Rom 7

Date: 20 February 2009

Events:

19 Feb: Finally finished Romans 6 yesterday! Afterwards Marla and I took Sadie up to the Texas Ski Ranch, (Cable Park) and I did some mid-February wakeboarding before I leave, it was pretty cold. My goal of enjoying San Antonio is going great but it’s almost over. Today I will pack up my gear and drive it up to Fort Hood for the final PCI (pre-combat inspection, sounds pretty cool uh?) and drop it off at the airfield. The round trip will take 6hrs of driving, and is not exactly what I want to do on my last full day in America. I will come back to San Antonio tonight and take Marla and her Mom out to a Brazilian Steakhouse for my final meal. Marla’s mom is coming in town to bring her back down to San Antonio tomorrow after I leave and stay a couple days because I don’t want her to be alone. Next blog will be from Kuwait.

Romans 7 Thoughts:

1. In Romans 7 we see the most personal autobiographical picture painted by any apostle in any letter. This personal touch, however, is not in the distracting form the sin-glorifying mushy personal “testimony” that we 20th century Christians love , but in the utter transparency of the inner warring of Paul’s flesh against his spirit that defines the sanctification. As I used a personal example of my sanctification to better convey the contrast between justification (salvation) and sanctification (maturity), Paul uses his own experience to shed light on this difficult concept. This discourse demonstrates the stark contrast between the truly repentant believer and the judgmental, externally pious hypocrite spoken of in Romans Chapter 2…“Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things. 2 We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who do such things. 3 Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who do such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God?” Rom 2:1-4. Luther depicts this contrast well in saying, “But the proof of a foolish, carnal man (unbeliever) is this, that he regards himself as spiritual and is pleased with himself.” As you will soon see, Paul is anything but pleased with himself. As we discussed yesterday, true sanctification dose not ever yield increased self-esteem or a heightened self-worth, quite the contrary, as the war continues in the believer, we are forced to acknowledge how great the gap between my blackness and God’s whiteness. As we realize this gap, we come to love the cross of Christ all the more as it bridges the ever widening chasm between God’s increasing (from my perspective) goodness and my increasing depravity. At times, we Christians are afraid to be quite this transparent, we like to put up fronts as if in some way it’s “un-Christian” to struggle with sin and sorrow. This chapter however serves as an example to me of how encouraging spiritual honesty can be. If all Paul wrote about was correcting doctrine and fleeing from sin, it would be easy for us to post him up as a ‘super-apostle’ and either ignore him completely or worse yet come to resent him as “holier than thou.” Paul however uses this transparency to relate to hurting believers not in a sin-glorifying way but as a humble messenger conveying an rejuvenating biblical truth, Simul Justus est et peccat (simultaneously righteous and sinner). Whereby, though we are sinners in our flesh, we are simultaneously imputed (given) the foreign righteousness of Christ’s perfect life and considered children of God. The battle with a particular sin may be lost in sanctification but the war with sin’s penalty (death) has been won in our justification in Christ through faith.

2. 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 Thus 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 not under the old written code but in the new life of the Spirit. When we believed in Christ’s sufficient sacrifice to cover our sins, our compulsion to sin (original sin/total depravity) was removed. Like in The Matrix, when Neo took the red pill and his eyes were open to the actual reality and he was then able to re-enter the world and do some really cool stuff, at our justification (faith in Christ) the blinders come off our eyes and we are able for the first time to do true (God Glorifying) good. As the wife is released from her husband at his death, so we have been released from the condemnation of the law and the law’s result- sin. We are now able to do true good; but, let’s define true good. Christ said, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me” Mark 8:34. Following Christ is honoring his law and life. We are no longer “under” the law, let’s instead say we’re “on top of it” (I don’t know…go with me). “Under” the law, to me implies behind, or in debited to the law as we all were before we were given Christ’s righteousness. Because of this we hated the law, if possible to break the law with impunity, we happily would have. However, with the imputation of Christ’s righteous and the Holy Spirit, the requirements of the law have been met, the punishment dealt and we are instead “on top of” (:)) the law. We are able to see the goodness in the law, we are able to love the law as the offspring comes to respect and appreciate childhood chores and rules (no candy, no TV after 9 etc…) in the wisdom of adulthood and love the parent all the more. In this way we love the Law and truly fulfill the “spiritual” Law (later).

3. 7 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. 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. 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. To be sure, sin exists apart from the law, (“Death reigned from Adam to Moses” Romans 5). Paul is beginning to get personal. This is as “21th century testimony” as we get from him. If anyone could have magnified the sin they lived in before they became a Christian, Paul could have. Worse than wondering around high on crack, one bullet in the gun miraculously stumbling into a church; before he was a believer Paul used to wander around torturing and killing Christians. Instead of glorifying his own conversion, Paul makes a simple statement, “sin came alive and I died.” At his conversion, as any/all conversions, Paul realized the vileness of his own heart. Far from the Pharisee he thought he was with all of his externally pious prayers, fasting, tithing and teaching, Paul, in a flash (literally) realized the depravity of his soul and destitude of his sinful condition. Paul at that moment understood the condemnation of the Law like never before, he understood that all of his external purity had not been a particle of sand on the beach of righteousness the law demanded and he fell on his knees a broken man (Acts 7-10). Paul’s battle with sin however, did not begin and end at his conversion. Instead, at conversion when we first truly understand the law, sin and righteousness, the first and definitive shot is fired by Christ securing ultimate victory but the war has only just begun.

4. 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. It was not the Law that brought death to him, it was his sin. As given by God for our sanctification and health, the law is good. The law is to be fulfilled and can only be fulfilled after our conversion. Some had described justification as “not freedom from sin but freedom to sin.” I always hesitate to use this expression because by “freedom to sin” I do not mean antinomianism (no law) as if now we can sin without effect, instead I mean to say that, for the first time in our lives we actually have to make the decision to sin our not sin. Before we are gracefully given that red pill, our will is held captive to the dominion of sin that we spoke of in chapters 5 and 6 we cannot and will not do true good. However, after we take the red pill (faith), reality is unveiled and we are now able as never before to willingly choose right from wrong (or vice-versa). This is the battle Paul will now describe…

5. 15 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.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. Daily, no minutely I find myself in this same struggle. Here is a blerb from my blog on Romans 6, “Though my eternal salvation is secured in Christ and I have great confidence in my heavenly welcome-home party, out of love for God and hate for the sin that lives inside me, every day it seems I battle from the opening of my eyes in the morning to their closing at night to remove the plank. ( “Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when there is the log in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye.” Matt 7:3-5) It seems there are a million points in my day when I can decide to follow God’s will of follow my own. As the “Force” in Skywalker was strong, sin within me is strong. Each day I battle for patience with my wife, caution with my eyes and mouth, correct motive in good, correct attribution of thanks for blessings (God not luck) and to live joyfully and thankful in every moment. Every moment is a war to control my flesh. Far from worrying about the good that I may do tomorrow as some of my more sanctified brothers are able to do, I have enough sin to overcome in a day to keep me busy all week. I have far too much sin to overcome to ever be in a position to judge my neighbor”. The Holy Spirit within Paul (and all believers) convicts his mind and heart to flee from sin and turn to God. The “flesh” is the “old man” (spoken of earlier), the unconverted man whose remnant looms in the desire (no longer compulsion) to sin. If we are believers, the promise is that we will struggle with sin. Far from a discouragement of salvation, the struggle within us should be an encouragement as it is evidence that we have been given the Holy Spirit who is battleing to slay the “old man” who is dying and will eventually perish in our physical death so that we may be raised as a “new creation” without the taint of sin, without the painful battle.

6. 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. But, just when there seems no hope for the Apostle Paul (and how much less hope for us), Paul remembers Simul Justus est et peccat. Paul realizes that while it may seem the battle lost, the war has been won. I’ve always said that if I ever get a tattoo, right below the snakes it will include the inscription, “Simul Justus est et peccat” :). Though in our flesh we will continue to fight sin, through faith in Christ our justification is sure.


Sun Tzu:

“Change their (enemy’s) colors, use them mixed in with your own. Treat the soldiers well, take care of them.”


Sun Tzu Thought:

The importance of treating enemy captured and surrendered well cannot be understated. When the enemy is assured of better treatment on our side than he receives from his officers, the battle will be won without bullets as they will surrender.

The Intellectual Devotion (Kidder, D. & Oppenheim N. The Intellectual Devotion, Rodale. NY, NY 2006):

Supernova: 99% of stars die quietly using up all of their fuel for fusion and fading into white dwarves. 1% of stars (usually stars 5-8X the size of our sun) explode in a supernova. The supernova takes less than 15 seconds to complete but even the fading light can outshine a galaxy for months. Before a star explodes, it fuses elements, producing energy, the massive gravity leads to all of the heavy elements until it reaches Iron, a cosmic dead end. Fusing iron into heavier elements takes more energy than it produces so at this point the star either burns out or begins to collapse upon its self, this collapse produces the heavier elements through the great density. The collapse can then theoretically result in a white dwarf, the “singularity” of a black hole, or a supernova explosion.

Rom 6

Date: 19 February 2009 D – 2 days

I know it’s been a while and I can’t even blame it on being excessively busy :). The content of Chapter 6 has kept me deep in thought for a couple days. As always, when I first looked through the chapter, I did not have much to say but then, as I digested it day after day, it came more to life and I kept writing, revising, writing, revising etc… Without a doubt Romans 6 has been the most difficult chapter for me yet. Paul discusses sanctification in fairly simple terms and I have been forced to ponder my own sanctification and attempt to convey in it both personal and biblically accurate language.

I also have a deployment update, I will be flying out of Fort Hood on Saturday. I am driving up tomorrow to drop off my bags, returning to San Antonio tomorrow night to eat at the Brazilian Steakhouse, then driving back up to meet my parents at Cracker Barrel for breakfast at 0930 Saturday morning. We are going to eat breakfast until 1115 then head to base, draw my weapon and say our final goodbyes before I get on a bus to go to the final ceremony at 1 PM. Everyone has said how difficult the ceremony is and recommended against family coming so I decided to say my goodbyes before the ceremony and go with only my friend Matt. Matt is going to stay with me until I board the final bus for the airfield later that afternoon.

Events:

15 Feb: Marla and I went to church with my parents on Sunday. Church was great, the pastor spoken on 2nd Corinthians 4:3-6, “3 and even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled only to those who are perishing. 4 In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5 For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. 6 For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. The Pastor’s emphasis was on letting our Christian light shine in the darkness of our current world. He posed a legitimate question as to why the Jehovah Witnesses’ are so passionate about evangelism while we Christians are not. The answer is that they are working for their salvation whereas through faith Christians have the assurance of salvation apart from works of evangelism, sacraments or piety. With this assurance, however, has come an apathy that is more indicative of the “dead faith” that James spoke so strongly against than the true, biblical Christ exalting faith that we are to display. The assurance of salvation should never be an excuse to ignore the Law or avoid Christ’s example. Instead, the assurance of our salvation based on faith (apart from works) should give us the confidence to participate in all sorts of evangelism and good works as the threat of failure has been removed. True love and faith will inevitably produce good works. Those of us who struggle with evangelism do not need a simplified, practical guide to sharing the gospel like the “Romans Road” (see below), but a greater reverence for God’s Holiness, a deeper appreciation of the desperation of the human condition and an all consuming love for the sufficiency of Christ’s sacrifice. From this perspective true and heartfelt evangelism will inevitably spring that serves not to convince our neighbor but to magnify God. True love is unable to keep silent about the amazing grace given in Christ’s death. Acts 4:20, "for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard." After Church we went out to lunch with my parents and then spent the rest of the day with Marla’s Parents, sister and clay…so much fun!

16 Feb: Marla went back over to her parent’s house to spend time with Clay while I hung out with my parents for the morning. We went to Lupe Tortilla’s (my all-time favorite restaurant) for lunch and then headed back to San Antonio. Got home at 7 unloaded and went to bed early.

