Something Deeper Going On Here

Scripture: Romans 7:23 "But I see then 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."

Observation:
1. Always be alert because sin and my propensity toward it are not idle or passive entities. It strives, claws, pushes, and struggles for itself. It has desires and it has power (See Galatians 5:16 and 17).

2. Sin's desires are domination, control and for me to be enslaved. It wants "captivity" to be my mindset. To be unaware of my captivity would be even better for it!

3. The only solution is to surrender control to another master, Jesus. That is why Paul uses the same Greek words (transliterated "aichmalotizo") when describing (in the second letter to the Corinthians, Chapter 10, verse 5) how I am to battle against sin and other spiritual enemies, "casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ."

4. These two words in the Greek are military language speaking of war. I am engaged in a war here, but I am not the commander of the army.

5. I would never have been able to make this connection if I had not memorized that Scripture (2 Cor. 10:3-6) before. Understanding the Bible is a matter of study and patience.

Those foolish enough to try to make the Bible say what they want it to say, or that want to ignore it, always ride roughshod over texts, disregarding contexts and refusing submission at all costs. They make Scripture into all positives - all freedoms - no restrictions, as though God were some My Little Pony or Rainbow Bright.

There is freedom to be had in God - the greatest freedom - and there is joy and peace to be had in God - there is none better elsewhere - but it is not based on "unstrapping the restrictive laws and rules of God." The same God that has freed me from sin is the same God that said it was sin in the first place. He has not changed.

Application: If I strive to master sin, I will lose. I am not stronger than it (Galatians 5:16 and 17; Romans 7:11). I must set my mind to bring the temptation to Jesus and make it and myself God's servant. That is the only road to freedom because God is the only one stronger than sins's power and strength (see 1 John 4:4).

Prayer: Lord, please speak to me continually about the freedom I now have in Christ. When sin knocks crouches at my door, my first reaction is to grit my teeth for battle. And battle I must, but the victory is not for me to have. You already own the victory; I cannot take it from you. Instead help me to surrender the struggle to You. I love You. Amen.

Wyatt's Baptism

Our youngest has taken the plunge!

I was very excited to get to baptize Wyatt at this morning's church gathering. He's been waiting to do it for some time now. He was nervous but determined. And the water was heated.

God's Grace Is So Easily Cheapened.

Scripture: Romans 6:15 "What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not!"

Observation: Paul spent a lot of Chapters 1-4 discussing how restricting the law is. The law only brings guilt. All attempts to be good enough for heaven by measuring my goodness verses my badness end with failure - every time.

But grace! Grace brings peace (5:1)! Grace brings life (5:21)! Grace brings joy (5:11)!

Paul points out here that the problem is that all too often I trample on God's grace. I'm lazy about the holy living that God has called me to ... or I try to relegate the usefulness of God's grace to home life, or work, or just my recreation, or Sundays, or around certain people. Paul is clear that I am expected to take full advantage of God's grace and that I should not take it for granted.

Grace freed me (6:18) so that I might serve God, because before I was a slave to sin not by choice.

Application:
1. Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal the things that I haven't stopped serving sin in.

2. Confess. Repent. Make repairs where possible. Don't just stop the bad.

3. Move past that to the place where I begin replacing it with the good. Intentionally be a slave to God for fruit to righteousness (6:22).

Prayer: Again I ask for Your help. A lot of humility is needed here. Because of my tendency toward sin and rebellion I will try to fight and justify the actions that I want to hold on to. But You are my God, not sin! Teach me, discipline me, guide me. You are better than all other things in this world. All the happiness that I could have apart from You in 10,000 lives is sewage compared to the sweet waters of Your presence. And I don't even have 10,000 lives - I only have this one, so help me not to waste my life by living for myself. I love You! Amen.

How Precious Is The Cross Of Christ?

Scripture: Romans 6:21 "What fruit did you have then [when you were slaves of sin] in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death."

Observation: 

This verse is a key concern for everyone who comes to faith in Christ. Paul uses this whole chapter to instruct the Christians in Rome to eliminate all sin from their lives. Really he means this in the sense that that should be our goal and that it will be a hard-fought, daily struggle. Then here at the end of the chapter he reminds them how shamed we are of the things we have done that are violations of God's law. 

