Call Us: 423 661-4734 | Email: requests@comeandreason.com      
Romans Chapter 3

Romans Chapter 3

As a personal devotional project I have been slowly paraphrasing various Bible passages. Below is Romans Chapter Three. If you have never tried this particular exercise, give it a try, it can really bring the Bible to life.

Romans Chapter Three

3:1 If anybody can be saved and genetics don’t make a difference, then what advantage is there in being a Jew and what good is circumcision? 2 Being a Jew has tremendous advantage! The Jews have been given the truth from God himself. They have been blessed with the Scriptures, the teaching tools of circumcision, the sanctuary and feast days – all designed to enlighten the mind with healing truth. Not only that, but they have been given instructions on healthy living, which results in better health and more efficient mental function.

3:3 But what if some did not recognize the meaning of all God has given them and did not develop trust in God? Will their failure to trust God nullify God’s trustworthiness? 4 Absolutely not! God is trustworthy even if every human being is a liar and fraud. As it is written:

“God may you be proved right and true in the hearts and minds of your intelligent creatures when you present yourself openly for their judgment.”

3:5 But if our sickness and selfishness makes God’s patient, healing love more clearly seen and understood, how do we interpret that? Do we say that since our wickedness makes God’s goodness easier to see, since our selfishness makes God’s love easier to comprehend, since our sickness makes God’s cure easier to understand that we are therefore helping God win his case and God is unjust if he doesn’t give us a free pass? (I am using a human argument that fails to understand the basic principles upon which the universe operates.) 6 Absolutely not! If that was the case how could God allow anyone to experience the consequences of persistent refusal of his life-giving remedy? 7 Some who see sin as a legal problem might argue, “If I were to lie in order to help God reveal what truthfulness is and thus increase his glory, I am actually on his side helping him, why should I suffer the fate of a sinner?” 8 They might as well try saying – as we are being falsely accused of saying – “It is by doing wrong that the right occurs. It is by doing evil that good results. It is by acting selfishly that love grows.” Those who teach such things deserve the consequence of a depraved and destroyed mind, which is the only result of practicing methods at variance with God’s. They fail to understand that violations of God’s law of love actually damage the sinner and destroy God’s image, methods and principles within him.

3:9 What conclusion shall we then draw? Are we any better than anyone else? Of course not! We have already shown that all mankind, Jews and Gentiles alike are all infected with the same destructive element – distrust, fear and selfishness, and all are in need of the same cure. 10 As it is written:

“There is none whose heart and mind is perfectly healthy, none that is free from the infection of distrust, fear and selfishness, not even one;

3:11 there is no one who understands God’s character, methods and principles; no one seeks to know God.

3:12 The entire human race has accepted lies about God and turned away from him, they have become completely necrotic in character; there is no one who does good, who loves others, who is selfless and kind, not even one.”

3:13 “The words they speak bring only death;
Their mouths utter only lies about God.”
“The poison of lies, from the serpent Satan, is on their lips because they have accepted his version of God.”

3:14 “There voice is filled with cursing and bitterness and they complain about how life is not fair.”

3:15 “They are quick to murder;

3:16 they are tornados of destruction, vortexes of misery reeking havoc wherever they go.

3:17 They don’t know how to bring peace, heal wounds, be kind or sacrifice self for the good of others.”

3:18 “They don’t admire and respect God, but are afraid of him because they don’t know him.”

3:19 Now we know that the 10 Commandments are like a medical diagnostic instrument, identifying infection and diagnosing disease. It diagnoses accurately everyone who is infected with distrust of God, filled with selfishness and is dying of sin, so that everyone who claims to be sin-free or free of selfishness will be silenced and the entire world will recognize its need of God’s healing solution. 20 Therefore, no one will be declared to be perfectly healthy and like Christ in character by adhering to a set of rules; rather, it is through the 10 Commandments that we become aware of our sickly state of mind.

