THE SPIRIT OF LIBERTY: Free from Condemnation
He was “guilty as sin.” There was no doubt he deserved to be on death row. No one would miss him. He was a cut throat—a cold, cruel, calculating killer—lawless from his youth and incorrigible in adulthood. But, as he neared the day of his execution, his outward bravado only masked his inward terror. Death would come with the echoes of the prison guard’s steps resounding on the stone floor. A rattling key in a lock, the squeal of iron hinges as a heavy door swings upon—a portal into darkness.
Would he feel pain? How intense? How long would it last? His brutish hands that had been used to steal someone else’s possessions and that had squeezed the life out of helpless victims were now as clammy as those belonging to a corpse—a corpse—that’s what he would soon be. He rubbed his neck and felt beads of sweat trickling down—little rivers of fear tracing a path down to—to where? Hell? If hell existed, that was his impending fate. No doubt about that. As a caged animal he began to pace back and forth in the small cell—faster, faster, trying to find a way out of the panic. His heart pounded—doom, doom, doom—quicker, louder.
Then he was paralyzed by what he heard. Crowds were gathering. These would be the gawkers who lived for the moment of seeing justice fall—a morbid curiosity that magnetically pulled them to the public spectacle of blood. The numbers were growing, the murmuring building from a low hum, into a rising tide of noise—and then silence. Following that, there was a certain ebb and flow of sound.
One distant voice spoke. He could almost make out the words, but no—what was he saying? Then like a knife stabbing into his throbbing chest, he heard the mob cry in unison, “Barabbas! Barabbas!” They were calling his name.
Then he heard the lone voice—the obscure muttering lying on the threshold of comprehension—and next the choral response to this hidden conductor, building to a crescendo, “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!” Like a rogue wave, the words broke over him, washing him into a place of numbness. The room began to swim and his knees buckled. Vomit came erupting out of his mouth, and then blackness.
How long? Minutes, seconds? He awoke with a start as he heard the hobnail boots pounding down the corridor, drawing ever near. A nightmare. I’m awake. A nightmare alright—a real one—and so, this is how it ends. Yet, the thought that was immersing him ever closer in insanity was this, “I’m going to hell!”
His former bravado was gone—vanished like the end of the key as it was thrust into the rusty lock. The guard grunted and strained a bit, as the massive door opened to—freedom! Had he heard correctly? Impossible! He had lost his mind. “Get out! You’re free!” A cruel joke—one last game the executioner plays. Just a little more torment of the helpless rat in a trap. Then his chains were removed from his chaffed wrists and he was kicked—forcefully—in the rear, “Go, you scum! A better man than you is dying in your place today!”
Wonder of it all! The pieces of the puzzle were fit together by him later. The Roman governor, Pontius Pilate, had given the crowd a choice, “Do you want me to release to you, Jesus, called the Christ or Barabbas?” That’s when he heard the crowd call his name, “Barabbas!” Next Pilate asked the bloodthirsty band, “What do you want me to do with Christ?” What Barabbas thought, that the crowd was calling for him to suffer, was aimed at another, “Crucify Him!”
I am Barabbas. So are you, if you are indeed a Christian. Jesus bore the condemnation we deserved and because of this we are free, and thus Paul writes, “There is therefore, now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus!” (Romans 8:1)
Friday, April 30, 2010
Thursday, April 29, 2010
THE SPIRIT OF LIBERTY: Free to Experience a New Life
In the opening verses of the eighth chapter of Romans, Paul tells us that we have been liberated by the Holy Spirit to be free to experience both a new law (v.1-2) and a new love (v.3-8). Yet, there is more! In verses 9-11, we discover that we are free to experience a new life!
Life in the Spirit is described by the Apostle in this text in three ways. He tells us that it is:
REAL LIFE IN THE SPIRIT (v.9).
Those who do not have a second, spiritual birth into God’s family are in a state of spiritual death. They have physical life, but it is a pseudo-life—a mere existence. They move around as zombies—animated corpses and are dead in trespasses and sins. But when the Spirit of God enters us we receive in Him real life—the very life of God indwelling. Otherwise, we are not saved! Adrian Rogers has said, "You are either a saint or an ain’t!" Friend, you aren’t living until you meet the Savior! The Spirit is the breath of God to make you alive in Christ.
RIGHTEOUS LIFE IN THE SPIRIT (v.10).
Remember that in chapter six, we learned of our union with Christ in His death—that we are dead to sin, but in His resurrection we are alive to righteousness. Christ is our life—all He is available to us for all that He wants us to be. Phil Mickelson recently won the Master’s and is one of the top golfers in the game. I play golf—but not at that level—and that is a charitable assessment. If I told my golfing buddies one day that I was going to play like Phil, they would roll on the ground laughing. Yet, what if I silenced them by hitting booming drives, soft lobs to the green and snaking in putts to shoot a 59! Now, I have shot a 59—but it was on nine holes! Doing it for eighteen holes like Phil would astonish my playing partners! Suppose that my secret was a pill that had been invented containing all the knowledge, skill, coordination and ability of Phil Mickelson, so that it was no longer I, but Phil playing golf through me! Well, this is what the Christian life is—the Righteous One—Christ Himself expresses His life through my humanity.
RESURRECTION LIFE IN THE SPIRIT (v.11).
Salvation is in three tenses: we have been saved from the penalty of sin (justified), free from sin’s condemnation; we are being saved from the power of sin (sanctified), free from sin’s compulsion; we will be saved from the presence of sin (glorified), free from sin’s contamination. Each of these is in view in Paul’s teaching in this text. We have real life in the Spirit because of a spiritual birth—salvation. We have righteous life in the Spirit because of the Spirit’s indwelling and filling—sanctification. Then, we see there is resurrection life in the Spirit because of the Eternal One within—glorification. This is a living hope!
In the opening verses of the eighth chapter of Romans, Paul tells us that we have been liberated by the Holy Spirit to be free to experience both a new law (v.1-2) and a new love (v.3-8). Yet, there is more! In verses 9-11, we discover that we are free to experience a new life!
9 But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit
of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is
not His.
10 And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the
Spirit is life because of righteousness.
11 But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in
you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal
bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.
Life in the Spirit is described by the Apostle in this text in three ways. He tells us that it is:
REAL LIFE IN THE SPIRIT (v.9).
Those who do not have a second, spiritual birth into God’s family are in a state of spiritual death. They have physical life, but it is a pseudo-life—a mere existence. They move around as zombies—animated corpses and are dead in trespasses and sins. But when the Spirit of God enters us we receive in Him real life—the very life of God indwelling. Otherwise, we are not saved! Adrian Rogers has said, "You are either a saint or an ain’t!" Friend, you aren’t living until you meet the Savior! The Spirit is the breath of God to make you alive in Christ.
RIGHTEOUS LIFE IN THE SPIRIT (v.10).
Remember that in chapter six, we learned of our union with Christ in His death—that we are dead to sin, but in His resurrection we are alive to righteousness. Christ is our life—all He is available to us for all that He wants us to be. Phil Mickelson recently won the Master’s and is one of the top golfers in the game. I play golf—but not at that level—and that is a charitable assessment. If I told my golfing buddies one day that I was going to play like Phil, they would roll on the ground laughing. Yet, what if I silenced them by hitting booming drives, soft lobs to the green and snaking in putts to shoot a 59! Now, I have shot a 59—but it was on nine holes! Doing it for eighteen holes like Phil would astonish my playing partners! Suppose that my secret was a pill that had been invented containing all the knowledge, skill, coordination and ability of Phil Mickelson, so that it was no longer I, but Phil playing golf through me! Well, this is what the Christian life is—the Righteous One—Christ Himself expresses His life through my humanity.
RESURRECTION LIFE IN THE SPIRIT (v.11).
Salvation is in three tenses: we have been saved from the penalty of sin (justified), free from sin’s condemnation; we are being saved from the power of sin (sanctified), free from sin’s compulsion; we will be saved from the presence of sin (glorified), free from sin’s contamination. Each of these is in view in Paul’s teaching in this text. We have real life in the Spirit because of a spiritual birth—salvation. We have righteous life in the Spirit because of the Spirit’s indwelling and filling—sanctification. Then, we see there is resurrection life in the Spirit because of the Eternal One within—glorification. This is a living hope!
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
THE SPIRIT OF LIBERTY: Free to Experience a New Love
In Romans Eight, Paul not only begins His discussion of the Spirit of Liberty by telling us that in Christ we are free to experience a new law (v.1-2), but further, we are free to experience a new love! Consider these words in verses 3-8:
After contrasting two laws—the law of sin and death and the law of the Spirit of life, the Apostle next pits two loves against one another: a love of wickedness and a love of righteousness. We will choose to be driven by the carnal versus devoted to the spiritual.
THIS NEW LOVE BRINGS A NEW MASTERY (v.3-4). Now, Paul is referring to the Mosaic Law—the Old Covenant. It is an inflexible master. The law made demands—its strength was in its clear set of expectations. But, its weakness is that it could establish the rules but could not provide the resources for keeping them. The problem, of course, is not in God’s demands, but our deficiency because of sin. All the Holy Law of God can do is condemn us. The wages of sin is death. The price must be paid.
That is why Christ came and took our sin upon Him—He kept the law perfectly, meeting every demand and then was condemned for our sin, so that we will not be! This is why he could commence this section with the incredible promise, “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit” (v.1). The whole orientation of our life has now changed. We do not walk according to the flesh—the old sinful nature, but according to the Spirit—the new spiritual nature. The Christian has bowed to a new Master! Yet, even so, this is not the slavery of a rigid task-master, but He holds us with chains of love!
