ROMANS 8

 Believers who are in Christ Jesus will not be condemned of their past, present, or future sins because the Spirit of Christ has made them free from the law of sin and death! The Law could not do this, but God did it through His Son Jesus Christ. 

Those who live according to the flesh, are only thinking about the flesh, which is to be carnally-minded; but those who live according to the Spirit, are in the Spirit, which is life and peace. Carnally-minded men cannot please God.

The carnal mind is enmity against God...

If you have the Spirit, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is alive because of the righteousness of Christ. If you do not have the Spirit, you will die; but if you are led by the Spirit, you will live.  Also, the Spirit confirms that we are children of God, " --and if children, then heirs-- heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together."

Paul said we cannot compare the suffering of the present with the glory revealed in us later. Creation eagerly awaits for the revelation of God's children and the end to its own "bondage of corruption." Even the bodies of believers await the redemption of their bodies.

The Holy Spirit also helps us in our weakness, including intercessions and what to pray for.

...He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.

And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren.  Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.

Since God is for us, there is no one bigger than Him who can be against us. God spared His own Son for us, and Jesus makes intercession for us. Therefore, nothing shall separate us from the love of God. Not tribulation or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword.  

COMMENTARY

The themes of Romans chapter 8 are sanctification, security, and no separation from God. Every believer is going to experience joy and peace in his life as he lives for God. But how, when he is still in sin?

Through the work of the Holy Spirit who is in each believer! This is the work of sanctification. 

The believer now shares his life with Christ. While believers still experience sin (since it has not been removed), he will not be condemned. But the Holy Spirit will be his guide and helper by giving him power to live obediently to God. The Spirit will fight the flesh. So turn the battle over to Him. 

The natural man is full of adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, etc., as these are the works of the flesh. These are the things the carnally-minded man practices, and he is separated from God. When a believer sins (because he is still in the flesh), his conscience should inform him and he should hate his sin and go directly to God and confess. 

If you have unconfessed sin, don't want to go to church, don't care to read the Bible, or pray, you are separated from God. But believers are led by the Spirit because they "hear His voice and He knows them and they follow Him."  

Everything works together for good, to those who love God, the "called-ones," according to His purpose. 

ELECTION

According to McGee: God's part was the saving and [McGee's] part was the sinning. "I done run from Him as fast as my sinful heart and rebellious legs could take me. He done took out after me until He run me down." 

According to Henry Ward Beecher: The elect are the whosoever wills and the non-elect are the whosoever wont's. 

And it is all according to His purpose. Whatever God does is right and good and just. He can save whomever He chooses. 

A theologian named Simeon said of Romans 8: There were three reasons why he preached on election: It laid the axe at the root of pride, presumption, and despair. There is no pride in the doctrine of election. it is God's work, His wisdom, and His purpose that is being carried out. The will of God comes down out of eternity past like a great steamroller. 

PREDESTINATION

The elected are not lost; they are the called, the predestined ones. Predestination means once God saves you, He will see it through, He will sanctify you. Sanctification is the work God does in the heart and life of each believer. "God's elect are justified sinners."

credit: Art of Hope

 

ROMANS 5

 Because believers have been justified by faith, they have peace with God through Jesus, having access to God in grace, and can rejoice in hope. And also they can rejoice in trials because trials produce perseverance, character, and hope because the love of God has been poured out in their hearts by the Holy Spirit...

Even while sinners were still weak, Christ died for the ungodly. Most people would not die for a righteous man or good man, but Jesus died while man was still sinning. Because of His blood, believers are justified and rescued from God's wrath. 

For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.

Because of Adam (the one man), sin (the offense) entered the world along with death, which spread to all men, and that offense resulted in condemnation. But through the One Man's righteous act and His obedience, this resulted in justification of life for many.

The Law entered that offense might abound, but where sin abounded, grace abounded much more; sin reigned in death, but grace reigns through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

COMMENTARY

In this chapter, Paul is telling believers that what Christ did on the cross "...delivers us from the guilt of sin...we will not come before God for judgment...an eternal home is waiting for those who have trusted Christ." 

But what about the present?

When a believer comes to Christ, these are his benefits:

1. Peace with God! No more alienation from God. No more guilt from sin!

2. Access to God in prayer. Go directly to Him!

3. Hope in God's promises and future!

4. Triumph in trials! Trials bring us into a closer and deeper relationship with God, and that brings joy and peace and patience and character and more hope!

5. Love of God brought to believers by the Holy Spirit who was given to them.

6. The Holy Spirit...our Helper! Again, He makes the love of God very concrete in a believer's heart. 

SIDEBAR: Imagine this: Jesus died for the ungodly -- His enemies, those who hated Him! Also, God did not save you with His love. He is holy and righteous, which means He must judge unrighteousness. Instead, God saves people by His grace, through faith. He loved you enough to send His Son to die for you, and that is how God demonstrates His love. When the guilt of sin was removed (through Christ's sacrifice on the cross), then He accepts repentant sinners. 