3:21 But now God has revealed, a healthy state of being – a character that is right and perfect in everyway, that did not come from the written code, but is exactly what the Scriptures and the 10 Commandments were pointing your minds toward. 22 This perfect state of being comes from God and is created within us by God when we trust him. Our trust in him is established by the evidence given through Jesus Christ of his supreme trustworthiness. There is no difference amongst any ethnic groups, 23 for all humanity is infected with the same disease of distrust, fear and selfishness, and are deformed in character and fall far short of God’s glorious ideal for mankind. 24 Yet all, who are willing, are healed freely by God’s gracious remedy that has been provided by Jesus Christ. 25 God presented Jesus as the way and means of restoration. Now, through trust established by the evidence of God’s character revealed when Christ died, we may partake of the remedy procured by Christ. God did this to demonstrate he is right and good, because in his forbearance he suspended, for a time, the ultimate consequence of sin and has been falsely accused of being unfair. 26 So, he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so he would be seen as right when he heals those who trust in Jesus.

3:27 Where, then, is human bragging or accomplishment? It has no place, for our healing has been accomplished by God, through trust made possible by Jesus. And why is boasting not possible? Because our efforts to conform to a set of rules does not establish trust or remove the infection of selfishness from our hearts! Only trust in God eliminates fear opens the heart to God and then he uses his divine power to recreate us, in love, to be like Jesus. 28 Therefore, we insist that a man is cleansed – set right, only by trusting in God and opening his heart to him – and this is different from keeping rules. 29 Is the Creator of the entire human race the God of the Jews only? Is he not God of all humanity, including Gentiles? Of course – he is the God of all humanity, 30 and he will heal the circumcised if they trust him and the uncircumcised will also be healed if they trust him. 31 Do we then destroy or make useless, by our trust, the written code God gave to help us? Of course not! We show that the written code was helpful in diagnosing our sickness, revealing God’s plan to heal and leading us back to trust so we could be healed.

Email me the blog whenever a new one is published.

Donate online, securely via PayPal using your credit or debit card (no PayPal account needed, unless you want to set up a monthly, recurring payment).


cancel recurring payment

 

Want to use zelle instead?
See how on our
Support and Donations page.

Upcoming Events

calendar

Testimonial Post Slider

Testimony 6

I got the book “Could It Be This Simple?” a few months ago and the reading was wonderful and I was fascinated. I lent the book to a friend at work. She is having a difficult time and the book is helping her to find Jesus and I found this very exciting. She has asked me questions and I can see her life changing.

H. S., Australia

 

Testimony 36

Thank you and may God continue to bless you as you share with others the intricacies of how we are all “fearfully and wonderfully made”. I must share that you have opened a whole new world to me, and I have found tremendous healing through what you have shared in two of your books, “Could It Be This Simple?” and “The God Shaped Brain.” I praise God for what you shared, what I have learned, and how I have grown and healed! My prayer is that My Precious Jesus will be seen by others in the way I live, act, talk, etc. and they may be encouraged to know He is truly a GREAT God of LOVE, desiring that no one should perish! God Bless you in your continued endeavors to present Him as He really is!

Joleen H. GA, USA

 

Testimony 2

I continue to enjoy your lessons every week. The more that I research your conclusions, the more I am convinced that the Holy Spirit has lead you to distill out the essence of human redemption. Thank you for your courageous stand for the truth.

S. G., TX, USA

 

Testimony 35

I am so pleased with the response your message is receiving at my church from the middle-aged to the young adults. I have given out 100 copies of the first two seminars and there are more request every week. One of my [class members] came to me after viewing the series, grateful and impressed with how easy the message was retained. He had been a Seventh-day Adventist in fear all his life, and felt like the scales were removed from his eyes after viewing the seminars. I am so impressed by the change I see in members who have received this message, we are in one accord. However, I am sadden by the negative response of the older people. I am verbally attacked anytime I talk about imposed laws, but I believe my mission is to enlightened everyone I can. I watch your Bible Study Class on YouTube every Friday night and I feel like I am apart of the class. All of you are in one accord and I am so blessed to have found you. I pray that all of you continue to spread this message and I am committed to doing my part.

