Daily Devotionals

“You, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself?
You who preach that a man should not steal, do you steal?”
(Romans 2:21-22).

What is a hypocrite? It is someone who acts, plays a role, pretends, and uses masks that obscure their true face. Hypocisy has two basic tools that can act individually or in combination:

• simulation, which consists of showing different than one really is, and
• dissimulation, or pretense, which is hiding what one does not want to show.

In Romans 2 Paul lays out the hypocritical attitudes of the Jews. In the first place, they boasted about the law because they believed that it made them superior. Boasting is always a sin (even when it is about something true), but more so when it is dealing with a falsehood.

Paul’s fellow citizens and former coreligionists had come to believe that because they knew the divine will they were superior, guides and teachers for others. In reality, they were instructors but were not practitioners. They had the form, the profile, but no depth or content. The apostle tells that they carry the name of Jews as a title and a pretense, but in name only.

They had intellectual but not experiential understanding, in other words, something that did not fill the heart or the soul. It is like rain on the body: it can leave it soaking wet, moisten it, cool it, or heat it; but these are all external effects. There is no humble dependence, no loyalty, no obedience. There is only boasting, hypocrisy, and sin.

The second attitude is that as they did not practice what they taught, they went from boastful hypocrisy to hypocritical falsehood. They said, but did not do; they pretended to be teachers, but were not even students. Paul denounces their hypocrisy in their teaching, preaching, morality, religion, and doctrine- all of which demand faithfulness, authenticity, and coherence. Hypocricy is always a poor testimony; that is why “God’s name [was] blasphemed” (Rom. 2:24).

Let us remember that we cannot fool God at any time and hat “pretending has more letters than being” (Karl Kraus). If “we pretend what we are, let’s be what we pretend” (Pedro Calderón de la Barca) remembering that there is no use in “a form of godliness” but “denying is power” (2 Tim. 3:5).

Ellen G. White, speaking abou the struggle endured by the father of the twelve patriachs, wrote:

“Jacob had come forth a different man. Self-confidence had been uprooted.
Henceforth the early cunning was no longer seen. In place of craft and deception,
his life was marked by simplicity and truth. He had learned the lesson
of simple reliance upon the Almighty Arm, and amid trial and affliction
he bowed in humble submission to the will of God. The baser elements
of character were consumed in the furnace fire, the true gold was refined,
untill the faith of Abraham and Isaac appeard undimmed in Jacob”
(Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 208).

God bless you, let us be the difference…

“But we know that the judgment of God is according to truth
against those who practice such things”
(Romans 2:2).

One day, while in a city, we passed by the Ministry of Justice and I heard someone refer to this public building as “the Ministry of Injustice.” This is something that trends to happen naturally in the popular collective imagination. Human beings have gone so far away from God’s path, that many of their actions reflect their misconduct, their lack of values, fulfilling the expression found in Isaiah that human righteousness is stained “like filthy rags” (Isa. 64:6).

In contrast to what happens in the world, Paul says that God’s judgment will not  be based on assumptions, deceit, fraudulent evidence, or false testimony; but according to truth.

God’s judgment is universal. It is for all and at the same time for each one, whether they are Jew or Gentile, believer or non-believer.

God’s judgment will be unbiased, since all will be judged on the same basis: a yard will measure thirty-six inches for everyone.

God’s judgment is not optional. It is unavoidable; there are no routes of escape, no shortcuts, no exits from the sides or the back, no special arrangements, and no valid excuses.

God’s judgment will take into consideration the knowledge of God’s will acquired by people, as well as the opportunities they were offered and took advantage of to understand and practice God’s message.

The judgment is inevitable, but God’s love is incomparable. He has created us in His image with free will, with the capacity to choose. It is when misuse freedom, as we separate from God, that we create this world of sin and its consequences. The Lord did not come to condemn, but to save. When they yelled, “He saved others; Himself He cannot save” (Matt. 27:42), they were telling the truth.

Christ did not com to save Himself; He came to save us! The judgment will provide evidence that people’s actions in life will show acceptance for God’s plan, of of His love and His sacrifice, because “there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 8:1).