17 Feb: We got up early and drove up to Fort Hood so that I could check in and make sure I was available if needed. We took Sadie so we stopped a couple times to play, it was great. While I was up at Hood, I went through all the labs that had been ordered in my name to make sure I’m not missing something before I leave and I got quite a shock. Many weeks ago, I wrote about a complicated patient that I was asked to help out with. She had been admitted to the hospital in November for a kidney infection, discharged but had continued to feel extremely weak and had many seemingly unrelated symptoms the worst of which was a severe chest pain that seemed to be neuropathic (created by dysfunctional nerve) as it was burning, topical and painful to the touch almost like shingles without any blisters. I ordered a bunch of labs and Imaging studies and threw in a test for Lyme disease for Marla’s sake because she watches Mystery Diagnosis and says Lyme disease is always the answer. Lyme disease is rare and very difficult to diagnose. Lyme, like syphilis, is known as “the great imitator” because it can present with almost any and every symptom imaginable. So, when I’m completely stumped, before I label someone as crazy (as the ER had this lady) I start testing for the odd-ball stuff that physicians don’t typically think of…Lyme, Syphilis, Lupus, heavy metal poisoning etc. Lo-and-behold, the tests revealed the patient has been suffering from acute Lyme disease. I will hopefully be able to treat her with 10 days of a special antibiotic. It’s pretty rewarding to make a catch like this especially after everyone has missed it. Thanks mystery diagnosisJ!

18 Feb: We had a relaxing day around the house. I had a great weight workout then went to a killer Pilate’s class, then proceeded to another couples massage that was awesome. I have resolved to enjoy these last couple days around San Antonio so last night we went out to one of my favorite restaurants Sushi Zushi then watched American Idol and my favorite show Heroes (I know, I sound like Oprah).

Bible:

Rom 6

Dead to Sin, Alive to God

6 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? 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.

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.

12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal bodies, to make you obey their 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.

Slaves to Righteousness

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 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? 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.

Bible Thoughts:

1. In Romans 6, Paul continues to move systematically through soteriology (doctrine of salvation). As a great example of evangelism, Paul first established our need-- In Romans 1-2 Paul demonstrated that first we “gentiles” (Rom 1), then Jew (Rom 2) are alike victims of sin. Then in Rom 3 Paul explains that the Law given to Moses (Ten Commandments and 603 other rules) is in-fact impossible to keep and never meant to justify (make right before God) but meant only to enumerate how far from God’s standard both Jew and Gentile had fallen. In the later half of Romans 3 the Gospel is presented… we are sinners, in need of a foreign (not our own, i.e. Christ’s) goodness that is granted not secondary to our good works but by a God given saving faith that recognizes first our debt (sin) and secondly the sufficiency of Christ’s sacrifice to pay that debt. Romans 4 is then posed as a defense that salvation has always been through Faith (with Abraham as the example, “Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as Righteousness) and not through work or ritual. We see a shift in Romans 5 that continues for the rest of the Letter. In the first 4 Chapters of the letter, Paul has focused on our Justification, that is, the Gospel. However in Chapter 5 we see a shift towards the teaching of sanctification and doctrine. Sanctification is a big word for spiritual maturity. In Romans 5, Paul demonstrates one of suffering’s many purposes…our sanctification as exemplified in turning from false hope/ assurance in the worlds flawed relationships, comforts and material goods to a correctly placed hope in the one relationship that will not fail (Christ), the reward and hope that can never be taken away, our eternal life in the Glory of God. In the latter half of chapter 5, Paul introduces the doctrine of Original Sin and sin’s systemic effect on natural man’s will from birth to death. Paul then moves into Chapter 6 where he again announces good (but this time challenging) news that through our Faith in Christ, we are no longer victims of the original/systemic sin, we are no longer under the dominion of this original sins compulsion to value ourselves above God. Having been freed from our compulsion to sin, our sanctification plays out in our lives as we repent and flee from all of the sins that we were “entangled in” when we first believed and cling stronger and stronger to the Gospel. This is the fruit that Jesus speaks of when he says, “By their fruit, you will judge them for it is impossible for a good tree to bear bad fruit or a bad tree to bear good fruit.” And why James says,”faith without works is dead.” We are saved by “faith alone but not faith that is alone.” Meaning, at justification (when we first believed) we inherit salvation that can never be earned or lost by works but this salvation will invariably produce evidence in a God fearing, Christ loving conformity to the way of life that the bible ordains. With Christ’s imputed (given) righteousness at salvation we are also given the Holy Spirit who works inside us to convict us of our sinful disobedience, leading us out of the life we lived to ourselves and into the life that we will more and more live for Christ—by loving his law. Chapter 6 emphatically pushes the new believer to leave the sin in their lives and instead exemplify the truth that they have been set free from this bondage to sin.
The reason that I have gone through this lengthy summary is the importance of discriminating justification (found in chapter 1-4) from sanctification and doctrine (Chapters 5-16). Paul flows seamlessly between the two and the distinction while dramatically apparent as you read through the letter in one sitting is not as apparent when we spend a day per chapter. It is vitally important not to confuse the two or else we will never feel the assurance and peace of Christ that Paul promises in justification. The explosion that occurred in the protestant reformation was a direct result of Luther’s rediscovery of the distinction between these two doctrines and righting confusion between justification and sanctification that had defined the 16th Century church. Luther, trained as a lawyer, understood the Law. As I have discussed before, it is only through knowledge of the bad news (law and condemnation) that the gospel is valued as Good news. Luther felt the daily condemnation of the law and, as was taught by the church, would spend hours in confession every day in order to ensure that he had repented from all sin that would have condemned him to hell. When he had finished confessing all of his sins, he would feel good for a couple minutes until he walked out of the confessional and saw the rest of the Monks then pride would well up inside, landing him straight back in the confessional. Luther was every priests nightmare as he would occupy the majority of their day. Because the church had confused justification with sanctification, Luther came to hate God. Luther despised a God that had set the standard so high that he could not go one minute assured of his salvation, instead having a great understanding of Romans 1,2 and 3, the only thing that he felt assured of was the vileness of this own soul. The problem with the catholic church of the 16th century is the problem with the catholic church of today…they have confused justification with sanctification. Justification is the moment we are declared once and for all righteous and inherit eternal life. This occurs at the moment that we truly believe the Gospel and it is a gift of God not based on our works. This gift, imparted at one moment in time (for me August of 1999) assures us that no matter what we do, as long as our true faith endures (again a gift of God) we are saved. We refer to justification as both “forensic” and “monergistic.” The term forensic refers to the courtroom-like nature of justification where the sinner is declared righteous one-time for all-time. There is no process of falling out of salvation then repenting (working) our way back in, instead we are declared righteous by faith in Christ’s work and as we did nothing to earn this salvation, we can do nothing to lose this salvation. The Monergistic nature of justification refers to the fact that there is one party working—God. We do not work with God to earn our salvation; it is God who gives both the righteousness of the gospel and the faith to believe the gospel. Of vital importance though is to distinguish this forensic, monergistic justification from the synergistic sanctification. The synergism of sanctification is what Paul will spend Romans 6 and 7 discussing. The term synergism refers to the two parties (God and Man) working synergistically towards the believers spiritual maturity. God gives us the grace and conviction to know the right from wrong but what we actually do is up to our newly freed will. This is a bumpy road; some describe it as a roller coaster, as the flesh (old sin) wars with the newly imputed Holy Spirit. Since, in justification, we have been set free from our compulsion to sin, we are now free like never before to follow the Holy spirits conviction away from sin leading to maturity or follow the flesh’s desire (no longer a compulsion) towards sin and immaturity. The importance of discriminating justification from sanctification though is fundamental to the assurance and strength that we find in the gospel. As we are being sanctified, no matter what we do, we never lose our justification. As Luther rediscovered this truth in the 16th century through his study of the scripture and earlier Catholic tradition, his spirit was refreshed, he realized that he no longer needed to spend hours a day repenting of his thousands of sins and then his pride when he was done, instead he realized that his salvation was secured in the justification that rested in Christ’s work. He was then free to truly love God and keep the law as never before realizing that the law had been given out of love and meant for his good (maturity) not his condemnation.

2. Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? The fleshly argument goes, if my blackness magnifies God’s grace i.e. the more I sin, the more God’s grace abounds, then why not go on sinning. Anyone able to pose this argument is in a very dangerous place as Paul says in Romans 3, “Their condemnation is deserved”. As we discussed in Romans 5, the evidence that we have a true and saving faith is that we develop a love for God’s law. The person that poses this argument comes from a perspective of a greater love for his sin than for God. This is an irrational argument that clings to sin and ignores the vast amount of biblical regulation to love God in action by following the law. And following the law is a matter of loving the law. Treating God’s law as sacred not with resentment. As I have said before, through the punishment and condemnation of the law has been removed for those who possess a saving faith, the offense (i.e. the pain) our sin causes the Father is likely magnified as through faith, we have become not strangers but children of God. It is, of course, far more painful when your very own child disobeys and rebels against you than a stranger who knows no better. If we value the love and forgiveness that our Father has granted us through the gruesome crucifixion of his son then the above argument would be incomprehensible.

3. 10 For the death he died he (Christ) died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. The “all” here (Greek: ephapax) refers to all time not all people. Christ’s death destroyed sin’s curse on the faithful that temporally preceded him and sin’s reign over the faithful that would temporally followed him. Now that Christ has died and in doing so ended our compulsion to sin, we are able, like him, to live a life of joy devoted to the one eternally satisfying occupation of glorifying God in our daily relationships and vocation.

4. 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. As we discussed in Roman’s 5, we are no longer under the dominion of the total/radical depravity of Adam’s Original sin and corruption of our will, instead we have been monergistically (God alone) redeemed to synergistically (God and I) work out our sanctification using our bodies the instruments of righteousness they have been freed to become or instruments of unrighteousness that our bodies were formally slaves to. As Jesus said, “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other” Matt 6:24. It should be impossible after we have tasted the sweetness forgiveness and lived for a moment without guilt to willingly sin again, so why does it seem so hard?

5. 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. Notice that Paul here does not say, “present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to justification,” but “leading to sanctification.” This is further evidence (as if you needed more) supporting the truth of the graph on the left depicting a once and for all justification (salvation), followed by a stepwise effort-based sanctification, versus the graph on the right. Truly, works have a place in the Christian faith but not in our salvation, only in our maturity, some would say our varying degrees of heavenly reward. As an example, I would like to share how sanctification has played out in my life. Though my eternal salvation is secured in Christ and I have great confidence in my heavenly welcome-home party, out of love for God and hate for the sin that lives inside me, every day it seems I battle from the opening of my eyes in the morning to their closing at night to remove the plank. ( “Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when there is the log in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye.” Matt 7:3-5) It seems there are a million points in my day when I can decide to follow God’s will of follow my own. As the “Force” in Skywalker was strong, so the sin within me is strong. Each day I battle for patience with my wife, caution with my eyes and mouth, correct motive in good, correct attribution of thanks for blessings (God not luck) and to live joyfully and thankful in every moment. Every moment is a war to control my flesh. Far from worrying about the good that I may do tomorrow as some of my more sanctified brothers are able to do, I have enough sin to overcome in a day to keep me busy all week. I have far too much sin to overcome to ever be in a position to judge my neighbor. Therein is the heart of sanctification, as the Holy Spirit continues to demonstrate to me how sinful my heart and worthless my life, my love of Christ, my thankfulness for Calvary explode. So it is with sanctification, as sin is more and more revealed in my life, I am driven to the depths of humility (first element), at the same time my view of God is growing through biblical learning and experience (second element) leaving an ever widening chasm that is filled by the third element of sanctification, an ever increasing appreciation of Christ’s sacrifice that bridges the gap between my humility and God’s infinite worth. The biblical view of sanctification echo’s John the Baptist’s instructions to his disciples, “He must increase, but I must decrease" John 3:30. If ever in our walk with Christ we begin to feel our self esteem or worth increasing apart from the death of Christ, we deceive ourselves and are actually backsliding. Far from self-glorifying, sanctification and all Christian growth for that matter, is Christ-glorifying. It is a devaluation of the self and magnification of God’s holiness and Christ’s work in our lives. From this we can find our esteem in the great love of Christ for our sinful hearts.

