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Suffering (and Creation) Transformed (Notes from Last Night)
Last night we continued our study of Paul’s letter to Romans by looking at the second half of chapter 8.
Intro: No condemnation (8:1), because the Spirit is in us giving us life (8:2), the Spirit dwells in us (8:9)…
8:9-11 – Your body is included in this total salvation.
8:12-13 – …the practical implications of this are that we don’t owe our old life anything…all it gives us is death
8:14-18 – What kind of Spirit is this Holy Spirit we’ve received?
He’s the Spirit who leads. (14)
He’s not the spirit who brings terror over how we relate to God. (15)
He’s the Spirit who is enabling us to look up and say, “Father.” (15) (we share Jesus’ status)
He changes our deepest being, so that what He says, is what we say too… (16)
…and so we know that, even our sufferings preach a message, that we’ll share Christ’s glory (17)
In other words: The presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives transforms all of life.
- Our relation to God (1)
- Our thinking (5)
- The destiny of our bodies (11)
- Where we get our direction from (14)
- Our Father and our family (15)
- Our deepest sense of who we are (16)
- Our outlook on our circumstances (17)
- The significance of our lives (18)
8:19-25 – “For” (19) a further explanation of the “to be revealed” in v.18.
i.e. What is Paul talking about with this “glory”?
v. 18-23 Point: Even our sufferings testify that the promises of God are true: How?
We see them as part of the global sufferings, the “groaning” of all creation which the bible describes (22) and we know that even the decree of God which subjected them to all this futility had a note of hope in it (20…Gen 3:15!), which means that the whole creation will be delivered and perfected (22). And it is not just that our deliverance is part of the renewal of creation, it is that our deliverance is the reason for the renewal, it’s perfecting and release is part of our perfecting and release—it shares in what God has done for us, and will do in us.
Further: we look at Christ, and see Him suffering, and realize that our sufferings are actually because of our union with Him (v.17), so that what is true of him is true of us…first suffering as part of this creation, then enjoyment of the renewed, delivered creation and all the glory of Jesus.
v.24 This is the hope we were saved in. This hope hidden all the way back in Genesis 3:15.
And we now know that it is the hope of Adoption (full reception as sons) which the Spirit brings us the first taste of! (v.16)
v.25 There is an element of the unfinished in our salvation, we haven’t really experienced what it means to be saved yet..
Here’s the chart I put up last night (click to view):
8:26-27 – The Spirit even overcomes the confusion we face because of the sufferings in this world. He knows what God’s will is when we don’t, and He prays for us.
8:28-29 – Nothing in this life is not untended by God to help us on this journey…The journey to become like Jesus: perfected humans, fully alive in a perfect earth, forever in total connection to the Father.
Nothing can stop this plan.
This is a very different vision of life than the one in the world around us.
A Poem for Those Confused by Life
Amy Carmichael:
Will not the End explain
The crossed endeavor, earnest purpose foiled.
The strange bewilderment of good work spoiled.
The clinging weariness, the inward strain;
Will not the End explain?
Meanwhile He comforteth
Them that are losing patience; ’tis His way.
But none can write the words they hear Him say,
For men to read; only they know He saith
Kind words and comforteth.
Not that He doth explain
The mystery that baffleth; but a sense
Husheth the quiet heart, that far, far hence
Lieth a field set thick with golden grain,
Wetted in seedling days by many a rain;
The End – it will explain.
Julianne’s post from Uganda
“I just finished sifting through my rice, to get the rocks out. I didn’t know to ask for sifted rice, oops. And I washed and rung out my laundry by hand this morning after church. Yay for becoming an African woman.”
Check out Julianne’s post from Uganda, with some great pictures of here first days there…
Pictures of life in Nakiwogo.
