[00:00:00] INSIGHTS INTRODUCTION
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Hey everybody. Welcome back. This is week 33 of Creative. Come Follow me for the New Testament. And this week we're gonna cover the last half of the book of Romans. We actually cover 10 chapters today, but thankfully since we learned a lot about the setting and who he's speaking to last week, we should be able to jump right in.
It's the same group of people that he's addressing in this epistle. These are members of the church who already made covenants with God, and they're hoping to take their discipleship to the next level. And Paul has all kinds of guidance on where they should focus. And it's the same focus that our prophet is giving us today, that we need to turn inward, we need to look at our own discipleship.
We need to evaluate how we're doing and we need to do better. I really like the order of things. Paul's gonna take the first half of these chapters to teach the law, teach them what God expects of them, and then he's gonna take the second half to talk about how they can apply it, not just in their own lives, but as they become stronger and better individually, that they can then take those blessings that come from being a stronger, more.
Peace fill disciple of Christ and add that goodness into the greater body of Christ. This, you know, kingdom of God that they're trying to build, that he, he hopes that by turning inward first, they'll, they'll be able to take those blessings out to others in the faith, and it'll be this way of uniting them all together.
What I really like about Paul's writing this week is I feel like he puts a big emphasis on the love of God. 'cause it's hard to take your discipleship to the next level. This focus inward on the natural man and trying to get rid of things that are slowing me down in my progress and trying to pick up things that will amplify my progress.
That's a hard road. And Paul knows it's a hard road, and so he's gonna constantly reaffirm God's love for his people and that if they will just continue to try and if they will just trust in the grace of Jesus Christ, they'll have what they need to be successful. That's his promise. This week, I would warn you that you're gonna wanna keep a close eye on the Joseph Smith translation.
It's easy sometimes to read a few of these chapters and get sort of, you'll feel kind of heavy. 'cause a lot of it talks about Paul's own feelings about the natural man and how, how hard it is and how, how strong the natural man inclinations are. But the j s t is a lot more hope-filled. Some of them are back in the appendix, so you will have to do a little bit flipping back and forth.
But if you follow along in the notes, I try to point those out as we go. But I think it's worth your time. I think my favorite quote from this week's study that I read is from Huey Brown, and he said, this real character is formed in the midst of the battles of the soul. That's this week, you guys, we, he is teaching about the battles that happen inside us and how we can come off conquers if we trust in God.
It's a message that resonated with these Roman saints. Then it resonates with us today, and I think there's a lot of good in it. So grab your scriptures, grab your notes. It's time to get started.
[00:03:03] ROMANS 7
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One of the main questions these saints are wrestling with is how to deal with the law of Moses and all. Its many offshoots. You know, those 10,000 commandments that are from the oral law and how to, how to reconcile that with this new doctrine of Christ. And what Paul tries to teach them is all of that has been fulfilled, and it was a good school master, but now it's time to rise to a new level.
So where he begins in chapter seven, he compares it to a marriage that a woman who's been married to a man is faithful to that and during that marriage, and if he dies, then she can go and make a new covenant with another man and be faithful there. That the message is kind of like what we've talked about in the past.
This idea of if the love of Moses was an engagement ring, then where they go next. This law of Christ is the wedding ring. It's not just the ring itself, but the promises that it involves. It is a deeper long term. Eternal relationship with God and he wants them to catch sight of it. I really like his phrasing.
If you look in six, he says, but now we are delivered from the law that being dead wherein we were held, we should serve in newness of spirit and not in the oldness of the letter. He's trying to get them to grab hold of this new inward doctrine, not so focused on things like putting sacrifices on the altar, but on things like putting our hearts on the altar, offering up a broken heart and a contract spirit.
This is new doctrine to their ears and he's trying to help them understand it. I really like the way he honors the law in the verses, like if you look in eight, he talks about how the law had a purpose, it helped him no boundaries. The reason I like this, this week, so last week I was at a family reunion and I went to go play pickleball.
I haven't played pickleball for a really long time, probably a couple years, and I, I can see the boundary lines. I just, for the life of me, couldn't remember what they were for, you know? So I started playing and I got a lot of leeway from my sister Lisa, who's great at pickleball, and she was kind of coaching me as we were playing.
She reminded me what the kitchen was and she reminded me what the serving line was. And in the process of playing, I started to get an understanding of what those lines meant and what they're for, and how they can actually make the game more fun when you understand them better. That's what I think he's trying to teach them.
The law that Christ established through Moses was designed to give them boundaries and to help them have good moral lives, and now they need to play at a higher level, abide by those same principles, but play. At a deeper place from the heart. And so he talks about the holiness of the law. If you live in 12, wherefore the law is holy and the commandment holy and just and good.
And then he shifts into talking about where you take that law, that it should be working something inside you. So if you live from 14 to like 20, this is where he starts to talk about the natural man. He doesn't use those words. He'll talk about the inward man or the inner man, but it's the same kind of idea.
It's there's a physical part of me and there's a spiritual part of me, and they're gonna wrestle a little bit. There's opposition in all things, including in us. And so he talks about that wrestle. This is where you wanna watch for the J S T because it's a lot softer and more hope-filled in the Joseph Smith translation of these verses, because he basically says, You can make it.
You like through the strength of God, you can make decisions, you can choose how you're gonna go forward. And so in the war you see some struggles. So he says, for example, in 15, that which I do, I allow, not for what I would do, that I do not, but what I hate that I do, it's this, it almost sounds like he's talking like Yoda or in Reynolds, but if you go on the J s T, it's a lot more clear.
He's basically talking about how he's coming to understand the law and he's coming to understand the boundaries and he's trying to do what is good. I really like what he says in 21. I find then a law that when I would do good, evil is present with me. It's, I think Paul's come to this place of.
Understanding about the natural man, that he's gonna get tempted, he's gonna, he's gonna have intentions and hopes to do good. And he knows that as soon as he has hopes and intentions to do good, the adversary will work on him. Just the natural fallen world that we live in is gonna work on him. And I think he's come to a place of settledness about that, almost the same way that I come to a pickleball court or a volleyball court, assuming that there's gonna be somebody on the opposite side working the other direction.
I just have, I'm settled about that, and I think Paul has come to terms with that idea, and then he tells you why he's found peace. And I think that's what you see in 22. For, I delight in the law of God after the inward man, and then 23, but I see another law in my members roaring against the law of my mind and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin, which is in my members.
He's talking about the flesh is weak, right? It's the same warning that the Savior gave to his apostles in the garden of Gethsemane. Do you remember when he wanted them to stay awake? And he said, you know, the flesh is weak. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. And the guidance he gave to his apostles there was to watch and pray.
Always expect this opposition. Expect darkness to try to creep in and then use the light that I'm offering you to push that darkness back. What I love about Paul's writings is he focuses so heavily on our mind what we get to control. I can't control my outside circumstances most of the time, but I get to perfect control of what happens in my mind.
So that's where he takes you next I. So you can, he talks about that warring that occurs, and then in 24, oh, wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death, I thank God that through Jesus Christ, our Lord. So then with the mind, I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh, the law of sin.
His body, just like Peter's body that wanted to sleep in the garden of Gethsemane, is gonna constantly be working against him just 'cause of the nature of the fallen man and where we live. But his mind is his to control. And if he can, if he can target that, if he can use his mind to accomplish good, then his actions will follow.
I think once we grasp that understanding of, like, once I decide for myself, then my actions kind of come about naturally. Once we grasp that there is hope, right? I, I can trust that Jesus Christ is on my side, and if I choose with my mind to follow him, then my actions will follow. There's a, there's a stance of comfort and peace and assurance that comes.
