Podcasts about romans paul

Ps Sean rounds off this series of messages on Multiply with a message about The Power of the Cross. Specifically, Sean speaks about empowering our lives to live out of the power of the Cross. We may have an understanding of the Cross as good Christians, but there's more to it than to just understand. We we need to walk in the power of the cross. We need to have an outworking of the power of the Cross.Understanding the message of the Gospel brings truth, freedom, deliverance and everything we but there is no power until we unveil the message. The message is what we carry, the message of the power of the Cross brings multiplication everywhere we go. We don't walk in our own ways, we walk in His ways - the very life of Jesus. We walk in the same way Jesus did, the power of deliverance. The power of the Cross is that we no longer live, but Christ now lives in us, and we no longer have to live according to the flesh but according to the power of the Spirit. This is why (in Romans) Paul emphasises that we no longer live according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. The spirit is the Harvest of the Cross, it's what we've received through the dying of Jesus, we've received new life, freedom and wholeness.Sean goes on to mention three main hurdles to living in the power of the cross:We need to get over our ability. Our inability & inadequacies are no problem for God, but often they become a barrier for usWe need to get over our knowledge. This is a tough one because as human beings, we think we know what is best all the time.....sometimes God's not asking us to understand, but just to be obedientHis Spirit over our flesh. When we do everything according to o ur flesh we're going to deny three times (as Peter did). We are negative - no multiplication! It's the opposite. But when we live according to the spirit it's plus three thousand every day!To see multiplication, we must come into the Lord, through the power of the Cross. Love has must be the motivation in everything we do. It gives us the grace, allows us to walk in forgiveness and is unconditional everywhere we go. If we are not walking by love, then we cannot do this.

Send us a text

In a world filled with disagreements, how can we find real unity? This message explores the radical way the Apostle Paul calls us to handle deep differences with love and grace. Discover how to move beyond just tolerating others to truly embracing unity in your relationships.00:00 Introduction: Love Trumps Being Right00:27 Welcoming and Setting the Scene00:45 Diving into Romans: Paul's Heart for Discipleship03:02 Unity Over Personal Victory06:40 Accepting Differences in the Church13:51 Living Out Love and Empathy19:04 Choosing Mission Over Comfort22:18 Final Greetings and Transformational Grace24:46 Conclusion: Embodying the GospelTAKE A NEXT STEP:INTRODUCE YOURSELF

Exodus 5 tells of Moses and Aaron standing before Pharaoh and issuing their demand and ultimatum. Pharaoh arrogantly responds, “Who is Yahweh?” Proud man you will learn when He abases you. He tells his slaves – no more straw for bricks – it will become worse for Israel should you try to resist me. Back to rigorous work you idle slaves, Pharaoh says. The foremen of the Israelites were beaten when they failed to reach their tally of bricks. The delegates of the Israelites sent spokesmen to Pharaoh, who told them to stop complaining and to work harder. When these spokesmen later met Moses and Aaron, they told God's envoys to leave as attempts at intervention had only increased their sufferings. Somewhat despondently Moses and Aaron pray for the people. May we likewise learn trust and perseverance when we are under trial.In chapter 6 God's response is, “I am Yahweh” and was known to the patriarchal fathers as“El Shaddai” – the strength of the nourishers; and, the strength of the destroyers (behold the goodness and the severity of the LORD,Romans 11 verses 22 to 23). But, God says, rhetorically “Did not they know my name, Yahweh?” Surely they did as Moses indicated (Genesis 4 verses 1, 25-26; and frequently the patriarchs “call upon Yahweh”. The future intent contained in the name is explained in verses 6-8, which uses Ehyeh the first person, future tense of Yahweh. The known name was to be understood in the context of Yahweh's personal covenant with His people, Israel. Moses seems to show discouragement at this time and a reluctance to take up the contest with Pharaoh. The finish of the chapter establishes the lineage of Yahweh's envoys, Moses and Aaron. Psalm 58 is yet another Michtam, which means “an engraving” (that is letters carved deep because of their important message. The centre margin in many Bibles tells us that the Psalm carries a superscription from Psalm 59. belonging actually to Psalm 58 as a subscript “Al-taschith”. This was a plea for God to “destroy not” – that is, to spare David. The psalmist calls upon his Sovereign to deliver him from his enemies, that continued to prowl like vicious dogs intent on his being savaged. These enemies were, he says, incapable of speaking, or doing, truly. They were venomous snakes. God would cause them to dissolve in their slime, like a snail; and like a stillborn child to not coming to the birth. When God avenges the righteous and repays the wicked there will be rejoicing and praise for the Almighty's vindication of His people.The 59th Psalm is yet another Michtam from David. It was written to celebrate deliverance from Saul, who had watched David's house, and had commanded his servants to slay David as soon as they could seize him. In verses 1-2 David's Sovereign's protection is called upon; he asks deliverance from the bloodthirsty Saul. David speaks of his innocence despite his persecution. Yahweh roused Himself to stand by the righteous; and save them in their distress. Like, in Psalm 2, the psalmist sees the LORD laughing derisively at the futility of those opposing His faithful anointed. The evil will be dealt with by the Omnipotent Creator. God's strength and steadfast love will be the empowering force for the faithful; for whom He is their fortress. In the 10th chapter of Romans Paul tells us what faith is and how it originates and affects the children of the Almighty. Sadly natural Israel had failed to understand what God's righteousness was and had sought, impossibly to establish their own based on a merit based system of law keeping. In verses 5-13 the argument is developed from the time of Moses, and based on the words of Deuteronomy 30 that salvation is beyond human effort, but rather dependent upon God's firstly raising up (or producing a sinless saviour) and consequently, being able to resurrect him from the dead. Our part is to accept and believe it. The chapter concludes with the fact that this is incredibly good news for us, who would be totally lost without this salvation. Faith, he concludes is based on hearing the Word of God.Chapter 11 of Romans is about national Israel, God's Chosen People, and the Gospel. Some points made include the following:- 1) the Lord God of Israel has never abandoned His people; 2) God has always raised up a remnant among them, to be saved by grace; 3) it has always been been Yahweh's purpose to save the faithful from all nations. In chapter 10 of Romans Paul tells us what faith is and how it originates and affects the children of the Almighty. Sadly natural Israel had failed to understand what God's righteousness was and had sought, impossibly to establish their own based on a meritorious system of law keeping. In verses 5-13 the argument is developed from the time of Moses, and based on the words of Deuteronomy 30 that salvation is beyond human effort, but rather dependent upon God's firstly raising up (or producing a sinless saviour) and consequently, able to resurrect him from the dead. Our part is to accept and believe it. The chapter concludes with the fact that this is incredibly good news for us, who would be totally lost without this. Faith, he concludes is based on hearing the Word of God.Chapter 11 of Romans is about national Israel, God's Chosen People, and the Gospel. Some points made include the following:- 1) the Lord God of Israel has never abandoned His people; 2) God has always raised up a remnant among them, to be saved by grace; 3) it has always been been Yahweh's purpose to save the faithful from all nations; 4) the inclusion of the Gentiles was intended to provoke natural Jews to return to their roots and the Father's original purpose for them; 5) Israel's restoration represents a national resurrection and is a token of the nearness of Christ's Kingdom which will be presaged by the resurrection of the dead; 6) the Scriptures abundantly attest this including the words of Joel 3 verses16-17 and 7) And this plan was always our Sovereign's purpose and He never changes from His determined will; 8) we must be in awe and marvel at the riches and wisdom of the Almighty. The great Apostle Paul marvels at the wisdom and foresight of the Almighty. Nothing has happened in His plan to save faithful Jews and Gentiles that the Father had not foreseen. We look forward to the day when the Deliverer will come to Zion and turn away ungodliness from Jacob, and so save Israel, a nation far degraded from its calling as illustrated in the current Jeremiah readings. Read verses 33-36 aloud and praise our Omnipotent Sovereign for His love and merciful kindness.

Exodus 5 tells of Moses and Aaron standing before Pharaoh and issuing their demand and ultimatum. Pharaoh arrogantly responds, “Who is Yahweh?” Proud man you will learn when He abases you. He tells his slaves – no more straw for bricks – it will become worse for Israel should you try to resist me. Back to rigorous work you idle slaves, Pharaoh says. The foremen of the Israelites were beaten when they failed to reach their tally of bricks. The delegates of the Israelites sent spokesmen to Pharaoh, who told them to stop complaining and to work harder. When these spokesmen later met Moses and Aaron, they told God's envoys to leave as attempts at intervention had only increased their sufferings. Somewhat despondently Moses and Aaron pray for the people. May we likewise learn trust and perseverance when we are under trial. In chapter 6 God's response is, “I am Yahweh” and was known to the patriarchal fathers as “El Shaddai” – the strength of the nourishers; and, the strength of the destroyers (behold the goodness and the severity of the LORD, Romans 11 verses 22 to 23). But, God says, rhetorically “Did not they know my name, Yahweh?” Surely they did as Moses indicated (Genesis 4 verses 1, 25-26; and frequently the patriarchs “call upon Yahweh”. The future intent contained in the name is explained in verses 6-8, which uses Ehyeh the first person, future tense of Yahweh. The known name was to be understood in the context of Yahweh's personal covenant with His people, Israel. Moses seems to show discouragement at this time and a reluctance to take up the contest with Pharaoh. The finish of the chapter establishes the lineage of Yahweh's envoys, Moses and Aaron. Psalm 58 is yet another Michtam, which means “an engraving” (that is letters carved deep because of their important message. The centre margin in many Bibles tells us that the Psalm carries a superscription from Psalm 59. belonging actually to Psalm 58 as a subscript “Al-taschith”. This was a plea for God to “destroy not” – that is, to spare David. The psalmist calls upon his Sovereign to deliver him from his enemies, that continued to prowl like vicious dogs intent on his being savaged. These enemies were, he says, incapable of speaking, or doing, truly. They were venomous snakes. God would cause them to dissolve in their slime, like a snail; and like a stillborn child to not coming to the birth. When God avenges the righteous and repays the wicked there will be rejoicing and praise for the Almighty's vindication of His people. The 59th Psalm is yet another Michtam from David. It was written to celebrate deliverance from Saul, who had watched David's house, and had commanded his servants to slay David as soon as they could seize him. In verses 1-2 David's Sovereign's protection is called upon; he asks deliverance from the bloodthirsty Saul. David speaks of his innocence despite his persecution. Yahweh roused Himself to stand by the righteous; and save them in their distress. Like, in Psalm 2, the psalmist sees the LORD laughing derisively at the futility of those opposing His faithful anointed. The evil will be dealt with by the Omnipotent Creator. God's strength and steadfast love will be the empowering force for the faithful; for whom He is their fortress. In the 10th chapter of Romans Paul tells us what faith is and how it originates and affects the children of the Almighty. Sadly natural Israel had failed to understand what God's righteousness was and had sought, impossibly to establish their own based on a merit based system of law keeping. In verses 5-13 the argument is developed from the time of Moses, and based on the words of Deuteronomy 30 that salvation is beyond human effort, but rather dependent upon God's firstly raising up (or producing a sinless saviour) and consequently, being able to resurrect him from the dead. Our part is to accept and believe it. The chapter concludes with the fact that this is incredibly good news for us, who would be totally lost without this salvation. Faith, he concludes is based on hearing the Word of God. Chapter 11 of Romans is about national Israel, God's Chosen People, and the Gospel. Some points made include the following:- 1) the Lord God of Israel has never abandoned His people; 2) God has always raised up a remnant among them, to be saved by grace; 3) it has always been been Yahweh's purpose to save the faithful from all nations. In chapter 10 of Romans Paul tells us what faith is and how it originates and affects the children of the Almighty. Sadly natural Israel had failed to understand what God's righteousness was and had sought, impossibly to establish their own based on a meritorious system of law keeping. In verses 5-13 the argument is developed from the time of Moses, and based on the words of Deuteronomy 30 that salvation is beyond human effort, but rather dependent upon God's firstly raising up (or producing a sinless saviour) and consequently, able to resurrect him from the dead. Our part is to accept and believe it. The chapter concludes with the fact that this is incredibly good news for us, who would be totally lost without this. Faith, he concludes is based on hearing the Word of God. Chapter 11 of Romans is about national Israel, God's Chosen People, and the Gospel. Some points made include the following:- 1) the Lord God of Israel has never abandoned His people; 2) God has always raised up a remnant among them, to be saved by grace; 3) it has always been been Yahweh's purpose to save the faithful from all nations; 4) the inclusion of the Gentiles was intended to provoke natural Jews to return to their roots and the Father's original purpose for them; 5) Israel's restoration represents a national resurrection and is a token of the nearness of Christ's Kingdom which will be presaged by the resurrection of the dead; 6) the Scriptures abundantly attest this including the words of Joel 3 verses16-17 and 7) And this plan was always our Sovereign's purpose and He never changes from His determined will; 8) we must be in awe and marvel at the riches and wisdom of the Almighty. The great Apostle Paul marvels at the wisdom and foresight of the Almighty. Nothing has happened in His plan to save faithful Jews and Gentiles that the Father had not foreseen. We look forward to the day when the Deliverer will come to Zion and turn away ungodliness from Jacob, and so save Israel, a nation far degraded from its calling as illustrated in the current Jeremiah readings. Read verses 33-36 aloud and praise our Omnipotent Sovereign for His love and merciful kindness.

