Romans 12:9
Love must be sincere:
Agape anipocritos. Un-hypocritical love.
What is hypocritical love? While you think about that let me explain the words used and maybe that will help a little.
Agape: is familiar to most of us; godly love, selfless love.
Anipocritos: As stated, it means un or non-hypocritical. The word comes from hypocrisis. A hypocrites was one who wore a mask to act on stage. The idea is presenting something that is not really the case; wearing a mask, playing a part, etc.
So, what is hypocritical love?
Hypocritical love can be directed at God or at people. Either way, fake love performs acts of love in order to be seen. Fake love prays and goes to Bible study and does “Christian” things so that it looks like we love God. Fake love is kind and treats others well and maybe even sometimes helps someone else so that it looks like we love people. Genuine love is not concerned with recognition. Genuine love does not change its behavior based on whether or not people will see.
Genuine love is not what you say you love or what you want people to think you love, it’s what you show love to. Genuine love is not concerned with self.
How can we strive for genuine love? What I don’t want you to hear is, “If I don’t feel an overwhelming drive to do something then I shouldn’t do it.” First, pray for God to instill genuine love in you. God is love and any genuine love we have in us is a reflection of Him. Second, be honest! We often think that to do the loving thing is to do or say what is expected, what people want to hear, what will pacify people. How often do false words come out of our mouths simply because we don’t want to look bad in that moment? Lastly, strive to be less concerned with recognition than with reality and truth.
Hate what is evil, cling to what is good:
Is this a new idea or a further description of the last statement? I think it describes what genuine love looks like. Genuine love must, by its very nature, contain the propensity to hate. We assume that Christian or godly love is always sappy and sweet and kind 24/7. True love hates anything that jeopardizes the object of love or the virtue of the object of love.
Examples: Because I love my wife, I hate anything that would cause her harm. I hate the idea of her not being happy. I hate the idea that eventually, one of us will die first and the other will be alone. Because I love my kids I hate any situation that could harm them. If I discovered some situation in which one of my kids would be harmed in a significant way I would not be filled with dislike or unhappiness; I would feel hate. Because I love, I hate.
As believers we are called to love everything that is genuinely good, and therefore hate what is evil. Sadly, many believers see this verse as an excuse to act hatefully towards people and display messages of hate towards certain groups. This is not what Paul is saying here. So, what exactly does this look like? It looks like loving and clinging to unity among believers to the point that you hate anything that causes division (racism, sexism, denominational elitism…any of the ism’s). It looks like Jesus loving His Father’s house so much that He hated seeing it used by dishonest people to make money (John 2:13-16). Notice I didn’t say anything about Jesus hating the people dishonestly making money.
Cling to what is good means not only embrace it in theory, but take a stand. Protect, obtain, grab, etc.
Think about some other practical ways this verse plays out.
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Give him everything, and start with your mind.
Romans 12:1-2
Therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.
V1
-Romans 12 starts with “Therefore”. Always ask “What is the ‘therefore’ there for?” The first 8 chapters are Paul’s theological dissertation on salvation. 9-11 are Paul’s thesis on Israel’s part in all this in which he claims over and over that God’s promises are good and He is faithful. Now, Paul shifts from theology to practicality. Chapter 12 marks a great shift in topic from talking about the lofty things of God to how we live a life in response to God. So, for 11 chapters Paul discusses some of the heaviest theology in the Bible and then answers the question; “So what?” The “therefore” means “Now that we are thinking of all the greatness of God, all His mercies, His faithfulness, His great love for humanity…THEREFORE respond this way.” F. F. Bruce says theology and doctrine are never taught in the Bible simply to be known. They are taught in order to translated into practice. The purpose of theology is to shape how we believe and live.
-Paul says the only proper response to gaining knowledge of such an intensely merciful and loving God is to offer the totality of ourselves to Him. It does little good to be convinced of the precepts in the first 11 chapters if we are not convinced to the point of a changed life. This is not salvation by works, this is the appropriate response to the free gift. We no longer make sacrifices to obtain mercy, we become the sacrifice because of mercy.
-Paul, as an apostle, had the right to command this response, but he doesn’t. He begs for us to choose it. This is the language of grace, not the law. Paul begs his readers, and us, to choose to offer ourselves completely to God, to surrender our bodies.
What does this mean, to offer our bodies? What does it mean that is our “spiritual act of worship”?
The word “spiritual” here is logikos. It comes from the word logos (logic). The wide use of the word is represented in the various translations; spiritual, reasonable, responsible, logical, intelligent. The idea here is that offering God our bodies, and striving to live out our faith in our bodies, is both spiritual and logical. It is a form of worship that is deeply spiritual and at the same time well reasoned and intelligent. What is our common assumption about worship and what things are spiritual? We typically think things are spiritual and worshipful when they are in a specifically spiritual setting. Only when I’m singing a worship song, only when I’m at church, only when I’m surrounded by stained glass windows and have my Bible open and hear angels singing….you get the point. But Paul’s theology is that any act done as a offering to God is spiritual, reasonable and significant.
V2
-What does this look like? It starts with changing our desired outcome, our goal, the target that we are aiming at. Do not be conformed to this age but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. The NIV says “the pattern of this world”. What are the things you desire most? What things, when you see them or hear about them or see them in others, do you think, “That is what I desire. That is what I want to be like.”?
What is the difference between being conformed and being transformed? Conforming is forcing something to take a certain shape, but it doesn’t change the substance. Transforming is actually changing the substance or essence of what something is. Once you come to faith in Jesus you are a new creation. Your inner substance is different. When you embrace Jesus you are transformed and have the nature of Christ. Imagine it like this: All the world is cats, when you embrace Jesus you become a dog, something altogether different. You may be able to get a dog to meow and drink milk from a dish and poop in a box. You may be able to get a dog to act like a cat in some ways, but it is still a dog in substance.
When we as believers act like the world we are conforming to its image even though our substance is different. Paul says not to do this but to keep pursuing the transformation. Keep being transformed. Embrace the change in nature and find out what all that means. Paul says this is fundamentally an inner issue. It happens first in our minds and then plays out in our actions. Just like you can’t change a dog into a cat by making it poop in a box, you can’t force yourself into the image of Christ by making yourself do certain “Christian” things. It must originate in the mind, in the will, in the inner person and then it will play out in actions.
-Note the passive nature of Paul’s instruction. Paul doesn’t say “transform yourselves”, but “be transformed.” This is something the Holy Spirit does in us, and yet Paul is telling us to be transformed which means there must some responsibility on our part. There is an active/passive nature to this process. The Holy Spirit seeks to change our thinking, but we must respond and submit to what He is seeking to do.
How do we allow God to transform our thinking? Reading Scripture is a big part of it.
Somehow, as we engage in this process of offering our bodies to God, which starts in the mind, we are able to discern what God’s will is. How does this work? It’s pretty simple really. The more our mind is transformed and becomes like the mind of Christ, the more able we are to know what He His will is. The more I think like Jesus, the more I know what He wants.
Therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God; this is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.
V1
-Romans 12 starts with “Therefore”. Always ask “What is the ‘therefore’ there for?” The first 8 chapters are Paul’s theological dissertation on salvation. 9-11 are Paul’s thesis on Israel’s part in all this in which he claims over and over that God’s promises are good and He is faithful. Now, Paul shifts from theology to practicality. Chapter 12 marks a great shift in topic from talking about the lofty things of God to how we live a life in response to God. So, for 11 chapters Paul discusses some of the heaviest theology in the Bible and then answers the question; “So what?” The “therefore” means “Now that we are thinking of all the greatness of God, all His mercies, His faithfulness, His great love for humanity…THEREFORE respond this way.” F. F. Bruce says theology and doctrine are never taught in the Bible simply to be known. They are taught in order to translated into practice. The purpose of theology is to shape how we believe and live.
