The Potter’s House: Sunday, 3/3/2013; The Gospel According to Moses, Part 3
How do we approach the Scriptures? Asked another way: how should we interpret the Bible? This is an especially important question when we approach Exodus 19-31. This is the Mount Sinai event where the first law was given to Israel and plans for the tabernacle given to Moses. These passages are full of images that can be assigned a plethora of meaning. We live in a day where there are approaches to the Bible that yield certain results; for the most part, lack of life application. Christians in our day give little thought to what methods are being used to interpret the Bible. If the outcome sounds good a sound interpretive method is assumed. But method determines outcome, and the Bible is clear regarding what the outcome of Bible study should be. This answers the question: the method should lead to understanding that is profitable for hope, encouragement, teaching, reproof, correction, and righteousness training with the goal being competent in every area of life. The goal is to be equipped for every good work (2TIM 3:16-17).
That’s critical in understanding what the premier biblical hermeneutic is: the goal; to be fully equipped for every good work. Students of the Bible should leave every teaching more equipped. We should also know that the Scriptures are breathed out by God and He does not speak less than He should or more than He should. “All” of Scripture is profitable for equipping us (2TIM 3:16). All Scripture should be approached with that goal and that attitude. That’s the hermeneutic. And I believe firmly that the Bible interprets itself.
As I stated last week, we are going to approach chapters 25-31 with God’s stated purpose in mind. He told Moses the following in chapter 19:
Exodus 19: 5 – Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; 6 and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.
Once the Israelites agreed to the covenant, God begins working with them to bring this plan to volition. What follows has to be interpreted through God’s purpose for doing it in the first place. Secondly, we need to remember what God wanted from the nation of Israel at that time is in fact our present identity as Christians, so we must be on the lookout for how that relates to this body of Scripture:
1Peter 2:9 – But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
It is also a good idea to think about what was going on in general. This is a building project with God as the general contractor. Hence, great insight can be gained by observing how God expected His people to interact with Him in the building of the tabernacle. We see a combination of imperatives and the freedom to use our own creativity. God commanded that molding was to be added to the ark, but didn’t specify design. That was left to the creativity of the craftsman. However, God continually commanded that the craftsmanship be “skillful.” Full diligence was to be exercised and not any halfhearted efforts or shortcuts. And by the way, such should be the case with any project that we do with God—especially sanctification. As we have taken this short interlude into the book of Exodus, I have heard from others regarding the references to sanctification in tabernacle worship. Here is one example:
Just reading in Numbers 28 about the daily sacrifice that was to be offered morning and evening that was to be for a continuing “sweet savour” to the Lord.
The parallel to this is our Sanctification, our daily walk with the Lord.
Rom 12:1 – I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
Eph 5:2 – And walk in love…an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savour.
Php 4:18 – But I have all, and abound: I am full, having received of Epaphroditus the things which were sent from you, an odour of a sweet smell, a sacrifice acceptable, wellpleasing to God.
In our Christian life we have both freedom and stipulation. Sometimes we have the option to give or not give for whatever reason (EX 25:2). Sometimes giving is imperative (EX 30:11-16). The lives of Christians can be fraught with superstition if this is not understood. For example, those who are single and not gifted to be should marry, and marry whomever they want to marry with some restrictions. This is what Scripture reveals. This is very valuable information when helping people who have left a cult. They often see God as one who is ready to severely punish at any moment for not doing every little thing according to His predetermined will. Something else that might be noted is that God didn’t give Moses a reason for why He wanted some things built a certain way, but I am sure many reasons were realized over time. This speaks to the trust issue. We also see God’s practicality: larger objects were made of wood overlaid with gold while smaller objects were solid gold. The tabernacle was portable and meant to be moved; large items made of solid gold would have made portability very difficult.
The tabernacle represents God’s grand goal—to dwell with mankind. Tabernacle means “to dwell with.” This first requires reconciliation. We must make a covenant of peace with Him. Therefore, the tabernacle represented God’s desire to dwell with mankind and the covenant required to make it possible. He dwelt in the most Holy part of the tabernacle between the cherubim, and over the tablets of stone that represented the covenant. That goal is finally consummated in the fullest sense at the end of the ages and noted towards the end of Revelation:
Revelation 21:1 – Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
Here is the word meaning for “dwelling” and “dwell” in REV 21:1-4;
g4633. σκηνη skene; apparently akin to 4632 and 4639; a tent or cloth hut (literally or figuratively):— habitation, tabernacle. AV (20)- tabernacle 19, habitation 1; tent, tabernacle, ( made of green boughs, or skins or other materials) of that well known movable temple of God after the pattern of which the temple at Jerusalem was built.
g4637. σκηνοω skenoo; from 4636; to tent or encamp, i. e. (figuratively) to occupy (as a mansion) or (specially), to reside (as God did in the Tabernacle of old, a symbol of protection and communion):— dwell. AV (5)- dwell 5; to fix one’s tabernacle, have one’s tabernacle, abide ( or live) in a tabernacle ( or tent), tabernacle to dwell.
Ultimately, we Christians don’t look for what’s next on the prophetic calendar, but the new heaven and new earth when God leaves heaven and dwells with man on earth. This is also the city built by God that Abraham looked for (2Peter 3:13, Hebrews 11:8-10).
The tabernacle also represents the fact God is completely uncompromising when it comes to the only truth that will heal. He is completely uncompromising in regard to the only truth that sanctifies (John 17:17). He is completely uncompromising in regard to truth that brings life. This is the message that often perplexes people and tempts them to think God is harsh. What an appropriate observation for this series in Romans and our gospel commentary! The ark was not to be touched (NUM 4:15). The tabernacle ordinances were to be carried out in specific ways or death could occur. The tabernacle was to be arranged in a specific way lest the same occur as well. When the ark was handled in a flippant way, consequences were severe (1SAM 5:1-6, 6:19, 2SAM 6:1-3). But take note of what the specific offence was: treating God’s holy covenant with man flippantly. The ark represented the covenant that makes reconciliation with God possible. You don’t mess with that. There is only one way to be reconciled to God, and you don’t dare go into the tabernacle and start rearranging the furniture. This is the point the Hebrew writer made in regard to the new covenant being less fearful than its shadow presented at Mount Sinai:
Hebrews 10:26 – For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, 27 but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. 28 Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. 29 How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace? 30 For we know him who said, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge his people.” 31 It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
Hebrews 12:18 – For you have not come to what may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest 19 and the sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words made the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them. 20 For they could not endure the order that was given, “If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned.” 21 Indeed, so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I tremble with fear.” 22 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, 23 and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, 24 and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.
25 See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven. 26 At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.” 27 This phrase, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of things that are shaken—that is, things that have been made—in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain. 28 Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, 29 for our God is a consuming fire.
Because we supposedly live in an age of grace and not law, there is no reason to fear Mount Sinai and the old “covenant of death.” No, God has less patience today than He did at Mount Sinai for those who treat the covenant lightly. In fact, in times past, God winked at ignorance but now commands men everywhere to repent (Acts 17:30).
Angels occupy a great deal of the tabernacles imagery. Why is that? First, there were myriads of them about Mt. Sinai when God came to meet with Israel for the covenant ceremony. This wasn’t mentioned in Exodus, but reveled in DUE 33:1ff., PS 68:17, and Acts 7:53. This is probably why God didn’t have to give details concerning what images of angels should look like in the tabernacle. We also read the following in Galatians 3:19:
Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made, and it was put in place through angels by an intermediary.
“Put in place” is the following:
g1299. διατασσω diatasso; from 1223 and 5021; to arrange thoroughly, i.e. (specially) institute, prescribe, etc.: — appoint, command, give, (set in) order, ordain. AV (16)- command 7, appoint 4, ordain 3, set in order 1, give order 1; to arrange, appoint, ordain, prescribe, give order.