THIS NEW LOVE BRINGS A NEW MENTALITY (v.5-8). Repentance in the Greek text is metanoia, a composite word, meta, meaning change (we get the word metamorphosis from this) and noia, knowledge, thus—a change of mind. Before salvation we are carnally minded and that leads to death—our minds are deranged, our emotions are depraved and our will is defiant. Repentance means God has gifted me with grace to holy thoughts, nobler feelings, and a submissive will.
Paul returns to his oft-repeated theme—that in the flesh we cannot please God—no amount of resolution, religion, or reformation can do it. What we need is regeneration—the work where God’s Spirit brings His light into our minds—we see the truth, we see God in His holiness and ourselves in our sinfulness. We see Christ for who He truly is, and we become spiritually minded. The believer has a new mentality. Now, I love what I used to loathe and loathe what I used to love, “For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man,” (Rom.7:22).
This is the testimony of a saved man or woman. Is it yours? That’s salvation.
Remember, also, that this love can mature and expand as we grow in Christ and walk in the Spirit. Is Christ’s mastery over your life extending to new realms of your activity? Is this new mentality opening up new vistas of spiritual understanding and discernment? That’s sanctification.
God make it so, in my life and yours!
In Romans Eight, Paul not only begins His discussion of the Spirit of Liberty by telling us that in Christ we are free to experience a new law (v.1-2), but further, we are free to experience a new love! Consider these words in verses 3-8:
3 For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God
did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin:
He condemned sin in the flesh,
4 that the righteous requirement of the law
might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to
the Spirit.
5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on
the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things
of the Spirit.
6 For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually
minded is life and peace.
7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God;
for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be.
8 So then, those
who are in the flesh cannot please God.
After contrasting two laws—the law of sin and death and the law of the Spirit of life, the Apostle next pits two loves against one another: a love of wickedness and a love of righteousness. We will choose to be driven by the carnal versus devoted to the spiritual.
THIS NEW LOVE BRINGS A NEW MASTERY (v.3-4). Now, Paul is referring to the Mosaic Law—the Old Covenant. It is an inflexible master. The law made demands—its strength was in its clear set of expectations. But, its weakness is that it could establish the rules but could not provide the resources for keeping them. The problem, of course, is not in God’s demands, but our deficiency because of sin. All the Holy Law of God can do is condemn us. The wages of sin is death. The price must be paid.
That is why Christ came and took our sin upon Him—He kept the law perfectly, meeting every demand and then was condemned for our sin, so that we will not be! This is why he could commence this section with the incredible promise, “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit” (v.1). The whole orientation of our life has now changed. We do not walk according to the flesh—the old sinful nature, but according to the Spirit—the new spiritual nature. The Christian has bowed to a new Master! Yet, even so, this is not the slavery of a rigid task-master, but He holds us with chains of love!
THIS NEW LOVE BRINGS A NEW MENTALITY (v.5-8). Repentance in the Greek text is metanoia, a composite word, meta, meaning change (we get the word metamorphosis from this) and noia, knowledge, thus—a change of mind. Before salvation we are carnally minded and that leads to death—our minds are deranged, our emotions are depraved and our will is defiant. Repentance means God has gifted me with grace to holy thoughts, nobler feelings, and a submissive will.
Paul returns to his oft-repeated theme—that in the flesh we cannot please God—no amount of resolution, religion, or reformation can do it. What we need is regeneration—the work where God’s Spirit brings His light into our minds—we see the truth, we see God in His holiness and ourselves in our sinfulness. We see Christ for who He truly is, and we become spiritually minded. The believer has a new mentality. Now, I love what I used to loathe and loathe what I used to love, “For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man,” (Rom.7:22).
This is the testimony of a saved man or woman. Is it yours? That’s salvation.
Remember, also, that this love can mature and expand as we grow in Christ and walk in the Spirit. Is Christ’s mastery over your life extending to new realms of your activity? Is this new mentality opening up new vistas of spiritual understanding and discernment? That’s sanctification.
God make it so, in my life and yours!
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
THE SPIRIT OF LIBERTY: Free to Experience a New Law
In Romans 8:1-2, the Apostle Paul contrasts two laws—a law that enslaves us and a law that emancipates us.
The first law that enslaves us is SIN’S LAW OF DEATH. Paul isn’t referring to the Mosaic code, but to a carnal principle of evil that is at work within us—woven into the very fabric of our being by virtue of a natural birth into Adam’s family. It is like the law of gravity. There is the constant downward drag on all of life—our thoughts, our motives, our passions, our words, our actions. We do not have to try to do evil. It is easy. It is the natural thing. If I lift a coin into the air and let go if it, it always falls to the ground. Though virtually weightless, it cannot stay in the air because of the law of gravity. That is what sin does to us.
The second law that emancipates us is the SPIRIT’S LAW OF LIFE. This is the new law that the Spirit brings when we are saved. A new principle of righteousness now works in us by virtue of a supernatural birth into God’s family. It is a higher law—like the law of aerodynamics that frees us from the law of gravity. The coin will not float in midair—and the piece of metal weighs very little—one thin dime. By comparison, the new 747 will weigh 975,000 pounds and it will fly! That is because the law of aerodynamics is a higher law. The Spirit’s law of life is a more powerful principle than the law of sin and death.
Do you remember Paul’s frustration expressed in the 7:18-25? Here’s a refresher:
The way out of the frustration of the old legalism and into the freedom of the new law is not trying more determinedly, but trusting more deeply. The secret to freedom from sin’s powerful downward drag isn’t flapping your arms fiercely, but relying on the power of the Spirit of Christ! He will lift you up on the wings of an eagle!
In Romans 8:1-2, the Apostle Paul contrasts two laws—a law that enslaves us and a law that emancipates us.
There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.
The first law that enslaves us is SIN’S LAW OF DEATH. Paul isn’t referring to the Mosaic code, but to a carnal principle of evil that is at work within us—woven into the very fabric of our being by virtue of a natural birth into Adam’s family. It is like the law of gravity. There is the constant downward drag on all of life—our thoughts, our motives, our passions, our words, our actions. We do not have to try to do evil. It is easy. It is the natural thing. If I lift a coin into the air and let go if it, it always falls to the ground. Though virtually weightless, it cannot stay in the air because of the law of gravity. That is what sin does to us.
The second law that emancipates us is the SPIRIT’S LAW OF LIFE. This is the new law that the Spirit brings when we are saved. A new principle of righteousness now works in us by virtue of a supernatural birth into God’s family. It is a higher law—like the law of aerodynamics that frees us from the law of gravity. The coin will not float in midair—and the piece of metal weighs very little—one thin dime. By comparison, the new 747 will weigh 975,000 pounds and it will fly! That is because the law of aerodynamics is a higher law. The Spirit’s law of life is a more powerful principle than the law of sin and death.
Do you remember Paul’s frustration expressed in the 7:18-25? Here’s a refresher:
18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find.
19 For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice.
20 Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.
21 I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good.
22 For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man.
23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.
24 O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?
25 I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.
The way out of the frustration of the old legalism and into the freedom of the new law is not trying more determinedly, but trusting more deeply. The secret to freedom from sin’s powerful downward drag isn’t flapping your arms fiercely, but relying on the power of the Spirit of Christ! He will lift you up on the wings of an eagle!
Monday, April 26, 2010
THE SPIRIT OF LIBERTY
Two summers ago, our family took a couple of weeks touring significant historical sites in Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York and Washington, DC. There we saw several symbols that express the spirit of liberty. Among those are the Liberty Bell a symbol of our nation’s birth; the Washington Monument, tribute to the father of our country; the Statue of Liberty which stands as a beacon of freedom to the world; Appomattox Court House, where our Civil War ended marking the emancipation of all slaves; the D-Day memorial commemorating the beginning of Europe’s liberation from the Nazis; the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier reminding us of the price paid to secure these freedoms. Paul speaks in Romans 8:1-11 of the Spirit of Liberty.
Here, he isn’t talking about a symbol, but a Person—the third Person of the Trinity—the Holy Spirit. He frees us from the tyranny of sin, births us into the family of God and empowers us to walk in victory. This week we will focus our attention on the Spirit of Liberty and what He can do for you!
Two summers ago, our family took a couple of weeks touring significant historical sites in Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York and Washington, DC. There we saw several symbols that express the spirit of liberty. Among those are the Liberty Bell a symbol of our nation’s birth; the Washington Monument, tribute to the father of our country; the Statue of Liberty which stands as a beacon of freedom to the world; Appomattox Court House, where our Civil War ended marking the emancipation of all slaves; the D-Day memorial commemorating the beginning of Europe’s liberation from the Nazis; the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier reminding us of the price paid to secure these freedoms. Paul speaks in Romans 8:1-11 of the Spirit of Liberty.
1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.
2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.
3 For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh,
4 that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.
6 For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be.
8 So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
9 But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.
10 And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
11 But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.
Here, he isn’t talking about a symbol, but a Person—the third Person of the Trinity—the Holy Spirit. He frees us from the tyranny of sin, births us into the family of God and empowers us to walk in victory. This week we will focus our attention on the Spirit of Liberty and what He can do for you!
Friday, April 23, 2010
WINNING THE WAR WITHIN: Carnal Christians?