7. Deliverance from God's wrath. Believers are free from the penalty of sin. 

8. JOY in the Lord! Right now!! 

These are the benefits Paul described for those who enjoy salvation. 

SANCTIFICATION OF SAINTS

Justification is when a person is declared righteous at the moment of salvation. However, there is a process to make a person righteous by causing him or her to grow in grace and become sanctified (set apart) for God. 

Adam disobeyed God and sin entered the world, and with it death. This is how we all became sinners: 

1. We commit sin.

2. We are sinners by nature.

3. We are in a state of sin.

4. We are sinners by imputation because Adam was the federal headship of the human race.

Adam's sin was imputed to us. All mankind is lost, even little babies and civilizations of people on remote islands who never heard the gospel. All people are alienated from God. People don't want to be saved. 

But Christ is the federal head of "the new race of redeemed man, and the church is His body, a new creation."

DEATH

There are three terms of death: 

1. Physical means the body, a separation of spirit and body. 

2. Spiritual means separation from and rebellion against God, alienated from God, and dead in trespasses and sins.

3. Eternal death is eternal separation from God unless man is redeemed. 

Finally, the way sin is imputed from Adam through mankind is the same way righteousness is imputed from Christ to believers. Adam's disobedience made us all sinners with a sin nature, guilty of sin; but Christ's obedience (death and resurrection) made a way for God to declare believers righteous before Him. 

The Kingdom has been established on the cross of Christ. All other ways are sinking sand. 

DON'T BE THIS GUY

 

LUKE 24

 On the first day of the week, in the early morning, the women went (with the prepared spices) to the tomb and found it empty. The body of Jesus Christ was not there. Instead two men in shining garments stood by, and the women were afraid. The men asked why they sought the living among the dead. "He is not here, but is risen!" They reminded them that He said the Son of Man would be delivered and crucified and rise the third day. And they remembered. 

The women told the disciples, but they thought they were "idle tales." However, Peter ran to the tomb and saw the linen cloths lying by themselves, marveling at what happened.

Meanwhile, two men were walking from Jerusalem when Jesus joined them in conversation, asking what they were discussing. One of them asked how He could not know what had happened. And they explained to Him about Jesus who did mighty deeds, how the religious rulers condemned Him to death and crucified Him. They had expected Him to redeem Israel, and now women in their company reported His body was missing from the tomb and that they saw angels who said He was alive. 

Jesus called them foolish because they had not believed the prophets: that Jesus had to suffer these things to enter into His glory, such as the things spoken of from Moses and all the prophets, in the Scriptures. 

Jesus stayed with them awhile and broke bread with them, and as their eyes were opened, they realized it was Him, but He vanished. They declared that their hearts had burned within them while He opened the Scriptures to them. They immediately returned to Jerusalem and told the eleven disciples, 

He is risen indeed! 

Suddenly, Jesus appeared to them all in the room, saying, "Peace to you." They were afraid, and Jesus asked why they had doubts in their hearts. "Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself. Handle Me and see for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have." Then they ate with Him.

Jesus told them that the things that happened were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Him. 

And He opened their understanding that they might comprehend the Scriptures.

He told them that it was necessary for Him to suffer and rise from the dead the third day and that "repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem." 

Then He sent them to Jerusalem to await the promise and power of the Holy Spirit. He walked with them until Bethany, blessed them, and then ascended to heaven. They worshipped Him and continued to Jerusalem with great joy. 

COMMENTARY

"The Bible can only be divinely understood. Human intellect is simply not enough to comprehend its truths." The Lord opened their understanding (of the Scriptures) that they might understand. In 1 Cor. 2:14, Paul said, "But the natural man receives not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." Only the Holy Spirit can make them real to us. Again, in order to understand the Bible you have to have the Holy Spirit open your mind and heart. 

The gospel message from Jesus to His disciples and to the world was that Jesus died and rose again from the dead, and that by trusting Him, sinners could be saved. The power of the Holy Spirit, through His disciples and all believers would carry the message to the ends of the earth. 

Supper at Emmaus - Stom, 1632

 

LUKE 4

After His baptism, the Holy Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness where He was tempted by Satan for forty days. In that time, He ate nothing and was hungry. Satan tempted Him: "If You are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread." Jesus replied, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.' "

Satan took Jesus to a high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world, offering them to him  if He would bow down and worship him, but Jesus rebuked Him and said: "You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve."

Lastly, Satan brought Jesus to Jerusalem, high upon the pinnacle of the temple, and provoked Him to throw Himself down. Satan twisted Scripture and misused several verses; but Jesus replied, "It has been said, 'You shall not tempt the Lord your God.' " 

After that, Satan left Jesus until a later time. 