This covenant put in place by the angels at Mt. Sinai was eventually rejected by Israel through disobedience, but will be permanently enforced by the angels as recorded in the book of Revelation. As noted in Hebrews, the Lord will once more shake the earth in regard to this covenant (HEB 12:26). There are references to the tabernacle throughout the book of Revelation; e.g., 6:9-10 and 11:19. In the Book of the Covenant God warns Israel not to make a covenant with other nations for protection and wellbeing (EX 34:15). They do exactly that by making a pact with hell (IS 28:15, Daniel 8:24-25, 9:27, 1THESS 5:2-4) for protection and that launches the last seven years of the times of the gentiles (Luke 21:24). Undoubtedly, the 144,000 are commissioned to announce to the Jews that God has come to enforce the covenant one way or the other and on a grand scale we have the same scene that we see at Mt. Sinai when the Israelites made the golden calf. It will be time for the Jews to fish or cut bait: are you with God or the antichrist? Those who are with God will inhabit the millennial kingdom that Christ will then usher in.
Sabbath ordinances were also a special part of the Book of the Covenant issued at Mt. Sinai (EX 23:10-11), and the Jews broke that covenant leading to God punishing them through Gentile persecution for a designated period of time. 483 years of that time to finish the transgression are complete, and there are seven left. The assembly of Christ inaugurated at Pentecost constitutes a parenthesis within the times of the Gentiles that will be ended by the imminent return of Christ for His assembly and the ushering in of the final seven years that will enforce the Mt. Sinai covenant. Biblical references that you can study on your own follow:
LK 21:24, MAL 1:10-11, ROM 10:14-11:32, LEV 25:4-5, 26:14-35, JER 25:11-12, 29:10-11 2CHRON 36:21, DAN 9:1-2, 20-27.
Throughout the New Testament it is clear that the return of Christ for His assembly is imminent, but nothing in Revelation is imminent—events are clearly marked on a specific timeline. Upon the signing of the covenant between Israel and the anti-Christ, all following events will be able to be marked on a calendar. I believe that the running to and fro and increasing of knowledge stated in the book of Daniel refers to the book of Revelation and its relevance for that day (DAN 12:4).
The Bible interprets the Bible. If you want to say that the curtain that separated the most holy place from the holy place represents Christ, that is correct because HEB 10:19-23 and MATT 27:50-51 states that specifically, but a Christocentric interpretation should not be imposed on any Bible verse where it is not warranted. And lastly, truth may not be played with like a toy. You cannot separate God’s holiness from truth and His covenant. This is perhaps the primary point of the tabernacle. People love to make propositional truth something that is beneath God’s dignity. To suggest that we know anything about God is supposedly the epitome of arrogance. Of course, this gives license to believe anything we want to. Therefore, I think an excerpt from the second part of this three-part interlude is a fitting conclusion:
What better example than the infamous “Touchdown Jesus” that was an icon of a church in Monroe, Ohio. The statue of Jesus was 60ft. high and was merely a couple of hundred ft. from I-75. That is, until it was struck by lightning. The flames could be seen for miles in the night and the pictures thereof can be best described as apocalyptic. The next day, it was the talk of the nation. But telling was the hundreds of testimonies recorded on the news and in newspapers; i.e., “what the image meant to me.” Yikes! The hundreds of different interpretations were staggering, and the statue never spoke one word! Most interesting was a comment by an unbeliever who worked in the Monroe area: “Obviously, God did it.” Often, there is a disconnect between the secular mindset and the Christian mindset which involves the disintegration of common sense that is a natural endowment; mysticism often abandons the matter and faith becomes a license for mindlessness.
The Potter’s House: Romans 8:14-39; Assurance and Aggressive Sanctification
Spiritually Healthy Christians Must Know That They Are Secure Slaves
This message will be the last in our commentary, The Gospel: Clarity in Confusing Times; Volume One. Volume one covers the first half of Romans. Starting in chapter nine the apostle Paul clarifies the truth about Israel in eschatology. In chapter twelve Paul begins to explain the life application of truth. He finishes Romans with that subject.
Our last message in the first volume covers Romans 8:14-39 which completes chapter eight. Paul states the following in verse 8:14-17;
14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” 16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.
It is absolutely critical that healthy, strong Christians know without a doubt that they are on their way to heaven. Eternal security is paramount to effective sanctification. I realize many Christians struggle with security, and the Bible seems to indicate that for whatever reason, some will suffer from chronic doubt. But in most cases doubt is the result of weak leadership and weak sanctification. I believe most Christians want to see things happening in their lives and the lives of others. I believe Christians long to see the power of God manifested. In fact, we are to work out our own salvation with trembling and fear (PHIL 2:12-13), and I believe that is a fear from seeing the power of God being worked out in our lives. It can be a fearful thing to realize that you are in the same rowboat with God. Sometimes we fantasize that God is doing some unbelievable work in our lives, but He actually wants to do more than we could ever imagine (EPH 1:18-20).
Let’s face it: people aren’t being saved, and the ones who are being saved stop changing after the honeymoon. We are all nice enough as compared to the world, but every week that we see each other we are the same nice people that we saw last week. In other words, we are boring and the world knows we are boring. Where there is life there is change. The world isn’t stupid; if we are not changing more than them we don’t have any life either. But all Christians are given the same power that raised Christ from the grave (Ibid). This is a matter of wise, aggressive sanctification that appropriates that power. Hence, God’s word teaches us all of the necessary facets of this diamond in the rough.
It starts with getting people signed up correctly. Life insurance salesmen are boring. People rarely like to meet with them. Canned gospel presentations that offer eternal life in exchange for a cheap prayer doesn’t seem quite right to intelligent heathens. Many heathens are more intelligent than we are; therefore, we should go to them with the mind of Christ. We need to tell them that if they believe on the atoning works of Christ alone, God will impute His righteousness to them and impute their sin to the penalty paid in full by Christ. Then, God will give them the gift of the Holy Spirit who will enslave their minds to the law. It’s a gift by faith alone, but it will result in their minds being enslaved to God’s law. If they don’t want to be enslaved to God’s law—God will not save them. They are choosing to remain a slave to sin and the fear that comes with it. Why? We learned in earlier studies in our Romans series that the works of the law are written on the hearts of every individual born into the world. Their consciences either accuse or excuse based on that law. That’s why mankind is not totally depraved. They have a conscience guided by God’s intuitive word. But as we also learned, they are enslaved to sin, under the law, and will be judged by the law. In fact, the law that they will be judged by provokes their sinful nature to sin. Salvation puts that man to death with Christ, imputes to him/her a righteousness apart from the law, frees him/her from any judgment of the law, and resurrects him/her to a new life that is enslaved to the law (ROM 7:25).
When I became a believer, a struggle that haunted me for years ensued. I knew I was saved whether I kept the law or not. I knew that I wasn’t saved by works. But yet, I was disturbed by the fact that obeying God’s law was so important to me. I feared this urgency came from the fact that I was functioning by works salvation. I feared that I was assenting mentally to grace by faith alone, but functioning by works salvation. I feared that I was only giving a tacit nod to grace by faith alone while actually living by works. Here is what I didn’t understand: that wasn’t the case at all; the fact is that my mind was (and still is) enslaved to the law. My obsession with obeying the law was due to being a new creature. My misunderstanding of this crippled my walk with God for years.
Then, when I did understand that, my concern turned to how “powerless” I was to obey. Where is all of this new creaturehood? Why do I sin so much? Why do I keep committing the same sins? This was due to the fact that I was unaware that the Bible has much to say about how we overcome sin. It is a hearty endeavor that includes many, many different subjects. I was trying to do the right thing the wrong way. Many Christians who don’t understand the aggressive nature of sanctification eventually give up and lose hope. Teaching and leading the saints in aggressive sanctification is the premiere failure of the pastorate in our day. If not antinomian, most Christians live by biblical generalities. Most cannot state specifically how the word of God has changed their life in the past month. Many cannot remember the last time that the word of God made a marked difference in their lives.