-Paul says the only proper response to gaining knowledge of such an intensely merciful and loving God is to offer the totality of ourselves to Him. It does little good to be convinced of the precepts in the first 11 chapters if we are not convinced to the point of a changed life. This is not salvation by works, this is the appropriate response to the free gift. We no longer make sacrifices to obtain mercy, we become the sacrifice because of mercy.
-Paul, as an apostle, had the right to command this response, but he doesn’t. He begs for us to choose it. This is the language of grace, not the law. Paul begs his readers, and us, to choose to offer ourselves completely to God, to surrender our bodies.
What does this mean, to offer our bodies? What does it mean that is our “spiritual act of worship”?
The word “spiritual” here is logikos. It comes from the word logos (logic). The wide use of the word is represented in the various translations; spiritual, reasonable, responsible, logical, intelligent. The idea here is that offering God our bodies, and striving to live out our faith in our bodies, is both spiritual and logical. It is a form of worship that is deeply spiritual and at the same time well reasoned and intelligent. What is our common assumption about worship and what things are spiritual? We typically think things are spiritual and worshipful when they are in a specifically spiritual setting. Only when I’m singing a worship song, only when I’m at church, only when I’m surrounded by stained glass windows and have my Bible open and hear angels singing….you get the point. But Paul’s theology is that any act done as a offering to God is spiritual, reasonable and significant.
V2
-What does this look like? It starts with changing our desired outcome, our goal, the target that we are aiming at. Do not be conformed to this age but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. The NIV says “the pattern of this world”. What are the things you desire most? What things, when you see them or hear about them or see them in others, do you think, “That is what I desire. That is what I want to be like.”?
What is the difference between being conformed and being transformed? Conforming is forcing something to take a certain shape, but it doesn’t change the substance. Transforming is actually changing the substance or essence of what something is. Once you come to faith in Jesus you are a new creation. Your inner substance is different. When you embrace Jesus you are transformed and have the nature of Christ. Imagine it like this: All the world is cats, when you embrace Jesus you become a dog, something altogether different. You may be able to get a dog to meow and drink milk from a dish and poop in a box. You may be able to get a dog to act like a cat in some ways, but it is still a dog in substance.
When we as believers act like the world we are conforming to its image even though our substance is different. Paul says not to do this but to keep pursuing the transformation. Keep being transformed. Embrace the change in nature and find out what all that means. Paul says this is fundamentally an inner issue. It happens first in our minds and then plays out in our actions. Just like you can’t change a dog into a cat by making it poop in a box, you can’t force yourself into the image of Christ by making yourself do certain “Christian” things. It must originate in the mind, in the will, in the inner person and then it will play out in actions.
-Note the passive nature of Paul’s instruction. Paul doesn’t say “transform yourselves”, but “be transformed.” This is something the Holy Spirit does in us, and yet Paul is telling us to be transformed which means there must some responsibility on our part. There is an active/passive nature to this process. The Holy Spirit seeks to change our thinking, but we must respond and submit to what He is seeking to do.
How do we allow God to transform our thinking? Reading Scripture is a big part of it.
Somehow, as we engage in this process of offering our bodies to God, which starts in the mind, we are able to discern what God’s will is. How does this work? It’s pretty simple really. The more our mind is transformed and becomes like the mind of Christ, the more able we are to know what He His will is. The more I think like Jesus, the more I know what He wants.
Friday, November 18, 2011
Sinners are righteous and the religious are not. Weird.
Romans 9 14-end
As we’ve said in the last 2 weeks, Paul is dealing with some very heavy issues here concerning Israel’s place in the redemptive history (God’s plan from Adam to the present to save people). Why is Paul spending so much time and energy on this subject?
-He was accused of hating Israel and being a traitor.
-The issue of God’s faithfulness after a promise was in question. Paul’s readers in Rome, though mostly gentile, were a mix of Jew and gentile. They were aware of the fact that God made a promise to Israel that salvation would be theirs and that He would always be faithful to them. Now Paul comes along and says, “Israel has rejected the Messiah and now salvation has been made available to anyone who embraces Jesus. And now God has made a promise that nothing can separate those in Christ from the love of God.” So the question is, if God has shifted focus from Israel to anyone who embraces Jesus, has He forsaken His promise to Israel? And if so how do we know He won’t forsake us for someone else in the future?
So what do we make of this? Paul solidifies that God has not forsaken His promise to Israel by showing that God never promised salvation to all of Israel but only to few within national Israel who embraced true faith. This is what the OT prophets called the Remnant. God has now extended that promise beyond the confines of one nation or even one culture. Theologian Douglass Moo says that if even a minority of Jews responded to the gospel and joined in God’s redemptive plan then there is no contradiction or breaking of God’s promise. God will always be faithful to Israel, and there will always be those descended from Abraham that embrace true faith in God.
14-29
What Paul is discussing here is this: Does God have the right to choose one people group to have mercy on, to reveal his glory to, etc, and not choose others? The answer is clearly yes.
This section is often used as a proof-text for hyper Calvinism. Those who would use it as such say, “See, God chooses some and not others.” I have a problem with this. In studying for this I discovered that most, if not all, of the texts that hyper-Calvinists use that speak of God choosing only some people are not talking about individual salvation, but about God’s choosing of one nation over another. That applies here. We know from the context (vs 6-13) that Paul is talking about God selecting Israel to be in a covenant relationship with Him. These passages about choosing need to be understood in the context of God’s sovereign choosing of one nation over another, and in this sense the nation had nothing to do with being chosen. Even the individuals Paul mentions are representative of nations.
Again, this section should be understood in the context of how God lays out his plan in the world, not in individuals. God has the right to choose Israel, and to save only a remnant among them (14-23, 27-29). God also has the right extend the invitation gentiles (24-26).
The idea that God chooses some for salvation and not others, and that if God has not selected you it is impossible to come to salvation does not line up with numerous other portions of scripture (John 3:16, Romans 10:13, 1 John 2:2, 2 Peter 3:9, 1 Tim 2:3-6, Acts 16:30, Acts 7:51, Gal 2:21, Matt 23:37).
Vs 30-33
So Paul has just spent some time talking about how God can extend salvation to whomever He wants, and does so. What is the result? Paul now begins to discuss what has played out as a result of the fact that God chose Israel to bring about salvation and then, when they (in general) rejected it, extended the offer to everyone.
The result is this: those who were not trying to please God by works or by being legally righteous are now righteous in God’s sight simply by faith while those who for eons had been trying to obtain rigid legal righteousness still aren’t righteous!!! In fact the ability to become righteous by faith has become a stumbling block to them that causes anger and resentment. Why? Because they can’t switch gears from thinking about righteousness in terms of works and deeds. They are still shooting at the wrong target.
Imagine it like this: Suppose IU were the only university or college in the country and is therefore beyond prestigious. Graduating from IU puts you at instant rock-star status and guarantees you are better than 99% of the country. Since it was established someone in your family from each generation has gone there. Now you’re in your SR year, you’ve been working your tale off for 4 years and a week before graduating IU sends out a national advertisement that says, “Hey, we’re switching up how we do things at IU. From now on, all you have to do to get a degree from IU is email us that you want one. In fact, you don’t even have to be a student here. Sooo….anyone at all, just email us and you’ll have a degree from IU.” Of course you would be ticked. That’s what’s going on here.