Let us listen to the Lord’s call, and then reflect and act: “What shall I say to arouse the remnant people of God? I was shown that dreadful scenes are before us; satan and his angels are bringing all their powers to bear upon God’s people. He knows that if they sleep a little longer, he is sure of them, for their destruction is certain. I warn all who profess thet name of Christ to closely examine themselves. and make full and thorough confession of all their wrongs, that they may go beforehand to judgment, and that the recording angel may write pardon opposite their names” (Testimonies for the Church, vol. 1, p. 263).

God bless you, let us be sober and vigilant…

“For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness
and unrighteaousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness”
(Romans 1:18).

Have you ever experienced a fit of anger? Were you the victim or the perpetrator? Some people even consider this a normal, universal thing, a matter of universal – on other words, something everyone experiences.

But God’s anger is more difficult to understand and accept. How can it be that a God who is good could be angry? The Bible talks about man’s wrath and warns us of all rampant anger or outbursts of fury; and it likewise talks about the wrath of God. Just as God’s justice is revealed, “the wrath of God is revealed from heaven,” and the recipient of God’s wrath is the “ungodliness and unrighteousness of men” (Rom. 1:18).

It is not about a feeling, an emotion, or rage on God’s part, but an act of retribution and divine justice. It is an act against ungodliness and unrighteaousness. Ungodliness is doing wrong against God and unrighteousness is doing wrong against man. Ungodliness is evil in the heart (in other words, the seed) and unrighteousness is the evil in the action (in other words, the plant or the fruit).

God loves the sinner but hates sin, because sin has damaged His creatures, and someday His wrath (in other words, His justice) will be manifested. “The people are fast being lulled to a fatal security, to be awakened only by the outpouring of the wrath of God” (The Great Controversy, p. 561).

What “appeases” God’s wrath? The death and sacrifice of Christ. When we accept that sacrifice in our place, we are “fleeing” from God’s wrath (see Matt. 3:7; Luke 3:7). The story of Jonah and his mission to go to Nineveh makes the divine purpose clear. God sent the prophet to save Nineveh. The Lord gave him a message to transmit: from that moment, in forty days Nineveh would be destroyed, which shows that God did not want to destroy but to save. The time of grace granted was a call to repentance and life. The message was heard, the opportunities were taken, and salvation reached the souls.

The great day of God’s wrath is near. He does not want the death of those who die but wants everyone to proceed toward repentance (Re. 6:17; Ez. 16:32; 2 Pet. 3:9). We live with a dilemma: on one hand, we wish for God to do justice, and on the other, we complain… because He delivers justice.

The promise is sure: God will make “new heavens and a new earth
in which righteousness dwells” (2 Pet. 3:13).
Those who do not accept Jesus as their Intercessor
will face Him as a Judge. You can be outside of God’s wrath
if only you choose to remain within His love.

God bless you, may you remain within His love…

“For in the righteousness of God is revealed
from faith to faith as it is written:
‘The just shall live by faith’
(Romans 1:17).

Paul begins the epistle with the assurance of “it is written” and quotes a passage from Habakkuk 2:4: “The just shall live by faith” three times (Rom. 1:17; Gal. 3:11; Heb. 10:38).

This is the text that God used to open the eyes of Martin Luther and produce the great movement of the Protestant Reformation. Luther understood that it was not through his penance, efforts, works, or merits that he would attain salvation. He, like many others, thought that God was just and worked justly by punishing the unjust, until he understood that God’s justice is God’s ability to justify the sinner, because of His mercy, “by grace” and “through faith” (Eph. 2:8).

To be just, then, means that a sinner who trusts in Jesus receives His forgiveness and experiences not only the substraction of sin but also the addition of Christ’s justice. Isaiah had already said it in chapter 53 of his book. He will carry our sins so we can have His justice (vv. 4, 5).

It was at the cross that the Lord acquired the legal right to forgive and still be just. “Let him look to the cross of Calvary, beholding there how ‘mercy and truth have met together,’ how ‘righteousness and peace have kissed each other’ (Ps. 85:10).There, through the divine sacrifice, man may be reconciled to God” (Counsels on Sabbath School Work, p. 171).

God does not ask us for good behavior previous to saving us; He asks us to believe and accept by faith the gift of His grace, and then for us to live in thankfulness and commitment to such an undeserved gift.

The word “justice” is used more than sixty times in the book of Romans. God’s justice is shown in the gospel, because through the death of Christ God revealed His justice by punishing sin, while in Christ’s resurrection God revealed His justice by putting salvation within reach of the sinner who believes. There are more than forty-five references to faith in the epistle, because

the only way for a sinner to become just before God is by faith.

In thisa gospel we have the justice of God in action. It is a justice that, instead of persecuting sinners to condemn them, is determined to pursue them in order to save them. The just will not live because they trust in their own works and merits, but because of their trust and faith in God.

Our prayer of thankfulness can be the same as Luther’s:
“Lord Jesus, You are my righteousness, I am Your sin.
You took on You what is mine;
yet set on me what is Yours.
You became what You were not,
that I might become what I was not.”

God bless you, let us live by faith…

“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”
(Romans 1:16).

What was the origin of the gospel? The central point of the gospel is Jesus Christ. Paul calls it the “gospel of Christ” (Rom. 15:19; 1 Cor. 9:12, 18; 2 Cor. 2:12; 9:13; 10:14; Gal. 1:7; Phil. 1:27; 1 Thess. 3:2), “the gospel of God” (Rom. 1:1; 15:16; 2 Cor. 11:7; 1 Thess. 2:2, 8; 1 Tim. 1:11), and “the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thess. 1:8; 2:14), but he insists and defends the fact that the is only one gospel (2Cor. 11:4; Gal. 1:6-8).

What is the power of the gospel? Rome boasted of their authority and the fear they infused in the empire through their abuse of power. Paul had already been in other heathen cities like Corinth and Ephesus and trusted that this gospel of Christ could also transform lives in Rome.

What is the result of the gospel? It is the powerful action of God to save, liberate, forgive, transform, and restore, not only for the Jews and Gentiles but for everyone, and all times.

Salvation in the Bible has three time frames:
Past: On the cross and by His death Jesus saved us from condemnation of sin. Sin condemns us to death, but the death of Christ leads us to life.
Present: He saves us from the guilt of sin when we repent and confess our faults, and He gives us the peace and forgiveness.
Future: When the Lord comes to establish His indefinite kingdom, He will save us from the presence of sin:

“Old things have passed away; behold,
all things have become new” (2Cor. 5:17).

The power of the gospel liberates and rescues. It liberates from slavery, darkness, perdition, from sinful self-indulgence and deliberate spiritual ignorance. It resues the creature from the final punishment for their sin, reusing them for eternal life.

Alfred Nobel patented dynamite in 1867 with peaceful goals. His idea was to use it as a revolutionary system for construction, allowing for the division of rocks, to dig tunnels, or to make it easier to build railways more efficiently, without the need for so much manual labor.

When he died in 1896, Nobel left an inheritance equivalent to 256 million dollars to establish the Nobel Prizes, which would be given to those who have made great contributions in a broad area of knowledge and progress. The greatest prize would be given to those who accomplished the best work for the brotherhood of nations and today is known as the Nobel Peace Prize.

The gospel is God’s power that dynamites our sins.
We are all called to receive the Nobel Peace Prize as a gift.

God bless you…

“For I am not ashamed of the gospel”
(Romans 1:16).

When Martin Luther arrived in Rome, the city of the seven hills, he fell on his knees, filled with emotion. Then, raising his hands to heaven, he said: “Holy Rome, I salute thee!” The one who would later become the great reformer did this because indulgences were promised to all who climbed “Pilate’s staircase” on their knees. Tradition stated that it was the same staircase that our Savior had stepped on as he left the Roman court, and the steps had been moved from Jerusalem to Rome in a miraculous way.

However, while Luther was devotedly climbing those steps, he remembered the word written by Paul in Romans 1:17: “The just shall live by faith.” The words reverberated like thunder in his soul.

He quickly stood up and fled filled with shame. From that moment on he began to see clearly the deceit of trusting in works and human merits for salvation, and how indespensable it is to exercise constant faith in the merits of Christ. Luther was ashamed because the gospel had been completely distorted.