Clara S., Westfield, MA, USA

 

Testimony 27

Your teachings about our heavenly Father have changed my life. Thank you sooooooo very very much! I know He’s doing some serious healing in my heart and life and I look forward to each new day to learn something new about Him and to just hear you speak about Him. Thank you, forever.

Nancy S.

 

Testimony 22

I have found your Bible study class lectures to be very inspiring and useful as I prepare to teach class every other week. I subscribe to the podcast and download your notes on the weeks I teach. The audio and notes are such a great help in preparing. My own understanding of God’s character has grown as I teach the class. Commendations on the thought-provoking and well-prepared material Come and Reason provides. Personally, I get excited by the tie you make between the spiritual and mental/physical domains.

A.A. Corrales, NM, USA

 

Testimony 14

We really appreciate your views on the judgment and they make good sense considering our free choice.

Anonymous

 

Testimony 19

I truly believe that to know who God really is the first step to understand ourselves in a balanced and kind way, so the healing can take place. Your approach really makes sense – Thank you for your ministry!

A.M., Pittsburg, PA, USA

Testimony 12

I have been really blessed reading your response to the various questions on your site.

K.C., OH, USA

 

Testimony 18

The Healing the Mind DVD set tarted me on a journey that has changed my relationship with our loving God more significantly than any other study, and brought me to your book and Bible study podcasts, which I now listen to daily, thanks to the availability of archived content on your site and on iTunes.

Anonymous

 

Testimony 5

We listen to your bible studies lessons in our class in Montana. You actually were the main reason I decided to get a laptop, so I can go to your site and listen, read, learn, and print the class notes. I am so grateful to learn the correct view of God and his character. Now, to just have others have an interest in knowing, so I can share it with them. Good thoughts your way.

R. N., MT, USA

 

Testimony 62

I would like to express my thanks to the C&R team for creating a platform from which people can learn to trust in God and grow. My life is a witness to the effectiveness of this ministry. Without believing the truth about God as you have shown, I don’t know what my life would be like. I had given up on God helping me with certain sins – it was all useless. Given that the scripture is clear and God is so good, how could I have betrayed him so many times? I was a yo-yo christian; spinning up and down. My faith and enthusiasm was driven by discoveries/threats that prophecy is about to be fulfilled. But when I watched your “Healing the Mind” seminar, it was like a light finally went on. I could see God had no plan to hurt me, the danger came from sin, and that He is working to protect me and strengthen me. Thank you for allowing God to use you. The message God gave C&R saved my life!

Antony N. – Hobart, Australia

 

Testimony 57

You have helped make sense of thirty two years of confusion. The material you freely provide reorganized so much of my life into such a beautiful pattern that has always been hinted at from within, but misguided with my training and what I was experiencing externally. My filipno parents, who were converted from Catholicism to SDA, were sincere and did their best to raise me the right way and I have deep respect for them. However, being immigrants and not understanding the language made for a difficult transition as I was growing up, which also applied to my spiritual growth as I learned the patterns of religion. I have been listening to as many bible study classes and reading blog posts as my time in a work truck will allow, searching for the practical applications of where spirituality and reality meet, and I thank you for helping me find that. You have helped me reach a point in which I can truly say that I love God, that I believe He loves me, and, like David, I delight in His law. God bless.

Emmanuel V., Calgary, AB Canada

Testimony 63

I’ve been very blessed by “The God Shaped Brain” and this ministry, through video and podcast, over the last few years. It’s truly opened up my eyes more to the truth about God and the importance of that truth in the present world. The message is so inviting, freeing and enlightening and MORE people need to know about it. I believe it is the last message that can truly, not only prepare a people for salvation and translation, but vindicate the character of God.

Michael V., Yonkers, NY, USA

 

Testimony 68

Your message of design law vs imperial law is so uplifting and makes so much sense- it is a game changer for me. The fact that Jesus’s death is not a big payment by an angry God is , quite frankly, a relief.

Laura G., London, Ontario, Canada