Anyone who has truly grasped his or her salvation has also comprehended how horrible his or her past life was. There is a clear and mournful understanding of his or her lowness, humility, and desperation apart from Jesus' saving work.

Application: I think many would say that to constantly dwell on my sinfulness is counterproductive and even limits the peace, blessing, and freedom that God intends for me to have in Christ. But I say a Christian should never leave the cross. The cross is where I, we, belong. To forget the cross is to freely receive provisions for a long trip and then to leave them at home when I embark.

The truth of my sinfulness and Jesus' suffering and death are the foundation of my new life in Jesus. A house cannot leave the foundation! The cross is the door into the room of freedom and forgiveness. No maturity or growth can be had apart from that room. As I grow in my faith, the room of salvation grows bigger - I don't go to another room! 

The cross of Jesus has a permanent place next to His throne! Jesus is no longer on it nor does He need to return there. His work of dying for me only needed to be done once. Even still, until I am taken to heaven and am finally free of the influence of and tendency toward sin I will always need to cling to that which purchased my freedom - the cross. It is not wrong to remember my shame prior to Jesus.

Prayer: Lord, the cross reminds me of my need, but You are always there to ensure I'm not left there. The vision of the cross is always accompanied by an even greater and stronger revelation of the forgiveness, mercy, grace, love and peace that I have in Christ. And Father, I couldn't have any of it until I made Jesus' cross mine first! Thank You for the truth of the cross. I'm ashamed of my sin, but I love the shame of it because it is an indispensable ingredient in the meal of eternal and abundant life that You have prepared for me! As Paul said, I will glory in my tribulations. I love You! Amen.

Really, It's Just Plain Serious

Scripture: Romans 6:1-2, 4 "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? ... we were buried with [Jesus] 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."

Observation:
(1) Clearly, Paul thinks it is ridiculous that anyone who claims to have faith in Jesus would continue to walk in sin or to take it lightly.

(2) Again, sin is our #1 problem as humans. Not in a corporate sense but in an individual sense. Each person must do something to deal with this problem of personal sin or else they must face the just reward of their sin - death, separation from God eternally (see Romans 6:23).

(3) The urgency behind Paul's argument comes from how much Jesus suffered during and before His death. Do I realize what Jesus took because of my every selfish act.

(4) We must understand that we cannot do what Jesus did because He knowingly died as our substitute. We cannot make up for what we've done. Any good thing we do has no power to cancel or balance the evil we've done. The only thing we are capable of doing is to die a death which we are fully deserving of. It is our due for breaking God's law.

Application: My life now should be characterized by the goodness, truth, love, grace, peace, etc. of God. In every way that I am able to replicate God's positive attributes, I should. God is the source of life - that is what I should walk in.

Prayer: Father, I could repeat here all of the ways that I sin, but we've talked about that already today. I just ask You to help me to be led into "newness of life." Make me noticeably different - joyful, a lover of what is good in others, hopeful rather than condemning, a blesser. Amen.

A Treasure That Is Worth The Effort

Scripture: Romans 5:3-5 "And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us."

Observation: Paul has an ever heaven-looking eye. He doesn't place his hope or value in this life. Rather he points to the hardness of life and says, "Let's take it for all it's worth."

Difficulties produce in us the strength to endure them. That, in turn, grows in us like a seed and blossoms character (Paul means "high-quality character," not just character of any sort. That is why this paragraph is strictly about someone who places their faith in God during a hard experience. Many people enduring hardship apart from faith in God; however, that results only in character that is useful only for this life and only for dealing with disappointment and loss. It will not strengthen our faith in God and it will not help keep our hope and treasure where it should be: eternal life in heaven with God through the work of Jesus). Character produced from hardship that is endured with an eternal perspective will strengthen and steel our hope in God.

Application: Nobody needs God when all is well (speaking in human terms). The good news of Jesus and faith in God are really put to work in hard times, when we suffer, when hope seems lost or pointless.

Every hard thing in which I have not turned to God has been a lost opportunity for spiritual gym time. My faith grows when I can say with the song, "even so,
it is well with my soul." In every trial, look to God in faith. It will make the difference between "surviving" and "thriving."

