My ministry “niche” has been identified by a local Pullman pastor.
I didn’t take offence, but I did give it some later thought. How easy it is for us to put physical form to spiritual character. But the message I distilled from his comment has more to do with the shape our gospel takes in our mind because we dimension the Spirit. When we do this, it takes us immediately out of faith into spiritual management.
This was a constant problem for the disciples and Jesus’ response? “Where is your faith?” (Luke 8:22-25), “Is your heart hardened?” (Mark 8:17) Whatever does not proceed from faith is sin (Romans 14:23b).
The Bible was not written to defend the deity of Jesus, or to prove the trinity. It is not intended as a thesis for theological debate. It is God’s own living Word from Creator to creation. More specifically, it is written to those whom God loves.
The New Testament was written by pastors for spiritual instruction. They wrote to believers who experienced new life IN CHRIST. Some were milk drinkers wanting meat so they could satisfy their spiritual hunger. Others just needed a correct understanding of who they were IN CHRIST. It is amazing how once a person is born a second time, spiritually new, life springs up inside and printed words revealing life the way it was intended to be becomes a living spring!
Creation is a temporal living example of what we must learn spiritually IN CHRIST. Time is part of creation and a mirror to see ourselves in motion. We can measure where we were and where we are. God’s word provides eternal reflections so we can see, though dimly, glory IN CHRIST through created time and on into timeless eternity. There is a spiritual purpose for wearing earthen sandals.
Yes, we have the great commission but also we have other commissions like love one another or put sin to death in our flesh. It is God working in us while we are yet in our flesh teaching us not only about sin but also holiness so that we can wear His righteousness in the time created for us.
Paul’s instruction was time based. Our various personal ministries are time based. My ministry “niche” will vary based upon the viewer and viewing circumstances in time. You and I have all been qualified to be ministers of the new covenant (2Corinthians 3:6). How we are used, as ministers, is according to God’s own purpose. He may choose to use you in a way completely unknown to you. You may be spiritually gifted in one time and place and not in another. God is subject to the counsel of His own will (Ephesians 1:11).
So then, how do we train ourselves, so that we can be useful to God and bear fruit for His kingdom? How do we live a spiritual life in bodies of flesh that is pleasing to our heavenly Father?
Life in the Spirit is something we read about in the chapter that begins, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are IN CHRIST Jesus.” Paul is describing people who are in Christ Jesus spiritually while at the same time are physically living in bodies of flesh. He actually starts this Romans 8 discussion way back in chapter 5 where he says, “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” We have seen this spiritual-physical relationship develop personally before our own eyes from having been justified by faith to becoming ourselves a living person in Christ. His own Spirit, whom raised Jesus from the dead, now is within us and cries out through our own soul, “Abba Father”. His Spirit is bearing witness with our spirit that we, indeed, are children of God and joint heirs with Christ Himself.
But then, Paul goes on in Romans 8, to explain our future glory because we are IN CHRIST. We are yet to experience God’s love to a fuller and greater degree as we approach that time when our salvation is made complete. He speaks about His spirit interceding for us according to His own will and then we come to this staggering promise: “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” God has created an intimate, personal relationship through our faith by His grace because of His love. God’s love is faithfully managing everything going on in our life culminating in a glorious conclusion.
Wow, let’s do a shallow “drill down” on this! First, a little set up.
Our primary purpose is to know God Himself. Then, with both our heart and mind, we want to know God’s intention for each of us individually and how this relates to our relationship with each other in His body.
It is clear from a detailed study of this Romans passage, and in the larger context of scripture, God’s intention is we should understand His purpose in the context of the life He created for us. This might be an exhaustive endeavor for most of us. We could spend more than our lifetime and not get our arms around all that is contained in our spiritual storehouse. But, for here and now, we will merely look at this scriptural assertion in front of us (Romans 8:28) and by faith, pray God will give each of us illumination according to our need and His purpose.
Lets look at the verse again and its component parts.
“And we know”. We will, of course, have to review what goes on before the “and” to see what he is talking about. In this case, we have to go back at least to verse 18. There we find Paul giving us the setting for our future glory by comparing the evidences of God’s Spirit in us while we are anticipating the redemption of our bodies. This is what Paul is referring to by use of the word “and”.
“We know”. The word Paul uses here for “know” is not the one used for our reasoning process (γινωσκω). It is the word sometimes translated to see (οιδα) indicating having the perception to understand fully. This is one of the qualities we acquire by being “in Christ”. There is an innate knowledge that pervades our soul, which is difficult to verbalize. I think, personally, it is linked to the statement Paul makes to the Corinthians, “We have the mind of Christ” (1Cor. 2:16). It does not say, as someone recently suggested to me, that we have access to the mind of Christ. I think it goes further because our spiritual joining has occurred as part of the new creation born inside us as new creations IN CHRIST (2Cor. 5:17). It is the union of our spirit to His Spirit (John 17:23, Romans 8:16)
“That all things.” There is a rule that says we should let the scripture say what it is saying. In other words, we tend to interpret the scriptures so much we forget to believe just what it says. Sometimes our experience will differ from what the scripture says is true. For example, Romans 6:14 says that sin will have no dominion over you. Many born again Christians will confess that sin does have dominion over them. As a consequence, they will interpret Romans 6 and 7 in a way to tolerate sin they acknowledge and experience. They will make the passage say something other than what it says. The scripture usually says what it means and means what it says. In our case “all things” means, ALL things.
