Milo

OCTOBER 6

Reading 279

FREED FROM MORTALITY Romans 8

“And if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit, who lives in you” (Rom. 8:11).Despite our weaknesses, with the Spirit’s help we can live holy lives.

Background

Mortal bodies.

Paul’s exposition of the Gospel’s impact on individuals examines three vital issues: sin, Law, and mortality (“flesh”). Union with Christ in His death frees us from the domination of our sinful nature, so that we can offer ourselves to God as “slaves to righteousness” (6:18). Union with Christ in His death also legally frees us from man’s obligation to God’s Law. This is important, as Law stimulates the sin nature and corrupts even the good we seek to do. We are to respond to Jesus out of love, not obligation (Rom. 7). Now Paul explored the problem of our mortality. Human beings are but flesh, sarx. As a theological term sarx stands for all that is weak and corrupt in human nature. In effect Paul asked, how can a mere mortal, whose essential being is tainted by corruption, live a godly life? His joyful answer leaps from the pages of Romans 8. God has given us His Holy Spirit! If we respond to the Spirit within us rather than the sarx within, the righteous requirements of that Law we could not keep will be “fully met in us!” God’s Spirit vitalizes us, even in our present mortal state, so that we can live righteous and holy lives! Then Paul went on. We are bound to our mortality now. But in the resurrection we will be fully liberated, along with the whole creation! And, until then, we can be sure of one thing. No one, and nothing, can ever separate us from the love of Christ.

Overview

The dynamic principle of new life in Christ overwhelms the principle of indwelling sin, enabling us to live righteously (8:1–4). If we as sons of God choose to live in harmony with the Spirit, not the flesh, the Spirit’s resurrection power vitalizes us even in our present mortal state (vv. 5–17). In the future our bodies, with all creation, will be transformed (vv. 18–25). Till then we live in the love of the Spirit who prays for us (vv. 26–27), the Father who provides for us (vv. 28–33), and Christ who guards us (vv. 34–39).

Understanding the Text

“In order that the righteous requirements of the Law might be fully met in us” Rom. 8:1–4. So many Christians feel condemned to failure. They try. But somehow they keep on failing. The life of many Christians is like the god in Greek mythology who was condemned to roll a giant stone up a mountainside—only to see it tumble down into the valley every time he got near the top. What a condemnation this would be. Always to try. And always to fail. But Paul’s message was, “no condemnation!” Jesus didn’t die that we might be left frustrated and hopeless. God has introduced a vital new principle of life into our personalities, which frees us from bondage to the “sin living in me” that Paul acknowledged with such agony in Romans 7. In Jesus, we are freed to live righteous lives. That’s what’s so special about Romans 8. It gives us hope. And it tells us how to draw on God’s own resources to experience spiritual success, not failure. “Righteous requirements of the Law . . . fully met in us” Rom. 8:4. The little Quaker lady was complimented by a younger woman, who was amazed at her self-control when provoked. No matter what, the little lady seemed to remain sweet and patient. She received the compliment, nodded, and then said, “But thee should know I’m shouting inside.” When Paul said that the righteous requirements of the Law are “fully met” in the believer, he was making an amazing statement. Rightly understood, the Law does not just speak to what we do and say “outside.” It calls for us to be changed “inside” as well. A sweet and patient voice while “shouting inside” has not “fully met” the righteousness God requires. Law itself can never make us good. But God can! The death of Christ, and the gift of God’s Spirit, are intended to make you and me different inside and out. “Controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit” Rom. 8:5–9a. So many illustrations have been offered to clarify what Paul was saying here. Some speak of a tug-of-war between the Spirit and the flesh. Whichever side you choose to pull with will win. Some suggest a teeter-totter. The sinful nature is on one end, the Holy Spirit on the other. And you tip the balance. These, and other illustrations, make a common point. There’s a competition between God and man’s mortal, sinful nature. The Spirit urges us to go in one direction and the flesh urges us to go another. And, each of us can choose. We can choose to follow the Spirit’s leading, to pull with the Spirit, to add our weight to His side of the teeter-totter. Or we can choose to go the way of the flesh. How gracious God is. Even now, He does not say “You must.” That would be Law. Instead He reminds us that, because of Christ, and in the power the Spirit gives, “You can!” “He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies” Rom. 8:9b-11. “You can!” is one of the hardest things for a Christian to truly believe. We’re so used to failure that down deep many of us are convinced, “Well, I can’t!” When that conviction overwhelms you, remember the nature of God’s power. God’s power, exercised by the Holy Spirit, raised Jesus from the dead. That same power, exercised by the Holy Spirit, is fully capable of taking your mortality—your deadness—and making you live! And, this same verse says, His Spirit “lives in you.” Of course “I can’t.” But because God’s Spirit lives in every true believer (v. 9b), you can! To approach any spiritual challenge with the confidence that “I can” isn’t presumption, it’s faith. Faith that God’s Spirit living in you will give you the power you need, despite your mortality, to succeed rather than fail. Actually, this is how you and I add our weight to that inner tug-of-war, or climb on the Spirit’s side of that teeter-totter. We say, “I can,” confident that the Spirit will act in and through us. And then, we do! “You received the Spirit of sonship” Rom. 8:12–17. Paul concluded with a paragraph that emphasized consequences, obligation, and resources. The consequences of a choice to respond to the prompting of the sin nature are to live in the realm of death and defeat (v. 13). Our obligation and our resources are rooted in our new relationship to God. When a person was adopted under Roman law, all earlier obligations were broken, and he became responsible only to his new father. He owed the adoptive father complete obedience, and everything he possessed was under the adoptive father’s control. But as a child, he was now an heir of his new father. And under Roman law, an heir was considered to possess his inheritance even before the father died. In other words, all the resources of the father were, through the father, available to the child. When we received the “Spirit of sonship” (literally, of “adoption”), the authority of the old nature over us was broken completely. We became obligated to no one but God, our new Father. And, as His heirs now, all the resources of God Himself are available to you and me. No wonder Paul shouted, “There is now no condemnation” (v. 1). Because Christ died for us, because the Father adopted us, because the Spirit is given to us, there is now no question. We can live a victorious Christian life! All we need to do is to believe. And, acting on faith, to step out and to do. “Creation waits in eager expectation” Rom. 8:18–25. Still working with the theme of mortality, Paul noted that the entire creation has been affected by man’s sin and is subject to decay. One day, when our redemption is complete, and our bodies, like our spirits, have been renewed, creation itself will be fully redeemed. Till then, mortality means suffering. For us, and for nature. We know that our sufferings are insignificant when compared to the glory that awaits us. But till then, we can only look ahead, confident and eager, waiting for Jesus to return. “In all things God works for the good of those who love Him” Rom. 8:28. The verse doesn’t say that everything that happens to us is good. There’s far too much pain in the world for that to be true. What Paul said was that God is at work in all things. He redeems even our suffering, using it to do us good. “He also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of His Son” Rom. 8:29. Christians have argued over predestination. Did God simply know ahead of time what individuals would do? Or did God cause individuals to act as they did? Are we saved because of our faith, or did we believe because we are chosen? This passage won’t resolve questions like these. Why? Because it says we who believe are “predestined to be conformed to the likeness of His Son.” God has determined that believers will become like Jesus. The great contribution of this verse is the perspective it provides on the teaching that God works in all things “for the good of those who love Him.” It tells us what God’s “good” is: Likeness to Jesus. What a wonderful thought. And what an exciting destiny. God wants us to be like Jesus. And He is committed to transform us into Christ’s likeness. Even suffering, if it helps me learn Christlikeness, is a blessing from the Lord.