That sort of understanding that I know there's opposition that's coming. I also know what I get to choose, and I know the God and whom I have trusted. In fact, you'll hear those same words in the Book of Mormon, right? Nephi says something really similar, oh, wretched man that I am. And he talks about how he struggles with this same battle, this warring that happens between the flesh and the spirit.
And what Nephi teaches is the same thing that Paul taught in that last verse. I know in whom I have trusted, I know this can be conquered. In fact, the reason Paul knows it, and the reason Nephi knew it, is because they know that Jesus Christ is someone who conquered the natural man. He came into this fall in world, he dealt with all the temptations and all the passions of the flesh, all that struggle, and he overcame it.
And since he's on our side, we cannot fail. It's just a power packed chapter. You're gonna love it.
[00:10:14] ROMANS 8
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Romans eight is one of those beautiful chapters that you could go back to and it would answer prayers for you. It's got a lot of power. It's just packaged hard. Much like all of Paul's writings to me, I really have to take my time with them and try to break them down and understand. But once you take the time, these little messages kind of float to the surface and they're just, Beautiful.
I, the similarity for me was with Alma talking to his son Shalon. Do you remember that part of the Book of Mormon where it's just so tender? You know, he is talking to all his sons, and what he says to Shalon is to bridle your passions, that the love of God can fill your heart. That's what he invites him to do.
He, he doesn't just want him to hold back the natural man, to prove to God that he's worthy. He wants him to hold back the natural man. Because when you create that cavity, love of God, swooshes in and fills that space, and then you can become a man of God, you know? But you have to create space for that goodness to fill.
And that's what you see in chapter eight. Paul's encouraging them to do the same thing. So he talks about, therefore, there's no condemnation to, this is in verse one. Which are in Christ Jesus who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. Those who haven't been abiding by the law of Moses, 'cause they weren't aware of the law of Moses, but are abiding in their hearts and have broken hearts and contrite spirits and are making covenants, there's no condemnation for them.
They should be welcomed in to this fold of God. And then he talks about the love of God. Remember how I told you he's gonna reinforce this message of God loves you now? He has loved you always and will love you always. He just wants to love and bless you. And so he's trying to give you some guidance on how to live your life better.
So that's what he says in three for what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh. God sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh. The love of Moses wasn't designed to be to provide any means to salvation. It was designed to point eyes to Jesus Christ.
And in Jesus Christ there is this. Perfect gift, remember because he's conquered the natural man. I actually think, this is just my theory here, but I actually think God's offering of his son is also a conquering, right? It's setting aside what he must have wanted in the moment, which is to give his son peace and comfort and reward for the perfect life that he lived.
And instead, God had to set that want aside in order to accomplish something that he wants much longer, something that the son himself wanted much longer. So there's this setting aside of what I want now for what I want long-term, and that's what Paul's asking all of us to do to, to mimic the actions of God the father, mimic the actions of Jesus Christ and dig deep, set aside this carnal natural side of you and make space for something so much better.
So he directs eyes towards God the Father, and then he teaches in a little more depth about. How to do it. So in addition to talking about how I feel like in this chapter, he also talks about why it's worth it. But if you look in six, you can see for to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
Again, there's this focus on your thoughts. Carnally minded is something about your thoughts, how you choose to think about your circumstances, how you choose to think about your relationships. You get to choose all of those things. They're not circumstantial. So I feel like he's focusing us in For a long time I saw carnally minded as lust of the flesh kind of feel.
And it's not that I don't think that applies here, but I think especially where he's talking to saints who've already made commitments to be baptized, have already been baptized, received the gift of the Holy Ghost. These are people who are trying to set aside short term sight. When I think of carnally minded, I think of seeing short term or seeing small, you know, it's, it's my tendency to see just my immediate circumstances or just even my mortal circumstances and make decisions based on what I can physically see and measure and touch.
And to be spiritually minded is when I set all that aside and I have faith that there is something bigger that I should rest on, that I shouldn't trust in what I see or the limits I see in myself. I should trust in the word of God that's spiritually minded, currently minded is I see like a man on earth sees, and spiritually minded is I see as an eternal being who came, existed far before this world and will exist far beyond it.
That's spiritually minded and that's where he wants the saints to go. So then he talks about why it's worth it. He promises that God will quicken them. I really like it's in verse 11, but if the spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he raised that he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your I mortal bodies by his spirit that dwelleth in you.
He promises that you will be, you'll get help to quickness, to bring life to right. You know, like a quickening in a mother's womb is when the baby first leaps. It's this promise to bring back a piece of you that is, that has already been there. I wish I could figure out how to articulate this. There's a great quote, I think it's from Elder Ballard.
It's in the notes, but he talks about like the spiritual side of you has existed so much longer. It's, it made profound choices. In order for you to be on this earth at this time, that means the spiritual side of you is strong. It's mighty, and your natural tendency. Divinity wise will be to lean into those spiritual strengths.
And then in this mortal world, you get tempted to do what's available here, but you actually have a really long track record of making great spiritual choices. So you should lean into that muscle that must be there and let the muscle memory pick over. That's kinda what Paul's trying to teach them. So when you see in the verses, he promises guidance four 14, for as many as are led by the spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
And then 16, the spirit itself, birth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God, and if children, then heirs of God, join heirs with Christ. If so be that we suffer with him, that we may also be glorified together. That's the big promise, right? If you lean in to that, Spiritual mindedness, you start to catch a glimpse of who you really are through God's perspective and who you really are is someone who can be joint heirs with Christ.
It means you're gonna suffer with him. Sometimes I read that verse in the past and I always thought that meant I had to endure persecution or I would have to endure suffering like physical toil. And although I think that applies, I really think given what Paul's just been teaching, I think he's trying to say, This struggle over the natural man is suffering.
Christ himself had to come here and endure temptations and overcome them and deal with the same wrestle that Paul is talking about and he overcame it. So he is asking us to do the same thing he's saying. I know it's hard when you, when you yolk in with Christ on this effort, he will give you strength.
He'll give you his spirit to strengthen you, to quicken your mind to remember who you were and who you are, and then also give you the power to overcome obstacles that are in your path or whatever weaknesses lie in front of you. It's a pretty powerful promise. And then he talks about the glory that why it's worth it, I guess you could say for 18, for, I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.
You know, it's the same thing you read. Is it in, I can't remember Corinthians I, where he says like, I have not seen nor ear heard. I mean, We can't fathom the glory. So the small amount of sacrifice that we're asked to offer here by putting the natural man on the altar of God and saying, I want something bigger, the glory that you receive in the long run is so worth it, and that Paul can testify of this now.
I mean, he hasn't been to the afterlife, he hasn't seen. He's just saying, I know the nature of God and I know his promises, and this is what you can count on. It is worth every effort. And so he encourages them to keep going. I also love what it says in 21 about the creature, meaning the physical self, because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.
The body is a critical component of our soul. So Paul's not trying to teach them that the body is bad or that the body has evil roots. Even he's, he's saying the body's stuck in a mortal world and it's controlled by your thoughts. So perfect your thoughts through the grace of Jesus Christ, and then let the body follow after it.
But this body will also be lifted from this world of sin and struggle. It will have a time when it can. It can breathe easier. You know that point that we all look forward to when we have our body and our spirit together again, without all the temptations of the adversary and without the imperfections, that time will come.
And so he promises, he encourages his saints to glory in both of those promises. And then he talks about being saved by hope. So this is in 24 for we are saved by hope. A hope is hope that is seen, not of hope, but for a man Seeth, why did he, why does he have hope for? But if we hope for that, we see, not then do we with patience.
Wait for it. This is that setting aside what I want now and what I can see now and measure now, and you know the evidence that I can hold on to set that aside and hope in something much, much bigger, much, much brighter and much more lasting. And this is 28, and we know all things work together for good to them, that love God to them who are called according to his purpose.
