Carla

Whoever comes by faith to the salvation offered in Jesus Christ is saved. We will always have differences, by God’s design, BUT we are all one body in Him.

‘We have been called to heal wounds,’ Francis wrote, ‘to unite what has fallen apart, and to bring home those who have lost their way.’” 

There is a lot of talk today about “radical” politics on both sides. The word raises eyebrows and ire. And creates social media prattle. But did you know that radical comes from the Latin word radix, meaning “root”? In other words, to be “radical” is to cut to the root of the issue, to deal with causes, not just symptoms.

So. Back to St. Francis. He lived with the very radical idea to choose weakness instead of strength, vulnerability instead of righteousness, truth instead of practicality, honesty instead of influence. And to slow down long enough to see the world and the person right in front of him.

We cannot change the world except as we have changed ourselves.
We can only give who we are and what we are.
We can't just pray, we must be the prayer.

There are so many wonderful small ways to rekindle empathy and spill the light. So, let’s be on the lookout this week. For places where we will not allow someone (even if that is our self) to fall through the cracks of inattention or distrust or hatred. Sabbath Moments 

Romans 1:16-17

16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.” The New King James Version

The NT speaks of salvation in the past tense, the present tense, and the future tense. In the past, the believer has been saved from the penalty of sin. In the present, the believer is being saved from the power of sin. In the future, the believer will be saved from the very presence of sin.

From faith to faith means faith is at the beginning of the salvation process, and it is the goal as well. When a person first exercises faith in Christ, that person is saved from the penalty of sin and declared righteous. As the believer lives by faith, God continues to save him or her from the power of sin to live righteously. The NKJV Study Bible

“Not ashamed” expresses a high degree of confidence in the gospel. Paul is confident that the hope he has placed in the gospel message will not be disappointed. The Greek word used here for power, dynamis, often refers to miraculous works. Here, it refers to God’s ability to deliver His people from sin and future judgment. God’s power also relates to the power of the Holy Spirit.

The Greek word used here for salvation, sōtēria, refers to deliverance from the final judgment. It also might refer to deliverance from sin and the results of sin: death and alienation from God. Faithlife Study Bible.

In these verses the apostle opens the design of the whole epistle, in which he brings forward a charge of sinfulness against all flesh; declares the only method of deliverance from condemnation, by faith in the mercy of God, through Jesus Christ; and then builds upon it purity of heart, grateful obedience, and earnest desires to improve in all those Christian graces and tempers, which nothing but a lively faith in Christ can bring forth. God is a just and holy God, and we are guilty sinners. It is necessary that we have a righteousness to appear in before him: there is such a righteousness brought in by the Messiah, and made known in the gospel; a gracious method of acceptance, notwithstanding the guilt of our sins. It is the righteousness of Christ, who is God, coming from a satisfaction of infinite value. Faith is all in all, both in the beginning and progress of Christian life. It is not from faith to works, as if faith put us into a justified state, and then works kept us in it; but it is all along from faith to faith; it is faith pressing forward, and gaining the victory over unbelief. Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary

Habakkuk 2:4 “Behold the proud, his soul is not upright in him; but the just shall live by his faith.

Acts 3:26 To you first, God, having raised up His Servant Jesus, sent Him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from your iniquities.”

Romans 2:9 tribulation and anguish, on every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek;

Romans 3:21 But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets,

Romans 9:30 What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness of faith;