Studying God’s grace is like studying God’s creation.. The documentary “God of Wonders” deals with the wonders and beauty of God’s creation. As one studies scriptures and in particular, God’s grace… one is captivated again  and again by the God of wonders and His marvelous plan to save mankind.
   In particular, Paul’s writing to the Christians at Rome goes deeply into the Grace of God, exposing the fallacy of one who tries to be saved by law. Thus it is critical to understand the key words used in Romans. Below, is a list of words and definitions dad had on a card which he kept in his folder for his lesson on grace. I hope this helps you in your studies….

WORDS – ROMANS
1. IMPUTE – to give or account – to credit
2. ADOPTION – not naturally born into
3. JUSTIFICATION – above charge no indictment (This is a one time action)
4. SANCTIFICATION – Holy set apart (This is an on-going and growing action of the Spirit of God working in the life of the Christian.)
5. PROPITIATION – to satisfy
6. RIGHTEOUSNESS – character of being right
                                        Right religiously with God
7. EXPIATION – making amends
8. PARDON – forgiveness – setting free from punishment
9. GOSPEL – good news – “All the Jesus did”
10. ELECT – chosen
11. WORKS – (alternative) fruits
12. FLESH – body
13. WRATH – God’s anger – displayed in action
14. GRACE – gift – mercy
15. FAITH – believe – not seeing
16. LAW – rule of action
17. LIFE – now – to come
18. SIN – miss the mark
19. DEATH – separation
All of these are GREAT, SWEEPING, PANORAMIC – CONCEPTS – WORDS which add to the understanding of Paul’s work to the Roman brethren.

   How well we remember the unbelievable, when terrorists hijacked four commercial
jets, using them to attack America. We watched helplessly, as the Two Towers
fell, the Pentagon was struck, and a lonely field in Pennsylvania received it’s
awful impact as heroes acted to save yet another target of a few terrorists. 
   Recently my wife and I travelled to New York City with some friends, and one of the places we were determined to visit was the “Freedom Tower”.  Actually I am not sure if it is called by this name or “World Trade Tower #1”. One lady who was on the subway train with us, got a bit upset when she heard one of our group refer to the tower as “World Trade Tower”. Anyway, I like “Freedom Tower” and it is truly an amazing work of engineering construction. The memorial of the two towers which crumbled to the ground killing so many innocent Americans, is also beautiful. In a setting of a quiet park with walk ways and trees, one finally comes to where they once stood. The plaza which has perfectly formed waterfalls into where the foundations once were for these huge buildings, continually falls. The names of not only those who died here but also those who perished in the Pentagon, and in Pennsylvania, as well as those who died in the
1993 attack are inscribed here… all 2983.
   The problem with people is that we tend to forget. We get distracted by other things. It was the same in the Bible…  Deuteronomy 4:9  “Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them fade from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them.” Deuteronomy 6:12  “Be careful that you do not forget the LORD, who brought
you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.” Well, as history shows, Israel
forgot. In Matthew 26:6-13 we find a woman comes in and anoints Jesus’ feet… others complained and griped, but Jesus said that her kindness would be remembered (or will we forget?) This was close to the time when Jesus was to be crucified. It was after this, we find the record of Jesus instituting the Supper (Matthew 26:17-29)… The bread represents the body of Jesus, and the “cup” (grape juice or wine) represents the blood of Jesus. It is a memorial… never to be forgotten, because it was His sacrifice that was
given for the sin of the world. It is His sacrifice, that sealed a New and better Covenant. It was through his sacrifice, that we can come and gain access into His grace and receive a marvelous forgiveness of every sin. (Will we forget?) Truthfully, we probably won’t forget this memorial, but it seems to be given less and less time in services…. with less thought being given in preparation made.
   Memorials like the one in New York, Washington, and Pennsylvania, where so many perished at the hands of a few terrorist… should never be forgotten… Simple acts of kindness should not be forgotten. The Memorial which Jesus established (which surpasses all the others)…. Should never be forgotten (or treated lightly). 
   Lord help us not to forget. 

      Several years ago, we had what the Irish call a “Pub”, a Bar… and it was called “The Frog”. I have heard of a lot of drinking establishments… but none called  “The Frog”.  Then it was torn down and we watched when we passed sometimes daily (not that I shed a tear) but it just so happened that we were in the process of fixing up our yard. It seemed like we planted hundreds of plants, bushes and trees. We created gardens and actually named them. (Now I think that is just wrong.) We have the “Mail-box garden”,  the “Bird house garden”, the “Beside the house garden”, and we had the “Zig-zag garden” (which is thankfully gone), the “Triangle garden”,  and then there is the “Long garden” which goes around the back yard!! We just about gardened ourselves to death, right? Well, this was all a part of just making our little place look a bit better.
   Part of these projects included rocks… lots and lots of rocks. We would see a pile of rocks somewhere and stop and try and get some. We drew the line when we saw road repair being done and huge chunks of sidewalk and street were coming up. THEN CAME THE FROG! When that place came down, I mentioned it to my wife and we were both ‘drooling’. You may think it funny to drool over rocks…. But just think about how much that stuff costs! We were putting borders made of rocks everywhere! Around the gardens, walkways which probably measure out to going around a football field!!! (At least it felt like it.)
   The day came… I went down to the place where all the remained of the “Frog” was a huge pile of rocks. I had my trusty old, half ton 1989 Chevrolet truck (long bed), and stopped at the site, and asked if I could have some rocks. The workers said, “SURE!”, but I don’t think they expected what happened. I started picking rocks, actually cinder blocks that had been broken. Four trips, and two tons of rock later… we had what we thought was enough to put borders around everything in our yard. Surprisingly the truck withstood the stress, even though each load made the truck ‘sag’ on the rear end.
   Now we are almost finished with our projects… and the yard… well, it looks pretty good. All with a lot of hard work.
   Rocks (stones) have been used throughout the Bible for various reasons… building walls (Genesis 11:3), building an altar for worship (Genesis 28:18, 22), stones were used as monuments (Genesis 35:14), as vessels (Exo. 7:19), as examples (Exodus 15:5, 16), as weapons (Exodus 21:8), to write on (Exodus 24:12; 28:10,  to punish and put to death (Leviticus 20:27; 24:14; 26:1; John 8:1-11), used in prophesy (Matthew 24); and reference to Jesus (Acts 4:11)… for closing tombs (John 11:38-45), for marking a place of judgment (John 19:13)… The most notable stone… the one which is historically remembered and spoken about is the one which was moved from the tomb of Jesus (John 20:1).
   Jesus of course didn’t need the stone removed to get out of the tomb… it was moved for US. It was moved so the disciples could go in and see… the linens which wrapped Jesus lying in their folds… So they could see, Jesus was not there.  HE IS OUR RISEN SAVIOR! All the others who claim to be the Messiah are still dead, their graves… marked with a stone.