Bible Society of South Africa
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Pentecost
Pentecost – Day 6 (30 June)
Gerhard Lindeque

Pentecost – Day 6 (30 June)

God’s Spirit brings hope through his Word

Bible text(s)

Romans 15

4Everything written in the Scriptures was written to teach us, in order that we might have hope through the patience and encouragement which the Scriptures give us. 5And may God, the source of patience and encouragement, enable you to have the same point of view among yourselves by following the example of Christ Jesus, 6so that all of you together may praise with one voice the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Good News for the Gentiles

7Accept one another, then, for the glory of God, as Christ has accepted you. 8For I tell you that Christ's life of service was on behalf of the Jews, to show that God is faithful, to make his promises to their ancestors come true, 9and to enable even the Gentiles to praise God for his mercy. As the scripture says:

“And so I will praise you among the Gentiles;

I will sing praises to you.”

10Again it says,

“Rejoice, Gentiles, with God's people!”

11And again,

“Praise the Lord, all Gentiles;

praise him, all peoples!”

12And again, Isaiah says,

“A descendant of Jesse will appear;

he will come to rule the Gentiles,

and they will put their hope in him.”

13May God, the source of hope, fill you with all joy and peace by means of your faith in him, so that your hope will continue to grow by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Romans 15:4-13GNBOpen in Bible reader

No one can live without hope. The Bible teaches us that God is the source of all hope, alive within us, and we get to know God through the Bible. It reminds us of where our hope comes from. So, when we use the Bible for this purpose, we must seek and find in it the hope that God wants to give us through his Word.

According to the scripture passage, hope is the result of two important lessons we learn from the Bible. The first is steadfastness – to keep believing and trusting in God, despite your circumstances. When we read the Bible, we find numerous examples of people who are suffering. If there is some kind of suffering in our lives, we should not see it as a punishment from the Lord. It is part of our lives as children of God. Suffering can go away, but there is always hope.

The second lesson we learn from the Bible is encouragement – the Bible is also the instrument by which God wants to give us strength to get through the difficult times in life. The mistake that many people make when they are facing problems, is to stop reading the Bible or going to church. However, it is important to read God’s Word at such times and draw from it the power that God wants to give us.

The Bible is not meant to be a book full of rules and laws to discourage us. God does not want to impose further guilt on us through the Bible. Jesus Christ came to free us from guilt and show us that God is a God of love and grace, who forgives us. This image of God is prominent in the Bible.

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