Nevertheless, on the other hand, Paul says that he is not ashamed of the gospel (Rom. 1:16). The Jews considered Paul to be a traitor, the scum of the earth, and an outcast of society. His preaching about the cross was insanity to the Greeks and a stumbling block to the Jews
(1 Cor. 1:23); but Paul had experienced the good news in his own life, which had been forgiven and transformed. This gospel was cause of glory.

What does shame imply? It is the feeling of loss of dignity caused by a mistake that is made or by insult or humiliation that is received. It is a feeling or discomfort produced by fear of doing something ridiculous; it is a feeling that paralyzes action.

Everyone was ashamed of the cross: it was an insanity, and embarrasment, an insult, a humiliation. They were waiting for a Messiah that would deliver them from the Roman yoke, not One who would die on a wooden cross. Paul feels honored for the undeserved call from God; that is why he is not bothered by indefference, hate, prejudice, or abuse. He does not care that they link him to that “deceiver” (Matt. 27:63), rejected by the Jewish religion, negated by Greek culture, and crucified under Roman law. He knows that Christ and the gospel transfomed his life. That is why not only is he not ashamed but feels honor and proclaims it boldly. Paul had been a prisoner in Philippi, thrown out of Berea, mocked in Athens, considered insane in Corinth, stoned in Lystra, and despite all this, wanted to go and preach in Rome.

When everyone mocks or denies the truth, it is hard to take a step forward and say, “that is my Christ” and “that is my gospel.”

How willing are we, like Luther and Paul, to align ourselves
and make a commitment – before everyone and everything –
for that gospel which transforms our lives?

God bless you, let us be bold!

“To all who are in Rome, beloved of God,
called to be saints: Grace to you and peace
from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ”
(Romans 1:7).

Does the Bible really make a call for me to be a saint? What does it mean to be a saint? An image on a colorful and expensive stained-glass window in the heights of a church? A statue with a halo on its head? Do we have to wait until a person is dead to beautify and canonize them as saints and make them an object of worship?

We can commonly hear people say, “That person is a saint” when they refer to their disposition and their behavior. The dictionary defines “saint” as a person that is faultless, perfect, full of kindness, and totally dedicated to God.

However, when the Bible and Paul refer to “being saints,” it always refers to living people. Paul frequently calls Christians “saints.” This expression appears thirty-eight times in all his writings. Now then, the title “saints,” is it a status or a lifestyle? In the Bible “holy” is that which is dedicated to God. It can refer to the temple, the Sabbath, marriage, God’s people, and the priesthood. Therefore, for Paul, dedication and obedience are inseparable components of holiness. Saints are those who by their profession of faith and baptism can consider themselves as set apart from the world and consecrated to God.

In this case Paul calls the believers in Rome “saints,” because Gos had called them to separate from the world, from other types of worship, and dedicate themselves to the service of God. They are not called because they are saints, they are called saints by virtue of God’s power and the transforming work of the Holy Spirit.

Notice that today’s verse refers to those who are “beloved of God.” In other words, it is by His love and His merits that we are summoned and called to be saints. A saint is a person whose blame has been erased because through faith, they have accepted the grace offered through Chist’s sacrifice. As a consequence, through the power of the Spirit that dwells in them, they decide to live for the glory of God, set apart and consegrated to the service of the Lord.

“He who is trying to become holy by his own works in keeping the law, is attempting an impossibility. All that man can do without Christ is polluted with selfishness and sin. It is the grace of Christ alone, through faith, that make us holy” (Steps to Christ, p. 59).

Look at what the great reformer John Wesley requested:
“Give me 100 men who hate nothing but sin
and love God with all their hearts
and I will shake the world for Christ.”
Do you want to be part of this group today and forever?

God bless you, may His grace be with you…

“[The gospel] regarding his Son, who as to his earthly life
was a descendant of David, and who through the Spirit of holiness
was appointed the Son of God in power by his resurrection
from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord”
(Romans 1:3-4).

The Gospel, which is the good news of salvation, is centered around the Son of God and the Son of man. Paul himself explains that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” and that “sin pays its wage – death” (Rom. 3:23; 6:23).