6. 21 But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? Many have said, “Live your life before an audience of One.” No matter if we are completely alone or surrounded by a hundred people, there is only One significant, important audience always watching. If the world disapproves (as promised) of what we do but God approves we are to have no shame, but what the world condones and God condemns, with the conviction of the Holy Spirit, we become greatly ashamed. Throughout the New Testament there is promise that nothing is kept secret from God. “36 I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak” Matt 12:36…”for nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. Matt 10:26”…”13 and no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account” Heb 4:13. Much to my dismay, when my good friend and Pastor Dave Phillips died, I felt a new sense of shame over my sins. It was as if I was unashamed of my secret sins committed against and before God’s holiness, but now that Dave may be checking in on me, I needed to get my act together. The moment that I felt this new conviction, I realized the utter irrationality of it and was ashamed that after 6 yrs of walking with Christ of how far short of a mustard seed my faith had “grown” to be. What did it say of my faith in the majesty and holiness of God that I would fear Dave’s opinion and judgment of my secret sins over God’s? While I realized I wasn’t moving any mountains with my faith, this saga was incredibly humbling and forced me to acknowledge how little faith in God’s omnipresence and coming judgment I actually had and how great I valued man’s judgment over God’s. Therein is the heart of sanctification, a series of disappointments with the self leading to an ever increasing view of God’s holiness and continuous filling of the created void with the sufficiency of the cross.

7. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. This is the third step to the famous “Roman’s Road” (sort of an Idiot’s Guide to sharing the Gospel). If you are ever brain fart when someone wants biblical proof of the true gospel just pull out these 5 verses.

a. Step 1: Romans 3:23 “For all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God.” We must all realize that we are sinners and that we need forgiveness. We are not worthy of God’s grace.
b. Step 2: Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates His love toward us, in that, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Through Jesus, God gave us a way to be saved from our sins. God showed us His love by giving us the potential for life through the death of His Son, Jesus Christ.
c. Step 3: Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” If we remain sinners, we will die. However, if we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, and repent of our sins, we will have eternal life.
d. Step 4: Romans 10:9-10 “That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." Confess that Jesus Christ is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead and you will be saved.
e. Step 5: Romans 10:13 “For whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.” There are no necessary religious formulas or rituals -- Call upon the name of the Lord and you will be saved.

Sun Tzu:

“Therefore, in a chariot battle, reward the first to capture at least ten chariots…if you reward everyone, there will not be enough to go around, so you offer a reward to one in order to encourage everyone.”

The Intellectual Devotion (Kidder, D. & Oppenheim N. The Intellectual Devotion, Rodale. NY, NY 2006):

Byzantine Art: The Byzantine Empire takes it’s name from the city of Byzantium, renamed Constantinople in the 4th century by the Emperor Constantine, who moved his court there from Rome. Today the city is known as Istanbul. The subject of most Byzantine art is religious, Biblical narratives and idealized representations or icons, of holy figures predominate. The goal was less to represent the actual likeness of Christ, the Virgin Mary, or saint than to capture his or her spiritual essence. Shunned were the nude figures and life size sculptures of the Greco-Roman culture. Byzantine architecture is typified by the use of domes resting on pendentives giving the illusion of weightlessness. In Byzantium, religious images were worshiped with such passion that in 726 the emperor placed a ban on icons, claiming they led to idolatry. For nearly a century all images of Christ and Mary were prohibited. The so-called iconoclasts (image-destroyers) obliterated such images wherever they could find them. Later, the opposition party, the iconophiles with the assistance of the pope had the ban repealed in 843.

Rom 5

Date: 15 February 2009 D - 6

Events:

I’ve been in Colorado for the last few days skiing with my brother Tyler so I’ve got a lot to catch up on!

11 Feb: I flew up to Denver in the afternoon and spent the evening with my brother Tyler and his wife Lindsay. I flew out of Austin because the tickets were half the price as San Antonio and at the airport they had live music so I sat down and had a beer. Only in Austin! Great flight, Tyler picked me up at the Airport then we drove to his house. Tyler and Lindsay have done a ton of work to their house and it looks great. Sooooo proud of my little brother. Tyler and I took his dog Buck out for a good long walk. They have a great trail that comes right up to their neighborhood and winds’ through Denver, Sadie would have loved it :(. We went to bed early to get ready for our big ski trip. I had trouble sleeping, as I always do when I’m away from Marla so I was up reading from 1-3am but slept great before and after.

12 Feb: Tyler got up early (0430) and went in to work before we left for the Mountains at 0700. We had a great trip up the mountain and talked about how difficult it is to keep our joy despite the daily grind of work deadlines and relationships. We both decided that the key is to keep our priorities in order and not allow the job that we spend the majority of our day doing take emotional precedence over our faith, family or friends. Incredible day skiing. It was sunny and warm and the snow was perfect. The tempo was intense; on the fast runs we would go top to bottom nonstop, ski onto the lift (no lines all week) then do it again. On the bump runs we took an occasional break to fall over dead then kept on skiing. I’ve never skied so hard. We went to Keystone so that we could ski from 9 am till 9 pm but by 5 we were smoked. We went back to the Hotel and stared blankly at the TV for a while then worked up the strength to get up and go to a great local restaurant. Had great wings and burgers at the bar while we watched amazing skiing on TV. I slept terribly again away from Marla, got up at 11 and read in the hotel lobby until 0200 then slept good until I got up at 0700.

13 Feb: We were slow to get back out to the slopes that morning but had a great day despite all our pain. By 3:00 I was more ready than been my last run. Made a great fast last run of the season, packed up and drove down the mountain to catch my 7 PM flight back to Austin. I was very happy (and ready) to get home to Marla and Sadie and finally had a good night sleep.

14 Feb: Marla and I slept in a bit then drove to Houston to spend my final weekend with my parents and in-laws. We made some steaks for Valentine ’s Day and watched The Cleaner. It was a great and relaxing day.

Bible:

Rom 5

Peace with God through Faith

5 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. 11 More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

Death in Adam, Life in Christ

12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned— 13 for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. 14 Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come.

15 But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man's trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. 16 And the free gift is not like the result of that one man's sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. 17 If, because of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.

18 Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. 19 For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous. 20 Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, 21 so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.


Bible Thoughts:

1. …since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God… The content that follows reveals that the apostle speaks not of a worldly peace (as he immediately guarantees tribulation/suffering) but a spiritual peace. This is the “peace that surpasses all understanding” (Phil 4:7). What advantage has a man who has all worldly comfort and position but is tormented day and night by inner guilt, self-doubt and fear? Why is the suicide rate directly related to socioeconomic status (highest in most successful)? No, the peace that we have through faith in Christ is a full reconciliation so that we may now cry out “abba” (daddy) God (Romans 8:15). Through faith in Christ we are no longer alienated from God and “children of wrath” (Ephesians 2:3) but heirs to an eternal kingdom where “neither moth nor rust destroy.” (Matthew 6:19) The payment that our guilt-ridden consciences have demanded must not be ignored or denied through endless self-help rituals that may never cancel the debt but paid in full by Christ on the cross. With adequate payment for our sins made our “consciences cleansed,” (1 Pet 3:21) we enjoy an inner peace that the world will never understand. A peace that rests in God’s pardon, worth and strength. When your conscience cries out “guilty,” then remember the lashes of Christ and shout back “paid.” When we feel that our strength will not suffice, remember you no longer live by your strength but by God’s; “stronger is he that is in you than he that is in the world.” (1 John 4:4) When we lack self-esteem, remember the sovereign creator of the universe esteemed us enough (not for our deeds but for our person) to crucify his son in order to enjoy us for eternity. When we cower with fear, remember the worst the world can do is “kill the body” and usher us into our eternal mansion. This is true peace.

2. …Through him we have also obtained access by faith… Remember it is no abstract faith that saves us. It is a Christ honoring faith in his victory over sin in His life and his victory over death in his resurrection. “faith alone” that is without an object never saved anyone.

3. …we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. This phrase gives us the punch line of the following discourse on suffering. Though our world falls apart around us (see Job 1-2), when we hope in the glory of God we too may say, “the Lord has given and the Lord has taken away, blessed be the name of the lord” (Job 1:21). As we realize our hope is not in this world but in the promise that after the trials of this life cease, then we Christians will behold the full glory of God. The most beautiful regions of the world pale in comparison to God’s glory as this world is a victim of the fall of Adam in Gen 3:17-18 “ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life;18 thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you” My parents just came back from the Patagonia, Argentina and I have seen pictures of the amazing waterfalls, lakes (great for wakeboarding) and wildlife, as stunning as this scenery is, it is actually still but a glimpse of the glory of God as it is cursed by Adam’s disobedience. This is why, when I looked over the majesty of the Rocky Mountains I said to Tyler, “if this is our punishment, our cursed world, how much greater our reward, how much greater will be the full untainted glory of God!” If those mountains are beautiful now when we fear Adam’s curse on nature that leads to avalanches, the curse on animals that makes Mountain Lions aggressive, and the curse that makes us rightfully fearful of our fellow man, how much greater the Glory of God reflected in Heaven’s Rocky Mountains without the taint of Adam’s curse on nature, animal, and man.

4. …we rejoice in our sufferings… While this will seem masochistic to the world, the Christian is to “rejoice in suffering" because suffering magnifies Christ in at least two important ways:

1) It reveals our inner sinfulness thus illuminating our need for Christ’s forgiveness. As I sit here writing, my dog at my feet, bible at my right hand, hot tea at my left without distraction and without pain, it is fairly easy to deceive myself into thinking that I’m pretty darn good. The problem is that my assumed goodness is inversely proportional to my felt need for Christ. As Christ said, “I did not come to heal the righteous but the sinner.” Though none is righteous, and all need Christ’s righteousness it is hard for me to remember my own depravity as I sit here in comfort. However, take me away from my nice home, pretty wife and great puppy and put me in traffic rushing to work, getting cut off once, twice, three times, S@1% is that construction! And my sin becomes blaringly apparent. Fore, “out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks” (Matthew 12:34). I am both ashamed and frightened as I hear all forms of vulgarity and hatred spewing from this “sanctified” heart of mine. It is then that my felt need for Christ increases exponentially as I no longer deceive myself into thinking I am the pinnacle of goodness and am force to admit that, in my flesh, I am little more sanctified than the jerk that just cut me off . The same sin present in traffic is present in my heart even the monastery of my home; I am just better able to pridefully ignore and deny its existence.

2) It refocuses our “hierarchy of need.” With Job as our example, after all of the false assurance of worldly relationships and possession is stripped from us and we are forced to rely on the only One worthy of true assurance, the only One able to provide true safety, and the only One who loves us inside and out (not the glorified front we put forward to the world) then and only then to we remember “our first love,” and derive our assurance, strength and Love from the “unchanging,” “rock of our salvation.” When we, as Christians, undergo suffering we are forcibly reminded that this world is not our home that we are to live as aliens sojourning across this land anxiously anticipating the return of our master and our glorious life to come.

5. ...suffering produces endurance…endurance produces character…character produces hope…and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. As above, suffering both reveals our hidden sins and redirects us to the only One worthy of hope. This process as we see here, however, does not happen overnight, but through a series of sanctifying (maturing) steps that ultimately result in the correct placement for our hope in our savior Christ. This is a good lesson for me to remember, as often it is easy to stand outside a suffering person’s life, make an assessment as to why they are suffering (which in my case is invariably accurateJ) and propose a simple solution. Problem and life’s mysteries solved, let’s watch the football game. Real life, however, is not that easy. As a Christian friend, it is my responsibility not to minimize my loved ones problems or expect a rapid recovery as soon as my friend see’s the light. At times though the reason for the suffering seems simple and the solution straightforward, as a friend I must “bear with” my Christian brothers as they “wrestle with God” there not only for a quick solution but a bit of empathy. To a head dominant Christian like me this patience is sometimes forgotten. Likewise, our own spiritual maturity takes time, it is not healthy or realistic to read the bible and then immediately expect of yourself the faithfulness of Paul or the spirit of Elijah. Do not be disappointed or doubt your salvation the first time you ask, “one mountain to pick itself up and throw itself into the ocean” if it doesn’t actually happed as this feat of faith takes at least one or two years of spiritual maturity to accomplish J. Point is, our very faith is a gift and as Paul will soon say in Rom 12:3-4 “I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.” Not to say you should not desire a deeper relationship and faith, but your faith is your gift, we are not to judge our measure of faith against our fellow Christians and somehow feel prideful , ashamed or envious but instead feel thankful that we have even the maturity the we have been gracefully given. We all have our contribution to the body of Christ, what would the body be if it was all heads without a heart or hands? This is not an excuse for spiritual stagnation but a recurrence for those who are frustrated to the point that they doubt the sincerity of their Christian conversion, we must rest always in the Gospel, that our conversion does not rest in our works or will but in God’s decision and Christ’s love. Your frustration is evidence of your re-born heart that now desires a deeper faith. I am weary of those “Christians “content in their worldliness not striving for an intimate relationship, not convicted of their sin and not warring with their flesh daily.