Prayer: Remembering that all things are in your hands and that I should praise you in the storm are hard things to do. Teach me steadfastness. You never leave me. Thank you. I love you. Amen.

The Bottom Line

Scripture: Romans 5:21 "so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."

Observation: Here is another reminder that faith in Jesus Christ CANNOT be lowered to equality with other religions. God is clear on this point.

1. Humans, all humans, have a problem: sin - our constant impulse or desire to violate rules, especially those put in place by God. In other words, I want to rebel and do what I want.

2. Sin results in death physically and, if it is not dealt with prior to that death, eternal separation from God and punishment everlasting.

3. The only remedy for my (and everyone's) undefeatable compulsion to do wrong is belief by faith that Jesus' death was meant to replace my fully-deserved punishment from God.

4. Jesus is the only remedy.

No other religion deals with sin this way, if any way at all.

All paths do not lead to the same place. There is only one path to heaven: faith in Jesus.

There is only one door by which to enter: Jesus.

There is only one thing stopping us from entering into eternal relationship with the greatest thing in the universe, God: our pride.

Application: Ephesians 2:4 "But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)..."

God actually did all the application here. I just must believe. Faith is action; its the only action I have that is of any use in this situation.

Prayer: Thank you Lord for your grace, mercy and amazing work through Jesus that wiped away all my guilt and condemnation. Without you my life would amount to nothing in the end. Now I am bound for eternal life and have gained you for this life and the next! I love you. Amen.

A Reason To Party... Daily

Scripture: Romans 5:15 "But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man's offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many."

Observation: On to Chapter 5! The chapters are flying by and there is entirely too much to journal about to fit into a week. I couldn't get to everything even if I gave each chapter a month! How deep and wide are the truths of God in His inspired word!There is no better foundation to build my life on than His unfailing, inerrant, and powerful word.

So, anyway, this verse stuck out today (among many others) because it struck me how silly of a effort it is to compare (or contrast) Adam's actions and God's actions through Jesus.

The decision of Adam effected all of humankind, as did God's decision (which actually pre-dated Adam's) to save us through Jesus' death; however, as soon as God gets involved events and their effects immediately surpass the magnitude and effect that a human's thought, goal, plan, and idea can have. Adam's impact was death for me (and all people... thanks, buddy. Of course, I know myself well enough to know that I would have done the same thing eventually). But God's infinite power directed by his perfect and sinless will defeated the power of sin and then went well beyond mere victory to bring me the possibility of so, so much more.

Application: As Paul wrote in verses 1 through 11, I now have peace with God, access to God's presence for my needs, hope, strength through the Holy Spirit to endure the power of sin, comfort to persevere difficulties and woes, God's very presence in and with me wherever I go, and rejoicing - not only peace but a constant reason for celebration.

Prayer: I am humbled by your grace and I say 'thank you' Lord, my God, my Father, my Redeemer, my Hope, my Comfort, my Rock and Security, my Peace, my Victor and Victory! I love you. Amen.

What Has He Called Into Your Life?

Scripture: Romans 4:17b "God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did;"

Observation: This part of the verse seems like a completely random interjection, but I doubt Paul was being random (nor the Holy Spirit who inspired it :-).

So what's the connection? God gave life to Abraham's and Sarah's "dead" body (as we read in verse 19-22). He also gave eternal life to those who had previously not had it.

God also called Abraham "righteous" which he obviously was not. This is an example of God "calling things that don't exist as though they do." These two acts are the two most important acts for me. He brings me back from my deadness in sin (Ephesians 2:1-10) and calls me righteous so that I may inherit eternal life (Romans 3:21-28).

Application:
1. Believe in Jesus Christ by faith for the permanent and complete forgiveness of my past, present and future sins and surrender my life and future to God. Check!

2. Truly, it is only God that can bring life to the dead things in my life as well as call other things that aren't present (or that may be waining at times) in my life into existence: hope, a truly blessed future, security, meaning and purpose, healed relationships, and success in things that really matter.

Prayer: There are so many disappointments in my life, and plenty of failures and regrets. Yet I know that You are able, more than able to bring hope, restore success that matters, and revitalize purpose and then direct me in all things. You know my heart and the things I long for. You know my dreams like no one else. But I also know that You say, "Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added to you." So, as always, help me to place You at the top of all other desires, love You with all my being and to be satisfied with that.  Then I'll wait in faith for Your plans to come to pass. I love You. Amen.