News spread of Jesus, and all who heard him teaching in the synagogues glorified Him. One day He read from Isaiah in the synagogue at Nazareth:

The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord."

And He closed the book and said, "Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing." Then they could not believe that He claimed to be the Messiah. Jesus told them that "...no prophet is accepted in his own country." And the people were filled with wrath, and they sought to throw Him off a cliff, but He evaded them.

Then Jesus cast demons from a man in the synagogue of Capernaum. The demons cried out: "Let us alone! What have we to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth? Did You come to destroy us? I know who You are - the Holy One of God!" Jesus rebuked the demon and commanded him to come out, and the people were amazed that He had authority and power to command unclean spirits. 

Next, Jesus healed Peter's mother-in-law. Many others came to Jesus to be healed, and "He laid His hands on every one of them and healed them." Also He also cast out many demons, many saying: "You are the Christ, the Son of God!"

And He, rebuking them, did not allow them to speak, for they knew that He was the Christ.

COMMENTARY

Why was Jesus tempted? To demonstrate to us that He was sinless -- to prove that all power had been given to Him. Satan wanted Him to PROVE to man that He was the Savior by "throwing Himself down..," which "is not faith but presumption. Faith is quietly waiting upon God, doing His will." Faith is not seeing, but believing. Also, keep in mind, the doubters would have still not believed because they were always looking for a reason to disbelieve.

Satan tempted Jesus in every way: to turn stones into food, to satisfy the body (physical); to offer the kingdoms of the world, to gratify the desire for power and control (psychological); and to throw Himself down from the temple, to bypass the cross and suffering (spiritual)..., but each time Jesus rebuked Satan with TRUTH! Jesus was faced with every temptation and wrestled with the basic earthly problems of mankind, and He was victorious for mankind. He was filled with the Holy Spirit. When man is faced with  temptations, he needs to be armed with TRUTH and the Holy Spirit, too. 

When Jesus read from Isaiah in the synagogue and proclaimed the Scriptures fulfilled in their hearing, He did not continue to the end of the passage (sentence): "...and the day of vengeance of our God." He only read up to the portion of Scripture that had been fulfilled that day, because the remainder of the sentence  will not be accomplished until His second coming. That is a day of vengeance -- the Great Day of the Lord.

credit: Jesus Tempted in the Wilderness - James Tissot

  

John 16

Jesus continued teaching His disciples (ultimately, His followers) that they will be not be treated well by the world because the world hates Jesus. They will be excommunicated from the Jewish religious system, and Jesus does not want them to be surprised by this. 

Jesus told them again that He was going away, and He would send the Helper (the Holy Spirit) who will convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgement: of sin, because they did not believe in Him; of righteousness, because the religious systems of the world are run by hypocrites; and of judgment, because the world is under Satan's rule and he is already judged and the world with him. 

Since Jesus cannot tell them much more, the Spirit will guide and teach them all they need to know. The Holy Spirit will not speak of His own authority. You will know He is the Spirit of truth because He will glorify the Lord.

Still, the disciples did not understand what Jesus meant when He said He will leave them for a little while and then they will see Him for a time, and He will go to the Father. Jesus explained that they will weep and lament and the world will rejoice, but then their sorrow will turn to joy. He said for now they have sorrow, but He will see them again and their hearts will rejoice and no one will take away their joy.

Jesus also taught them that soon they will pray in His name to the Father because He came from the God the Father. And the Father loves the disciples because they love Jesus and know He is from God. Soon Jesus will go away and the disciples will be scattered. But be at peace...

In the world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.

COMMENTARY 

Of all the personal sins man can commit, the most dangerous is to reject Jesus Christ as Savior of the world. 

In this chapter, Jesus assured His disciples that He would send His Holy Spirit to continue teaching them everything they needed to know; but He also warned them not to be surprised that the world would hate them because it hated Jesus.

McGee mentioned something interesting in his commentary about churches today. Many do not take the position of Christ, but instead "ha[ve] gone out into the world, boasting that they are going to convert the world. They...haven't done it in over [2000] years. In their attempt they try to popularize religion, make it very attractive to the world....using all kinds of devices to attract the ungodly. Today music has come down to the level of the world." They are attempting to win the world, but "who told them they were going to win the world?" Not Jesus! The world does not love Jesus; the church would do well to understand this and stop trying to win the world. It will never happen. 

Jesus did not want His followers to be frozen in sorrow. He is encouraging them. McGee pointed out that Christians need to snap out of their sorrowful, downcast experiences. For example, there is a woman I know who had a bad experience in her church and she has allowed it to swallow all of her joy in the Lord. Today, she won't go to church or listen to a sermon -- she is so bent out of shape. This is not the heart Jesus wants Christians to keep. She should pray God take away her bitter heart and be renewed in the Spirit. When Christians have sadness or sorrow, they should be encouraged because joy comes in the morning. That is a promise! 