6. — 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. As Christ was whipped, spit on, insulted, and hung on the Cross he uttered the words, “Forgive them for they know not what they do.” The scene is powerful, I can’t do it justice so here it is, Luke 23:34-38
“4 And Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." And they cast lots to divide his garments. 35 And the people stood by, watching, but the rulers scoffed at him, saying, "He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his Chosen One!" 36 The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine 37 and saying, "If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!" 38 There was also an inscription over him, "This is the King of the Jews." Truly, Christ has seen us at our worst. The holiness of God has seen every hidden sin in all its heinousness, sin’s we would not admit to our best of friends for fear they would leave us. But, far from leave us, Christ endured the most horrendous, undeserved ridicule and death, paying the debt our sinfulness demanded in order to enjoy us as his beloved friends forever in his kingdom.

7. 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. If God loved us enough to sacrifice his son in our wrath-deserving hatred and rebellion from him, how much more is His love now that our debt has been paid, our relationship restored, the prodigal son returned. This is where our hope rests, and this is a hope that is not dependent upon our ability to hide our inner ugliness as are human relationships. But God, having seen our worst, stands with open arms ready to accept us as soon as his grace enables us to admit our true ugliness and need.

8. 12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned... The doctrine of Original Sin, like the doctrine of the trinity, while explicitly stated nowhere in the bible, is supported throughout the bible. Here we see an example supporting original sin. Adam as our figurehead was created by God with free-will and free-choice but he chose to disobey God and ate the apple from the forbidden tree. When Adam sinned, a curse was placed on man, animal and land (Gen 3). As a result of Adam’s sin, mankind’s desires became in bondage to sin with the ultimate penalty given-- death. Adam’s sin was transmitted to the human race and our will (no longer free) became a slave to sin. Now we truly have free choice we just don’t have free will. Our will, because of Adam’s sin, is forever tainted with the sin of selfishness of worldliness, short of God’s gracious renewal of our heart; we will never choose to serve Him over our own selfish desires. As this verse supports, the evidence that we have all sinned (whether in action or inheritance) is that we all suffer sin’s penalty, physical death. The evidence that babies, as being conceived by Adam’s seed are sinful in their flesh is that they suffer the penalty physical death. I have great hope that infants who die are not sent to hell but it would be contrary to the gospel and work of Christ to attribute their salvation to their innocence. No, if they are saved, they are saved by the very same God given, Christ honoring, sin atoning spiritual rebirth granted to them that has been granted to me. Their rebirth just occurs far earlier than mine did.

9. 13 for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given… death reigned from Adam to Moses, As evidence that sin exists prior to the law, Paul says that sins result (death) reigned prior to the giving of the Law to Moses.

10. even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, In my opinion, this verse speaks of either the compulsion of the world to sin (without free will) or the discrepancy between Adam’s active sin and the worlds inherent sin. I lean towards the latter because of verse 18 (below). Whereas Adam’s sin was a sin of action, man’s sin now while not always an active sin (infant) is always a sin of inheritance (seed of Adam). For me, the most convincing argument for inherited sin is the virgin birth. If Christ had been born naturally, he too would have inherited the sin of Adam. However, by necessity, in order that Christ was able to be sinless throughout his life, Christ had to be born without the taint of original sin.

11. …18 Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men… As Adam’s sin systemically affected the human race, Christ’s sacrifice is sufficient to rescue the human race.

12. …20 Now the law came in to increase the trespass…Here, Paul says the law not only defined the trespass (as earlier) but increased the trespass. It is clear from the new testament (Matthew 5-6) , that the trespass is not in action but in motive. The law is to be joyously kept with the motive of honoring God, not reluctantly kept for fear of condemnation. Even if the law were completely kept in action but not loved, the law would be violated. Without the Holy Spirit, it is impossible to value God’s law and keep it joyously, instead we look at the law as condemning and, as we see our flesh violate it, we come to despise the law more and more. As it is impossible to keep the whole law, even in action, we end up judging our action against the perfection the law demands, we come to resent the law more and more and in so doing our trespass increases.

13. …as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord… Well put. As Adam sinned and his offspring (humanity) inherited his sin evidenced in the death of our flesh, through Christ’s death, we have been given righteousness that will ultimately lead to our bodily resurrection and ultimate triumph over the grave.

Sun Tzu:

“So what kills the enemy is anger, what gets the enemy’s goods is reward.”

“If you stir up your officers and troops so that hey are all enraged, then they will kill the enemy. If you reward your men with spoils, that will make them fight on their own initiative, so the enemy’s goods can be taken. That is why is said that where there are big rewards there are valiant men.”

The Intellectual Devotion (Kidder, D. & Oppenheim N. The Intellectual Devotion, Rodale. NY, NY 2006):

The Heart of Darkness: written by Joseph Conrad in 1899 it is a concise 80 pages depicting a flashback by a man named Marlow, who has taken a job with a Belgian colonial trading business called only, “the Company.” He is sent to the Belgian Congo to captain a steamboat up the Congo River which is run by an ivory trader named Kurtz. Upon arrival in Africa, Marlow is struck by the decaying Company facilities and racist Europeans’ unabashed exploitation on the native Africans. As Marlow makes his way up the river into increasingly remote territory, his journey becomes as much psychological as physical. As the trappings of civilization fall further away, Marlow begins to see himself as traveling into the primal, unknown reaches of the human mind. Heart of Darkness is particularly familiar today because of its unorthodox but spectacular film adaptation, Apocalypse Now (1979).

Rom 4

Date: 11 February 2009 D - 10

Events:

Yesterday was a great and restful day. It hailed last night (golf ball sized), check out the pictures. I Made plans to go snow skiing with my brother Tyler…I leave this evening, spend the night with Tyler in Denver then dirve up to Keystone tomorrow morning where I will ski Thusday and Friday then fly home Friday night. Very quick trip but I didn't want to spend too much time away before I deploy.

Bible:

Rom 4

Abraham Justified by Faith

4 What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? 2 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. 3 For what does the Scripture say? "Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness." 4 Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. 5 And to the one who does not work but trusts him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, 6 just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works:

7 "Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven,and whose sins are covered;8 blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin."

9 Is this blessing then only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? We say that faith was counted to Abraham as righteousness. 10 How then was it counted to him? Was it before or after he had been circumcised? It was not after, but before he was circumcised. 11 He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. The purpose was to make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised, so that righteousness would be counted to them as well, 12 and to make him the father of the circumcised who are not merely circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.

The Promise Realized Through Faith

13 For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith. 14 For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. 15 For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression.
16 That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring—not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, 17 as it is written, "I have made you the father of many nations"—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. 18 In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, "So shall your offspring be." 19 He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead ( since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah's womb. 20 No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, 21 fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. 22 That is why his faith was "counted to him as righteousness." 23 But the words "it was counted to him" were not written for his sake alone, 24 but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, 25 who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.

Bible Thoughts:

1. This entire chapter is a beautiful commentary on how we are saved by faith apart from works. It is a concept that Paul has already introduced well and his argument in this chapter are streight forward and need little elaboration.

2. Abraham, our forefather Paul has chosen Abraham as an example because the Jews consider him the patriarch of their religion. Abraham’s Faith credited him with righteousness in Genesis 15, two chapters and 10-20 years before the sign of circumcision (Gen 17) and 600 years before the law was given to Moses. As I said in discussing Rom 2 and 3, the Jew’s of Paul’s day (and in-fact today) had misunderstood the very foundation of their religion. Assuming themselves to be saved by the lineage of Abraham and Old Testament Law and ceremonies, they had forsaken the true foundation of their righteousness, Faith.

3. 2 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about. As I have said before, salvation is Sole Deo Gloria (For the Glory of God alone). In thinking that we can somehow earn our salvation by our good works or decisions, we pridefully steal the Glory due our savior and keep it for ourselves. Paul later says in Gal 2:21 “21 I do not nullify the grace of God, for if justification were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose.” The sin of a works based religion is not only in who gets the Glory (me vs God) but in the insult it is to Christ’s finished work on the Cross. When I try to take a personal role in earning my salvation or paying my debt (as if in purgatory), I insult the work and suffering of Christ. I fear God will not take lightly those “Christians” who trample the work and suffering of his Son. The very purpose faith has been instated as the mechanism by which Christ’s righteousness is accounted to us is that it is not a work, faith is not something we can invent. As opposed to works that magnify the worker, faith magnifies not those who have the faith but the object of that faith (Christ). It is for Christ’s honor that Faith is the channel through which salvation flows. Honor for Christ is all we can bring to the equation, and even that is thanks only to God’s gracious enabling.

4. "Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness." I reviewed the story of Abraham in Genesis 13-17, and neither man nor his faith were that impressive. In fact, I will go so far to say that Abraham and his faith was no more impressive than any true Christian walking the earth today. A Lying adulterer who just before and after he “believed God” he demonstrated his lack of belief in demanding signs to support his faithfulness. But somewhere within Abraham was given a saving faith, be it smaller than a mustard seed that imputed the Righteousness of God (Christ). My point is not to slander Abraham, but to encourage believers that far from the pillars we hold these Old Testament characters to be, they are just like us, fallen, broken, sinful, doubting and sadly in need of a savior. I do not like the “Dare to be David” type of bible lessons as they seem only falsely elevate a group of saints who themselves would likely shun such glory. These lessons ignore the humanity that is clearly demonstrated in the Old Testament in order to compel us to be better, more faithful, believe stronger etc… But the reality is that these passages were not meant to show us the greatness of Abraham’s faith, David’s obedience, or Samson’s strength but, quite the contrary to show us God’s faith, obedience and strength. When we taken these characters out of the specific context of their demonstrated humanity we put up standards that no human can achieve (not my neighbor and not Abraham himself) and run the risk of appearing holier than thou in our pious admonitions. Shout out to the hard core Baptists, love you guys :)

5. 4 Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. 5 And to the one who does not work but trusts him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, Beautiful.

6. 9 Is this blessing then only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? We say that faith was counted to Abraham as righteousness. 10 How then was it counted to him? Was it before or after he had been circumcised? It was not after, but before he was circumcised… The purpose was to make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised, so that righteousness would be counted to them as well... It is true, circumcision was the sign of the covenant, but it was only the sign. The external circumcision was always meant to Identify the Jew’s as a people to whom the covenant was given and to be an external reminder of what Paul called in Romans 2 the “circumcision of the heart.” This “circumcision of the heart” was Faith in the promised righteousness that would come from God. The sign of circumcision has been replaced by the sign of baptism in the New Testament; both serving as a tangible, visible reminder of an inner reliance on the Giver of the signs (God), not the administrator of the signs (minister) or the receiver of such signs (Me). Thus, inner righteousness has never and will never be imparted by an external sign, not baptism and not circumcision. These sacraments only signify a communities reliance upon God’s promise to impart this righteousness (through faith). Though we may not have the Old Testament ceremonial circumcision as a sign of our inclusion in the covenant, we as Christians, do have the faith of Abraham and as the promise relies on faith and not the circumcision, we Gentiles are truly grafted into God’s covenant and imputed God’s righteousness.

7. 16 That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring—not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, 17 as it is written, "I have made you the father of many nations" As we Gentiles are brought into the people of God through the faith of Abraham, we too may claim his lineage and promise. In a time when nations were divided by lineage this promise may not have made much sense but today as we sing of “Father Abraham” his promise has been fulfilled.

8. who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. Through the grace of faith and imputation of Christ’s righteousness, God has given life to the spiritually dead (unbelievers). Just as God spoke the world that did not exist into existence, God has now called a people (the gentiles) out of this world that he had not yet called. He has called the Gentiles to exist, to live, in the same faith as Abraham.

9. 20 No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, 21 fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. A good definition of faith, though not the saving faith required today as we now have the full revelation of the Gospel see the next quote.

10. "counted to him as righteousness."... It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, 25 who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification. The gospel. Before the full revelation of the gospel a saving faith relied on God's ability to save his people. Now that the gospel, as God's mechanism for the salvation of those both before and after Christ has been fully revealed, a saving faith looks relies at the historic work and death of Jesus Christ.