But part and parcel with aggressive sanctification is suffering; specifically, suffering for righteousness sake. Paul states that we cannot “fall” back into the old spirit running the show resulting in fear of judgment. The apostle John stated that fear has to do with judgment (1JN 4:18). Paul writes that we are heirs, and the Holy Spirit testifies with us (not to us) that we are the sons of God. And then Paul adds the following: “provided we suffer with Him.” What is this suffering? Apart from the joy and hope we have in salvation, Paul is referring to the suffering in our fight against sin in our flesh. This harkens back to Romans 7:21-25 specifically:
21 So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. 22 For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, 23 but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. 24 Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.
As in a previous study, we will take note of the word “wretched.” Note the reference below if you would:
g5005. ταλαιπωροσ talaiporos; from the base of 5007 and a derivative of the base of 3984; enduring trial, i. e. miserable:— wretched. AV (2)- wretched 2; enduring toils and troubles afflicted, wretched.
Paul is saying that we are afflicted as we endure in our battle against sin in our flesh. It’s an affliction. Though the old us is dead, somehow, sin still lives in our mortal flesh. It can no longer enslave us, but it can attack us in various and sundry ways as it still has access to our intellect and emotions. Its power is still significant, and it is tenacious to the point where it even wages war against the indwelling Holy Spirit (GAL 5:16). This is the suffering Paul is talking about.
Paul continues on this point and compares our oppression from sin to how creation is also oppressed by the curse of sin. Unbelievers do not experience this suffering. That’s Paul’s point in verses 15-17—this suffering is evidence of our salvation—this suffering should give us assurance and stoke an eager anticipation for the return of Christ. Creation also groans and eagerly anticipates the return of Christ as well. Having the firstfruits of the Sprit makes us groan for redemption:
Romans 8:18 – For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 19 For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. 23 And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.
We are in warfare together with the indwelling Holy Spirit against the sin of our flesh and the sin in the world. With the Holy Spirit, we are putting to death the deeds of the flesh (ROM 8:13). Look how Paul begins verse 26. He begins with “likewise.” Likewise what? Well, Paul just finished speaking of us groaning together with creation in our suffering because of sin. Likewise, the Holy Spirit groans also. In His great love for us, he helps us in many ways as we fight together. He intercedes for us by prayer in groaning that is too deep for words. Other Scripture tells us that the Holy Spirit is also grieved by our failures in fighting the good fight against sin. Here is how Paul states it:
Romans 8:26 – Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. 27 And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.
We are exhorted to grieve not the Holy Spirit who has sealed us until the day of redemption (EPH 4:30). In other words, the Holy Spirit is already suffering for our sanctification in ways that are beyond words—far be it from us to add to His suffering via spiritual laziness, indifference, or outright sin. Is it just me, or are these deep sanctification matters little talked about in our day? Do we experience warfare with our flesh and the world alongside the Holy Spirit? Are we putting to death the deeds of the flesh with the Spirit’s help daily? Are we changing? One thing is for certain, experiencing the aforementioned to any degree excludes doubt. Paul is sharing how this struggle with sin is actually experienced. To the contrary, this experience (it well vary in intensity among Christians) should not cause us to doubt, but should give us assurance. It is indicative of a gift that comes with salvation: love for the truth.
2Thessalonians 2:9 – The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, 10 and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. 11 Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, 12 in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.
Do you take pleasure in unrighteousness? If not, this should be one of many things that give you assurance. But even with that, learning to hate unrightousness may be one of the ways you need to change. Even you secretly desire certain sins, the Bible states that you can learn to hate them. Sanctification is a many-faceted issue but we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us.
Let me once more reiterate our major theme here: eternal security is crucial for healthy sanctification. Aggressiveness and hesitation are mismatched colaborers. Paul points out that those born of the Spirit should experience sanctification in a certain way because we are new creatures in the Holy Spirit. He also explains why we still struggle with sin. Now he moves on to other facts that should bolster our assurance:
Romans 8:28 – And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. 29 For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.
I am not sure that Paul had this in mind when he penned these words, but past regret is also a poor motivator in sanctification. Susan and I often bemoan the fact that we have found each other late in life and have a pretty good marriage because of what we have learned over the years. Just think of what we could have done for the Lord and what our lives could have been if we had found each other earlier. But this isn’t exactly true. Note what Paul states once again:
And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
Susan and I have a pretty focused life and know where we want to go with it, but the fact is, we get it because of the prior years and what we experienced. It probably took that many years because we have remembrance issues. Remembering what God has taught us in the past to be better in the future is a major, major theme in the Bible. We have enough of the old stubbornness in us to warrant many years of hammering for remembrance purposes. Nevertheless, God works all of life into His plan for us and the grand goal is guaranteed. Susan and I have deep convictions that drive us, but our past lives have a lot to do with that. We could have had longer years together for God’s glory, but what about quality? Those years should also translate into a call of duty. When God has gifted us with many years, it is our duty to take those years that God has worked for our good and apply what we have learned to what years we have left—God has always been at work, and He is always working for our good.
Now, verses 29 and 30 are paramount to our secure standing. They are also paramount to healthy sanctification. First and foremost, these verses teach us that Scripture is applicable. What’s that mean? It’s primarily for life application. The power is in the doing. If you doubt that, read James 1:25 and Mathew 7: 24-27. Doing leads to a blessed life built on a rock. But how can we be aggressive in doing without fear that we are somehow trying to earn our salvation? This is the importance of verses 29 and 30. There is nothing we can do to work towards our salvation because we were saved before creation. The glorification we groan for is also spoken of in the past tense. It’s like the contemporary maxim, “It’s as good as done.” Predestination is key to eternal security—it’s applicable to our security, but that’s where it stops, and indeed, that is the context of which Paul presents predestination—in the context of eternal security. We are not to draw logical conclusions from predestination in order to form a modus operandi for aggressive sanctification; it will hinder aggressive sanctification. Predestination is meant to fuel aggressive sanctification, not render it to various forms of determinism. The Scriptures are absolutely clear: healthy sanctification depends on our aggressive involvement. Predestination is clearly a paradox and a mystery that we will not understand until we reach heaven. It is the sole resident justification.
These verses emphasize the critical issue of keeping justification and sanctification completely separate. Justification is a finished Trinitarian work, and sanctification is a progressive Trinitarian work. The fact that Paul excludes our Christian walk from these verses is the foundation of our assurance. Our glorification was predetermined before creation. It is clear as well that we are to evangelize like it depends on us, and I think it does depend on us. I have seen this paradox at work in reality many times. We evangelize the way the apostle Paul evangelized. Clearly, he did so as though it depended on his zealous goal to do it right. Clearly, method matters. But yet, when one is saved, we quickly give God all the glory. Both are true. How will people be saved if nobody preaches the gospel?
Romans 10:14 – How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” 16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” 17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
That’s true before people get saved, Romans 8:29-30 are true after people get saved, but both are true. Read the Scriptures for yourselves—this is the mindset of every evangelist from Genesis to Revelation. And here is the great caution of our day: notice in the passage we just read that in verse 17 we have, “the word of Christ” (ESV). What we call the Received Text manuscripts have that as “the word of God.” We have to be careful because most translations of our day came out of the Reformation era which was heavily influenced by Gnostic ideas that resulted in a Christocentric hermeneutic. This aberration is but one of hundreds of examples. Why is that important? Because Gnostic ideas create gospels that fuse justification and sanctification together. In other words, sanctification finishes justification.