That's his promise. I can make all things work together for your good. What I think is great about this is I feel like this is Paul saying like, you are not gonna do great all the time. You are gonna make mistakes. The agency of people around you is gonna be rocky and they're gonna ram into you and it's gonna cause.
Problems, but trust that God can take all those pieces and make them work together for your good. The reason I think that's so comforting is as much as I can control my mind and what I choose to do, I can control the minds of my kids or my spouse or my people, you know, in colleagues next to mine. Like I, he's saying like, I, I get all that I can.
Take all of their choices and yours and make them work together for your good. Just put things in my hands and see what I can do. And then in 31, he has that epic phrase, what shall we say then to these things? If God before us who can be against us, he that spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?
If God the father could set aside what he loved. You know his beloved firstborn son for our sakes. Then everything else is a smaller sacrifice. Everything else is smaller by comparison, and we can take comfort in that gift. And then there's this beautiful, don't call it a hymn at the very end, between 35 and 39, who shall separate us from the love of Christ Shall tribulation or distress or persecution, or famine or nakedness, or peril or sword as written for thy sake, we are killed all the day long.
We are counted as sheep for the slaughter, nay in all these things. We are more than conquerors through him that loved us. His, I think what Paul is trying to teach, at least how it hit me, all these things are outside influences. It doesn't matter what comes at you, those you know, fires of hell that come after you.
It doesn't matter because they're all external forces and if you internally decide to follow God and trust that he can make all things work together for your good, then you don't have to be afraid of all those fiery arts of the adversary that are coming at you from every different direction. In 38, he says, fire, I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus, our Lord.
I think anytime you're teaching somebody about repentance, which is essentially what he's been teaching them, that newness of life that he wants 'em to look at. Remember we studied repentance and how it talked about having fresh eyes towards God and yourselves and your fellow men. He's, that's gonna be hard and you're gonna fail a lot.
But trust me when I tell you that you cannot separate yourself from God. None of these outside circumstances can separate you. God will always love you. The only thing that you can separate yourself from is the power of God. You know, you miss out on His power when you separate yourself from him. In fact, there's a great, I think it was Elder Reland.
There's a great talk in the notes where he basically says that what you can separate yourself from is. Feeling the love of God. You, the love of God is present always. And you can't, no matter what you do or do not do, you can't change that, but you won't be able to feel it the same. You need the spirit in order to feel the love of God.
Just let it soak into your soul and change how you act and how you think about yourself and the, there's separation that can happen there by our own choosing, but God's actual love for us never changes. And that's a really powerful doctrine.
[00:23:08] ROMANS 9
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The last few weeks I've been studying Enus and I really love his conversion story, especially I love what happens after he comes to an understanding that Jesus Christ is his savior and that his sins can be forgiven. 'cause immediately his heart stretches towards his fellow men. He wants to care for them.
He worries about where they stand and the promises, and he wants to lead and help them. I think it's the same thing you see with Paul, especially in chapter nine, because he talks about how he aches for the Jews, how that's his people. You know, he, we know he's from the tribe of Benjamin. He hopes to help his people and he aches that they have this opportunity and they missed it or are missing it by not jumping into this new covenant with Christ.
So he walks through that. He talks a little bit about election, which is the same kinda idea as, you know, um, predestination or for ordination, that kind of thing. Basically, the children of Israel, those who are in that bloodline, were given an opportunity to accomplish something great. The way he phrases it in 17 is I raise the up that I might show my power in the, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.
That's the Abrahamic promise. That's the bloodline they were born into. Sometimes I think especially to the gentiles who he's teaching, it might have been a bit of a grading doctrine, you know, to hear that the Jewish members of the church who join in had some sort of preferential status the same way it can get easy to get kind of bitter towards somebody who's, you know, forwarding to be a prophet or, you know, like somebody, like a Joseph Smith who has this great work to do.
And you wonder, but what, why not me? Like, I can't remember my pre-existence. So I wonder, and what I love is. Uh, five years ago that that was more where my heart was. The more I go to the temple, the more I realize that's what I'm promised every time I attend. Just this last week, Jason and I hit our 25th wedding anniversary, so on our anniversary we went to the temple, west Temple and did ceilings, and I found myself just awestruck by the promises.
I hadn't done ceilings in a long time, and I kept listening to those promises, and it doesn't get bigger than that, right? The promises of God are monumental in scope and size, and all I have to do is, I mean, it's just contingent on my righteousness. That's the promise that the children of Israel were given as well.
You have these monumental privileges and responsibilities that you get to take hold of in this mortal life, and it's contingent on your faithfulness. There's no election towards salvation. You can't be promised simply by where you're born and how you're who you're born to, to have an opportunity for, for salvation.
That has to be. Earned and granted by the grace of Jesus Christ. And so he teaches a little bit about that. I think trying to comfort both the Jews who are converting and the Gentiles who are converting to say both of you need the same thing. You both need the grace of Jesus Christ. So lemme teach you about it.
So then he talks about how God gets to choose. He uses a couple examples like Jacob and Esau saying that they were predestined to accomplish certain things. And then he talks about, you can't question God about this. This is where my heart started to open a little bit to this doctrine. 'cause he basically says in 19, that will say then unto me, why does he yet find fault for who has resisted his will?
I can't remember the preexistence. I don't know what happened there. Is it fair? And then in 20 nay, but oh man, who are thou that replies against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it? Why has thou made me this? You know, if the Gentiles are saying, why wasn't I we a Jew? Why didn't I get that automatic opportunity?
What, what, what's wrong with me? And he says, don't question the God who made you. He has a plan for every one of his. Creations, including you 21 who says, hath not the potter power over the clay of the same lump to make one vessel unto honor and another unto dishonor. This means he's gonna form you into whatever it is he needs you to be, and we get to choose.
We feel that with. I really like that what this potter is making are vessels because you can choose what kind of vessel you are going to be. He's saying he can choose what vessel you are, but you need to pick what goes inside you. So he describes two different options in 22 and 23, either vessels of wrath fitted towards destructions or vessels of mercy that are known the riches and the glory, right?
This, they're prepared under glory. We get to choose what we fill our vessels with. I really like this. When you think of, if you ever struggle with that idea of this isn't fair, why was I planted here? I've talked to you about this before, especially if you've been with me since the Book of Mormon. But I love how in Jacob five, there's this sweet little section where the servant goes with the Lord of the vineyard to this far part of the vineyard that's this poor spot of ground.
And the servant says, why did you plant here? You know, almost like it's not fair that the seeds. Got planted here. There's no chance for them here. And what the Lord says in reply is that I have nourished it all this time. A long time I think is what he says. It's just this beautiful promise that if you question why you were planted, where you are or why it's not fair, that your advantages look so much dimmer, then people that you know otherwise.
You can trust that if you were planted in a poor spot of the vineyard, you are being nourished. You are. He knows exactly where you are and exactly what soil he planted you in. And he can make all things work together for your good. That's, that's what he is telling these Gentiles and these Jews. Don't fixate on what your bloodlines are, fixate on how much you need Jesus Christ, and trust that he can nourish your soil.
He can hold you to the promises you've been given and you can have confidence that things will work out. In fact, what he says to the Jews is the greatness of God is that he, he saved a remnant of the Jews. He has a long-term plan for the Jews that will bring them back into the fold of God. In fact, they're falling away.
One of the ways he makes that work together for good, even though I don't think God wanted them to fall away, is that that opens up an opportunity for the Gentiles to receive the gospel. So it, there's goodness that comes from even a poor choice of falling away from that covenant. And then in the long run, this remnant will be grafted back in.