Sun Tzu:

“If people know they will be richly rewarded if they overcome the opponent, then they will gladly go into battle”
“This just means establishing rich rewards – if you let the troops plunder at will, they may get out of hand.”

The Intellectual Devotion (Kidder, D. & Oppenheim N. The Intellectual Devotion, Rodale. NY, NY 2006):

The Rosetta Stone: In 1799 French soldiers in Napoleon’s army discovered this black rock buried in the sands near Alexandria Egypt. The Stone was dated to 196BC and described the good deeds of the 13 year-old Greek Ptolemy V. In an effort to convince his Egyptian subjects of his divinity, the story was written in both Greek and Egyptian Hieroglyphics that had thus far been indecipherable. By lining up the Greek text with the hieroglyphics, a French scholar named Jean-Francois Champollion was able to decode the complex Egyptian language. Historians and archeologists in the nineteenth century were able to develop a much fuller understanding of ancient Egypt.

Rom 3

Date: 10 February 2009, D – 11 days

Events:

No, I didn’t go wakeboarding (that was back in october) but thought a lot about it. Kinda, "California Dreaming on such a winter day." I’m in fact not doing much these days, just studying medicine (to stay sharp), writing and working out. That’s about it for yesterday. Deployment did get changed again to 20 Feb.

Bible:

Rom 3

God's Righteousness Upheld
3 Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision? 2 Much in every way. To begin with, the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God. 3 What if some were unfaithful? Does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God? 4 By no means! Let God be true though every one were a liar, as it is written,
"That you may be justified in your words, and prevail when you are judged."
5 But if our unrighteousness serves to show the righteousness of God, what shall we say? That God is unrighteous to inflict wrath on us? ( I speak in a human way.) 6 By no means! For then how could God judge the world? 7 But if through my lie God's truth abounds to his glory, why am I still being condemned as a sinner? 8 And why not do evil that good may come?—as some people slanderously charge us with saying. Their condemnation is just.
No One Is Righteous
9 What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, 10 as it is written:
"None is righteous, no, not one;11 no one understands;no one seeks for God.12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good,not even one."13 "Their throat is an open grave;they use their tongues to deceive." "The venom of asps is under their lips."14 "Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness."15 "Their feet are swift to shed blood;16 in their paths are ruin and misery,17 and the way of peace they have not known."18 "There is no fear of God before their eyes."
19 Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. 20 For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.
The Righteousness of God Through Faith
21 But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— 22 the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. 26 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
27 Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith. 28 For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law. 29 Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, 30 since God is one. He will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. 31 Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law.

Bible Thoughts:

1. “3 Then what advantage has the Jew?... Much in every way…” As we discussed yesterday, the Jews who were given the full Old Testament law, tradition and Prophets had a great advantage over the Gentile who had not such privilege. The advantage was limited though to what should have been an easier recognition and belief in the coming Messiah. The Old Testament Law, tradition and Prophets conferred no benefit without Christ, as faith in God’s “Right Hand” for redemption is the heart of the Old Testament and Jewish faith.

2. 3 What if some were unfaithful? Does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God? 4 By no means! Paul pre-empts the Jews argument that God is not faithful to his covenant if the entire people is not saved. Again, the Jews misunderstood then and misunderstand now their salvation to be secondary to their inheritance (DNA). The Jews were a proud people who thought that they were saved by the DNA and Law of their Father Abraham apart from the Faith from their Father Abraham. Paul will later make the point that all “True Israel” will be, not may be, but will be saved (Romans 11). Thus, God has been faithful to his covenant as savior of “True Israel.” The difficulty then was much the same as the difficulty today, as a majority of church-goers are not true Christians. God who looks upon the “circumcision of the heart” (see yesterday) knows those who were and are relying on him (not themselves) for their salvation. These few represent the true Israel/Christians.

3. 5 But if our unrighteousness serves to show the righteousness of God, what shall we say? That God is unrighteous to inflict wrath on us? Just as the police and courts are praised today for bringing criminals to justice, so too is God magnified when those who sin against him and trash his name are punished. Though our blackness makes his purity shine all the more, this in no justification or excuse for lawlessness. The vary argument shows the futility of human reason as we attempt to justify our sins apart from the blood of Christ.

4. And why not do evil that good may come?—as some people slanderously charge us with saying. Their condemnation is just. A wise man once said, “if you are not occasionally charged with antinomianism, you are not sharing the gospel enough.” Paul faced the same slander in his day. Antinomianism is a heresy that the Christian is no longer obligated to follow the law. It is true that the Christian is no longer under the punishment of the law but this in no way excused the Christian from doing the right thing. Finally understanding the full wrath and eternal consequence that our sin’s brought in the punishment of our Loving King Jesus Christ how can we go on sinning? I have said it before but it bears reiteration, though the punishment of our sins has been dealt and we are no longer under the condemnation our sins deserve, the offense of our sins to our heavenly Father is no less. Further, when we, God’s adopted children sin against our Father, how much greater is God’s pain than when a stranger commits the same sin?

5. 9 What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. While the Jews who knew the whole law, tradition and prophets had a distinct advantage, without faith in Christ (the direct object of the law, tradition and prophets), they were indeed no better off. Mere knowledge of the law does not save; mere knowledge of the prophets confers no blessing without their direct object that is Christ.

6. … all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin… Though the law, as a gift of God was good, what the law demonstrated… the sin of man was not. Here, Paul brings the charge of Sinner against all mankind, by Jew Paul means those with the law, by Greek he means those without the law. Regardless both, indeed “all,” are sinners. The Apostle John later says…"8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.” 1 John 1:8-10. Fundamental to our acceptance of the Gospel is our understanding of our own sinfulness. Without owning our sin, we will never realize our need for the gospel. The world can attempt to deny man’s innate sinfulness all they want, saying…”you’re good enough, you deserve this.” But there is something inside every man that screams the contrary. If not, why the amazing market for worldly self-help books that continue to propagate the lies? No, truth and peace are not found in the denial of our sin but in the acceptance of our sin and the acceptance of an adequate atonement for that sin. Marla can testify that I freak out every time I see a depressed/anxious person reading a secular self-help book. Reason being, the majority of these books are written from a false perspective (human goodness) that does not recognize the reality of the human state (sinful), what can they possibly teach us? If anything, they drive us further into a denial of the reality that exists inside of us and cause a greater and greater inner tension between our “ID”, “ego” and “superego,” resulting in the full spectrum of physiatric pathology from depression to anxiety.

7. "None is righteous, no, not one… Romans 3 is one of the best commentaries on man’s “radical/total depravity.” The doctrine of “Total Depravity” states that Man, as inheriting the original sin passed on from Adam is born unable to follow or choose God, instead every inclination is towards the self and world. As Paul later says in 1 Cor 2:14-15, “14 The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.” Christ himself declares in John 6:44, “44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.” Sin’s systemic effect has rendered natural humans dead to the gospel, “Eph 2:1-5. 2 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. 4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ— by grace you have been saved— too often, our salvation is made analogous to a man drowning in the ocean who has but to swim to God’s “life preserver” in order to be saved. This analogy is far from biblical and steals the credit God deserves in order to preserve man’s autonomy. The bible does not refer to unsaved man as drowning but as dead. How is a dead man to save himself? A more biblical analogy is a child who falls into a frozen lake; EMS pulls the child, now dead and stiff, out of the water after a 2 hour submersion. The child is then transported to my ER where I (not the child) take the pulseless, apnic, blue, dead child in my arms place him on a bypass machine to warm him then shock the cold dead heart back to life. You see in this example, the responsibility and thus the glory goes to the rescuer and not the rescued. Though all men are “free” to follow their will, their will is never “free.” Thus, men may “freely” choose to follow God but only after God acts first to shock their cold, dead heart back to life. Like it or not, this is a biblical view of salvation. If you do not like it, I challenge you to get to the root of why you don’t like it. Could it be that you want for Man’s glory, autonomy and freedom over God’s glory, autonomy and freedom? The question, I guess is irrelevant, as we are still forced to make a choice between knowing and following the Biblical God that exists or creating for ourselves an Idol God that we wish existed.

8. 20 For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. What may have been unclear in Romans 2 becomes crystal clear in Romans 3. The Old Testament Law and regulations were never meant to Justify anyone. Righteousness was never meant to be earned through the law; rather, the law was meant to point to it’s direct object…Jesus Christ. The Law is to be used much as I use a CT Scan, to diagnose an illness that needs treatment. The CT never cured anyone but through diagnosis, I am now able to target a disease and prescribe a treatment. God’s CT machine (the law) reveals a disease within all of us that we are unable to treat by our own strength. Instead, we need Christ’s external, given treatment.

9. Intro to vs. 21-31: In his first 3 chapters or Romans, Paul has declared the entire world both responsible and accountable for denying the creator and breaking the law. This condemnation culminates in Chapter 3 which may be better titled, “surrender hope all, ye who enter” whereby the reader is so battered as to surrender nearly all hope of atoning for so great a fall, what follows thought is one of the most comprehensive and precise presentations of the Gospel in the entire bible. If you ever need a quick reference, a “Gospel for dummies,” flip to Romans 3 and read and own it.

10. …righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law... “righteousness of God” i.e. Christ’s righteousness, not my self-righteousness as earned my obedience to the law but a foreign righteousness earned by Christ by his perfect obedience to the law.

11. the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. This is an Imputed, infused, external, and foreign righteousness, not inherent, earned, self righteousness. This was perhaps the greatest debate of the reformation, and a debate worth separating over as it is fundamental to our view of salvation. The question posed was…are we saved by our own righteousness as achieved with Christ’s assistance enabling us to pay our own debt through pious activity? OR, Are we graciously given Christ’s righteousness once and for all through faith? This verse (and the rest of the bible for that matter) supports the reformers and first 1000 years of Church history that maintain we are forensically (as if in court) declared righteous through Christ’s infused work the moment we truly believe.

12. all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, As above, the use of “all” demonstrates the universality of need. Not Paul, not Peter, not John, not Mary, and not Mother Teresa in all their greatness, in all their good works were able to cosmically right all their sins. They were unable canceled their own debt or earn their own salvation apart from Christ. I feel they would be rightly infuriated if they heard of such lies. Thus, there is no “treasury of merit,” as when Paul and John (arguably the best Christians to ever live) evaluated their own lives, they realized they too were likewise condemned by the law with nothing to offer for their own salvation, nor the salvation of others, but a bunch of “dirty rags”.

13. Justified Christians (like the military and doctors) have many terms we throw around and expect people to understand. So that we are all on the same page, the definition of justification is made righteousness…declared innocent. Justification is used in a “forensic” sense, meaning-- as if in a court of law. To be justified means to be once and for all declared Righteous before God. It is true the Justified may still sin but this never takes us out of a saving relationship as salvation is not granted or withdrawn based on my daily works/sins but is granted by my faith (which itself is a gift) in Christ’s completed work on the Cross.

14. Justified by his grace as a gift…(ESV) other translations “Justified, freely” (NKJV, NIV). I included the most common English translation “freely” as it more clearly demonstrates the point. We were not given salvation because we swam to God’s “life preserver.” We were not given salvation because we were wise enough to chose God or because we were righteousness enough in our works to deserve God. But we were justified “freely.” Our “no free lunch” culture makes it difficult for us to understand such a gift. We are accustomed to earning our way, never asking for help, “you get yours and I’m gonna get mine.” In this culture, it has become difficult to humble ourselves to admit that salvation is not something that we can achieve on our own “will or effort” (Romans 9:16); but humble ourselves we must, or there is no salvation.

15. through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. Note what is not included, charity, trips, going to church, taking communion, having children etc. Christ alone give redemption from sin. Don’t get me wrong, all of the above activities are good but they effect sanctification (spiritual maturity) not salvation. Salvation is based on Solo Christos (Christ’s work alone).

16. whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, Note, propitiation not the softer expiation. Propitiation depicts not only the expiation-payment, but also a turning or satisfaction of God’s wrath.

17. propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. Again, note what is not included, charity, trips, going to church, taking communion, having children, not drinking/dancing and all the other thousand things Christians imply are necessary for salvation. Again, if we’re talking maturity fine but please never confuse sanctification with justification or you will quickly lose both your joy and thankfulness. Justification is base on Solo Fide (faith alone). Everything we choose to “do” past justification is merely as a grateful response to our ransom being paid.

18. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. And why was humanity saved and God’s wrath satisfied in such a draumatic mannor as the crusifiction of Christ and ensuing eclipse, earthquakes and miraculous resurrections? Sole Deo Gloria (For the glory of God alone). Just as the Karate Kid was glorified when he finally crane kicked that bully in the head, so too is God to be glorified for conquering death and rescuing his children from their sin. It is for God’s glory that we have been saved and not our own. It is that we may praise God all the louder that he dragged our will kicking and screaming from sin to righteousness.

19. that he might be just and the justifier God is entirely responsible for our salvation from first to last. Let me illustrate this with an Old Testament passage that I hope to do justice. 7 And he (God) said to him (Abraham), "I am the Lord who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess." 8 But Abraham said, "O Lord God, how am I to know that I shall possess it?" 9 He said to him, "Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon." 10 And he brought him all these, cut them in half, and laid each half over against the other..17 When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. Gen 15:7-10,17,18 What is depicted here is an Old Testament Covenant making ceremony. There are two parties, Abraham and God. Animals are cut up into bloody messes separated one half from the other leaving narrow, bloody pathway between them. Abraham would have recognized ceremony in which both parties would be expected to make promises to each other and then walk in between the animals signifying that if they did not fulfill their commitment, then like the animals they too would be cut into pieces. But, instead of each party committing some good or service, we see an entirely one sided covenant (hardly could be called a covenant) as God promises to bless Abraham and his descendents with the promise land but all Abraham bring to the equation is faithlessness and adultery then in an amazing twist, God walks between the animals. God says to Abraham, If I do not fulfill my promise to you and your offspring then like these animals I will be cut to pieces. In true dramatic irony, God did indeed fulfill his promise but the fulfillment itself required God’s own blood, In Christ’s bloody death. God is in the habit of one-sided covenants (as what could we bring that God needs?). Our covenant with Christ too is entirely one sided, he has been crucified for our transgression; all we bring to the equation is faithlessness and adultery (forsaking our first love and following Idols). In this way God get’s all the glory for the rescue of his Children. He is truly both the just and justifier. God instituted a covenant of works and then fulfilled its requirements with his own blood.

20. 27 Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith. If we did swim to the Life Vest or were smart enough to choose God on our own accord then we would deserve the lion’s share of the credit for our own salvation as we would then be the responsible party, the effective element driving the equation. If our salvation were dependent on our “free choice” then Christ did not actually accomplish anything on the Cross. Christ’s blood would have only opened the door for our salvation but we were the ones who walked through it. I prefer to believe (and the bible supports) that God cares more for me eternal salvation than for my autonomy. Please look very, very closely at Eph 2:8-10: “8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. In this verse we see the interplay of faith, grace and works. Notice we are saved by Grace- the gift not only of Christ’s life and blood but also of our faith. Notice how Paul qualifies “faith. And this is not of your own doing.” Our faith is not something we can drum up or create on our own (remember the discussion of Total Depravity) No, the very faith that secures our Justification is also the gift of God. And why? That no one may boast. God is entirely responsible for our salvation and far from robots, we praise God as those helpless dead, frozen children made alive only by the very breath of God.

21. He will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. 31 Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law. This is occasionally referred to as the “new covenant,” I prefer to instead call it the “full revelation of the Old Covenant,” as even Old Testament Jews were ultimately saved by Christ’s blood through a primitive faith that God in his mercy would somehow atone for their law breaking. Thus, in Christ’s sacrifice, the law is upheld like never before because the Justice of God has finally (after 2000 yrs of prophesy) been finally (once and for all) satisfied.


Sun Tzu:

“Therefore a wise general strives to feed off the enemy. Each Pound of food taken from the enemy is equivalent to twenty pounds you provide by yourself.”

“Transportation of provision itself consumes twenty times the amount transported.”

The Intellectual Devotion (Kidder, D. & Oppenheim N. The Intellectual Devotion, Rodale. NY, NY 2006):

Sarah. Sarah was the wife of Abraham and matriarch of the Jewish people. Sarah was so beautiful that when she and Abraham fled to Egypt during a famine, her beauty caused Abraham to fear for their safety. Concerned that Pharaoh would take Sarah and kill him, Abraham pretended that Sarah was his sister. Pharaoh did take Sarah, but God punished Pharaoh, allowing Sarah and Abraham to escape to Egypt together. Sarah was infertile for the majority of her life. Thus, as was the custom, she gave her handmaiden, Hagar to Abraham so that he could continue his lineage. Hagar gave birth to Ishmael (Muslim’s claim him as their patriarch). After Ishmael’s birth, Sarah became jealous and Abraham banished Hagar and Ishmael. When Sarah was 99 years old, through divine intervention, she bore Isaac the father of Jacob (Israel). Sarah died at 127 and was buried in the Hebron Valley where, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are also buried.

Rom 2

Date: 9 February 2009 D – 13 Days

Events:

7 Feb: Easy day, Marla and I laid around the house most of the day, recovering from our huge meal Friday night. We watched Run Fat Boy, Run catchy title, right? Good movie. Otherwise we just spent quality time together.

8 Feb: Got up and went to Church. We got to be greeters and help collect the offering both of which went fine. Our Church was full because 3 kids got baptized and our pastor gave a great sermon, the sermon was based on the text of Numbers 11 and focused on our responsibility to heed the Bible as the written will of God, the Church as God’s most immediate earthly institution responsible for teaching, encouraging and disciplining the Christian and our brothers/sisters as God’s chosen vessel to give us an outsiders perspective on how the Bibles text may be applied to our specific circumstance. While I am pretty good at Listening to God’s written word, I have not capitalized on the opportunity to seek instruction from the Church or my fellow Christians as I should have while in San Antonio. Most of the reason that I remember Ft Worth so fondly is that I was deeply involved at Christ Chapel and surround by a great group of believers. I deeply regret not getting more involved with our church or friends and look forward to a new start this summer when we move to a new city. We went to yoga last night and came home and watched the Grammy’s.

Bible:

Rom 2

God's Righteous Judgment

2 Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things. 2 We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who do such things. 3 Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who do such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God? 4 Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? 5 But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God's righteous judgment will be revealed.

6 He will render to each one according to his works: 7 to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; 8 but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. 9 There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, 10 but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. 11 For God shows no partiality.

God's Judgment and the Law

12 For all who have sinned without the law will also perish without the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. 13 For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified. 14 For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. 15 They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them 16 on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus.

17 But if you call yourself a Jew and rely on the law and boast in God 18 and know his will and approve what is excellent, because you are instructed from the law; 19 and if you are sure that you yourself are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, 20 an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of children, having in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth— 21 you then who teach others, do you not teach yourself? While you preach against stealing, do you steal? 22 You who say that one must not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? 23 You who boast in the law dishonor God by breaking the law. 24 For, as it is written, "The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you."

25 For circumcision indeed is of value if you obey the law, but if you break the law, your circumcision becomes uncircumcision. 26 So, if a man who is uncircumcised keeps the precepts of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision? 27 Then he who is physically uncircumcised but keeps the law will condemn you who have the written code and circumcision but break the law. 28 For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. 29 But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God.


Bible Thoughts:

1. When I picked up my bible for the first time that pivotal August day (see yesterdays post) and was supernaturally guided to and through Romans, there were two things that brought the letter to life for me, the first was my newly regenerated soul that was now able to understand the bible as interpreted through the viewing box of the gospel, and the second was that I read through the letter in its entirety in one setting as opposed to the choppy way we typically read the bible. Remember, all verse and chapter delineations were placed in the bible not by the original authors, but years later to enable easier location and discussion of the text. The punch of the letter is lost as we pick it up one day, read a few sentences, then put it down not to be thought about again for at least another 24 hrs when we try to pick up right where we left off. We complain that the bible is difficult to understand and granted it can be, but it is not made any easier by reading one piece at a time then flipping mid-thought to another section and reading a letter from a different author, addressed to a different audience, written for a different purpose. We would not attempt to read a piece of literature this way so why do we read the bible this way? I am victim in my daily life to the same trap as it is difficult to find time to read each book in the bible as it is written, but my point is that if we get frustrated by a particularly difficult verse, the answer to it’s interpretation likely lies either just before or after it. So, before throwing your bible and having a fit (as I have before) take a second and consider the context. As we move on to “Chapter 2” of Romans, we must therefore consider it in light of what we have just read in chapter 1 and what we are about to read in chapter 3. Romans like no other book in the bible moves systematically through the doctrine of salvation (soteriology). Paul is writing to Romans “Christians” that he has never met and does not know where they stand in doctrinal knowledge or maturity. Thus each book builds upon the last and is incredibly difficult (even dangerous) to interpret alone. In light of this, I will attempt to place each verse in the context of the chapter and each chapter in the context of the letter and each letter in the context of the gospel in order to more fully illuminate Paul’s points. . Paul, in “Chapter 1” begins by describing what we learned about yesterday, the “General Revelation” whereby, because of the majesty of creation, man is without excuse if he/she denies an intelligent creator. Paul will, in “chapter 2”, take it one step further demonstrating the despite the Jews having both the law (Old Testament) and their precious traditions (demonstrated by the ritual of circumcision), they were under no special protection for the coming judgment. God’s righteous judgment was promised and would come and, the Jews would be unable to fall back on their ancestry, their law or their rituals to save them from the wrath of God due their sin. In Chapter 2 Paul will, many times hold the law up as good (which it is) and, taken out of context, people may use this as a support of law based righteousness. However, when taken in the context of Chapter 3 (perhaps the greatest discourse on the depravity of man in the bible) we see that Paul is not saying that anyone (except Christ) is declared righteous by the law, only that the law, as God’s gift, is good.

2. …For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things… Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who do such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God? As Jesus criticized hypocrites, so will Paul. In the context of the beginning of Romans chapter 2, as Paul moves from his discussion of the “General Revelation” of creation to the “specific revelation” of the old testament and newly revealed gospel, he moves on from criticizing the unbelieving world for ignoring the testimony of the creation to criticizing the Jews for their judgment and condemnation of the world. Paul may not know the Romans he is writing to but he surely knows the soul of man. Paul knows that as soon as comparison starts, pride swells. Paul pre-empts this spiritual pride with a hammer. As Paul will soon make clear, “all have sinned” (Romans 3:23). It was made clear by Jesus that sins external action is merely the tip of the iceberg. “21 You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not murder’…. 22 But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, 'You fool!' will be liable to the hell of fire...27 “You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery.' 28 But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” Matt 5:21-23,27-29. Far from sitting in a “special” position to judge the world, the Jews and church privileged with the full revelation of grace, mercy and salvation are now without excuse when we heap judgment and insult upon the unbelieving world. The Parable of the unmerciful servant comes to mind,

“23 "Therefore the kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who wished to settle accounts with his servants. 24 When he began to settle, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents. 25 And since he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made. 26 So the servant fell on his knees, imploring him, 'Have patience with me, and I will pay you everything.' 27 And out of pity for him, the master of that servant released him and forgave him the debt. 28 But when that same servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii, and seizing him, he began to choke him, saying, 'Pay what you owe.' 29 So his fellow servant fell down and pleaded with him, 'Have patience with me, and I will pay you.' 30 He refused and went and put him in prison until he should pay the debt. 31 When his fellow servants saw what had taken place, they were greatly distressed, and they went and reported to their master all that had taken place. 32 Then his master summoned him and said to him, 'You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. 33 And should not you have had mercy on your fellow servant, as I had mercy on you?' 34 And in anger his master delivered him to the jailers, until he should pay all his debt. 35 So also my heavenly Father will do to every one of you, if you do not forgive your brother from your heart." Matt 18:23-35

Before any spiritual pride wells up in my heart, I must remember the quote, “But for the grace of God, there go I.” I was not smart enough to choose Christ, nore good enough to deserve salvation. Without God’s intervention I would never have willingly chosen Christ and without Christ’s imputed righteousness there is no true good in me. In remembering this, far from pridefully condemning the world, I can identify with the world; understanding that without the grace of God, I would be committing the exact same worldly sins (if I’m not already). if I am in anyway better than the world, all I can do is humbly thank God for his grace and if I fall short of the world, I must rely still greater on the cross because, as one who now understands the full revelation of scripture, one given the holy spirit to lead me from sin, when I fall into sin, how much greater should my condemnation be?