Is there such a thing a carnal Christian? There are those who will argue strongly that there is not. They will say it is an oxymoron—you may as well speak of a heavenly devil. Then there are those that will point to Scripture texts that suggest there is such a creature as named in 1 Corinthians 2-3 and described in Romans 7 that we’ve been looking at this week.
Here’s what Paul says concerning his own experience in Romans Seven.
That is not how Paul reflects on his struggle, and that which every true child of God has known. He is no hypocrite; he desperately wants to serve God. His heart is pure. His love and devotion to God is sincere. He doesn’t excuse his sin. He is horrified by it. That is a true child of God.
Although R.C. Sproul in his commentary on Romans would reject the term “carnal Christian,” he does make a vital point: “there is no such thing as a Christian who is carnal-less” (p.222). Even a spiritual giant like the Apostle Paul had this battle within. We all go through this. So, do we just accept defeat? Can we never do better?
That is the problem with the carnal Christian. They are trying to please God in a carnal—a fleshly—way. Having been saved by faith, they purpose to do all within their power to please God. That is an impossibility. Hebrews 11:6 reminds us that without faith, it is impossible to please God. Only by total reliance on Christ can we be saved and only by the same dependence on Christ can we be sanctified! Each of us are so tempted and give in to the seductive call to step out of grace-filled living and into the quagmire of religious ritual and rules and restrictions—sheer legalism!
The way to win the war within is not through trying to resist the world’s pressure, the flesh’s passion and the devil’s power by our own resolve and resources, but instead come to the end of ourselves and rely on the Lord. The way to victory is through surrender.
There is only one person who has ever lived the Christian life—Jesus Himself! Now, He indwells the believer. Let Jesus express His divine life through your humanity and you can win the war within. We are more than conquerors through Him!
Is there such a thing a carnal Christian? There are those who will argue strongly that there is not. They will say it is an oxymoron—you may as well speak of a heavenly devil. Then there are those that will point to Scripture texts that suggest there is such a creature as named in 1 Corinthians 2-3 and described in Romans 7 that we’ve been looking at this week.
Here’s what Paul says concerning his own experience in Romans Seven.
14 For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold underSo, is there such a thing as a carnal Christian? I believe that there is. But, we must understand what that is and what it is not. Some think that so long as you make a profession of faith—that you say a sinner’s prayer—at some point in your life that makes you a Christian. There may be little demonstrable change in a person’s life and the excuse is made that they are just “carnal Christians.” Saved, but stunted in spiritual growth—that’s the thought. If that is what is meant, then that is not a carnal Christian. That is someone that is just carnal—period! It is what Paul called, “the natural man.” They behave according to the flesh because they are of the flesh. These are describe in one of Christ’s parables as “tares” sown by the enemy among the “wheat.” In Peter’s writing he mentions dogs that return to their vomit and pigs that go back to wallowing in the mire. Such a person is a pseudo-saint.
sin.
15 For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do,
that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do.
16 If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it
is good.
17 But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.
18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells;
for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find.
19 For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not
to do, that I practice.
20 Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but
sin that dwells in me.
21 I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills
to do good.
22 For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man.
23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my
mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.
24 O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of
death?
25 I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I
myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.
(v.14-25 NKJV)
That is not how Paul reflects on his struggle, and that which every true child of God has known. He is no hypocrite; he desperately wants to serve God. His heart is pure. His love and devotion to God is sincere. He doesn’t excuse his sin. He is horrified by it. That is a true child of God.
Although R.C. Sproul in his commentary on Romans would reject the term “carnal Christian,” he does make a vital point: “there is no such thing as a Christian who is carnal-less” (p.222). Even a spiritual giant like the Apostle Paul had this battle within. We all go through this. So, do we just accept defeat? Can we never do better?
That is the problem with the carnal Christian. They are trying to please God in a carnal—a fleshly—way. Having been saved by faith, they purpose to do all within their power to please God. That is an impossibility. Hebrews 11:6 reminds us that without faith, it is impossible to please God. Only by total reliance on Christ can we be saved and only by the same dependence on Christ can we be sanctified! Each of us are so tempted and give in to the seductive call to step out of grace-filled living and into the quagmire of religious ritual and rules and restrictions—sheer legalism!
The way to win the war within is not through trying to resist the world’s pressure, the flesh’s passion and the devil’s power by our own resolve and resources, but instead come to the end of ourselves and rely on the Lord. The way to victory is through surrender.
There is only one person who has ever lived the Christian life—Jesus Himself! Now, He indwells the believer. Let Jesus express His divine life through your humanity and you can win the war within. We are more than conquerors through Him!
Thursday, April 22, 2010
WINNING THE WAR WITHIN: Frustration of Legalism
Defeat by the law describes the carnal man. He is defined by his struggle. Such a person knows the frustration of legalism. Paul had struggled with this and testifies to it in Romans Seven.
Now, Paul shifts to the present tense to describe the frustration that every Christian knows. While we want to do good, there is still a part of us programmed to do evil—we’re a Jekyll and Hyde. The problem is that like Jekyll we try to fix ourselves. We fall back into legalism. We dedicate and rededicate. We consecrate and re-consecrate. We promise to do better, and we try and try and try…but, only to do what we don’t want to do and fail to do what we ought to do.
If a spiritual giant like Paul could fall into this trap, we surely can. His honesty is refreshing. Now, Paul isn’t a hypocrite. He truly loves God in his inner man (v.22). Yet, he has this body of death to deal with (v.23-24) and is wretched!
He cries out for deliverance. The Apostle recognizes the futility of trying to please God in the flesh. Victory requires surrender. Paul couldn’t save himself and he couldn’t sanctify himself. He looks to Christ to rescue him!
Then he goes from a pity party to a praise proclamation. He verbalizes his faith that Christ can do what he can never do. The same grace that delivers us from the penalty of sin is sufficient to deliver us from the power of sin.
Defeat by the law describes the carnal man. He is defined by his struggle. Such a person knows the frustration of legalism. Paul had struggled with this and testifies to it in Romans Seven.
14 For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under
sin.
15 For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do,
that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do.
16 If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it
is good.
17 But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.
18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells;
for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find.
19 For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not
to do, that I practice.
20 Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but
sin that dwells in me.
21 I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills
to do good.
22 For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man.
23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my
mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.
24 O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of
death?
25 I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I
myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.
(v.14-25 NKJV)
Now, Paul shifts to the present tense to describe the frustration that every Christian knows. While we want to do good, there is still a part of us programmed to do evil—we’re a Jekyll and Hyde. The problem is that like Jekyll we try to fix ourselves. We fall back into legalism. We dedicate and rededicate. We consecrate and re-consecrate. We promise to do better, and we try and try and try…but, only to do what we don’t want to do and fail to do what we ought to do.
If a spiritual giant like Paul could fall into this trap, we surely can. His honesty is refreshing. Now, Paul isn’t a hypocrite. He truly loves God in his inner man (v.22). Yet, he has this body of death to deal with (v.23-24) and is wretched!
He cries out for deliverance. The Apostle recognizes the futility of trying to please God in the flesh. Victory requires surrender. Paul couldn’t save himself and he couldn’t sanctify himself. He looks to Christ to rescue him!
Then he goes from a pity party to a praise proclamation. He verbalizes his faith that Christ can do what he can never do. The same grace that delivers us from the penalty of sin is sufficient to deliver us from the power of sin.
Monday, April 19, 2010
Here is a thought-provoking take on the discussion about the terms: Christian vs. Christ-follower
Are you a Christ follower or mainly just a label avoider?
Posted using ShareThis
Are you a Christ follower or mainly just a label avoider?
Posted using ShareThis
WINNING THE WAR WITHIN: Folly of Legalism
Doom from the law defines the natural man. He is dominated by his sin and continuing on that course means he will experience the folly of legalism. Paul, the Apostle, had once known that folly himself and describes it in Romans Seven:
Paul uses the past tense here, reminding us of the time when he was a proud Pharisee, full of self-righteousness—a legalist trying to earn God’s favor. He did pretty well with the first nine commandments, dealing with outward acts, but the tenth was an issue. In his heart, he was covetous. No one else may have known, but he knew—and he felt condemned. But, that was the very purpose of the law for:
ITS REVELATION (v.7). The law is a mirror that reveals who we really are. It exposes sin, but sinners want to excuse sin. We call drunkenness, alcoholism; adultery an affair; sodomy is gay; lying as overactive imagination. But no one goes to the doctor until they realize they’re sick. This is the law’s painful work—to prod and probe until the problem is laid bare.
ITS REVITALIZATION (v.8-9). John Phillips says the law’s “straight edge reveals the crookedness of human nature and…forces into the open all the latent rebellion of the human heart.” He illustrates this by pointing to the sunshine of spring on a vacant lot brings up all the weeds that were dormant in the ground as well as the grass. As pointed out in previous study, because of our sinfulness, we want to do the very thing we’re forbidden to do. Put a sign on a storefront, “Do not throw rocks at glass” and the window will be broken repeatedly!
ITS RETRIBUTION (v.10-11). The law carried not only precepts but penalties. Ultimately, the wages of sin is death: physical death and finally eternal death.
ITS RECOGNITION (v.12-13). This is meant to drive us to our knees. That’s when we can be saved. That’s what happened to Paul. He was blinded by the light and broken by the Lord. He was brought to the end of himself, but that’s where he met Christ.