This week we heard the "Overture to Romans” (Paul's introduction in Romans 1:1–17). As in a musical before the curtain rises, the overture sets the mood and introduces motifs that are developed later in the play, and you hear familiar melodies from each scene or episode.

Paul personally greets 27 people by name, building loving relationships within the body of Christ. The post Class in Romans: Paul's Beloved Co-Laborers in the Gospel appeared first on Two Journeys.

Paul personally greets 27 people by name, building loving relationships within the body of Christ. The post Class in Romans: Paul's Beloved Co-Laborers in the Gospel appeared first on Two Journeys.

Paul personally greets 27 people by name, building loving relationships within the body of Christ. The post Class in Romans: Paul's Beloved Co-Laborers in the Gospel appeared first on Two Journeys.

Paul personally greets 27 people by name, building loving relationships within the body of Christ. The post Class in Romans: Paul's Beloved Co-Laborers in the Gospel appeared first on Two Journeys.

Get R.C. Sproul's commentary on the book of Romans for your donation of any amount: https://gift.renewingyourmind.org/3853/offer   Meet Today's Teacher:   R.C. Sproul (1939–2017) was known for his ability to winsomely and clearly communicate deep, practical truths from God's Word. He was founder of Ligonier Ministries, first minister of preaching and teaching at Saint Andrew's Chapel, first president of Reformation Bible College, and executive editor of Tabletalk magazine.   Meet the Host:   Nathan W. Bingham is vice president of ministry engagement for Ligonier Ministries, executive producer and host of Renewing Your Mind, host of the Ask Ligonier podcast, and a graduate of Presbyterian Theological College in Melbourne, Australia. Nathan joined Ligonier in 2012 and lives in Central Florida with his wife and four children. Renewing Your Mind is a donor-supported outreach of Ligonier Ministries. Explore all of our podcasts: https://www.ligonier.org/podcasts

Paul describes his own call to frontier trailblazing mission work. He also praises the Roman church's mature faith. The post Class in Romans: Paul's Missionary Calling appeared first on Two Journeys.

Paul describes his own call to frontier trailblazing mission work. He also praises the Roman church's mature faith. The post Class in Romans: Paul's Missionary Calling appeared first on Two Journeys.

Paul describes his own call to frontier trailblazing mission work. He also praises the Roman church's mature faith. The post Class in Romans: Paul's Missionary Calling appeared first on Two Journeys.

Paul describes his own call to frontier trailblazing mission work. He also praises the Roman church's mature faith. The post Class in Romans: Paul's Missionary Calling appeared first on Two Journeys.

Pastor Brent Belford preaches on Romans 15:23-33.

Pastor Brent Belford preaches on Romans 15:14-22.

(Romans 15:14-33) As we approach the end of the book of Romans Paul is beginning to wrap up this letter, encouraging the believers in Rome while also sharing about the apostolic gift. Tonight Gavin unpacks what the apostolic gifting is, how it looks like when expressed maturely and why it is important to have this gift expressed in the Church.

October 27, 2024

(Romans 13:1-14) In today's passage from Romans Paul talks about an uncomfortable idea - he encourages us to submit to the governing authorities. Not just when it feels nice to, but even when it is hard! What is this idea about? Join us as Gavin unpacks what submission is NOT, but also what submission is.

PASTOR WILLIAM'S BOOKS: https://www.amazon.com/Haunting-Justi... Disagree, agree, or have a question: Contact us through the contact page on our website; http://www.biblebulldog.com , if we use your question on the podcast, we'll send you a free hat! Proposition #1: The Church Of Jesus Christ Embraces Both Jews And Gentiles As Part Of The Messianic Kingdom. The Messianic Kingdom Includes Jewish And Gentile Believers As Citizens On An Equal Basis. Was Abraham a Jew? No. “The term Jew is a derivative of Judah the fourth son of Jacob and the dominant last surviving tribe of Israel. The Hebrew term meant “man of Judah,” and that term is first used in the Bible in 2 Kings 16:6. After the exile the term Jew came to be used for anyone descended from these people regardless of other considerations. Mordecai is identified as both a Jew and a descendant of Benjamin in Esther 2:5.” Oxford Companion To The Bible. 5: Was God's promises of a land, a seed, and a blessing given to Abraham alone? Was it Abraham that was called and no other? Initially it was given to Abraham, then extended to Issac and Jacob. Ultimately the blessing was connected to Christ who came to bring the two, both Jew and Gentile together. 6: Exactly who is "Abraham's seed"? Physically, anyone descended from him genetically. This would include some of the Arab nations. Spiritually, or redemptively, it is anyone who has believed in Abraham's seed, Jesus Christ. This again undermines the idea of a distinction between Jew and Gentile. 7: From the beginning, could a Gentile become a Jew? Yes. This required undergoing circumcision and adopting adherence to the Law. With the New Covenant eliminating the need to convert to Judaism, becoming aJew to find God's favor was no longer necessary. 8: By the Exile, had Abraham's descendants become "Not My People"? Hosea 1:8-9 - When she had weaned No Mercy, she conceived and bore a son. 9 And the Lord said, "Call his name Not My People, for you are not my people, and I am not your God." 9: What/Who is the fallen tent in Amos 9:11? This was the Davidic kingdom which had been corrupted and ruined by sin. Because God promised David a ruling heir in perpetuity that Kingdom would need to be rebuilt. This is done through Christ who in His rule united Jews and Gentiles as seen in James's quotation of this verse in Acts 15. 10: Did Jesus indicate that the Kingdom would be taken from the Jews in Matt. 21:43? (Romans 11:20-21) He did based on their failure to produce fruits in keeping with their calling within the Kingdom as seen in verses 33-41. In Romans Paul refers to this action on God's part as breaking off the natural branches so that the Gentiles could be grafted in. 11: Pastor, what is Replacement Theology? #Israel #jew #gentile #christian #rapture #endtimes #theology #muslim #eschatology #Abraham #seed #God

8.11.24//Jake Rainwater

Pastor Brent Belford preaches on Romans 12:2.

Talk 31    Mark 10:32-45     Jesus teaches the way of sacrificial service Welcome to Talk 31 in our series on Mark's Gospel. Today our passage is Mark 10:32-45 where Jesus again predicts his death and resurrection, deals with a request from James and John that they might sit next to him in the coming kingdom, and teaches us that the way to true greatness is sacrificial service. The passage is also a healthy reminder about how we should pray, and has much to say that's relevant to church leadership today. We'll begin by reading verses 32-34:   32 They were on their way up to Jerusalem, with Jesus leading the way, and the disciples were astonished, while those who followed were afraid. Again he took the Twelve aside and told them what was going to happen to him. 33 "We are going up to Jerusalem," he said, "and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles, 34 who will mock him and spit on him, flog him and kill him. Three days later he will rise."   The NIV translation of verse 32 seems to suggest a distinction between the disciples and those who followed. However, although there may well have been people following who were not among the disciples, the word disciples is not in the Greek text and Mark almost certainly intends us to understand that all those who were following Jesus were both astonished and afraid. They may well have been astonished by what Jesus had said in verse 31 – Many who are first will be last, and the last, first. And his mention of persecutions in verse 30 could easily account for them being afraid.   And what Jesus says next could hardly have made them feel any better! He tells them what is going to happen to him, and this time in more detail. In Mark 8:31 we read that   he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again (Compare Mark 9:31).   But now he tells them he will be betrayed… condemned him to death… handed over to the Gentiles, who will mock him and spit on him, flog him and kill him. This information was both astonishing and terrifying, and it seems unlikely that they had any clear idea about what he meant by saying that three days later he would rise. Of course, it's easy for us, with the benefit of hindsight, to know what he meant, and of course so did the disciples after he had showed himself to be alive by many convincing proofs over a period of six weeks (Acts 1:3). But they clearly did not understand it in advance. Even as late as resurrection morning, John 20:9 tells us that they still did not understand that Jesus had to rise from the dead.   But Jesus himself knew what he was saying. He knew that he would be betrayed. He knew they would condemn him to death. He knew they would mock him and spit on him, flog him and kill him. But he went up to Jerusalem anyway because he knew that he must give his life as a ransom for us (v45). For you, for me, and for people like James and John whose self-seeking attitude we read about next:   35 Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him. "Teacher," they said, "we want you to do for us whatever we ask." 36 "What do you want me to do for you?" he asked. 37 They replied, "Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory." 38 "You don't know what you are asking," Jesus said. "Can you drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?" 39 "We can," they answered. Jesus said to them, "You will drink the cup I drink and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with, 40 but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared."   The main purpose of these verses, and those that follow, seems to be to teach us the importance of having a servant heart and not to seek great things for ourselves, but they also teach us some important principles about our attitude when we come to God in prayer. James and John want Jesus to do for them whatever they ask him. This certainly revealed some faith. They believed that Jesus could do whatever they asked. And according to Matthew 20:20-28, along with their mother, they also believed in his coming kingdom. And didn't Jesus say elsewhere that If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer (Matthew 21:22, Mark 11:24)? So what was wrong with James' and John's request to sit beside Jesus in his coming kingdom?   Three things. Firstly, their motive was wrong. It was selfish. They were seeking personal greatness. In the letter that James the Lord's brother wrote to first century Jewish Christians he stresses the importance of having faith when we pray (James 1:6-7), but he also warns of the possibility of not receiving what we ask for if we ask with wrong motives (James 4:3).   Secondly, they didn't get what they asked for because they didn't know what they were asking (v38). Promises like the one we have already referred to in Matthew 21:22 must be balanced  with what John was later to write in 1 John 5:14, when he says:   This is the confidence we have in approaching God; that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us.   I wonder if, when he wrote this, John had in mind Jesus' refusal to grant his request in today's passage. The truth is that, unless we have received a clear revelation from God in a certain matter, we too do not know what we are asking. We never fully understand the implications of what we ask for in prayer. Our requests should always be made in faith, but also in an attitude of submission to God's will.   And thirdly, closely connected to the last point, they did not understand that even Jesus could not grant their request without reference to his Father. In verse 40 he says your request is not for me to grant. In John 5:19 he said:   The Son can do nothing by himself. He can do only what he sees the Father doing…   Everything Jesus said and did was in dependence on what he saw the Father doing. Each of the members of the Trinity works in complete harmony with the others and does not work independently. And while he was here on earth Jesus as a man did not know everything. He did not know the day or the hour of his second coming. Only the Father knew that (Mark 13:32).   So these verses teach us much about how we should bring our requests to God. Our motives should be right. Our requests should be brought in submission to God's will, recognising that we do not always know the significance of what we are asking, and if there were some requests that even Jesus did not have the authority to grant, they are certainly not for us to claim! God's perfect will for us may be, as it was for James and John, a pathway of suffering (vv38-39).   But before we leave the subject of prayer, just one more thing. In verse 36 Jesus says, What do you want me to do for you? He actually asks the same question of blind Bartimaeus in verse 51. More of that next time, but just for now please notice that the question does not guarantee the answer we may be looking for. For Bartimaeus his request was granted. For James and John, theirs was not.  Beware of preachers who tell you that Jesus is asking you, What do you want me to do for you? implying that whatever you ask you will get. Of course it's fine to tell Jesus what we'd like him to do, but we need to understand that, because he knows best, his answer could be No.   41 When the ten heard about this, they became indignant with James and John. 42 Jesus called them together and said, "You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. 43 Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. 45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to  give his life as a ransom for many."   Quite understandably, when the other ten apostles heard about James' and John's request, they became indignant. Who do they think they are? I hear them saying. So Jesus calls all twelve of them together. It's important to notice here that, although Jesus' teaching in these verses would be of value in society as a whole, in the context what he says it's addressed to the future leaders of the church. And he stresses that church leadership must be very different from the style of leadership we see in the world. So let's look at what Jesus says here and then see how his teaching was reinforced by his own example and by the teaching of apostles like Peter and Paul in the New Testament.   Firstly, then, Jesus himself. In these verses he teaches that true greatness is expressed in a willingness to serve, to become a slave for the sake of others (vv. 43-44). Even the Son of Man, the Messiah, did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many (v.45). This reminds us immediately of two passages of Scripture, John 13 and Philippians 2. In John 13 Jesus literally fulfils the role of a servant and washes his disciples' feet, and after he has done so he says:   12 …Do you understand what I have done for you? 13 You call me 'Teacher' and 'Lord,' and rightly so, for that is what I am. 14 Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet. 15 I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. 16 I tell you the truth, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger (Greek, an apostle) greater than the one who sent him. 17 Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them (John 13:12-17).   We hear a lot about apostles in the church today, and I truly believe that this ministry is essential for the church in every generation – see Body Builders, Chapter 2 – but the signs of a true apostle must surely include a willingness to take the role of a lowly servant. That's what Jesus did, for, as we read in Philippians 2:   …being in very nature God, (he) did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7 but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death – even death on a cross! 9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:6-11).   And, as we have seen, Jesus told the apostles that they should follow his example. But it doesn't just apply to apostles. Listen to what Peter says:   To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder, a witness of Christ's sufferings and one who also will share in the glory to be revealed: 2 Be shepherds of God's flock that is under your care, serving as overseers – not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not greedy for money, but eager to serve; 3 not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. 4 And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away (1 Peter 1:1-4).   Here in verse 3 Peter is reflecting the words of Jesus in today's passage when he talks about the rulers of the Gentiles lording it over those who are under their authority, and says Not so among you. Peter is referring to every aspect of leadership in the church. He refers to the elders as shepherds (or pastors), and as overseers (or supervisors or bishops). Now is not the time to discuss the significance of each of these terms – for more, please see Body Builders, Chapter 5, where I deal with the matter in more detail – but what is abundantly clear is that, whatever the role of leadership, what's required is a servant heart.   This does not mean that church leaders should not be honoured and respected. They certainly should. But it's not for them to seek that honour or respect. Respect must be earned, not demanded. While I welcome the renewed emphasis on the importance of apostles in recent decades, it's a sad fact that in some quarters, abuses have occurred to the detriment of all concerned. There is a desperate need for a biblically balanced understanding of the subject. So let's finish with a brief look at two words that are frequently used in the New Testament to describe what church leaders should be – diakonos and doulos.   Diakonos is the word used in today's passage where Jesus says in verse 43, Whoever wants to become great among you must be you servant. See also Matthew 20:26 and Mark 9:35 where it's used in the same way. Its basic meaning is a waiter or someone who runs errands. It's used in this way in John 2 to describe the servants at the wedding feast in Cana and in Acts 6 we have the related word diakonia to describe the ministry of those who were to wait on tables and supervise the distribution of food to the poor. It may be that this was the role of those who are described as deacons in Philippians 1:1 and 1 Timothy 3:8-12.   But it's also used more widely to refer to anyone who serves the church in whatever capacity. There are too many examples in the New Testament to mention them all, but it's noteworthy that in 1 Corinthians 3:5 Paul refers to himself and Apollos as Only servants through whom you came to believe – as the Lord assigned to each his task.   But in fact he often uses a far stronger word than diakonos to describe his ministry. He uses doulos which means slave – a word also used by Jesus in Mark 10:44. It's the very first word Paul uses to describe himself in his letter to the Romans – Paul, a slave of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle. Yes, he's an apostle, but first he is a slave. Compare also Galatians 1:10, Philippians 1:1 and Titus 1:1. In these verses he's a slave of Christ, but in 2 Corinthians 4:5 he goes even further and says:   For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves your slaves for Jesus' sake.   He is not only a slave of Jesus Christ, he's the Corinthians' slave too! His apostolic authority came from none other than the Lord Jesus, but his right to exercise that authority was his willingness to serve not only Jesus, but those to whom he was called to preach.   And finally, it's worth mentioning that it was not only Paul who saw his ministry in this light. That's how James saw himself too (James 1:1), and Peter (2 Peter 1:1), and Jude (Jude 1:1), and John (Revelation 1:1). It seems that they had all learnt the lesson taught and exemplified by Jesus:   Whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all (Mark 10:43-44).   My prayer is that we may learn it too.        