But the remnant is contingent on, you know, understanding Jesus Christ and who he is. So that's what he talks about at the end of this chapter. In 32 and 33, he talks about a stumbling stone. This is fascinating to me. So a stumbling stone. We, we may have talked about this in Isaiah as well, but. It's the idea that sometimes you'll put like a speed bump of sorts or something in the road.
If you have a shop nearby, you might put like a speed bump in the road, so the passersby end up slowing down and stopping. It's the same thing I think we do with billboards today. We hope to catch people's eye and make them slow down enough to come and come into our, our hotel or our gas station, or whatever it is.
That's the same idea, but he's saying Jesus Christ will become a stumbling stone for some, because they will have to cross over it. There's a, there's a great talk. It's from Elder Holland and he's talking about how the Book of Mormon is similar to this in that in order to leave the church, you have to climb over this stumbling stone of the Book of Mormon.
This. Beautifully written book that is all about the doctrines of Christ that could not have been pinned by a farm hand. Like it's, he talks about, that's a big stumbling block for some, but it's something you have to climb over if you're gonna exit the faith. And I think that's the same idea here is there's so much goodness in Christ, there's so much about him that is fulfilling the prophecies that Jews have studied for centuries, that in order to really not see him, you have to like blindly climb over.
I just think it's a, a powerful witness about who Christ is and why he was sent and the promise that if they will look at him and see who he is, there's hope that they can be children of the promise still.
[00:30:47] ROMANS 10
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Maybe it's because I'm a bread maker, but I, I think about the remnant of the House of Israel, almost like a sourdough starter. You know, it's like this little portion of a recipe that you set aside for a future date. You take care of it. You have to feed it, you have to, you know, put it in the right environment for it to thrive for a long time until you need it, and then you can take it out and then you can use it to create this delicious, warm, crusty loaf.
That's the same idea, I think, with the remnant of Israel. He promises that he will care for. This remnant and when it's time he intends to bring them back again. I think this is based on the promises he made to their fathers. He promised they would not be lost, that they would have a chance for redemption of their sins and he will uphold his promise.
So he keeps this remnant and he, unlike me, he feeds it and takes care of that starter until it's needed for use. I think Paul somehow gets that. He understands the prophecies 'cause he talks about it in these first two verses and 10. He says, brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved for I bear them, record that, that have zeal.
Sorry, I bear them, record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. Paul knows this firsthand. He is someone who was zealous for God in his early years as a Pharisee. He was abiding by the law of Moses to the T and he missed knowledge. He's not insulting them in this statement. He's saying like, I've been exactly where you are and I know what it's like to come over this way to where it's all about the inward man.
It's, it's not about my outside steps and things people can see and measure and count. It's about what happens in my heart and I think we. It's tempting to fall into this trap today too, right? Where I can be really strong on the outside, I can look really good and show up for church and show up for my callings, but be shriveling a little bit within.
Um, and he's warning about that. He's saying it's not worth it. Don't, don't set up that shell of perfection. Focus in, even if it's hard, and work on the natural man inside of you. Work from within and then good things will happen without. So he says what they're missing is Christ in four For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believe it and of the law doesn't mean it's completely finished per se.
It means it's a fulfilling of the law. It is fulfilled in Christ just like we read in the Book of Mormon. So that's what he is asking the Jews to grab hold of, to be a part of this remnant that believes and that sees the value of Jesus Christ and sees the Messiah for who he is. And then he acts no difference.
Nine, that if thou confess with thy mouth, the Lord Jesus, and shall believe in thine heart that God has raised him from the dead. Thou shalt be saved. For with the heart, men believe with unrighteousness and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Now, just like we can't take one paragraph of President Nelson's talk and pretend that that's his whole testimony, you can't take this one couplet of verses and pretend it's all Paul taught about salvation.
Paul already taught about the doctrines of Christ. He's already encouraged people to get baptized and to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost and make remission of their sins like there that has been taught by Paul already and will continue to be taught so that he's focusing here on these understandings of like, you just have to declare that you believe you, that that's not a holistic approach to Paul.
So you gotta look a little bit deeper. But he does say that it's all about the heart 'cause that's where his focus is right now. And then he talks about how we can help people get there. So people might wonder, well, if, if what you're teaching is I just have to call upon God in order to attain salvation, whether I'm Jew or gentile, then how do I do it if I don't know how to call upon God?
You know, if I don't know how to pray, if I don't know who to pray to, how do I know? And this is where you need preachers and teachers and authority figures in the gospel to help guide those testimonies. That's what we'll talk about. At the end of 10, he'll say, how have they, this is uh, in 14, how shall they hear without a preacher in 15?
How shall they preach except they be sent as it is written? How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace and bring glad tidings of good things? It's that same Isaiah prophecy that Abai teaches about in the Book of Mormon. It's this idea of we need good feet upon the mountains. We need those who are set forth, meaning those who ordained and set apart for this great work.
We need authority figures who can teach truth because when they teach truth, the light of Christ in everyone else will. Ignite, right? We talked about that. It's this idea of like they will grab hold of the doctrine when you bring it close. And so then in 17, so then faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God.
The reason I like this again, 'cause I've been studying Enis, well, we studied Enis and Alma, the younger and compared their two stories of conversion. What I like about both those stories is both of them hinge on something they heard. They heard their fathers preach. Now Alma, the younger, heard his father preach about Jesus Christ.
Enus remembers his father talking about the joy of the saints and the hearing of those witnesses of others. Brought back to their remembrance truth. So in that moment, they felt connected to Jesus Christ because they heard the words of others. The reason I think that's so important is we son, we tend to focus so much on getting our own witness, and I think oftentimes, especially in the scripture, you see that people get their own witness by remembering the words of their dad or their mom.
You know, like the sons of healing. Like they, we should be testifying, we should be teaching not just as parents, but as friends and as people in our callings because you just never know what the Lord can do. He can make all things work together for their good. He can take your witness as imperfect as it is and plant it in the heart of someone and it will sprout right when they need it.
So I just think this call to be a powerful teacher is such a good one. I love the way Paul phrases it.
[00:36:28] ROMANS 11
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When it comes to Romans 11, sometimes I think it helps to read the last three or four verses first, and then go back, because at the end of this chapter, Paul talks about how he is dazzled by the brilliance of God. He is, he marvels at his capacity to save all the works of his hands. And then when you go into the chapter, you can see why Paul is marveling.
'cause he's basically looking at this plan and saying, wow, how could anyone but a God come up with this? It's the same way I feel about the plan of salvation. In fact, recently I gave it, uh, a lesson in my Y s A class about how the plan of salvation is not circles. We, we have a tendency to see it so flat and small.
And so I put stars up on the ceiling, like I brought projectors in and put stars all over the ceiling. And we talked about the wonder of the plan. That's what I feel like Paul's trying to help Roman Cs. He's like, look at this plan because basically what you're gonna read in 11, and I don't have time to go into it verse by verse, but you can in the notes if you wanna go deeper, it's an allegory similar to what we see with Jacob.
Five, the allegory of the olive tree. Because he's teaching about the long-term plan of the creator, that he is the Lord of the vineyards and he sees what's happening and he's taking care of his trees and he has a plan to graft things in. So his plan is basically that there is this good root, you know, this good tree that began that is losing its strength.
'cause the children of Israel are departing from the covenant. And so he's gonna graft in wild branches now, normally in the real world that would cause that tree to go wild under God's care. And I think as a kind of a teaching metaphor, I. This is how Paul teaches it. He says, in this case, the tree doesn't grow wild because that root is so strong.
And so in that message, he's talking about the Jew and the Gentile. He's saying, those of you who are Jews, this is a solid root. This covenant line is, is solid goodness. So much so that we can graft in people who are new and who won't have to abide by the laws of Moses the same way your people did, but who because of the richness of the the root itself, this base tree, they will grow strong and powerful.
