Monday, May 30, 2011
simple test
We act like pagans in a crisis, only one out of a crowd is daring enough to bank his faith in the character of God. Oswald Chambers
Friday, May 6, 2011
Romans Bible Study #25 Romans 8:1-10
Romans Bible Study #25
Romans 8:1-10
The Spirit - The Decision
Word -scandalon
Deliverance from Bondage
1Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
2For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.
3For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh,
4so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
5For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.
6For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace,
7because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so,
8and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
9However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.
10If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness. NASB
The Solution Is Life on God's Terms
1-2With the arrival of Jesus, the Messiah, that fateful dilemma is resolved. Those who enter into Christ's being-here-for-us no longer have to live under a continuous, low-lying black cloud. A new power is in operation. The Spirit of life in Christ, like a strong wind, has magnificently cleared the air, freeing you from a fated lifetime of brutal tyranny at the hands of sin and death.
3-4God went for the jugular when he sent his own Son. He didn't deal with the problem as something remote and unimportant. In his Son, Jesus, he personally took on the human condition, entered the disordered mess of struggling humanity in order to set it right once and for all. The law code, weakened as it always was by fractured human nature, could never have done that.
The law always ended up being used as a Band-Aid on sin instead of a deep healing of it. And now what the law code asked for but we couldn't deliver is accomplished as we, instead of redoubling our own efforts, simply embrace what the Spirit is doing in us.
5-8Those who think they can do it on their own end up obsessed with measuring their own moral muscle but never get around to exercising it in real life. Those who trust God's action in them find that God's Spirit is in them—living and breathing God! Obsession with self in these matters is a dead end; attention to God leads us out into the open, into a spacious, free life. Focusing on the self is the opposite of focusing on God. Anyone completely absorbed in self ignores God, ends up thinking more about self than God. That person ignores who God is and what he is doing. And God isn't pleased at being ignored.
9-11But if God himself has taken up residence in your life, you can hardly be thinking more of yourself than of him. Anyone, of course, who has not welcomed this invisible but clearly present God, the Spirit of Christ, won't know what we're talking about. But for you who welcome him, in whom he dwells—even though you still experience all the limitations of sin—you yourself experience life on God's terms. It stands to reason, doesn't it, that if the alive-and-present God who raised Jesus from the dead moves into your life, he'll do the same thing in you that he did in Jesus, bringing you alive to himself? When God lives and breathes in you (and he does, as surely as he did in Jesus), you are delivered from that dead life. With his Spirit living in you, your body will be as alive as Christ's!
The Message
Condemnation is pushed out of our lives as Jesus Christ lives in us.
We are. in Christ Jesus, that knowledge comes to us from the grace and mercy of God. We go all the way back to the garden and eat from the tree of life, we have put aside the knowledge of good and evil. Sin is condemned, the wrath of God is poured out, but all on Jesus. The law is fulfilled in us, not in the sense of perfection, but in the sense of ‘direction.’ Grace is working outward from an inward place. The Holy Spirit indwelling us is directing us toward truth and life. Our life course is headed toward God. No longer under the demands of the law as an outward rule book, we are in the open spaces of God’s freedom and grace.
An Example of this:
Jesus words on the Sabbath, Mark 3:23-28
23And it happened that He was passing through the grainfields on the Sabbath, and His disciples began to make their way along while picking the heads of grain.
24The Pharisees were saying to Him, "Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?"
25And He said to them, "Have you never read what David did when he was in need and he and his companions became hungry;
26how he entered the house of God in the time of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the consecrated bread, which is not lawful for anyone to eat except the priests, and he also gave it to those who were with him?" 27Jesus said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.
28"So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath."
That is, this religious observance was intended for man's benefit, not his enslavement.
The sabbath was not an end in itself, an absolute that admitted no exceptions. It was intended for man's benefit, his well-being. To elevate it to a place of tyranny over man is to make more of it than was intended; indeed, it would overthrow it altogether.
Moreover, it is Jesus who possesses the authority to decide these things (v.28). His Lordship over "even" (ascensive kai) the sabbath demonstrates again the significance of his person and the "new" order of things marked by his arrival. The statement as it is neither confirms nor disallows the continuation of sabbath observance, in explicit terms. But it emphatically affirms Jesus' inherent right to do with the law as he sees fit, and so the foundation for an epochal shift in the meaning of the sabbath is clearly implied.
Significant also is the fact that he designates himself here "Son of Man." Mark's so-called "messianic secret" is not so secret here! And for good cause: Jesus is facing an opposition which is demanding justification for his activity. David had the right to lay claim to exception to ritual law; no less a right belongs to the Son of Man. And lordship over the sabbath is something which no mere man could claim, but for Daniel's Son of Man the situation is much different.
More significant still is the portrait of Christ painted here. His coming has ushered in a new age in which the promised salvation of God is realized. The gospel of Christ offers a rest which is more than physical and temporal but, in him, spiritual and eternal. End of example, back to the lesson.
6For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace,
7because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so,
8and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
These verses form one thought, if I begin thinking about and being ruled by MY attempts to overcome sin, sin will overcome me everytime, and even my temporary victories are failures, because they serve only to exalt me and my system/formula/self. Then comes the next set of verses.
9However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.
10If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness.
More and more, by growing awareness, we come to see that the Spirit is now at the helm of our lives. This process of sanctification brings us to a place where we ‘give up’ on a method or formula for success and we begin to rely on the Spirit. What does this look like?
“God, this sin has me beat, thank You, for showing me once again that in me dwells no good thing. Thank You for showing me once again that my efforts at reform will end in failure. Thank you for providing the only way out. Your Son, His Spirit, Your very life in me, working through me. Take control, be glorified, do such a deep and wonderful work, that all who see it will say, “that couldn’t be him, that must be his God!”
The progression of this book is so divinely organized, it is a thing of true beauty.
1) You are bad, with no hope of ever being good.
2) God “set this up” and also “set up” a way of escape.
3) The law was to show us our need of faith. Faith is the only way to be set free.
4) Faith puts us in touch with all the goodness of God, His peace, His righteousness.
5) This new life makes us free from sin.
6) This flesh keeps us dependent on God, it is opposed to God, but its opposition, drives us right back into the arms of Jesus, where we belong.
7) The law is no longer your master, the Spirit is, and it is like you have come out of a very narrow trail with thorns and briers and now you have come to a wide open field with space and beauty, in abundance. “Ahhhhhhhhh” your inner man says, this is what I was created for!
1 Cor 13:12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known. We are not there yet, and we make a mistake when we, think, act and talk like we are. Barth will not let us think that our ingenuity is capable of defining God. “We stumble when we suppose that we can treat of Him, speak and hear of Him–WITHOUT BEING SCANDALIZED.” “In Him the flesh has been deprived of its independence and restored to God who created it. In Him the disorder and corruption under which it groans has been laid bare, and thereby the hope of redemption which it awaits has also been exposed. In Him its independent might and importance and glory have been condemned, and thereby its glory and significance as the creation of God have been restored.
It is imperative that we from the human point of view should be scandalized; imperative that we should recognize that not flesh and blood but only the Fatihr which is in heaven can reveal that there is more to be found here than flesh and blood.
The purpose of the mission of the Son of God, a purpose veritablyy attained, is–that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
Thus the condemnation of sin inChrist is the revelation of the righteousness of God, which religion seeks after but never finds.
Verses 5-9
This being “in the Spirit” swallows up the “in the flesh” of our previous life. Like an eclipse, gradually, through the process of sanctification, the one totally blocks out the other. The totality is not until our flesh is in the grave, but the assurance is that that is the place we are headed towards.
Without “in the Spirit,” the world seeks to reform men, by passing laws and inflicting punishments. Evil only increases because the soure of the evil remains. What is needed is a severing fo the root of evil and that is what happens when we are ‘in the Spirit.’ The ax is laid to the root of being “in the flesh.”
