Romans 1:4 Acts of the Living Spirit

Romans 1:4

And he was shown to be the Son of God when he was raised from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit.  He is Jesus Christ our Lord.

For the apostle Paul to write and believe Jesus is Christ, our Lord, Son of God, was hard for him at once in his life, but the Holy Spirit showed him the light. Like so many Jews and Romans in Israel, during Jesus’ earthly ministry, Paul could not see Jesus as the Messiah, or understand Immanuel, as God with us, in human flesh and blood. Romans chapter 1 verse 4, is testimony from Paul that Jesus is the Son of God because, by the power of the Holy Spirit, Jesus defeated death. The Holy Bible does not say if Saul, which is his Hebrew name and Paul is His Greek, saw Jesus die on the cross, or saw His resurrected living body. Saul appears in the Acts of the Apostles. He holds the robes of the priests who stoned Stephen to death. The fake Jewish leaders thought Stephen was a blasphemer, and so did Saul/Paul, because he was a Jewish Pharisee as well. 

Acts 7:55  But being full of the Holy Spirit, he gazed intently into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God; 56 and he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened up and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” 57 But they cried out with a loud voice, and covered their ears and rushed at him with one impulse. 58 When they had driven him out of the city, they began stoning him; and the witnesses laid aside their robes at the feet of a young man named Saul. 59 They went on stoning Stephen as he called on the Lord and said, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!” 60 Then falling on his knees, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them!” Having said this, he fell asleep.

The last words Saul heard Stephen say was that he was praying for the Lord Jesus to forgive him. The question is, did the Holy Spirit start to work in Saul’s heart when Paul saw and heard Stephen praying for him.  The very next chapter of the Acts of the Apostle Saul is like the police force against the blasphemers of God. Paul even asked for permission to arrest those like Stephen. Saul wanted every man, woman, and child done away with. The zeal Saul had for God gave him the passion to stop those who call Jesus Lord with full zeal. The Lord knew Saul loved Him. but Paul was misguided by false prophecy. So, the Lord stuck Saul with a light of truth and it knocked him off his horse and made him blind.

Acts 9:1 Now Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest, 2 and asked for letters from him to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, whether men or women, he might bring them in shackles to Jerusalem. 3 Now as he was traveling, it happened that he was approaching Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him; 4 and he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” 5 And he said, “Who are You, Lord?” And He said, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting, 6 but get up and enter the city, and it will be told to you what you must do.”

 The epistle of Romans is a letter from the Lord’s bondservant Paul, the church of Rome, Italy, and it is also his testimony. Not only is it a letter to the church of Rome, to all Christian churches. He is telling them, and he is telling you and me, I know Jesus is Lord; I saw Him. When you and I put trust In God’s Holy Scripture, the Holy will help you and I know Jesus is Lord. We may not change our name as Saul did to Paul, but we do become bondservants of the Lord and Christians. God bless you all, the Lord Jesus loves you, and so do I. His bondservant, Samuel Jerry Head.

Philippians 3:3 For we who worship by the Spirit of God are the ones who are truly circumcised. We rely on what Christ Jesus has done for us. We put no confidence in human effort, 4 though I could have confidence in my own effort if anyone could. Indeed, if others have reason for confidence in their own efforts, I have even more! 5 I was circumcised when I was eight days old. I am a pure-blooded citizen of Israel and a member of the tribe of Benjamin—a real Hebrew if there ever was one! I was a member of the Pharisees, who demand the strictest obedience to the Jewish law. 6 I was so zealous that I harshly persecuted the church. And as for righteousness, I obeyed the law without fault. 7 I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. 8 Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ 9 and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ.  For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith. 10 I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death, 11 so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead!