Posts in Monthly Memory Verse
recent posts
By Will Pavone, MBC Tysons Young Adults and Edge Community Pastor
There are two ways to enslave oneself in the Christian life. The first way is by embracing legalism and the second is by embracing license. Legalism makes performance (or lack thereof) the basis of acceptance before God. License abuses the grace of God by sinning recklessly, rationalizing that salvation can’t be lost and presumptuously assuming God’s forgiveness. Legalism and license are two opposite extremes yet both are destructive to one’s faith and distort the true Gospel of grace. About halfway through chapter 5 of Galatians, Paul shifts from talking primarily about the futile trap of legalism to warning about the foolish lapse of license. The Apostle writes:
By Will Pavone, MBC Tysons Young Adults and Edge Community Pastor
Romans 1:16 is a great verse for the McLean Bible Church family to memorize together because it best summarizes the apostle Paul’s ministry as a bondservant of Christ. Some scholars suggest that verses 16 and 17 of Romans 1 are THE summary statement of the whole book of Romans. Everything Paul writes in the rest of the letter is built upon that statement. Since these words form the most important sentence in the most important letter ever written, why wouldn’t we memorize it together?
Much can be said about this great verse, but we will focus on the last phrase, “To the Jew first and also to the Greek.” What…