Author: Jim Cantelon

Read Romans 15

Key Verse: Romans 15:4 “For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope. ” Do you enjoy reading the Bible?” someone asked me recently. “Sometimes, yes. Other times, no.” I answered. “Why the fluctuation?” he questioned. ” Because the Bible is a teacher, and I don’t always like to be taught,” I said. “Why?” he asked. “I guess it’s because teaching always includes challenge to change. And sometimes I want to stay just...

Read Romans 14

Key Verse: Romans 14:10 “But why do you judge your brother? Or why do you show contempt for your brother? For we shall all stand before the judgement seat of Christ.” Paul begins this chapter with, “Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters” (v.1). He’s face to face here with the cultural, sub-cultural, and religious sensibilities of a rich mosaic of backgrounds in the early church. Some were strictly observant Jews, others were secular Jews, and still others were Gentiles newly won from paganism and emperor-worship. You can...

Read Romans 13

Key Verse: Romans 13:14 “But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.” He was an over-eater. He came into my office grossly overweight and self-disgusted. As he told me his story, I received an education in the devastating bondage of “gradualism”. What’s that you ask? Well, you might call it suicide by degrees. Just like a chronic smoker or pill-popper, he was destroying himself in incremental measure — numb to any short-term effect, but literally degenerating over the long-term. This is what “the flesh”...

Read Romans 12

Key Verse: Romans 12:1 “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.” Chapter 11 concludes with a beautiful doxology praising God’s wisdom, knowledge, judgments, and paths. He is sovereign and does what He wants to do. And, in the context of chapters 9 through 11, we see He wants to have mercy on all children of disobedience — both Jew and Gentile. It’s “in view of God’s mercy” that Paul, in chapter 12:1, calls us to total commitment:...

January 20, 2021

Alms, Prayer, & Fasting 6:1-18 The Lord’s Prayer vv. 9-13 There are so many excellent works on The Lord’s Prayer that anything I write may seem redundant. But, here in the twenty-first century it doesn’t hurt to take another look. Our “internet culture” has its own lens. First of all, a general analysis sees seven areas of focus in the prayer: 1. God’s nature 2. God’s kingdom 3. God’s will 4. Daily needs 5. Forgiveness 6. Testing 7. Deliverance from evil It covers all the bases.

Read Romans 11

Key Verse: Romans 11:32 “For God has committed them all to disobedience, that He might have mercy on all.” The problem is exclusivism. I should know — I’m not only a Gentile but I also pastored a church in Jerusalem for seven years. Many Jews think they have the inside track to Heaven, and many Gentiles think the inner circle belongs to them. Some Jews say, “We’re the children of Abraham. The covenant is exclusively ours.” Some Gentiles say, (quoting Paul) “they [the Jews] were broken off because of unbelief” (11:20). Each group sees themselves...

Read Romans 9 & 10

Key Verse: Romans 9:15 “… I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion.” Chapters 9, 10, and 11 are some of the most controversial in all of Scripture. Controversial because there is explosive potential in interpreting some of what Paul says rather than all of what Paul says. For instance: in one place Paul, a Jew himself, says “not all who are descended from Israel are Israel…it is not the natural children who are God’s children, but it is the children of the promise [through Isaac —...

January 18, 2021

The “Golden Rule” is under duress these days. A casual summary of Covid protocols from a governmental medical authority was recently posted, “Stay away from other people”. Blunt, succinct, and counter-intuitive, if not biblically dissonant. Indeed, culturally dissonant too. The core value of reaching out to those in need, let alone achieving social harmony via “quid pro quo”, has been carved into human relations over millennia. It’s a principle that has stood the rest of time. But not today. We’re locked down. Social media connectivity, which has proven, ironically, to disconnect...

Read Romans 8

Key Verse: Romans 8:19 “For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God.” “Earth Day” is coming up soon. It is a day of laudable, idealism and provides an appropriate warning: we must assume, finally, our responsibility as stewards of our home planet. As novel as Earth Day is, however, it may surprise you to learn that the Bible has been teaching stewardship not only of the earth, but of creation, for hundreds of years. On top of that, Paul tells us that they creation is somehow dependent for its renewal on the “children...

Read Romans 7

Key Verse: Romans 7:25 “…So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.” Paul speaks for all of us when he cries, “What a wretched man I am!” His wretchedness springs out of what the Law of God exposes in his nature. Until the Law came along, man didn’t even know he was a sinner. In fact, without the Law there’s no sin, “For apart from law, sin is dead” (v.8b). Bu as soon as the Law entered the stage, the actor recognized his spiritual and moral nakedness (v.7b). What’s more, the Law gave no...