Friend, Christ can only save you when you acknowledge that only Christ can save you. You stop trying to earn God’s approval, but instead trust in God’s approval of His Son’s work on the cross for you--and that delivers us from the doom of the law.
Doom from the law defines the natural man. He is dominated by his sin and continuing on that course means he will experience the folly of legalism. Paul, the Apostle, had once known that folly himself and describes it in Romans Seven:
7 What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! On the
contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not
have known covetousness unless the law had said, “You shall not covet.”
8 But sin, taking opportunity by the commandment, produced in me all
manner of evil desire. For apart from the law sin was dead.
9 I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came, sin
revived and I died.
10 And the commandment, which was to bring life, I found to bring
death.
11 For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it
killed me.
12 Therefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and
good.
13 Has then what is good become death to me? Certainly not! But sin,
that it might appear sin, was producing death in me through what is good, so
that sin through the commandment might become exceedingly sinful.
(v.7-13)
Paul uses the past tense here, reminding us of the time when he was a proud Pharisee, full of self-righteousness—a legalist trying to earn God’s favor. He did pretty well with the first nine commandments, dealing with outward acts, but the tenth was an issue. In his heart, he was covetous. No one else may have known, but he knew—and he felt condemned. But, that was the very purpose of the law for:
ITS REVELATION (v.7). The law is a mirror that reveals who we really are. It exposes sin, but sinners want to excuse sin. We call drunkenness, alcoholism; adultery an affair; sodomy is gay; lying as overactive imagination. But no one goes to the doctor until they realize they’re sick. This is the law’s painful work—to prod and probe until the problem is laid bare.
ITS REVITALIZATION (v.8-9). John Phillips says the law’s “straight edge reveals the crookedness of human nature and…forces into the open all the latent rebellion of the human heart.” He illustrates this by pointing to the sunshine of spring on a vacant lot brings up all the weeds that were dormant in the ground as well as the grass. As pointed out in previous study, because of our sinfulness, we want to do the very thing we’re forbidden to do. Put a sign on a storefront, “Do not throw rocks at glass” and the window will be broken repeatedly!
ITS RETRIBUTION (v.10-11). The law carried not only precepts but penalties. Ultimately, the wages of sin is death: physical death and finally eternal death.
ITS RECOGNITION (v.12-13). This is meant to drive us to our knees. That’s when we can be saved. That’s what happened to Paul. He was blinded by the light and broken by the Lord. He was brought to the end of himself, but that’s where he met Christ.
Friend, Christ can only save you when you acknowledge that only Christ can save you. You stop trying to earn God’s approval, but instead trust in God’s approval of His Son’s work on the cross for you--and that delivers us from the doom of the law.
WINNING THE WAR WITHIN: Freedom from Legalism
Death to the law defines the spiritual man. He is directed by the Spirit and free from legalism. Consider these words of the Apostle Paul:
Paul uses marriage as an illustration of the important spiritual truth that he has presented in chapter six. He has taught that the Christian is in vital union with Christ so that in His crucifixion, we died to sin and in His resurrection, we are raised to new life. Adrian Rogers presents Paul’s analogy this way:
There is a young single woman who finds a perfect man, Mr. Law, and marries him. David said in Psalm 19, “The law of the Lord is perfect.” Mr. Law is very demanding, however. Each day he goes to work and leaves a list of expectations. She really tries, but fails repeatedly. Mr. Law is merciless and never satisfied. It would not be easy to live with a spouse like that.
There was a woman married to a man she couldn’t please, but she tried anyway. One morning she asked him what he wanted for breakfast. “Two eggs, one scrambled and one fried,” he snarled. “Okay, darling,” his wife smiled in return. She did, but he pouted, “You scrambled the wrong egg.”
It’s hard to live with someone so hard to please. Now, let’s go back to the difficult plight of Mrs. Law. She knows she can’t biblically get out of marriage. She has promised “till death do us part.” Mr. Law isn’t dying. Jesus said, “till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law” (Matt.5:19). But what if she dies? She would be free to marry another. You’d argue that a dead person couldn’t get married. But what if they were raised from the dead as a new person?
That’s what Paul says happened to the believer. We died to the law, and were raised to be one with Christ. Now, she’s no longer married to Mr. Law, but to Mr. Love! Do you recall the day, the Holy Spirit told you about Jesus? He asked, “Will you have this Man to be your Lord and Savior? Do you promise to love, honor, trust and serve Him from this day forward to all eternity?” Then everything changed.
The woman married to Mr. Love no longer wants to please him out of duty, but devotion—not from external pressure but internal passion. Christianity isn’t about rules but relationship. The spiritual person understands. What’s more, all the assets of the Bridegroom are available to the Bride. We aren’t saved by self-effort and we aren’t sanctified by it. We bear spiritual fruit through reliance on the Spirit of Christ who indwells us. Paul had not always understood this. Do you get the picture. Don’t miss this point: we cannot be saved by our own efforts and we cannot be sanctified by our own efforts. It is a work of grace from start to finish.
Death to the law defines the spiritual man. He is directed by the Spirit and free from legalism. Consider these words of the Apostle Paul:
1 Or do you not know, brethren (for I speak to those who know the law),
that the law has dominion over a man as long as he lives?
2 For the woman who has a husband is bound by the law to her husband as
long as he lives. But if the husband dies, she is released from the law of her
husband.
3 So then if, while her husband lives, she marries another man, she
will be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from that
law, so that she is no adulteress, though she has married another man.
4 Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through
the body of Christ, that you may be married to another—to Him who was raised
from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God.
5 For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were aroused
by the law were at work in our members to bear fruit to death.
6 But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we
were held by, so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in
the oldness of the letter. (Romans 7:1-6)
Paul uses marriage as an illustration of the important spiritual truth that he has presented in chapter six. He has taught that the Christian is in vital union with Christ so that in His crucifixion, we died to sin and in His resurrection, we are raised to new life. Adrian Rogers presents Paul’s analogy this way:
There is a young single woman who finds a perfect man, Mr. Law, and marries him. David said in Psalm 19, “The law of the Lord is perfect.” Mr. Law is very demanding, however. Each day he goes to work and leaves a list of expectations. She really tries, but fails repeatedly. Mr. Law is merciless and never satisfied. It would not be easy to live with a spouse like that.
There was a woman married to a man she couldn’t please, but she tried anyway. One morning she asked him what he wanted for breakfast. “Two eggs, one scrambled and one fried,” he snarled. “Okay, darling,” his wife smiled in return. She did, but he pouted, “You scrambled the wrong egg.”
It’s hard to live with someone so hard to please. Now, let’s go back to the difficult plight of Mrs. Law. She knows she can’t biblically get out of marriage. She has promised “till death do us part.” Mr. Law isn’t dying. Jesus said, “till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law” (Matt.5:19). But what if she dies? She would be free to marry another. You’d argue that a dead person couldn’t get married. But what if they were raised from the dead as a new person?
That’s what Paul says happened to the believer. We died to the law, and were raised to be one with Christ. Now, she’s no longer married to Mr. Law, but to Mr. Love! Do you recall the day, the Holy Spirit told you about Jesus? He asked, “Will you have this Man to be your Lord and Savior? Do you promise to love, honor, trust and serve Him from this day forward to all eternity?” Then everything changed.
The woman married to Mr. Love no longer wants to please him out of duty, but devotion—not from external pressure but internal passion. Christianity isn’t about rules but relationship. The spiritual person understands. What’s more, all the assets of the Bridegroom are available to the Bride. We aren’t saved by self-effort and we aren’t sanctified by it. We bear spiritual fruit through reliance on the Spirit of Christ who indwells us. Paul had not always understood this. Do you get the picture. Don’t miss this point: we cannot be saved by our own efforts and we cannot be sanctified by our own efforts. It is a work of grace from start to finish.
WINNING THE WAR WITHIN
In 1886, Robert Louis Stevenson published a book called, “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.” In the story, a good Dr. Henry Jekyll discovers and drinks a potion that turns him into the monstrous Edward Hyde. These dual personalities struggle within the same man for control. Ever feel that way? It is the war within that Paul is describing in Romans chapter seven. Listen to a man whose life has become a battlefield:
15 For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do,
that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do.
16 If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it
is good.
17 But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.
18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells;
for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find.
19 For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not
to do, that I practice.
20 Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but
sin that dwells in me.
21 I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills
to do good.
22 For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man.
23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my
mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.
24 O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of
death?
25 I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I
myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.
That, my friends, is a no-holds barred portrayal of the war within!
Yet, the Apostle tells us that it is a battle we can win—but, not through our own struggle and strength. That will only lead to more setbacks. Success is found in surrender—not in surrender to sin by giving up, but surrender to the Savior by looking up.
Paul has three types of people in view as he presents this passionate autobiography: the natural man, the carnal Christian and the spiritual man. Look at how he describes these spiritual stages in 1 Corinthians 2:14-3:3:
In 1886, Robert Louis Stevenson published a book called, “The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.” In the story, a good Dr. Henry Jekyll discovers and drinks a potion that turns him into the monstrous Edward Hyde. These dual personalities struggle within the same man for control. Ever feel that way? It is the war within that Paul is describing in Romans chapter seven. Listen to a man whose life has become a battlefield:
15 For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do,
that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do.
16 If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it
is good.
17 But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.
18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells;
for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find.
19 For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not
to do, that I practice.
20 Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but
sin that dwells in me.
21 I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills
to do good.