We could only be saved by Someone who had life within Himself, Someone who was God and at the same time, lives as a sinless human, because He could not atone His own sins as well as those of others.

Paul summarizes the gospel and says that God becomes man, through His incarnation as a descendent of David’s family (Rom. 1:3; 5:15; 2 Cor. 5:19; 2 Tim. 2:8). In the book of Revelation, John talks about the Lord as a root and branch of David (Rev. 5:5; 22:16). Root because He existed as God from the beginning, always; and branch because He was born as a human, as a descendent of David’s lineage. Jesus was divine and human at the same time: He was “God with us” (Matt. 1:23). He was the Son of Mary and the Holy Spirit. He was not Joseph’s son. He was the Son of man, but also the Son of God.

Jesus was given up in order to “save His people from their sins” (Matt. 1:21), but He would be useless as a dead Savior. Both the incarnation as well as the resurrection of Christ show the love and power of God and guarantee our salvation. Isaiah had prophesied: “For to us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given” (Isa. 9:6). He lived a life without sin, died in our place, and resurrected from among the dead.

Christ’s resurrection ensures our salvation, because “If he be not risen there is no Son of God; and the world is desolate, and the heaven is empty, and the grave is dark, and sin abides and death is eternal” – A. Maclaren – The apostle Paul himself says – and repeats: “If Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty.” “And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins!” (1 Cor. 15:14, 17).

The Bible exposes the origin of evil as “the mystery of lawlessness,” and to resolve and counter that mystery, there is “the mystery of godliness,” (2 Thess. 2:7; 1 Tim. 3:16), because only an unexplainable love could have done for us what was done. The never-ending years of eternity will not be enough to study such an amazing and immense love.

This is the good news of the gospel:
The Son of God was made the Son of man so that we,
the children of men, could become children of God.
May our gratitude and commitment be permanent!

God bless you, may you be filled by His Agape Love…

“Paul, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle,
separated unto the gospel of God”
(Romans 1:1).

Paul begins his letter to the Romans by presenting his credentials as a “bondservant,” “apostle,” and one who is “set apart.”

Paul as a bondservant. The word “servant” in the original Greek has a much stronger meaning than the one we use today. It literally means “slave.” It is believed that there were three million slaves in the Roman Empire. Slaves were considered objects rather than persons. They could be bought and sold. Slaves had no rights and were subjected completely to the dominion of their master.

In Paul’s case it was not a specific master, nor the Caeser. It was Christ, the true Lord of the universe, whom he served by choice and in loving dependece. Paul uses this expression several times in the epistles, and even applies it to all believers who belong to Christ: “You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men” (1 Cor. 7:23; see also 6:20).

Paul as an apostle. In contrast with his previous credentials, he also uses the one as “apostle.” This means that he had been sent as a messenger and has authority to accomplish a special mission. The emperors and kings had their emissaries and representatives. Only one who had seen Christ could become an apostle. Paul saw Christ on the way to Damascus and it was there that Christ called him to be “an apostle to the Gentiles” (Rom. 11:13; cf 1 Tim. 2:7; 2 Tim. 1:11).

Paul as one set apart. This means he was “separate from others.” When he was a Jewish rabbi (teacher), he was “set apart” as a Pharisee to specialize in Jewish laws and traditions. But when he surrendered to Christ, he was set apart for the gospel and its ministry. “Gospel” means “good news”: that Christ died for our sins, was buried, and resurrected; and now He can save all those who trust in Him.

For a Roman citizen to present themselves as a servant or slave was something utterly inconceivable, but Paul preferred to present himself this way. This credential, for him, was more than a duty: it was an honor. Since that noonday in Damascus, when he had been on his knees to ask the Lord what He wished him to do, he continued asking the same question every day and going, or not going, according to where the Lord led him; doing, or stopping what he was doing, according to God’s will – whether on the road, on a ship, a church, or in a jail.

With joy and faith, Paul was an obedient servant,
an apostle to carry out the mission, and one set apart
to live within and for the gospel.
Can you kneel right now? Can you elevate your mind
to God in prayer? Do you dare to ask,
“Lord, what do You want me to do?”?
Do it right now. God will answer you…

How obedient are we? God bless you…