For the gentile this offer is amazing. For the Jews, the gospel of grace is a stumbling block. They say, “That’s not fair! My ancestors and I have been working for righteousness and now you say anyone can be called righteous! I was told ‘this’ is what’s expected of me, and that’s what I’ve been striving for.” So, why didn’t this work? The Jews were given the law, so if they were striving to keep the law why weren’t they righteous? 1. Nobody has kept the whole law. 2. They missed the whole point of the law. The law was never intended to bring salvation but to show our need for a savior. In giving the law God was not saying, “do these and you’ll be saved.” He was saying, “Put your trust in me. Have faith in me. You want to see how holy I am? You want to see what legal perfection looks like? Here! See how perfect I am? Put your trust in me.”
Application: Don’t we tend to do this very thing? “I grew up in Christian home so I must be a Christian. I live a pretty good life so I must be good with God.” Just like the Jews we have a tendency to take our focus off of God and put it on ourselves. I’m good enough, I’ve done enough, I’m right with God because I…
Religion cannot save, church membership cannot save, parents with faith cannot save, being good cannot save, playing by the rules cannot save, getting baptized cannot save, giving money cannot save, serving the poor cannot save, no amount of reading and praying can save you. Like the Jews that Paul references we tend to put our focus on these things and feel little superior to those who don’t when in reality, as good as some of those things are, they are meaningless in the discussion of salvation. The only question pertinent to that discussion is “what do you do with Jesus? Do you stumble over Him or trust Him alone to save you?
There is a guy named Bob Harrington who was known in the 60’s as the chaplain of Bourbon Street. For several years he had a pretty awesome ministry to musicians, singers, performers, gamblers and prostitutes in the French Quarter. He wrote a book and said the easiest people to bring to Jesus were the prostitutes because they already knew they were sinners. He said you don’t have to convince them they are drowning, just throw them a life jacket and they grab it. He said it was much harder talking to “good people”. He even talked to some deacons in churches who could not answer the question of why they were saved. But getting them to the point of embracing Jesus was very difficult because, he said, they have so much religion they don’t think they need Jesus.
As we’ve said in the last 2 weeks, Paul is dealing with some very heavy issues here concerning Israel’s place in the redemptive history (God’s plan from Adam to the present to save people). Why is Paul spending so much time and energy on this subject?
-He was accused of hating Israel and being a traitor.
-The issue of God’s faithfulness after a promise was in question. Paul’s readers in Rome, though mostly gentile, were a mix of Jew and gentile. They were aware of the fact that God made a promise to Israel that salvation would be theirs and that He would always be faithful to them. Now Paul comes along and says, “Israel has rejected the Messiah and now salvation has been made available to anyone who embraces Jesus. And now God has made a promise that nothing can separate those in Christ from the love of God.” So the question is, if God has shifted focus from Israel to anyone who embraces Jesus, has He forsaken His promise to Israel? And if so how do we know He won’t forsake us for someone else in the future?
So what do we make of this? Paul solidifies that God has not forsaken His promise to Israel by showing that God never promised salvation to all of Israel but only to few within national Israel who embraced true faith. This is what the OT prophets called the Remnant. God has now extended that promise beyond the confines of one nation or even one culture. Theologian Douglass Moo says that if even a minority of Jews responded to the gospel and joined in God’s redemptive plan then there is no contradiction or breaking of God’s promise. God will always be faithful to Israel, and there will always be those descended from Abraham that embrace true faith in God.
14-29
What Paul is discussing here is this: Does God have the right to choose one people group to have mercy on, to reveal his glory to, etc, and not choose others? The answer is clearly yes.
This section is often used as a proof-text for hyper Calvinism. Those who would use it as such say, “See, God chooses some and not others.” I have a problem with this. In studying for this I discovered that most, if not all, of the texts that hyper-Calvinists use that speak of God choosing only some people are not talking about individual salvation, but about God’s choosing of one nation over another. That applies here. We know from the context (vs 6-13) that Paul is talking about God selecting Israel to be in a covenant relationship with Him. These passages about choosing need to be understood in the context of God’s sovereign choosing of one nation over another, and in this sense the nation had nothing to do with being chosen. Even the individuals Paul mentions are representative of nations.
Again, this section should be understood in the context of how God lays out his plan in the world, not in individuals. God has the right to choose Israel, and to save only a remnant among them (14-23, 27-29). God also has the right extend the invitation gentiles (24-26).
The idea that God chooses some for salvation and not others, and that if God has not selected you it is impossible to come to salvation does not line up with numerous other portions of scripture (John 3:16, Romans 10:13, 1 John 2:2, 2 Peter 3:9, 1 Tim 2:3-6, Acts 16:30, Acts 7:51, Gal 2:21, Matt 23:37).
Vs 30-33
So Paul has just spent some time talking about how God can extend salvation to whomever He wants, and does so. What is the result? Paul now begins to discuss what has played out as a result of the fact that God chose Israel to bring about salvation and then, when they (in general) rejected it, extended the offer to everyone.
The result is this: those who were not trying to please God by works or by being legally righteous are now righteous in God’s sight simply by faith while those who for eons had been trying to obtain rigid legal righteousness still aren’t righteous!!! In fact the ability to become righteous by faith has become a stumbling block to them that causes anger and resentment. Why? Because they can’t switch gears from thinking about righteousness in terms of works and deeds. They are still shooting at the wrong target.
Imagine it like this: Suppose IU were the only university or college in the country and is therefore beyond prestigious. Graduating from IU puts you at instant rock-star status and guarantees you are better than 99% of the country. Since it was established someone in your family from each generation has gone there. Now you’re in your SR year, you’ve been working your tale off for 4 years and a week before graduating IU sends out a national advertisement that says, “Hey, we’re switching up how we do things at IU. From now on, all you have to do to get a degree from IU is email us that you want one. In fact, you don’t even have to be a student here. Sooo….anyone at all, just email us and you’ll have a degree from IU.” Of course you would be ticked. That’s what’s going on here.
For the gentile this offer is amazing. For the Jews, the gospel of grace is a stumbling block. They say, “That’s not fair! My ancestors and I have been working for righteousness and now you say anyone can be called righteous! I was told ‘this’ is what’s expected of me, and that’s what I’ve been striving for.” So, why didn’t this work? The Jews were given the law, so if they were striving to keep the law why weren’t they righteous? 1. Nobody has kept the whole law. 2. They missed the whole point of the law. The law was never intended to bring salvation but to show our need for a savior. In giving the law God was not saying, “do these and you’ll be saved.” He was saying, “Put your trust in me. Have faith in me. You want to see how holy I am? You want to see what legal perfection looks like? Here! See how perfect I am? Put your trust in me.”
Application: Don’t we tend to do this very thing? “I grew up in Christian home so I must be a Christian. I live a pretty good life so I must be good with God.” Just like the Jews we have a tendency to take our focus off of God and put it on ourselves. I’m good enough, I’ve done enough, I’m right with God because I…
Religion cannot save, church membership cannot save, parents with faith cannot save, being good cannot save, playing by the rules cannot save, getting baptized cannot save, giving money cannot save, serving the poor cannot save, no amount of reading and praying can save you. Like the Jews that Paul references we tend to put our focus on these things and feel little superior to those who don’t when in reality, as good as some of those things are, they are meaningless in the discussion of salvation. The only question pertinent to that discussion is “what do you do with Jesus? Do you stumble over Him or trust Him alone to save you?
There is a guy named Bob Harrington who was known in the 60’s as the chaplain of Bourbon Street. For several years he had a pretty awesome ministry to musicians, singers, performers, gamblers and prostitutes in the French Quarter. He wrote a book and said the easiest people to bring to Jesus were the prostitutes because they already knew they were sinners. He said you don’t have to convince them they are drowning, just throw them a life jacket and they grab it. He said it was much harder talking to “good people”. He even talked to some deacons in churches who could not answer the question of why they were saved. But getting them to the point of embracing Jesus was very difficult because, he said, they have so much religion they don’t think they need Jesus.