And then over the course of time, after the children of Israel are gathered back in, they also will be grafted back into this tree. I studied a lot about grafting this week. I learned it, some of it in Jacob, five, but I, it was fun to refresh my mind. I put some videos in the notes for you, but it's this idea of like taking a portion of a tree and wrapping it tightly.
It's the wrapping that I particularly loved this time. This is probably just me taking things too far, but there was something so beautiful to me about the wrapping process because the one that I watched in particular that I remember is he put this kind of a mud base around, he has this, this wild branch, right?
And he, he cuts it to a sharp point and he grabs it into the tree, and then he wraps it with this cloth and then with a plastic to secure it. And since we know that the atonement of Jesus Christ, Is called a covering. You know, there's all kinds of beautiful metaphors about how the atonement is a covering, and Jesus Christ is this, you know, encircling us in the robe of his righteousness.
It's this covering. I liked that piece that when the atonement has its chance to do good on their hearts, that all those who allow themselves to be grafted can become part of something that lasts this eternal, beautiful tree that's intended to produce good fruit, uh, that his, the roots and the soil this tree is planted in are so good and so rich that no matter what is grafted in it becomes good.
And that's what Paul Hazel's at. It's like, look at the goodness of God. He can make sure we have agency and allow us to make poor choices and allow us to deal with the natural man and come up with a way that saves us all anyway, if we will choose it. I mean, it's just this remarkable, remarkable plan that is so much more than just a tree.
So I hope you enjoy Romans 11.
[00:40:29] ROMANS 12
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12 is where we shift from learning the law to learning how to apply the law in our day-to-day life. And it's, uh, it's a tough one to keep. It's kind of like the Sermon on the Mount in that you hear all this guidance and it sounds so good, and then you try to live it and be kind to your neighbor and pray for those who this wife will use you and all those things.
And you stumble, you know? Well, remember he spent the whole first, however many chapters teaching us that you're gonna stumble. And the natural man is hard. And it's okay. Like you're not gonna do this perfectly, but let me teach you the perfect way to approach living together. I like that. His focus first is take care of yourself.
Make sure your relationship with God is good, that you are securing your understanding of your own weaknesses and your own vulnerabilities. And then take those blessings into the greater whole. So if you look at one, it says he invites you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice. It's that same quote we've heard.
I can't remember, is it elder packer, president Packer, where he says the only, and maybe it's Elder Maxwell, that the only thing you can put on the altar of God is your own will. Everything else is some gift that God has given you. And if you put your will on the altar of God, that's a real offering.
That's what Paul's inviting them to do. And he wants them to take that natural man's side of themselves and one fault at a time. Just work through it, put it on the altar and let it, let it get consumed and see what the Lord will do with this consecrated person that is left over. I love what he says in the two.
Be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove that what, that you may prove. What is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God? Remember, it's all about the mind. He's saying, I know you can't control all the circumstances around you. Focus in. You can use the help of Jesus Christ to purify your mind, to help you have better actions down the road.
He doesn't just help us prevent wrong choices. He helps us prevent wrong thoughts and things that will take us away from understanding God's love or using his power. That's what Paul's trying to direct us towards. And then he talks about taking the gifts that come forward as I choose to be a better disciple of Christ, and I zero in on how I can do better.
Naturally. I have blessings that come my way. I also have gifts and talents that come my way. So he's trying to say like, don't get stuck there. The whole point of you receiving blessings and gifts and talents is so that you can bless this greater whole. So that's when you offer that back up. Remember, these are gifts and blessings that you received only because God gave them to you.
So for him to ask you to put them to work in the kingdom of God. Is completely justified, right? So he's saying how, how to accomplish that. I really like the way he says it in six, he talks about gifts and how we have differing gifts, and then he asks us to give them in a certain way. Sometimes I think where we get stuck is we feel like we have gifts and talents, uh, and we don't know how to use them without trying to call attention to ourselves.
It's hard to know how to let my light shine without making it seem like I have a big ego and I want everybody to look at me. So I think Paul gives us some really good guidance on this. It's an eight, he says, or he, that exhorteth on exhortation. He that giveth let him do it with simplicity. He that ruleth with diligence, he that showeth mercy with cheerfulness.
As you use these talents, there's moderation that has to be involved and maybe I would say motive. You wanna question your motives. If I'm using my talents to bless the people around me, and I'm doing it with simplicity and diligence and mercy and cheerfulness, then I'm probably doing okay. You know, like he, there are ways to share your talents and shine your light without.
Trying to get light to focus on you and instead showing the goodness of God in your light. That's what he's trying to get them to understand, and then he gives them a bunch of guidance similar to the Sermon on the Mount, how they can accomplish it. They need to be kind to each other. They need to abhor things that are evil and cleave to things that are good.
They need to rejoice in hope. I mean, you can go, this is like every verse has a different guidance in it that they should bless them, which persecute them, that they should rejoice with them, that do rejoice and weep with them. That weep. I mean, it's just these covenantal promises that we promise to take care of each other that will provide honest things that will live peaceably if possible with our fellowmen.
One things I think that's hard for me, my natural man's side, is sometimes I withhold that kindness because I want to teach someone a lesson. It sounds terrible to say it this way, but you know like with your own kids, sometimes you hold back a lesson 'cause you want to teach them something. And you want them to realize how far off the path they were or whatever, and I just think there's some really powerful guidance in 20 and 21.
This is what he says. Therefore, if thy enemy hunger, feed him. If he thirst, give him drink for. In doing so, thou shalt heap s a fire on his head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good. And I know that's weird language for us, but here's what I think this means, you guys. I think what he's saying is the same way the savior promises to sucker us.
Remember we've talked about how that word sucker means to rush to the same way a person in an ER rushes to the aid of whoever comes through those doors. A nurse, a doctor, the triage people. It doesn't matter what their circumstances were or if they got themselves into this mess or not, the person at the front desk will rush to their aid.
That's what the savior does for us. He doesn't worry about whether he's warned us about it in the past. He doesn't give his healing contingent upon how many times we've repented before, like he just suckers. That's what Paul's asking us to do. Therefore, if thy enemy hunger, feed him, if he thirst, give him drink for, in so doing you heap coals a fire on his head.
That sounds terrible, except for when you study back in Isaiah what that means. Basically what he's saying is when you extend kindness, especially in a situation when people don't expect it or think they deserve it, their own conscience will burn in them. It will cause something to ignite in them that will, they will look up.
I think that's what he's trying to say is that let them deal. Deal with those feelings on their own. What you're doing by showing mercy, especially when someone doesn't deserve it, by showing kindness to those who haven't shown kindness to you, is you're opening up a chance for the spirit to do its mighty work.
'cause the spirit can cause a burning of the bosom in their heart. The spirit can cause their mind to race and think, why is she being so nice to me? I was a jerk to her yesterday. Like I think there's. The, it provides the spirit a chance to teach. And whether it happens in that moment or 10 years or 20 years down the road, the spirit can take your choice and stance of charity and turn it to good.
He can make all things work together for our good. That's a pretty powerful promise. That's what I think it means when he says in 21, be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good. I need to stop worrying so much about trying to correct evil that I see around me, and instead lift and help and sucker so that the spirit can teach what comes next.
I just think it's an invitation for us to be a more Christ-like minister. That's how he cared for all the people around him and it worked for him. It can absolutely work for us.
[00:47:27] ROMANS 13
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Despite the accusations that will come against Paul later, he is not a political revolutionary. That is not his goal. He is a spiritual revolutionary. You know, he is someone who is hoping to change the hearts of men, which will then change their actions, which will then help them change the world around them.