Pastor Brent Belford preaches on Romans 9:1-5.

Pastor Brent Belford preaches on Romans 9:1-5.

The Apostle Paul's Letter to the Romans has been foundational for Christianity, and well-studied throughout the history of the Church. Ben Witherington, however, gleans fresh insights by reading Paul's epistle in light of early Jewish theology, the historical situation of Rome in the middle of the first century, and Paul's own rhetorical concerns. Join us as we speak with Ben Witherington III about his now classic commentary on Romans: Paul's Letter to the Romans: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary (Eerdmans, 2004) Dr. Ben Witherington III is the Jean R. Amos Professor of New Testament for Doctoral Studies at Asbury Theological Seminary. A prolific author, Ben has written over 60 books, and has led numerous study tours through the lands of the Bible. Michael Morales is Professor of Biblical Studies at Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary, and the author of The Tabernacle Pre-Figured: Cosmic Mountain Ideology in Genesis and Exodus(Peeters, 2012), Who Shall Ascend the Mountain of the Lord?: A Biblical Theology of Leviticus(IVP Academic, 2015), and Exodus Old and New: A Biblical Theology of Redemption (IVP Academic, 2020). He can be reached at mmorales@gpts.edu. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

The Apostle Paul's Letter to the Romans has been foundational for Christianity, and well-studied throughout the history of the Church. Ben Witherington, however, gleans fresh insights by reading Paul's epistle in light of early Jewish theology, the historical situation of Rome in the middle of the first century, and Paul's own rhetorical concerns. Join us as we speak with Ben Witherington III about his now classic commentary on Romans: Paul's Letter to the Romans: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary (Eerdmans, 2004) Dr. Ben Witherington III is the Jean R. Amos Professor of New Testament for Doctoral Studies at Asbury Theological Seminary. A prolific author, Ben has written over 60 books, and has led numerous study tours through the lands of the Bible. Michael Morales is Professor of Biblical Studies at Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary, and the author of The Tabernacle Pre-Figured: Cosmic Mountain Ideology in Genesis and Exodus(Peeters, 2012), Who Shall Ascend the Mountain of the Lord?: A Biblical Theology of Leviticus(IVP Academic, 2015), and Exodus Old and New: A Biblical Theology of Redemption (IVP Academic, 2020). He can be reached at mmorales@gpts.edu. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Apostle Paul's Letter to the Romans has been foundational for Christianity, and well-studied throughout the history of the Church. Ben Witherington, however, gleans fresh insights by reading Paul's epistle in light of early Jewish theology, the historical situation of Rome in the middle of the first century, and Paul's own rhetorical concerns. Join us as we speak with Ben Witherington III about his now classic commentary on Romans: Paul's Letter to the Romans: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary (Eerdmans, 2004) Dr. Ben Witherington III is the Jean R. Amos Professor of New Testament for Doctoral Studies at Asbury Theological Seminary. A prolific author, Ben has written over 60 books, and has led numerous study tours through the lands of the Bible. Michael Morales is Professor of Biblical Studies at Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary, and the author of The Tabernacle Pre-Figured: Cosmic Mountain Ideology in Genesis and Exodus(Peeters, 2012), Who Shall Ascend the Mountain of the Lord?: A Biblical Theology of Leviticus(IVP Academic, 2015), and Exodus Old and New: A Biblical Theology of Redemption (IVP Academic, 2020). He can be reached at mmorales@gpts.edu. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/religion

The Apostle Paul's Letter to the Romans has been foundational for Christianity, and well-studied throughout the history of the Church. Ben Witherington, however, gleans fresh insights by reading Paul's epistle in light of early Jewish theology, the historical situation of Rome in the middle of the first century, and Paul's own rhetorical concerns. Join us as we speak with Ben Witherington III about his now classic commentary on Romans: Paul's Letter to the Romans: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary (Eerdmans, 2004) Dr. Ben Witherington III is the Jean R. Amos Professor of New Testament for Doctoral Studies at Asbury Theological Seminary. A prolific author, Ben has written over 60 books, and has led numerous study tours through the lands of the Bible. Michael Morales is Professor of Biblical Studies at Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary, and the author of The Tabernacle Pre-Figured: Cosmic Mountain Ideology in Genesis and Exodus(Peeters, 2012), Who Shall Ascend the Mountain of the Lord?: A Biblical Theology of Leviticus(IVP Academic, 2015), and Exodus Old and New: A Biblical Theology of Redemption (IVP Academic, 2020). He can be reached at mmorales@gpts.edu. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/biblical-studies

The Apostle Paul's Letter to the Romans has been foundational for Christianity, and well-studied throughout the history of the Church. Ben Witherington, however, gleans fresh insights by reading Paul's epistle in light of early Jewish theology, the historical situation of Rome in the middle of the first century, and Paul's own rhetorical concerns. Join us as we speak with Ben Witherington III about his now classic commentary on Romans: Paul's Letter to the Romans: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary (Eerdmans, 2004) Dr. Ben Witherington III is the Jean R. Amos Professor of New Testament for Doctoral Studies at Asbury Theological Seminary. A prolific author, Ben has written over 60 books, and has led numerous study tours through the lands of the Bible. Michael Morales is Professor of Biblical Studies at Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary, and the author of The Tabernacle Pre-Figured: Cosmic Mountain Ideology in Genesis and Exodus(Peeters, 2012), Who Shall Ascend the Mountain of the Lord?: A Biblical Theology of Leviticus(IVP Academic, 2015), and Exodus Old and New: A Biblical Theology of Redemption (IVP Academic, 2020). He can be reached at mmorales@gpts.edu. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/christian-studies

Paul's Magnum Opus - An Overview. Romans1:1-7. October 8, 2023. Pastor Rick Reeves

In life we can have the tendency to live in the theoretical while not putting into practice what we know. In his epistle to the Romans Paul exhorts the church to be a living sacrifice to God based on his wonderful mercy he has shown. This is the only logical response of anyone who has truly been gripped by the grace of God. Let us look at how we are to offer ourselves to God in worship for what he has done for us!

