True Story Day #9: One month of Bible readings to help you understand what the Bible is about.

Introduction:

Over the course of a month, I want to help you appreciate the Bible more by helping you get a better understanding of the story the Bible tells.

As Tim Keller has written, “We usually read the Bible as a series of disconnected stories, each with a “moral” for how we should live our lives. It is not. Rather, it comprises a single story, telling us how the human race got into its present condition, and how God through Jesus Christ has come and will come to put things right.”

These Bible readings will help you write your own summary of that single story by taking you to various passages throughout the Scripture that clarify exactly how God is doing that.

Helps for Getting the Most from Your Study

* Read the passages for each day out loud

* Get out a notebook and answer the following questions for each day:

1. What stands out to you the most after having read through these Scriptures?
2. If someone asked you what the passages you read that day were mostly about, what would you say?
3. What do you think was the main point of what you were reading?
4. What did these passages teach you about the character of God? What did they teach you about us as humans? What did they teach you about how God saves people?
5. Write one paragraph that summarizes the part of the gospel story these passages tell.

Day Nine

Romans 3:9-18

⁹ Well then, should we conclude that we Jews are better than others? No, not at all, for we have already shown that all people, whether Jews or Gentiles,are under the power of sin. ¹⁰ As the Scriptures say, “No one is righteous— not even one. ¹¹ No one is truly wise; no one is seeking God. ¹² All have turned away; all have become useless. No one does good not a single one.” ¹³ “Their talk is foul, like the stench from an open grave. Their tongues are filled with lies.” “Snake venom drips from their lips.” ¹⁴“Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.” ¹⁵ “They rush to commit murder.¹⁶Destruction and misery always follow them. ¹⁷ They don’t know where to find peace.”¹⁸“They have no fear of God at all.”

Romans 3:23

²³ For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.