Verse 10 This being in Christ is God acting upon us from outside of us. We were ‘in the flesh; apart from any toher choice od our own, and we are ;in Christ’ apart from any choice of our own. Sometimes we are in danger of exalting our “choice” over and above the God who gave us the grace to make the choice. (Calvinism and Arminianism do not need to be mutually exclusive.)
This scripture demonstrates the balance between the sovereign choice of God and the belief that we exercise.
"But we are bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth"
2 Thessalonians 2:13
“There are three things here which deserve special attention. First, the fact that we are expressly told that God's elect are "chosen to salvation": Language could not be more explicit. How summarily do these words dispose of the sophistries and equivocations of all who would make election refer to nothing but external privileges or rank in service! It is to "salvation" itself that God has chosen us. Second, we are warned here that election unto salvation does not disregard the use of appropriate means: salvation is reached through "sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth" It is not true that because God has chosen a certain one to salvation that he will be saved willy-nilly, whether he believes or not: nowhere do the Scriptures so represent it. The same God who "chose unto salvation", decreed that His purpose should be realized through the work of the spirit and belief of the truth. Third, that God has chosen us unto salvation is a profound cause for fervent praise. Note how strongly the apostle express this - "we are bound to give thanks always to God for you. brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation", etc. Instead of shrinking back in horror from the doctrine of predestination, the believer, when he sees this blessed truth as it is unfolded in the Word, discovers a ground for gratitude and thanksgiving such as nothing else affords, save the unspeakable gift of the Redeemer Himself.” AW Pink
1 Corin. 1:28 “and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are,”
These truths are not “apparent” just from looking at life, in fact they are hidden and must be revealed.
So God chose us and gives us the grace to be “in Christ.”
Stumbling block - Scandalon
This from a guy named Steve Dewitt.
For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles… (Verses 21-23, emphasis added)
Salvation by faith in a crucified Savior is counterintuitive to us
The gospel is a stumbling block when you are blind. The Greek word for “stumbling block” is scandalon defined as that which gives offense or causes revulsion, that which arouses opposition, an object of anger or disapproval. (BAG)
We get the word scandalous from it. The cross is offensive to human way of thinking and it rubs the natural man the wrong way because it requires us to do the exact opposite of what man and his pride thinks he needs to do.
Let me illustrate this with a Chinese finger trap. You put one finger in each end and when you try to pull them out again, you’re stuck. You can’t get out. Do you know how to get out of a Chinese finger trap? You push your finger in so that you can pull your finger out. The way out is the way in. That’s counterintuitive. Here are some reasons that believing in Jesus is counterintuitive…
Contrary to human religion (Verse 22)
Every religion man comes up with has something to do with man making his way to God. Paul points out in verse 22 that the Jews demanded a sign. They wanted to see something that out of their wisdom they could judge as true. You may recall the Jews asking Jesus repeatedly for a sign or a miracle. They wanted to make their own judgment and all the religions of the world do the same. They magnify in some way man’s ability to do or think or earn his way to God or Allah or Nirvana or Jehovah or whatever. Man’s kind of religion always ends up worshipping man in some way. Christ crucified rubs man the wrong way.
Contrary to human thinking (Verse 22)
Paul says in verse 22 that the Greeks seek wisdom. They want to rationalize their way to God. In the end, who gets the glory if man’s wisdom leads him to God? Man does. Who gets the glory if human eloquence and human words lead man to God? Man does. To the Greeks in the Roman Empire, if someone was crucified he was the worst of criminals. A crucified Savior? How could God save mankind by something so ugly and weak and despised as a Roman cross? That doesn’t jive with our way of thinking. The Jews want power and in the cross they get weakness. The Greeks want wisdom, but in the cross they get apparent folly. 5
Contrary to human pride and self-sufficiency
This is the big one. The human heart does not want to do what the gospel requires – humble itself. All the major objections to Christianity in some way stem from this
fundamental flaw within us. List key doctrines and the objections will come; the atonement is too bloody and predestination seems unfair and God saving some and not everyone is too exclusive and eternal punishment in hell isn’t right and a loving God wouldn’t do it this way. The gospel rubs the modern man or woman the wrong way and since we are the judge of the way it ought to be, we simply call it ridiculous. There is a movie out right now that says exactly that. Religulous! Religion is ridiculous to Bill Maher for all the same reasons Paul explains here. It strikes our sensibilities the wrong way because it elevates God and humbles us and we don’t like that. The gospel is a scandal. It always has been. It always will be. We have to admit that….
God is wiser than us (Verse 25)
For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. The key to understanding this passage is adding the word “apparent.” God’s apparent foolishness in the cross is actually the eternal wisdom of God. Man’s apparent wisdom is actually foolishness. So things are not as they appear. Take all the talking points of all the philosophers and talk show hosts and writers and columnists and politicians and statesmen and professors and teachers. Take all the things they’ve ever said and pile them up. The smallest thought that God has ever had eclipses all the wisdom man has ever accumulated. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8-9)
God’s Word is like the traveler to the Country of the Blind and the secret to the Chinese finger trap. It is telling us what is wise and what is folly. It is also calling us to wonder and worship. Do you realize that were it not for God’s gracious calling in our lives, we would still be blind and solidly in the category of “those who are perishing” in verse 18? The right response of a recipient of grace is not pride but wonder and worship. There is nothing here for anyone to take pride in. The Corinthian Christians were finding their identity in eloquent speakers and teachers in the church. What? Who died for us? Who called us? God did. Let’s
praise Him!
Lastly this from Paul Washer. When you are teaching your children to take their first steps they must come to a place where they let go of the chair or table or whatever they are holding onto and they walk without holding onto anything. You don’t get them there by saying “Let go of the table.” You get them to walk by saying, “Come to Daddy.” and so it is with God and us. The focus is not on what we need to let go of, but on the great and beautiful God we are being called toward.
Romans 8:1-10
The Spirit - The Decision
Word -scandalon
Deliverance from Bondage
1Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
2For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.
3For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh,
4so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
5For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit.
6For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace,
7because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so,
8and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
9However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.
10If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness. NASB
The Solution Is Life on God's Terms
1-2With the arrival of Jesus, the Messiah, that fateful dilemma is resolved. Those who enter into Christ's being-here-for-us no longer have to live under a continuous, low-lying black cloud. A new power is in operation. The Spirit of life in Christ, like a strong wind, has magnificently cleared the air, freeing you from a fated lifetime of brutal tyranny at the hands of sin and death.
3-4God went for the jugular when he sent his own Son. He didn't deal with the problem as something remote and unimportant. In his Son, Jesus, he personally took on the human condition, entered the disordered mess of struggling humanity in order to set it right once and for all. The law code, weakened as it always was by fractured human nature, could never have done that.
The law always ended up being used as a Band-Aid on sin instead of a deep healing of it. And now what the law code asked for but we couldn't deliver is accomplished as we, instead of redoubling our own efforts, simply embrace what the Spirit is doing in us.
5-8Those who think they can do it on their own end up obsessed with measuring their own moral muscle but never get around to exercising it in real life. Those who trust God's action in them find that God's Spirit is in them—living and breathing God! Obsession with self in these matters is a dead end; attention to God leads us out into the open, into a spacious, free life. Focusing on the self is the opposite of focusing on God. Anyone completely absorbed in self ignores God, ends up thinking more about self than God. That person ignores who God is and what he is doing. And God isn't pleased at being ignored.
9-11But if God himself has taken up residence in your life, you can hardly be thinking more of yourself than of him. Anyone, of course, who has not welcomed this invisible but clearly present God, the Spirit of Christ, won't know what we're talking about. But for you who welcome him, in whom he dwells—even though you still experience all the limitations of sin—you yourself experience life on God's terms. It stands to reason, doesn't it, that if the alive-and-present God who raised Jesus from the dead moves into your life, he'll do the same thing in you that he did in Jesus, bringing you alive to himself? When God lives and breathes in you (and he does, as surely as he did in Jesus), you are delivered from that dead life. With his Spirit living in you, your body will be as alive as Christ's!
The Message
Condemnation is pushed out of our lives as Jesus Christ lives in us.