The Sixth Sunday after Trinity: More Righteous than the Pharisees Romans 6:3-11 & St. Matthew 5:20-26 by William Klock What does it mean to follow Jesus?  To believe the gospel?  To repent and to believe?  What does it mean for us?  Who does it make us?  What's our mission?  What do we do and where are we headed?  What does Jesus expect of us?  Last Sunday we read Jesus' calling of Peter, James, and John.  “Follow me and from now on you'll be catching people,” he told them.  But how?  From what?  And why?  Do you ever feel like that?  I know I do.  Jesus and the Spirit have incorporated us into this community of people called the Church, a people chosen and called to be salt and light, to proclaim the death and resurrection of Jesus, to announce to the world that he is Lord.  He is in the process of setting this broken, sad, and messed up world to rights and one day he will wipe away every last bit of sin and even death itself in a great act of redeeming judgement.  He will make all things new in the same way he was made new in his resurrection and in some way for which our new birth in the power of God's own Spirit is a foretaste.  We're called to prepare the world for that great day.  But how?  What do we say?  What do we do?  And when do we say it and when do we do it?  How do we do it?  Some days it's overwhelming.  Some days you just want to retreat into your private devotional life or into the church and just be a good person, read your Bible and say your prayers and wait for Jesus to come back and sort it all out.  And that's what a lot of people do.  But think of Peter, James, and John and think of the rest of the disciples, not just the twelve, but the seventy and all those others who were there on Pentecost and the thousands—tens of thousands—more who lived through those days of trial and tribulation in Jerusalem and Antioch and Ephesus and Rome—many of whom were martyred for their witness to Jesus his kingdom.  What does it mean, what does it look like to be this new Israel, this new people of God centred in Jesus the Messiah? Peter, James, John and the rest of them wanted to know, so it makes perfect sense that as St. Matthew tells us Jesus' story, the very next episode after Jesus calls his disciples is Jesus taking them up a mountain to teach them.  They've believed his message that the kingdom is soon to come.  They've believed that it will come with this great act of the Lord's judgement on his faithless people even if they don't quite understand what that's going to look like.  But what do they do in the meantime?  And so Jesus sits them down and teaches them all those things that have almost sort of become Christian cliches.  Jesus begins with those announcements of blessing on the humble and the mourners and the seekers after righteousness, because they will be the ones who will inherit this new thing that the Lord, through Jesus, is inaugurating, they will be the ones to inherit that new state of affairs that would be on the other side of the judgement coming at the end of their generation.  And Jesus wraps up this long teaching with a series of warnings.  Many within Israel are following an easy and broad road to destruction.  They are like a fruitless tree that the Lord will cut down and cast into the fire.  Israel—or many of its people at any rate—have built their house on sand and when the stormwaters rage, it will all come crashing down around them.  And in the aftermath of that judgement on faithless Israel, Jesus will be vindicated as Messiah before the eyes of the watching world—and so will his people, this new Israel transformed and empowered by the very Spirit of God.  And finally, through this people and their Messiah, the gentiles, the nations will see the God of Israel and come to give him glory—finally! But in the meantime, in the middle of all that, as they proclaim the kingdom, what does life following Jesus look like?  This is where our Gospel lesson today picks up.  Look at Matthew 5:20.  Jesus said to his disciples: Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.   I wonder how this fell on the ears of Peter and the others.  Was it exciting or discouraging or overwhelming?  Maybe all those things.  Because the Pharisees were the most righteous people around.  If you want to understand the Pharisees, understand that they purposed to live their lives—from the little things to the big things—everything, as if they were living in the temple itself, that place where heaven and earth intersected, that place where God dwelt in their midst—or at least where his presence had dwelt at one time in the past.  That was the problem.  Since the exile, the Lord's presence had been gone from the temple.  But if everyone in Israel would do the same as the Pharisees, they thought, then the Lord would bless his people.  He would hear their cries, he would return to the temple, he would judge their enemies, and he would set everything to rights.  And now what Jesus is saying is that the Pharisees were on the right track.  If Israel wants the Lord's blessing and the Lord's deliverance, and all of that, then righteousness—living in the presence of God—that's the key.  That's what Israel had always been called to do, ever since the Lord had called Abraham and especially since he'd delivered them from Egypt and given them his law.  They were to be a people who truly lived that way, a people would truly honour God.  And a people like that would bring the nations to give him glory.  But instead, Israel had been unfaithful and the nations mocked her and mocked her God.  Even the Pharisees weren't righteous enough.  And so Jesus goes on in verse 21: You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.'  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 fire of Gehenna.   The righteousness of the Pharisees, Jesus has warned, is not enough.  When judgement fell on Israel, it would fall on the Pharisees along with all the rest of the faithless.  And that's because the letter of the law simply isn't enough.  Do you remember the summary of the law?  Love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength and your neighbour as yourself.  That's the heart of the law.  If you love your neighbour, you certainly won't murder him, but neither will you nurse hatred for him in your heart.  Jesus sets a higher standard.  The Pharisees were right in thinking that Israel needed to live mindful of being in the Lord's presence.  But they were hypocritical—thinking they could fulfil the law by keeping the externals while ignoring the internals, by honouring the lord in their actions, even if they didn't in their hearts.  Jesus raises the bar.  But he's really just reminding them of where the bar always was for the people of God.  The Pharisees will be swept up in the judgement to come, in the war with Rome, along with all the rest of the unfaithful in Israel.  That's what Jesus is getting at when he talks about the “fire of Gehenna”—or as the ESV puts it the “hell of fire”.  I wish our modern translations would just use the word Jesus' uses—Gehenna—instead of translating it as hell, because the translation masks over the way that Jesus is pointing the disciples back to the prophet Jeremiah.  Jeremiah used the image of the Valley of Hinnom, a place where human sacrifice to the god Molech had once taken place.  Jeremiah warned that when the Babylonians defeated Jerusalem there would be so many dead that the bodies would be heaped up in that valley.  Jesus' point is that it's going to happen all over again, this time with defeat at the hands of Rome.  Josephus describes the city so filled with the dead that the bodies were dumped into that same valley by the thousands.  If you draw line from Jeremiah to Josephus is runs straight through Jesus' warning here.  The Sadducees, the Zealots, and even the Pharisees will find themselves under the Lord's judgement on that awful day—and Jesus' point to his disciples is that so will they, so will everyone, who continues to live out the law by the low standard that had become the norm in Israel.  So will everyone who fails to truly live as the people with the Lord in their midst.  Why?  Because the Lord had called and chosen this people to be his witnesses to the world, to be salt, to be light, to show the world what it looked like to be the people who lived in the presence of God—so that the nations would see and be drawn to his goodness and give him glory.  Instead, again, the nations mocked the God of Israel because of the unfaithfulness of his people.  And God will deal with them soon.  His faithfulness and his glory will be manifest one way or the other: if not in blessing, then in his discipline. So Jesus gives his disciples the alternative.  If you love your brother, go and reconcile with him. So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go.  First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.  Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison.  Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.  (Matthew 5:23-26) What's the point here?  Brothers and Sisters, always remember the story and remember why the Lord called and chose a people to represent him in the world.  He called Abraham and his family in order to make himself know through them to a world that had forgotten him.  Through his people, the Lord was working to reconcile this lost and sinful world to himself.  And so Israel was called to live out in her daily life the reconciling love of God for the sake of the world.  For the most part Israel failed.  And so the Lord came himself in Jesus to show his people what that reconciling love looks like in real life—even to the point of giving his own life for their sake—and Jesus called a new people from within Israel to live that reconciling love themselves.  And even though this new people of God, just like Jesus, would be mocked and hated and even martyred, in the end the Lord would vindicate them just as he vindicated his Son.  And in that, the world would finally stand up and take note of the living God and return to him.  This is what it looks like to be God's people.  This is what it meant for Peter and John and James to follow Jesus and to fish for men and women and to prepare Israel for that coming day of judgment. But how could they do it?  I expect the disciples were sitting there listening to Jesus and thinking that this is all well and good, but if the Pharisees can't meet the bar—and if Israel had been failing to meet it all along—how are we going to meet it?  For that we turn to St. Paul and to our Epistle from Romans 6. Somehow Israel—and then the rest of the human race—needed a change of heart, a transformation from within.  Hearts set on sin and on self had to be turned to back to the Lord and filled with love.  This is what Paul gets at in our Epistle.  Because of Jesus, we are not the same people we once were.  Look at Romans 6:3-4. Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?  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.  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. Baptism changes everything.  Again, just as we need to imagine ourselves as First Century Galileans when we hear Jesus preaching we need to remember that Paul, too, was writing to mostly Jewish Christians only a few decades later.  When we do that what we realise is that in Romans Paul is retelling Israel's story and in Romans 6, as he writes about Baptism and what it means and does, he's simultaneously telling the story of Israel's exodus from Egypt. Israel cried out to the Lord from the misery of her slavery and oppression.  The Lord heard and he sent Moses.  Moses led the people out of their bondage and into the Promised Land and that journey began at the Red Sea.  They entered the sea as slaves and the came out the other side a free people, their captors crushed and drowned under the waves.  And yet they had to pass through the wilderness.  It took longer than the people expected.  They grumbled a lot and even got angry with the Lord and with Moses and talked about going back to Egypt.  But the Lord led his people—a cloud by day and fire by night—and eventually they entered the Promised Land. Again, the Israelites entered the Sea slaves and they came out the other side a free people.  And Paul uses this to illustrate what happens in baptism.  We go into the water dead and we come out alive.  We go into the water slaves to sin and death and we come out free people.  And that's what makes Jesus' impossible calling possible.  It's what makes possible a righteousness greater even than the righteousness of the Pharisees.  Paul says that in our baptism we are united with Jesus in his death and resurrection.  God called Israel to be salt and light, he gave her his law, but it wasn't written on her heart.  Israel had the same wicked, self-centred heart that all humanity shares.  But Jesus came as the true Israelite.  His life and ministry embodied Israel's calling.  He even followed Israel's pattern symbolically in his own baptism and his own forty days in the wilderness.  And then he took on himself the crucifixion that Israel deserved.  His enemies killed him, but instead of returning judgement and violence on them, instead of cursing them, he responded by praying to his Father: “Forgive them, for they know not what they do.”  Sin and death, anger and hate did their worst to Jesus at the cross and Jesus overcame them with love and with sacrifice.  Impossible?  For human beings who have only their own sinful wills to rely on, yes.  But not for Jesus and not for those who have been baptised into the death and resurrection of Jesus.  We are not who we once were.  Earlier in Romans Paul describes what we used to be as being “in Adam”.  By birth we are part of the old humanity, fallen and enslaved to sin.  By virtue of our baptism we are born again.  We are now “in Christ”—in Jesus the Messiah. This is what Paul means when he writes in verses 6 and 7: 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.  For one who has died has been set free from sin. Sometimes sin comes knocking at the door and it seems impossible to say no.  Sometimes that certain person who irritates us comes around and we know we should forgive and love them but it seems impossible.  It feels like we're still slaves to sin.  All sin has to do is show up and we cave in to it.  But Paul says, No!  That old self is dead.  It was crucified with Jesus.  We are no longer slaves.  We have been set free from bondage to sin.  Like Israel wanting to go back to Egypt, it's easy to be tempted to go back to that bondage.  The wilderness isn't an easy place to be, but the Lord is with us anyway.  And Paul stresses that we need to remember that sin no longer has any hold on us.  We're new and free people in the Messiah. Paul goes on: Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.  We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him.  For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God.  So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.  (Romans 6:8-11) Jesus burst alive from the tomb that first Easter.  Other people, like Lazarus, had come back from the dead too, but Jesus' resurrection is different.  Lazarus had to die again, but Jesus has gone through death and come out the other side into a kind of life that death can never touch and, Paul says, if we are in Jesus the Messiah then we have a share in this new life. We're not there yet.  We too still have to face death, but we live in hope knowing that like Jesus we will come out the other side of death alive in a way we never have been before—alive in the way that God truly intended us to be when he created us.  But what about today?  Sin and death can't touch our future, but what about our present?  Jesus' calling still seems impossible so much of the time.  And this is why Paul makes this point.  Our baptism pulls our future hope into the present.  It takes the life of Jesus and his victory over sin and death and applies it to us today.  There's a change whether we feel it or not.  The Israelites didn't necessarily feel any different on one side of the Red Sea than they had on the other, but everything was still different for them.  They had been slaves; now they were free.  And just so for us.  We are no longer in Adam; we are in Jesus.  And Jesus has poured the God's Spirit into us and the Spirit is at work to renew our minds and regenerate our hearts as we live in this in-between time. In verse 11 Paul says that we must consider ourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Jesus the Messiah.  That word “consider” is the same one we saw in the Epistle from Romans 8 two weeks ago.  It's an accounting term that Paul uses.  And here's his point.  When you send your books to your accountant he adds everything up and gives you the bottom line.  His reckoning doesn't change your financial situation.  Nothing about your situation has actually changed by the fact that your accountant has added up your profit and loss columns.  But that bottom line he reckons for you shows you in fact where you stand.  It might mean you've got money you need to invest or creditors you need to pay or it might mean you need to economise and tighten your belt.  Adding up your profits and losses doesn't itself have an impact on the health of your business, but it does make you aware of it and it tells you what you need to do. And so Paul looks at the cross and he looks at the empty tomb and he looks at the gift of the Spirit at Pentecost and everything else and he says: I've done the math.  You are in the Messiah.  You are dead to sin and alive to God.  Now start living that way! Is it a challenge?  Of course.  Jesus was baptised, the heavens opened up, the Spirit descended on him and the Father spoke, “This is my Son.  With him I am pleased”.  And then Jesus went straight into the wilderness to battle the devil.  The Lord led Israel out of Egypt through the miraculous parting of the sea, he was present with her, giving the law and leading as cloud and as fire and yet he led her straight into the wilderness.  And we too.  We're baptised and the Lord sends us straight from the Font into the world.  If there's anything Jesus (and John and Paul and Peter) are clear about in the scriptures, it's that his people will face opposition and trials and tribulation at the hands of a wicked and doubting world.  And there's a reason why, in our baptism, we're called on to renounce the world, the flesh, and the devil.  All three will come after us.  They'll tell us that nothing has changed.  They'll tell us that following after Jesus is impossible.  They'll tempt us to give up or at least to compromise.  When others sin against us, when they hurt us, when they wrong us the temptation comes saying: “It's okay, be angry or be bitter.  Get that person out of your life—you don't need them.  Hey, look how well you're doing!  You didn't kill them!”  Brothers and Sisters, that's sin calling.  Jesus calls us to seek to reconcile.  Jesus calls us to embrace the wrongs that others do to us and to return those wrong with grace.  Jesus calls us to break the cycle of anger and hate and violence.  And when it seems impossible, remember your baptism.  We are a new creation.  You have died and risen again with Jesus and he has poured his Spirit into you—into us.  Brothers and Sisters, in that the Lord had made us witnesses of the transformation from the old creation, full of death and decay and sin and sadness, into the new world in which he is reconciling everything and everyone to himself, in which his law of love reigns, and in which he will wipe away every tear.  Live as the men and women that God has made you through Jesus and the Spirit and not only will you see the kingdom of God, but all the people around you will have a glimpse of it to.  Make them constructively curious by your life and you'll have the opportunity to explain the good news of Jesus, crucified and risen, that they too might know God's new creation. Let us pray: Gracious Father, you have poured your love into us poor sinners by giving your own Son as a sacrifice.  Teach us to pour that love back out to the world.  When it seems impossible to break the cycle of sin and anger and hate, remind us of our baptism and that, through Jesus, you have brought us into your new creation.  Remind us that we have died with him and risen with him and that sin and death no longer hold us captive.  Teach us to live for righteousness that the world might see Jesus and his kingdom through us.  Amen.