He is not trying to work from the outside in. He's trying to work from the inside out, and so his focus is on the heart. A big piece of that will mean you can't cause a revolt right now. And the Jews had a tendency to cause revolts, especially against the Roman Empire, just like less than a decade after this Masada will happen.
I don't if you know the history of Masada, but that's like when they have this Jewish revolt and everybody ends up committing suicide on this big peak like it is. It ends very poorly. Paul's goal is to work the other direction, so he directs them to honor their leaders. This is tricky 'cause remember, this is Nero's Time.
Nero's a terrible leader. But what we learned in the doctrine covenants is that you have a promise that all of the leaders, both political and church leaders, will be held accountable to God for their stewardship of sorts so we can honor the law of the land. And trust that they will be held accountable by a judge who's far wiser than we are.
So just keep the peace and focus in. There's times and seasons for that, right? I think we see that in the doctrine and covenants and the Book of Mormon as well. But at this point in time, the guidance Paul gets and as an apostle of Christ is keep the peace and focus in and watch what it can do to your environment if you do that first.
So that's what you see on the first page when you flip the page. There's this beautiful guidance afterwards. So I love what it says, an eight, oh no man, anything but to love one another for he that love with another has fulfilled the law. To me, this sounds like. John Vijo. You know, I don't know if you guys love, I, I love it Jason.
I saw that on our honeymoon and it makes me cry every time I watch that play. But that's his message, right? To love another person is to see the face of God. That's the fulfillment of the law. I think, especially when it comes to loving your enemies, those who are actively working against you. If you can get to that kind of love that's seeing the face of God.
'cause that's essentially what the face of God did. You know, our savior, Jesus Christ died for all of us who essentially are enemies to him by our choices. And by, you know, being in this fallen state, were pitted as enemies to some degree. And he died for all of us, those who would believe in those who would not.
So to get to that stage of your love is, is a divine kind of love. And that's where Paul wants them to get. And then he says in 10, love work is no ill to his neighbor. Therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law. And then it's this call to action to an 11, and that knowing the time that is now high time to awake out of sleep for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.
This is where I feel like Paul sounds like a revolutionary. You know, he is like the guy waving the French flag in on the stage, except for it's a flag of the heart. You know? He's saying like, this is the time you can't change your circumstances. We certainly can't defeat Niro at this time. It's not God's will, but you can change everything that's inside.
So wake up like it's shake off the chains by which you are bound. It's that same phrase of like, this is your chance. This is the time to prepare, to meet God. And so then he tells you how if you look in 12, the night is far spent. The day is at hand. Let us therefore cast off the works of darkness and let us put on the armor of light.
Oh, you guys, I love that phrase. I just think it's so proactive. In the D dnc, it's, I think it's D NNC 50 something. It's in the notes, but it talks about when you put on the armor of light that it chases away the darkness. You know, it's that same, I was just at the Church History Museum with Violet, and there's this incredible panorama that you get to watch.
It's that six minute video of the different accounts of the first vision kind of compiled into one, and it's in this really cool, tiny little theater that looks like a grove. And there is this moment of darkness. In fact, it was so interesting 'cause as soon as that darkness started to, you know, Joseph goes into the grove, he kneels down to pray and darkness crowds around him.
As soon as that started happened, violet like clung to my side. You could tell she could feel it. She could feel the darkness, and she retreated to something safe and, and then there's complete blackness in the theater, and then this light pierces the darkness and it just comes down and it illuminates the whole room.
It was chilling to me. I loved it. But I think that's the promise. Light chases darkness. So when you feel like you're in this world of darkness, Increase your capacity for light, increase your personal capacity, increase your recognition of it around you, like seek out light, teach light, share light, and darkness is chased from you.
The reason I like that as a parent is sometimes we feel like we have to just react to everything. The evil that comes at our kids or that comes at our house, like I think you can put on the armor of light. The more I fill myself with God's light and the more I fill my home with God's light, darkness can't abide.
It has to retreat, so I don't need to wait until the darkness has crept in. I can armor up. I just think it's such a proactive, powerful promise. So like lean in, soak it in, awake and, and see what the Lord has in store for you. He wraps up in 14 and he says, But put E on the Lord Jesus Christ and make not provision for the flesh to fulfill the lust thereof to put on in this case, especially if you go into the translations, like that means to, like with clothing, it also means to endow, it is a, an opportunity to step into the power and privileges that you deserve and to use them for the good you need to do.
I just think it's one of the most powerful blocks of scripture that you'll study all week long.
[00:53:18] ROMANS 14
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Do you guys remember when I talked to you about the trouble I have of picking up someone else's prescription? I don't mean medicine, I mean eyeglasses. So I gave you that example in the Old Testament where it's really tempting sometimes to put on someone else's discipleship prescription. You know, I'll hear somebody who goes to the Temple Weekly and I'll be like, oh, that's probably what I'm supposed to do, and I'll just put on their prescription.
And I don't go through the process of actually going to the eye doctor and figuring out, no, with my life and my circumstances, what does God want me to do? I think it's what the apostles have invited us to do. When we look at things like the strength of the youth, they want us to read through that pamphlet and make decisions that that feel right to God.
You know, like I should pray and feel comfortable in my choices. He's warning in this chapter in 14, that when we nitpick each other's choices, when we try to put our prescription on somebody else, or say like, I believe you're supposed to fast for 12 hours, and I believe you're supposed to fast for 24 hours.
When we start to put those little. Details of our discipleship and cast 'em onto somebody else. We break apart the unity of the body of Christ. And he's saying essentially, it's not worth it. In fact, I love the way he explains it in. If you look in 10, 11, and 12, basically what he says is you don't have to worry about the little details.
The example he is giving in this chapter is people have different dietary rules. Some are eating meat and some aren't, and they're offended by each other. And so he warns like. You are worried about the wrong things. In fact, all of you're gonna have to stand before God. That's what gives me peace about things like for the strength of the youth or other discipleship choices I make.
I know that I'm gonna have to be accountable for my choices. At some point, I'll need to stand before God and say, here's why I chose this. This is what I chose and this is why I thought it was what you wanted. And you know or not. Or you know, I'll have to stand before God on my own. So that's what he says in 10, 11, and 12.
But why does thou judge thy brother? Or why does thou set at not thy brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ for is written as I live sayeth the Lord. Every knee shall bow to me and every tongue shall confess to God. So then every one of us shall give an account of himself to God.
Let us not therefore judge one another anymore. But this judge rather that no man be put a stumbling block or another to fall in his brother's way. Don't create commandments that God didn't make for others. You might create them for yourself in your efforts to zero in on what your discipleship prescription is.
You might create your own. Boundaries, but you can't cast those on others. And even if you think it would really benefit them, and they do, well stop because they get to make those choices for themselves. Instead, when it comes to the body of Christ, we should be warm, we should be welcoming, we should be encouraging, and we should focus brightly on, on what is good and what we have in common.
I think that's what Paul's taught us throughout this whole epistle. He's basically saying what you have in common is you all need Jesus Christ. All of us are gonna come short of the glory of God. Focus on those points that bring us together, not the things that separate us. I also think he asked you to be, Courteous and charitable isn't 15, he says, but if thy brother be grieved with thy meat, now walk us thou not charitably, destroy him, not with thy meat for whom Christ died.
I think to me when I read that, I think he's saying like there are people who are super sensitive to certain things, and you might have to be delicate in your choices of words and your choices of actions. Certainly, you're never gonna break what you believe is your, your direction from God, but we are supposed to be kind.
There are certain people who have certain sensitivities and we should be charitable. And if it's a matter of setting down something or not talking about a certain topic because it's hard for them, I think we can do that. I think we can show that kind of charity. So I think there's guidance in there. I also love what he says in 17 for the Kingdom of God is not meat and not drink, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost.