DEVOTIONAL

Until Then (Rom. 8:26–39)

Waiting is so hard. I remember as a child, sitting on the front porch, waiting. We were going up to Cedar Lake, and I could hardly stand the thought that the trip was three whole days away. And there was nothing I could do to make the time pass faster. Waiting for Jesus is especially hard as we sense our vulnerability and mortality. We may even feel there’s nothing we can do until then. When we do feel that way, it’s helpful to remember that, until then, God is active for us! God the Holy Spirit, sensitive to our mortality, “helps us in our weakness.” The Spirit prays urgently for us and with us (vv. 26–27). God the Father, who has adopted us, in that act committed Himself to us totally. God is for us: He gives us all things now, and will give us the glory that is assured in His initial choice and call (vv. 28–33). God the Son, who died for us, is praying for and loving us. We sense that love, whatever our hardships. In everything we know with Paul that “neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (vv. 38–39). So if waiting seems hard, and a little frustrating because there doesn’t seem to be anything you can do, remember. Until then, God is active for you. Until then, the Spirit prays, the Father provides, and the Son protects you. And, until then, you can live your life here on earth for God.

Personal Application

Until then, serve the One who loves you.

Quotable

“The strength for our conquering and our victory is drawn continually from Christ. The Bible does not teach that sin is completely eradicated from Christians in this life, but it does teach that sin shall no longer reign over you. The strength and power of sin have been broken. The Christian now has resources available to live above and beyond this world. The Bible teaches that whosoever is born of God does not practice sin. It is like the little girl who said that when the devil came knocking with a temptation, she just sent Jesus to the door.”—Billy Graham

OCTOBER 5

Reading 278

FREE FROM LAW Romans 7

“For when we were controlled by the sinful nature, the sin passions aroused by the Law were at work in our bodies, so that we bore fruit for death” (Rom. 7:5).Even Christians find God’s Law hard to keep—for good reason!

Background

More on Law.

Romans 7 explores the impact of the Gospel on the individual in his or her relation to “God’s Law.” This is one of the Bible’s most difficult passages, but contains exciting truth! To understand it, we need to note that Paul uses “law” in more than one sense here. We’ve earlier seen that “God’s Law” is God’s revelation of morally righteous standards. But here “law” is not only those standards, but also the impact of those standards on human nature. Paul is concerned not only with laws, but with the response God’s commandments stimulate within us. There’s also another use of “law” in this chapter. When Paul speaks of a “law at work” within him, as in verse 21, or the “law of my mind” and the “law of sin at work in the members” (v. 23), he means not standard, but “fundamental principle.” The “law of gravity” is a statement of a fundamental principle of our experience: things fall down toward earth. The “law of sin at work in my members” is also a statement of a fundamental principle of human experience: we do wrong, even when we don’t want to. In his talk about these “laws,” Paul is making statements about how human nature works and does not work. What Paul says is that God’s Law and human nature aren’t compatible, any more than a car designed to run on gasoline is compatible with diesel fuel. God’s Law may be great fuel for diesel engines. But human nature operates on gasoline. And this leads to the issue that Paul explores in Romans 7. What is the relationship of the Gospel to a divinely given Law that, however “good” and “right” it may be, has never been able to produce righteousness in a single human heart?