Monday

Louis TamburroRomans 13:1-7In the last 5 chapters of Romans Paul is focusing on our response to the gospel and how God wants us to live in our horizontal relationship with others. In ch 13:1-7 he's focusing specifically on how God wants us to live in our relationship with governing authorities. He's teaching us how to respond to corrupt governing authorities and policies. 

In Chapter 12 of Romans Paul transitions from lessons on the nature of salvation to the topic of Christian living. Show Notes at https://www.thefootlight.com/post/37-romans-12-be-transformed-by-the-renewing-of-you-mind

 Audio recordingSermon manuscript:I'd like to begin today by talking about how important our Old Testament reading is for understanding the Bible. Then I'd like to relate what we learn about Abraham to the relationship we have had as congregation and pastor. Our Old Testament reading is from Genesis chapter 12. That's not too far into the book. We meet a couple name Abram and Sarai who are later given the names Abraham and Sarah. Since we know their latter names better than their former names I'm just going to call them Abraham and Sarah. One day the Lord said to Abraham, “Get out of your country and away from your relatives and from your father's house and go to the land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation. I will bless you,” and so on. What is going on here is that the Lord is making a promise to Abraham and Sarah. Sometimes this promise is called a covenant or a testament. The Lord is telling them that he will be their God and they will be his people. Abraham and Sarah are going to leave the places with which they are familiar. They are going to leave the safety and comfort of their homeland, but they are going to be alright because God is for them and not against them. Allow me to pause for a moment to point out to you how important this is. God tells Abraham and Sarah that he is for them. He's on their side. If God is for you, who cares who or what might be against you! And the fact that God tells them this is very good. They are not left wondering about the inscrutable mysteries of God. Who can know the mind of God or who has been his counselor? But a person can know the mind of God when God reveals his mind and his will. Here in Genesis chapter 12 God reveals that he is for Abraham and Sarah. He will bless them, and through them and their seed the whole world will be blessed. Realize that although God has chosen Abraham and Sarah, although God has made a covenant with them to be their God and bless them, this didn't mean that their life would be painless and whatsoever they might desire would come true. That is a false assumption. When someone hears that God is for them, he or she might immediately think, “Oh good. Now everything is going to go exactly how I want.” God, they imagine, is kind of like a genie in a bottle. God's going to do whatever I tell him. This is obviously not the case as anyone knows who has even a passing familiarity with the stories of the Bible. This wasn't true with Abraham. In the chapters that follow our reading from Genesis chapter 12 we hear about all kinds of difficulties that Abraham and Sarah encountered. However, even though they went through painful, stressful, and harrowing adventures God was nevertheless for them. His covenant remained true. I'll just mention one extreme test, which is horrifying to anyone who takes it seriously—the time that God commanded Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac. As you know, God provided a ram as a substitute for Isaac, but that whole experience was terribly trying and awful. If Moses hadn't recorded it, I wouldn't think it would be possible that the Lord God would do that. But even in the midst of that great struggle, God was for Abraham and not against him. Abraham, for his part, believed God, and this was credited to him as righteousness. You shouldn't misunderstand that statement to mean that Abraham's faith was some great accomplishment on Abraham's part. It wasn't like Abraham tried his hardest, never gave up, and voila! he believed. No, it was the Holy Spirit in God's Word of promise that caused him to believe. God said, “I will be your God. I'm for you,” and Abraham believed that God was telling him the truth and not lying. If God wouldn't have told him what he told him Abraham never would have believed. By God telling him, by God giving Abraham the gift of faith, Abraham believed, and this was credited to him as righteousness. He was justified by faith in God's promise. Now I mentioned at the beginning that our Old Testament reading is important for understanding the rest of the Bible. It's important because it is the beginning of the story that is going to subsequently play out over the course of thousands of years, even up to the present day. In our reading you heard God's promise that he would bless Abraham and Sarah. He would make a great nation of them. All the families of the earth would be blessed in them. And so it went. Abraham and Sarah had a son named Isaac. Isaac and his wife Rebecca had a son named Jacob. Jacob, like his grandfather, would eventually get a new name from God. He was given the name Israel. And Israel had 12 sons. Those twelve sons would eventually become the 12 tribes of Israel. The Old Testament, with all its history, with its dozens upon dozens of generations, is about the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, whose God was the Lord God. All of this traces back to the reading we heard this morning. It all starts with God talking to a man named Abram who was 75 years old at the time. He promised him that he would be his God, and that he and his descendants would be his people. They believed this promise and their faith was credited to them as righteousness. This carries over also into the New Testament. In our Epistle reading from Romans Paul is making a wonderful and persuasive argument for why the real descendants of Abraham are not those who are descendants according to the flesh, but are those who follow Abraham's example. Abraham's descendants are those who believe God's promise and are justified by faith. This is how Genesis chapter 12 is important and applicable also to us, all the way down to our current time and place. Unlike Genesis 12, the Lord God has not appeared to us or spoken to us in the same way that he spoke to Abraham, but that was never what was really important about what happened. What was important was the content of God's message to Abraham. What was important was the promise God made to Abram and his descendants. Abraham came to know the mind of the Lord towards him. We, too, have come to know of the Lord God's promises to us. We learn that God is for us and not against us when the good news of Jesus's full and complete redemption is made known to us. Whenever you hear the good news that Jesus has died for your sins and that you are therefore forgiven, you are hearing something very similar to what God told Abraham—except, if anything, the message you hear is an even higher and better message. And when you were baptized, God said to you essentially: “I am yours and you are mine. I'm baptizing you into the death of my beloved Son. You are now born again by the water and the Holy Spirit so that through the forgiveness of sins you are welcome to enter the kingdom of God.” God most assuredly has said this to you in your baptism, for that is the meaning of your baptism. There's no doubt about God having said this because we know that you have been baptized. You might not believe it, but that doesn't change what God has said or done. Blessed are you if you do believe it. Blessed are you if you believe that God is for you and not against you, come what may. You are his and he is yours. And we have been given another promise, another statement of God's loving care towards us, in the Lord's Supper. Jesus says of the bread: “This is my body which is given for you.” And of the wine he says: “This cup is the new testament—that is, new covenant or promise, the very kind of thing that God did with Abraham—this cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you, for the forgiveness of sins. As often as you drink of it, do so in remembrance of me.” The Lord's Supper is nothing other than Jesus saying to you that he is for you, God is for you, your sins are forgiven. God is for you and not against you. Blessed are you if you believe this. Through faith in this promise you are justified. So now let's move to the relationship that you and I have had these past 12 years. God has given me the job of telling you what God has promised. The Gospel, baptism, the Lord's Supper—these are never-failing promises from God about his forgiveness and loving care for sinners. When you believe that God is for you and not against you because God has told this to you, and you believe that he is not a liar, but speaking the truth, then you are just like Abraham of old. He believed that God was for him and not against him. So my job as pastor has not been anything original or anything that came from me—at least when it comes to anything that is truly worthwhile. I only repeat to you what I myself have heard from others. The Gospel and the Sacraments do what they do because God makes them work, because God who says them is truthful. The one thing I will say about a pastor's effectiveness is that a pastor needs to be faithful to what he has been given to do. A pastor needs to baptize. A pastor needs to not mess around with the Lord's Supper or the Creed. A pastor needs to actually talk about these things and not waste people's time with any number of other things—even if those other things might be more entertaining, more attractive to new-comers, or in some other way might seem to promise success for himself or the congregation. If a pastor does not faithfully give out what he is supposed to, such a pastor would be like Abraham if Abraham were to squander God's promise by not telling others about it. Suppose that he didn't tell his children and grandchildren about God's promise, but instead liked to entertain them with jokes or stories. Or maybe even he liked to tell them about how to be good citizens or some other serious things. If Abraham wouldn't have told his descendants about God's promise, then God's promise would not be known and believed. Abraham needed to be faithful to what was given to him. How can anyone know God's will towards them unless it be told them? And so the most essential thing about a pastor is that he be faithful to what he has been commanded to give. What the pastor has been commanded to give is what also already belongs to all of you. When I speak of God's promises, when I administer the sacraments—none of that comes from me, none of that is secret, none of that comes from my genius. All of that is common property in Christendom. You all know that just as well as I do. And now this job that I have been doing is going to be passed along to somebody else. You are going to have a vacancy pastor. And then, God willing, God will give you another pastor to serve you full time. These other pastors will inevitably be different from me. No two pastors are ever the same. God gives different gifts to all his Christians, pastors included. But although your pastors in the future will be different from me in terms of their gifts and personality, they will be giving you the same things I've been giving you— at least when it comes to the important things, the saving things. These pastors have taken the same solemn oath that I've taken—to do the job of preaching the Gospel and administering the sacraments. It is God's promise that is so essential and important. It is by faith in this promise—faith that God is for me and not against me—that makes anyone a Christian. It is by faith in Christ that we are justified. So as my time with you draws to a close, what is good, important, and saving about the work that I have done is going to continue on among you. I am sure that you are going to continue to hear that you are sinners. I am sure that you are going to continue to hear that you are sinners who have been justified, made righteous, by God in Jesus. God has worked these good things in this congregation before I ever came, he has worked through my service, and he will continue to work in this congregation after I have gone. If you hold to these promises that God has spoken to you, then we will most certainly see each other again. We might not see each other again in this life—although I'd like that very much—but we will certainly see each other again at the marriage feast of the Lamb in his kingdom which has no end. There we will be with a multitude that comes from the east and the west to sit at the feast of salvation. With Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob the blessed obeying the Lord's invitation. Have mercy upon us O Jesus! I'm thankful for the time that we have spent together. May God continue to bless us with faith in his love toward us for Jesus's sake. Amen!

