Romans 14:17-20 – “For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and approved by men. Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification. Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a man to eat anything that causes someone else to stumble. It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother to fall.”

Here, Paul explains the meaning of the Work of God. We define “the Work of God” as the way we serve Christ and please God, as this passage says. The Kingdom of God has righteousness, peace, and joy as three of its defining characteristics, and these three things should always be pervasive in God’s Work.

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Romans 8:28 –  ”And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”

“And we know” – Paul was reminding them of what they already knew.  In other passages, Paul shares information that he had received individual by direct revelation or through his insights into the Old Testament text (see, for example, Romans 11:25).  In either case, this knowledge did not come from our own minds, but from the Holy Spirit.

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We are more than conquerors….

Romans 8:36-37 - As it is written, For your sake we face death all day long;  we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.  No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

It is something easy to say when everything is going well- that we are more than conquerors.  When we feel a great blessing, we feel confident.  But the Scriptures make this statement immediately after talking about facing death and being desperate.  That is the time we need to remind ourselves of this great truth. 

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“No, a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a man’s praise is not from men, but from God.” – Romans 2:29

Jeremiah 4:4 – “Circumcise yourselves to the Lord, circumcise your hearts, you men of Judah and people of Jerusalem.”

Why did God require the Israelites in the Old Testament to circumcise their baby boys?

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Romans 12:1-2 - Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is-his good, pleasing and perfect will.

The purpose of salvation is to bring us to eternity.  God prepares us for eternity by transforming our lives through Christ.  Many Christians think the Gospel is merely about forgiveness of sins.  God has a greater purpose.  Forgiveness is the first step in a transformed life.  Forgiveness allows us to leave behind what is past so that we can proceed to change.   continue

Romans 8:37 –   “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.”

Conquerors are people who get something by force.   The Lord calls Christians to be “more than conquerors” because instead of trusting in our strength, we trust in the love of Jesus.  His love is greater than all the armies of the world.

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Romans 8:37 – “In all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us”

Conqueror:  one who faces an adversary and defeats him; historically, the term is usually applied to military men who have defeated a kingdom and assumed control of it. 

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Romans 8:37 - “… in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us”

In this world, we have many trials and temptations.  Often we feel that the trials and temptations are overwhelming. When Paul wrote this letter, Christians had much more serious trials than we face today.  Not only did they face unemployment, sickness in the home, marriage problems, and other difficulties that we face today, they faced familial and societal rejection and utter poverty; they confronted death of the most painful and humiliating kind—being eaten alive by lions in the coliseum before thousands of cheering spectators.  In spite of this extreme picture of defeat, these believers could go to their death knowing Lord’s promise—we are “more than conquerors.”

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