22 For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man.
23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my
mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.
24 O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of
death?
25 I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I
myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.
That, my friends, is a no-holds barred portrayal of the war within!
Yet, the Apostle tells us that it is a battle we can win—but, not through our own struggle and strength. That will only lead to more setbacks. Success is found in surrender—not in surrender to sin by giving up, but surrender to the Savior by looking up.
Paul has three types of people in view as he presents this passionate autobiography: the natural man, the carnal Christian and the spiritual man. Look at how he describes these spiritual stages in 1 Corinthians 2:14-3:3:
14 But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit ofThe natural man is the sinful man who does not know the ways of God. The carnal believer is the struggling man who knowing the ways of God finds himself failing to follow them, though there is a part of him that very much wants to do so. The spiritual man is the one who knows and walks in God’s ways. Paul experienced all three stages in his spiritual life. That’s what we’ll explore this week as we study God’s Word together.
God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are
spiritually discerned.
15 But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly
judged by no one.
16 For “who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him?”
But we have the mind of Christ.
1 And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual people but as
to carnal, as to babes in Christ.
2 I fed you with milk and not with solid food; for until now you were
not able to receive it, and even now you are still not able;
3 for you are still carnal. For where there are envy, strife, and
divisions among you, are you not carnal and behaving like mere men?
Thursday, April 15, 2010
THE SLAVE TO LOVE: Freedom We Will Enjoy
Jesus promised, “You shall know the truth, and the truth will set you free,” (John 8:32). The truth is that the life of liberty is one in which we are freed from the slavery of sin and then willing surrendered to Christ, as a slave to love. This is the message of Paul in Romans 6:15-23:
Here’s the truth:
WE ARE FREE FROM SERVING THE OLD MASTER. Verses seventeen and twenty tell us we “were slaves to sin” (past tense). This is no longer the case.
Following the Civil War, there were many slaves that remained on the plantation desiring to serve their old master even though they were now free. They had become so accustomed to slavery that they couldn’t see themselves living any other way. The sad fact is that many of God’s children are settling for a life of continued failure, giving in to an old master from which they have been emancipated!
WE ARE FREE TO SERVE THE NEW MASTER. Verses eighteen, nineteen and twenty-two make it clear that we are now slaves to God. There is the liberating power of obedience. It isn’t freedom to do what we want, but freedom to do what we ought. The bond slave is a slave to love. Since we belong to Jesus, He also has the responsibility to care for us. We are His valuable property and as sich, we have the Master’s provision and protection. How this sets us free from anxiety!
Have you bowed your head and submitted your life to Christ the Lord? Turn from your sins. Christ will break every fetter. Sin shall no longer have dominion over you.
Jesus promised, “You shall know the truth, and the truth will set you free,” (John 8:32). The truth is that the life of liberty is one in which we are freed from the slavery of sin and then willing surrendered to Christ, as a slave to love. This is the message of Paul in Romans 6:15-23:
15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not!
16 Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness?
17 But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered.
18 And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.
19 I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness.
20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness.
21 What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death.
22 But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life.
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life
in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Here’s the truth:
WE ARE FREE FROM SERVING THE OLD MASTER. Verses seventeen and twenty tell us we “were slaves to sin” (past tense). This is no longer the case.
Following the Civil War, there were many slaves that remained on the plantation desiring to serve their old master even though they were now free. They had become so accustomed to slavery that they couldn’t see themselves living any other way. The sad fact is that many of God’s children are settling for a life of continued failure, giving in to an old master from which they have been emancipated!
WE ARE FREE TO SERVE THE NEW MASTER. Verses eighteen, nineteen and twenty-two make it clear that we are now slaves to God. There is the liberating power of obedience. It isn’t freedom to do what we want, but freedom to do what we ought. The bond slave is a slave to love. Since we belong to Jesus, He also has the responsibility to care for us. We are His valuable property and as sich, we have the Master’s provision and protection. How this sets us free from anxiety!
Have you bowed your head and submitted your life to Christ the Lord? Turn from your sins. Christ will break every fetter. Sin shall no longer have dominion over you.
THE SLAVE TO LOVE: Force We Will Experience
The Christian life isn’t just difficult—it’s impossible! We cannot live it on our own, but thankfully, we don’t have to. When we submit to God, there is a force we can experience that can only be described as the supernatural power of the Almighty unleashed in and through human instrumentality.
Paul gives us the key to a life that is naturally supernatural and supernaturally natural when he says,
The connecting point where the power of this truth is released is found in the word“present.”
REFUSE TO OFFER YOUR BODY TO SENSUAL DESIRES. Fleshly impulses need no longer drive your life. You have the authority as a child of God to say, “No!” to the world, the flesh and the devil. Because you have offered your thoughts to evil, your heart to carnal desire, and your will to sin’s dominion in the past, you find it easy to slip into these old patterns and yield your body to do wrong. That has been the natural response, yet you now have a new nature and are in union with Christ. Still, it isn’t enough at that point to just try not to do wrong, but we must do the right thing.
RESPOND IN OFFERING YOUR BODY TO SPIRITUAL DIRECTION. Our minds can be renewed by the Word of God. Our hearts can be redirected by the Spirit of God. Our will can be realigned to the will of God and then we yield our body to do the right thing. In a sense, we get reprogrammed. Hellish habits are replaced by holy habits. Faith taps into the grace of God and breaks the chains of sin.
Will you now present yourself to God? Present yourself as one who has been set free from sin and given new life in Christ.
The Christian life isn’t just difficult—it’s impossible! We cannot live it on our own, but thankfully, we don’t have to. When we submit to God, there is a force we can experience that can only be described as the supernatural power of the Almighty unleashed in and through human instrumentality.
Paul gives us the key to a life that is naturally supernatural and supernaturally natural when he says,
12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey
it in its lusts. 13 And do not present your members as instruments of
unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the
dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. 14 For sin shall
not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.
(Rom.6:12-14)
The connecting point where the power of this truth is released is found in the word“present.”
REFUSE TO OFFER YOUR BODY TO SENSUAL DESIRES. Fleshly impulses need no longer drive your life. You have the authority as a child of God to say, “No!” to the world, the flesh and the devil. Because you have offered your thoughts to evil, your heart to carnal desire, and your will to sin’s dominion in the past, you find it easy to slip into these old patterns and yield your body to do wrong. That has been the natural response, yet you now have a new nature and are in union with Christ. Still, it isn’t enough at that point to just try not to do wrong, but we must do the right thing.
RESPOND IN OFFERING YOUR BODY TO SPIRITUAL DIRECTION. Our minds can be renewed by the Word of God. Our hearts can be redirected by the Spirit of God. Our will can be realigned to the will of God and then we yield our body to do the right thing. In a sense, we get reprogrammed. Hellish habits are replaced by holy habits. Faith taps into the grace of God and breaks the chains of sin.
Will you now present yourself to God? Present yourself as one who has been set free from sin and given new life in Christ.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
THE SLAVE TO LOVE: Faith We Must Exercise
A genuine Christian can be properly called a “believer” because he or she has come to salvation by faith in Christ alone. Yet, for some reason, many of these same believers in grace to save, then set off trying to be sanctified through their own efforts and the energy of the flesh. They miss the reality that from start to finish, the Christian life is all of grace and is a walk of faith! Perhaps this explains why so many believers either are at the point of giving up and giving in to defeat—often expressed as, “Well, I’m just a sinner saved by grace” or “Christians aren’t perfect, just forgiven.” While these statements aren’t incorrect, they are incomplete. We are sinners saved by grace, but we are not “just” that—we are more, having become “partakers of the Divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4) and as Paul tells us in Romans Six, that the old man has been crucified and new resurrection life and power has been given.
In this world with all its temptations and the ever-present, weak flesh we dwell in, there is no way we will be sinless, yet, we ought to sin less! The flip side of the coin, as opposed to those who have just accepted defeat, is the self-righteous hypocrite who pretends he or she is better than they are. They have tried so hard to live up to God’s standards and failed again and again, but are so concerned with keeping up appearances that they seek to cover up their sin and hide it under a veneer of piety. Neither of these positions is acceptable; neither is Biblical.
God’s supernatural grace that flows to us through faith is the key. There is a faith that we must exercise. Paul puts it this way, “Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:11).
The crucial word is: “reckon.” This is an accounting term. Let me illustrate this truth. Each week, my salary is directly deposited into my bank account. I never see the check. I never hold the cash. It is processed electronically. Based on the numbers I see on the computer screen, I reckon the fact that I have x amount of dollars and then can pay bills over the internet without ever writing a check or handing someone cash. I am acting in faith based on the facts. I reckon it—I account it to be done. In the same way, I am to account that I am dead to sin and alive to God. Whatever my senses may dictate, or however I may feel, the facts are unalterable.
You may say, but I don’t feel dead to sin, or I can’t see how I’m living in Christ’s power! Your salvation was by faith—not dependent on your experience or feelings—and so is your sanctification. If you trust that by believing in Christ you were saved, can you not trust that through Him you now can walk in victory? You may argue, “Well, I’ll believe it when I see it.” God says, “You’ll see it when you believe it!”
This isn’t possibility thinking. It isn’t occultism, conjuring up some reality we wish were true. It is taking by faith that which we know to be true, and as we do that, the wondrous grace of God is released in us to live as one dead indeed unto sin, but gloriously alive in Christ!
