Romans

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In Christ Jesus - Dec 7

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Our life in Christ operates in two scriptural modes. One is grace, the other is faith. Grace is God’s love to us and faith is our response. It is God’s power making them effective. 

We launched our In Christ discussion from a verse platform written by Paul to the saints in Corinth,1Corinthians 1:30:

And because of him (God) you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness, sanctification and redemption,

We observed these “carnal Christians” are in Christ Jesus. This relationship in Christ Jesus brings a wisdom defined as righteousness, sanctification and redemption.  We identified these “wisdoms” being associated with the work of the Father, the Holy Spirit and Jesus the Son, operating in our life. Spiritual wisdom is God’s grace cultivated by our faith.  Grace is a spiritual capacity but faith is our soul’s ability to receive and apply it. 

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In Christ Jesus - Nov 30

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And because of him you are in Christ Jesus,
who became to us the wisdom of God,
righteousness and sanctification and redemption, 
so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”-1Corinthians 1:30-31.

Our life in Christ operates in two scriptural modes. One is grace, the other is faith. Grace is God’s love to us and faith is our response. It is God’s power that makes both effective. 

“But we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God (1Corinthians 1:23-24).” 

We have been called by God to be His visible power and wisdom. This is literal context for our verse.  Humbling thought?  Humbling and sobering!

But, it is absolutely true, we are to be visible containers of God’s power and wisdom (2Corinthians 4:11). And what does this power and wisdom wisdom look like? It is righteousness, sanctification and redemption, or to put it another way, it is the resurrected person of Jesus Christ seen in us. It is Jesus Himself, in us, bearing His fruit of righteousness, sanctification and redemption through us, in our life. We need to soak ourselves in this reality!! This is why we added verse 31, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.

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In Christ Jesus - Nov 23

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Our life in Christ operates in two scriptural modes. One is grace, the other is faith. Grace is God’s love to us and faith is our response. It is God’s power that makes both effective. 

We have been drilling down the terms in 1 Corinthians 1:30 giving us an In Christ Jesus focus. We considered wisdom from a human point of view, i.e., being able to discern God’s truth.  Then, we considered righteousness as the vital 2 Corinthians 5:17 union of a believer with God. Righteousness is God the Father’s nature birthed into each of His adopted children. Last week we reviewed sanctification as God’s purpose for us in Christ Jesus and our own purposeful commitment making His righteousness in us visible to others. Sanctification is the work of the Holy Spirit. 

Now we come redemption, the third term in our verse. The verse puts it this way. “And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom of God, righteousness, sanctification and redemption.” Jesus Christ became to us the wisdom of God. Wisdom is made known to us through righteousness, sanctification and redemption. This is God’s wisdom coming through Jesus Christ because we are in Him. Our wisdom focus is from our human perspective but the verse’s concern is righteousness, sanctification and redemption in Christ Jesus. 

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In Christ Jesus - Nov 16

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Our union in Christ is much more than an association with Jesus.  An association with Jesus is, in essence, having a “position” in Christ because we are justified. This popular seminary explanation of being in Christ tells us little, it is limited and lacking (l&l). When you hear, “It is our ‘position’ in Christ”, it is a hollow sound ringing out a warning.  The noise is academia creating structure for the church where Christ’s life is not seen yielding His power in resurrected lives. 

We are not challenging the validity of our position in Christ, it is most certainly true and does speak to our justification. Like many things containing truth, we get a warped sense of our identity when this is all we hear. We would go so far as to say, it actually vitiates our effectiveness, creating a skeleton without any tissue and mussel.

Justification will be more central to our discussion on righteousness in Christ, but we need to provide some mediation for our harsh observation. Yes, we are judged righteous through God’s sacrifice of Jesus for our sin, as expressed in the Greek aorist tense (Romans 5:1), telling us it was a completed act.  It is also expressed in Romans 3:24 in the continuous present tense, telling us justification is also ongoing for the believer who is justified once and forever in the aorist tense. In other words, our justification or our “no condemnation” in Christ (Rom. 8:1) is also our resurrected Lord living in our mortal bodies giving ongoing righteous life, justifying us as sure as He is in us and we are in Him. So, while we are positionally, in Him justified, He is also working his righteous work in us so that the essence of who we are is also being expressed through our polluted souls as we are glorifying Him. No, we are not talking about sanctification, this is in addition to sanctification. 