We are. in Christ Jesus, that knowledge comes to us from the grace and mercy of God. We go all the way back to the garden and eat from the tree of life, we have put aside the knowledge of good and evil. Sin is condemned, the wrath of God is poured out, but all on Jesus. The law is fulfilled in us, not in the sense of perfection, but in the sense of ‘direction.’ Grace is working outward from an inward place. The Holy Spirit indwelling us is directing us toward truth and life. Our life course is headed toward God. No longer under the demands of the law as an outward rule book, we are in the open spaces of God’s freedom and grace.
An Example of this:
Jesus words on the Sabbath, Mark 3:23-28
23And it happened that He was passing through the grainfields on the Sabbath, and His disciples began to make their way along while picking the heads of grain.
24The Pharisees were saying to Him, "Look, why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?"
25And He said to them, "Have you never read what David did when he was in need and he and his companions became hungry;
26how he entered the house of God in the time of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the consecrated bread, which is not lawful for anyone to eat except the priests, and he also gave it to those who were with him?" 27Jesus said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.
28"So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath."
That is, this religious observance was intended for man's benefit, not his enslavement.
The sabbath was not an end in itself, an absolute that admitted no exceptions. It was intended for man's benefit, his well-being. To elevate it to a place of tyranny over man is to make more of it than was intended; indeed, it would overthrow it altogether.
Moreover, it is Jesus who possesses the authority to decide these things (v.28). His Lordship over "even" (ascensive kai) the sabbath demonstrates again the significance of his person and the "new" order of things marked by his arrival. The statement as it is neither confirms nor disallows the continuation of sabbath observance, in explicit terms. But it emphatically affirms Jesus' inherent right to do with the law as he sees fit, and so the foundation for an epochal shift in the meaning of the sabbath is clearly implied.
Significant also is the fact that he designates himself here "Son of Man." Mark's so-called "messianic secret" is not so secret here! And for good cause: Jesus is facing an opposition which is demanding justification for his activity. David had the right to lay claim to exception to ritual law; no less a right belongs to the Son of Man. And lordship over the sabbath is something which no mere man could claim, but for Daniel's Son of Man the situation is much different.
More significant still is the portrait of Christ painted here. His coming has ushered in a new age in which the promised salvation of God is realized. The gospel of Christ offers a rest which is more than physical and temporal but, in him, spiritual and eternal. End of example, back to the lesson.
6For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace,
7because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so,
8and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
These verses form one thought, if I begin thinking about and being ruled by MY attempts to overcome sin, sin will overcome me everytime, and even my temporary victories are failures, because they serve only to exalt me and my system/formula/self. Then comes the next set of verses.
9However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.
10If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness.
More and more, by growing awareness, we come to see that the Spirit is now at the helm of our lives. This process of sanctification brings us to a place where we ‘give up’ on a method or formula for success and we begin to rely on the Spirit. What does this look like?
“God, this sin has me beat, thank You, for showing me once again that in me dwells no good thing. Thank You for showing me once again that my efforts at reform will end in failure. Thank you for providing the only way out. Your Son, His Spirit, Your very life in me, working through me. Take control, be glorified, do such a deep and wonderful work, that all who see it will say, “that couldn’t be him, that must be his God!”
The progression of this book is so divinely organized, it is a thing of true beauty.
1) You are bad, with no hope of ever being good.
2) God “set this up” and also “set up” a way of escape.
3) The law was to show us our need of faith. Faith is the only way to be set free.
4) Faith puts us in touch with all the goodness of God, His peace, His righteousness.
5) This new life makes us free from sin.
6) This flesh keeps us dependent on God, it is opposed to God, but its opposition, drives us right back into the arms of Jesus, where we belong.
7) The law is no longer your master, the Spirit is, and it is like you have come out of a very narrow trail with thorns and briers and now you have come to a wide open field with space and beauty, in abundance. “Ahhhhhhhhh” your inner man says, this is what I was created for!
1 Cor 13:12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known. We are not there yet, and we make a mistake when we, think, act and talk like we are. Barth will not let us think that our ingenuity is capable of defining God. “We stumble when we suppose that we can treat of Him, speak and hear of Him–WITHOUT BEING SCANDALIZED.” “In Him the flesh has been deprived of its independence and restored to God who created it. In Him the disorder and corruption under which it groans has been laid bare, and thereby the hope of redemption which it awaits has also been exposed. In Him its independent might and importance and glory have been condemned, and thereby its glory and significance as the creation of God have been restored.
It is imperative that we from the human point of view should be scandalized; imperative that we should recognize that not flesh and blood but only the Fatihr which is in heaven can reveal that there is more to be found here than flesh and blood.
The purpose of the mission of the Son of God, a purpose veritablyy attained, is–that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
Thus the condemnation of sin inChrist is the revelation of the righteousness of God, which religion seeks after but never finds.
Verses 5-9
This being “in the Spirit” swallows up the “in the flesh” of our previous life. Like an eclipse, gradually, through the process of sanctification, the one totally blocks out the other. The totality is not until our flesh is in the grave, but the assurance is that that is the place we are headed towards.
Without “in the Spirit,” the world seeks to reform men, by passing laws and inflicting punishments. Evil only increases because the soure of the evil remains. What is needed is a severing fo the root of evil and that is what happens when we are ‘in the Spirit.’ The ax is laid to the root of being “in the flesh.”
Verse 10 This being in Christ is God acting upon us from outside of us. We were ‘in the flesh; apart from any toher choice od our own, and we are ;in Christ’ apart from any choice of our own. Sometimes we are in danger of exalting our “choice” over and above the God who gave us the grace to make the choice. (Calvinism and Arminianism do not need to be mutually exclusive.)
This scripture demonstrates the balance between the sovereign choice of God and the belief that we exercise.
"But we are bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth"
2 Thessalonians 2:13
“There are three things here which deserve special attention. First, the fact that we are expressly told that God's elect are "chosen to salvation": Language could not be more explicit. How summarily do these words dispose of the sophistries and equivocations of all who would make election refer to nothing but external privileges or rank in service! It is to "salvation" itself that God has chosen us. Second, we are warned here that election unto salvation does not disregard the use of appropriate means: salvation is reached through "sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth" It is not true that because God has chosen a certain one to salvation that he will be saved willy-nilly, whether he believes or not: nowhere do the Scriptures so represent it. The same God who "chose unto salvation", decreed that His purpose should be realized through the work of the spirit and belief of the truth. Third, that God has chosen us unto salvation is a profound cause for fervent praise. Note how strongly the apostle express this - "we are bound to give thanks always to God for you. brethren beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation", etc. Instead of shrinking back in horror from the doctrine of predestination, the believer, when he sees this blessed truth as it is unfolded in the Word, discovers a ground for gratitude and thanksgiving such as nothing else affords, save the unspeakable gift of the Redeemer Himself.” AW Pink
1 Corin. 1:28 “and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are,”
These truths are not “apparent” just from looking at life, in fact they are hidden and must be revealed.
So God chose us and gives us the grace to be “in Christ.”
Stumbling block - Scandalon
This from a guy named Steve Dewitt.
For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles… (Verses 21-23, emphasis added)
Salvation by faith in a crucified Savior is counterintuitive to us
The gospel is a stumbling block when you are blind. The Greek word for “stumbling block” is scandalon defined as that which gives offense or causes revulsion, that which arouses opposition, an object of anger or disapproval. (BAG)
We get the word scandalous from it. The cross is offensive to human way of thinking and it rubs the natural man the wrong way because it requires us to do the exact opposite of what man and his pride thinks he needs to do.
Let me illustrate this with a Chinese finger trap. You put one finger in each end and when you try to pull them out again, you’re stuck. You can’t get out. Do you know how to get out of a Chinese finger trap? You push your finger in so that you can pull your finger out. The way out is the way in. That’s counterintuitive. Here are some reasons that believing in Jesus is counterintuitive…
Contrary to human religion (Verse 22)
Every religion man comes up with has something to do with man making his way to God. Paul points out in verse 22 that the Jews demanded a sign. They wanted to see something that out of their wisdom they could judge as true. You may recall the Jews asking Jesus repeatedly for a sign or a miracle. They wanted to make their own judgment and all the religions of the world do the same. They magnify in some way man’s ability to do or think or earn his way to God or Allah or Nirvana or Jehovah or whatever. Man’s kind of religion always ends up worshipping man in some way. Christ crucified rubs man the wrong way.