A genuine Christian can be properly called a “believer” because he or she has come to salvation by faith in Christ alone. Yet, for some reason, many of these same believers in grace to save, then set off trying to be sanctified through their own efforts and the energy of the flesh. They miss the reality that from start to finish, the Christian life is all of grace and is a walk of faith! Perhaps this explains why so many believers either are at the point of giving up and giving in to defeat—often expressed as, “Well, I’m just a sinner saved by grace” or “Christians aren’t perfect, just forgiven.” While these statements aren’t incorrect, they are incomplete. We are sinners saved by grace, but we are not “just” that—we are more, having become “partakers of the Divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4) and as Paul tells us in Romans Six, that the old man has been crucified and new resurrection life and power has been given.
In this world with all its temptations and the ever-present, weak flesh we dwell in, there is no way we will be sinless, yet, we ought to sin less! The flip side of the coin, as opposed to those who have just accepted defeat, is the self-righteous hypocrite who pretends he or she is better than they are. They have tried so hard to live up to God’s standards and failed again and again, but are so concerned with keeping up appearances that they seek to cover up their sin and hide it under a veneer of piety. Neither of these positions is acceptable; neither is Biblical.
God’s supernatural grace that flows to us through faith is the key. There is a faith that we must exercise. Paul puts it this way, “Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:11).
The crucial word is: “reckon.” This is an accounting term. Let me illustrate this truth. Each week, my salary is directly deposited into my bank account. I never see the check. I never hold the cash. It is processed electronically. Based on the numbers I see on the computer screen, I reckon the fact that I have x amount of dollars and then can pay bills over the internet without ever writing a check or handing someone cash. I am acting in faith based on the facts. I reckon it—I account it to be done. In the same way, I am to account that I am dead to sin and alive to God. Whatever my senses may dictate, or however I may feel, the facts are unalterable.
You may say, but I don’t feel dead to sin, or I can’t see how I’m living in Christ’s power! Your salvation was by faith—not dependent on your experience or feelings—and so is your sanctification. If you trust that by believing in Christ you were saved, can you not trust that through Him you now can walk in victory? You may argue, “Well, I’ll believe it when I see it.” God says, “You’ll see it when you believe it!”
This isn’t possibility thinking. It isn’t occultism, conjuring up some reality we wish were true. It is taking by faith that which we know to be true, and as we do that, the wondrous grace of God is released in us to live as one dead indeed unto sin, but gloriously alive in Christ!
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
THE SLAVE TO LOVE: Facts We Must Embrace
For many Christians, the pages of their Bibles are still stuck together at Romans Six and Seven. They love Romans Five and Eight—indeed, they should. Those contain the great truths of justification and glorification: the commencement and consummation of the Christian life. Yet, they scarcely seem to consider the matter of sanctification which Romans Six and Seven deal with. It seems as though Satan has blinded our minds, or at least diverted our attention from some vital truths that we need to know. He recognizes that for us to get a grip on these truths (or better still for these truths to get a grip on us) would turn the Christian into a spiritual powerhouse that would jeopardize the devil’s death grip on this fallen world!
Look at Paul’s message and consider carefully the incredible implications:
The key word is “knowing.” Here are some facts that we need to embrace.
God’s Word declares:
WE ARE CRUCIFIED WITH CHRIST. Our union with Jesus is so complete that what He experienced is credited to us. We know that Christ took our sins upon Him at Calvary and paid the price for those sins with His precious blood. What we have failed to grasp is that act as vital as it was would not have been enough. Our problem isn’t just the sins we commit, but the sinners we are. Yet, Hallelujah, Christ dealt with that too! Our old nature was nailed to the cross with Him. In that we died to sin! What power does sin have over a dead man? You could parade a nearly naked woman around a corpse on a slab at the funeral home and the fellow wouldn’t flinch—he’s dead! You could offer him a bottle of liquor and he wouldn’t even lick his lips—he’s dead.
WE ARE RAISED WITH CHRIST. His resurrection life is ours. The power that brought Him back to life and gave Him victory over death, hell and the grave is available to us. All that Jesus is, now resides in me. John said, “As He is so are we in this world,” (1 John 4:17). The Christian life is simply Jesus being Jesus in me! Paul said it like this in Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” It isn’t so much a changed life as it is an exchanged life! My weakness, sinfulness and ignorance, given to Christ and His power, holiness and wisdom given to me—and that is victory!
For many Christians, the pages of their Bibles are still stuck together at Romans Six and Seven. They love Romans Five and Eight—indeed, they should. Those contain the great truths of justification and glorification: the commencement and consummation of the Christian life. Yet, they scarcely seem to consider the matter of sanctification which Romans Six and Seven deal with. It seems as though Satan has blinded our minds, or at least diverted our attention from some vital truths that we need to know. He recognizes that for us to get a grip on these truths (or better still for these truths to get a grip on us) would turn the Christian into a spiritual powerhouse that would jeopardize the devil’s death grip on this fallen world!
Look at Paul’s message and consider carefully the incredible implications:
1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?
2 Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?
3 Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?
4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
5 For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection,
6 knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.
7 For he who has died has been freed from sin.
8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him,
9 knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him.
10 For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. (Romans 6:1-10 NKJV)
The key word is “knowing.” Here are some facts that we need to embrace.
God’s Word declares:
WE ARE CRUCIFIED WITH CHRIST. Our union with Jesus is so complete that what He experienced is credited to us. We know that Christ took our sins upon Him at Calvary and paid the price for those sins with His precious blood. What we have failed to grasp is that act as vital as it was would not have been enough. Our problem isn’t just the sins we commit, but the sinners we are. Yet, Hallelujah, Christ dealt with that too! Our old nature was nailed to the cross with Him. In that we died to sin! What power does sin have over a dead man? You could parade a nearly naked woman around a corpse on a slab at the funeral home and the fellow wouldn’t flinch—he’s dead! You could offer him a bottle of liquor and he wouldn’t even lick his lips—he’s dead.
WE ARE RAISED WITH CHRIST. His resurrection life is ours. The power that brought Him back to life and gave Him victory over death, hell and the grave is available to us. All that Jesus is, now resides in me. John said, “As He is so are we in this world,” (1 John 4:17). The Christian life is simply Jesus being Jesus in me! Paul said it like this in Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” It isn’t so much a changed life as it is an exchanged life! My weakness, sinfulness and ignorance, given to Christ and His power, holiness and wisdom given to me—and that is victory!
Monday, April 12, 2010
THE SLAVE TO LOVE
Bob Dylan has been a major figure in pop music for the last five decades and is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In the 70’s he claimed to have become a born-again Christian, produced two Gospel albums, including the Grammy Award winning, “Gotta Serve Somebody.”
Bob Dylan has been a major figure in pop music for the last five decades and is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In the 70’s he claimed to have become a born-again Christian, produced two Gospel albums, including the Grammy Award winning, “Gotta Serve Somebody.”
GOTTA SERVE SOMEBODY
Bob Dylan
YOU MAY BE AN AMBASSADOR TO ENGLAND OR FRANCE,
YOU MAY LIKE TO GAMBLE,YOU MIGHT LIKE TO DANCE,
YOU MAY BE THE HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION OF THE WORLD,
YOU MAY BE A SOCIALITE WITH A LONG STRING OF PEARLS
BUT YOU’RE GONNA HAVE TO SERVE SOMEBODY,
YES INDEED YOU’RE GONNA HAVE TO SERVE SOMEBODY,
WELL, IT MAY BE THE DEVIL OR IT MAY BE THE LORD
BUT YOU’RE GONNA HAVE TO SERVE SOMEBODY.
That is the Gospel truth. It isn’t a question if you are going to serve someone or something, but only a matter of whom or what you serve. In Dylan’s words, “Everybody’s gonna have to serve somebody.”
Paul speaks in the sixth chapter of Romans about this choice—being a slave to sin or being a slave to Christ. One of the Apostle’s favorite words to describe himself was a “bondslave of Jesus Christ.” In the Old Testament, slaves had to be periodically set free, but if there was a slave that had been treated well by his master and loved his master, he could become a bondslave. His ear would be pierced with an awl, forever marking him as belonging to his master. Paul saw himself this way—as a slave of love for Christ.
Seeing ourselves in the right way is vital. This week, we will present a Biblical perspective on our union with Christ—that we learn to see ourselves as God sees us. It can make an exponential difference in your spiritual life!
Friday, April 09, 2010
FREE AT LAST! Truth That Sets Us Free
All this week we have pondered on what it means to be free, according to Paul’s teaching in the book of Romans. Jesus said that we would know the truth and the truth would set us free (John 8:32, 36). These great truths are presented concerning the past, present and promised work of Truth Incarnate—Jesus Christ—throughout the epistle.
The first section of Romans is doctrinal: chapters one through eleven. The second section is practical: chapters twelve through sixteen. Belief and behavior are intertwined—one grows out of the other.
In the early portion of the doctrinal section, chapters one through five, the focus is on justification. We are free from the penalty of sin. This is based on the past work of Christ on the cross. We are forgiven because He paid the penalty we deserved. I can thus say, “I have been saved.” When Jesus said, “It is finished,” it was a done deal.
In the middle of this section, chapters six and seven the focus shifts to sanctification (and we might say the thread of teaching extends into chapter eight). We are free from the power of sin. This is rooted in the present work of Christ in His saints. While a child of God will not be sinless this side of heaven, they can sin less. I can say, “I am being saved.” Day by day, I can reckon myself dead to sin and alive to God by the dynamic power of the Spirit.