That’s a disaster because we are involved in sanctification. This makes sanctification a minefield because now the same justification that saved us sanctifies us and if we are not sanctified the same way we were justified—we don’t get glorification. Therefore, in the minds of the Reformers, we have to be sanctified by faith alone; i.e., the same way we were justified. Hence, they devised a complicated formula for what is not works in sanctification, and what is works in sanctification so that our workless sanctification can finish our justification by faith alone. Many of the Reformers believed that we are elected to get into the race for salvation, but we can be disqualified from the race by running unlawfully; i.e., running by law and not grace. Bottom line: you can lose your salvation. Be sure of this: the focus is therefore on making sure that we are running the race by faith alone and not matters of aggressive sanctification. This has always been the crux of anemic Western Christianity. Worse yet, because we are saved by the Bachman-Turner-Overdrive gospel (“we work hard at doing nothing all day”), Gnosticism is really the only thing left that can be applied because supposedly meditation is not a work.
This perpetual resalvation concept is common in many protestant denominations—the continual reapplication of the same things that saved us in order to get ourselves to heaven. Calvinism is a prime example, but there are many others such as the Freewill Baptist. Based on 1John 1:9: the same repentance that saved us also sanctifies us, and gets us safely to heaven. “If” we ask forgiveness for known sin—only then are we forgiven. You can slip a playing card between this and Calvinism’s deep repentance. However, this is debunked by Christ’s lesson in John 13. Christ taught there that we are “washed” (justification) and that repentance in sanctification is a washing of the feet. He stated that believers have already been washed. Justification is a finished work and nothing we can do in sanctification can affect that. Based on this very fact in verse 29 and 30, Paul states the following:
Romans 8:31 – What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? 33 Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 As it is written,
“For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Our salvation is sealed. We are new creatures. This world cannot touch us. We have hope. Justification is a finished issue with us. We are to move from the cross and onward toward maturity in the Spirit’s wisdom and help. In volume 2, as kingdom citizens, we will learn how Israel should be thought of in the kingdom schema and application of God’s truth to our Christian living. This is an aggressive application to our Christian walk free from the fear that we will improperly use the law in a way that will void grace.
There can be no fear in that because our salvation is sealed and apart from the law.
The Potter’s House 2/17/2013: The Gospel According to Moses; Part 2
NOTE TO FRIENDS OF PPT:
No! I have not converted to Judaism. Church of the Messiah is a Christian movement that explores Judeo-Christian roots. Remember, the “church” was predominately Jewish for the first (approximately) fourteen years from Pentecost. I am doing three Saturday lessons there from Exodus. We are finding them to be a nice supplement to our Romans series.
LESSON PLAN
Like last week, we will observe overarching principles, and then examine details as time allows. More than likely, today will be basic principles, especially in regard to how we approach the text, and then next week will be Googleology. You will get what I mean by that later, but I am in the process of doing a lot of research on the tabernacle particulars. Though this lesson stresses approach, it is not discounting the fact that truth is often concluded in the arena of council from different perspectives. But our goal ought to be God’s goal.
Moreover, this brings up a much larger issue in our day: many pastors are not honest in regard to their approach to any given passage of Scripture, especially in regard to the Christocentic hermeneutic. Most parishioners really have no idea what they are being fed. That needs to change.
APPROACH
Well, here we are, we are at the portion of the Old Testament where God gives Moses instruction for the portable temple that the Israelites will be using for their place of worship. I will at least speak for myself and say that when you approach a body of Scripture like this, you say to yourself, “What do you do with this?”
But that question becomes a crucial starting point: What, in fact, do we do with this? And is there a right approach and a wrong approach? And does it matter? Should there be a goal in the approach? Yes, and I will interject part of my theses here: It’s based on Exodus 19:5,6:
Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; 6 and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.
This is really the hermeneutic for what follows. Once the Israelites agree to that, God sets out to build the holy nation. It starts with a covenant, a preliminary civil law, and now the planning for the center of worship. It is also predicated on the following: the capability of his people (priests), the sufficiency of God’s wisdom (a holy nation), and the responsibility of God’s people (obedience), and His goal of holy nation. What we have here in Exodus is the beginning process for building that nation, and its collision with the milieu of life. The apostles make it clear that we are to learn how to live life from what we learn of these events (1Corinthians 10:6).
The Bible is full of symbolism and rich imagery—more so than most literature. And that presents a grave danger. We don’t have the liberty to go into the Bible with the bull of our imagination in a china shop. Imagery and ambiguous verbiage can become idols that are a god of our own making because variances of interpretations are myriad. You merely pick the one of your own imagination and preference, or the same from the musings of others. So here is the point: we can make passages like Exodus 25-27 a tool for creating truth of our own making. In fact, whole denominations are formed based on interpretations of the imagery in these chapters.
What better example than the infamous “Touchdown Jesus” that was an icon of a church in Monroe, Ohio. The statue of Jesus was 60ft. high and was merely a couple of hundred ft. from I-75. That is, until it was struck by lightning. The flames could be seen for miles in the night and the pictures thereof can be best described as apocalyptic. The next day, it was the talk of the nation. But telling was the hundreds of testimonies recorded on the news and in newspapers; i.e., “what the image meant to me.” Yikes! The hundreds of different interpretations were staggering, and the statue never spoke one word! Most interesting was a comment by an unbeliever who worked in the Monroe area: “Obviously, God did it.” Often, there is a disconnect between the secular mindset and the Christian mindset which involves the disintegration of common sense that is a natural endowment; mysticism often abandons the matter and faith becomes a license for mindlessness.
We find a starting point in this discussion. Obviously, God was teaching then and now through Exodus 25-27. But what is He teaching? I will be honest with you; this can be one of the easiest bodies of Scripture to teach in the entire Bible. All you have to do is Google “Jewish Tabernacle” and document the mass of opinions surrounding the elements of the Tabernacle. Then, you present multiple views on each, and say the magic words, “What do you think?” Note that verse ten of the first chapter concerns the Ark of the Covenant. The lesson can be over at that point just on discussion of why God wanted certain materials used and what they symbolize. Googling, “Why did God want gold used in the Tabernacle” yields 2,510,000 results in .29 seconds. That was easy.
RESPONSIBILITY
In our postmodern world, the philosophers smile knowingly and say, “See, 2,510,000 opinions, just on gold in the Tabernacle; hence, we really can’t know anything for certain.” Therefore, people in our culture make big bucks spreading the gospel of we can’t know anything for certain—it’s great work if you can get it. This must be rejected by God’s people with prejudice. Why? Let’s let Moses speak to that in Deuteronomy 29:29;
The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.
With this one sentence spoken by Moses in circa 1500 BC, postmodern thought is turned completely upside down.
So, we want to honor God in these passages. Our God is a God of love. He will never deny our desperate pleas for answers. James said to pray for wisdom, especially in the midst of trials. There is something to know right there—we can know—we can possess wisdom. But yet, that’s not the end of the story. God delights in His creation, and He created intellect. He delights in His subjects endeavoring to seek Him with their God-given intellect. He rewards those who seek Him. According to Peter, even angels desire to study and investigate the mysteries of God. God is one who colabors with His servants. Many things we will never understand, but be sure of this, we will be responsible for what we are able to know as He has gifted each person, and he will not be pleased with those who bury their brains and then give Him what is His when he returns. At least invest your brain in something that will gain a little interest for Him, but He expects much more. This is controversial, but let me slip it in. Please do not get exercised over this. I am just little ole’ Paul Dohse and my opinion will not bring the world to an end anytime soon.