Not all who say they are really are.
Romans 9: 1-13
Paul has spent the last 8 chapters talking about salvation, our need, God’s plan, it’s effectiveness, etc. Now he breaks off a little and begins to discuss Israel’s place in all of this. My goal is not to make a political statement but to see if there is anything about what Paul says concerning Israel that impacts our faith today. The answer is yes.
I want to break these first 13 verses into 2 sections and talk about 2 topics. In the first 5 verses I want to look at what Paul teaches us about evangelism. In the next 7 verses we will look at what Paul teaches us about what makes us part of the kingdom.
Vs1-5
In these first 5 verses we see the heart of a missionary, the heart of Jesus. When Paul starts talking about Israel and how they’ve rejected Jesus he is immediately gripped with grief and passion. We’re going to talk about these verses out of order. Look first at who it is Paul is talking about: 3b-5. Clearly he is talking about Jews, but his description of them goes far beyond national description. These are his people. They are his countrymen, his family, his brothers and sister, his cousins, his friends. Not only that, but Paul describes them as people whom God loves. They are the adoption, they have experienced God’s glory, God has made a covenant with them, the law and the forefathers and God’s promises belong to these people.
Paul is clearly enamored with Israel. He loves these people. This isn’t just patriotism, it is genuine love. What does Paul say this love for his people causes in him (2-3)? Sorrow and anguish. He is not just sad, he is in anguish for them because they have not embraced the Messiah. Paul is in pain over the fact that they are missing out on life in Jesus. So much that Paul says would be willing to be cursed if that would mean Israel embraced Jesus. Paul would forfeit his own salvation if that would bring his people to Jesus (obviously that is impossible, but that is the extent of Paul’s love).
This is the heart of Jesus! This is the picture of missions and evangelism: To be willing to experience harm so that good can come to others. But the key to all of this is in V1. Paul wants his readers to be aware of the sincerity he has about what he is saying. Rarely does Paul go out of the way to convince his readers that he telling the truth. A few times in his epistles he says, “This is a true saying.” But this is furthest Paul goes pleading with readers to believe him. The point is this: Paul wants to be clear that this is not just lip service. Paul is saying with 100% sincerity and absolute conviction that he would do anything to see his people have life.
Application: You are surrounded by your people. They may not be the covenant nation of Israel, they may not be tasked with Temple service, but they are people God wants to adopt into His family, they are loved, they are people to whom God wants to show His glory and share His presence, they are people Jesus died to make a covenant with. So, do we feel similar sorrow and anguish? Are we willing to suffer anything for them to experience life? How much of what we say about wanting others to know Jesus is insincere?
Vs 6-13
Paul is saying some things that are very unique to the Israel situation, yet there are some amazing parallels that we can apply to our situation. Paul has just said God’s promise was to bring salvation through Israel, yet Israel rejected the Messiah. Now he says, “But don’t think God’s plan failed, because not every one who claims to be of Israel is really of Israel.” Paul goes off on a tangent that can be kind of hard to understand because he’s using this really technical Jewish illustration of Abraham’s descendants and Isaac’s kids and blah blah blah. What Paul is saying is that you can’t claim to be Israel because you were born into it or simply because you say it. Not all of Abe’s kids are Israel, or all of Isaac’s kids. Only those children of the promise are Israel.
The point is there are some who are and some who aren’t and you can’t claim to be based on anything other than the promise. These same principles are true for us today as much as for Paul explaining this nearly 2000 years ago. There are so many more people who claim to be the church than really are. For so many it’s just a casual thing that holds no real significance, “Well, I think my parents are Methodists and I totally wear a cross necklace so no duh I’m a Christian.” And this leaves many people with the question, “If the church is supposed to be God’s spotless bride and God’s active body on earth, why do so many ‘Christians’ live in complete denial of Jesus?”
Paul’s words ring out that there are some who are and some who only claim to be. The only way to be is through embracing the promise of Jesus, “Come and die with me and I will show you life! Give me everything and I will show you how empty you were. Hold nothing back and I will show you what full life really is. Give up your life for me and I will help you really find it.”
Paul has spent the last 8 chapters talking about salvation, our need, God’s plan, it’s effectiveness, etc. Now he breaks off a little and begins to discuss Israel’s place in all of this. My goal is not to make a political statement but to see if there is anything about what Paul says concerning Israel that impacts our faith today. The answer is yes.
I want to break these first 13 verses into 2 sections and talk about 2 topics. In the first 5 verses I want to look at what Paul teaches us about evangelism. In the next 7 verses we will look at what Paul teaches us about what makes us part of the kingdom.
Vs1-5
In these first 5 verses we see the heart of a missionary, the heart of Jesus. When Paul starts talking about Israel and how they’ve rejected Jesus he is immediately gripped with grief and passion. We’re going to talk about these verses out of order. Look first at who it is Paul is talking about: 3b-5. Clearly he is talking about Jews, but his description of them goes far beyond national description. These are his people. They are his countrymen, his family, his brothers and sister, his cousins, his friends. Not only that, but Paul describes them as people whom God loves. They are the adoption, they have experienced God’s glory, God has made a covenant with them, the law and the forefathers and God’s promises belong to these people.
Paul is clearly enamored with Israel. He loves these people. This isn’t just patriotism, it is genuine love. What does Paul say this love for his people causes in him (2-3)? Sorrow and anguish. He is not just sad, he is in anguish for them because they have not embraced the Messiah. Paul is in pain over the fact that they are missing out on life in Jesus. So much that Paul says would be willing to be cursed if that would mean Israel embraced Jesus. Paul would forfeit his own salvation if that would bring his people to Jesus (obviously that is impossible, but that is the extent of Paul’s love).
This is the heart of Jesus! This is the picture of missions and evangelism: To be willing to experience harm so that good can come to others. But the key to all of this is in V1. Paul wants his readers to be aware of the sincerity he has about what he is saying. Rarely does Paul go out of the way to convince his readers that he telling the truth. A few times in his epistles he says, “This is a true saying.” But this is furthest Paul goes pleading with readers to believe him. The point is this: Paul wants to be clear that this is not just lip service. Paul is saying with 100% sincerity and absolute conviction that he would do anything to see his people have life.
Application: You are surrounded by your people. They may not be the covenant nation of Israel, they may not be tasked with Temple service, but they are people God wants to adopt into His family, they are loved, they are people to whom God wants to show His glory and share His presence, they are people Jesus died to make a covenant with. So, do we feel similar sorrow and anguish? Are we willing to suffer anything for them to experience life? How much of what we say about wanting others to know Jesus is insincere?
Vs 6-13
Paul is saying some things that are very unique to the Israel situation, yet there are some amazing parallels that we can apply to our situation. Paul has just said God’s promise was to bring salvation through Israel, yet Israel rejected the Messiah. Now he says, “But don’t think God’s plan failed, because not every one who claims to be of Israel is really of Israel.” Paul goes off on a tangent that can be kind of hard to understand because he’s using this really technical Jewish illustration of Abraham’s descendants and Isaac’s kids and blah blah blah. What Paul is saying is that you can’t claim to be Israel because you were born into it or simply because you say it. Not all of Abe’s kids are Israel, or all of Isaac’s kids. Only those children of the promise are Israel.