“Work together for good.” It doesn’t matter that we have trouble and endure suffering. God uses it all for our good and is constantly working in us regardless of our physical circumstances. We can look a Job and see how God may use suffering as a way to reveal Himself or increase our faith.
If we were drilling a little deeper we would talk about “good” including those things we pray to get out of. But we want to look at the other qualifying condition for those who come under this promise that ALL THINGS do work together FOR GOOD, but there is a kicker.
“For those who love God.” This promise of God is to people who believe God? No, to people who love God. There are many who believe in God, including Satan himself, but they are excluded from this promise of God. Some people put a higher value on the mind than the heart because, they will say, our knowledge of truth comes through the mind. This, of course, contains truth but there is another force with which to contend, it is desire. Often our desire will trump our knowledge of truth. A scribe came up to Jesus and asked, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” Jesus quoted Deuteronomy 6:4ff and said, “… And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all you mind and with all your strength” (Mark 12:30).
Some will place the mind above the heart. They will prioritize knowledge as coming from the mind exclusively, particularly men. But these same men, if they live long enough, as I have, begin to recognize what many women knew all along, there is knowledge that comes from the heart. When the knowledge of the heart joins in agreement with knowledge of reason in the mind, it becomes a force of strength. What Paul is telling us here, through the Holy Spirit, is that those who are loving God in their heart out of desire will find that ALL things do work together for good.
“For those who are called according to his purpose.” This is one of the most clear and amazing statements we have in scripture. It tells us about God as well as ourselves and suggests the most extreme and exalted position for a believer who is “predestined”, “called”, “justified” and “glorified” (Romans 8:30, the verses following 8:28).
We do have to address, at least in a general way, the use of the word “called”. Everyone is called to the gospel. John 3:16 is written for “whosoever” believeth shall be saved. This is what is considered the “general” call, which is to be distinguished from what is known as an “effectual” call. This is a point of theology which hyper-Calvinist will argue pertains to salvation which only those “saved” have been called. But there is a distinction that has to be made because those who do respond to the gospel are referred to the “elect” in frequent cases. We have but to look to whom this epistle to the Romans is addressed in 1:7, “To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints.”
We can easily spend 5 pages documenting and discussing this teaching. What we have in scripture is a statement of truth that cannot easily be grasped by the mind of mortal, finite man. We are safe in accepting God’s declared truth even if we don’t full understand it. In this case, it is declaring you and I are called “effectually” because we are ones who are loving God.
“According to his purpose.” I love God because I am called. I don’t love God because I have an infinite ability to relate to Him on His level and indulge His favor. He has, by His mercy, indulged me to grant me His favor so that I can love Him. God has a plan and a purpose set in motion before our parents were born, before the “foundation of the earth” (Jeremiah 1:5, Ephesians 1:4).
God did not change His plan when Adam sinned. God did not alter His plan to include the Gentiles because the Jews rejected and crucified Jesus. God has not lost control because Satan now dominates the minds of men. God’s purpose and plan is under His watchful eye. His vested life is in you and me who have been chosen as His elect and are being kept by His resurrection power to a salvation yet to be complete (1Peter 1:5). But it is not about us, it is about Him of which we are but the players, as Shakespeare might put it.
It is important we consider this correctly. We are not dealing with man’s understanding or some philosophical interpretation of the unknown. What Paul is giving us is a divine perspective. This is God’s plan. It is His purpose given to us because we are included in what God is doing. We are, as it were, insiders whom God has elected to participate in what He, is in fact, carrying out. History is merely a revelation of what God has already done. History is a recorded validation of what God ordained and forecasted in His written revelation, which is our Bible.
The event of Jesus on earth fulfills forecasted events of the Old Testament and demonstrates what 2 Corinthians 5:17 Christians know in our hearts by the witness of God’s own Spirit to our spirit. We are called according to His purpose, we are part of it, and God has a vested interest is us because we are in Him. This is what we could call “Holy Ground”. We are holy because He is holy.
There is something so sacred about this subject that we need to be wary of how we handle it. We are talking about God’s intimacy with those who are His, chosen and purchased with the blood of His own son. We are “Children of God”. This is not a romantic notion of attainment by mere mortals. This is God’s grace working out in peoples lives, saints who have been chosen by God to be vessels of His grace to others and participate in His on going work because we love Him and are called according to His purposes.
So, as I was saying, my “niche” ministry has been identified by a local pastor.