Letter. Simplified Cowboy Version. For Cowboys, By Cowboys. SaveTheCowboy.com

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1 For Cowboys, By Cowboys. The Simplified Cowboy Version is proud to present the only book series of Bible paraphrases written for cowboys by cowboys. Letter to the Romans: SCV is like riding down a country road with Paul, the best missionary to ever spread the Gospel. Through this paraphrase of Romans into the words of our Western heritage, you ll find the answers to questions like: How can my sins be forgiven? Can I earn my way into heaven? What exactly do I need to say and believe to be saved? With simple words, clear meaning, and hard hittin discussion questions throughout, Letter to the Romans: SCV is a book you can read and believe and then ride tall as you apply its godly truths to your daily life. SCV text Save the Cowboy Discussion questions Stephen Skelton SaveTheCowboy.com 7 74 Letter s to n a m the Ro Simplified Cowboy Version By Jake Hershey and Kevin Weatherby Discussion Questions by Stephen Skelton

2 Romans The Family Tree They call me Paul; I ride for Jesus. I m called by God to ride for Him and to share God s truth, 2 the truth that he promised a long time ago in his word that was wrote down by other cowboys called by him, 3 the truths about his Son, who, in his human nature, was kin to David, 4 and who, by the power of the Holy Spirit, was proven to be the Son of God when he was raised from the dead. I m talkin about Jesus Christ. It was thru him and for the sake of his name, that we got grace and the chance to make a hand for him by tellin the non-jewish people about the obedience that comes from havin faith. And yer part of the crew that s called to ride for Jesus Christ too. 7 To everyone that lives in Rome who is loved by God and is called to ride for his brand: I m sendin ya grace and peace from our Father God and from Jesus Christ. Paul s Hankerin to go to Rome First off, I thank God thru Jesus Christ for every single last one of ya, cause folks are talkin about your faith all over the world. God, who I ride for with everything I got preachin Jesus, is my witness to how much I remember y all 0 whenever I m prayin ; and I pray finally, cause it s what God wants to happen, that there ll be a way for me to come see y all. I really want to see you so I can give ya a gift from the Spirit to make ya strong. 2 What I mean by that is, so that both of us can be inspired with courage and hope by each other s faith. 3 I want ya to know, pards, that I was plannin on comin to see ya a bunch of times (but I ain t been able to til now), so that more top hands could be made, just like it s happened before. 4 I don t play favorites; I need to tell everyone. That s why I m lookin forward to preachin to those of ya that are in Rome. In verse, Paul said he rode for Jesus Christ, even though he helped kill Christians before he got to know God. If God would let Paul ride for him now, do you think there is anything that you could do that was worse than help kill Christians? Also in verse, Paul said he only took orders from Jesus yet Paul was also a Roman citizen, and the Romans didn t take orders from nobody. Have you let Roman pride get in your way of ridin for Jesus or helping someone out that might be different than you? I ain t ashamed of God s message, cause in it is the power of God to save the soul of everyone who believes it: first for the Jews, then for the rest. 7 Cause the message of God is how He makes people right in his sight, a feller bein made right by faith from first to last, just like it says in God s word: The folks that have been made right with God will live by faith. God s anger is bein shown from heaven against all the ungodly and sinful deeds of men who choke the truth by their wickedness, since what they can know about God is obvious to em, cause God has done made it obvious to them. 20 Cause ever since the world was made, the things about God that aren t seen his power that lasts forever and his holiness have been easy to see, cause of what s been made, so that mankind has no excuse. 2 Cause even though they knew God, they didn t give him the glory and thanks he deserved. Instead, their thoughts became as worthless as spurs on a greenhorn, and their ridiculous hearts were darkened. 22 Even though they claimed to have good sense, they turned out to be idiots 23 and swapped the glory of God for stuff that looked like man, birds, animals and reptiles. 24 So, God let em jump headfirst into the sinful desires they had. They felt like they had to sleep around and corrupt their bodies with each other. 2 They swapped God s truth for a lie and chose to worship and serve man-made idols instead of the one true God who s praised forever. Amen to that. 2 Because of all of this, God let them follow their sinful desires of shameful lust. Even women did things with their bodies that were against God s natural design. 