The Jewish wisdom construct is completely antithetical to Protestant thought. The Jewish wisdom construct holds each person responsible for the sum and substance of the intellect that God has gifted them with. If you don’t believe that, show me one place in the New Testament where Christ didn’t respect the intellect of a person. Good luck. This is not the Reformation viewpoint. Their viewpoint was predicated on the idea of the preordained enlightened few ruling over the unenlightened masses. Like their Romish counterparts, the philosophy is grounded in spiritual caste. Remember, God gave the Book of the Covenant to Moses first—true. But it was also read to the people and made clear that they were responsible for all of it. And that is the pattern throughout the rest of God’s canon. Remember, God desires a kingdom of priests. What’s a priest? This doesn’t exclude the need for the organization of leadership, but yet the point of responsibility is made.
CONTRADICTIONS?
The first thing I would like to look at is God’s mathematical hermeneutic. You say, “Oh yes, the symbolism pertaining to the measurements of the Tabernacle!” We could start with the fact that the Tabernacle was about 40 ft. long, and I could sit back and let fate do the rest while sipping my latte. In fact, if you Google “The Jewish Tabernacle was 40 ft. long” you get 2,790,000 results in .34 seconds. That was easy. Now look, I am not discounting symbolism in these things, but let me share the safe and valuable point I would like to make. If you don’t do the logical math, God’s word can appear to have contradictions. In The Decalogue, we are commanded to not make any image on earth or in heaven for the purposes of worship. But yet, in the instructions for the Tabernacle, Moses is instructed to do exactly that. What’s the math? Don’t do this + God says to do that = don’t do that unless God specifies otherwise. In this case we can deduct that when we make images of things in heaven, bad things happen. But when we do it under God’s instruction, good things happen. In some things we have liberty, but in others, we should do it under God’s tutelage. “But Paul, according to the pastor, God told them to build the Touchdown Jesus.” No he didn’t. God’s word never contradicts itself, and it fully equips us not to be led astray. Which brings us to our next point.
GOD’S OBJECTIVE TRUTH
The whole Mt. Sinai event and the wilderness experience screams of God’s objective truth. The Israelites had been in Egyptian bondage for over 400 years. God extracts them in an act of divine intervention. We are talking about at least 200 years of Egyptian saturation. How much of the Abrahamic worldview and the customs that supported it remained? I assume very little. The Decalogue and the Book of the Covenant, when set against Egyptian culture, was probably culture shock. We may assume that God gave them the first stepping stones that they could bear. Remember, all of this must be seen through the execution of what God and His people agreed to by the covenant—that they would be a kingdom of priests and His holy nation in the world.
But what we have here is wilderness deprogramming away from the rest of civilization. God is rebuilding His people from the ground up. He first reveals His intentions, but set against the slavery they are accustomed to, He seeks their agreement regardless of the fact that He is God. It could even be argued that He displayed Himself to them in power before seeking their agreement. He is God, but yet seeks a mutual fellowship. It’s not an I’m God so it’s my way or the highway mentality. A healthy thing to remember is the fact that in the end, God and His city come down to Earth to dwell with man.
Nevertheless, when it comes to the loving principles that are the only ways that will truly heal, God is completely uncompromising. There is a way that heals, and a way that doesn’t heal. We will find God completely uncompromising when it comes to that wise. And in regard to what we read in this wilderness experience, it is the wisdom of God in action as set against the milieu of life and there is much to be learned from it.
THE SUFFICIENCY OF GOD AND HIS TRUTH
Another thing the wilderness event teaches us is that God and His wisdom are sufficient. God didn’t bring anybody in from the outside to help. To the contrary, staying clear of outside influence is continually emphasized. This takes place in the wilderness for that reason. All truth is not God’s truth—truth is what God says it is. If Egyptians happen to stumble upon something useful, God will let us know, but a clock that doesn’t work isn’t useful because it is right twice a day. If any truth in the Book of the Covenant or the prescribed ways of worship seem to parrot that of the Egyptians, God sanctifies it, not the mere similarity. And facts used in the commission of falsehood are not truth, truth has a moral aspect. We must see the wilderness event as God’s prescription for a holy nation that pleases Him. A full-orbed thinking manual for life and godliness is assumed. What was good for God’s holy nation is certainly sufficient for our lives. We are talking about a nation. This includes the full spectrum of individual thinking to the principles of civil government. Again, certainly, this is sufficient to inform our individual lives.
CONCLUSION
Therefore, the Old Testament should not be seen as culturally obscure or intellectually archaic. This would indeed be a grave miscalculation. We have in our very hands the account of God rescuing His people from what is the epitome of the world: Egypt. We have the detailed account of God’s intentions: to reeducate his people and equip them for becoming His holy nation in the world. This is rather major. Furthermore, the “experts” of the world are not invited to the seminar. Whoever they are, we don’t need them. The assumption is that they are from a nation. So are we. Does their nation have some wisdom that can aid us in being more holy? Did God forgot something? Sure, they have things we can use for practical matters; more than likely, the Tabernacle was made from materials that they brought from Egypt. But the manner of worship and how the materials are used are sanctified by God.
We are not free to interpret these passages anyway we want to. That makes the word of God a mere idol for our own device. We have a responsibility to rightly divide the word of truth. That means God has not left us without the means to do that. His word most inform the full spectrum of wisdom: metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, and politics. That is why we live by every word that comes from His mouth. And all this for one purpose, to build a holy nation for His glory. Next week, in our endeavor to understand what is behind God’s general contracting of the Tabernacle, this is what our eyes should be looking for….
how does this information make us a better and more holy nation for God’s good pleasure? Remember, the apostle Peter said that this is our specific identity (1Peter 2:2).
The Potter’s House: January 27, 2013; Romans Chapter 7
Pastor Jake received a phone call from a husband and father who is new in town. “Bob” in his mid-forties, has been visiting churches for purposes of making a decision on church membership for his family. Bob seems a little upset and asks Jake if they can meet for lunch:
“Sure Bob. Twelve o’clock at Bob Evans? ‘That would be great Pastor Jake.’”
Jake secures a table before Bob arrives and watches him as he approaches their table. Bob sits down and is obviously troubled about something:
“Uh, thanks for this Jake. Uh, can I ask you something? ‘Sure Bob, what’s up?’”
Bob: Are some dreams sinful?
Jake: That depends Bob, why don’t you tell me more. When did this dream take place?
Bob: Last night.
Jake: Where?
Bob: At home, last night.
Jake: What was the dream about Bob?
Bob: Uh, well, this is really weird.
Jake: Most dreams are Bob, but you are obviously troubled by this dream and I am hoping that I can help you in some way.
Bob: I was in bed with some young foreign girl, but we were fully clothed. And Jane’s sister [Jane is Bob’s wife] was there watching TV. And I was concerned about what Jane’s sister would think.
Jake: That’s understandable, and it’s never Miss Piggy [the cartoon character who has unrealistic visions of grandeur concerning her own beauty] in the bed.
Bob: [Chuckling uncomfortably] Uh, ya, anyway, she started taking off her clothes.
Jake: I kinda saw that coming.
Bob: But anyway, though she was beautiful, and her figure was exhilarating, I stopped her because of what I believe, and she became very angry.
Jake: [Leaning forward with great interest] Really? Tell me Bob, what is this belief that caused you to stop her?
Bob: Well, I believe lust is just a strong feeling, and if we don’t let it control us, great blessings are the result. Obeying our lust is initially exhilarating, but ends with death. That’s what James said, right? [Jake nodes in agreement]. As I have told you Jake, my job requires me to be on the internet all day. Woe, the way some things are introduced on the internet are very stimulating, but I know that if I let that control me, it will do damage to the wonderful love-life that Jane and I have. I also believe that when I abstain from lust, that makes my marriage more blessed and stronger.
Jake: Bob, I think the counselor just became the counselee. First, you’re right, the world is an expert at enticing us into sin; like I said, it’s never Miss Piggy in the bed, or in the advertisement. You rightly assess, and as you were speaking, several different Scriptures were coming to mind.
Bob: But what about being in bed with that girl? What’s that all about? Isn’t that indicative of sin in my heart? How could I even think something like that?