Pictures of Life in Nakiwogo
How Do We Battle Sin? (Notes from Last Night)
Last night we continued our study of Paul’s letter to the Romans last night, looking at the explanation of why sin will not condemn ultimately us, and how we can actually battle and defeat it. Here are the notes:
6:1-10 & 6:14-25
We need to know the things you need to know. Find out what God says about the situation–specifically, what He says about you: You’re united to Christ (6:1-10); You’re free from sin (6:15-20). And what He says about sin: Sin is shame and death. (6:21-23)
6:11
We need to believe the things God says. Let God’s word determine your thoughts
6:12-13
Then we present ourselves to God. This is actual (you need to really do it–pray about it, think about it, and do it throughout the day)…and relational (you do it with and to God).
Chapter 7: Why does Paul write about the Law? (1:16-18, 3:19-22, 4:15, 5:20, 6:14-15)
7:1-6
The Law can’t condemn you You’re dead to it. Because Jesus is dead to it (see 6:10-11). Because you don’t serve sin (see 6:12-14), serving sin = serving the law (7:6)
7:7-13
What’s the deal with the Law? Did God give us something evil? No, God’s law is good, but Sin uses it to cause evil. It’s good because it points out sin where we would have missed it (7:7) (as in Mt 5:21-28), and It shows sin for what it really is—so horrible it can use a good thing for evil (7:11, 13).
7:14-25
…so the law can’t help you fight sin (by trying to keep the law (in your own strength)). Sin is too powerful (7:23). We are too weak (7:18) (sin uses our weakness to defeat the law)
Everyone who does not have the life of God in them is in this state.
Christians can experience these things when they either do not know or momentarily ignore God’s power. (What is your experience with battling Sin?)
8:1-13 Christians defeat sin by relying on the new life of the Holy Spirit living within us.
We cannot be condemned by sin (v.1) …because God already did what we couldn’t in and through Jesus (v.3) …so that we would fulfill the goal the Law was working towards anyway (people who don’t need law to please God?!) (v.4) (by Christ (perfect obedience – 8:3) and finally in us in eternity (8:29))
The Spirit dwells in us, He is the Spirit of Life (v.9). You need life to beat sin. The Holy Spirit in us is a whole new principle of life (v.2). The Spirit in us leads us to think in whole new ways (v.5-8).
Even our bodies won’t be thrown away (v.11)
We depend on the Spirit to defeat sin. (v.13) How?
– we depend on the Spirit’s words (2 Tim 3:16) to teach us what is true about us and sin (ch 6)
– we depend on the Spirit’s power by deciding to live out the truth we find in God’s word (Phl 2:12-13) This is done consciously, in prayer and obedience
The Spirit is God; God’s way of being with us and in us. God is the life of everything.
A Video Showing Photography of Ancient Manuscripts
The video below probably won’t interest many of you right of the bat, but I decided to post it here because it gives a little window into a part of Bible study most of us probably don’t know much about at all. It shows a team of experts doing high-resolution digital imaging for some of the oldest manuscripts of New Testament books known to exist.
It’s important to at least be aware of this world these days (the world of New Testament manuscript studies and textual criticism), because most of our culture is completely ignorant of it–and therefore many of the ways people try to discredit scripture are based on this ignorance.
To try to state that thought more clearly: All of us should at least know that there are people in the church who give their lives to becoming experts in studying the existing ancient manuscripts of our Bible–so that the rest of us can have confidence that the Bibles we read faithfully report what was written and what God wanted us to read.
“Presenting our members” to God
Last Monday night we discussed Romans 6, and spent some time thinking about what Paul meant in verses 13 and 19 when he told us to “present our members” to God. I wanted to re-post these thoughts (from a while ago on the blog) which share some practical ways we can do this, from my own experience.
Sometimes in the scriptures we find very practical advice, but it is practical advice that doesn’t lie neatly on the surface where it is obvious how to carry it out. Take Romans 6:12-14, for instance. It reads:
(12) Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. (13) And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. (14) For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.