One of the quotes I read, I think it was Elder Ballard. It's in the notes. But he said basically what you'll stand to when you go stand at that judgment bar of God. It's not so much about what you accomplished or didn't accomplish or how you did it. It's about do you have a changed heart or not? Is there a mighty change in you or not?
What's the state of your heart? So we don't need to worry about how many hours we fasted on Sunday. I mean, if that, how many hours I fast changes my heart and my ability to come close to God, great, I should do that. I should just never take that and cast it out to other people. Oh, because my heart softened when I fasted for 24 hours, then you must need to, or because my heart changed when I read the entire book Mormon in 17 days.
You should like, it doesn't, it doesn't work that way. The kingdom of God is not about meat and not about drink. It is about all these beautiful promises of peace and kindness and joy. So then in 19, let us therefore follow after the things which make for peace and things where with, we may edify one another, focus on common ground, things that lift and inspire, not what divides.
For meat. This is 20 for meat. Destroying not the work of God. All things indeed are pure, but it is evil for that man who eateth with a fence. He's saying these little petty problems are not gonna stop the work. If somebody doesn't fast 24 hours and you think they should, if not gonna stop the work, you just need to let the goodness of God roll on through 'cause that's what it's intended to do.
And then 22 pass thou faith, have it to thyself before God happy. Is he that condemned, not himself in that thing, which he allowed. I think Paul's just saying like, focus on yourself first. Be merciful and charitable and kind and forgiving. And then you'll see what power God can grant you.
[00:58:44] ROMANS 15
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Paul carries on that message in the first few verses of 16 when he says, we then that are strong, ought to bear the infirmities of the weak and not to please ourselves. Let every one of us please his neighbor for his good to, to edification for even Christ, please not himself, but as is written, the reproaches of them that reproach thee fell on me.
His guidance here is you are going to get strong in certain ways and your, your job is to seek out those who are weak in those ways and lift them up now from like this pillar of, you know, authority, but from beneath this servant leader mentality that Christ was such a beautiful example of he was strong in every possible way and he spent his life among sinners among those who needed his help.
Among those who were. Struggling to have the self-control and mastery that he had. That's where he spent his time. That's what he's asking us to do as well. What I love about being part of the body of Christ is I have weaknesses as well and love. I love that my weaknesses get lifted in the strengths of others.
You know, I, I might be pretty strong at things like object lessons and saying My scriptures, I am terrible at things like thank you cards. I never volunteer to host a baby shower or a bridal shower. I'm terrible at all those things. But I have other women in my ward who are great at those things. So we share each other's strengths because they are good at those things.
They invite me to come to the baby shower and I can look like a nice person. Like I just think there's kindness in this body of Christ that we're not supposed to be perfect in every way. We're supposed to be striving. In fact, I think that's the, the rest of the message of 15 that we should be striving.
Remember a while ago I taught you that visual that helps me about trivial pursuit. I don't, I dunno if this will ring a bell, but I always picture. My job here immortality, is to gain the attributes of Christ. It's gonna take a long time to pull all of them together, but I almost picture it like those trivial pursuit pie pieces.
You know, if you, if you play Trivial Pursuit, your goal is to play that game and slowly you accumulate all these different colored little wedge pieces until you have a full pie. That's when you weave. That's how I see life, you guys, I think we're supposed to pick up these attributes of Christ. Most of the time.
I learn them through trial and error and struggle, but the hope that Christ has, the, the peace that Christ has, the mercy and the forgiveness, those gifts and characteristics of Christ, I'm trying to pick up and keep in my little wheel, and I can only do that through his strength. So that's what Paul emphasizes at the end of 15.
He says things like, now the God of patience, this is in verse five. Now, the God of patience and constellation grant you to be like-minded, one towards one another. Christ Jesus. And then in seven, wherefore you receive one another. As Christ also received us to the glory of God. Saying like, be a person of patience, like God is be a person who, person who's welcoming and inclusive like Christ was in 13.
Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace and believing that you may abound in hope through the power of the Holy Ghost, the the gift that Christ has to hope and to trust in the Spirit and to lean into whatever God wanted him to do, that those are characteristics I'm trying to acquire. And so when you go through these verses, you're gonna see those.
And for me, it just was this invitation to come onto Christ. Not just to come and marvel at his goodness, but to look at it closely and say, how can I get that? I would like to be better at that. We'll talk about this in the object lessons too, but I just think there's sweetness in it. That. Then at by 16 we can offer ourselves up being sanctified through the Holy Ghost.
Then he talks about his mission. So if you look at 19, down through 2025, he talks about his mission to teach the Gentiles and that he's doing the very best he can. I just think it's human. You know, Paul talks about that he's not perfect at any of these things, and that he's, he's doing the best he can to fulfill his mission, and he wants to come see them.
The reason I think this is really powerful from somebody like Paul is it teaches us that even apostles who have righteous desires don't see them always fulfilled, at least not in the timetable that they hope they'll be fulfilled. What I think is really remarkable about Paul is that he doesn't just get comfortable in that understanding.
He proactively seeks to get the blessings. If you look in the, I think it's the Bible dictionary, maybe it's the guided scriptures on prayer. I put this in the notes. He talks about how with prayer, we're trying to align our wills with God's will and we're trying to access blessings that God wants to give us, but they're contingent on us asking, and I feel like that's what you see in Romans 15.
Paul understands that there might be obstacles in his path, but he still wants to get to Rome and he knows it's a righteous desire and he knows it's God's plan to get him there. So he is like, will you pray with me? That's what he asked the saints. He says to them, strive together with me. If you look in 30 now, I beseech you brethren for the Lord Jesus Christ's sake and for the love of the spirit that you strive together with me in your prayers to God.
For me, that's his ask strive. He's not trying to control God's will or even change it. He just knows if he can get enough prayers together and they are seeking this good act, God will allow it to happen. He'll find ways to. Get him Jerome, and that's Paul's goal. I just think the proactive stance of Paul is a really powerful example to me.
I don't need to just wait until things happen. If I wanna be a part of something like the gathering of God's children in this time, which President Nelson, Nelson has invited all of us to be, then I need to proactively ask to be a part of it. If I wanna be better at certain talents or certain abilities or you know, I, I need to seek it.
I need to pray for it. I need to come together with the saints of God around me and say, pray for me. I really wanna do this great work. I want to do this thing. Pray that that can happen. And I think miracles come in the wakes of those kind of prayers. So I love that Paul demonstrates it for us in 50.
[01:04:27] ROMANS 16
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I should tell you that the first time I read chapter 16, I saw the list of names that Paul was thinking and I was kind of like cruising by it because I was just like, it's almost like one of those testimonies, it's more about. People they wanna thank, you know, it's the end of a calling or something.
Sometimes people will stand up and bear their testimony and it's sort of like a thank you to all the people who helped me, or the missionaries that go out. It's not that it's bad, it's just sometimes I kind of check out a little bit that happened with me in 16 because he's thinking all these people that I don't know and I don't know any of their backstory.
Then when I read it twice and three times, I was like, oh, maybe there's a bigger message here. As I prayed to figure out what, why this was part of my study this week, the understanding that came to me from the spirit I think was this was a way for Paul to show how God works. Often the way God helps us is through the hands of other people who are on this earth.
You know, Paul's someone who has encountered angels. He's had these incredible experiences. He is encountered the resurrected Lord himself. He's had some remarkable experiences, and it might be really hard to relate to Paul. So those who are hearing this epistle might think, well, yeah, I could be Paul too.
If I had seen the resurrected savior, if an angel had stopped me on the road to Damascus. I think by taking time to thank so many people for what they offered Paul, he's showing them how most of God's work has happened. That yes, Paul has received divine help, just usually is through the hands of real people.