Jake: Bob, we never just find ourselves in bed with a girl one day. Many bad choices and deaths lead to the big deaths. Like all dreams, yours was especially unrealistic. Because of your Biblical thinking, you are not going to suddenly find yourself in bed with some girl not your wife, and certainly not with her sister in the same house. Bob, did you eat anything before you went to bed?
Bob: Uh, ya, you know, a midnight snack.
Jake: What did you eat?
Bob: Some strawberry custard pie.
Jake: [Trying not to laugh] That will do it Bob. However [regaining his composure on a serious note], I do believe that dreams often reflect our fears, and I think it’s good that you fear sin and failure. There is good reason to fear such. But you have committed no sin, and I cannot point to any biblical text that would instruct us to ask forgiveness for the content of our dreams.
Bob: That’s contrary to what the pastor at the other church we are visiting said.
Jake: Really? What did he say about this?
Bob: He said the dream reflects sin in my heart. Obviously, I have a desire to be with a beautiful foreign woman, and the dream reflects the desire of an adulterous idol in my heart. He said that this is a great opportunity to partake in repentance. He said this would result in the joy of receiving God’s grace in my life.
Jake: Bob, if this dream is bothering your conscience, by all means take it to the Lord in prayer, but let me clarify; he said that the source of our sin is idols in the heart?
Bob: Right.
Jake: So Bob, what’s the game-plan for preventing this idol from returning in the future?
Bob: Well, you really can’t prevent it. He said that our hearts are idol factories that continually produce idols that cause sinful desires. Repentance enables us to experience the joy of grace each time we see them and repent of them. By God’s grace, the idol was revealed in a dream which means I can repent of it before it manifests into the sin of adultery.
Jake: Bob, I see that it is almost time for you to return to work, but I would like to discuss this with you further. Are you in agreement?
Bob: Sure. Let’s get together after Sunday worship.
Bob has a choice. He has two ways of sanctification before him. Our sanctification presents a gospel to our families and the world; much is at stake. This is why the apostle Paul did not want the Romans to be in the dark about the living dynamic of sanctification and how it works in the reality of life.
How does the Christian do battle with sin? This is the next question after the gospel of first importance, “How can I be saved?” God’s full council is not only about how we are saved—it is also about how we “control [our] own body in holiness and honor” (2Thessalonians 4:4). This is the very definition of sanctification; the knowledge of how we control our bodies to God’s glory.
And do we actually change? Can we change? Yes, because as we saw in Romans chapter six, we are now slaves to righteousness through the new birth. Furthermore, Paul states the following in Romans 8:6-8;
6 For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. 7 For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. 8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
Therefore, it goes without saying that those who are not in the flesh can indeed please God. And in fact, that is our goal as Christians (2Corinthians 5:9). I want to begin by revisiting Romans 6:20-23 before we begin in Romans seven:
20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. 21 But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. 22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
What Christians need more than ever in our day is hope that they can really change. And through Bob’s testimony we learn of a powerful Scriptural concept in making that happen: the choosing of life or death. Even though choosing life is the primary life pattern of the believer, and choosing death is the primary life pattern of the unbeliever, Christians can choose death in this life and often do so through ignorance. Christians must know where our sin comes from, and why it is able to make such a strong appeal to us in regard to choosing death. We must know that choosing life strengthens us spiritually and makes future obedience easier. We must know that obedience leads to spiritual wellbeing. We must know that death leads to more death, and ends with eternal death, while the life of the believer is life upon life ending with eternal life. In regard to assurance of salvation, where death is experienced, death as an end will be feared, and rightfully so. Where life is experienced, and experienced with increase, eternal life will be the expected end. Hence, the devaluing of obedience has crippled innumerable Christians in our day. I believe it is a crisis.
Note Romans 6:22 once again. As Christians, we strive to “get” fruit. We strive for God’s will—our sanctification. We strive for spiritual wellbeing in increase. Paul was saying very little different than what Moses said:
Deuteronomy 30:9 – The Lord your God will make you abundantly prosperous in all the work of your hand, in the fruit of your womb and in the fruit of your cattle and in the fruit of your ground. For the Lord will again take delight in prospering you, as he took delight in your fathers, 10 when you obey the voice of the Lord your God, to keep his commandments and his statutes that are written in this Book of the Law, when you turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
11 “For this commandment that I command you today is not too hard for you, neither is it far off. 12 It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will ascend to heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ 13 Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ 14 But the word is very near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it.
15 “See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil. 16 If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you today, by loving the Lord your God, by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his rules, then you shall live and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to take possession of it. 17 But if your heart turns away, and you will not hear, but are drawn away to worship other gods and serve them, 18 I declare to you today, that you shall surely perish. You shall not live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to enter and possess. 19 I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, 20 loving the Lord your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days, that you may dwell in the land that the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.”
It is clear that as we pursue the fruits of the Spirit as Paul instructed Timothy to do in 1Timothy 6:11 that these fruits are increased:
2Peter 1:5 – For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, 6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, 7 and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. 8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Let’s look at one more before we begin in Romans chapter 7:
Philippians 4:8 – Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. 9 What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.
Paul prayed that we would be “strengthened” in the inner man (Ephesians 3:14-21) and would be “renewed” in our minds. But how does all of this work? It all starts by being set free from the law. That may seem strange, but that’s step one, and goes hand in hand with being saved. Paul will explain:
7:1 – Or do you not know, brothers—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law is binding on a person only as long as he lives? 2 For a married woman is bound by law to her husband while he lives, but if her husband dies she is released from the law of marriage. 3 Accordingly, she will be called an adulteress if she lives with another man while her husband is alive. But if her husband dies, she is free from that law, and if she marries another man she is not an adulteress.
4 Likewise, my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God. 5 For while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death. 6 But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code.
From Paul’s opening statement we might conclude that there was a large number of Christians at Rome who didn’t have an abundance of Scriptural knowledge, so Paul refers to those who know the law (Old Testament Scriptures); specifically, those laws pertaining to marriage. The woman was bound to the marriage law as long as her husband lived, but if he died, she was no longer bound to the law of marriage and free to remarry. Likewise, we are now free from the law as believers. But key is the fact that we also died, and are no longer in bondage to the reaction of the former self to the law. This makes it possible for us to bear fruit for God because when we lived as unbelievers, there was a natural adverse reaction to the law; specifically, it provoked us to sin leading to death. So we are now free from the law.
Paul then vindicates the law. It is not the law that caused us to sin when we were unbelievers, but our former sinful nature’s reaction to the law:
What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” 8 But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. For apart from the law, sin lies dead. 9 I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died. 10 The very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me. 11 For sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me. 12 So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good. 13 Did that which is good, then, bring death to me? By no means! It was sin, producing death in me through what is good, in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure. 14 For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin.
Now that the former unbeliever that we were died with Christ, we are no longer in bondage to this kind of reaction to the law. We are now free to bear fruit for God. However, we are still captive in our mortal bodies (what Paul later refers to as a body of death) which still bear a remnant of the former, and tempts us to sin. Mortality’s appeal to sin is primarily executed through our emotions, or desires. This conduit (desires) has not changed from our former selves, but we are now able to say no in all respects. Before, we were enslaved to our sinful desires which were provoked by the law.
In fact, the law was death to us, but now it is life. Life? Yes. Remember, Paul said the law that promises life was death to the former self (Romans 7:10). Also, the former reaction to the law constantly showed us our need for salvation—the need to be free from enslavement to the former self’s reaction to law and the threat of being judged by it in the end. Being judged by the law is the unbelievers worst nightmare. Christ paid the penalty of death that the law demands, God imputed His righteousness to our life account apart from the law, and the law is now our guide for bearing fruit for God. All of this creates a certain life experience, or warfare, that Paul explains:
Romans 7:15 – For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. 16 Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. 17 So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. 18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.
