Romans 5:21 That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.

We are still walking the shore line and have yet to experience anything that I might have hinted at yesterday. Yesterday’s Romans study was all of Romans 5 except the very last verse which I quote here. Read Romans 5 for yourselves and feel the power of the Holy Spirit in Paul’s words.

As the waves wash into the shore where you are now is a little more than ankle deep. You can feel the power of the water begging to pull you in deeper. It pushes and pulls at you and if you stand in one place long enough the sand is stirred up covering your feet.

I know you have stood in one place, moving your feet, shifting your weight and dug in so that the sand will completely engulf your feet all the way up to the ankles. We all love that feeling to see the power of the waves to make you a part of something you are enjoying.

Romans 5:2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

You do not have to go any deeper to feel the power, to rejoice in the hope, to bask in His grace and experience the glory of God.

This chapter of Romans makes it plain as can be, powerful, simple, moving, even overwhelming at the extent of God’s love towards us, drawing us closer to Him.

The power of the Holy Spirit is like the waves. The sand is like the words of the bible. Walking alone the shore in the waves is like taking the time to read your bible faithfully and allowing the Holy Spirit to immerse you in His word.

No depth required.

Romans 4:25 Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.

The title of our group study on Romans is Deeper into scripture: Romans. Just how deep are you willing to explore? Children stand in the shallows looking down to see what they can touch with their feet. As they grow up they may put on a mask and float on the surface in the shallows, seeing in more depth. Put on fins, take a deep breath and spear. You might be successful at spearing a flounder and bringing it up for all to see. Everyone can see what you have accomplished.

Are you willing to get into the deep where holding your breath is no longer an option? Will you need scuba gear, a mini-sub, or a bathysphere? How seriously do you seek the deeper things of God?

Today I will stand upon the shore as a child and see what I can stir up with my feet and uncover. No depth, no holding my breath, no special equipment required. I will do so using this opening verse. I look at it, kick it around a little bit and see what it looks like as the sand settles back down.

Romans 6:4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

Just as we see in Romans 4:25 what Christ has done for us and then the end result, Romans 6:4 says the same thing with greater detail. It is a one to one comparison, the same thing only in greater detail. It is like a child seeing a sand dollar at the shores edge and using the water to wash away the sand to get a better look at what is found.

The bible explains itself in greater detail if you look for these one to one comparisons.