Month: September 2018

44. Life and Peace

 Romans 8:6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.

 This is a conditional promise: if you are spiritually minded, then you have life and peace. Life and peace is promised to the one who is spiritually minded. Because we live in the flesh in the middle of a carnal world it is not possible to concentrate one’s mind continually on spiritual things. Being carnally minded (concerned with the flesh and only with the things we can see) is the natural state of life on earth. We can’t avoid being carnally minded, but along with that mind we can also be spiritually minded. Prayer helps us connect the spiritual things with the carnal things.

The carnal mind is not necessarily sinful or wrong, but the temptation to ignore God, His presence, and His love is stronger when earthly things are the only things on our minds. But we need to be aware of the fact that being carnally minded is death. No spiritual or eternal good can come from the flesh and the world. The flesh and the world are inhabited by Sin and the Devil; these enemies are always and only intent on our death. Staying minded on the things of the flesh and the world will always lead to death, separation from God. The further the mind is from God the closer the mind is to death; the things of the Spirit are life and peace. God = Life; No God = Death. We are always tending toward one or the other.

We cannot always keep our minds on spiritual things, but we can improve the times and the frequency of being spiritually minded. One solution is to readily connect spiritual things with worldly things. We can think about and pray about earthly concerns and connect them to God. We make the connection; the axiom of the world is wrong: “Don’t be so heavenly minded that you are no earthly good.” Prayer is the result of being spiritually minded, connecting the problems and the joys of life to God and so receiving the promise of life and peace. An attitude of gratitude and a readiness to give thanks for all things is a practical help for maintaining a spiritual mind. Colossians 3:2: “Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.” Telling and hearing the Gospel very often is the best aid to becoming spiritually minded. This is how the Gospel produces life and peace while existing among the Sin and Death that infects this worldly, fleshly life.

43. Righteousness of Law Fulfilled

 Romans 8:4 That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

 Perfect obedience to the Law of God is righteousness. Righteousness is everything that is good, right and holy in the character and in the thinking, deciding, speaking and doing; the right thing is always done without fail. Right action arises out of right inner character. God is perfectly right in His nature of holiness and love, and holiness and love always comes out into action toward His created universe.

God has revealed His righteousness to human beings in His revealed Word, summarized in the Ten Commandments, delineated and expanded further in the rest of Scripture. This revelation of the Moral Law of the universe shows us what righteousness looks like in life on earth, living with God and other people. God gave us the Law to show us clearly how far we have failed to be righteous. In the revealed Law we see ourselves and we see the righteousness of God; we see clearly how far apart we are. I am a long, long way from the righteousness of the law. I do not reflect God or His love and holiness as I was created in His image to do. When the mirror of the Law is held in front of me I see unrighteousness, far short of the glory of God.

But here is the Good News: The righteousness of God is revealed in the Gospel [Romans 1:17]. We believe that Gospel and we are declared righteous. Here in this verse [8:4] it is even more clearly revealed that the righteousness of the law is fulfilled in us who believe. We cannot keep the law and we will not, even with the help of the Holy Spirit; but Jesus has fulfilled it for us and placed it in us. Fulfill means complete; all the requirements of righteousness are completed; the entire keeping of the law has been given to us freely as a gift. God demands that humans keep the law in entire righteous perfection; we can’t and we won’t; so He did it for us and keeps it for us. Righteousness of Law is fulfilled in us who believe. Fulfill means that it is actually working out in us. God is living it in us. We may not look righteous but in truth we are; it is a fulfilled; that’s a promise.

42. Free from Sin and Death

 Romans 8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.

 One Law frees me from the other Law. The liberating feeling of being free from the law of sin and death is like the emancipation of a slave. Sin and Death no longer rule my life and tell me what to think and what to do. These tyrants are cruel and mean and do not have our best interests in mind. The law of sin and death is an iron rule that is unyielding in producing guilt and fear. This law does not compromise or allow for mercy. The only end result of this law is despair. But being set free I have hope.