27 In the same way, men quit having sex with women and wanted to have sex with other men. Men had sex with men and got what they deserved for it. 2 And, since they didn t think it was worth their time to remember the things of God, God let em have a counterfeit mind that wanted to do things that shouldn t be done. 2 They re full of all things sinful and evil. They have greed and they re corrupt. They want what others have, they kill innocent people, and they fight and want to hurt each other. They talk bad about other people when they re not around, 30 they spread rumors and ruin reputations, they hate God, they re rude, they re conceited and they brag, they come up with new ways to do evil, they don t obey their folks, and 3 they ve got no sense, no faith, no heart and no pity. 32 Even though they know for a fact that God says people who do things like this deserve to die, they not only keep right on doin it, they agree with the people that do it. In verses 4- (back on page ), Paul basically said that there weren t no one that he wouldn t talk to about Jesus. Can you say the same thing? If not, what s got you hobbled about that person? In verses 2-32, Paul said that people who forgot about God were eager to sin, although they knew the punishment for their sin was the eternal gallows. Is there a sin that you ve hidden in your saddlebags and won t let go of? Is it worth an eternal hangin? 2

3 Romans 2 God Don t Play Favorites You ve got no excuse for judgin another feller, cause we re all sinners. When you judge another feller, it s the pot callin the kettle black. 2 When God judges somebody, it s based on truth. 3 So when you, a human cowpuncher, judge another feller but do the same things he does, what makes you think God won t judge you? 4 Maybe you don t care about God s kindness, tolerance and patience. But remember, it s God s kindness that ll help ya turn your life around. But because you re as stubborn as a mule and won t quit doin the things ya ought not to be doin, you re piling up judgment for yourself for the day God judges everyone. God will give to each cowboy accordin to what he s done. 7 To those who, by not givin up on doin good, seek glory, honor and livin forever, he will give eternal life in heaven. But for those who do whatever they want, ignore God s truth and follow evil, hell s a comin, and that s where they re headed. There ll be trouble, pain and heartache for every human that does evil; first for the Jew, then for the Gentile, 0 but glory, honor and peace for everyone who does good; first for the Jew, then for the Gentile, cause God don t play favorites. 2 If ya ignore Jesus and what he taught ya, that s just how you ll be judged, if ya follow Jesus and what he s taught ya, that s how you ll be judged. 3 God don t care how much ya know, he needs to know how much ya care, and ya prove that by how ya live yer life, not by how many preachers you ve listened to. 4 (Some cowpunchers never get a chance to hear the gospel, but by their nature, live like God wants em to they re livin right because somethin deep down inside tells em to). One of these days, God will judge men s secrets thru Jesus Christ just like I m tellin you he will. Don t Be Counterfeit 7 This is what counterfeit hypocrites do: If you rely on what s in your head instead of how you re livin and because of that, ya brag about how you and God are pards; if you know what God wants and because of that, think you re better than other folks; if you think that you re the lead steer in the herd you re runnin in, or that you re sittin around God s campfire, and everyone else is wandering around freezin in the dark, In verses -4, Paul warned of lookin down your nose at the deeds of others, especially when you re guilty of the same thing. What gets your feathers ruffled more what others do wrong or what you do wrong? In verses -, Paul said that when people sin, they pile up judgment against themselves, and God will punish each for what he has done, without playing favorites. Have you continued to sin in some small way because you felt God would not count it against you? 3 20 ya think you can tell everyone else what to do, that you should be teachin their babies, all because you ve read the bible 2 ya think you should be teachin others, how much are ya teachin yourself? Those of ya that preach against stealing, do you steal? 22 Those of ya that preach against sleepin around on your spouse, do you sleep around on yours? You who can t stand idols, do ya rob people? 23 You who brag about how much you know about the bible, do you punch God in the nose by not doing what you know? 24 Don t forget what s in the Old Testament: God s name is run down to the people that don t know him because of folks like you. 2 Havin your pickle clipped for God has value if you re livin right, but if you ain t livin right, it s like you never did it. 2 If the folks who ain t had their pickle clipped are living right, won t he look at em like they re circumcised too? 27 The feller who ain t had his pickle clipped physically but is livin right, will look poorly on you who, even though you know the bible and have had your pickle clipped, still ain t livin right. 2 A man ain t livin right if he s only doin it for show, and havin your pickle clipped ain t just a physical thing. 2 A man is livin right if he s doin it because he knows and believes deep down inside it s what he should do; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not cause it s written down that ya should do it. A cowpuncher s praise don t come from men, it comes from God. Romans 3 God Won t Quit Ya What s so great about bein a Jew, or havin yer pickle clipped? 2 A whole bunch! First off, God trusted em enough to give em his words. 3 What if some of em are weak in their faith? If they re weak in bein faithful to God, does that mean God is weak in bein faithful to them? 4 Heck no! God never screws up but every man does. Don t forget what s already been wrote down: So that you ll be proved right when ya talk and a champ when ya judge right. So, if us not bein perfect proves how perfect God is, what should we say about it? That God ain t got the right to judge or discipline us? (I m thinkin like a cowpuncher In verses 2-24, Paul warned against being a hypocrite: someone who is better at telling other people how to act right than he is at acting right himself. Are you a do as I say, not as I do kind of cowboy or cowgirl? Are you willing to practice what you preach? In verses 3-, Paul covered a few of the games people play with sin, such as thinking that it is okay to be bad sometimes because God will always forgive. Do you take the destructive power of sin seriously or do you like to flirt with being bad? 4

