pastor Bill Slabaugh

Romans 10:5-10 ~ The Way of Salvation ~ Pastor Bill Slabaugh

The main questions that  are answered in Romans chapters 9-10 are: Is Israel really God’s chosen people, and if so, what went wrong? It seems that God is done with them, so why should that matter to us today? Why should we care about an ancient people in Bible times? And why should we care about Israel and the Jews today? Listen to the message to hear the answers to these kinds of questions.

Romans 10:1-4 ~ My Heart's Desire and Prayer ~ Pastor Bill Slabaugh

Every false religion and cult seeks to establish their own righteousness and they go about it with their own particular set of rules. But they all have in one thing in common: they try to reach God—or please Him, or be saved, or become righteous—by their own good works and good deeds. It’s all about keeping certain rituals, or doing the right things, or trying to be a better person.

Sadly, like the Christians in the Apostle Paul’s day, many professing Christians can get caught up in this legalistic way to try to obtain righteous. It broke the Apostle Paul’s heart and it should break ours today as well .

At the end of this sermon, Pastor Bill gives some helpful pointers on how to share your faith with those caught up in these kinds of false religious systems.

Romans 9:30-33 ~ A Rock of Offense ~ Pastor Bill Slabaugh

1 Peter 2:6-8

 For this is contained in Scripture:

      "BEHOLD, I LAY IN ZION A CHOICE STONE,

            A PRECIOUS CORNER stone,

       AND HE WHO BELIEVES IN HIM WILL

            NOT BE DISAPPOINTED."

This precious value, then, is for you who believe;

but for those who disbelieve,

     "THE STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED,

       THIS BECAME THE VERY CORNER stone,"

 and,

      "A STONE OF STUMBLING AND A ROCK OF OFFENSE";

 for they stumble because they are disobedient to the word,

 and to this doom they were also appointed.

 

Romans 9:25-29 ~ They Shall Be Called Sons of the Living God - Pastor Bill Slabaugh

It was unthinkable to the Jewish mind of the apostle Paul’s day that Gentiles, who were considered unclean and who were pagan idolaters, would be called “Sons of the Living God.” Yet, in Romans 9:25-29, the Apostle Paul gives us the scriptural basis, prophesied in ages past, for why Gentiles can cry out to God, “Abba, Father”—how Gentiles have been adopted into God’s family and are God’s children.

Romans 9:18-24 ~ An Astounding Display of God's Glory ~ Pastor Bill Slabaugh

If you are still struggling with the scriptural truth that God has mercy on whom He desires and He hardens whom He desires (Romans 9:18), you need to hear the reason for this that the apostle Paul gives in Romans 9:18-24. In short, it has to do with God’s glory. The final and deepest argument Paul gives for why God acts in sovereign freedom is that this way of acting displays most fully the glory of God—including His wrath against sin and His power in judgment.

Romans 9:14-18 ~ The Hardening of Pharaoh's Heart ~ Pastor Bill Slabaugh

In the hardening of Pharaoh’s heart, God’s Word shows us that God uses evil and evil men to bring about His predetermined purposes.  Each time Pharaoh’s heart was hardened and he refused to let God’s people go, it resulted in a further display of God’s power so that God’s name would be proclaimed throughout the whole world. When Pharaoh, or anyone else, chooses to reject the right, he will be hardened in the wrong. That’s what sin and rebellion against God does. It hardens the heart more and more against God.

 The second part of the message contains a remarkable insight into how the hearts of the enemies of Jesus were hardened leading up to the cross. Whereby Jesus was delivered over by the predetermined plan of God and was nailed to the cross by the hands of godless men (cf. Acts 2:23).

Romans 9:6-13 ~ The Choice of God ~ Pastor Bill Slabaugh

In Romans 9:6-13, the apostle Paul continues to answer objections to what he has been teaching.  This time, the God’s word is called into question, “Has the Word of God failed?” Paul answers the basic question, “If the Jews have rejected and crucified Jesus, the Son of God, does that mean God’s purposes were frustrated and His plan defeated?” Has God’s Word failed?

 Paul answers literally, “And it is not possible that the word of God has failed.”

Romans 9:1-5 ~ The Tragedy of Unbelief ~ Pastor Bill Slabaugh

In Romans 9:1-5, the apostle Paul answers questions that would have been raised in opposition to what he has been writing in his letter to the Romans.

 The first question is, “If God offered salvation to the Gentiles (non-Jews), does that mean that God has forsaken His ancient people Israel?”

 The second question is, “If salvation is from the Jews and is first of all to the Jews, why did Israel, including her highest religious leaders, reject Jesus as their Messiah, Savior, and King?”

 What about Israel today?  Does God still have a plan and purpose for the State of Israel?

Romans 8:31-34 ~ If God Is for Us, Who Is against Us? ~ Pastor Bill Slabaugh

Before you listen to the message, rate yourself on a scale of 1 to 10:

Then listen to the message to move up the scale!

Romans 8:29-30 ~ The Purpose of Salvation ~ Pastor Bill Slabaugh

Romans 8:29-30 is the clearest and most explicit presentation of the truth that a person who is genuinely saved is eternally saved; that is, he or she cannot lose their salvation. In these two verses Paul reveals the unbroken pattern of God’s sovereign redemption from His eternal foreknowledge of a believer’s salvation to its ultimate completion in glorification.