Contrary to human thinking (Verse 22)
Paul says in verse 22 that the Greeks seek wisdom. They want to rationalize their way to God. In the end, who gets the glory if man’s wisdom leads him to God? Man does. Who gets the glory if human eloquence and human words lead man to God? Man does. To the Greeks in the Roman Empire, if someone was crucified he was the worst of criminals. A crucified Savior? How could God save mankind by something so ugly and weak and despised as a Roman cross? That doesn’t jive with our way of thinking. The Jews want power and in the cross they get weakness. The Greeks want wisdom, but in the cross they get apparent folly. 5
Contrary to human pride and self-sufficiency
This is the big one. The human heart does not want to do what the gospel requires – humble itself. All the major objections to Christianity in some way stem from this
fundamental flaw within us. List key doctrines and the objections will come; the atonement is too bloody and predestination seems unfair and God saving some and not everyone is too exclusive and eternal punishment in hell isn’t right and a loving God wouldn’t do it this way. The gospel rubs the modern man or woman the wrong way and since we are the judge of the way it ought to be, we simply call it ridiculous. There is a movie out right now that says exactly that. Religulous! Religion is ridiculous to Bill Maher for all the same reasons Paul explains here. It strikes our sensibilities the wrong way because it elevates God and humbles us and we don’t like that. The gospel is a scandal. It always has been. It always will be. We have to admit that….
God is wiser than us (Verse 25)
For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. The key to understanding this passage is adding the word “apparent.” God’s apparent foolishness in the cross is actually the eternal wisdom of God. Man’s apparent wisdom is actually foolishness. So things are not as they appear. Take all the talking points of all the philosophers and talk show hosts and writers and columnists and politicians and statesmen and professors and teachers. Take all the things they’ve ever said and pile them up. The smallest thought that God has ever had eclipses all the wisdom man has ever accumulated. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8-9)
God’s Word is like the traveler to the Country of the Blind and the secret to the Chinese finger trap. It is telling us what is wise and what is folly. It is also calling us to wonder and worship. Do you realize that were it not for God’s gracious calling in our lives, we would still be blind and solidly in the category of “those who are perishing” in verse 18? The right response of a recipient of grace is not pride but wonder and worship. There is nothing here for anyone to take pride in. The Corinthian Christians were finding their identity in eloquent speakers and teachers in the church. What? Who died for us? Who called us? God did. Let’s
praise Him!
Lastly this from Paul Washer. When you are teaching your children to take their first steps they must come to a place where they let go of the chair or table or whatever they are holding onto and they walk without holding onto anything. You don’t get them there by saying “Let go of the table.” You get them to walk by saying, “Come to Daddy.” and so it is with God and us. The focus is not on what we need to let go of, but on the great and beautiful God we are being called toward.
Saturday, April 23, 2011
End Times objections
In addition to the "quick and clear" view of the end times.
http://hisrelentlessaffection.blogspot.com/2010/11/end-times.html
I felt to add a "Page 2" that answers common questions, especially from those who thought their view of the end times involved a pre-trib rapture. Those questions and answers are pasted below.
Arguments against this view of the end times answered.
What about “no man knows the day or the hour?"
Refers to the “day of the Lord.” The final day, Daniel 12:11"From the time that the regular sacrifice is abolished and the abomination of desolation is set up, there will be 1,290 days.
12"How blessed is he who keeps waiting and attains to the 1,335 days!” There is in this precise passage a “mysterious” 45 days at the end. God the Father will pick the final day from these 45 days, so it really is not about “times and seasons, it is about a specific day and hour, that “no one knows.”
What about “this generation shall not pass away before...”
So God is out to stumble pride as its own self-inflicted judgment. The means and measures by which this is accomplished is another conversation, but one thing is clear, God’s selective mode of revelation will always raise problems for natural reason that will defy solution by mere brain power regardless of exegetical skills. It is the humility of repentance that clears the way for the entrance of light (but then again repentance is also the result of revelation as seen in the case of Paul and the future remnant of Israel; Zech 12:10). I make this point because it explains what I think underlies the larger purpose of the Father in Jesus’ use of the term ”generation”. I am suggesting that Jesus well knew the versatility of the language and that it would be a potential source of perplexity.
Jesus well knew the versatility of this term, as evident from his unique and profound use of it in His rebuke of the Pharisees in the preceding chapter. The confrontation with the Pharisees in chapt 23 sets the stage and context for what follows on the same day in the Olivet prophecy. In Mt 23:29-36 Jesus describes a phenomenon that is far too little considered in biblical theology. It is what some have called ‘corporate solidarity.’ Jesus cites the self-assured boast of the Pharisees, “If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets,” as proof that His contemporaries are in the same generational line of those that slew the prophets. It is THIS GENERATION that remains in an unbroken continuum “until YOU shall say blessed is He that comes in the name of the Lord’” (Mt 23:39). The day of national repentance ends the age enduring opposition of ‘this generation’.
More than an issue of mere bloodline, the concept of generation represents a particular spiritual disposition or nature. So long as this perversity of spirit and God rejection persists in the Jewish nation, so does the exile continue, and so does “this generation” remain; it only ends when ‘all these things’ shall be fulfilled. This is consistent with the use of the term in Moses and the prophets (Deut 32:5, 20 et al), in John Baptist, and it was Stephen’s use of the same essential indictment, if not the precise term, that cost him his life (Acts 7:51-52; cf. also 1Thes 2:16).
Notice the the Lord’s unique use of ‘you’ in His indictment. It is the same in Stephen’s apologetic. It is the generic ‘you’ of corporate solidarity, hence an abiding generation. It is a generation that does not escape judgment, regardless of its particular location in chronological time, ‘UNTIL’ …. This is why Jesus could speak of a future day of public acknowledgment of His messianic dignity, and describes it in terms of the generational ‘until YOU will say.’ It is why He could indict His own contemporaries as present in the killing of the prophets in the very persons of their fathers (“whom you slew”). And it is why Zechariah can speak particularly of the last generation of Jewish survivors of the last tribulation as ‘looking on Him whom THEY have pierced,’ as though they were the actual historical murderers of the Messiah. And they were; because they performed it in the persons of their Jewish forebears. Thus, the surviving remnant of Jacob’s trouble will see themselves as part of an ongoing generation, the generation that has always resisted the Spirit and slain the prophets. This, of course, assumes a powerful revelation, but we believe that such revelation will be amply communicated through the witness of the tribulation church. This witness, though very powerful, will not at first prevail to turn the larger part of the remnant to faith, but it will be the effectual seed that the Lord will quicken at the moment of His appearing, “when the Deliverer comes out of Zion to turn ungodliness from Jacob.” Only then will they ‘look on Me whom they pierced.
Finally, and here I go back to the amazing way that God hides His mysteries. It has always been striking to me that immediately after Jesus says “this generation shall not PASS AWAY till all these things be fulfilled,” He then most significantly adds: “Heaven and earth shall PASS AWAY, but My Word shall never PASS AWAY.” I believe that Jesus well knew and even anticipated how that ‘that’ generation would appear to pass without the fulfillment of “all these things.” I believe it is precisely because He knew that His words would be pointed to by the gainsayer as evidence of the failure of prophecy that He adds the revelatory caveat that sooner would heaven and earth PASS AWAY than one jot or tittle of His word to fail or fall to the ground. Impossible! So by divine design, we are left with a choice of faith, but this need not require a choice between the false alternatives of a spiritualizing preterism or unbelief concerning the Lord’s prophetic accuracy.
Yours in the Beloved,
Reggie Kelly (Reggie answered this better than I ever could, so I just pasted his take on it)
What about “He comes as a thief in the night”
2For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night.