There seems to be a practical way to obey the command given in verse 12—not to let sin reign in us—and enjoy the promise given to us in verse 14—that sin will not rule over us. I would say the practical advice is given to us in verse 13, where Paul gives us two alternatives:
- “presenting” your “members” to sin (as instruments of unrighteousness)
- “presenting” your “self” to God (as someone alive from the dead) /your “members” to God as instruments of righteousness
So what exactly are our “members”? And how do we “present” them? If we continue reading, we can gain a little more insight. Paul continues on with the theme for a few more sentences. You could chart them out like this:
v.16 – We should obey the directions given in v.12-13 because: Whoever you present (same word as in v.13) yourself to as a slave, you are their slave!
Either:
- Sin (which leads to death) or,
- Obedience (which leads to righteousness)
(v.18 – But, in Christ, you’ve been set free from sin and have become slaves of righteousness.)
v.19 – So, even though it is true that:
- you once “presented” your “members” as slaves to impurity & lawlessness (leading to more lawlessness),
- now “present” your “members” as slaves of righteousness (leading to holiness)
So, let’s put all this together. We’re told that in Christ we’re set free from slavery to sin and released to slavery to righteousness (v.18). We’re promised that sin will not rule over us (v.14). We’re then commanded, simply, to experience what is already true—that is, to see that we actually live out our true nature. But it is clear from the fact that Paul is writing this that God knows that we may not always experience it like this.
So how do we turn this corner and experience this freedom?
The key, I think, is in watching closely how Paul describes what we are to do and not do. This issue is who (or what) we “present” our “members” to. Our “members” are the parts (another way to translate this word) of ourselves which we can use as “instruments” (v.13) to do things. This word for “instrument” can also be translated “weapon.” In other words, our “members” are those parts of us that actively do things. They can be used for work. They can be used to fight.
Now we can get concrete. It seems to me Paul has a list like this in mind:
- My mind, which I use to think
- My eyes, which I use to see
- My ears, which I use to hear
- My mouth, which I use to speak
- My hands, which I use to work
- My feet, which I use to move
These are the “parts” that make up the whole of my being, so far as my actions are concerned. They are what I use to obey God or to obey my desires for sin. Paul says I may either give them to sin, impurity, and lawlessness to use, or to God. Whichever I present them to, they will slave for that master (v.16). This is where we see how powerful this little word “present” really is. Paul is giving us direction for a new habit—the habit of “presenting” ourselves, part by part, to God so that we serve Him with our whole being. We must begin to see our bodies as servants of God. This is a whole different mindset from the world we’re living in.
To gain an understand of this mindset, you might do something like this: In the morning, during your time of prayer, spend some time thinking through each of these members, praying through each one something like, “Lord, I am presenting this to You, for You to use for Your purposes…”
“My Mind—as a slave whose job is to think about You, comprehend and rehearse Your word, and think your thoughts. It is now a weapon and an instrument to work mental and intellectual righteousness.”
“My Eyes—as two slaves to look for Your glory in all things, to see Your work, to convey to my mind any visible sign of Your greatness and Your working, and to alert me to any opportunity to do Your will. They are Yours to show me what You want me to see.”
“My Ears—as two slaves to remain always open to Your voice as their first Master, and then to hear Your world for the sake of Knowing how You want to be served.”
“My Mouth—as a slave whose job is to speak to You and for You. It is for spreading the knowledge of Your goodness and mercy. It is the messenger of Your gospel, and to edify the saints.”
“My Hands—as two slaves who are to be used to work out any act of faith You ask. They are your instruments of mercy and love. They are to do things that show that, while You can’t be seen, You are alive and active, working out Your plan in the world. They are to lend power to the words of my mouth by proving my words to be true with real action. They are yours for ceaseless activity as long as I have breath.”
“My Feet—as two slaves who carry this body wherever You want it. Let them be quick and eager to go to wherever you send.”
“My whole being! Ten servants working together to bear Your presence anywhere You want, and work out whatever You will!”