4 here.) Heck no! If that s how it worked, how could God judge the world? 7 Some fellers might say, If me doin what I ought not to be doin just proves how great God is, why does he look down on me for doin it? Heck boys, that d be like sayin, Let s do as many bad things as we can, so that God can do some good. If yer thinkin or talkin like that, you deserve whatever ya get which in the end is goin to hell.) Nobody s Perfect So how should we feel about all this? Are you or me any better than the next feller? Heck no! We already said that everybody s the same in God s eyes, cause ain t none of us are perfect. 0 Don t forget what s already wrote down: Ain t nobody s perfect, I mean nobody; there ain t anyone who gets it; nobody s lookin fer God. 2 Everyone ignores him, and that makes em worthless; nobody does what they ought to be doin, not a single one. 3 Their throats are like a hole dug to throw a dead cow in; their tongues lie like a snake in the grass. Rattlesnake poison is on their lips. 4 They cuss like sailors and whine like greenhorns workin cattle. Their boots are in a hurry to go stab someone in the back; the trail they re ridin on leads straight to bein ruined and miserable, 7 they dang sure don t know or care how God does things. You can see it in their eyes, there s no respect for God. Now we all know that what the Good Book says, it says to those who wanna listen to it, so that every puncher would shut his yapper and realize that he, and every other human on the face of the earth, is gonna have to answer to God. 20 But readin the Good Book ain t what gets us to heaven. Readin the Good Book shows us how the Boss wants us to live and opens our eyes to the stuff we re doin that ain t right. Bein Made Right with God thru Believin in Him 2 The Law and the Prophets talk about a way to get right with God that ain t got nothin to do with memorizing the Good Book. 22 Gettin right with God comes from believin in his Son, Jesus Christ. Greenhorn or puncher, anyone who has faith in Jesus Christ can get right with God. It don t matter who ya are, 23 cause everybody sins and needs God s forgiveness, 24 and are made right with him by his grace, cause of what In verses 0-2, Paul pointed out that no one is innocent enough be right in God s eyes because it is only through Jesus that we can be made right. Do you know someone who thinks all good people will ride into heaven? In verse 23, Paul made clear that sin is sin. There are no big ones or small ones. Have you ever tried to justify your sin by saying that it was just a small one? Christ Jesus did on the cross for all of us. 2 God had Jesus give his life as a payment for our sins: he paid for em with his blood. God did that cause every puncher s got to pay for his sins and cause God knew what was fixin to happen to his Son, so he hadn t made anyone pay 2 he did it to show his justice. Cause God always follows thru with what s right. He says that if we got faith in Jesus, we re forgiven for all the bad choices we make. 27 So, where s the braggin rights? There ain t none. Why? Cause some fellers memorized the Good Book? No, it is cause we believe that Jesus Christ died for our sins, and we got faith in him. 2 Cause we know that a puncher is made right with the Boss by believin in his Son, not by livin perfect. 2 Is God only the God of Jews? Ain t he the God of everyone? Yer dang right he is, 30 cause there ain t but one God, who ll make things right with them that ve had their pickle clipped by faith and those who ain t had their pickle clipped by the same dang faith. 3 Does that mean we ignore the Good Book and everything that happened fore Jesus came? Well heck no! Instead, we honor the Good Book and all it s got to say. Romans 4 Abraham Made Right with God Cause of His Faith So what should we say that Abraham, our kin, figured out about all this? 2 If Abraham was made right with God by the things he did, then he had somethin to brag about, but not before God. 3 What does the Good Book say? Abraham believed God, and he was made right with him because of it. 4 When a man cowboys for an outfit, he s paid not as a gift, but because he s owed his wages. But, to the feller who doesn t cowboy but has faith in God who forgives even the worst scoundrel, that man s faith is enough for him to be made right with God. David says the same thing when he talks about how blessed a man is for bein made right with God no matter what kind of work he s done: In verse 27, Paul said that we shouldn t be bragging about good things we do because they aren t the thing that gets us into heaven. Have you thought that being good was the key to the Ranch gate instead of it being faith in Jesus? In verses 4-, Paul said a man s wage is his reward for his work...it is earned. But salvation can t be earned like a wage, it is a gift. Is there anything you have to do to earn a gift?