3While they are saying, "Peace and safety!" then destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains upon a woman with child, and they will not escape.
4But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day would overtake you like a thief;
5for you are all sons of light and sons of day We are not of night nor of darkness;
6so then let us not sleep as others do, but let us be alert and sober.
What about “He could come at any moment”
2nd Thes. 2:1 Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him,
2that you not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come.
3Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy (The abandonment or forsaking of faith or commitment to follow the Lord, often described as a turning away)
comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction,
4who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.
5Do you not remember that while I was still with you, I was telling you these things?
6And you know what restrains him now, so that in his time he will be revealed.
7For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way.
8Then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming;
9that is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders,
10and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved.
What about Rev. 3:10?
10“Because you have kept the word of My perseverance, I also will keep you from the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.”
To be “kept" by God is not to be removed but to be preserved through. Like the Hebrews during the Egyptian plagues. Like Paul during his many persecutions and like Jesus specifically warned and prayed for his own disciples...warning --John 16:1"These things I have spoken to you so that you may be kept from stumbling.
2"They will make you outcasts from the synagogue, but an hour is coming for everyone who kills you to think that he is offering service to God.
3"These things they will do because they have not known the Father or Me.”
...prayer---John 17:15"I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from )the evil one.
What about Rev. 4 the 24 elders?
In Rev. 4:1, John does not represent the church. John is about to have an incredible vision, but this one apostle is never given as a symbolic representative of the entire church.
Rev. 4:4 the 24 elders, my best explanation is 12 tribes of Israel and 12 apostles=24. I can’t think of any good reason, why 24 would represent the church.
Twenty Four : 24 - Biblical Numerology Meaning: deals in reference to a heavenly government and a heavenly worship.
What about, “The church isn’t mentioned after Rev. 4“
Matthew 18:20 “For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst." Church is a gathering of people where Jesus is the center. The “elect” and the “saints” are mentioned, so if any two of them gather, guess what, that is ‘church.’ Many are saved during the tribulation, so the Holy Spirit and the church, are busy and active during the tribulation.
http://hisrelentlessaffection.blogspot.com/2010/11/end-times.html
I felt to add a "Page 2" that answers common questions, especially from those who thought their view of the end times involved a pre-trib rapture. Those questions and answers are pasted below.
Arguments against this view of the end times answered.
What about “no man knows the day or the hour?"
Refers to the “day of the Lord.” The final day, Daniel 12:11"From the time that the regular sacrifice is abolished and the abomination of desolation is set up, there will be 1,290 days.
12"How blessed is he who keeps waiting and attains to the 1,335 days!” There is in this precise passage a “mysterious” 45 days at the end. God the Father will pick the final day from these 45 days, so it really is not about “times and seasons, it is about a specific day and hour, that “no one knows.”
What about “this generation shall not pass away before...”
So God is out to stumble pride as its own self-inflicted judgment. The means and measures by which this is accomplished is another conversation, but one thing is clear, God’s selective mode of revelation will always raise problems for natural reason that will defy solution by mere brain power regardless of exegetical skills. It is the humility of repentance that clears the way for the entrance of light (but then again repentance is also the result of revelation as seen in the case of Paul and the future remnant of Israel; Zech 12:10). I make this point because it explains what I think underlies the larger purpose of the Father in Jesus’ use of the term ”generation”. I am suggesting that Jesus well knew the versatility of the language and that it would be a potential source of perplexity.
Jesus well knew the versatility of this term, as evident from his unique and profound use of it in His rebuke of the Pharisees in the preceding chapter. The confrontation with the Pharisees in chapt 23 sets the stage and context for what follows on the same day in the Olivet prophecy. In Mt 23:29-36 Jesus describes a phenomenon that is far too little considered in biblical theology. It is what some have called ‘corporate solidarity.’ Jesus cites the self-assured boast of the Pharisees, “If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets,” as proof that His contemporaries are in the same generational line of those that slew the prophets. It is THIS GENERATION that remains in an unbroken continuum “until YOU shall say blessed is He that comes in the name of the Lord’” (Mt 23:39). The day of national repentance ends the age enduring opposition of ‘this generation’.
More than an issue of mere bloodline, the concept of generation represents a particular spiritual disposition or nature. So long as this perversity of spirit and God rejection persists in the Jewish nation, so does the exile continue, and so does “this generation” remain; it only ends when ‘all these things’ shall be fulfilled. This is consistent with the use of the term in Moses and the prophets (Deut 32:5, 20 et al), in John Baptist, and it was Stephen’s use of the same essential indictment, if not the precise term, that cost him his life (Acts 7:51-52; cf. also 1Thes 2:16).
Notice the the Lord’s unique use of ‘you’ in His indictment. It is the same in Stephen’s apologetic. It is the generic ‘you’ of corporate solidarity, hence an abiding generation. It is a generation that does not escape judgment, regardless of its particular location in chronological time, ‘UNTIL’ …. This is why Jesus could speak of a future day of public acknowledgment of His messianic dignity, and describes it in terms of the generational ‘until YOU will say.’ It is why He could indict His own contemporaries as present in the killing of the prophets in the very persons of their fathers (“whom you slew”). And it is why Zechariah can speak particularly of the last generation of Jewish survivors of the last tribulation as ‘looking on Him whom THEY have pierced,’ as though they were the actual historical murderers of the Messiah. And they were; because they performed it in the persons of their Jewish forebears. Thus, the surviving remnant of Jacob’s trouble will see themselves as part of an ongoing generation, the generation that has always resisted the Spirit and slain the prophets. This, of course, assumes a powerful revelation, but we believe that such revelation will be amply communicated through the witness of the tribulation church. This witness, though very powerful, will not at first prevail to turn the larger part of the remnant to faith, but it will be the effectual seed that the Lord will quicken at the moment of His appearing, “when the Deliverer comes out of Zion to turn ungodliness from Jacob.” Only then will they ‘look on Me whom they pierced.
Finally, and here I go back to the amazing way that God hides His mysteries. It has always been striking to me that immediately after Jesus says “this generation shall not PASS AWAY till all these things be fulfilled,” He then most significantly adds: “Heaven and earth shall PASS AWAY, but My Word shall never PASS AWAY.” I believe that Jesus well knew and even anticipated how that ‘that’ generation would appear to pass without the fulfillment of “all these things.” I believe it is precisely because He knew that His words would be pointed to by the gainsayer as evidence of the failure of prophecy that He adds the revelatory caveat that sooner would heaven and earth PASS AWAY than one jot or tittle of His word to fail or fall to the ground. Impossible! So by divine design, we are left with a choice of faith, but this need not require a choice between the false alternatives of a spiritualizing preterism or unbelief concerning the Lord’s prophetic accuracy.
Yours in the Beloved,
Reggie Kelly (Reggie answered this better than I ever could, so I just pasted his take on it)
What about “He comes as a thief in the night”
2For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night.
3While they are saying, "Peace and safety!" then destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains upon a woman with child, and they will not escape.
4But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day would overtake you like a thief;
5for you are all sons of light and sons of day We are not of night nor of darkness;
6so then let us not sleep as others do, but let us be alert and sober.
What about “He could come at any moment”
2nd Thes. 2:1 Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him,
2that you not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come.
3Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy (The abandonment or forsaking of faith or commitment to follow the Lord, often described as a turning away)
comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction,
4who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.
5Do you not remember that while I was still with you, I was telling you these things?
6And you know what restrains him now, so that in his time he will be revealed.
7For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way.
8Then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming;
9that is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders,
10and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved.
What about Rev. 3:10?
10“Because you have kept the word of My perseverance, I also will keep you from the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.”
To be “kept" by God is not to be removed but to be preserved through. Like the Hebrews during the Egyptian plagues. Like Paul during his many persecutions and like Jesus specifically warned and prayed for his own disciples...warning --John 16:1"These things I have spoken to you so that you may be kept from stumbling.
2"They will make you outcasts from the synagogue, but an hour is coming for everyone who kills you to think that he is offering service to God.