3. 4 Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? Thanks be to God that he did not pull the plug when Adam disobeyed; thanks be to God that he did not toss me to the wolves at my first sin or the thousands that followed each insulting glory and dishonoring his name. May I never “presume” upon God’s love like a child that has gotten away with breaking curfew so frequently that I think of my Father as a softy. God deserves, no…demands respect and promises that every word will be accounted for at Judgment and all that I will be able to do is cry out for Christ’s help.

4. …God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance… I discuss a lot of wrath and as I first mulled over this verse felt a bit convicted, I thought maybe all that lovey-dovey stuff preached in the liberal church was worthwhile. Praise the Lord for bringing me back to my senses…how are people to know the love of God without first realizing the wrath of God? How are people to be thankful for their rescue when they have no idea what they have been rescued from? A verse that has recently come alive to me like never before is Matt 11:16-17 "But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their playmates, 17 "'We played the flute for you, and you did not dance;we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.' A generation that has lost consequence has no need for a savior; a generation that has lost their need has no love of a savior. Truly, “he who is forgiven much, loves much” (Luke 7) and how are we to rejoice in our great forgiveness without first realizing what we have been forgiven for. I preach a wrathful God firstly because He is the biblical God and secondly because the never-ending preaching of God’s love has so diluted God’s justice in our culture that we are no longer able to dance for our great salvation.

5. 6 He will render to each one according to his works: 7 to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; This is one of those tough verses that I spoke of earlier, one that requires looking forward to the next chapter to determine exactly what Paul means. The question is, how do we marry this verse with what Paul’s later point in Roman’s 3, “all have sinned,” Romans 6, “the wages of sin are death,” and later in Galatians 3:11, “11 But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith.” The key is to realize where our righteousness comes from. The law as impartial and just truly does offer salvation (eternal life) to any/all who can keep it. The problem as Paul is about to explain in Roman’s 3 is that no naturally born human can actually keep it. There was only one, born not with the taint of original sin, born not with the inclination away from God towards sin who was actually able to keep the whole law and earn for himself and the human race salvation (Romans 5, coming up) that one was Jesus Christ. Truly we do have a merit/works based religion, the works that merit our salvation are just not our own but Christ’s accounted to us through faith. Christ’s sinless life (2 Cor 5:22, and Hebrews 4:15) is called his “active obedience” by which he earned not only his own salvation but also the salvation of all who would honor him by trusting in his person and work.

6. 11 For God shows no partiality. This statement has been unnaturally separated from the paragraphs that follow it. Far from completing the prior paragraph, actually seems to serve as a topic sentence for the next few paragraphs. As we look at the next two paragraphs Paul demonstrates that the Jews and Christians are in no way preferred to the gentile simply in title, law or tradition.

7. 14 For when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the law. 15 They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts... There is little doubt that even unbelievers can do good. This good is called “civic good” or “common good” because it is not true good (motivated for God’s glory), but it is still good as defined by the law. The gift of the conscience screams against “natural selection” and for a work of art, made in the image of a compassionate, loving creator. What evolutionary advantage does is confer to help others at the risk of self? No, the conscience is God’s law written on the world’s heart. Though all societies do not poses the Old Testament 613 laws, all societies do poses a conscience, an internal “moral law.” This ‘Moral law’ both testifies to a creator and against the righteousness of the self. It is the gift of the conscience that will ultimately condemn those far off nations when they deny their creator and having knowingly violated their conscience make no adequate atonement (blood) for such violation. It is horrifying to me when the Oprah’s of society falsely reassure felons that their trespass is forgiven simply because they are “sorry”, or that by some act of kindness that they may somehow atone for their evil, equaled the cosmic right/wrong scale, thus no longer need to feel guilt. Ask the guilty if this false reassurance has ever truly cleansed their consciousness? Nearly all suicidal patients that I have talked to (and I’ve talked to hundreds) have at their root excessive guilt felt over transgressions that has thus far been entirely resistant to treatment by all worldly counseling and psychiatry. We are setting people up for failure when take their justly felt guilt and tell them is has been cosmically righted because they are “sorry”, we both know that it hasn’t; our collective conscience testifies against it. You will find that the most joyful persons in the Church are those who remember the guilt they lived in (like myself) before claiming Christ’s adequate sacrifice as an atonement. As the author of Hebrews puts it, “19 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, 20 by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.” Heb 10:19-24

8. 21 you then who teach others, do you not teach yourself? A scary admonition that reminds me of James 3:1 “ Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.”

9. 23 You who boast in the law dishonor God by breaking the law. 24 For, as it is written, "The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you." An even scarier statement when I consider how often my life may be use by the unbelieving world to blaspheme God. When I am branded with the title of Christian, people watch my life more closely. Perhaps it’s that inner evil within all of us that enjoys seeing people trip as they walk up stairs, crashes their stock cars and enjoys the fights at hockey games more than the goals, but the fact is that the world loves to see professing Christian’s fall. It is likely that most of this attitude stems from the Holier-than-Thou position Christians justly or unjustly are charged with. It is true, many Christians (I’m sure myself at times) may appear Holier-than-thou but this is the very attitude that this chapter argues so strongly against. That as Christians, far from being smarter or more righteous than our unbelieving neighbors, we must remember that without the external, undeserved righteousness of Christ we are no better than our neighbors and in many instances much worse than our neighbors, not only before we became Christians but even as professing Christians. Though I know the law and its consequence, and understand the full revelation of the Gospel in scripture, I am constantly contending with the “plank in my own eye,” far from being concerned with my neighbors actions or my plans for tomorrow, I should be fully occupied with sanctifying the next thought through my head, the next glance of my eyes, and the next action of my hand. Not because these actions justify me but because I realize the extreme pain to God, Christ, my earthly relationships and myself that my sins cause. The thought that I am branded with the name of Christ and the world considers my actions a reflection upon Him while humbling and terrifying is something I must never forget.

10. 25 For circumcision indeed is of value if you obey the law, but if you break the law, your circumcision becomes uncircumcision…28 For no one is a Jew who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. 29 But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter… Beautiful reiteration of 1 Sam 16:7-8, “For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart." Misunderstanding their own salvation, many Jews relied upon their lineage depicted in the sign of circumcision for their salvation. Circumcision was given as a sign of the Faith of Abraham, not the line of Abraham. The bible often speaks of the “Remnant” or the “True Israel”, the fraction of Israel that was truly saved by faith in God’s promise, not by external action or ritual. Even today, the majority of the Jewish faithful rely on external obedience to the law and ritual for their salvation, while there is a “remnant” that are truly saved by continued reliance on the promised Gospel of God, these are the so called Messianic Jews. The Jewish people received a special grace from God when they were given the Law, as they now had a much better understanding of God’s standards than their fellow gentiles but, as they found themselves breaking this law (as all inevitably did) they were not to rely on their ritual circumcision for their salvation but the actual covenant that their circumcision represented. The covenant that God would somehow rescue his faithful people. A salvation that ultimately was found in Christ not circumcision. As Paul later says in Gal 5:2-5 “…if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. 3 I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law. 4 You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace." Paul is, of course, not saying that the Circumcised are unable to be saved, what he means is that those reliant on circumcision and law (instead of Christ) are unable to be saved. While the Jews were privileged with the Law and the sign of circumcision, neither were given to grant salvation, but to point to the one from whom salvation would ultimately come, The Christ.

Sun Tzu:

“The common people provide goods, food, and labor for the use of the military, thus losing most of their own sustenance, while the government provides equipment for the use of the military, thus losing more than half of its budget. Therefore taxes are used up, the army is worn out, and the populace is exhausted. When levies are oppressive and the people are impoverished, the country is drained.”

The Intellectual Devotion (Kidder, D. & Oppenheim N. The Intellectual Devotion, Rodale. NY, NY 2006):

“Plato’s Cave Allegory,” In Plato’s Republic he describes a scenario in which men, trapped in a cave, can see only the shadows of objects projected on the wall. They are forced to face forward while a fire burns behind them. Objects are held up in front of the fire, projecting images the men identify. For instance, the men in the cave may think they see a book, but what they see is only the book’s shadow as it is held up behind them. When a man escapes the cave to witness the true nature of things, he is at first pained by the brilliance of the sun and confused by the physical objects. But when he eventually understands the true nature of the world, he pities the masses who know only shadows. Of course, the men in the cave resist learning the truth and think their escaped friend is crazy when he tries to describe it. In the allegory, the men trapped in the cave represent the world’s ignorant masses. They see only representations of objects, the sights and sounds that can be discerned by our physical senses. To Plato the man who escapes the cave to witness the true nature of things is the philosopher.

Rom 1

Date: 7 February 2009

Events:

Slept in (still on leave), read, wrote, played with Sadie and by the time I had finished, Marla was home and we watched a great show on the History Channel called Bible Battles. In Bible Battles, the commentators are all military historians and they follow Israel from the Joshua through the Judges and into Saul’s reign discussing the tactic’s Israel used in each significant battle. The show had great graphic depictions of the battles, knowledgeable commentary and a good bit of theatrics during the battles. It gave a good impression of how bloody war was back then. The Military historians, of course, interpret all campaigns strictly from a tactical standpoint, often butchering the theology but it was a very good show overall and I would highly recommend it. Marla and I went out to a Brazilian Steakhouse last night with some great friends and it was amazing!

Bible:

ROMANS

Greeting

1 Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, 2 which

he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, 3 concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh 4 and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, 5 through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, 6 including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ,

7 To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints:
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Longing to Go to Rome

8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world. 9 For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I mention you 10 always in my prayers, asking that somehow by God's will I may now at last succeed in coming to you. 11 For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you— 12 that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith, both yours and mine. 13 I want you to know, brothers, that I have often intended to come to you (but thus far have been prevented), in order that I may reap some harvest among you as well as among the rest of the Gentiles. 14 I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. 15 So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.

The Righteous Shall Live by Faith

16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, "The righteous shall live by faith."

God's Wrath on Unrighteousness

18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. 21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.
24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.
26 For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; 27 and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.
28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. 29 They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32 Though they know God's decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.

Bible Thoughts:

1. By way of an introduction to Romans, let me first say this is my favorite book in the bible. Romans was written to Christians in Rome that Paul had never met. Therefore, instead of dealing with specific issues as we will see in most of his other epistles, Paul moves systematically through the doctrines of the faith. My love for this book, however is far deeper than simply as a great doctrinal work as this book was instrumental in my final conversion to Christianity. Though for years, I had gone to Church and considered myself a Christian, in the summer of 1999 I went off to ROTC Advanced Camp in Fort Lewis Washington. My battle buddy for the 8 weeks was a solid Christian guy and though we never discussed theology he would often sing or hum as we trekked through the woods. It was at Advanced Camp that I felt an inner change occur that I was unable to describe until years later. Barely aware of the change at the time, I never mentioned it and probably wrote it off as sleep deprivation. When I returned to Fort Worth, however, the change was more evident. I no longer wanted to hang out with my girlfriend of 3 years and had a great urge to read a bible. I finally stopped one day, randomly opened the bible to a book and started reading. And what book did I randomly open to but Romans. I had likely seen or at least heard some verses from Romans prior to this experience but for the first time, I understood what I was reading. Through sort of a Never Ending Story experience, as I moved through Paul’s exposition of the universality of sin, the fall of man, the origin of my faith and my necessary response, I found myself and my faith in the text. In my opinion, my heart was regenerated, “reborn” (not by my own will/desire) that summer at Advanced Camp and I repented and believed that August back in Fort Worth. God may correct me when I get to heaven but that’s my testimony. The Lord must hold Romans in high esteem as He used it to awaken not only my soul, but Luther’s as well (comment 11).

2. “Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle” If asked, I feel that Paul would echo my own experience of contributing nothing to salvation. Instead of an actor’s/effectors our conversions we were, instead, acted upon. Far from weighing the cost/benefit of the gospel and deciding to internally muster a belief, quite the contrary, one day a belief was given to us by external, irresistible force. Paul’s conversion experience in which was called to apostleship and became a servant of Christ was, however, a bit more dramatic than my own. As a Jewish Pharisee from birth, Paul (Saul at that point) had spent his life zealously studying the scriptures. Paul was passionate for his Jewish faith as demonstrated by how aggressively he persecuted the Christians even condoning the killing of our first martyr Stephen (Acts 7). This, however, changed in an instant (and quite contrary to his will I might add) when Christ appeared to Paul and irresistibly drew him to apostleship. The story is awesome and classic please enjoy it again:

Acts 9:1-19

9 But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest 2 and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem. 3 Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. 4 And falling to the ground he heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?" 5 And he said, "Who are you, Lord?" And he said, "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. 6 But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do." 7 The men who were traveling with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one. 8 Saul rose from the ground, and although his eyes were opened, he saw nothing. So they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. 9 And for three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank.