The point is there are some who are and some who aren’t and you can’t claim to be based on anything other than the promise. These same principles are true for us today as much as for Paul explaining this nearly 2000 years ago. There are so many more people who claim to be the church than really are. For so many it’s just a casual thing that holds no real significance, “Well, I think my parents are Methodists and I totally wear a cross necklace so no duh I’m a Christian.” And this leaves many people with the question, “If the church is supposed to be God’s spotless bride and God’s active body on earth, why do so many ‘Christians’ live in complete denial of Jesus?”
Paul’s words ring out that there are some who are and some who only claim to be. The only way to be is through embracing the promise of Jesus, “Come and die with me and I will show you life! Give me everything and I will show you how empty you were. Hold nothing back and I will show you what full life really is. Give up your life for me and I will help you really find it.”
What can separate us? NOTHING!
Romans 8:31-End
This section is Paul’s conclusion to not only to this small section, but to the entire first 8 chapters. The overall theme of the first half of the letter is salvation. He’s getting ready to change gears and start talking about Israel’s rejection of Jesus and their place as God’s people. But for the first 8 chapters the theme has been “the salvation available to all men.” Chapters 1-3 discuss our sinfulness and need for a savior. 4-5 discuss how grace is superior to the law, the benefits of this covenant above the last. 6-7 discuss the death of the law’s power over us even though we still struggle with the sinful nature. 8 is all about the confidence we can have in this salvation.
Paul has been using a didactic where he asks questions he knows his opponents would ask (devils advocate) then answers his own questions. The last question he asks in the section is more broad and further reaching than the others, “What shall we say about these things?”. “These things” can refer not only to the previous statements about God calling and justifying, but to the entire book so far. Here’s what can be said: Everything Paul has said points to the immense love of God, to the fact that in spite of our rebellion and wickedness God loves humanity, and to the fact that those who have been brought from law/death to grace/life God has promised to be faithful and to use everything to bring us good. It points to the fact that God is for us, and if that is the case, what can possibly be against us?
V32
The most supreme evidence of God being for us: Jesus on the cross. (1 Cor 11:1.)
The rest of this chapter is the pinnacle of Paul’s teaching on salvation; the climax! If Romans had a soundtrack this would be the part where the orchestra is blaring and the cymbals are crashing. This is the part of the movie where the bad guy has killed the good guy and has the damsel cornered and right before he kills her the good guy does a backflip off a moving train while shooting ninjas and dropkicks the villain, then says “I wasn’t dead, I had to let him think I was to lure him out.” This is the climactic point of Paul’s argument on salvation!!! The theme of Paul’s climactic ending to this is that absolutely nothing can spoil this, nothing can pull you away, nothing can void your salvation, nothing will change God’s mind about you. Paul breaks this down into 2 smaller sections.
V33-34
In this first part Paul uses legal terminology and paints the image of a courtroom. Who can bring charges against us? Can anyone or anything bring legal charges that would change what Paul has said? Can anyone enter new evidence that would void God’s forgiveness? Apart from Jesus there are 3 sources of condemnation that can separate us from God; the law, our guilty consciences, and Satan.
Can the law (our breaking of the law) keep us from justification? No! Romans 6 is all about how we are not under law but under grace. Can our guilty conscience keep us from justification? No. Paul just said in 8:16 that God’s Spirit bears witness with our spirit confirming inwardly that we are His. Can Satan, the accuser of the brothers (& sisters), accuse us of anything that will force God to revoke our salvation? No! God is the one who justifies. The one we’ve offended is the one who has pardoned us, therefore there are no accusations that can me made against us. Every accusation, even the true ones, will be met with “I know. But I love and have forgiven .”
Who can condemn? Everything that would have been used as evidence against us has been burned up in the cross of Jesus. Jesus, about whom the Bible says God has given all things to judge, died our death and was resurrected. If that weren’t enough, now He’s sitting right beside the Father continually interceding for us! So the obvious answer is nobody. Nobody can bring a case against God’s people because the sovereign God of the universe has justified us and Jesus now sits pleading our case every day to the Father.
Vs 35-39
So, there’s nothing that can cause God to change His mind. If there’s nothing that can cause God to push us away, is there anything that can pull us away? Obviously, Paul’s answer is going to be no, but he says much more than a simple no.
Vs 35-7 should be read together. Is Paul saying we will not be like sheep led the slaughter? That doesn’t make sense of the wording. V36 starts with “as.” As means to the same degree, extent or quantity; equally so. “As it is written” means just like it is written, because of You we ARE being put to death like sheep.” Paul’s no is in response to his own question, can that pull us away from the love of Christ? No! Because even if we are dragged away to like helpless sheep we are still, in spite of that, more than conquerors. This isn’t reality we face like many others, but that’s what Paul means here. Not even this can cut the bond of love that is between Jesus and his people. Whatever persecutors may take, they cannot take the love of Jesus away from us. Whatever famine and anguish and affliction rob us of, they cannot rob us of the love of Jesus.
Matthew Henry: “A true Christian loves Christ never the less though he suffer for him, thinks never the worse of Christ though he lose all for him.”
What does it mean to be more than a conqueror? Some would say being a conqueror or having victory in a situation means your faith changes the situation to be prosperous and beneficial to you. Paul doesn’t say “out of these things” but “in all these things…” There’s something about continuing to love Jesus in spite of suffering that is conquering and victorious. This is what Paul is alluding to. Jesus conquered every dark and evil thing with the cross. He waged war by suffering and dying, this is the way of Jesus and His upside-down kingdom. It’s been said the church was built on the blood of martyrs. Many enemies of Christianity over the ages have expressed shock at the unshakable courage of Jesus followers, and their preference to dying rather than denying Him. Revelation 12:11 says Satan, the accuser of the brothers, was overcome (conquered) by the fact that believers did not love their own lives in the face of death. How does this work? (Sometimes I’ll be bothering Merry in some way, then she’ll finally say “Fine, do it. I don’t care.” It totally deflates me and she just beat me because now I don’t even want to do it, its not fun unless it bothers her.) When the only thing that can never be taken away from you is the only thing you need and the thing you supremely cherish above all else, you’ve just conquered everything. It doesn’t mean you “speak by faith” and make a new Rolls Royce appear out of nowhere. It means that which you love more than anything cannot be taken from you, so you have conquered.
Therefore, nothing, life nor death nor…can separate us from Jesus.
So now, let me ask, what is our response to these things? We should rejoice in the fact that Jesus loves us to this degree.
Small article by John Piper:
Believers in Jesus are precious to God (we're his bride!). And he loves us so much that he will not allow our preciousness to become our god.
God does indeed make much of us (adoption!), but he does so in a way that draws us out of ourselves to enjoy his greatness.
Test yourself. If Jesus came to spend the day with you, sat down beside you on the couch, and said, “I really love you,” what would you focus on the rest of the day that you spend together?
It seems to me that too many songs and sermons leave us with the wrong answer. They leave the impression that the heights of our joy would be in the recurrent feeling of being loved. “He loves me!” “He loves me!” This is joy indeed. But not the heights and not the focus.
What are we saying with the words “I am loved”? What do we mean? What is this “being loved”?
Would not the greatest, most Christ-exalting joy be found in watching Jesus all day and bursting with, “You’re amazing!” “You are amazing!”
• He answers the hardest question, and his wisdom is amazing.
• He touches a filthy, oozing sore, and his compassion is amazing.
• He raises a dead lady at the medical examiner’s office, and his power is amazing.
• He predicts the afternoon’s events, and his foreknowledge is amazing.
• He sleeps during an earthquake, and his fearlessness is amazing.
• He says, “Before Abraham was, I AM,” and his words are amazing.
We walk around with him utterly amazed at what we are seeing.