Overview

Christians are free from man’s obligation to keep the Law (7:1–3). We must be, if we are to live holy lives (vv. 4–6). To try to relate to God through His Law makes the Christian life a constant, losing struggle (vv. 7–20). But God in Christ rescues us from our native inability (vv. 21–25).

Understanding the Text

“The Law has authority over a man only as long as he lives” Rom. 7:1–4. The old Gospel hymn says, Free from the law, oh happy condition. Jesus has died, and there is remission. Cling to the cross, your burden will fall. Christ has redeemed us, once for all. But the Jewish reader of Romans is sure to object to that first line. How can a human being be “free from the law”? Paul’s argument was rooted in the fact of union with Christ, which he introduced in Romans 6. In a marriage the husband and wife are united as one, and as one are subject to the “law of marriage.” But if one spouse dies, the other is free from the marriage law. He or she is no longer obligated to be faithful to the deceased spouse. The Christian is united to Jesus, and as long as each lived, each was responsible to God’s Law. But Jesus died on Calvary, and we “died” with Him! As a dead person is released from obligation to keep God’s Law, so are we! Moreover, when Christ was raised, we became obligated to Him, not to the Law. Jesus is that “another” to whom we now belong. Paul never suggested that we Christians aren’t to live disciplined and righteous lives. He did, however, remind us that we respond, not to a written code, but to a Person. Our new and exciting obligation is to respond to Jesus, not to a list of do’s and don’ts, however fitting that list may be. “The sinful passions aroused by the Law” Rom. 7:5. This is a key to Paul’s exploration of the Law and the believer, and explains why the New Testament teaches that the Christian must be freed from the Law. Law arouses man’s sinful passions, and produces fruit unto death. The idea isn’t all that unfamiliar. Think of the mom who made chocolate chip cookies for a get-together with some friends. She says to her kids, “Don’t touch the cookies. They’re for my group, and I have just enough.” Now, any kid worth his salt is going to naturally want a chocolate chip cookie. The smell alone is enough to awaken the desire. But when Mom says, “Don’t touch,” somehow the odor becomes almost irresistible. Her law has even further aroused the children’s cookie passion. Law, Paul says, is like that. Somehow it stimulates man’s sinful nature. And we all know it. That’s why the old saying, “Forbidden fruit is sweeter,” hangs on in our culture. We all realize that, somehow, the saying is true. You just can’t motivate people to do what’s right and good by saying, “You ought to!” or “You must!” “We have been released from the Law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit” Rom. 7:6. In saying that we have “died” to the Law that once bound us, Paul was saying first that we’re legally free from obligation to the Law, and that Law is now irrelevant to our life in the Spirit. My children have suffered over the years as I’ve used their doings in illustration after illustration. I suspect all preacher’s kids have the same problem. But anyway, here I go again. My youngest son is seeing a lovely gal named Liz. I’ve noticed that no one tells him, “You have to phone Liz this evening.” Or, “You must take Liz out at least three times a week.” Somehow their relationship isn’t a matter of “have to’s” or “musts” at all! What happens is that Tim wants to call and see Liz. His growing love makes rules for such things in their relationship totally irrelevant. This is what Paul wants us to realize about our relationship with God. “Have to’s” and “musts” have no relevance! We love Jesus. And love for God will move us to do willingly what no rules could compel. “Fruit to God . . . fruit for death” Rom. 7:4–6. In a way, this paragraph is about horticulture. It describes two systems for growing fruit. And it says, you can’t mix systems. One system relies on the pronouncements of Law. But such pronouncements stimulate man’s sinful nature, and the fruit produced is sin “unto death.” The other relies on relationship, with the Spirit of Jesus taking the place of Law. The Spirit stimulates that resurrection life we received from Jesus, and produces fruit “to God.” That fruit is exhibited in righteous acts and godly character (Gal. 5:22–23). The sad thing is that all too many Christians try to fertilize their spiritual lives with liberal applications of Law. And then they can’t understand why their Christian life seems such a burden, and failure a constant companion. What you and I need to do is to focus our heart’s attention on our Lord, and hear what Scripture says to us as a loving invitation to walk with Him. When we do, our Christian life will seem exciting, and success will walk by our side. First-century seamen relied on heavy stone anchors like these to hold their vessels. These anchors were effective . . . except when the bottom was smooth and they could obtain no hold. This is what Paul said about God’s Law in Romans 7. The Law in itself is holy, righteous, and good (v. 12). But human nature is so hard and smooth the anchor could not hold. The fault is not in God’s Law, but in us! “I would not have known what sin was except through the Law” Rom. 7:7–13. Paul talked principle and concept. Now he talked experience. How does the believer experience God’s Law? First, Law makes us aware of sin. It puts a bright, bold label on things that are wrong. That label isn’t like the skull and crossbones on medicine bottles, which warns us away. It’s more like the two punctures in the skin, that inform us the snake that just bit us is poisonous. If you’re struck suddenly by a hiding snake, the quick way to tell if the bite is venomous is to look at it closely. If there’s a row of little marks, you’re safe. But if there is the mark of two fangs, venom has already been introduced into your system. That’s what God’s Law did for Paul. In labeling acts sin, it caused the apostle to realize that death had already been introduced into his system. The Law itself may be good. But it deals a fatal blow to our assumption that we are alive and well! Don’t be surprised if Law treats you this same way. It’s supposed to. If you and I could make it by ourselves, we wouldn’t need such reminders. By testifying to us of death, God’s Law grips us firmly by the shoulders, turns us around, and points us to Jesus. He is the source of life, for us, and for the world.