3"These things they will do because they have not known the Father or Me.”
...prayer---John 17:15"I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from )the evil one.
What about Rev. 4 the 24 elders?
In Rev. 4:1, John does not represent the church. John is about to have an incredible vision, but this one apostle is never given as a symbolic representative of the entire church.
Rev. 4:4 the 24 elders, my best explanation is 12 tribes of Israel and 12 apostles=24. I can’t think of any good reason, why 24 would represent the church.
Twenty Four : 24 - Biblical Numerology Meaning: deals in reference to a heavenly government and a heavenly worship.
What about, “The church isn’t mentioned after Rev. 4“
Matthew 18:20 “For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst." Church is a gathering of people where Jesus is the center. The “elect” and the “saints” are mentioned, so if any two of them gather, guess what, that is ‘church.’ Many are saved during the tribulation, so the Holy Spirit and the church, are busy and active during the tribulation.
kairos
The Lord spoke to our congregation through our pastor, that we are in a Kairos time, a time specifically opened up by God for us to move forward in something that God has called us to. He is not a 'guru' he is a pastor, so it is up to us to seek God and to persevere in what He has called us to. One thing for me is the accumulation of some insight into the church's roll in the end times. I need to be open to spreading that any chance that I get, "to take the tablets and run with them." Hab. 2:2
Up until this point, this has met with a resounding "thud!" In this Kairos time it is not up to me to 'bear fruit,' that is the work of God. If He tells me to go into the room and break the alabaster box of perfume, Obedience Is My Only Option, and it does not matter if the disciples and those around question my actions and call it stupid,and a "waste."
Obedience Is My Only Option.
Homeschooling friends recently let me into their house to share the "quick and clear" word of God from Matt. 24 and Daniel regarding the end times that was given to me by Reggie Kelly. No one said, when I was done, "Well that settles it, this is the truth." But I spoke, and they listened and had some questions... and now days later it comes to me, the fruit is not up to me, just the obedience. Praise God.
So this blog is still about my real life, my main struggle right now is anger and resentment, I lose track of mercy and gratitude and end up in a dry and weary land of my own making quite often, BUT GOD rich in mercy, keeps up a conversation with me, and breaking will come and fruit will come, and change will come, sanctification is a life-long process ending only when this flesh finds itself separated, empty and in the grave. God forgive those teaching a sanctification that is whole and complete and entire on this earth. Romans 7 proves them to be wrong, mislead and misleading. Mislead is forgivable, "misleading" teaching a falsity, is scarily dangerous and we are deeply warned against it in scripture.
Recently the truth of "ministering unto the Lord" has been re-given to me, and I pray for the grace of God to take it up again. His mercies are new every morning.
A word of encouragement, while reading through the gospel of John last night with friends, the words about a woman with a newborn forgetting the pain of childbirth came to me in a new light, the light of going through a long and painful process with an unbelieving friend/relative/co-worker, the travail of those days will be forgotten when we are holding the newborn in our arms. Thank You Jesus, all glory to you, for hiding truth from the wise and giving it to the simple. At that time Jesus said, "I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants." Matthew 11:25
Up until this point, this has met with a resounding "thud!" In this Kairos time it is not up to me to 'bear fruit,' that is the work of God. If He tells me to go into the room and break the alabaster box of perfume, Obedience Is My Only Option, and it does not matter if the disciples and those around question my actions and call it stupid,and a "waste."
Obedience Is My Only Option.
Homeschooling friends recently let me into their house to share the "quick and clear" word of God from Matt. 24 and Daniel regarding the end times that was given to me by Reggie Kelly. No one said, when I was done, "Well that settles it, this is the truth." But I spoke, and they listened and had some questions... and now days later it comes to me, the fruit is not up to me, just the obedience. Praise God.
So this blog is still about my real life, my main struggle right now is anger and resentment, I lose track of mercy and gratitude and end up in a dry and weary land of my own making quite often, BUT GOD rich in mercy, keeps up a conversation with me, and breaking will come and fruit will come, and change will come, sanctification is a life-long process ending only when this flesh finds itself separated, empty and in the grave. God forgive those teaching a sanctification that is whole and complete and entire on this earth. Romans 7 proves them to be wrong, mislead and misleading. Mislead is forgivable, "misleading" teaching a falsity, is scarily dangerous and we are deeply warned against it in scripture.
Recently the truth of "ministering unto the Lord" has been re-given to me, and I pray for the grace of God to take it up again. His mercies are new every morning.
A word of encouragement, while reading through the gospel of John last night with friends, the words about a woman with a newborn forgetting the pain of childbirth came to me in a new light, the light of going through a long and painful process with an unbelieving friend/relative/co-worker, the travail of those days will be forgotten when we are holding the newborn in our arms. Thank You Jesus, all glory to you, for hiding truth from the wise and giving it to the simple. At that time Jesus said, "I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants." Matthew 11:25
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Romans study #24 7:14-25
It happens for the glory of God, the simple answer to the why
in the life of a believer.
Romans 7, this last section is famous, many argue over what is
a very clear and straightforward meaning. Holy Spirit come and
remove the blinders, the veil and the things that hinder us grasping
the living truth of these words, In Jesus' Name. Amen.
Romans Bible Study #24
Romans 7:14-25
The Reality of Religion
Indwelling Sin vs. Indwelling Savior
Romans 7:14-25
The Conflict of Two Natures
14For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin.
15For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate.
16But if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the Law, confessing that the Law is good.
17So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.
18For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not.
19For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want.
20But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.
21I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good.
22For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man,
23but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members.
24Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?
25Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin. NASB
14-16I can anticipate the response that is coming: "I know that all God's commands are spiritual, but I'm not. Isn't this also your experience?" Yes. I'm full of myself—after all, I've spent a long time in sin's prison. What I don't understand about myself is that I decide one way, but then I act another, doing things I absolutely despise. So if I can't be trusted to figure out what is best for myself and then do it, it becomes obvious that God's command is necessary.
17-20But I need something more! For if I know the law but still can't keep it, and if the power of sin within me keeps sabotaging my best intentions, I obviously need help! I realize that I don't have what it takes. I can will it, but I can't do it. I decide to do good, but I don't really do it; I decide not to do bad, but then I do it anyway. My decisions, such as they are, don't result in actions. Something has gone wrong deep within me and gets the better of me every time.
21-23It happens so regularly that it's predictable. The moment I decide to do good, sin is there to trip me up. I truly delight in God's commands, but it's pretty obvious that not all of me joins in that delight. Parts of me covertly rebel, and just when I least expect it, they take charge.
24I've tried everything and nothing helps. I'm at the end of my rope. Is there no one who can do anything for me? Isn't that the real question?
25The answer, thank God, is that Jesus Christ can and does. He acted to set things right in this life of contradictions where I want to serve God with all my heart and mind, but am pulled by the influence of sin to do something totally different. THE MESSAGE
There is actually a controversy that Paul is not talking about himself as a Christian in these verses. It is obvious that he is and so I won’t spend even one second on that controversy. Like a lot of controversy about Bible passages this stems from the person coming into the reading of this passage with a belief that he wants to “prop up" and prove. This leads to a blindness when reading the passage. A third grader reading this section could answer the question, “Who is Paul talking about in these sentences?", but many theological ‘experts’ cannot.
This is the very real struggle of the Christian life. It is a difficult life. We are swimming upstream against our nature, our flesh moment by moment. This is a very practical and very real section of scripture and we need to see what is being said, without denying it or running from the truth of it.
You fall, it happens, and then Paul is giving us a pattern on “getting up.” You do not deny that you just fell, in fact you say that the very law that convicts you and points out your failure is good. Indwelling sin, your flesh, still remains as a player in this game and it landed a punch.
I am a wretched man. I need a great God. I have a great God, His life in me, will overcome and be ultimately victorious. That is the pattern on how to get up. As a woman said the other night at work, and I immediately wrote it down, “We need all the help we can get!”
We are not called to “settle in sin” or “make peace with sin.” This is to be a battle, a struggle that takes place from a position of rest and victory. As Steve says, it is like we are watching the replay of a game, we know who wins, so we don’t get upset at the temporary setbacks.