5 7 Blessed are them whose screw-ups are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the cowboy whose sins the Boss won t never hold against him. Is this blessing from the Boss only for those who ve had their pickle clipped, or is it also for those who ain t had their pickle clipped? We ve been sayin that Abraham s faith is what made him right with God. 0 What caused that to happen? Was it before or after he had his pickle clipped? It wasn t after, it was before! He got the sign of having his pickle clipped, a brand that showed he was made right with God by his faith, before he had his pickle clipped. That bein said, he s the father of everyone who believes but ain t had their pickle clipped, so that they can be made right with God. 2 He s also the father of them that ve had their pickle clipped, but who have the same kind of faith that Abraham had before he was clipped. 3 It wasn t because of some words wrote down somewhere that Abraham and his kids were promised that he d be the heir of the world, it was because he d been made right with God thru his faith. 4 Cause if those who worship words more than God are heirs, faith is pointless, and God s promise ain t worth anything, because legalistic words bring trouble. And where there is no legalism, there ain t any trouble. Because of this, the promise comes by faith, so that God s grace can be used, and so that it can be guaranteed to all Abraham s kinfolk not just to those who memorize words, but also to those who have the same kind of faith as Abraham. He s the father of us all. 7 It s wrote down: I have made you daddy to lots of nations. In God s eyes, Abraham is our daddy. He believed in God the God that gives life to the dead and calls things like he sees em. With the deck stacked against him, Abraham still had hope and believed and because of that, he became the father of many nations, just like God had told him, So shall your offspring be. Without lettin his faith get weak, he admitted that his old body was just about used up since he was around 00 years old and that Sarah wasn t fertile anymore. 20 But Abraham never doubted what God promised him, his faith got stronger, he gave glory to God, 2 knowing deep down in his guts that God had the power to do what he d promised The words, it was given to him, weren t wrote down just for Abraham, 24 but also for us, to who God will give grace and bein made right with him for us who believe in God, who raised Jesus Christ from the dead. 2 He was killed for our sins and brought back to life, so we could have the chance to be with him and God forever in heaven. In verses -, Paul quoted David who said that the Lord will not count the sins of a blessed man against him. Which would you rather be: someone who admits he is a sinner so God will forgive him or someone who struggles to appear right before other men? In verses -2, Paul outlined the deal God made with Abraham which is also extended to us when we believe in Him, He takes away our sins and makes us right with Him. Can you think of any bargain better than trading in sin and death for being right with God and eternal life? 7 Romans Settled and Happy So, since we ve been made right with God because of our faith, we also have peace with God thru knowin his Son, Jesus Christ, 2 it s cause of our faith in him that we re standin chest deep in God s grace. And we re dang happy cause of the hope we got in knowin how awesome God is. 3 Shoot, we re even happy when bad things happen, cause we know that ridin the broncs of life makes us better hands, 4 and bein better hands makes us better men, and the better we are, the more willin we are to give God the reins in every part of our lives. And trustin God to guide your pony won t ever get ya in a wreck, cause God loves us so much he s done filled us to the brim with the Holy Spirit, and he wants us to give him the reins of our lives. Look here, just when it was supposed to happen, while we didn t have any power, Jesus Christ gave his life for folks that didn t know God. 7 Hardly ever would someone give their life for a righteous man, but they might do it for a good man. But God proved how much he loves us by this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Seein s how we ve done been made right with God thru Jesus blood, how much more will we be spared from what we deserve thru Jesus! 0 Here s the deal; if we were God s enemies until Jesus gave his life for us, think how much better our lives will be now that we ain t God s enemies anymore! Besides all this, we re dang happy in God thru our savior Jesus Christ, who stepped in and made things right between us and God. Dead Cause of Adam, Alive Cause of Jesus 2 So, just like sin came into the world after Adam did what he did, and death came thru that sin, and that means death came to all mankind, because we all sin 3 be double sure that sin was in the world before the law. But sin don t matter when there ain t no law. 4 Anyhow, death was the only option for everyone from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even for those folks who didn t sin by ignoring what God told em, like Adam did he was a carbon copy of the one to come. God sendin Jesus Christ and the results of that, ain t like Adam ignoring God and the results of that. Cause if all them people were dead because of Adam s sin, how many more people live because of God s grace and what Jesus Christ did for us! In verses 3-, Paul said suffering is a good thing, because it can make us tougher, which can make us smarter, which can give us a brighter future. When is the last time you suffered something bad and then used what you learned for something good? In verse, Paul said that Christ did not wait until we were acting right to die for us instead, He died for us while we were still sinning. The next time you start to doubt that God could love a sinner like you, will you remember that Christ gave up his life for the sinful not the sin-less?