In the final chapters of the first section, chapters eight through eleven the focus moves to glorification (as noted there is overlap in chapter eight with the previous thrust of truth). We will be free from the presence of sin. This is grounded in the promised work of Christ accomplished in His saints when He returns. I can say, “I will be saved.” The best thing about heaven will be the unbroken fellowship with God for eternity. Akin to that, will be the end of that which keeps us apart—sin. As the old hymn says, “Till all the ransomed church of God, Be saved to sin no more.” What a day that will be!
Come, Lord Jesus!
All this week we have pondered on what it means to be free, according to Paul’s teaching in the book of Romans. Jesus said that we would know the truth and the truth would set us free (John 8:32, 36). These great truths are presented concerning the past, present and promised work of Truth Incarnate—Jesus Christ—throughout the epistle.
The first section of Romans is doctrinal: chapters one through eleven. The second section is practical: chapters twelve through sixteen. Belief and behavior are intertwined—one grows out of the other.
In the early portion of the doctrinal section, chapters one through five, the focus is on justification. We are free from the penalty of sin. This is based on the past work of Christ on the cross. We are forgiven because He paid the penalty we deserved. I can thus say, “I have been saved.” When Jesus said, “It is finished,” it was a done deal.
In the middle of this section, chapters six and seven the focus shifts to sanctification (and we might say the thread of teaching extends into chapter eight). We are free from the power of sin. This is rooted in the present work of Christ in His saints. While a child of God will not be sinless this side of heaven, they can sin less. I can say, “I am being saved.” Day by day, I can reckon myself dead to sin and alive to God by the dynamic power of the Spirit.
In the final chapters of the first section, chapters eight through eleven the focus moves to glorification (as noted there is overlap in chapter eight with the previous thrust of truth). We will be free from the presence of sin. This is grounded in the promised work of Christ accomplished in His saints when He returns. I can say, “I will be saved.” The best thing about heaven will be the unbroken fellowship with God for eternity. Akin to that, will be the end of that which keeps us apart—sin. As the old hymn says, “Till all the ransomed church of God, Be saved to sin no more.” What a day that will be!
Come, Lord Jesus!
Thursday, April 08, 2010
FREE AT LAST! Our Provision Through Belief
Scripture is clear that we are justified by faith in Christ alone. But, have we missed the point that we are sanctified in the same way? This is what Paul wrote in Romans 6:8-11,
Two key words jump out at us: “we believe” (v.8) That’s all God is asking of you today—to simply trust Him. If you have never received Christ as Lord and Savior, there is no better time than today. In fact, there may not be another time, as this could be your last day. Who knows? Delay can be deadly.
Do you believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross for your sins? Do you believe that He rose from the dead? Do you believe that God would not lie to you and that He has the power to do that which He has promised? Here’s the promise:
Is that all? That’s all!
So, you have done that. You are a Christian, but you don’t find yourself acting much like one at times. Not that you haven’t tried. Not that you don’t feel guilty about failure. But, it seems that’s what you must settle for.
If that is your approach, you will continue to be frustrated. Paul expressed it to the Galatians this way, “Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh?” (Gal.3:4). The only way to live the Christian life is by faith in the Christ who lives in you! Moment by moment we rely on Him. Our prayer is, “Jesus, be Jesus in me!” That is the life of faith and the life that pleases God. “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him” (Heb.11:6).
Scripture is clear that we are justified by faith in Christ alone. But, have we missed the point that we are sanctified in the same way? This is what Paul wrote in Romans 6:8-11,
8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him,
9knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him.
10 For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God.
11 Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Two key words jump out at us: “we believe” (v.8) That’s all God is asking of you today—to simply trust Him. If you have never received Christ as Lord and Savior, there is no better time than today. In fact, there may not be another time, as this could be your last day. Who knows? Delay can be deadly.
Do you believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross for your sins? Do you believe that He rose from the dead? Do you believe that God would not lie to you and that He has the power to do that which He has promised? Here’s the promise:
9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
11 For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.”
12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him.
13 For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” (Rom.10:9-13)
Is that all? That’s all!
So, you have done that. You are a Christian, but you don’t find yourself acting much like one at times. Not that you haven’t tried. Not that you don’t feel guilty about failure. But, it seems that’s what you must settle for.
If that is your approach, you will continue to be frustrated. Paul expressed it to the Galatians this way, “Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh?” (Gal.3:4). The only way to live the Christian life is by faith in the Christ who lives in you! Moment by moment we rely on Him. Our prayer is, “Jesus, be Jesus in me!” That is the life of faith and the life that pleases God. “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him” (Heb.11:6).
Wednesday, April 07, 2010
FREE AT LAST! Our Power over Bondage
Someone once described the typical Christian’s life as being like an old, iron bedstead: firm on both ends, and sagging in the middle. We’re firm on the past—we’ve been saved. We’re firm in our prospects—we’re going to heaven. But now—well, there’s the problem. If we could only see that the same grace that will bring us to the sweet bye and bye will bring us through the nasty now and now!
Consider Paul’s words in Romans 6:5-7, “For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin.”
That powerful grace which justifies us and will glorify us, can also sanctify us! We are set free from the penalty of sin and one day from the very presence of sin, but further—right now—we are set free from the power of sin. That’s what Romans chapter six is all about.
Paul understood well the charge that some legalists would make, that if you preach grace, then some would use it as an excuse for sin. He also anticipated that some libertines on the opposite end of the spectrum would promote that very error. The thought would be, “I’ll pray to receive Christ, but then I’ll continue to live like I always have.” It would be like someone using God for a mere fire insurance policy. The problem is, this isn’t liberty, but license. Grace isn’t the privilege to do what you want, but the power to do what you ought! Freedom isn’t being enslaved to carnal desires, but being empowered to do God’s will.
You come to God on His terms. They aren’t open for negotiation. He’s the King and you are not. The essence of sin is self—you want to be your own god and run your own life. The essence of salvation is surrender to Christ—He becomes Lord. Your life comes under new management.
Now, some might hesitate to yield to Christ, for fear that they are too weak to keep their commitment. Don’t forget this point we are making: the good news is that God doesn’t just free us from sin’s penalty but from its power. If we are sincere in surrender to Him, He will be faithful to deliver us. “He who has begun a good work in you will complete it” (Phil.1:6). That is the work of God! He is able to save—from the gutter-most to the uttermost!
Someone once described the typical Christian’s life as being like an old, iron bedstead: firm on both ends, and sagging in the middle. We’re firm on the past—we’ve been saved. We’re firm in our prospects—we’re going to heaven. But now—well, there’s the problem. If we could only see that the same grace that will bring us to the sweet bye and bye will bring us through the nasty now and now!
Consider Paul’s words in Romans 6:5-7, “For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin.”
That powerful grace which justifies us and will glorify us, can also sanctify us! We are set free from the penalty of sin and one day from the very presence of sin, but further—right now—we are set free from the power of sin. That’s what Romans chapter six is all about.
Paul understood well the charge that some legalists would make, that if you preach grace, then some would use it as an excuse for sin. He also anticipated that some libertines on the opposite end of the spectrum would promote that very error. The thought would be, “I’ll pray to receive Christ, but then I’ll continue to live like I always have.” It would be like someone using God for a mere fire insurance policy. The problem is, this isn’t liberty, but license. Grace isn’t the privilege to do what you want, but the power to do what you ought! Freedom isn’t being enslaved to carnal desires, but being empowered to do God’s will.
You come to God on His terms. They aren’t open for negotiation. He’s the King and you are not. The essence of sin is self—you want to be your own god and run your own life. The essence of salvation is surrender to Christ—He becomes Lord. Your life comes under new management.
Now, some might hesitate to yield to Christ, for fear that they are too weak to keep their commitment. Don’t forget this point we are making: the good news is that God doesn’t just free us from sin’s penalty but from its power. If we are sincere in surrender to Him, He will be faithful to deliver us. “He who has begun a good work in you will complete it” (Phil.1:6). That is the work of God! He is able to save—from the gutter-most to the uttermost!
Tuesday, April 06, 2010
FREE AT LAST! Our Pattern in Baptism
Through Christ, believers are free: free from sin’s penalty, its power and one day, its very presence. This freedom was purchased by the death and resurrection of Christ. The pattern is displayed in baptism. Pay special attention to Romans 6:4: “Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” Of course, Paul is speaking of the spiritual baptism of one who has come to faith in Christ, yet, that truth is illustrated in the act of immersion in water.
At the close of last Sunday’s service, we observed the ordinance of baptism. The candidates surrendered themselves in faith to our hands and we buried them beneath the water and raised them from the water. Through this symbol, they professed publicly that their lives had been surrendered to God’s hands and that they had placed their faith in the death, burial and resurrection of Christ to save them. It is an outward picture of what each one claims as an inward reality. When we bury a person in the water, they are declaring they have joined Christ in His death—that they have died to sin. Then when we raise them from the water, they are testifying that they have been raised to walk in new life in Christ. I tell those to be baptized that they will preach a sermon in symbolism. The Gospel message is summed up by Paul in 1 Corinthians15:3-4, “For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.” That is the pattern in baptism.