Is not his love for us his eagerness to do for us all he must do (including die) so that we can marvel at him and not be incinerated by him? Redemption, propitiation, forgiveness, justification, reconciliation — all these have to happen. They are the act of love. But the goal of love that makes those acts loving is that we be with him and see his jaw-dropping glory and be astounded. In those moments we forget ourselves and see and feel him.
So I am urging pastors and teachers: Push people through the acts of Christ’s love to the goal of his love. If redemption and propitiation and forgiveness and justification and reconciliation are not taking us to the enjoyment of Jesus himself, they are not love.
This section is Paul’s conclusion to not only to this small section, but to the entire first 8 chapters. The overall theme of the first half of the letter is salvation. He’s getting ready to change gears and start talking about Israel’s rejection of Jesus and their place as God’s people. But for the first 8 chapters the theme has been “the salvation available to all men.” Chapters 1-3 discuss our sinfulness and need for a savior. 4-5 discuss how grace is superior to the law, the benefits of this covenant above the last. 6-7 discuss the death of the law’s power over us even though we still struggle with the sinful nature. 8 is all about the confidence we can have in this salvation.
Paul has been using a didactic where he asks questions he knows his opponents would ask (devils advocate) then answers his own questions. The last question he asks in the section is more broad and further reaching than the others, “What shall we say about these things?”. “These things” can refer not only to the previous statements about God calling and justifying, but to the entire book so far. Here’s what can be said: Everything Paul has said points to the immense love of God, to the fact that in spite of our rebellion and wickedness God loves humanity, and to the fact that those who have been brought from law/death to grace/life God has promised to be faithful and to use everything to bring us good. It points to the fact that God is for us, and if that is the case, what can possibly be against us?
V32
The most supreme evidence of God being for us: Jesus on the cross. (1 Cor 11:1.)
The rest of this chapter is the pinnacle of Paul’s teaching on salvation; the climax! If Romans had a soundtrack this would be the part where the orchestra is blaring and the cymbals are crashing. This is the part of the movie where the bad guy has killed the good guy and has the damsel cornered and right before he kills her the good guy does a backflip off a moving train while shooting ninjas and dropkicks the villain, then says “I wasn’t dead, I had to let him think I was to lure him out.” This is the climactic point of Paul’s argument on salvation!!! The theme of Paul’s climactic ending to this is that absolutely nothing can spoil this, nothing can pull you away, nothing can void your salvation, nothing will change God’s mind about you. Paul breaks this down into 2 smaller sections.
V33-34
In this first part Paul uses legal terminology and paints the image of a courtroom. Who can bring charges against us? Can anyone or anything bring legal charges that would change what Paul has said? Can anyone enter new evidence that would void God’s forgiveness? Apart from Jesus there are 3 sources of condemnation that can separate us from God; the law, our guilty consciences, and Satan.
Can the law (our breaking of the law) keep us from justification? No! Romans 6 is all about how we are not under law but under grace. Can our guilty conscience keep us from justification? No. Paul just said in 8:16 that God’s Spirit bears witness with our spirit confirming inwardly that we are His. Can Satan, the accuser of the brothers (& sisters), accuse us of anything that will force God to revoke our salvation? No! God is the one who justifies. The one we’ve offended is the one who has pardoned us, therefore there are no accusations that can me made against us. Every accusation, even the true ones, will be met with “I know. But I love and have forgiven .”
Who can condemn? Everything that would have been used as evidence against us has been burned up in the cross of Jesus. Jesus, about whom the Bible says God has given all things to judge, died our death and was resurrected. If that weren’t enough, now He’s sitting right beside the Father continually interceding for us! So the obvious answer is nobody. Nobody can bring a case against God’s people because the sovereign God of the universe has justified us and Jesus now sits pleading our case every day to the Father.
Vs 35-39
So, there’s nothing that can cause God to change His mind. If there’s nothing that can cause God to push us away, is there anything that can pull us away? Obviously, Paul’s answer is going to be no, but he says much more than a simple no.
Vs 35-7 should be read together. Is Paul saying we will not be like sheep led the slaughter? That doesn’t make sense of the wording. V36 starts with “as.” As means to the same degree, extent or quantity; equally so. “As it is written” means just like it is written, because of You we ARE being put to death like sheep.” Paul’s no is in response to his own question, can that pull us away from the love of Christ? No! Because even if we are dragged away to like helpless sheep we are still, in spite of that, more than conquerors. This isn’t reality we face like many others, but that’s what Paul means here. Not even this can cut the bond of love that is between Jesus and his people. Whatever persecutors may take, they cannot take the love of Jesus away from us. Whatever famine and anguish and affliction rob us of, they cannot rob us of the love of Jesus.
Matthew Henry: “A true Christian loves Christ never the less though he suffer for him, thinks never the worse of Christ though he lose all for him.”
What does it mean to be more than a conqueror? Some would say being a conqueror or having victory in a situation means your faith changes the situation to be prosperous and beneficial to you. Paul doesn’t say “out of these things” but “in all these things…” There’s something about continuing to love Jesus in spite of suffering that is conquering and victorious. This is what Paul is alluding to. Jesus conquered every dark and evil thing with the cross. He waged war by suffering and dying, this is the way of Jesus and His upside-down kingdom. It’s been said the church was built on the blood of martyrs. Many enemies of Christianity over the ages have expressed shock at the unshakable courage of Jesus followers, and their preference to dying rather than denying Him. Revelation 12:11 says Satan, the accuser of the brothers, was overcome (conquered) by the fact that believers did not love their own lives in the face of death. How does this work? (Sometimes I’ll be bothering Merry in some way, then she’ll finally say “Fine, do it. I don’t care.” It totally deflates me and she just beat me because now I don’t even want to do it, its not fun unless it bothers her.) When the only thing that can never be taken away from you is the only thing you need and the thing you supremely cherish above all else, you’ve just conquered everything. It doesn’t mean you “speak by faith” and make a new Rolls Royce appear out of nowhere. It means that which you love more than anything cannot be taken from you, so you have conquered.
Therefore, nothing, life nor death nor…can separate us from Jesus.
So now, let me ask, what is our response to these things? We should rejoice in the fact that Jesus loves us to this degree.
Small article by John Piper:
Believers in Jesus are precious to God (we're his bride!). And he loves us so much that he will not allow our preciousness to become our god.
God does indeed make much of us (adoption!), but he does so in a way that draws us out of ourselves to enjoy his greatness.
Test yourself. If Jesus came to spend the day with you, sat down beside you on the couch, and said, “I really love you,” what would you focus on the rest of the day that you spend together?
It seems to me that too many songs and sermons leave us with the wrong answer. They leave the impression that the heights of our joy would be in the recurrent feeling of being loved. “He loves me!” “He loves me!” This is joy indeed. But not the heights and not the focus.
What are we saying with the words “I am loved”? What do we mean? What is this “being loved”?
Would not the greatest, most Christ-exalting joy be found in watching Jesus all day and bursting with, “You’re amazing!” “You are amazing!”
• He answers the hardest question, and his wisdom is amazing.
• He touches a filthy, oozing sore, and his compassion is amazing.
• He raises a dead lady at the medical examiner’s office, and his power is amazing.
• He predicts the afternoon’s events, and his foreknowledge is amazing.
• He sleeps during an earthquake, and his fearlessness is amazing.
• He says, “Before Abraham was, I AM,” and his words are amazing.
We walk around with him utterly amazed at what we are seeing.
Is not his love for us his eagerness to do for us all he must do (including die) so that we can marvel at him and not be incinerated by him? Redemption, propitiation, forgiveness, justification, reconciliation — all these have to happen. They are the act of love. But the goal of love that makes those acts loving is that we be with him and see his jaw-dropping glory and be astounded. In those moments we forget ourselves and see and feel him.