Episode 196 – Eternal Information – Part 4 –Information and Apologetics Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. In John 14:6, Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” The goal of Anchored by Truth is to encourage everyone to grow in the Christian faith by anchoring themselves to the secure truth found in the inspired, inerrant, and infallible word of God. Script: That which you worship, then, even though you do not know it, is what I now proclaim to you. God, who made the world and everything in it …” Acts, Chapter 17, verses 23 and 24, Good News Translation ******** VK: Hello! I’m Victoria K. Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. We’re very grateful that you are joining us on Anchored by Truth as we continue the series which we are calling “Eternal Information.” Like several of the other series that we have done on Anchored by Truth this “Eternal Information” series pertains to a subject that has special importance in our day and time – demonstrating that the Christian faith has a firm basis in reason and evidence. Today in the studio we have RD who is an author and the founder of Crystal Sea Books. RD, we spend a lot of time on Anchored by Truth discussing topics that don’t seem to be as relevant to the Christian faith as, say, family relationships, struggles with addiction, or even the wise use of money. Why do you feel led to go into what some may regard as side issues that don’t affect people’s daily lives? RD: Well, that’s a very good question. But before I answer it I’d also like to thank everyone joining us on Anchored by Truth. The biggest reason I think we need to do series like “Eternal Information” is very simple. We need to return to the reality that the Christian faith isn’t just appealing or helpful – but it is true. We live in what many term a “post-modern” culture. The post-modern culture not only doesn’t believe that the Christian faith is true. The post-modern culture denies the existence of truth altogether. Post-modernism tells us things like “that may be true for you but that’s not true for me.” VK: You might say that the primary slogan for our post-modern world is that “there is no such thing as absolute truth.” But as we have pointed out in previous episodes the statement “there is no such thing as absolute truth” is self-contradictory. The proponent of the statement wants us accept his proclamation as if it were absolutely true. So, anyone who bases their worldview on that proposition has a house built on intellectual quicksand. It’s not only not stable it’s deadly. RD: Exactly right. But that mantra, that there is no such thing as absolute truth, surrounds us today and if we don’t begin to reverse the widespread acceptance of that silliness there is little to no chance we can reverse the decline in our culture. The only way we can begin to reclaim virtue for our society is to reclaim the historic reliance that western civilization placed on a Christian worldview and value set. We must start with the truth if we are going to repel the lies we are being told. And the truth is that the Bible is demonstrably the inspired, inerrant, and infallible Word of God. VK: That word “demonstrable” is important. In our day and time it’s not enough for Christians to just believe the Bible is the Word of God. That’s necessary but it’s not sufficient to impact our culture. The question “how can we be sure God exists” is a reasonable question. And so is the question “how can you be sure the Bible is God’s word.” And 1 Peter 3:15 commands us to be able to give reasonable answers to those questions. RD: Yes. 1 Peter 3:15 is probably the most commonly cited Bible verse for why Christians need to obtain a least a basic understanding of what is usually termed “apologetics.” VK: Apologetics is a broad umbrella term for the reason we thought this series about information is important. Apologetics can broadly be defined as “a defense for our faith.” Apologetics comes from a compound Greek word. Greek, like English, has compound words made of two or more other words. In this case the Greek words are apo, primarily used to mean “from;” and logos, primarily meaning, in its most generic sense, “word.” Logos is also commonly used in an expanded way to mean “reason, the mental faculty of thinking, meditating, reasoning, and calculating.” The Greek philosopher Heraclitus [HAIR-AH-KLEYE-TUS] first used the term Logos around 600 B.C. to designate the divine reason or plan which coordinates a changing universe. The Apostle John’s used that same word logos in John 1:1 when John said, “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.” RD: Right. So, on this episode of Anchored by Truth I wanted to just spend a little more time making sure that we connect the concept of information with this whole notion of the “defense of the Christian Faith.” So, one issue I would like to deal with right away is the whole notion that apologetics is really not necessary. We often say that God is the only One who can change a human heart. If that’s true then many people don’t see a need for us humans to actually try to defend the faith. After all, if conversion is up to God all we should have to do is just tell people about God and Jesus and that should be enough. VK: And some Christians would say that in some of the best known verses about sharing the gospel there is no mention of apologetics. Romans, chapter 10, verses 14 and 15 say, “How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are sent?” That’s from the New International Version. Those verses clearly talk about us sending and preaching so others can hear and believe but they don’t say anything about “defending the faith.” RD: True enough, but those verses are part of a larger discussion by the Apostle Paul about the difference between the Jews believing they can be saved by the law as opposed to being saved by faith in Jesus. The larger point that Paul was making was that Paul’s people the Jews were zealous in wanting to know God but they had drifted into thinking that a zeal for the law was sufficient for God to accept them. Paul was trying to clarify that no amount of zealousness for the law was sufficient to make us acceptable to God. To be saved by the law we would have to keep the law perfectly. VK: Which no human being apart from Jesus has ever done, or could do. RD: Right. No human being can be saved by our own works because none of us can keep the law perfectly. Jesus did keep the law perfectly which qualified Him to be a fit representative for those of us who can’t. So, the point Paul was making when he talked about sending and preaching was that all believers have a responsibility to share our faith with others. In those verses from Romans, Paul was describing the need for us to “preach” but he was not prescribing the content of our preaching. Elsewhere, as in Acts chapter 17 shows very clearly that he used logic and reason in his own preaching. In talking to the assembly on the Areopagus he began his message with an appeal for the Athenians to think about “The God who made the world and everything in it…” In effect Paul was using a form of what is often termed the cosmological argument. VK: Wikipedia defines the cosmological argument as “… an argument which claims that the existence of God can be inferred from facts concerning causation, explanation, change, motion, contingency, dependency, or finitude with respect to the universe or some totality of objects.” So, in slightly different words the cosmological argument is an argument based on the existence of the cosmos. RD: Yes. The cosmological argument is one form of what is sometimes termed “classical apologetics.” And I think it is likely the most common form of apologetic argument since it so easy to understand and it begins with a starting point that people have to agree with. We exist. The universe exists. Careful observations about the universe such as the Laws of Thermodynamics tell us the universe is not eternal. Basic reason tells us that anything that is not eternal cannot account for its own existence. Anything that is self-existent, that is which possesses the power of existence unto and all by itself, would have to be eternal because a self-existent entity cannot go out of existence. Since the universe cannot provide an explanation for its own existence, it is reasonable to go looking for an explanation for the reason the universe exists outside of the universe. At any rate, the point is that the Apostle Paul was clearly a skilled apologist and he used apologetics in his own preaching. So, in those verses from Romans that you cited Paul was not dismissing the need for apologetics. He was simply stressing the need for us to be active in spreading the gospel to bring salvation to as many people as possible. In Romans Paul was talking about the necessity for evangelism but not the content of evangelism. VK: So, in this series, and in many of the others that we’ve done on Anchored by Truth, we are discussing the content of the evangelistic message. And the point we are making is that good apologetics should be one component of an evangelistic message. Evangelism cannot be limited to apologetics. Apologetics is primarily aimed at the mind. But good evangelism also has to address the needs of the heart. In some ways the heart’s needs are more urgent for most people. So, we must always be prepared to address those as well. People need to know that Jesus brings forgiveness of sins because without that people have no effective way of dealing with the guilt that we all feel. People need to know that Jesus loves them. The desire to be cherished and valued is basic to all human beings. And people need to know that God wants them to be included in His family. People need to know that they belong. All those and more are heart needs. And we certainly don’t want to minimize their importance. But just as it is important to address the heart needs we must also not forget about the head. RD: Exactly. The church must address the whole person just as Jesus commanded in Mark 12:30 where he told his listeners that they must, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” Jesus wasn’t trying to take an inventory of human anatomy and physiology there. He was telling his listeners that they had to devote all of themselves to God. VK: After all, God devoted all of Himself to us when the 2nd person of the Trinity took on a human body and then sacrificed Himself for us. RD: Yes. So, God gave His all to us and we must give our all to Him. It’s important to note that in his admonition Jesus included a reference to the “mind” as well as to the heart, soul, and strength. In looking at apologetic approaches that’s what we are doing. And that’s where I think that this discussion of information becomes valuable. I see it as a supplement to many of the other approaches that have been used throughout church history. VK: I see where you’re going with this. There are at least three apologetic arguments that are termed classical apologetics. The cosmological argument is one of those. As you’ve said the cosmological argument is possibly the best known and easiest to understand. But there is also the teleological [TEAL-EE-AH-LODGE-EH-KAL] argument. The teleological argument is an argument based on design or purpose. The teleological argument demonstrates the existence of God by beginning with the observation of purpose in nature. The teleological argument reasons that design cannot exist without a Designer. And classical apologetics also includes what is called the ontological [ON-TOE-LODGE-EH-KAL] argument. But I’m not even going to attempt to explain that. RD: Yeah. I don’t blame you. The ontological argument is probably the most esoteric of the classical arguments. Ontology is the study of “being.” If something exists it is sometimes said to have “ontological status.” I think the easiest way to think about ontology is to just distinguish between the real and the imaginary. So, the ontological argument is based on the idea that anything that is real is better than something that is imaginary. VK: I think there are some people in the movie business that might disagree with you. RD: True. But even movie makers make real movies. An imaginary movie might be great but it doesn’t sell any tickets. And that’s the essential idea behind the ontological argument. We can conceive of a perfect being. Now our individual ideas of the perfect being might vary a bit but we can all conceive of a perfect being. But if that perfect being were only imaginary it wouldn’t be nearly as good as a real perfect being. Furthermore, it is obvious that all human beings as well as every other living creature are dependent beings. We depend on air, water, food, sunlight, etc. for our existence. The same thing is true for inanimate structures like stars. They depend on the availability of fuel to continue to burn. Well, there must be an ultimate source which supplies what all those dependent entities need to maintain their existence. That Something or Someone must be completely independent of need. Philosophers refer to that entity as a Necessary Being. That Necessary Being then would be perfect because it (He) would be able to provide for the existence of everything else. So, the ontological argument essentially recognizes that that Necessary Being is the Perfect Being that we all conceive of. And again, an imaginary perfect being would not have any ontological status so it couldn’t supply the needs of anything. There have been many different formulations of the ontological argument down through the years and they can get pretty esoteric. If someone wants to look further I would suggest they look an Anselm, Descartes, or more recently the American philosopher, Alvin Plantinga. VK: As you said, that’s all pretty esoteric. RD: But it does point out something important. Despite the claims of the evolutionists life on this earth cannot account for its own existence. The universe cannot account for its own existence. The 2nd law of Thermodynamics tells us that someday the universe will burn itself out. And even those people who believe in the Big Bang have no explanation for how the original singularity came into existence. So, they usually resort to saying things like, “the laws of physics tell us how something can come from nothing.” Well, no they don’t. Because if there was ever time when nothing existed there wouldn’t have been any “laws of physics.” And that’s the problem with all explanations for existence that attempt to exclude God. They always wind up in a place where they have unanswered questions and their advocates tell us that we just have to live with those questions. VK: And therein lies the role for apologetics. Apologetics leads us through the questions and ultimately supplies the answers to those questions that can’t come from anywhere else. Now we can live our whole lives and never ask the questions. Or we can live our lives and simply suppress our desire for the answers. But ultimately neither one of those approaches satisfies us. God built human beings with an innate curiosity because that curiosity will always lead us back to our need for Him. RD: I agree. And that is what our examination of information does. It leads us back to God. As we talked about in our first two episodes in this series, information is a non-material component of the created order that is not generated by, dependent upon, or impacted by matter, energy, time, or space. Because information is non-material and is unaffected by matter or energy it is logically impossible to attribute the presence of information to matter or energy. But that’s all atheists or anyone who denies the existence of God has to work with. For them they’re surrounded only by physical phenomena so they must find some way to attribute everything that they come across in their experience to an origin in matter or energy. In a previous episode we saw that there are actually laws of information that act exactly like other natural laws with which we’re more familiar like the law of gravity or the Laws of Thermodynamics. But these other natural laws can be framed in terms of matter and energy. Information cannot. VK: So, the atheist is now stuck with a conundrum. How can material phenomena produce a non-material phenomenon that can describe the material but remain unaffected by the material? For Christians, and even other theists, the conundrum doesn’t exist. God produced the cosmos ex nihilo – from nothing other than his own ineffable power. RD: Yes. The nature of the physical universe itself points us to a power that must lie beyond the universe. Information is another one of the many attributes of the universe that supports that basic line of reasoning. In that sense it forms another and very powerful argument for the existence of God. VK: Which is what all apologetic approaches do. But that does not mean that all apologetic approaches are equal – or equally suitable for use in evangelistic settings. And we haven’t touched on all the apologetic arguments that are out there. We’ve only touched on a few. RD: Yep. Besides the cosmological, teleological, and ontological arguments – which are considered “classical apologetics” there are people who favor a moral argument. Others prefer a historical approach to demonstrating God’s necessary existence. VK: The moral argument was used by CS Lewis in his classic work Mere Christianity. It essentially says that we all feel the presence of certain obligations that should govern our behavior – moral laws if you will. But the existence of a law requires a Law Giver. Historical apologetics points to events in world history, such as the resurrection, as evidence that the God of the Bible is actively involved in our world and its affairs. For instance, regarding evidence for the historicity of the resurrection, British historian, A. N. Sherwin-White has written that “For Acts, the confirmation of historicity is overwhelming. … any attempt to reject its basic historicity, even in matters of detail, must now appear absurd. Roman historians have long taken it for granted…” Many other historians have come to similar conclusions about parts of the Bible as diverse as Isaiah, Daniel, Kings, and Chronicles. RD: Yes. And there are still other forms of apologetics such as pre-suppositional apologetics and transcendental apologetics that we don’t have the time or need to cover. But all apologetic approaches share something in common. They start with an observation about the universe or world history that can’t be reasonably denied. Then they proceed to look for an explanation of the attribute or phenomenon they have observed. Inevitably they find that a satisfactory explanation cannot be contained within the four corners of the visible universe. So, as we have said, we can simply throw up our hands at that point and proclaim that there is no possible explanation or we can follow the considerable affirmative evidence, such as the reliability of scripture that points to the existence of God. VK: Apologetics is a little like the classic murder mystery where the murder was seemingly committed in a locked room where there is no immediate evidence of any way the murderer could have entered or left. Then the clever detective arrives and finds that there’s a previously unknown, hidden panel that they discovered by a careful analysis of the room’s dimensions. Or there’s a bit of wax on the floor that shows where the window latch dropped back into place after the murderer left through the window. Or a scratch on floor shows that the key on the inside was really on the outside when the door was locked. The detective always finds the clue overlooked by everyone else to divine the truth. RD: Yep. Except that in this case the evidence isn’t hard to discern. It’s out there in plain sight for everyone to see. It has to be. If God had hidden evidence of himself people might have a legitimate excuse for their unbelief. But they don’t. Romans, chapter 1, verses 18 through 20 say, “The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.” VK: And Psalm 19, verses 1 and 2 say, “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge.” RD: So, as in your detective example, the universe contains clues, more than clues really, that point to the fact that there is a God who made everything, sustains everything, and governs everything. Information is one more phenomenon within creation that points out that the universe cannot be explained simply by its material elements – matter, energy, time, and space. The universe exhibits design in its smallest elements such as the atom to its largest structures such as galaxies. Design needs a Designer. The universe needed a power source to get it going because it is steadily running out of power. The laws of thermodynamics tell us that. Life would not exist at all if DNA did not contain an embedded program that tells the various base pairs, genes, and motors how to operate to both operate and replicate. The program embedded within DNA is another form of information. In fact, DNA is most sophisticated data storage and use structure we know about within the universe. But how did that information get into the DNA? The cells’ protein machines can’t explain the information because without DNA the cells wouldn’t know how to make the machines. But without the machines to build the DNA it couldn’t hold, store, or transmit the information. The answer of course is that God created everything, installed the programs, and continues to sustain all that He created. We can accept or reject that conclusion but we can’t avoid the facts that point to it. VK: So, again, the big idea that we are discussing is that information is another line of evidence that proves that if God did not exist the universe could not appear as we see it. Information is non-material and information always exhibits order, organization, specificity, and purpose. And those things require intelligence. Well, our thought-provoking journey continues. This sounds like a great time to pray. Today let’s listen to a prayer that our nation would experience a renewed hunger for the One who formed the universe and who put His presence into both its largest and smallest structures. ---- PRAYER FOR RESTORATION OF THE WORSHIP OF THE ONE TRUE GOD VK: We’d like to remind our audience that a lot of our radio episodes are linked together in series of topics so if they missed any episodes or if they just want to hear one again, all of these episodes are available on your favorite podcast app. To find them just search on “Anchored by Truth by Crystal Sea Books.” If you’d like to hear more, try out crystalseabooks.com where “We’re not perfect but our Boss is!” (Bible Quote from the Good News Translation) Acts, Chapter 17, verses 23 and 24, Good News Translation Laws of information 1 (creation.com) Laws of information 2 (creation.com) We are less than dust (creation.com) https://www.josh.org/what-is-the-design-argument-for-gods-existence/