Another point McGee makes is that we need more than Christ's forgiveness; we need His righteousness. When Jesus said the Spirit will convict the world of righteousness, He meant He, Jesus, was delivered for our offenses and raised again for our justification. When Jesus died on the cross, He took away our guilt. And when He was raised and defeated death, it was for our justification. His death subtracted our sins, but also He added to us His righteousness. It is not enough to have our sins forgiven because we cannot stand before God just as pardoned criminals. If we are to stand before God, we must be in Christ and His righteousness. That is the righteousness He was talking about.

Also, when Jesus said the Spirit convicts the world of judgment, He meant that Satan and the world have already been judged. All of mankind has already been deemed unworthy. None of us is innocent. Examine your heart and see. We are all guilty and awaiting execution. Even our good deeds are as filthy rags before God; and if we stand before God in our own filthy rags, we would know how guilty we are. That is the judgment Jesus was talking about.

There are two ways we can grow in grace and truth: by reading and studying the Word of God and by having the Holy Spirit as our Teacher. How do you know the Spirit is working? He will glorify Christ to you. "The Spirit searches the deep things of God and He alone can show these things to us." 

A new thing Jesus taught His disciples is that when He is gone from them, they will pray to the Father in His name. At the time Jesus was on earth, He was not able to be all places at once; but once He went to be with the Father and sent His Spirit to be with His followers, He would be with them and us always and everywhere. We can have fellowship with Him at all times. 

And finally, what a joy it is to remember that while believers will often have trouble in the world, Jesus has overcome the world. "His victory is our victory!"

from Bible Verses to Go

 

John 15

This is a continuation of Jesus speaking to the disciples before His arrest.

He told them that He is the true vine and His Father is the vinedresser. Any branch that does not bear fruit He removes, and those that do bear fruit He prunes that they may produce more fruit. The branch cannot bear fruit unless it abides in Him.

Jesus told His disciples that they are the branches, and without Him they can do nothing. Those who do not abide in Him are cast out, withered, gathered and thrown into the fire and burned. Those who abide in Him and His words abide in them, they will ask what they desire, and it shall be done for them. This is the way God is glorified and his followers bear much fruit. 

If they keep His commandments, they will abide in His love and His joy remain in them fully.

His new commandment He gave to them:

...that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no other than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends.

And He continued:

You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.  

Also, if the world hates His disciples, it is because the world hated Jesus first. If His followers were of the world, the world would love them. But Jesus chose them out of the world. If the world persecuted Jesus, the world will persecute His disciples. 

If Jesus did not go to the world and make Himself known, the world would have remained ignorant, but that Jesus showed Himself to the world, now the world has no excuse to know Him. The world has seen and they still hate Him and His Father. Therefore, the world is in sin. 

BUT, this happened that the word might be fulfilled which is written in their law, They hated Me without a cause.

Then Jesus promised them again that He would send His Helper, the Holy Spirit, to teach them the truth. 

COMMENTARY

Jesus is the TRUE, GENUINE vine, as opposed to the nation Israel -- that is to say, identification with the Jewish nation or Jewish religion is not the Way to God. Jesus is the Way. The same holds true today: it is not through a religion or religious ceremony or organization. We must be identified with Christ. The moment we trust in Jesus as our Savior, we are baptised by the Holy Spirit and born again. The branches must be joined to the Vine for fruit-bearing lives.

In this chapter, Jesus was not talking about salvation or how to be saved when he talked about bearing fruit. He is talking about people who have already been saved. These people are already in Christ. Rather, He is referring to what believers are supposed to do: bear fruit, bear more fruit, and bear abundant fruit. 

Believers in Christ bear fruit as a result of being saved. Fruit refers to the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance. "Abiding in Christ will produce effectual prayer, perpetual fruit, and celestial joy." 

Sometimes a believer (branch) does not bear fruit, and Jesus said it will be removed. This does not mean a believer loses his salvation. A person may need to be removed from his place of fruit-bearing, and this could be life changing. Sometimes it could mean death. 

Sometimes branches must be pruned in order to produce fruit or more fruit. God will remove people or circumstances that may hinder us from fruit-bearing. But always, if we remain close to God, the less it will hurt and the more we will grow. "Whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth."

HOW TO ABIDE IN CHRIST

We are cleansed through the Word. We must always be in the Word, studying the Scriptures, and be ready to apply it and obey it. We should be in constant communication with the Lord, through prayer. We need to confess our sins to the Lord to abide in Him. And we are to keep His commandments. 

When we abide in Him, we will bear fruit because the Lord will be able to use us for His purpose, which will bring Him glory. In return, we will experience a life full of joy.

He chose us, and we are His responsibility. He will take care of us.

from Knit Pray Share