So I am urging pastors and teachers: Push people through the acts of Christ’s love to the goal of his love. If redemption and propitiation and forgiveness and justification and reconciliation are not taking us to the enjoyment of Jesus himself, they are not love.
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Good in all things....really?
Romans 8:28-end
This chapter has more “power verses” than any other single chapter in the Bible. There is no condemnation for those in Christ…All those led by God’s Spirit are sons…we’ve received the spirit of adoption by which cry out Abba Father…these present suffering do not compare to the future glory…all things work together for the good of those…If God is for us who can be against us…Who can separate us from the love of Christ…We are more than conquerors…” all of these statements are in this chapter. We’re going to cover a few of them tonight.
V28
First let’s dissect the verse exegetically. Some translations import “God” into the first phrase so it reads, “In all things God works for the good of those who love him.” The most literal rendering is, “We know that towards the ones loving God all is acting together into the good of the ones…” So the most honest way to read this is, “All things work together towards the good of those who love God and…”
This raises a question among theologians. What or who is the subject of the working? Some assert it is the Holy Spirit (v26), others that it is the Father (27b) and others that it is just “all things”. The answer to this theological conundrum is…it doesn’t really matter. The most literal understanding of the wording is that “all things” is the subject, that it is the “all things” that are doing the working. But it doesn’t really matter because it is only the Holy Spirit, acting to fulfill the will of the Father, which can cause all things to work for our good.
Who does this promise apply to? Those who love God and who are called according to His purpose. Paul describes the recipients of this promise from a human perspective and from God’s perspective. Paul simply means God’s people. Paul is not saying “…good for those who love God enough.” Simply, if you love God, you are part of this.
Now let’s get to the dirty real life part. Really Paul? All things work for the good of those who love God?
-In Africa a 13 year old girl who recently put her faith in Jesus is kidnapped and rapped because of superstitious beliefs about how to get rid of AIDS, she simultaneously contracts HIV and gets pregnant.
-A baby is born missing most of his brain. He has enough brain stem to keep organs going but is completely comatose. Drs say he will die in days. Somehow he lives for several months causing prolonged suffering and attachment before he dies.
-A guy loves God with all his heart. He feels called to take the gospel to the poorest villages in China. He’s in seminary preparing to go when one day his wife walks in and says she’s been cheating and is leaving him.
Are these situations good?
-This verse sounds good when you need something Bible-y to say when you find out someone isn’t doing well. But if you’re like me, then you really have a hard time with this verse. Most of us have at least two problems with this statement: 1 he’s too dogmatic. “We know”. Do we? Paul doesn’t say hopefully or we think. We’re supposed to know. 2 he’s too inclusive. All things. We can be fairly certain that God uses some situations for good. But all things? Can we really say that we know that God works all things for good?
What adds to my difficulty with this verse are bad experiences with people misusing this verse to paint a “Christian life is perfect” picture. Sometimes very well meaning, but very wrong people misunderstand this verse and misuse it to insinuate the only reason God allows bad things to happen is to clear the way for something better right around the corner. “You lost your job? No worries. All things work for the good, so that means a better job is coming. Oh, you just got dumped? Well, God has someone better for you right around the corner.”
The key to interpreting and understanding this verse lies in understanding one word: “good”. What does Paul mean by good? The problem is our culture has come to understand “good” as pleasurable. Whatever is quick, easy, feels good, makes you happy, gets you profit, relieves stress, takes away pain…this is good. But this is not the biblical meaning of good.
In ancient Jewish culture (and in many modern cultures other than ours) good is not that which is pleasurable or happy, it is whatever results in quality of character or being a better person. In Paul’s theology, good is whatever results in God being glorified. John Piper speaks powerfully on this and says, "God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him" and, “God created us for this: to live our lives in a way that makes him look more like the greatness and the beauty and the infinite worth that he really is.”
If I only value and treasure Jesus as long as the prosperity train is rolling, then odds are I don’t really love Jesus so much as what he gives. If I continue to love Jesus in the midst of adversity and suffering then there is no doubt Jesus, not gifts, is our ultimate treasure. That is good.
So, when I understand “good” not as whatever is pleasurable and easy, but as whatever makes me the person God desires and whatever helps me reveal Jesus as my ultimate treasure, I can say confidently that God works in all things for the good of those who love Him.
This chapter has more “power verses” than any other single chapter in the Bible. There is no condemnation for those in Christ…All those led by God’s Spirit are sons…we’ve received the spirit of adoption by which cry out Abba Father…these present suffering do not compare to the future glory…all things work together for the good of those…If God is for us who can be against us…Who can separate us from the love of Christ…We are more than conquerors…” all of these statements are in this chapter. We’re going to cover a few of them tonight.
V28
First let’s dissect the verse exegetically. Some translations import “God” into the first phrase so it reads, “In all things God works for the good of those who love him.” The most literal rendering is, “We know that towards the ones loving God all is acting together into the good of the ones…” So the most honest way to read this is, “All things work together towards the good of those who love God and…”
This raises a question among theologians. What or who is the subject of the working? Some assert it is the Holy Spirit (v26), others that it is the Father (27b) and others that it is just “all things”. The answer to this theological conundrum is…it doesn’t really matter. The most literal understanding of the wording is that “all things” is the subject, that it is the “all things” that are doing the working. But it doesn’t really matter because it is only the Holy Spirit, acting to fulfill the will of the Father, which can cause all things to work for our good.
Who does this promise apply to? Those who love God and who are called according to His purpose. Paul describes the recipients of this promise from a human perspective and from God’s perspective. Paul simply means God’s people. Paul is not saying “…good for those who love God enough.” Simply, if you love God, you are part of this.
Now let’s get to the dirty real life part. Really Paul? All things work for the good of those who love God?
-In Africa a 13 year old girl who recently put her faith in Jesus is kidnapped and rapped because of superstitious beliefs about how to get rid of AIDS, she simultaneously contracts HIV and gets pregnant.
-A baby is born missing most of his brain. He has enough brain stem to keep organs going but is completely comatose. Drs say he will die in days. Somehow he lives for several months causing prolonged suffering and attachment before he dies.
-A guy loves God with all his heart. He feels called to take the gospel to the poorest villages in China. He’s in seminary preparing to go when one day his wife walks in and says she’s been cheating and is leaving him.
Are these situations good?
-This verse sounds good when you need something Bible-y to say when you find out someone isn’t doing well. But if you’re like me, then you really have a hard time with this verse. Most of us have at least two problems with this statement: 1 he’s too dogmatic. “We know”. Do we? Paul doesn’t say hopefully or we think. We’re supposed to know. 2 he’s too inclusive. All things. We can be fairly certain that God uses some situations for good. But all things? Can we really say that we know that God works all things for good?
What adds to my difficulty with this verse are bad experiences with people misusing this verse to paint a “Christian life is perfect” picture. Sometimes very well meaning, but very wrong people misunderstand this verse and misuse it to insinuate the only reason God allows bad things to happen is to clear the way for something better right around the corner. “You lost your job? No worries. All things work for the good, so that means a better job is coming. Oh, you just got dumped? Well, God has someone better for you right around the corner.”
The key to interpreting and understanding this verse lies in understanding one word: “good”. What does Paul mean by good? The problem is our culture has come to understand “good” as pleasurable. Whatever is quick, easy, feels good, makes you happy, gets you profit, relieves stress, takes away pain…this is good. But this is not the biblical meaning of good.