DEVOTIONAL

One Too Many(Rom. 7:14–25)

The other day I saw the TV interview of a woman who has multiple personalities. One personality is warm and loving, another childlike and petulant, a third angry and promiscuous. These personalities developed early in life and, as in all such cases, remained unaware of each other, though each controlled the woman’s actions at different times. In a way, Paul suggested that he too was a victim of multiple personalities. But he was all too aware of them! One “I” was his “sinful nature.” There was nothing good about this “I.” It not only kept on doing evil, it messed up the good Paul wanted and tried to do (vv. 19–20). Then there was another “I,” an “inner being” (v. 22) that passionately wanted to do good. This “I” delighted in God’s Law, and responded to it. What troubled Paul was that every time the “inner being” acted, the “sinful nature” jumped right in to corrupt and spoil the good. It’s as if a person with multiple sclerosis were writing a letter. In his mind’s eye he sees each word crisp and clear. But when he writes, the palsy in his hands forms almost unreadable letters, shaky and distorted. In just this way, Paul cried out in frustration; he as a believer wanted only to do good. But something inside kept spoiling his best efforts. The principle of sin and death was like another personality within him, at war with the personality that wanted honestly to serve God. We all have one personality too many. But we do have a wonderful source of comfort. The words we form as we seek to make our very lives a love letter to God may be shaky, but God sees and wel- comes our love. He knows it’s not the “I” of the inner man that makes our offerings imperfect, but the “I” of the sinful nature. Just as a parent welcomes with delight the first efforts of a toddler to write his name, so God welcomes our every effort to please Him. Someday that one personality too many will be gone. Only the “I” that delights in God and His Law will survive our resurrection. As Paul said, “Thanks be to God,” for Jesus “will rescue me from this body of death” (vv. 24–25). But until then, thanks be to God for another wonderful gift. God doesn’t demand that we be perfect as we seek to please Him. He only asks that we love Him—and that we try.

Personal Application

Don’t let failures dampen your love for God, or your eagerness to please Him.

Quotable

“God uses failure, sickness, breakdown, sin, personal tragedy, and sorrow to reduce His people to usefulness. Unless the servant of God learns to depend utterly on God and to forsake self-dependence of any kind, he or she remains too strong to be of much value.”—Robert C. Girard

OCTOBER 4

Reading 277

FREED FROM SIN Romans 6

“Count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires” (Rom. 6:11–12).The good news is we’re no longer captives of sin. We have a choice.

Background

Sin.

Romans 6–8 explores the impact of the Gospel on the individual. Paul portrayed this impact in respect to three vital issues, asking: What about sin? What about the Law? What about our mortality? In this chapter Paul announced the believer’s freedom from sin through union with Jesus. To understand Paul’s teaching we need to realize that the Bible makes a distinction between sin and sins. On the one hand, sin is a state or condition. It is the corruption of human nature; the warping of the human will, emotions, and understanding. On the other hand, sins are specific acts that intentionally or unintentionally fall short of God’s perfection because of our rebelliousness, our evil desires, or our failure to grasp what is right and good. The good news that Paul announced in this chapter is that through union with Jesus, we have within us the source of perfection! We no longer are limited to the choices, desires, or understanding of a corrupt nature! In Christ, we can at long last actually be, and do, good. Paul did not teach that the old corrupt nature that expressed itself in acts of sins is gone. Not at all. Sin is still with us. But so is Jesus. And because Jesus is with us, we need no longer commit sins.

Overview

Salvation by grace through faith is no license to sin (6:1–2). By our union with Christ we died to sin and were raised to new life (vv. 3–10). We are not to permit sin to reign in our lives (vv. 11–14), but instead to offer ourselves to God as His slaves, to live holy and righteous lives (vv. 15–23).