“Present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness…” (6:19)
“Present yourselves to God as those who are alive from the dead…” (6:13)
“Present your bodies a living sacrifice…” (12:1)
The Spirit is God’s way of being present
On Sunday nights we are praying together as a church, and one of the major notes in all of our times together is our enjoyment and seeking of God in the person of His Spirit. We glorify Christ together, and we do it in the Holy Spirit–in fact, we do it by the empowering of the Spirit, by the direction of the Spirit, indwelt with the Spirit, and in the unity of the Spirit. Really, if you haven’t come yet, you should join us.
Along those lines, I just read this and figured I’d share it:
I am convinced that the Spirit in Paul’s theology was always thought of in terms of the personal presence of God. The Spirit is God’s way of being present, powerfully present, in our lives and communities as we await the consummation of the kingdom of God. Precisely because he understood the Spirit as God’s personal presence, Paul also understood the Spirit always in terms of an empowering presence; whatever else, for Paul the Spirit was an experienced reality.
–Gordon Fee, in God’s Empowering Presence: The Holy Spirit in the Letters of Paul
What is the Christian’s relationship to sin? (Notes from Last Night)
Last night we looked at how a believer relates to sin by examining Romans chapter six. Here are the notes:
Why is Paul asking this question (“Should we keep on sinning?” (6:1))?
Because he’s been saying that we’re not saved by keeping the OT Law of God, and that we’re saved by God’s good-will, which we did not earn.
Also see 5:20-21: all the law did was to increase sin and offense, but God’s favor is so big that it overpowers and swallows up all that sin.
And people very often respond with 6:1, or 6:15
Group Discussion. Imagine you try to speak to your friend about a sinful pattern of decisions, and how they should repent. Use Romans 6 to think through how you should respond if they say this back to you: “We’re all sinners. We all have sin. God’s really forgiving, and I just don’t think he’ll judge me for this. So you shouldn’t tell me I need to change my life or stop living this way, since you have sin too, and it’s all about God’s grace and forgiveness in the end.”
How should we think about this very common way of thinking?
What is the believer’s relationship to sin?
6:2 we’re dead to it. (so how could we live in it?)
6:4 it’s part of our old life – and we have newness of life
The Christian understands that when they trusted Christ such a change occurred that they have to draw direction for their life from new sources, not old patterns. Everything is now new.
6:6 our old person was crucified (body of sin done away with, we’re no longer slaved of sin)
6:7 we’re freed from sin
The Christian realizes that sin is slavery. And we’ve been given freedom. So the Christian doesn’t willingly and knowingly stay involved in something that makes us slaves again.
6:11 we need to reckon ourselves dead to sin
The Christian decides what’s true based on what God’s word tells them. Not how they feel, or their past, or even their recent failings. See also 6:14
6:12 our bodies are not for sin to use for its purposes, but for God to use see also 6:19
The Christian sees everything, even his body, in a new, very positive light. “What is this for? It’s for God to use!”
6:16 we are commanded not to obey sin. John 8—Jesus said committing sin is slavery to sin.
6:18 we’re now slaves to righteousness
Christians decide what they should do, and how they should live, by maturely reading and meditating on scripture, and then by exercising trust in what they read, and then by seeking to have their lives changed as much as possible to match what the Bible says is already true about them.
6:21 sin only brings shame and death
6:22 we servants of God now, and are heading towards everlasting life.
6:23 sin pays death as a wage.
So, to respond to the friend’s comment above, I would reply something like, “Yes, we all are sinners apart from God’s work in our lives. But if you’ve trusted in Christ, we’ve been forgiven of your sin and now ‘sinner’ is not our identity or a good label for us. God forgives us, but for the purpose of freeing us from the old things he forgave us for. He doesn’t forgive us to help us go sin more. God’s grace is not that he is just really tolerant of sin, it’s that he, out of the bigness of his own heart, provides a way for me to escape the slavery to sin which will kill me forever, and empowers me to live as a free, unentangled human being in full relationship with him. So, once you know that God defines something as sin, if you insist on doing it, you’re denying all of that and acting like none of it’s true. If you’re saved, you’re living a lie in ignorance and unbelief. Either way, you’ve got to repent!”
