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Tuesday 4 November 2008

Romans 12:9-13

Any notion that saying we are saved by faith alone means it doesn't matter what we do is consigned to the dustbin by passages such as this (of which there are many in Paul's writings).

We are to have a sincere love for one another. The gospel gives us the freedom to do this, for we have no need to prove that we are righteous, so we can genuinely look after the needs of others. We are free to honour one another, and to be devoted to each other. Jesus was able to give completely because He had complete confidence in His Father, we can now do likewise. We can give in practical ways, we can give in honour. For we know that God will provide, and we know that we have nothing to prove to God, so we have no need to prove that we are better than someone else (or that someone else is worse than us, which is fairly standard human reaction!).

We are to maintain our spiritual zeal. The zeal of the Lord is crucial, and we need to ask the Lord to daily renew our zeal. The events of day to day life can easily sap this zeal, but through the Holy Spirit we have an unending supply of renewed zeal.

Hope is to be a characteristic of our lives. The expectation of a great future should fill us with joy. When we go through times of affliction (as we will inevitably do from time to time) we need to be patient, for we know that the end result will be good. Prayer is essential.

Just as hope is to be a characteristic, so is generosity. Our God is a generous God who delights to give, we should emulate Him in this.

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