Perhaps as you’ve read these words, you understand the meaning of the term Gospel—or, maybe not. It is a word that simply means, “good news.” Do you know what makes the good news good? It is that there is so much bad news: the bad news is that all of us are sinners. You’ve never met a perfect person have you? There are none. Worse than that, because we are sinners, we are separated from God—and worst of all—to die in that condition is to be separated from God eternally. Yet, what we celebrated last weekend is the good news that Christ died for our sins—He suffered the death we deserved and then rose from the dead, so that we can be forgiven and have eternal life as a free gift! That’s pretty good news, I’d say!
How can you receive that free gift? Well, you can’t earn it. You can’t do enough good to undo the bad. Being religious won’t cut it. Rules and rituals are external, while our problem is internal. As important as baptism is—that won’t save you. Water has no power to wash our sins away. We do not baptize people in order to save them, but as an announcement to the world that they already are! You come to Christ admitting that you are a sinner and that you cannot save yourself. You place your faith in Christ and Him alone and He promises to save you!
But remember all that Jesus called He called publicly. If you want to follow Christ, you cannot be ashamed of Him. There is no such thing as a “closet Christian.” How could you be—in view of all He’s done for you? He died in a public spectacle on a cross and now calls us to take up our cross and follow Him. So, if you have decided to follow Christ in the past or will do so today—why not be baptized as soon as the opportunity presents itself? It is a way of confirming that you have turned from sin and turned to Christ.
Through Christ, believers are free: free from sin’s penalty, its power and one day, its very presence. This freedom was purchased by the death and resurrection of Christ. The pattern is displayed in baptism. Pay special attention to Romans 6:4: “Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” Of course, Paul is speaking of the spiritual baptism of one who has come to faith in Christ, yet, that truth is illustrated in the act of immersion in water.
At the close of last Sunday’s service, we observed the ordinance of baptism. The candidates surrendered themselves in faith to our hands and we buried them beneath the water and raised them from the water. Through this symbol, they professed publicly that their lives had been surrendered to God’s hands and that they had placed their faith in the death, burial and resurrection of Christ to save them. It is an outward picture of what each one claims as an inward reality. When we bury a person in the water, they are declaring they have joined Christ in His death—that they have died to sin. Then when we raise them from the water, they are testifying that they have been raised to walk in new life in Christ. I tell those to be baptized that they will preach a sermon in symbolism. The Gospel message is summed up by Paul in 1 Corinthians15:3-4, “For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.” That is the pattern in baptism.
Perhaps as you’ve read these words, you understand the meaning of the term Gospel—or, maybe not. It is a word that simply means, “good news.” Do you know what makes the good news good? It is that there is so much bad news: the bad news is that all of us are sinners. You’ve never met a perfect person have you? There are none. Worse than that, because we are sinners, we are separated from God—and worst of all—to die in that condition is to be separated from God eternally. Yet, what we celebrated last weekend is the good news that Christ died for our sins—He suffered the death we deserved and then rose from the dead, so that we can be forgiven and have eternal life as a free gift! That’s pretty good news, I’d say!
How can you receive that free gift? Well, you can’t earn it. You can’t do enough good to undo the bad. Being religious won’t cut it. Rules and rituals are external, while our problem is internal. As important as baptism is—that won’t save you. Water has no power to wash our sins away. We do not baptize people in order to save them, but as an announcement to the world that they already are! You come to Christ admitting that you are a sinner and that you cannot save yourself. You place your faith in Christ and Him alone and He promises to save you!
But remember all that Jesus called He called publicly. If you want to follow Christ, you cannot be ashamed of Him. There is no such thing as a “closet Christian.” How could you be—in view of all He’s done for you? He died in a public spectacle on a cross and now calls us to take up our cross and follow Him. So, if you have decided to follow Christ in the past or will do so today—why not be baptized as soon as the opportunity presents itself? It is a way of confirming that you have turned from sin and turned to Christ.
Monday, April 05, 2010
FREE AT LAST!
It is possible that at the time Paul wrote his epistle to the Romans that there were as many as ten million slaves throughout the empire. It is likely that half a million slaves lived in the city of Rome itself. Imagine what it must have been like to be only a piece of property—to live in bondage everyday; to be subservient to your master’s every whim.
We can imagine, for the fact is, that we are born into this spiritual condition. All of us are slaves to sin. That is the imagery the Apostle uses throughout the sixth chapter of Romans. For example in verses six and seven, he writes, “knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin.”
Jesus’ mission to earth was to set us free from sin. For a time it seemed that mission was in jeopardy. The Lord of life had been nailed to a cross. His corpse was sealed in a tomb under guard by Roman soldiers. Worse, death wrapped its dark chains around Him until the third day.
But then…
He was free!
Because Jesus has broken the shackles of sin and death, we are free—free from guilt, shame, fear, condemnation—free at last!
It is possible that at the time Paul wrote his epistle to the Romans that there were as many as ten million slaves throughout the empire. It is likely that half a million slaves lived in the city of Rome itself. Imagine what it must have been like to be only a piece of property—to live in bondage everyday; to be subservient to your master’s every whim.
We can imagine, for the fact is, that we are born into this spiritual condition. All of us are slaves to sin. That is the imagery the Apostle uses throughout the sixth chapter of Romans. For example in verses six and seven, he writes, “knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin.”
Jesus’ mission to earth was to set us free from sin. For a time it seemed that mission was in jeopardy. The Lord of life had been nailed to a cross. His corpse was sealed in a tomb under guard by Roman soldiers. Worse, death wrapped its dark chains around Him until the third day.
But then…
“Death cannot keep his prey, Jesus my Savior; He tore the bars away, Jesus, my Lord!” Peter, who saw Him, alive from the dead preached this, “[Christ] God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it” (Acts 2:24). Hebrews 2:14-15 puts it this way, “Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage."
He was free!
Because Jesus has broken the shackles of sin and death, we are free—free from guilt, shame, fear, condemnation—free at last!
Friday, April 02, 2010
HIS GRACE IS ENOUGH: The Supply of Abounding Grace
In Romans 5:20-21, Paul the Apostle presents to us the sufficiency, supremacy and supply of abounding grace.
That last phrase, “through Jesus Christ our Lord” is critical to our grasp of grace. Wrapped up in those five words is the inexhaustible source of all grace. It all flows from the wounds of Christ on the cross—He, an infinite being with an infinite supply of grace! That is what we celebrate today as we come to the day on the Christian calendar known as Good Friday. Disciples of Christ, all around the world blend voices from every language to testify, “His grace is enough!” Our backgrounds may be different; our features and personalities are diverse; yet there is this common experience that through our relationship with Christ, we have shared an uncommon grace.
No matter the sin you may be guilty of—no matter how many times you have rejected His offer of salvation—today, I want you to know His grace is enough! Would you come to Him? Would you receive the free gift of His grace?
In Romans 5:20-21, Paul the Apostle presents to us the sufficiency, supremacy and supply of abounding grace.
20 Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more,
21 so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. [emphasis added]
That last phrase, “through Jesus Christ our Lord” is critical to our grasp of grace. Wrapped up in those five words is the inexhaustible source of all grace. It all flows from the wounds of Christ on the cross—He, an infinite being with an infinite supply of grace! That is what we celebrate today as we come to the day on the Christian calendar known as Good Friday. Disciples of Christ, all around the world blend voices from every language to testify, “His grace is enough!” Our backgrounds may be different; our features and personalities are diverse; yet there is this common experience that through our relationship with Christ, we have shared an uncommon grace.
There is a fountain filled with blood
Drawn from Immanuel’s veins;
And sinners, plunged beneath that flood,
Lose all their guilty stains…” (William Cowper)
No matter the sin you may be guilty of—no matter how many times you have rejected His offer of salvation—today, I want you to know His grace is enough! Would you come to Him? Would you receive the free gift of His grace?
Thursday, April 01, 2010
HIS GRACE IS ENOUGH: The Supremacy of Abounding Grace
In Romans 5:20-21, Paul the Apostle presents to us the sufficiency of abounding grace and the supremacy of abounding grace.
From the days of Adam’s disobedience, death reigned upon the earth. Following his sin described in Genesis chapter three, we come to Genesis chapter five and we hear, “and he died…and he died…and he died,” eight times in that chapter. Death reigned supreme, and when Christ was nailed to the cross, it wrapped its chains about him and danced with delight declaring, “I have extinguished the light of the world!” and the skies turned dark and the ground trembled—and it was true, for one day—for two days—but, on the third day—I say, on the third day—“Up from the ground He arose, with a mighty triumph o’er His foes; He arose a victor from the dark domain and He lives forever with His saints to reign. He arose! He arose! Hallelujah, Christ arose!” Grace has conquered; grace reigns! We no longer need have any fear of death. That is the supremacy of abounding grace!
In Romans 5:20-21, Paul the Apostle presents to us the sufficiency of abounding grace and the supremacy of abounding grace.
20 Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more,
21 so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
From the days of Adam’s disobedience, death reigned upon the earth. Following his sin described in Genesis chapter three, we come to Genesis chapter five and we hear, “and he died…and he died…and he died,” eight times in that chapter. Death reigned supreme, and when Christ was nailed to the cross, it wrapped its chains about him and danced with delight declaring, “I have extinguished the light of the world!” and the skies turned dark and the ground trembled—and it was true, for one day—for two days—but, on the third day—I say, on the third day—“Up from the ground He arose, with a mighty triumph o’er His foes; He arose a victor from the dark domain and He lives forever with His saints to reign. He arose! He arose! Hallelujah, Christ arose!” Grace has conquered; grace reigns! We no longer need have any fear of death. That is the supremacy of abounding grace!
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