Remember, all of this is being explained by Paul in human terms. If God showed us the actual schematic, for certain, we wouldn’t understand it. We don’t know how our mortal bodies continue to live though the soul of it is dead. Nevertheless, Paul describes the warfare and locates the source of our sin: “in my flesh.” In Romans 6:12, Paul describes the same location as our “mortal bodies.” Mortality is opposed to our love for God and His truth. Somehow, it is alive in a big way, but its ultimate power over us is broken. In fact, it is tenacious enough to even wage war against the indwelling Holy Spirit!
Galatians 5:16 – But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
If you are not, “under the law” you do not have to gratify the desires of the flesh. And the part about being “led by the Spirit” will be discussed by Paul in Romans chapter eight. We are to consider the strong dichotomy here between the old us which is dead, and the new us—to the degree that Paul says it is not we who are sinning, that is, the new us, but sin that dwells in us. There is an inner self that is redeemed, and has to fight this mortal body that we temporarily dwell in. Hence:
Romans 7:21 – So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. 22 For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, 23 but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. 24 Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.
The same principle applies: our flesh is still provoked by “the law of sin” (law: nomos), but no longer possesses the power to make us obey its desires. There is obviously a redeemed part of us that delights in the law (also nomos), and is at war with sin “that dwells in my members.” Paul calls the renovated or new part of us “the law of my mind.” This is the part of us, the mind, is sometimes referred to in Scriptures as “the heart.” It is the part of us that is to be “renewed.”
Ephesians 4:17 – Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. 18 They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. 19 They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. 20 But that is not the way you learned Christ!— 21 assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, 22 to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, 23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
When supplementing our understanding here with Ephesians 4:17-24, we can deduct that “the flesh” affects all parts of our being, especially the mind. It takes intellect to “wage war” against not only the “law of our minds,” but the indwelling Holy Spirit. But let us remember that our new creaturehood also resides in the whole being and presents our “members” to God’s service:
Romans 6:19 – I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification.
In Romans 7:24, the word, “wretched” is a very interesting word. Paul wasn’t calling himself “wretched” as in wretched sinner. The word is talaiporos (tal-ah’ee-po-ros) which means “misery in enduring a trial.” Paul is saying that he is persevering in his fight against sin and longs to be delivered from his body of death. In other words, if we are partaking in the warfare, we long to be delivered from it. We long for His appearing—something to think about.
Let me also reemphasize that Paul said this transformation results in us being “obedient from the heart” (Romans 6:17). Let’s now revisit what the other pastor taught Bob. In this critical treatise by Paul regarding how sin is conceived in our lives, where is there any discussion at all about idols of the heart? From this chapter, can we conclude that our transformed hearts are “idol factories?” To begin with, is the sin in our heart, or in our flesh? A layman by the name of Brian Jonson once did an extensive biblical word study on the location of sin in the believer. He was not able to find one instance where the Bible states that the heart of a believer is sinful, or the heart being the location of sin in the believer. I have included a copy of his study with your notes. See layman Jonson’s study here.
To the contrary, one of God’s purposes of salvation is so that the righteous requirement of the law can be fulfilled “in us” (Romans 8:4). Furthermore, the paramount necessity that justification and sanctification be separate is demonstrated in Romans 8:7,8;
7 For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. 8 Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
We please God in sanctification by obeying His law. Our minds were hostile to God before our conversion, unable to obey His law, and in danger of being judged by it. Our good works due to the works of the law written on every heart and being created in His image notwithstanding.
Now that we are saved, we have full pardon from sin because of Christ’s death, and are new creatures because of His resurrection and the gift of the Holy Spirit. Also, we have the full righteousness of God credited to our account apart from the law. Our sin in sanctification will not be judged by the law against our justification because our justification is apart from the law, the penalty required of the law has been paid in full before the foundation of the world, the offender is dead and no longer under the jurisdiction of the law, and the new creature is not the one sinning in the eyes of justification. Hence:
Romans 8:31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? 33 Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?
We may sin in sanctification, but who can bring charges against us? It’s God who justified. Who can pass a sentence against us? Christ paid the penalty. We lay aside fear of a future judgment, and pursue fruit leading to more and more life. This gives assurance of eternal life while putting to death the deeds of our old life that died with Christ. The new us is strengthened, the old us is diminished. And to God be the glory.
The Potter’s House: Sunday, January 22, 2013; Romans 6
Romans 6
Not that any part of Romans is more important than the rest, but I can’t help but say that we now enter into a most significant chapter in our day. Why do Christians sin? How can we be declared righteous and holy when our sin haunts us daily? If we are born again, if we are new creatures, why do we still sin? We start finding the answers in Romans chapter six.
Paul has been emphasizing the point over and over again that we are justified apart from the law. We are under grace, not under law. There is no law in justification though the law informs our Christian living. So now, Paul begins a rebuttal of what would seem to be the logical conclusion of what he has taught thus far:
Romans 6:1 – What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?
The rhetorical question should serve to illustrate how hard Paul has emphasized that Christians are not under the law for justification. He then answers the question as follows:
2 By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?
How have we died to sin? Answer:
3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
Here we have it in a nutshell. We died with Christ when we were saved, and are raised like Christ to “newness” of life. If we are new in life, the old died. A new life obviously replaced the old one. It happened “in order that” “we too” might walk in newness of life. “We” (first person plural) is us, as in, Christians. “Too” means that we might walk in newness of life like Jesus walked. “Too” implies that we are the ones walking—Jesus doesn’t walk for us. We are new creatures and able to walk in newness of life—the fact that we are empowered by the Holy Spirit is true, but does not negate the fact that we also walk. Let me remind you that even the unregenerate walk by the power of Christ who sustains all things (Colossians 1:9). That doesn’t mean that the unregenerate aren’t really the ones walking just because they are sustained by Christ. The same must be said for us regardless of the fact that we are empowered and recreated. Water baptism pictures this spiritual reality.
Romans 6:5 – For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. 7 For one who has died has been set free from sin. 8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. 10 For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. 11 So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
Dead to sin, and alive to God. Note verse 6 specifically: the “old self” was crucified with Christ which resulted in us not being any longer “enslaved to sin.” The reason that we can be considered righteous in our present life is because slavery is the issue. The old man is dead, so the life that enslaved him is powerless, but there is a remnant that is left behind or we would not still be walking around in mortal bodies. Nevertheless, his power to enslave to sin has been broken and we are free from the bondage of sin.
This is the case when we died with Christ, and what is also true is that we are now alive WITH Christ. We do not remain dead and the only life in us is Christ, we are also alive. Our resurrection life would be impossible without Christ, but that doesn’t mean we are still dead because we got our life from Him. Like any gift, once it is given, we have possession of it. This would seem evident. The apostle John made it clear that we have the seed of God in us (1John 3:9), so that making us righteous in our present day should not be an issue. The ability to do works that please God should not be an issue either.
According to what we have learned thus far in Romans, this old man that is now dead is also part of a position that we are no longer are a part of; namely, “under the law.” The eternal state is decided by whether one is under law or under grace. Those who are under the law will be judged by the law (Romans 2:12) and the standard is perfection. It will not go well for them. Not only are we considered righteous in our present state, but there is simply no law to judge the sin that presently takes place in the Christian life under the confines of justification. In regard to our justification, the law has no jurisdiction. Even if we were to appear in a court to determine our just state the judge would have no law to judge us by:
Romans 5:13 – for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law.
The relationship of the law to Christians differs from that of the unbeliever: in regard to our justification the law has no jurisdiction. The jurisdiction of the law now applies to our sanctification. The law no longer informs our justification—we are no longer “under it.” But it does inform our sanctification:
Galatians 4:21 – Tell me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not listen to the law?
