Awaken Bible Prophecy Update: 11-30-22 – Two Roman Roads, Two Destinations

There are many methods of presenting the Gospel of Jesus Christ and explaining how a person can be saved.  One of the most well-known is the Romans Road to Salvation.  This method extracts key verses from the Apostle Paul’s epistle to the Romans and succinctly lays out the “road” to deliverance – the redemption – the salvation – that is found only in Christ Jesus.  This is the Good News: that the way into a profound relationship with God Himself is simple.  As many have expressed it, it’s as simple as ABC.

Paul did us a great service with his deep, thoughtful writings, and many have turned to the Lord over the years because of them.  However, Paul also outlined a second Romans road in his book.  The famous one is how to gain eternal life.  The other road that is quite important as well – just not identified as such – is the one that leads to destruction.

Most of us are familiar with this road, it’s just that we haven’t necessarily considered it in this manner.  But just as God has made a straightforward way into His eternal presence, He has shown how people turn from Him and follow the Satanic thoroughfare to hell.  Of course, this broad road is described in Romans 1-2.  Many other negative attributes are discussed in various other Scriptures, but these chapters provide all we need for our purposes today.

Once again, I wanted to do something a little different so I’ve created a simple slide presentation that shows the progression of sin into the depths of depravity leading to God’s wrath and judgment.  But just so we’re not focusing solely on the negative, I also chart the means by which Paul shows how we enter the presence of God.  It’s a choice that all people have – there is no one with any excuse.  God doesn’t send people to hell; they send themselves there by the choices they make.  Paul demonstrates this truth clearly.

 

 

Scripture:

Romans 1:18-32

18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.

26 For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; 27 and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.

28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. 29 They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32 Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.

 

Romans 2:1-16,29

Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things. We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things. Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.

He will render to each one according to his works: to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, 10 but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. 11 For God shows no partiality.

12 For all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. 13 For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified. 14 For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. 15 They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them 16 on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.

29 But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God.

 

Slide Presentation:

Awaken Bible Prophecy Update 11-26-22 Two Roman Roads

2 Responses to “Awaken Bible Prophecy Update: 11-30-22 – Two Roman Roads, Two Destinations”

  1. Reply Pamela

    Thank you Gary for this clear exposition on the two roads. (I had never observed those two parallels before in the book of Romans). It is just as Jesus said, there are two roads: one is broad and leads to destruction, and the other is narrow (constricted by pressure) and leads to life. His observation regarding this truth is so sad: many take the road to destruction, and few find the road to life. If I feel such sorrow in my heart for those who choose the wrong path and continue to follow it, how much more sorrow must Father God’s heart feel over those who reject His Son, for He is love! We can only continue to pray for those who we see going the wrong way. Many of these are my family members. May the Holy Spirit awaken them to our God’s unfathomable love, before it is too late!

    • Reply Gary Ritter

      I think I mentioned that I’ve now sent two “heartfelt” letters to my siblings – the original plus a follow-up last week. Unfortunately I don’t expect any positive response. All I can hope and pray is that they remember my words during the Tribulation. A lot of us are in this situation, I’m afraid – do what we can and must let the Holy Spirit take it from there.

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