Words Fail To Do Justice To It

Scripture: Romans 4:16a "Therefore [God's promise to Abraham and to Abraham's 'seed' concerning eternal life] is of faith that I might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed..."

Observation: Without God's grace my salvation, eternal life and peace would not be sure. When left to me the results of menial tasks are always mixed. Perfection is a task that I fail at before I start. God, in his wisdom, removed me from the equation and chose to put the onus of success on the one person that never fails - himself.

Application: Remember today how much God loves me. He is not against me, but rather is far more for me even than I am! In him I find peace, love and acceptance. Believe, have faith in him.

Prayer: Lord, you are good, too good to describe. The truth of this verse causes my spirit to cry out "I love you!" because of your amazing love. You were showering me with grace before I ever realized it and before I gave one care to my rebellion against you or my impending judgment apart from you saving and forgiving me. And now I'm secure because the promise is sure. Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

True Riches

I paused during my time with the Lord this morning to take this picture. I'm beyond proud of my son. I'm also so pleased that he wakes each day to spend time in God's word.






 So here's to the realization that these days won't last forever.

Proverbs 23:24-26
"The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice;
he who fathers a wise son will be glad in him. Let your father and mother be glad;
let her who bore you rejoice.
My son, give me your heart,
and let your eyes observe my ways."

The Wrath of God and the Work of Christ

This is going to be a long one today.

Scripture: Romans 4:5 "But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness."

Observation: The phrase "who justifies the ungodly" never really stuck out to me until I heard John Piper preach on the subject. My first thought was simply, "Of course He does. He did it by pouring all His wrath on Jesus for all the sins of the world," but after thinking about that statement it is clear that not all of those things are true, at least, not at face value.

So, how did God justify one sinner? 

Common answer: By punishing Jesus for his/her sins. But obviously Jesus died for more than one of us. How much of God's wrath did Jesus take? All of it? No, for only two chapters earlier Paul described the wrath that is revealed from heaven against ungodliness (1:18-20) and in Chapter 3 he says that there is a day in which God's wrath will be revealed against sinners. Plus, if Jesus suffered the wrath of God for all the sins of every person then God would be unrighteous in attributing the same wrath twice - once on Jesus and once on the unbelieving person.

That really only leave two possibilities as I see it.

First, that God, knowing who would come to faith in Christ throughout all of history, laid on Jesus the iniquity of those individuals, or

Second, God inflicted wrath on Jesus, not in a sort of pound-for-pound punishment measured out carefully based on specific, individual sins, but rather the wrath was exacted based on a display of God's wrath to the extent necessary to bring God glory. In a way, God had to be satisfied with the punishment of Jesus (see Isaiah 53:10).

My initial thought against both of those possibilities is that the Bible says that Jesus took the sins of the whole world. Isaiah 53:6 says that Lord took "the iniquity of us all." John 3:16 says that God loved the world so much that he sacrificed His only Son, Jesus. In John 1:29, John the Baptizer is quoted as saying, "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world!" Furthermore, 1 Timothy 2:5 and 6 says that Jesus, who is the only mediator between us and God, game Himself as a ransom for all."

After further study though, those seemingly straight-forward and plain interpretations aren't as cut-and-dry as they seem.

1. In Isaiah 53:6, Isaiah is prophesying about the life, suffering and death of the Messiah. His foretelling became a reality completely in Jesus. The question is who is Isaiah referring to when he writes that God will lay on the Messiah "the iniquity of us all." Who is "us all?" In the context, Isaiah has the physical, biologically descending people of Israel in mind. In reality though, that is not how this was  fulfilled. We know that every Jew according to blood has not been saved. Paul makes clear in Romans 9:how we should understand this phrase:

"But it is not that the word of God has taken no effect. For they are not all Israel who are of Israel, nor are they all children because they are the seed of Abraham; but, 'In Isaac your seed shall be called.' That is, those who are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God; but the children of the promise are counted as the seed." (Romans 9:6-8)

So, "us all" only actually refers to those that have or will be saved by faith in Jesus. This removes the confusion that comes just a few verses later in Isaiah when he writes, "By His (speaking of Messiah) knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, for He shall bear their iniquities." (Isaiah 53:10) 

2. What about the two verses in John and the one in 1 Timothy? The John verses are especially important to this discussion because they are two of the most well known verses throughout the world. In trying to understand these verses I start in the verse and then draw from the literary context of the passage, chapter, book, and Bible as a whole.