The height of glory at the beginning of verse 25 is tempered with the reality of the battle still raging at the end of verse 25. The battle rages, this can not be denied. The glory of being “in Christ” and all the benefits listed in a previous lesson is still a huge hope and a joy for us, but we are not blind optimists, we are realists. Yes, I fell and I will fall, my righteousness is not the issue here. My perfection is not attained, but I know what sin cost my Lord, and I battle, with the strength of His might. I am not separate from fallen humanity. I am not surprised or ‘taken aback’ by any fall of any of my brothers. “Restore such a one in a spirit of meekness.” When the apostles were ready to call down fire on the unrepentant village, Jesus reminded them, “You know not what manner of men you are.” It is true, when we are standing in, “I don’t believe they did that,” judgment of anyone, we are displaying pride, and it stinks in the sight of God, whose grace saved us and keeps us.
John Piper quote - “So argument #10 is that Paul's shout of victory in verse 25a, "Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord," is not a signal that he has moved to a new, triumphant kind of life above the battles and losses of Romans 7. Instead this shout of hope is followed by a sober, realistic summary of everything we have seen, namely that Paul, the Christian, is both a new man and an old man. He is both indwelt by the Spirit and harassed by the flesh. He is freed from the dominion of sin and indwelt by remaining corruption. This will be his lot until he dies or until Christ comes. That is the Biblical realism of Romans 7.”
Again quoting Piper “So the question is: How are we to live in view of this double truth about ourselves? The answer comes from watching the amazing way that Paul speaks to us about our deliverance and our newness in Christ. What he does again and again is to say: This new man is who you decisively and irrevocably are in Christ. This free man is your deepest and truest identity. Now act on it. Look to Christ, trust his help, and by his Spirit become what you are.
If your besetting sin is anger, affirm that in Christ you have died to that identity and in Christ you have his patience and kindness. Look to him and trust in him and rejoice in him. And fight against anger as one who has the victory in him.
If your besetting sin is heterosexual or homosexual lust, affirm that the truth that in Christ you have died to this fallen and distorted identity. I recall many conversations with Joe Hallett who came out of the homosexual life and lived among us with AIDS for 10 years and died a few years ago. He never tired of saying: Do not say "I am a homosexual." Say rather, "I struggle with homosexual desires." That was not a superficial mind over matter trick. It was a profound Biblical insight into Romans 6 and 7: In Christ our old selves have died – whatever their distortion and corruption – and we are decisively and irrevocably new. In Christ Jesus homosexual, fornicator, adulterer, covetous, thief, alcoholic, are not who we truly are. Affirm that by faith in Christ. Trust him as your all-satisfying treasure and look to him for the help to become (as much as possible in this life) who you truly are in Christ.”
Martin Luther quote, “Paul, good man that he was, longed to be without sin, but to it he was chained. I too, in common with many others, long to stand outside it, but this cannot be. We belch forth the vapours of sin; we fall into it, rise up again, buffet and torment ourselves night and day; but, since we are confined in this flesh, since we have to bear about with us everywhere this stinking sack, we cannot rid ourselves completely of it, or even knock it senseless. We make vigorous attempts to do so, but the old Adam retains his power until he is deposited in the grave. The Kingdom of God is a foreign country...There is no sinless Christian. If thou chancest upon such a man, he is no Christian, but an anti-Christ. Sin stands in the midst of the Kingdom of Christ.”
A young man wrote to Paul Washer lamenting his sinfulness. Paul wrote back to him that he was more joyful than this man was even though this young man was probably more spiritual than he was. “The reason, young man is your joy comes from your performance, quiet time, avoiding certain sins, you are an idolater, your joy does not come from what Christ has done and is doing for you, your joy is coming from what you can do for God, You are an Idolater!
God has destroyed all my hope in self and I am cast upon Christ and His glory.”
The motivation of God is His Glory and that should be our motivation also.
Other scriptures that back up the idea that this is a battle. Last thing from Piper.
Become What You Are
Let's close by looking at how Paul says this, so that you can see it is really there in the Word of God. The way he does it is with a strong statement of fact that Christians are new, accompanied by an equally strong command that we become new. Here are some of the examples in the New Testament.
1. Statement of newness: Romans 6:14, "Sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace." Command to become new: Romans 6:12, "Do not let sin reign in your mortal body."
2. Statement of newness: Romans 6:18, "Having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness." Command to become new: Romans 6:19, "Present your members as slaves to righteousness."
3. Statement of newness: Romans 6:6, "Our old self was crucified with Him." Command to become new: Romans 6:11, "Consider yourselves to be dead to sin."
4. Statement of newness: Colossians 3:9, "You laid aside the old self with its evil practices." Command to become new: Ephesians 4:22 "Lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit."
5. Statement of newness: Colossians 3:10, "You have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him." Command to become new: "Ephesians 4:24, "Put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth."
6. Statement of newness: Galatians 3:27, "All of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ." Command to become new: Romans 13:14, "But put on the Lord Jesus Christ."
7. Statement of newness: Galatians 5:24, "Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires." Command to become new: "Romans 13:14b, "Make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts."
8. Command to become new: 1 Corinthians 5:7a, "Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump [of dough]." Statement of newness: 1 Corinthians 5:7b, ". . . just as you are in fact unleavened."
When Paul says in Romans 7:25b, "I myself with my mind am serving the law of God," he means, By the transforming power of the Spirit I set my mind on the treasure of Jesus Christ and all that God is for me in Him (2 Corinthians 5:19; 1 Corinthians 1:30; Colossians 2:3, 9); and all that I am in Him (2 Corinthians 5:17) and all I will become through Him (Philippians 1:11). And I believe Him and trust in His help and power. And I act on that faith. And if I stumble, I do not yield to the temptation to deny Christ or my true life in Him. I repent and I revel in His forgiveness and I fight on.
in the life of a believer.
Romans 7, this last section is famous, many argue over what is
a very clear and straightforward meaning. Holy Spirit come and
remove the blinders, the veil and the things that hinder us grasping
the living truth of these words, In Jesus' Name. Amen.
Romans Bible Study #24
Romans 7:14-25
The Reality of Religion
Indwelling Sin vs. Indwelling Savior
Romans 7:14-25
The Conflict of Two Natures
14For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin.
15For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate.
16But if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the Law, confessing that the Law is good.
17So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.
18For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not.
19For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want.
20But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.
21I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good.
22For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man,
23but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members.
24Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death?
25Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin. NASB
14-16I can anticipate the response that is coming: "I know that all God's commands are spiritual, but I'm not. Isn't this also your experience?" Yes. I'm full of myself—after all, I've spent a long time in sin's prison. What I don't understand about myself is that I decide one way, but then I act another, doing things I absolutely despise. So if I can't be trusted to figure out what is best for myself and then do it, it becomes obvious that God's command is necessary.
17-20But I need something more! For if I know the law but still can't keep it, and if the power of sin within me keeps sabotaging my best intentions, I obviously need help! I realize that I don't have what it takes. I can will it, but I can't do it. I decide to do good, but I don't really do it; I decide not to do bad, but then I do it anyway. My decisions, such as they are, don't result in actions. Something has gone wrong deep within me and gets the better of me every time.
21-23It happens so regularly that it's predictable. The moment I decide to do good, sin is there to trip me up. I truly delight in God's commands, but it's pretty obvious that not all of me joins in that delight. Parts of me covertly rebel, and just when I least expect it, they take charge.
24I've tried everything and nothing helps. I'm at the end of my rope. Is there no one who can do anything for me? Isn't that the real question?
25The answer, thank God, is that Jesus Christ can and does. He acted to set things right in this life of contradictions where I want to serve God with all my heart and mind, but am pulled by the influence of sin to do something totally different. THE MESSAGE
There is actually a controversy that Paul is not talking about himself as a Christian in these verses. It is obvious that he is and so I won’t spend even one second on that controversy. Like a lot of controversy about Bible passages this stems from the person coming into the reading of this passage with a belief that he wants to “prop up" and prove. This leads to a blindness when reading the passage. A third grader reading this section could answer the question, “Who is Paul talking about in these sentences?", but many theological ‘experts’ cannot.