Understanding the Text

“Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?” Rom. 6:1 The question was sarcastic. It was not the honest doubt of a person who wonders why, if a person knows he is going to heaven, he or she would want to live a good life. That person, with significant insight into human nature, asks, “If I didn’t fear damnation, what would keep me from doing wrong?” The questioner of verse 1 said, “If God gets so much glory out of freely forgiving sinners, then maybe you’d better keep on sinning, so God can get even more glory!” Paul’s response was a shocked me genito, a phrase we might render “God forbid!” or “Unthinkable!” or “Never!” Shock is an appropriate response. God has no affinity with sin at all. He forgives sinners. But with forgiveness He calls each believer to live a holy and righteous life. The ultimate evidence of God’s grace is not seen in forgiveness of sin. It is displayed in the moral transformation of the sinner. Christians are called “trophies of grace.” God has won us in Christ. Up there, on His figurative shelf, we do bring Him glory. But no trophy if tarnished and dulled brings much glory to its owner. To truly reflect the glory of God’s grace, we need to live lives that are polished and pure. “[We] who were baptized into Christ” Rom. 6:2–4. Paul wasn’t thinking of water baptism here. Instead he was using the word baptizo as a metaphor: we have been immersed in Jesus. Unlike a piece of cloth immersed in dye that it might take on its color, we have by faith plunged into Jesus and become so completely united to Him that the death He died was our death, and the resurrection life He possesses now is our life too. Perhaps the closest modern analogy is found in “community property” states. Say a poverty-stricken young woman marries a multimillionaire. At the moment of marriage, the law considers half of all he owns hers. It is as if, legally, she had been a participant when he earned his millions. And now that they have been united in marriage she has his vast resources to draw on. This is what Paul said about you and Jesus. When you believed in Jesus, you were united to Christ. It is as if, theologically, you hung there on the cross with Him. When Jesus died, you died. And when Jesus was raised from the dead, you too were raised! Now that you have been united by faith to Jesus, you have His vast spiritual resources to draw on. And the result? “We too may live a new life.” Next time you’re tempted to sin, picture yourself immersed in Jesus. Draw freely on His resurrection power. Choose that new life that is yours! “So that the body of sin might be rendered powerless” Rom. 6:6. Immersed in Jesus, our old self was crucified with Him. This is the basis of our ultimate freedom from sin’s very presence at our resurrection. But until then, sin is all too present with us. We feel its pull; we sense it in thoughts that chase one another through our minds. But, thank God, sin though present is “rendered powerless.” At last we can ignore sin’s pull (see DEVOTIONAL). As Martin Luther said, “We can’t keep the birds from flying around our head. But we needn’t let them build a nest in our hair!” “Offer yourselves to God” Rom. 6:11–14. Freedom from sin has a price tag. The tag reads, “Offer yourselves to God.” From the beginning individuals have assumed that “freedom” is being able to do what a person wants to do, when he wants to do it, with no reference to anyone or anything. That idea has absolutely no correspondence with reality. The fact is that we human beings are creatures, and as creatures we always serve some master. The master may be sin, expressing itself as a passion for wealth or power, or merely as a selfish passion for one’s own way. Or the master may be God. But it is impossible for us to live without a master. I can think of many reasons why God is a better master than sin. But one of them surely is the thing Paul mentioned in verse 23. “The wages of sin is death.” Personally, I’d much rather offer the parts of my body to God as “instruments of righteousness.” “You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness” Rom. 6:18. In a way, the Christian life is one of extreme simplicity. In every situation, ask yourself, What is the righteous thing to do? Folks sometimes try to complicate this, and argue that they often don’t know the righteous thing to do. That may be. But we nearly always know when something is the wrong thing to do! What it boils down to is: Don’t do what you know or suspect is wrong. You may not be positive a particular course of action is best. But you surely will recognize actions that are wrong. “What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of?” Rom. 6:19–23 This is a fair question. What does any person get out of sin? A momentary thrill? An instant of satisfaction? A mercurial sense of power? This is what sin offers at best—and with sin comes a sense of guilt and deep dissatisfaction. When you add endless death to the list, sin doesn’t seem to pay well at all. Righteousness pays off in holiness. That isn’t highly valued by the world, but it can buy inner peace, freedom from guilt, joy, a sense of being right with God and yourself, and eternal life.

DEVOTIONAL

Just Don’t Jump(Rom. 6:1–14)

Donald Grey Barnhouse used to say about this passage, “When the old captain shouts, just don’t jump!” Dr. Barnhouse was a master at finding illustrations to make the most complex concepts simple and clear. We surely need that gift to help us with Romans 6. What’s all this about “the body of sin” being “rendered powerless”? And “death no longer having mastery” over us? How do we explain “count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God”? Barnhouse would say we’re like the crew of a ship at sea. We took orders from our captain, body of sin. But then one day while we were still at sea, that captain was replaced, and authority passed to a new captain, God. So body of sin was rendered powerless, with no right of mastery over us at all. God is the only One we have to obey. The trouble is, the old captain is still on board the ship, and even though he has no authority, he keeps on shouting orders. Because we’re so familiar with his voice, we all too often find ourselves jumping to obey him. What we have to do, Barnhouse said, is to “count yourselves dead” to the old captain’s orders, and just don’t jump to obey his commands. I always liked the illustration. Isn’t it great that we don’t have to jump when a sinful thought urges us on to sin? What fun to tell sin to go jump instead!

Personal Application

Resist the devil. And thumb your nose at sin.

Quotable

“We are too Christian really to enjoy sinning, and too fond of sinning really to enjoy Christianity. Most of us know perfectly well what we ought to do; our trouble is that we do not want to do it.”—Peter Marshall

OCTOBER 3

Reading 276

LIFE IN CHRIST Romans 5

“For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one Man, Jesus Christ” (Rom. 5:17).Life or death do not just lie at the end of two pathways. They are the two pathways.

Overview

Justified by faith, we have peace and joy (5:1–5). This is all because of Christ, who died for us sinners (vv. 6–8) and who lives to maintain our new harmony with God (vv. 9–11). As the sin of one man, Adam, doomed our race to death (vv. 12–14), so the gift of one Man, Jesus Christ, overflows to bring life to all who believe (vv. 15–19). In Christ grace reigns, and eternal life is ours (vv. 20–21).