In the verse itself the word used for "world" has the following meanings:

I. an apt and harmonious arrangement or constitution, order, government
II. ornament, decoration, adornment, i. e. the arrangement of the stars, 'the heavenly hosts', as the ornament of the heavens. 1 Pet. 3:3
III. the world, the universe
IV. the circle of the earth, the earth the inhabitants of the earth, men, the human family
V. the ungodly multitude; the whole mass of men alienated from God, and therefore hostile to the cause of Christ
VI. world affairs, the aggregate of things earthly
     A. the whole circle of earthly goods, endowments riches, advantages, pleasures, etc, which although hollow and frail and fleeting, stir desire, seduce from God and are obstacles to the cause of Christ
VII. any aggregate or general collection of particulars of any sort
     A. the Gentiles as contrasted to the Jews (Rom. 11: 12 etc)
     B. of believers only, John 1: 29; 3: 16; 3: 17; 6: 33; 12: 47 1 Cor. 4: 9; 2 Cor. 5

So the question is, which should be understood here. My first thought is I should trust the language experts and go with VII, B considering they specifically say John 1:29 and John 3:16 are only referring to believers.

What does the context of Chapter 3 say? It begins with Jesus telling one of the Jewish leaders that only specific people can be saved - those that are experience the work of God through faith. It continues with Jesus using an Old Testament reference in which only a portion of the Israelites were saved. Jesus follows verse 16 up by dividing people up based on some that will love evil and perish in their sins, and other who will repent of their sin and live in eternal life. The chapter ends with another distinguishing verse "He who believes in the Son has everlasting life, and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him."

Ultimately, I don't see in John 3:16 the requirement to understand the verse to mean that during Jesus' suffering and death God poured out all the wrath for every sin for every person that has ever lived or ever will live.

First Timothy 2:6 also does not need to imply every person in the history of the world. Word study on the Greek word "pas" shows that it could be understood to mean, especially in this situation, some of all parts (i.e. some people from every nation or people group in the world). While this may be the case, it is difficult to rectify that interpretation considering that the word "pas" is used twice in verses 5 and 6 and the first one doesn't make much sense unless it is referring to all people in the history of the world. But even then, just because God "desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth" that doesn't mean that it is going to happen (clearly it hasn't!) and therefore it is not support for thinking that Jesus' blood covered every sin of every person who ever lived or who ever will live.

I think the conclusion that more aligns with the whole of Scripture, God's character, and God's work to save a people for Himself is the second option from above: The amount of wrath inflicted by God on Jesus was only the amount necessary to bring God glory as the righteous judge of humankind and to adequately establish Jesus as the perfect and eternal sacrifice that could atone for and cover the sins of anyone that had faith in God or that would have faith in God in the future.

Be Unwavering

Scripture: Romans 4:20-21 "[Abraham] did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform."

Observation and Application: I love the word "waver" in verse 20. I find myself wavering often in my unbelief. These verses encapsulate quite nicely the thought process that Abraham maintained and that I ought to maintain:

(1) First, Give glory to God. Seems so simple, but not necessarily easy when life includes disappointment, hurts and offenses from others, failed promises, betrayal or physical limitations or injuries. Regardless, I must always, like Abraham, give glory to God.

(2) Second, Believe God at His word. How big do I think He is? What do I believe about Him? How many times must the Holy Spirit speak to me for it to be certain and true? What is the statute of limitations on something God says? God is able - period. He only needs to say it once, but is also so patient in confirming and encouraging. His promises and purposes never expire or change.

Do not waver.

Prayer: Lord, You have made faith an unremovable aspect of any relationship with You. Please strengthen mine as a smith purifies and reinforces steel. Holy Spirit, please give me faith. Bring to remembrance what You've said and help me to walk in faith, unwavering that I might give You glory in all things. I love You. Amen.