10 Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, "Ananias." And he said, "Here I am, Lord." 11 And the Lord said to him, "Rise and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul, for behold, he is praying, 12 and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight." 13 But Ananias answered, "Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints at Jerusalem. 14 And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on your name." 15 But the Lord said to him, "Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. 16 For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name." 17 So Ananias departed and entered the house. And laying his hands on him he said, "Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit." 18 And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he rose and was baptized; 19 and taking food, he was strengthened.
From this point onward Saul’s (Paul) life was irresistibly altered. There would be no more sleeping in a comfortable bed, no more life with his immediate family, no more standing in a place of honor as a Pharisee. Instead Paul was conscripted to become, in my opinion, the most influential of all the apostles. Paul left his life of comfort and accolade to become a missionary to the gentiles, despised by his own people. The life Paul found in Christ, however, was more full of love, grace, peace and contentment than any he could of dreamt of as a Pharisee (see the last chapter of any of his epistles or Philippians). His eternal reward was secured, Paul embarked on his exciting and eternally fulfilling journey.

3. …gospel of God… And, why was Paul willing to forsake all becoming a slave to Christ and apostle to the Gentiles? The Gospel, the “good news” to the world that whereas the Law that Paul knew so well promised only condemnation and death, Christ, living a perfect life earned for us all of the reward of heaven and in his death paid the final sentence due the law. Now through belief (honoring) Christ’s historic person and work we can be imputed (given) his merit unto heaven and his death can be our paid debt.

4. …promised beforehand through his prophets… who was descended from David… Why had Paul and the other Pharisee’s not recognized Jesus as the promised messiah? They had misinterpreted the Old Testament prophesies. The Jews were looking for a king in the worldly sense who would save them from their worldly oppressors forever. The Jews expected the messiah to be a militant king like David who would lead them in conquering the world. Thus, when Christ died there hope was lost. As grand as their expectations for the prophesied messiah were, they were none-the-less far too small. Far greater than rescuing the Jews to a worldly comfort and security, in Christ’s death, He has rescued them to an eternal comfort and security; and, far greater than a militant conquer of the gentiles, he has conquered without weapons but with an offered assimilation into the promises of the Jews. The Prophesy concerning the messiah is extensive and all points accurately to the life and work of Jesus Christ.

5. …declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead… As discussed yesterday in Matthew 28, our best evidence that Christ truly was the son of God, lived without sin, and paid our debt was death’s inability to hold him. Likewise, our hope rests solidly in the fact that as Christ conquered death, through his completed work, so shall we.

6. 6 including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ, Paul could mean one of two things here, if Paul speaks to the “general call” (as this is prior to addressing the saints) then it is true, the whole world is called to belong to Christ, some of course will not heed this call. On the other hand Paul may be speaking of the "effectual call" meaning that if people are reading his letter and professing to be believers we can make the safe’ish assumption that they have been effectively called (given faith). The point worth making is that Human’s are free to follow their will, their will however is never neutral. Without Gods supernatural intervention (effectual call) people will invariably follow their own selfish desires not submitting to Christ’s lordship. It is only through God’s regeneration of the person that they are then able to respond affirmatively to the gospel and submit to Christ’s lordship.

7. 7 To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Always important to recognize who the letter is addressing many a theological argument can be resolved by simply determining who the author is talking to. For instance, I would discuss different issues in different ways with my wife, vs. my Christian friends, vs. my non-Christian friends. I might write a love letter to my wife, addressed to my wife, that taken out of context and applied to my friend Joel would look quite inappropriate

8. 8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world. My question to the Arminean (free-willer’s) is… if faith is entirely something that you internally drum up and you are not influenced by God in any external way, so as to impede your freedom, then why does Paul thank God for the disciple’s faith at the beginning of every one of his letters??? Paul does not thank God for simply opening the way to salvation but for their faith. If God has nothing to do in influencing or giving with your “freely” self-created faith then why thank God? Further, why would we pray for an unbeliever’s faith if we did not believe God to work in regeneration prior to the unbeliever’s repentance. It is horribly inconsistent to fight so hard for Free-will and then all of a sudden turn around and pray that God would give your mother faith. In the end which is more important that the almighty free-will is not encroached upon or that your mother is saved? What God would you rather serve, a deity that stays at a distance so as not to disrupt free-will, throwing the flotation devise but waiting for you to swim to it or a God that performs CPR on your dead soul, who is responsible for your salvation from beginning to end? Which God deserves more Glory? Which God is more powerful? Forget all those questions and ask yourself the only important one, which God is described in the bible?

9. 16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. As I said earlier, Jesus is techniquley the Jewish Messiah. Romans 11 is a beautiful commentary as to how we gentiles, out of love, have been incorporated into God’s plan for the Redemption of True Israel.

10. "The righteous shall live by faith." It was Luther’s intense study of Romans, Galatians and in particular this verse that sparked the reformation. Luther, a monk in the Catholic Church in the 16th century was deeply troubled by this verse as he witnessed righteousness being promised not by faith but by pious acts, rituals and at its worst being sold. Luther’s intent was never to split the Church but to reform the church, to take the Church back to what it had been just a few years earlier. Luther, having studied church history and as a student of Saint Augustus came to realize that the bible (and Catholic Church up until the 15th century) promises righteousness as based on internal faith not on external action. A righteousness based on the finished work of Christ, not the continued “righteous” activity of the individual. The bible promises an imputed (external) righteousness (Christ’s) that through faith is gifted to the believer completely separate from good works. The bible further says that attempts to achieve salvation based on this self-righteousness is insulting to Christ and makes void his sacrifice (Galatians 2). Luther noticed the gross deviation of his Church from this concept that had occurred during his life; righteousness was not earned by Christ’s work on the Cross but sold at a cost. Righteousness in the catholic church of the 16th century was granted by endless rituals, long journeys to the holy land and at its worst actually sold. If the individual 16th century catholic was deemed righteous by these pious activities and did not need any further “indulgence” then they could always make a financial or action-based donation toward their dead relatives righteousness. Understand that there were many in the Church that also attempted to stop these abuses, these debates culminated in the Council of Trent where the opposition (not just from Luther) from within the Catholic Church was quenched and the doctrines that defined the 16th Century Church were institutionalized. There were then and continue to be amazing believers in the catholic church but this new 16th Century Catholic Church’s refusal to rely on the tenets of the Reformation (what had been the tenets of their own church) led to the split. Do not be deceived, it is the Church that changed not the reformers. As their name implies, the reformers tried to bring the Church back to the doctrine it was founded upon, Righteous based on Faith alone in Christ alone given by Grace alone for the Glory of God alone as described in the only authoritative text, the Bible.

11. 19 For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 20 For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. Here we see the concept of “General Revelation.” The world around us testifies to a creator. People have recognized the presence of a creator based on the world around them since the beginning. Modern man’s denial of a creator is in no way a more sophisticated or intellectual opinion than the caveman’s acceptance of a creator; in-fact, quite the contrary, it cry’s of the ignorance of modern man as to the true purpose of science. Science merely describes the world around us it has never created anything. The fact that we can now explain how things work through science in no way voids the need for a creator as we have never and will never, threw science uncover history. We may see how things mechanically work but we cannot understand what put them together, nor can we understand why they were put together. Far from contradicting each other, science and religion complement each other as each seeks to answer a completely different question. As we let the bible answer questions it address, let’s confine science to the questions it address, the mechanisms not the creation or the why’s.

12. 21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, It seems to me that people have lost their amazement for the general revelation as described above, instead they seem content to believe that somewhere there is some scientist standing in a long white coat that can explain the existence of a universe without the need for a God. As one who wears a long white coat and studies the human body let me be the first to say that we cannot explain even the most basic functions of the human body; a body that we can touch and experiment on let alone the mysteries of a vast universe that we have only scraped the surface of. There are molecules (not cells, molecules…strings of carbon) in your body that do more complex tasks than any human could dream of accomplishing. Tirelessly these molecules check each of the 3 billion different proteins created in the nucleus of a cell to ensure each of its thousand constituent amino acids is in exactly the right place so that the protein will function as intended, one mistake could cost not just the cell but your life. There is no human with a brain, hands, feet and a library of knowledge that could accomplish this task and are we so silly as to believe that science can apart from a God created the universe and bank our eternal life on it? Talk about futile.

13. 24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator You may be tempted to think only of the Golden Calf, but I feel that many people are worshiping a “God” and “Christ” that I submit are actually creatures and not the ultimate Creators. I went out to lunch recently with an interesting man that new a great deal of church history and on the surface said all the right things but under the surface denied the need for nearly all creeds. Therein is a huge problem, without creeds (definitions) my Christ and the true biblical Christ may be entirely different entities. I may worship with name “Christ” but if I mean Raingod, then I am worshiping an idol. Granted the difference is not generally this great, just an example. Many of us however, worship God as our teddy bear in the sky, a god that is all love and devoid of any of his other characteristics such as Justice, Holiness etc… I would again submit that far from worshiping the Biblical God they are worshiping an Idol god as their God does not approximate the God of the Bible. 22 On that day many will say to me (Christ), 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' 23 And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.' Matt 7:22-23. This is why Creeds and Doctrine are essential, without them we have nothing to define the God that Rules, we have no common language or understanding and are at constant risk of worshiping an Idol.

14. ...men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. This begs, can a homosexual be a Christian...to which I would answer, Yes. With the reservation that a person that is actively participating in homosexuality (like any sin) without any remorse, without any felt need for repentance is not demonstrating the “fruit” that would say they are a Christian. Homosexual guys are some of the coolest and nicest that I know. Like me, they have sin in their life. By definition however, a Christian is no longer slave to such sin but desires righteousness. Thus, I would say that the sin in their life is no worse than the sin in my life and as long as we both desire true, godly repentance (not living in and loving sin) then there is hope for both of our souls. If, however, I am talking with a homosexual who feels no remorse and no need for repentance but gladly touts his life as ok and the bibles teachings as outdated, then I would have to assume him not to be a Christian. The beauty of the Gospel is that while we are all sinners, Christ’s blood is able to cover that sin, whatever it is. And, the Holy Spirit is promised to pull us out of our sin.

15. 32 Though they know God's decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them. This speaks past “General Revelation” displayed to all by the creation, to a “Special Revelation” given through the Bible. Paul implies a deeper knowledge of the consequence of sin but a willing desire to continue unrepentantly in this sin. As above, the one who feels no remorse/repentance for whatever the sin is likely not a Christian.

Sun Tzu:

“Those who are near the army sell at high prices. Because of high prices, the wealth of the common people is exhausted.”

“Also because there are extraordinary levies, those with something to sell demand the highest prices they can get.”

Sun Tzu Thoughts:

Economics from the military stratigest! Sun Tzu describes something lost on the American people today, that businesses don’t pay taxes. Businesses simply pass the tax on to the consumer as increased price or go out of business these days with such a low profit margin. Thus, a tax cut for business is a tax cut for the people.

The Intellectual Devotion (Kidder, D. & Oppenheim N. The Intellectual Devotion, Rodale. NY, NY 2006):

Instruments and Ensembles: Not including the human voice, there are five categories of musical instrument: 1) Strings (plucked or played with a bow), 2) Winds (played by blowing air), 3) Percussion (played with stick), 4) Keyboards, and 5) Electronic instruments

In 1750, the Baroque orchestra was established with a wind section, percussion, continuo (keyboard) and a string section. The Violin was the dominant voice of the baroque period.
With the advent of the Classical Period, the winds were increasingly used. Franz Joseph Haydn and Mozart are good examples.

In the 19th and 20th centuries composers such as Richard Wagner, Gustav Mahler and Arnold Schoenberg have written pieces for very large orchestras and incorporated instruments from popular culture such as saxophones, synthesizers and other electronic devices.