Understanding the Text

“Peace with God” Rom. 5:1–2. The very first benefit of the believer’s new relationship with God that Paul mentioned was “peace.” As I wrote this, the Berlin Wall that isolated East and West Germany began to go down. Hundreds of thousands of Germans crossed once impassable barriers to visit relatives in the West that they hadn’t seen for nearly 30 years. But even as the wall began to go down, there was no guarantee of peace. No guarantee that complete harmony between the deeply divided East and West will ever be restored. Paul exclaimed that we have “peace with God.” Not only has the wall that sin created between us gone down, but we now pass freely into once forbidden territory, knowing that a permanent harmonious relationship between us and the Lord has been established. Paul said we “have gained access” (v. 2). We now stand securely within the circle of God’s grace (v. 2). The two Germanys are uneasy and uncertain about the future; we are filled with joy, for our future is sure. “We rejoice in the hope” Rom. 5:2. Don’t let the word “hope” throw you. In our language “hope” is a word that suggests uncertainty. “I hope I’ll be able to go with you,” means I’d like to, but I don’t know if I can. A young woman’s “hope chest” was traditionally a place where she stored precious items she would use when—and if!-she married. “Hope” to us is a “maybe” kind of thing. But it’s not this way in the New Testament. In fact, it’s just the opposite! Hope (elpis) is the settled and confident expectation that we will obtain a future good. Hope is being sure that what God has promised will be ours, even if today we only glimpse it from afar. What a blessing to remember as we read the New Testament. Because of Jesus, we have hope. We know that we have a share in the glory of God. “We also rejoice in our sufferings” Rom. 5:3–5. “Hope” is a word about our tomorrows. All too often “suffering” seems to be the word for our today. But Paul said that, because of our peace with God through Jesus, we even “rejoice in our sufferings.” Perspective provides the reason. A young woman experiencing the pains of childbirth still rejoices—because she knows that her suffering will give birth to a precious new life. She looks ahead, and the promise the future holds gives meaning to her present pain. It’s just this way with Christians. Knowing that we have peace with God, we are sure that our present is pregnant with promise. We experience joy in suffering because we know out of pain God will bring something good. Paul even tells us one good our suffering will bring! Our pain will produce perseverance, and this will produce character, and character will produce hope. Through hope, that expectant gaze we fix on the future, we will find the true meaning of life. This doesn’t mean we’ll have a grim life here, in exchange for a joyful future. Oh, no. It means we will have joy now as well as then. Learning to hope will save us from trying to anchor our souls on the slippery bottom of this world’s riches or fame. As we put our hope in God, His Spirit will flood our hearts with a sense of His love. And this, the present experience of the love of God, will give us present joy. “Christ died for the ungodly” Rom. 5:6–8. The unmistakable sense of God’s love that floods our hearts even in suffering is a very personal, subjective kind of thing. We know we are loved. We can tell others. But how can they know that God’s love is real? Paul answered that there is objective as well as subjective evidence of the love of God. Christ’s cross towers in history, casting its shadow in every century, vivid and unmistakable proof that God does love us indeed! While an unusual person might give his life to save a truly good man, Jesus Christ gave His life to save us despite the fact that we were sinners. There may be times when you and I can’t feel the love of God. But there need never be a time when we doubt it. We need only look to Calvary, and remember why Jesus died. “We have now received reconciliation” Rom. 5:9–11. This is another of those important “theological” words of the Bible. As with most such terms, its meaning is actually quite simple. It is something like a man who wakes up, finds that his watch has stopped, and turns on the radio to learn the time. When he hears, he sets his watch by the radio time. What he’s done is to “reconcile” his watch to the radio. Through the death of Jesus, God “reset” our inner clock. Our hearts now ticking in time with His, our values match His own. We are “saved by His life,” for the risen Christ lives within us, to enable us to actually live in harmony with God! Through Jesus we are saved from the wrath that spills over today as the consequences of sinful acts. Through Jesus we have this unutterable joy. You’ve trusted Jesus to save you from the eternal consequences of your sins through His death. Have you trusted Him to save you in the present by His life? Trust Him, rely on the strength He provides, and you will be able at last to live a life that is truly in harmony with God. “The gift of righteousness reign[s] in life through the one Man, Jesus Christ” Rom. 5:12–20. The whole passage contrasts Adam and Jesus, each of whom fixed the future of all living in the epoch he initiated. Adam initiated the epoch of sin, and all who descended from him have found themselves trapped in a morass of sin and death. Jesus initiated the epoch of grace, and all who trace their relationship to Christ are freed from sin, to be righteous and to live righteously. Consider some of the differences brought out in this chapter, shown on the following chart. And rejoice. You have been adopted into the family of the Son whom God loves. ADAM / CHRIST in Romans 5:11–21

v.	Adam	Christ	v.
12	Introduced sin, death	Introduced grace,	15
		righteousness,	17
		and life	17
16	Men condemned,	Men given righteousness	16
19	made sinners	and life, and justified	21
16	Judgment a consequence	Grace reigns as a consequence	21
17	All subject to death	Many brought to eternal life	19
19	Disobedient	Obedient	19

“Before the Law was given, sin was in the world” Rom. 5:13. When a friend of mine went through a stop sign, he got a ticket. Later he went to court and argued that the stop sign had been put up only the day before and was hard to see. It was an interesting argument. The highway commission had determined that that particular intersection was dangerous, and that a sign should be there. My friend didn’t argue about that. He even admitted going through the sign. He argued only that he wasn’t guilty, because the sign was new and obscured. Paul’s point is something like this. Sin has been in the world since Adam. And because of sin, human beings have been dying since Adam, as a necessary consequence of sin is death. But people were not guilty of sin before there was a law that, “this is wrong.” To be guilty of transgressing the law, law must exist, and be known. The argument was important for reaching the Jews, who placed altogether too much importance on their possession of Moses’ Law. In essence, Paul said the Jews were worse off than the Gentiles. Gentile and Jew had both suffered spiritual death as a consequence of sin. But the Jews, who had the Law and had broken it, were also guilty! Thank God, neither death nor guilt is a problem for Christians. Jesus gives eternal life to all who believe in Him. Through Christ we are raised from death to life, freed from the present power of sin, and forgiven every violation. What a difference Jesus makes to those of us who know Him.