And so he lists them off like Phoebe, who's gonna take this epistle all the way to Rome? And the couple that we met in Ephesus that literally put their lives on the line so that Paul could continue in his work. And in fact, one of the things I like about this big long list is each one of them has an individual attachment to their name.
You know, like they'll say things like, greet Amus, my beloved in the Lord. That's in verse eight. Then nine salute urbane our helper in Christ. Like it gives them these little attachments to their name. What I like about that is I think it's telling the people who are listening and these people, if they hear their name called out, that it's not so much them.
What Paul recognizes is that they were doing the work of God for God. I think that's really powerful. It's the same way, like if I send a text to a friend, um, just some kind little message 'cause I was thinking about that that day and then they write back and say, wow, you picked just the right moment 'cause I really needed help today.
And God must have known that 'cause he must have prompted you to send that text. Like I didn't feel a spiritual prompting to send the text in the first place, but once I read that they felt like it was spirit driven, then I can trust that God is working through me. I wonder how many of these people on this list actually thought they were moving the work of God forward.
I think it's sweet of Paul to take time to say it. All of you are doing the work of God in beautiful individual ways and thank you for that. And then he warns. So he guides them to salute each other, like come together as this very hodgepodge congregation that's coming from all different parts of the world, come together in Christ and salute one another in 16 and then in 17.
Now I beseech you brethren mark them, which caused divisions and off on offenses contrary to the doctrine which you have learned and avoid them. This is strong warning. It's the same thing we heard in the book of Acts where he says that ravenous wolves are coming inside the flock, but there will be those who will teach against the doctrines that I have taught you.
There will be those who will pretend to authority that they don't have and you need to mark them. You need to watch and be ready 'cause apostasy is coming. Paul's always known that and he wants to preserve this little group of strong saints. Remember at the very beginning of Romans when he said, everybody's talking about you guys.
You're so faithful. That's gonna be an Achilles heel for the Romans, that there will be some who from within create apostasy. It's the same Achilles he we deal with today, that there are some who leave the faith. In a very subtle way and pull others with them. And so we have to be constantly on guard. And then he warns about how they'll deceive that it's an 18 for they that are such serve, not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly.
And by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple. He's promised in the past a couple chapters that we all need to be teachers of each other, that we need to edify one another. I really like how you see it. I think it's in the introduction to the D N C where it says that the gospel's gonna be preached by the weak and the simple, like you don't need to be a smooth speaker, you don't need to have eloquence, you just need to have a testimony of the living Christ.
And if you have that, then you can bring hearts in. And that's what he's asking them to listen for. Like watch for the fruits of the people who are speaking don't be tripped up by their eloquence and their new ideas. It contract if it contrasts what I have taught you. If it doesn't align with God's doctrine, but instead runs perpendicular to it, then be wary and pull back.
It's pretty powerful doctrine. The end. You're gonna hear that a scribe also gives his thanks. You know, Paul taught and recorded his message like Joseph Smith through scribes, and so you hear the words of the scribe as well, but it ends on a beautiful, a beautiful little wisdom in 27 to God, only wise be glory through Jesus Christ forever.
Trust in the wisdom of God, trust in his long, long game plan and trust that you're a key part of it. I think it's powerful wisdom for them and for us.
[01:09:36] CREATIVE PREVIEW
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All right, you guys, are you ready for the creative side of week 33? We had a lot to study, so I wanted to keep the object lessons really, really simple, but also really impactful. So hopefully these three object lessons will get your kids excited to get into the book of Romans. There's a lot of different choices you could pull from, but I wanted to give you an idea.
So for those of you who are watching on YouTube or maybe listening on the free podcast, I'm gonna give you a preview of each of these three object lessons. And then for those of you in the full course, just keep listening or keep watching, and I will walk you through how to pull them off with your kids or your classes, whether you're teaching 'em in a Sunday school room or in your own living room.
I think they have potential to help these beautiful doctrines of Paul sink just a little bit deeper. Okay, let's get started. The first one, I don't have anything to hold up 'cause this is multimedia week, you guys. So that means my goal here is to help cater your teaching and amplify it by using the resources that are audio and video that the church provides.
And there's a really good one that's relatively new, so I'm gonna direct you towards it. If you go on the church's YouTube channel, you can see a new series that's been coming out. It's actually season two of the same concept, which is a 30 day challenge. This week there's a new one that launches that I think has a lot of potential to teach the same message.
Paul taught basically what Paul seems to be. Reemphasizing in almost all 10 chapters is this idea of overcoming the natural man that we can set aside the carnal and dive deep into what is spiritual. And we do that by controlling our own thoughts. And I just think there's a really cool video series that's designed to help you do just that.
So I'll walk you through that in just a second. Okay, second one. My hope here is to talk about that key verse. Paul taught about not being conformed to the world and instead being transformed. And a really simple way you can teach this is with a deflated ball. So ideally, you're gonna find a rubber ball like this, or basketball or volleyball, whatever have to have in your garage that's easy to grab and you want to deliberately deflate it.
'cause you're gonna talk about the difference of being conformed to the world around you and being. It transformed from within, and I'll show you how. So you need a ball, and then you also need a pump with a needle on it so that you can show the transformation process. And then of course, since that's so simple, I decided you also needed a game.
So I'm gonna teach you the rules of a very popular game in the Eckersley house, which is called Death Ball. You don't wanna miss it. Okay, third one. We're also gonna teach about judging others because a big part of Paul's message this week is like, don't judge the discipleship of each other. Instead, lift each other up in Christ.
Find common ground. And one of my favorite very, very simple ways to teach this is with the Solo Cup challenge. So if you haven't seen this on social media before, it's a challenge where you're trying to catch a cup in a creative way. And we're gonna talk about how that shakes out according to this.
Teaching principle, this idea of like what happens when I'm keeping an eye on other people and what happens when I'm focused just on myself. And you'll see a dramatic difference between the two. So you just, for this one, you're gonna need two solo cups for anybody who's in your class or at home. It doesn't specifically have to be this brand or even this size.
For example, we also use these paper ice cream cups and they worked just as well. So just find two cups that can nest eat inside each other that are lightweight, either plastic or paper, and you'll be all set for that one. Okay? Grab those supplies you guys, and then listen in and we'll go a little bit deeper on all three object lessons.
[01:12:52] WRAP UP
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Thanks for sticking with me, you guys. I know this was a lot of chapters to cover, but hopefully through the video or through the podcast, you've at least got a desire to get into the verses yourself. That's my ultimate goal, is just to help you feel like these verses are doable, that you can, you can find understandings in them, and then you can trust that the spirit will.
Give you specific guidance for your life. I only know that from personal experience in mine that as I studied Paul's words and tried to understand them, which took a bit of time, when I finally did feel like I was understanding what he was saying, the spirit settled in my heart. I got guidance on how I could do things just a little bit better.
Come a little closer, set some things down, pick a few things up that will help me get a little closer to Christ. And I hope that happens for you too. I think it's worth it, right? If you need extra help, um, you're welcome to join me on Instagram. That's Monday mornings at 10:00 AM Mountain Time. I pop on for a live.
We'll talk through some of the insights and go through the object lessons in a little more detail. And then if you just have other questions and I didn't answer them here, in fact, I hope you have questions. Put them on the discussion boards. If you're in the course, add them to the discussion boards on either the creative video or the insights video.
And I'll get back to you as quick as I can. Or if you're watching on YouTube or maybe listening on the free podcast, throw them up in the YouTube comments and I will happily get to them as quick as I can or just. Hear the opinions and thoughts of others who are watching. There's a whole bunch of you out there, so I hope you guide each other in this process.
I think that's what Paul would want us to do. So enjoy this week of study you guys, and I'll see you next week when we head into the guidance to the Corinthians.