The other Law is the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus. Christ has delivered me from the law of sin and death and transferred me to another loving master: the law of the Spirit of life. Life now rules me instead of death. Grace now rules instead of Sin. This new law does not force me to do anything, but it is the influence of love and mercy that compels me to want to submit to a new loving master. This new law lets me do what I want; the difference is that my wants have been changed: I want to do good works and serve others; I want to make other people blessed by what I do and say; I want to follow the will of God instead of my own selfish desires. In other words, the Lord has given me a different set of wants and desires. This law also gives me a new ability.

The Law of the Spirit does not just make rules with dire consequences if I do not obey them; but it also gives me the ability to desire and do what the Spirit leads me graciously to follow. The law of sin forces me to do what I do not want and to do what is not good for me. The Law alone gives me no power to do it; it only accuses and condemns for failure. The Law and the Gospel gives me the power to do what God and I together really want to do. One Law enslaves; the other Law frees and enables. The Law of the Spirit is the Gospel, which I need to hear regularly. The daily result of listening to the Gospel is the freedom and power to live a glorious life. The promise of freedom gives a substantial power.

41. No condemnation

 Romans 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after his Spirit.

 Those who are in Christ Jesus walk after the Spirit, not after the flesh. In other words, they believe in Jesus. For them the wonderful promise is now in effect: there is now no condemnation. Our sins deserved condemnation; I am a lost and condemned sinner. This is the true and undeniable verdict. But in Christ there is no condemnation for me. Jesus took my deserved condemnation on to Himself on the cross; Jesus Christ is damned in my place, thereby setting me free from a justly deserved condemnation. I admit it; repentance means: “I admit it.”

I also admit that there is no condemnation for me since I am in Christ. I believe the Gospel. God does not condemn me; He acquits me; He not only declares me innocent but He also declares me righteous. By nature I am condemned; by grace I am acquitted. My confession and faith agrees with both truths. I admit my sin and condemnation, but I also admit God’s grace and not guilty verdict. I am forgiven; therefore, I am not condemned.

The practical truth for my takeaway is this: I will not condemn myself, I will not let others condemn me, I will not condemn others. Living life with family and friends without gossip, criticism and condemnation will be much more enjoyable. Furthermore, when I hear others condemning me I will not condemn myself nor let myself be condemned; I believe there is no condemnation. Thus I will not have to be offended nor will I need to offend others with words. I am in continual need of welcoming acceptance and warm regard, and this is what God promises.

Condemnation basically signifies eternal punishment and death, condemned to the lake of fire. The refreshing promise of no condemnation comforts me with the sure hope of eternal life in place of eternal death. Secondarily, condemnation also means the criticisms and offenses I hear from people in the world. No more.

40. Delivered from the body of death

 Romans 7:24O Wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?

The answer to this question is in v. 25: “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” God will deliver me from the body of this death through Jesus. The promise of deliverance is rampant in Scripture. Here it is the promise of deliverance from the body of this death. There is nothing wrong with the body, for God created it good in the first place; but Sin infested and infected the body so that the body is permeated with sinful flesh so that it is totally corrupted. The body is good and it is to be preserved and protected and it will be resurrected. When the body is resurrected it will be shed of sin and death, finally. It is not the body that we want to get rid of; it is the body of this death that we need to shed.

The image refers to the rare punishment for a murderer: when convicted of murder the dead body of the victim is tied to the body of the murderer so that he cannot get free until he himself dies from the stench and corruption. The sentence is: drag this dead body around until you die. This gruesome picture graphically reveals to us the human condition. We do not normally realize how awful the Sin and Death that clings to us really stinks and rots. No wonder we ask, “Who will deliver me?” The truth is that we are dragging this body of death around with us every day, and it is making us sick and killing us.

In real life I will not be physically delivered until I go through death and resurrection; then the body of death will no longer cling to me. But while I live on earth it clings to me, even though I do not always smell it. However, by faith I am now delivered from Sin and Death. This is the Gospel Promise. Thank God!