DEVOTIONAL

Everywhere You Look(Rom. 5:1–11)

There’s an old riddle that says: What direction did the polar bear look when he turned his head to the right? To the left? And when he looked straight ahead? The answer in each case is south. He was standing on the North Pole. It’s something like this with a term we find in Romans 5:1–11. What does a Christian see if he looks back? If he looks ahead? If he looks around? Reconciliation! Looking back, we realize that the death of Jesus has changed our condition and our heart. We have been reconciled to God, and He has transformed us from enemy to friend (v. 10). Looking ahead we see an endless future in which Christ stands by our side, till ultimately we stand by His throughout eternity (v. 9). Looking around us, we find that we experience joy in serving Jesus. We have a “now” experience of reconciliation as well. Even the word “saved” is like this. Look back: you have been saved. Look ahead: you will be saved. Look around: you are being saved. Jesus is even now at work within to give you the power to live a holy life. Our past, our present, and our future are all transformed because of Him. Wherever we look, everything is bright and new, and completely different, because of Jesus Christ, God’s Son.

Personal Application

Let Jesus change your perspective on everything in life.

Quotable

“If you were to spend a month feeding on the precious promises of God, you would not be going about with your heads hanging down like bulrushes, complaining how poor you are; but you would lift up your heads with confidence, and proclaim the riches of His grace because you could not help it.”—D.L. Moody

OCTOBER 2

Reading 275

ABRAHAM’S FAITH Romans 4

“The words, ‘It was credited to him,’ were written not for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead” (Rom. 4:23).From the very beginning, righteousness has been a gift, received by faith.

Overview

Abraham serves as a test case, to prove Paul’s thesis that righteousness is a gift received by faith (4:1–3). Neither works (vv. 4–8) nor circumcision (vv. 9–12) nor Law (vv. 13–15) have anything to do with forgiveness of sin (vv. 16–17). Righteousness is credited to all who have an Abrahamlike faith in the God who raised Jesus from the dead (vv. 18–25).