There is no need for Christ to keep the law for us in our sanctification as many teach in our day—we are not under it to begin with. The law itself informs us that we are no longer under it for our justification. Moreover, it is the full counsel of God for our sanctified life—it defines the reality thereof. This position is antithetical to being under the law; i.e., “under grace.”
So, we must consider the old man to be dead, and the new man alive. Even though the old man is dead and is no longer able to enslave us to sin, he is able to make an appeal to sin through the emotions:
Romans 5:12 – Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. 13 Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. 14 For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.
We are not primarily informed of this transformation from death to life experientially. Again, the law informs us that this is the case and we are to act accordingly. Apparently, our mortal bodies, which still includes the mind, can make one whale of a plea to sin through the passions. We don’t have to sin, but it is inevitable because though transformed, we are still imprisoned in our present mortality. Christ stated it this way:
Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak (Matthew 26:41).
The law now informs us on how to present “your members to God as instruments for righteousness.” Elsewhere, Paul states it this way:
1Thessalonians 4:1 – Finally, then, brothers, we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God, just as you are doing, that you do so more and more. 2 For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus. 3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; 4 that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, 5 not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God;
For the believer, a lot of the law is about, “how you ought to walk.” And we are to do it, “more and more.” And we can do it because we are no longer under the dominion of sin which is synonymous with being “under the law.”
So, as far as obedience in sanctification, why all the fuss? The law can’t touch our eternal destiny, and where there is sin, grace abounds that much more (Romans 5:20). So, why not be relaxed in regard to the law? Paul explains:
Romans 6:15 – What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! 16 Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? 17 But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, 18 and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. 19 I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification.
20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. 21 But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. 22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Paul’s first point is that we show ourselves saved or unsaved by what we are enslaved to:
16 Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?
This is linked intrinsically to our assurance of salvation. We show ourselves a slave to righteousness or unrighteousness. Everybody born into the world is a slave. Yes, there is a choice; what type of slave do we want to be? A slave to righteousness or unrighteousness? Once again, we learn another powerful concept that can be integrated into our gospel presentations as we go in the way. I am convinced that more would be led to Christ in our day if we were better educated in the law. This is indeed a concept that can even be shared with children at a very young age.
Secondly, Paul makes the point that we become better and better slaves to whatever we are enslaved to—righteousness or unrighteousness. Slaves to unrighteousness sow and reap more and more death upon their lives, and slaves to righteousness sow and reap more and more righteousness upon their lives. Can you see that the difference between saved and unsaved is being defined here? Oh my! What a horrible travesty in our day that such a distinction is blurred! Again, the applications here on this one point are endless. One who doubts their salvation should give attention to their slavery. One who is a slave to sin with indifference should not be given any comfort that they are not under the law.
Third, Paul adds yet another point to why the law should not be lax in sanctification. Even though we are no longer under it for our justification, we were COMMITED to it for our sanctification:
17 But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, 18 and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.
A commitment (obedience) to the “standard of teaching” (the law) is part and parcel with the transformed heart. We are not saved by the law, but we are sanctified by it (John 17:17). When we profess Christ by faith alone, we are not only signing up for salvation, but for discipleship (Matthew 28:19, 20). Enslavement to sin, becoming a better and better slave to sin, and being under the law which in itself provokes the slave to sin more and more, and moreover will judge him/her in the end, is indicative of the unregenerate. Slavery to righteousness leading to more and more righteousness, and a love for truth (2 Thessalonians 2:10,11) is indicative of the righteous. Hence,
19 I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification.
It might be added here that a commitment to no longer be a slave to sin is not in concert with so-called Lordship salvation. Anybody who is presented with the gift of the gospel should certainly be informed that they are not only seeking to escape hell by faith alone, but are also seeking to escape slavery to sin. They should also understand that they are escaping judgment from the law by the same token. Certainly, to understand that they are now a slave to Christ and not unrighteousness is efficacious to a proper understanding of the gospel. Lordship does not have one thing to do with our justification because there is no standard (law) in justification. The “standard” is now in sanctification (the “standard of teaching”) and is merely indicative of who we are. As Christians, we merely experience the reality that the law informs us of—by appropriating it through obedience, or working out what has been worked in. This is essential to our assurance. In order to prevent confusion, you can’t just say, “Lordship salvation.” It must be framed as Lordship justification or Lordship sanctification. Lordship justification is still under the law and enslaved to sin, Lordship sanctification is under grace.
Romans 6:20 – For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. 21 But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. 22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Paul frames this concept with slavery and freedom. The cute little Reformed comeback to the argument for freewill, “Mankind has a freewill alright; free to sin,” is actually backwards. Man is born in slavery to sin, and freedom in regard to righteousness. There is in fact, freewill. Slavery to a direction towards either righteousness or unrighteousness is the crux of the matter, with freedom to do good or evil with either. Note the illustration below:
Ultimately, though the unbeliever is enslaved toward evil, he/she has the freedom to do good, and I contend that at times do so accordingly. Even with honorable motives. The good works of the unrighteous have merit—not for justification, but in other matters. One, for what it is worth, is degree of eternal punishment. We also see some measure of freedom in regard to righteousness when Jesus said the following:
Matthew 11:20 – Then he began to denounce the cities where most of his mighty works had been done, because they did not repent. 21 “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. 22 But I tell you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you. 23 And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You will be brought down to Hades. For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. 24 But I tell you that it will be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom than for you.”
Let’s now look at the circle on the right: are believers free to do evil? They most certainly are. But this is what Paul states in that regard:
21 But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. 22 But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life.
Many English translations tend to give the idea that we persevere in doing good and this perseverance ends with eternal life, but that’s not what Paul is saying. If our perseverance ends with eternal life, then we are trying to obtain an end by works. This is Paul’s same point in Galatians 3:1-3;
O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. 2 Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? 3 Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?
Now note how Young’s Literal Translation renders this:
O thoughtless Galatians, who did bewitch you, not to obey the truth — before whose eyes Jesus Christ was described before among you crucified?
2 this only do I wish to learn from you — by works of law the Spirit did ye receive, or by the hearing of faith? 3 so thoughtless are ye! having begun in the Spirit, now in the flesh do ye end?
Paul, in essence is asking, “How do you work towards an end that has already been ended? This of course is in regard to justification. We have already come to an end of our justification before the Earth was even created. Also note that when we believed, we received the Spirit who seals us until the day of redemption (Ephesians 4:30). Paul is making two points here: it’s foolish to work towards an end that has already been finished. It’s foolish to work to keep something that is already sealed by the Holy Spirit’s power.
Rather, Paul is speaking of two directions: one that experiences progressive life and ending in eternal life, and one that experiences progressive death with eternal death as its end. As the arrows in the picture illustrate, we are either moving from less righteousness to more unrighteousness, or from less unrighteousness to more righteousness. It is no wonder that the gospel is often framed in context of repentance—repentance is a change of direction. I believe that the Scripture states that we can be so sure of this paradigm that we can know our present spiritual condition by examining our lives. I believe this is the whole point of 1John. See 1John 2:5 and 5:13 specifically. Peter also wrote of adding to the foundation of our faith in order to obtain a “rich” entry into heaven (2Peter 1:5-11). Can a saved person have poor entry into heaven shrouded with doubt? Yes, I think so.
Christians can experience death in this life through sin, and those experiences don’t lend themselves to a hopeful end. James spoke of singular sinful events that lead to death (James 1:14,15). John spoke of sin that leads to death among Christians (1John 5:16,17) and Paul wrote elsewhere that God puts some to death so that they will not be judged with the world (1Corintians 5:4,5; 11:30,31).
A life of death gives assurance that eternal death will be the end. A life of life gives assurance of eternal life. Being unregenerate is like job wages, the wages of sin is death, but our already finished end is a gift—let us be sure of it by how we walk,
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Paul's Passing Thoughts 
5 comments