39. Serve in Newness of Spirit

Romans 7:6 But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.

God promises that we will serve in newness of spirit. We will no longer serve in the oldness of the letter. We do not serve legalistic rules and rituals. There is nothing inherently wrong with rules and rituals, but they can become “old.” One thing about serving in the spirit is that it is always new and fresh. The Holy Spirit is continually finding new and interesting ways to serve other people.

 And the source and motivation to serve has newness to it. The desire and ability to serve arises out of love for God because we have received His love for us. God’s Love and the Gospel of Christ never get old; it is, like mercy, new every morning. The fear and the threat of the Law cannot sustain a motivation and a joy of serving and loving and giving our lives for the good of others. It is always much more pleasant to do a good work because I want to than because I have to. This pleasant desire is “serving in newness of spirit.”

This promise, like all of God’s promises, makes life much more enjoyable. The best a man can get out of a life without God is serving in the oldness of the letter. It is true that a moral life, if it could be truly lived, is not a bad life, but no one really wants to be a legalist or a Pharisee. We instinctively recognize that such a life is outwardly okay, but it is not really as fulfilling as we would like. Trying to live an outwardly moral life ends up in failure and disappointment.Too many people think that that is what religion is all about, and so they end up rejecting it and ignoring God in the process. A misunderstanding of Christianity should be rejected. A life lived under the Gospel of Grace is far superior to a life lived under the Law. The true understanding of Christianity delivers from the law, that being dead. A dead life is nothing compared to a living life. This is the promise: you will live in newness.

38. Bring forth Fruit

 Romans 7:4 Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.

 The promise of bringing forth fruit unto God is more important than it might at first appear. Bearing fruit bears on the very purpose of the existence of the universe and the purpose of our lives. This promise gives life meaning. If we knew that our life had meaning we would never be tempted to commit suicide or even in any other way be tempted to shorten or mess up our lives, because it is important to somebody and especially to God. There is a reason for living. The mission of each person’s life is unique and differs from any other person. We may not be specifically aware of that unique purpose or of what kind of fruit we are created to bear; but it is enough to know that God has a purpose for each life; and, furthermore, He has even prepared beforehand what that fruit is that we should bear.

God will take care of the bearing fruit, the what, the when, the where, the how, and even the why. God knows all of that and he is working it out in our complicated lives (at least, it appears complicated to us, but not to Him).  He works it out in us by faith in Christ: we are married to Him, who is resurrected. This “marriage” is itself a mystery, akin to the mystery of the union of two extremely disparate entities, a man and a woman, who become one flesh. We will never figure that out.

The marriage of Christ and His Bride is even more mysterious and way beyond our comprehension; but, explainable or not, we believe the assertion: we are married to Christ, I am one with Christ, I am in Christ, and Christ is in me. I believe it because God says so. The result of that marital union is that I will bring forth fruit unto God. One of the fruits of the committed sexual union of a male and female is children growing up in a stable family. I am not as clear regarding the fruit of the marital union of Christ and me, but it is real.

With Christ I will not have lived in vain. The purpose of my life on earth is being worked out according to His good will. I believe that purpose and that result: I am bearing fruit. I may not see the fruit, but God does. He designed the fruit beforehand, implemented it in history, and He is working it out in my life in the present. One Day I will look at that fruit and I will see how beautiful and delicious it is; but for now I believe His promise, abide in the Vine, and I trust Him to do His will on earth (in my life) as it is in heaven (decreed in God’s eternal mind). The promise: your life matters.

37. Eternal Life

Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

 The gift of God is eternal life; the gift is a promise from God secured for us by Jesus Christ and guaranteed for us by the Holy Spirit. Eternal life is not earned or deserved (the only thing we deserve is death); a gift is always free, bought and paid for by someone else and given with no strings attached. Eternal life is something we have now and will enjoy forever, when the old life is burned up and destroyed forever; then only life will be left and the body will arise transformed.