Understanding the Text

“Abraham, our forefather, discovered in this matter” Rom. 4:1–3. Paul turned to the towering figure of Abraham, and proposed he be used as a test case. Since the Jewish people acknowledged Abraham as the father (source) of their race, in Hebrew thought he would set the pattern for his descendants’ relationship with God. Abraham was an admirable man. He risked all in obedience to God. But the biblical text also reports his sins. So the Old Testament says God “credited” his faith to him “as righteousness.” If Abraham had to be given a righteousness he did not possess, and if faith was credited to his account as righteousness, then from the very beginning the key to salvation has been faith—and nothing else. In their teaching on salvation Old and New Testaments are one. You and I who depend solely on Jesus Christ for salvation are one with that unbroken line of saints extending back, even beyond the cross. We are members of history’s grandest order: the order of those who have caught a glimpse of the goodness of God, and who believe Him completely worthy of our trust. “Justified” Rom. 4:1. At God’s Lighthouse Mission in Manhattan the men who attended services in the ’50s were drilled nightly in Bible verses and in a particular definition of “justified.” Justified, they were taught to repeat, means “just as if I had never sinned in the sight of God.” Actually the Greek verb, dikaioo, means to be acquitted, or to be pronounced righteous. It’s not “just as if I had never sinned.” It means “just as if I had lived as perfect a life as Jesus did!” Once, when my normal green-tinted sunglasses were lost, I put on a rose-colored pair. And everything I saw through them was rose colored too. Justification is a little like this. God sees you and me through Christ-colored glasses. When God looks at the person who believes in His Son He sees Jesus Himself. Never hesitate to come freely to God, whatever your need. As you approach, God sees you as His dearly beloved Son. “Credited to him as righteousness” Rom. 4:3. This is another of several key theological terms in this chapter. The Greek word is logizomai. A common word in New Testament times, it meant “to make an entry in the account book.” The Expository Dictionary of Bible Words (Zondervan) says, “As sinners, you and I have no righteousness that would be acceptable to God. But God has given His Word of promise. When we respond to Him in faith, against our name in His account book He makes an entry that says in effect, ’This person is righteous in My sight!’ Our faith has been credited to us as righteousness” (p. 203). Some might complain that this concept of salvation is too crude. But that same person, if he went to his bank and found that someone had credited his account with the gift of 10 million dollars, wouldn’t complain about “crude.” He’d more likely shout for joy! As we do, knowing that in Christ God has credited to us something far more precious than worldly wealth. “God who justifies the wicked” Rom. 4:4–8. There’s so much packed in these few verses. But most important perhaps is a unique vision of God. I remember a student of mine in grad school when I taught at Wheaton. He was always friendly and most ingratiating. Later he taught at Moody Bible Institute evening school—and his students were very upset. When he taught he was rude, always putting them down and ridiculing any idea that didn’t match his own views. What a revelation of character. You can tell a lot about people by seeing how they treat those who are subordinate to them. What a revelation of God’s character, this teaching of justification by faith. We human beings are not only subordinate, but we’ve rebelled actively against Him. Yet God’s response is to offer us a matchless gift: to justify the wicked, and credit sinners with righteousness. How blessed we are to have, and to know, such a God! “Is this blessedness only for the circumcised?” Rom. 4:9–13 The Jews claimed Abraham as the father of their race. Abraham had received the covenant promises which, transmitted from generation to generation, guaranteed Israel its place as God’s chosen people. It would seem then, that Jesus and justification were Jewish by right. How could Paul defend his missionary work among the Gentiles? In the Old Testament circumcision, the cutting off of the flap of skin which covers the tip of the male penis, was introduced as a sign of God’s covenant with Abraham (Gen. 17). But, Paul said, this came after God announced Abraham was justified by faith (15:6). It followed, then, that justification by faith did not depend on a person having a previous covenant relationship with God. So justification by faith is available to all! God doesn’t set any preconditions on salvation. We don’t have to clean up our act first. We don’t have to join any particular church or group. We don’t have to beg, or even pray. All we need to do is what Abraham did: trust God’s promise. The blessedness of forgiveness of sins is ours, and righteousness is credited to our account. “Where there is no law there is no transgression” Rom. 4:13–15. We have a new puppy, a miniature schnauzer named Mitzi. Like most pups, when Mitzi was young she had “accidents,” and went to the bathroom on the floor. As soon as she got old enough, we began to train Mitzi. We made it very clear that going to the bathroom indoors is wrong. This morning she slipped off into a bedroom and left a (thankfully dry!) pile on the floor. As soon as I saw her coming out of the room, her ears went back, and she began to slink—the image of guilt. She’d been taught not to do her jobs indoors. My few swats with a newspaper were accepted as just punishment. That’s about what Paul’s saying here about law. Don’t count on law to save you. Law introduces transgression. Mitzi was doing her jobs indoors with a perfectly clear conscience—before she was taught not to. Now that “no” has been introduced, she still does her jobs indoors sometimes. But now she’s guilty of transgressing a rule, and she knows it! The law didn’t change her behavior to any great extent. But it surely did make her realize her errors. We can’t look to law as a way of salvation. Law simply marks out the things we do by nature as sin—and makes us feel guilty when we realize that, even knowing the law, we still do wrong. “That it may be by grace and may be guaranteed” Rom. 4:16–18. Why didn’t God let us at least try to earn salvation? Why not, say, let us do 25 percent, and let Him supply the other 75 percent? Or, if that’s too much, do 20 percent? Or 15 percent? Paul had an important answer. Because if anything depended on you and me, there could be no guarantee. Even the Israelite descendants of Abraham, who were given a head start by receiving Moses’ Law, would have no guarantee of salvation. The issue would remain forever in doubt—at least from a human point of view. From God’s point of view, of course, we have all sinned and fallen short. No one can contribute even 1 percent of that absolute goodness God’s holiness demands He require. But that’s irrelevant to Paul’s point here. Salvation rests on God’s gracious promise alone. Since it all depends on God, our salvation is guaranteed.

DEVOTIONAL

Abraham’s Faith(Rom. 4:18–25)

I once read a science fiction story in which the crew of a spaceship suddenly found itself behind windowless, doorless metal walls. Food was regularly passed in, seeming to slide through the walls themselves. Days and weeks went by, and the crew could find no way out. Suddenly one of the crew laughed aloud, and explained. Their captivity must be a test devised by an alien civilization. The walls, which seemed so real to touch and sight, weren’t there at all. They were illusions. If only the crew would believe—really believe—that the walls were unreal, they could walk out of their cage. It was very much like this for Abraham. He was 100 years old. His wife, Sarah, was 90. She’d ceased menstruation long before. To every human sense, an impenetrable barrier existed between Abraham and the fulfillment of God’s amazing promise that he and Sarah would soon have a son. Abraham examined these medical facts. He fully understood the impossibility. And he ignored it. He ignored the facts because he was “fully persuaded that God had power to do what He had promised.” And it was this kind of faith, that saw God as the ultimate reality, that moved Abraham to trust God’s promise despite its patent impossibility. For you and me, faith is not really belief against all evidence. We have evidence that Scripture is trustworthy. We have the testimony of untold numbers of persons who have become Christians and tell of inner transformation and peace. We have proof of life after death in the resurrection of Jesus. But the basic nature of faith remains the same. We hear God’s word of promise. And we are fully persuaded that He has power to do for us all that He says He will. Like Abraham, we commit ourselves to the Lord, and receive righteousness as the gift of our loving God.

Personal Application

“Faith” is committing ourselves completely to God.

Quotable

“Tell me Your name,” I challenged Christ. “Were You a prophet, saint supreme? Did You wear true flesh and blood? Are You that which we call God? Or but a hope, a sigh, A thing compacted of man’s dream?” “I will declare Myself,” said Christ, “When you confess your name and station.” Easy terms. I thought and thought But still the sum of me as nought. “A dying sinner, I.” And straight He told His name, “Salvation.” -Anna Bunston de Bary