Understanding Paul’s statements contrasting Jews and Gentiles in the book of Romans. [1 hours 50 minutes]

If you've ever felt discouraged in sharing the Gospel with people who don't seem interested, Dr. Mitch Glaser's message from Romans offers three points of encouragement from Paul's letter to the Romans: Paul's Broken Heart for the Salvation of the Jewish People (Romans 9:1-3) Paul's Prayer for the Salvation of the Jewish People (Romans 10:1-2) Paul's Hope for the Salvation of the Jewish People (Romans 11:1-3)   Takeaway: God chose the Jewish people to bless the Gentiles (Genesis 12:3) and the Gentiles to bless the Jewish people through the proclamation of the Gospel (Romans 11:11).

We're looking at a life of goodness in today's Cultivate podcast. If you already feel disqualified or like you've totally missed that “good” mark you're exactly who I hope will join me. Scripture is really interesting on the topic of goodness because in Romans Paul quotes the Old Testament by saying that no one is good, not even one. And yet he's also the one who teaches us that we're to display the fruit of goodness and that we're created for good works. So which is it? In today's episode we're going to find out that it's both. While we're not saved by our good works, we're definitely saved for good works. And the very grace that saves us is the same grace that fuels a life of goodness that doesn't always come naturally to us. You were created for good works, and not only that, God prepared certain good works for you to do! I'm so excited about this episode as we dive into Ephesians 5:8-9, Ephesians 2:1-5, and Ephesians 2:8-10. My prayer is that you'll find freedom from guilt and discouragement, and lean into God's grace for the all the good He has in store for you. If you'd like to go deeper into Bible study, check out Kelly's brand new study releasing Nov 1, 2022 on the book of Ruth called Ruth: Loss, Love & Legacy. Cultivate is brought to you in part by the Dwell Bible App. Save 30% at dwellapp.io/Cultivate.