The natural, inevitable and inescapable consequence of sin is death. Sin is the sole cause of death; there is no other reason for a God-created human being to die; death is not a natural part of created life; it was meant to go on forever. It only makes sense: why would God make a life only to have it die (and suffer)? Life is by definition eternal, without beginning and without end; however, in man’s case his life had to have a beginning since he is not God. God can share His endless life, which is the only kind of life possible. Life that ends cannot really be considered life. God created a never-ending life. Sin intervened and brought death and so robbed all men of life.

God promises: “I will give you what I originally intended you to have, a life that is not truncated or circumscribed.” God fulfilled that promise and gave us the gift. If God is real His Word must be trusted and His promise believed. He cannot lie and He cannot make empty promises. He gives you what you can live on, in this case eternal life. That life is yours and it will not be taken away. We live with the consequences of sin every day. Now we can also live with the consequences of Grace. We avoid the one and believe the other. This is living.

36. Fruit unto Holiness

 Romans 6:22 But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.

 The promise resulting from freedom from sin and service to God is fruit unto holiness; the end of that fruit is everlasting life. Several steps are involved in this process, not necessarily in chronological order. The first step is being made free from sin. This happened when Christ died for us for the forgiveness of sins; now we are freed from sin leaving a cleansed vessel for the Holy Spirit to dwell in. This allows the second step: we have become servants to God; serving God in practice means serving people, laying down our own desires and selfish interests to actually love and serve others. This then is the third step: having your fruit unto holiness. The fruit shows itself in the fruit of the Spirit, which is the character and behavior of God Himself. Fruit is the natural outgrowth of Christ living God’s life in us. It looks like God, who is holy; holiness is the pure outworking of self-giving and unconditional love, the inherent character of God the Creator and Owner and Lover of all things. The last step and the end result is everlasting life; eternal life is the very life of God; it is God’s life within us, which we have by faith. Having eternal life is the purpose and final result of all of God’s initiated activity on our behalf and for our good. This is the Gospel. When this Gospel is believed these steps are followed and we bear fruit.

According to Jesus’ words in John 15, “bearing fruit” is the purpose of our life, the purpose of our creation, the purpose of our redemption; this purpose is begun, continued and finished by God, without any contribution by us whatsoever. God does it all: that is the Gospel. The Gospel fulfills this promise, brings about this result, and accomplishes the purpose of our existence. We do not add to it or make it happen. Fruit happens; that’s a promise.

35. Sin not dominate

 Romans 6: 14 For sin shall not have dominion over you for ye are not under the law, but under grace.

 The promise is that sin will not have dominion over me because I am not under law but under grace. Is that really true? Does not sin still dominate me and lead me into trouble? The troubles I experience prove that sin still dominates (or I wouldn’t have any troubles). Paul himself confesses, Romans 7: “I am of the flesh, sold under sin (v. 14)…I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate (v. 15)…so now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me (v. 17)…I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability (v 18)…I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. (v. 19).”

But here Paul says, “Sin shall not have dominion.” The truth is I still struggle: the struggle will remain as long as I am alive because two warring parties reside within: the saint and the sinner, the flesh and the spirit, the old man and the new man. We cannot win this battle by resolve, or by will power, or by determination, or by one’s own strength. I confess with Paul that sin dwells within me and far too often gets the upper hand.

But at the same time I believe with Paul that sin shall not have dominion over me. Sin may win some battles, but it will not win the War. Forgiveness is always present and available and powerful; grace rules and dominates sin. How much we need to believe this promise. For many years the same sin repeats itself daily (addiction is the go-to example) and the “addict” repents daily and vows to quit. After many attempts he may quit trying and quit on God. BUT, sin shall not have dominion, so the addicted sinner will keep on repenting and believing, no matter how many times, We cannot stop sinning, but at the same time we will not stop believing: grace reigns, grace abounds, and grace finally dominates. Hang on to this promise, for however long it takes Sin is not the last word; Grace is; never, never give up on God or His Grace. Grace wins in the end. Believe it. Experience and the Law say Sin dominates; Faith and Grace say Sin has no dominion. Believe Grace.