Challenge: Believe this! (6:12) Constantly view yourself in this light. Don’t let anything convince you otherwise. Take Jesus death, and your union with him seriously. Let the implications of that be your guidelines.
Tonight’s discussion question
I’m looking forward to diving into the sixth chapter of Paul’s letter to the Romans with you all tonight. I thought I’d post this beforehand for a little appetite whetting…
Here’s the question we’ll open the night discussing, in groups:
Imagine you try to speak to your friend about a sinful pattern of decisions, and how they should repent.
They reply: “We’re all sinners. We all have sin. God’s really forgiving, and I just don’t think he’ll judge me for this. So you shouldn’t tell me I need to change my life or stop living this way, since you have sin too, and it’s all about God’s grace and forgiveness in the end.”
Use Romans 6 to think through how you should respond.
A Man You Should Know
Most of you probably know that Chuck Smith, who was pastor of Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa and founded what became the Calvary Chapel movement, went home to be with the Lord a few weeks ago.
Since this blog is for the Young Adults ministry here at Calvary Philly, and since I bet many of you don’t know much about Chuck, I thought I’d post a few resources for you to learn about him and the work the Lord did through his life, which was bound up with the history of our nation through the second half of the twentieth century, and of course, with our church in particular, which was planted by Pastor Joe as part of the Calvary movement.
Simply put, you should know about Chuck, and about how the Lord worked in his life, not just to know your own “spiritual history,” but also because it’s an excellent way to be challenged an encouraged in your own life and walk of faith with the Lord. Chuck lived with a kind of powerful, yet simple (though not “simplistic”) faith and always exuded a “just excited to watch the Lord work” vibe.
So first, here’s a message from David Guzik (who’s going to be at our Men’s conference in November) which gives a great overview of Chuck’s life and helpfully applies it for us:
Download Audio: Remembering Chuck Smith (mp3)
Second, check out this video interview Greg Laurie recently did with him:
Finally, the picture above is from this blog post I recently read and thought I’d repost:
Chuck Smith, 1927-2013
I respected Chuck Smith for multiple reasons. Here is the main one.
He was pastoring a little church in Costa Mesa, California, in the late 1960′s, not far from the beach. God began to pour out his Spirit. Teenage kids started getting saved and coming to Smith’s church. But there was a problem. The oil deposits off the coast of California bubble up little globs of oil that land on the beach. If you step on one, it sticks to the bottom of your foot and you mess up the carpet when you get home. So these young people began coming into church right off the beach. They didn’t know they were supposed to wear shoes. They didn’t know church culture. All they knew was Jesus. But the new carpets and pews at Smith’s church were getting stained. One Sunday morning Chuck arrived at church to find a sign posted outside: “Shirts and shoes please.” He took it down. After the service he met with the church officers. They talked it through. They agreed that they would remove the new carpet and pews before they would hinder one kid from coming to Christ. And that wise decision cleared the way for God to visit Calvary Chapel with wonderful revival (Isaiah 57:14-15). I was there when they were holding services five nights a week, standing room only. The breakthrough came when they humbled themselves and chose to care about what God cares about, and nothing else.
Whenever the power of the gospel starts claiming a church at a deeper level, there inevitably comes a power encounter. I don’t mean anything of a demonic nature, though I suppose that could be involved. But I mean a crisis decision. Will this church yield to the Lord in total surrender, or will this church say No to the Lord for the sake of its own ideals and patterns and comforts and preferences and unconfessed sins? If a church hands itself over to the Lord, whatever the cost, his blessing will break out with power. But if a church holds back and chooses anything less than the glory of Christ alone, it relegates itself to spiritual mediocrity and tragic inconsequentiality.
Chuck Smith led Calvary Chapel to choose well. The Lord smiled on them. And a whole generation shared in the divine blessing.
–By Ray Ortland