This is the very real struggle of the Christian life. It is a difficult life. We are swimming upstream against our nature, our flesh moment by moment. This is a very practical and very real section of scripture and we need to see what is being said, without denying it or running from the truth of it.
You fall, it happens, and then Paul is giving us a pattern on “getting up.” You do not deny that you just fell, in fact you say that the very law that convicts you and points out your failure is good. Indwelling sin, your flesh, still remains as a player in this game and it landed a punch.
I am a wretched man. I need a great God. I have a great God, His life in me, will overcome and be ultimately victorious. That is the pattern on how to get up. As a woman said the other night at work, and I immediately wrote it down, “We need all the help we can get!”
We are not called to “settle in sin” or “make peace with sin.” This is to be a battle, a struggle that takes place from a position of rest and victory. As Steve says, it is like we are watching the replay of a game, we know who wins, so we don’t get upset at the temporary setbacks.
The height of glory at the beginning of verse 25 is tempered with the reality of the battle still raging at the end of verse 25. The battle rages, this can not be denied. The glory of being “in Christ” and all the benefits listed in a previous lesson is still a huge hope and a joy for us, but we are not blind optimists, we are realists. Yes, I fell and I will fall, my righteousness is not the issue here. My perfection is not attained, but I know what sin cost my Lord, and I battle, with the strength of His might. I am not separate from fallen humanity. I am not surprised or ‘taken aback’ by any fall of any of my brothers. “Restore such a one in a spirit of meekness.” When the apostles were ready to call down fire on the unrepentant village, Jesus reminded them, “You know not what manner of men you are.” It is true, when we are standing in, “I don’t believe they did that,” judgment of anyone, we are displaying pride, and it stinks in the sight of God, whose grace saved us and keeps us.
John Piper quote - “So argument #10 is that Paul's shout of victory in verse 25a, "Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord," is not a signal that he has moved to a new, triumphant kind of life above the battles and losses of Romans 7. Instead this shout of hope is followed by a sober, realistic summary of everything we have seen, namely that Paul, the Christian, is both a new man and an old man. He is both indwelt by the Spirit and harassed by the flesh. He is freed from the dominion of sin and indwelt by remaining corruption. This will be his lot until he dies or until Christ comes. That is the Biblical realism of Romans 7.”
Again quoting Piper “So the question is: How are we to live in view of this double truth about ourselves? The answer comes from watching the amazing way that Paul speaks to us about our deliverance and our newness in Christ. What he does again and again is to say: This new man is who you decisively and irrevocably are in Christ. This free man is your deepest and truest identity. Now act on it. Look to Christ, trust his help, and by his Spirit become what you are.
If your besetting sin is anger, affirm that in Christ you have died to that identity and in Christ you have his patience and kindness. Look to him and trust in him and rejoice in him. And fight against anger as one who has the victory in him.
If your besetting sin is heterosexual or homosexual lust, affirm that the truth that in Christ you have died to this fallen and distorted identity. I recall many conversations with Joe Hallett who came out of the homosexual life and lived among us with AIDS for 10 years and died a few years ago. He never tired of saying: Do not say "I am a homosexual." Say rather, "I struggle with homosexual desires." That was not a superficial mind over matter trick. It was a profound Biblical insight into Romans 6 and 7: In Christ our old selves have died – whatever their distortion and corruption – and we are decisively and irrevocably new. In Christ Jesus homosexual, fornicator, adulterer, covetous, thief, alcoholic, are not who we truly are. Affirm that by faith in Christ. Trust him as your all-satisfying treasure and look to him for the help to become (as much as possible in this life) who you truly are in Christ.”
Martin Luther quote, “Paul, good man that he was, longed to be without sin, but to it he was chained. I too, in common with many others, long to stand outside it, but this cannot be. We belch forth the vapours of sin; we fall into it, rise up again, buffet and torment ourselves night and day; but, since we are confined in this flesh, since we have to bear about with us everywhere this stinking sack, we cannot rid ourselves completely of it, or even knock it senseless. We make vigorous attempts to do so, but the old Adam retains his power until he is deposited in the grave. The Kingdom of God is a foreign country...There is no sinless Christian. If thou chancest upon such a man, he is no Christian, but an anti-Christ. Sin stands in the midst of the Kingdom of Christ.”
A young man wrote to Paul Washer lamenting his sinfulness. Paul wrote back to him that he was more joyful than this man was even though this young man was probably more spiritual than he was. “The reason, young man is your joy comes from your performance, quiet time, avoiding certain sins, you are an idolater, your joy does not come from what Christ has done and is doing for you, your joy is coming from what you can do for God, You are an Idolater!
God has destroyed all my hope in self and I am cast upon Christ and His glory.”
The motivation of God is His Glory and that should be our motivation also.
Other scriptures that back up the idea that this is a battle. Last thing from Piper.
Become What You Are
Let's close by looking at how Paul says this, so that you can see it is really there in the Word of God. The way he does it is with a strong statement of fact that Christians are new, accompanied by an equally strong command that we become new. Here are some of the examples in the New Testament.
1. Statement of newness: Romans 6:14, "Sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace." Command to become new: Romans 6:12, "Do not let sin reign in your mortal body."
2. Statement of newness: Romans 6:18, "Having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness." Command to become new: Romans 6:19, "Present your members as slaves to righteousness."
3. Statement of newness: Romans 6:6, "Our old self was crucified with Him." Command to become new: Romans 6:11, "Consider yourselves to be dead to sin."
4. Statement of newness: Colossians 3:9, "You laid aside the old self with its evil practices." Command to become new: Ephesians 4:22 "Lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit."
5. Statement of newness: Colossians 3:10, "You have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him." Command to become new: "Ephesians 4:24, "Put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth."
6. Statement of newness: Galatians 3:27, "All of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ." Command to become new: Romans 13:14, "But put on the Lord Jesus Christ."
7. Statement of newness: Galatians 5:24, "Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires." Command to become new: "Romans 13:14b, "Make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts."
8. Command to become new: 1 Corinthians 5:7a, "Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump [of dough]." Statement of newness: 1 Corinthians 5:7b, ". . . just as you are in fact unleavened."
When Paul says in Romans 7:25b, "I myself with my mind am serving the law of God," he means, By the transforming power of the Spirit I set my mind on the treasure of Jesus Christ and all that God is for me in Him (2 Corinthians 5:19; 1 Corinthians 1:30; Colossians 2:3, 9); and all that I am in Him (2 Corinthians 5:17) and all I will become through Him (Philippians 1:11). And I believe Him and trust in His help and power. And I act on that faith. And if I stumble, I do not yield to the temptation to deny Christ or my true life in Him. I repent and I revel in His forgiveness and I fight on.
Friday, April 8, 2011
the only way
Jesus Christ won the victory through death and resurrection, but we will spend all day looking for an easier way. There is no other way, and it was never to be easy...and before you quote Paul or John, stop and think about their lives, their very real lives. The church does not get taken out before the tribulation, the tribulation is the means of making the bride pure and spotless, and presents the church with the chance to glorify the Father, and shine as a light in the darkness. "If you want to find Jesus, follow the path of suffering." Reggie Kelly
Monday, April 4, 2011
prophet
"The first function of the prophet is to restore true worship to the church."
Art Katz
Part of a message on "Eternal Hell" part 2
available for free download here
http://www.sermonindex.net/modules/mydownloads/viewcat.php?cid=173&min=80&orderby=titleA&show=20
this message is about 1/2 way down the page
p.s. I recommend any and every sermon by Art Katz
Art Katz
Part of a message on "Eternal Hell" part 2
available for free download here
http://www.sermonindex.net/modules/mydownloads/viewcat.php?cid=173&min=80&orderby=titleA&show=20
this message is about 1/2 way down the page
p.s. I recommend any and every sermon by Art Katz
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