Audio Transcript: This media has been made available by Mosaic Boston Church. If you'd like to check out more resources, learn about Mosaic Boston and our neighborhood churches, or donate to this ministry, please visit mosaicboston.com.Our good, unchangeable, immutable God. Father you are gracious, you are merciful, you are slow to anger and you abound in steadfast love. Father I specifically pray for those who are not saved that hear this message. Maybe they're here, or maybe they're listening to it online. God I pray that the truth in the words that you have for us this morning prick their hearts, that it softens their hearts. God that you shine your light into their darkened souls that they may be awoken into the beauty of a life with you.And God for us who say that we are believers, God help us understand and rest in the assurance of salvation that's presented in this text. Give us an understanding to know that we are children. God help our spirits cry out to you in rejoicing by the truth that you have in this word. Show us that your Spirit is leading us to the end goal of glorification, assure us this morning of our peace with you and our sealed promise of everlasting life in your presence, in Jesus name. Amen.Really is truly a privilege to speak to all of you this morning, I'm really excited to talk about Romans 8. I've actually been meditating on this scripture for about a month. The pastors told me that I was going to be preaching and this was my text. And so it's been a month now, and I've done a lot of research. In the last week, as things were starting to get put together and I was formulating the finality of this sermon, I was unable to sleep because when I finally went down to sleep, my mind just kept thinking of more things to say.I'm really excited if even just to be able to sleep this coming week, but I've got some really good news to share with you today. In fact, I think it's the best part of the good news. Pastor Shane mentioned in Romans 8 that, or mentioned that Romans 8 is known as the inner sanctuary within the cathedral of the Christian faith. I would argue that this section that we're going to read today is the reason that it's called that. It summarizes the chapter thus far, it introduces this beautiful truth of our current and eternal standing with God.And all of that's going to be furthered and concluded in the rest of this chapter with a glorious portion that Pastor Shane has also coined the party passage. I think this is the pinnacle of the gospel. I think this is the crowning jewel for a believer, because not only does God save us from his wrath against our sin, but then he adopts us and he gives us an inheritance, we're now called heirs of God, we're called heirs with Christ. We are called the children of God.With that said, let's read Romans 8:12 to 17. If you have your Bibles, please turn to that passage. If not, it'll be up here on the screen. So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, "Abba Father." The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God. And if children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.I think the best way to kick things off is to give you a quick summary of this passage. I don't have a big outline, three points that you were accustomed to. I have one point, it's a beautiful passage and we're going to pick it apart. And I'm going to give you all the different facets of how it is presented, but I want to make sure we understand the overall meaning. And it is this, you are a child of God. And being a child of God, you will be led by the Spirit of God to slay the sin that is in your life.You will be led by the Spirit of God in your walk, as you're tossed about in the storms of this life. And all of that is done in order to reach the hope that is set before you. And that is an inheritance from God. Believers in this passage are given three names, three names of our new identity, of our position before God that have profound meaning and they should give us a full assurance of our salvation. The Apostle Paul builds his case for our assurance sequentially through these three names, through the use of transitional clauses.Now the transitions are not if, then statements, which would make us question whether or not we were actually in God's family at all. For example, if you have good taste in movies, then you agree objectively, that The Lord of the Rings is the best trilogy ever made. Oh yeah. Now this disagreeing with the second half would make you question whether or not you actually had good taste in movies. That's not what's happening here. These statements are therefore statements, A is true, therefore B is true.And don't forget The entire theme of this passage is, a full assurance of your salvation. With that said, the first thing that we're called is debtors. Verse 12 begins by saying that we are debtors, but not to the flesh. As we've covered in previous weeks, the Apostle Paul uses the word flesh to embody a person who dwells in the realm of the flesh. Those who are weakened by the sinful nature, those who are powerless to uphold the law.And remember the context that we just came from. Chapter six, chapter seven, we established that there are two reigning powers of humanity state before Christ came on the scene in the likeness of flesh, and that's sin and the law. We can call these the powers of the old regime and they are two sides of the same coin. I'm not saying that sin and the law are the same thing, by no... In fact, Paul already made mention of this in chapter seven verse seven, when he says, "What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means."Well, how then are they the same coin? Well, they both lead to eternal separation from Christ. This is the point of the last few chapters, whether we live to be justified in our own desires or we live to be justified by fulfilling the law, we are without grace of God. Paul writes specifically to the Galatians about this. They were struggling with how to incorporate the laws and the expectations that are found in the Old Testament with their new identities as believers of Christ.The Galatian church specifically was dealing with the false teaching of circumcision as a requirement for justification. Let's take a step back, I just used the term justification. If you're unfamiliar with that word, the Bible talks about salvation in three ways. It says justification, sanctification and glorification. We're going to talk about all three of those today because our passage hints at all three of them, but let's first start with justification.Justification is that which justifies us, makes us righteous, presents us as unblemished and perfect before the judge, God. Paul is saying in Galatians, that circumcision does not matter in justification. Let's read Galatians 5:1-6. For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. Look: I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you.I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision, that he is obligated to keep the whole law. You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law, you have fallen away from grace. For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.It's not circumcision that justifies you. In fact, it doesn't count for anything. In saying, I, Paul, say to you, Paul is using his own credentials as a Pharisee of Pharisees, a Jew of Jews, a teacher of the law to say that one of the foundational elements of the Old Testament, a consecration to the law counts for nothing. What does count however, is faith working through love. By grace through faith, we are justified. By the grace of God, Christ takes on our sin at the cross, pays the penalty for our wickedness. In turn, we receive his perfection, we are clothed and robed with his robes.Now this is grace, this is justification. We are not as Paul writes to the Galatians, obligated... Keep the whole law. And the word for obligated is the same word that's found in our text for debtors, debtors to the law, obligated to keep the whole law, a debtor to God through the law. Paul's argument in both cases is, that's not who we are. We as believers owe nothing to the flesh, for in fact, we've died to the law and Paul speaks about this in Roman 7, where he says, "But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old ways of the written code."What's also interesting to note from this passage in Galatians is that there's a similar wording being used to describe this obligation to the law. In Galatians, Paul mentions a yolk of slavery, but in our text, he calls it a spirit of slavery. in Romans Paul's warns us not to fall back into fear, whereas in Galatians, he says to fall away from grace. These are the same concepts, you put them together and you get the spirit of slavery is a yolk, a burden that keeps you in fear and away from God's grace.Romans 8:13. For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. So then, we are not debtors to the flesh, but if not to the flesh, then to what? Well, Paul begins in verse 12 by saying, so then, which tells us that he's saying that we are debtors in light of the previous statement. So let's backtrack Romans 8:11. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies, through his Spirit who dwells in you. So then brothers, we are debtors.We're not debtors to the flesh, but if we put to death the flesh through the Spirit, we will have life. We're not debtors to the flesh, but we are debtors to the Spirit. We're not debtors to God through the law, but we are debtors to God through grace. And we sing hymn quite often here at Mosaic called, Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing. And perhaps you've missed the beautiful writing that's in this hymn that speaks to this theological truth.It says, "O to grace, how great a debtor. Daily I'm constrained to be! Let thy grace now like a fetter, bind my wandering heart to thee." We are a debtor to grace and the writer here begs God that grace will act as some kind of chain as a restraint to keep his heart from wandering from God. He continues by saying of his heart, it's prone to wander, prone to leave the God that he loves.How are we supposed to deal with the heart that wanders from the God that we love? How does this enactment of grace binding work? Well, if we look back to Tyler's sermon last week, it points us to say that we need to side, We need to submit and we need to live in the Spirit. And if you haven't listened, or you haven't watched that sermon, I encourage you to do so, because it leads us to say that we do this side, submit and live in the Spirit by putting sin to death through the Spirit. See, verse 13 is very clear, it says, "If by the Spirit you put to death, the deeds of the body, you will live."And this is the synergistic concept of sanctification that pastor Jan talked about a few weeks ago. Sanctification, the second element of salvation. Sanctification is the word that we use to speak of a life of a believer between justification and glorification. It's a spiritual walk that we go through after the moment we repent and believe until we are reunited with Christ. This is the process where God leads us ever closer to his throne. The process where we are refined, this is where we grow to imitate Christ more and more.In this verse, we also see the first transitional clause. You are debtors, therefore you are led by the Spirit. The Apostle Paul lays out the way in which we live. He says, "We slay our sin through the power of the Spirit so that we may abide it in the Spirit." Let me say that again, we slay our sin through the power of the Spirit so that we may abide in the Spirit. You see, it begins, is sustained by and ends with the Spirit working. And yet in this process, we're actively pursuing that in which we are led to do.We don't control the Spirit as a tool, but we are empowered. We are enabled by the Spirit to do the things that we know we should do, but we don't actually do that. We cannot do. And the statement here of put to death, that's a present calling to believers. The one who lives in the Spirit does this in perpetuity. Meaning, that the scripture always applies to the life of a believer while they are here on this earth, it's present, it's persistent. The theologian, John Murray puts it like this, "The believer's once-for-all death to the law of sin does not free him from the necessity of mortifying sin in his members; it makes it necessary and possible for him to do so."The ability to put to death the flesh, that's a result of the Spirit impelling you forward in sanctification, your daily progression in the faith. And this is a proof of your adoption. Verse 14 lays out the second, therefore statement. You are led by the Spirit and therefore, you are sons of God. And therein we find the second name that we are called, sons. Romans 8:14-16, says, "For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you've received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, "Abba, Father." The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.You may have noticed it says sons, it doesn't say child. That's on purpose. The Greek word here specifically emphasizes the maleness of this pronoun. Now it does mean in the larger context that we are children of God, but it says sons for two reasons, specifically. Firstly Israel, God's chosen people were called sons of God in the Old Testament. Exodus 4, then you shall say to Pharaoh, "Thus says the Lord, Israel is my first born son." This is also the case in Isaiah and Hosea.It should make us see that we are also God's chosen people, his elected people, God chose Jacob, not Esau, therefore he also chose you. But secondly, and most importantly, Paul is making the case that we are sons in relation to being hidden under the son. If you recall, Romans 1, Paul writes that Jesus is the son of God. He now says that we are welcomed into that same relationship. Take a look at Romans 8:17, it says we're heirs with Christ. Or even if you look at the word that Paul uses to describe how we should cry out to God. He says Abba, Father.There's only one other person in scripture that has used that kind of identification with God. Paul's referring to the way that Jesus himself would speak to the father. We now have that same relationship, that same status, that same fellowship with God. You see there's a likeness of the son which is brought up here. In a similar way, how the son came in the likeness of flesh to condemn the flesh, we now have been redeemed from that, made in the likeness of the son to be united with the father.Jesus tells us in Matthew 5 to be perfect as God, our father is perfect. Peter referring to Leviticus says, "Be holy as God is holy." See, we are like Christ in our whole person, We are a reflection of the father just as Christ is. We are representatives, a holy nation, a beacon of light into this world that declares the glory of the father. I know it sounds difficult, extremely intimidating. I know I fail, I know I have sin in my own life. How am I supposed to be like Christ?Let me answer that by telling you how good our father is. As Pastor Shane brought up in verses one through four, God has an unconditional love. He loves his children unconditionally. Now see, there may be kindness poured out to all others, but there's a special relationship, a special desire and a special responsibility that he gives to himself by calling you his child.James 4:5 says, "He yearns jealously over the Spirit that he has made to dwell in us." God is so concerned with our wellbeing, with our overall state, that James goes to the extent of saying that God is jealous over you. Now, normally we save what I'm about to say for the end of the sermon, but I think it's really appropriate to do it here. As we talk about being a child of God, Paul makes it clear that he says if, in verse 17, he's stating that not all people are children.So if you are not a believer, if you have not repented of your sin, if you haven't submitted to Christ as Lord, as your savior, if you haven't come to the cross, sought forgiveness, redemption, restoration from your brokenness. I ask you to do that. I plead with you to seek God's face, to turn from worshiping the things of this world, the created things and turn to he who is creator. What we're talking about is the greatest joy, the most comforting truth, and the reason for hope. But this is only given to those of us who are in God's family and only those who are in God's family.This is an incredibly deep fact of love, not only did God come and show us love by sacrificing himself for us, but he sacrificed himself for those of us who were his enemies. We were all his enemies, he sacrificed himself, then we are wiped clean, adopted, not only adopted, but now heirs to an inheritance. And he assures us of all of this by leading us, by adopting us, by testifying to us. Do you remember in Exodus when the Israelites were led out of Egypt, they were led by a pillar of fire and smoke?They were brought from slavery and into Canaan, the land of inheritance through the promises made to Abraham. Likewise, we have an internal compass. That's the Holy Spirit. We also have external compasses through the word of God and through the Holy Spirit, working in other people. And this is the importance of community. This is why we have community groups at Mosaic. There are to do the one others that scripture talks about, to bear with one another, to keep each other accountable, to help each other walk down the narrow way.The Spirit works to bring us from slavery and in sin. We walk towards the land of inheritance, the new Jerusalem, empowered and enabled through the Spirit. The Spirit leads us to draw closer to God. We see this when we delight in his word, when we desire to know more of God, to love him more, to be in fellowship, to be in step with him, to serve his children, to partner in us. Hebrew puts it, bringing many sons to glory.Are you being led closer to the father and to Christ? Does your longing for eternity in fellowship with them deepen with each passing day, with each passing season in your life? Can you look back on your life and see the Spirit bring about the obedience of your faith? If you are a believer, the answer is yes. If you are a child of God, the only answer is yes, that's the point of this passage. It's to stir you up with the knowledge that you are a child of God, that he's leading you by his Spirit, that you are covered by his son, that you will share in the inheritance that the father has promise. That's the point.Now there's no condemnation for you because you are hidden in the son, in the son's likeness, you should want to do the things that please God. See, we believers desire the things of heaven because we are children of our father who is in heaven. Like father like son. And all of this should lead us to cry out Abba, Father. This is a declaration of rejoicing at our adoption, of rejoicing at the inheritance that has been promised.See, we were one slaves, but now we're children. The Roman church knows exactly what Paul's saying when he says slavery to fear. See, the Roman slave system was threefold, whips, hooks, and the cross. They would've seen, they would've heard, they would've experienced the punishment and the fear of slaves. And Paul is saying that without Christ, you are slaves to fear. A fear of God's wrath, a fear of the impending doom of judgment before the law, the same fear that Adam felt in the garden, a sinful man and the presence of a holy God.Believers are no longer slaves to fear, we're no longer condemned to face God's wrath because Christ has born that for us. We're now welcomed into God's family and we can personally call God our father. You can call him father and he will listen, that in itself should be proof enough of your adoption. The apostle goes on further and he says that God's Spirit in our own spirit testify to this adoption. Let me list out how this is played out.Firstly, the word, the written word that we have is inspired by the Holy Spirit. And it tells us of our adoption, it tells us of God's love for us. Secondly, the Holy Spirit testifies and affirms that the authenticity of that word is true. The Spirit tells you that what it wrote is true. Thirdly, the Holy Spirit ministers to our spirits, our souls, that we are God's children. In fact, if we look back on our own life, we should be able to testify that we are his. We can look back and see how God has orchestrated our life, how God has walked before us, how he is currently leading us.Look at the Psalms, it always talks about you are faithfulness because I've seen your faithfulness. Psalm 37 says, "I have been young and now I'm old yet, I have not seen the righteous forsaken or his children begging for bread. He's ever lending generously and his children become a blessing." So since we are children of God, we are therefore heirs. And this also is another name that Paul gives to us, heirs of God, the word heir alludes to receiving an inheritance. And this is the hope that we hold.And this hope as Paul says in Romans 5, doesn't put us to shame because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. The Holy Spirit is the seal of our inheritance. Not only is it the seal, but God himself has guaranteed it because he's an unchanging God. He is immutable in his nature. Paul says to Titus, "For the sake of the faith of God's elect and their knowledge of the truth, which accords with godliness in hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began."Or even if you look in the sixth chapter of Hebrews, the writer speaks to the inheritance as so assured because God is unchanging. And because he who does not lie has promised two unchangeable things that give us strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope that is set before us. And here we see the third element of salvation, glorification. For now we see through a mirror dimly, but then we will see face to face. But this is a time to come when we are perfect as God is perfect in the resurrected body like Christ.This is where the completion of the salvific work is seen. Christ doesn't, sorry, Christianity doesn't promise full resolution in our life now, there is some, right? That's why we're called children, that's why this Spirit helps us, that's why this Spirit leads us, but the full resolution of our belief is in this hope. In what's to come, in this inheritance from God. He has promised this inheritance to his children and because he has promised it, a child cannot be robbed of it.Look at what Peter says in his first epistle, according to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. So here you have after being justified, a promise of inheritance, which is kept in heaven until the right time. And in the meantime, God is guarding you through faith for the fullness of salvation to take effect.After you are justified, God has promised your glorification, and through that time, he will sanctify you to reach that point. As we've covered, not everybody receives this, only a child. So the question a person could ask themselves is, am I a child of God? But as this passage in Romans is not about questioning of faith, as I mentioned before, this is about the assurance of your salvation. The more correct and deeper truth to understand is this.Since you are a child of God, if indeed you are, you have been given assure and unchanging hope. So there's no need for fear, there's no need for anxiety. In fact, we should be reminding ourselves of Romans 8:38 and 39, it says, "For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels, no rulers, nor things present, nor things come, nor powers, height, nor depth nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." Nothing will be able to separate us.But that doesn't mean there won't be pain. It doesn't mean there won't be suffering. See, we are called heirs and therefore we will face suffering. Look at verse 17, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. There's a reason that Paul introduces the command to not fall back into slavery of fear. Suffering shouldn't frighten us. In fact, suffering is a characteristic of your life.Christ said, "Pick up your cross, follow me." And we look to Christ, the one who suffered the man of sorrows. And since we are sons in the likeness of the son, in the likeness of Christ, so our lives should also mirror him in living righteously. And when you live this way, you will suffer. And if we like him suffer for the sake of righteousness, because we have the identity as children of God, then we like him will be resurrected and we will be glorified.John 15 says this, "If the world hates, you know that it hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own, but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you: A servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me."We are a colony of heaven, living in a hell dominated world. We are children of God, living in a world that is ruled by the prince of the power of the air. But the mindset of a Christian should be that of peace that surpasses all understanding. And the peace of God, this is the full assurance of our salvation, the full assurance of our adoption, the full assurance that God promises to his children. And he leads us to say that we can do all things in Christ who strengthens us.It's by this strength, working through the Spirit that we mortified, that we slay. We put to death, our sinful nature, the deeds of the flesh. God is working in us all things to bring about the obedience of faith in us, to bring many sons to glory. Hebrews 12 says, "It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.So through all this suffering, we feel the pangs of childbirth. I can still remember how much of a struggle labor was for my wife, all 22 hours of labor, all 12 hours of intense labor. I was there. I saw the progression of nine months, the burdens and the struggles of this baby that was being knit in the womb. But I also remember the joy of seeing his face Friday morning, my wife and I knew that all of the suffering, all of the pain, most of which she had to do was worth it because of this little face.And that's the same way we're told to think of glorification, we endure the pain and the suffering now, because what is coming from it is so much better. And it's endurance that characterizes our sanctification. Jesus tells us in Matthew 10, you will be hated by all for my names sake, but the one who endures to the end will be saved. Our inheritance should calm all anxiety, it should calm all fear, it should answer most, if not all our questions on how we should live, on who we are. It should comfort us to receive discipline, to receive chastisement because it is proof that we are the children of God.You see these verses are written to strengthen, to encourage the Christian that suffering is producing in you the end goal of your hope. And we look forward to the true land, the true promised land, just like the biblical heroes of old, who all sought the kingdom whose foundation was designed and build by God himself. 1st Peter says, "In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials so that the tested genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold, that perishes though it is tested by fire may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.Though you have not seen him, you love him though. You do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls." So therefore you children of our father in heaven, heirs of God, heirs with Christ, you are led to slay the deeds and desires of your flesh, abide in the good shepherd, in his leading, whether he leads you through valleys of shadow and death or to green pastures.For you are guided to the end goal of the inheritance which he has promised, to a kingdom that has foundations that are built and designed by God. Yes, there will be pain. Yes, there will be suffering, but our God is a good God who can deliver us from temptation. He is a light which darkness cannot overcome, a mighty fortress which cannot be broken. So rest in him, be assured of your identity now as a child of God and in the inheritance which he has promised that will come. By that assurance may you being led by the Spirit, put to death sin now, and every day until you are reunited with your father.Let's pray. Father how gracious and merciful you are, to make us your children, to give us the inheritance of heirs because of the work of Christ, to provide us a home in which to live with you for eternity. God we are in your debt forever. Help us be the people that you call us to be, help us be a holy nation, the imitators of Christ, the reflection of our father. God break our heart for what breaks yours, give us the vision to see where we are failing. Give us the assurance to know that we are more than conquerors through Christ.And that through the leading of your Spirit, it is both necessary and possible to slay our sin, to mortify the deeds of our flesh. You O God are the author and the finisher of our faith, and it's in your hands. Your unchanging, your unwavering hands that we place our trust, that we place our faith, that we place our lives in order to guide us ever closer to your throne. Abba, Father, help us live in a man worthy of being called a child of God. We pray this in the name of the son in whom we are heir in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.

In this episode of "WDPM?" Tyler talks a lot about salvation being available to ALL. Jews and Gentile alike are in need of a Savior, and through Christ alone, we can be saved. No longer are we bound by the law, but salvation is freely available to all that desire it! --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

"I commend to you our sister, Phoebe, deacon of the church at Cenchrea." In the final chapter of Romans Paul greets an extraordinary number of people, including many women. Some people say that Phoebe was not a deacon but a "servant" and that women had no ordained positions. What do we know about the role of women in the early Church?

"I commend to you our sister, Phoebe, deacon of the church at Cenchrea." In the final chapter of Romans Paul greets an extraordinary number of people, including many women. Some people say that Phoebe was not a deacon but a "servant" and that women had no ordained positions. What do we know about the role of women in the early Church?