In ancient Jewish culture (and in many modern cultures other than ours) good is not that which is pleasurable or happy, it is whatever results in quality of character or being a better person. In Paul’s theology, good is whatever results in God being glorified. John Piper speaks powerfully on this and says, "God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him" and, “God created us for this: to live our lives in a way that makes him look more like the greatness and the beauty and the infinite worth that he really is.”
If I only value and treasure Jesus as long as the prosperity train is rolling, then odds are I don’t really love Jesus so much as what he gives. If I continue to love Jesus in the midst of adversity and suffering then there is no doubt Jesus, not gifts, is our ultimate treasure. That is good.
So, when I understand “good” not as whatever is pleasurable and easy, but as whatever makes me the person God desires and whatever helps me reveal Jesus as my ultimate treasure, I can say confidently that God works in all things for the good of those who love Him.
What is "walking in the Spirit"?
Romans 8:3-8
A while back we talked about Romans 8:3, saying the law was only limited by our inability to keep it. It didn’t fail, but we made it limited. So what the law couldn’t do (save us) God did in Jesus. How? By sending Jesus in real flesh and emptying His wrath towards all sinfulness onto Jesus (Heb 10:1-10).
-V4
Why? So that the law’s requirements (do these things perfectly or die and be judged) would be done away with. Matthew Henry says, “Though the righteousness of the law is not fulfilled by us, yet, blessed be God, it is fulfilled in us…” But this freedom from the law does not automatically apply to everyone. Paul makes a distinction here saying these requirements are done away with for certain people. Who? Those who walk according to the spirit.
-Vs 5-8
Sarx vs Pneuma. These verses expound on the difference between flesh (sarx) and spirit (pneuma) and show the importance of the mind in spiritual matters. Paul is making the claim that sarx brings death while Pneuma brings life. Moo says, “Paul leads to this key claim by tracing people’s manner of life to their underlying way of thinking.” Thinking is central to one’s nature. What you think about largely determines what you do. In verse 6 the word phronema is sometimes translated as mind, but mind-set is better. Phronema means the basic direction of one’s will.
What is your basic inclination? Is your mind oriented towards pleasing God or self? James 3:1 says we all stumble in many ways. There are going to times when we mess up, when we elevate pleasing self above pleasing God. But when we are made new by Jesus there is a change in our basic phronema. New life in the Spirit must involve and start with a change in thinking. It cannot simply be about changing outward actions because then you end up with Pharisees who legalistically force compliance to rules but are not genuinely inclined to please God.
Also, unless your mind-set is changed you will never be able to please God (vs 7- 8). If you try to force behavioral change without changing the direction of the will, you will fail. Someone who’s will and mind are still determined to please self will never be pleasing in God’s sight because at their core they are still sinners. (Illustration: I want my kids to play nicely together. They say please and share toys, all while scowling and being fairly short with each other. I am not pleased even though in the most technical sense they are being nice.) So when we try to force behavioral change but our mind is still not reoriented to pleasing God, our inner self is still hostile towards God regardless of what our actions are, and that is not pleasing to God.
So, here’s where we start getting into the meat of this discussion: what does it mean to “walk according to the Spirit”? The word “walk” in the Bible is often used in a figurative way to mean a general way of life, or to mean trends in behavior. If I rarely do something dangerous, but every once in a while do, you wouldn’t say I walk in danger. But if doing dangerous things is a trend, something I do often, it could be said, “I walk in danger.”
So what does it look like when we shape our general way of life or behavior by the Spirit? Paul gives us explicit insight in Galatians 5:16-25. Go read that passage in Galatians. Here Paul lists identifiers of walking in the flesh and identifiers of walking in the Spirit. Notice the inherent difference between these two lists, other than one is good and one is bad. The first list isn’t just called “flesh” because it’s bad. These are all things you do, actions, outward things. The list of things that are of the Spirit are inner, attitude, thought, well…spiritual. Paul doesn’t contrast sorcery with preaching. He contrasts the acts of the sinful nature against the attitudes of the Spirit.
Paul’s concept of “flesh” isn’t just the acts that are offensive to God. It is the entire system that flesh operates in. So “flesh” means wrong acts, wrong words, wrong desires, AS WELL AS the law’s requirements and penalties for failure. Likewise, acting in the Spirit isn’t just trying to do spiritual things, it’s shifting to the operating system of grace and forgiveness.
A while back we talked about Romans 8:3, saying the law was only limited by our inability to keep it. It didn’t fail, but we made it limited. So what the law couldn’t do (save us) God did in Jesus. How? By sending Jesus in real flesh and emptying His wrath towards all sinfulness onto Jesus (Heb 10:1-10).
-V4
Why? So that the law’s requirements (do these things perfectly or die and be judged) would be done away with. Matthew Henry says, “Though the righteousness of the law is not fulfilled by us, yet, blessed be God, it is fulfilled in us…” But this freedom from the law does not automatically apply to everyone. Paul makes a distinction here saying these requirements are done away with for certain people. Who? Those who walk according to the spirit.
-Vs 5-8
Sarx vs Pneuma. These verses expound on the difference between flesh (sarx) and spirit (pneuma) and show the importance of the mind in spiritual matters. Paul is making the claim that sarx brings death while Pneuma brings life. Moo says, “Paul leads to this key claim by tracing people’s manner of life to their underlying way of thinking.” Thinking is central to one’s nature. What you think about largely determines what you do. In verse 6 the word phronema is sometimes translated as mind, but mind-set is better. Phronema means the basic direction of one’s will.
What is your basic inclination? Is your mind oriented towards pleasing God or self? James 3:1 says we all stumble in many ways. There are going to times when we mess up, when we elevate pleasing self above pleasing God. But when we are made new by Jesus there is a change in our basic phronema. New life in the Spirit must involve and start with a change in thinking. It cannot simply be about changing outward actions because then you end up with Pharisees who legalistically force compliance to rules but are not genuinely inclined to please God.
Also, unless your mind-set is changed you will never be able to please God (vs 7- 8). If you try to force behavioral change without changing the direction of the will, you will fail. Someone who’s will and mind are still determined to please self will never be pleasing in God’s sight because at their core they are still sinners. (Illustration: I want my kids to play nicely together. They say please and share toys, all while scowling and being fairly short with each other. I am not pleased even though in the most technical sense they are being nice.) So when we try to force behavioral change but our mind is still not reoriented to pleasing God, our inner self is still hostile towards God regardless of what our actions are, and that is not pleasing to God.
So, here’s where we start getting into the meat of this discussion: what does it mean to “walk according to the Spirit”? The word “walk” in the Bible is often used in a figurative way to mean a general way of life, or to mean trends in behavior. If I rarely do something dangerous, but every once in a while do, you wouldn’t say I walk in danger. But if doing dangerous things is a trend, something I do often, it could be said, “I walk in danger.”
So what does it look like when we shape our general way of life or behavior by the Spirit? Paul gives us explicit insight in Galatians 5:16-25. Go read that passage in Galatians. Here Paul lists identifiers of walking in the flesh and identifiers of walking in the Spirit. Notice the inherent difference between these two lists, other than one is good and one is bad. The first list isn’t just called “flesh” because it’s bad. These are all things you do, actions, outward things. The list of things that are of the Spirit are inner, attitude, thought, well…spiritual. Paul doesn’t contrast sorcery with preaching. He contrasts the acts of the sinful nature against the attitudes of the Spirit.
Paul’s concept of “flesh” isn’t just the acts that are offensive to God. It is the entire system that flesh operates in. So “flesh” means wrong acts, wrong words, wrong desires, AS WELL AS the law’s requirements and penalties for failure. Likewise, acting in the Spirit isn’t just trying to do spiritual things, it’s shifting to the operating system of grace and forgiveness.
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