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In Christ Jesus - Nov 9

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There are two scriptural modes in which our life in Christ operates. One is grace and the other is faith. Grace is God’s ministry of love to us and faith is our response to his grace. It is God’s power, however, providing context for God’s love through grace and faith. 

We are discussing the amazing gift of righteousness given to every believer in Christ Jesus (Romans 3:24). This is Paul’s theme in Romans where he proves we are no longer condemned since we have been made righteous, created into a union with God through Jesus His Son. We also became sanctified but sanctification is totally different and separate from being righteousness in Christ. It is important, however, to view righteousness outside the scope of sanctification because it is!

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In Christ Jesus - Nov 2

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There are two scriptural descriptions for the modes in which our life in Christ operates. One is grace and the other is faith. Grace is God’s ministry of love to us and faith is our response to God’s love and grace. It is God’s power, however, providing context for love-grace and faith. 

Last week we looked at discernment-wisdom as our response to God’s provision of love-grace. The same principal of love-grace and faith apply as we switch our focus to righteousness. Love and grace are constant companions for believers in Christ. No one can snatch us out of the Father’s hand (John 10-29). Love and grace are fundamental to our relationship in Christ and the fullness of our faith.  Our faith effects (not affects) knowledge, wisdom, behavior and hope including the smile on our face. 

Grace and faith are context shepherding our focus on righteousness.  Because of God we are in Christ who became our righteousness.  We alluded last week to the relationship between justification and righteousness. 

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In Christ Jesus - Oct 26

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There are two scriptural descriptions for the modes in which our life in Christ operates. One is grace and the other is faith. Grace is God’s ministry of love to us and faith is our response to God’s love. It is God’s power, however, providing context for love-grace and faith. 

Last week we looked at discernment as our response to God’s provision of wisdom. God’s wisdom is contained within His measure of grace. Discernment is a skill set we have responding to God’s grace. In other words, discernment is God’s grace upon grace as we acquire God’s wisdom in faith.

Faith is “willing” our soul into action. Notice, discernment is a skill set we acquire through action we take. “Our powers of discernment have been trained by constant practice” is the way the writer to the Hebrews put it in 5:14. Our “will” is key in responding to God’s grace. Some default to mind’s reason and let “facts” rule our behavior. Others default to feelings or our heart’s desire to prejudice what we do. Our soul follows what we ”will” it to do. Either way, it is our responsibility.

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In Christ Jesus - Oct 19

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Our union in Christ is much more than an association with Jesus.  An association with Jesus is, in essence, having a “position” in Christ because we are justified. This popular seminary explanation of being in Christ tells us little; it is limited and lacking (l&l). When you hear, “It is our ‘position’ in Christ”, it is a hollow sound ringing out a warning.  The noise is academia creating structure for the church where Christ’s life is not seen yielding His power in resurrected lives. 

We are not challenging the validity of our position in Christ; it is most certainly true and does speak to our justification. Like many things containing truth, we get a warped sense of our identity when this is all we hear. We would go so far as to say, it actually vitiates our effectiveness, creating a skeleton without any tissue and muscle.

Justification will be more central to our discussion on righteousness in Christ, but we need to provide some mediation for our harsh observation. Yes, we are judged righteous through God’s sacrifice of Jesus for our sin, as expressed in the Greek aorist tense (Romans 5:1), telling us it was a completed act.  It is also expressed in Romans 3:24 in the continuous present tense, telling us justification is also ongoing for the believer who is justified once and forever in the aorist tense. In other words, our justification or our “no condemnation” in Christ (Rom. 8:1) is also our resurrected Lord living in our mortal bodies giving ongoing righteous life, justifying us as sure as He is in us and we are in Him.

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In Christ Jesus - Oct 12

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Our union in Christ is much more than an association with Jesus. We may consider our spiritual relationship “in” him a bit distant since His work on the cross was such a long time ago. The courtroom scene often illustrating our “position” in Christ conveys our legal standing without connecting us on a personal level in His life. 

The translators of the Greek New Testament sometimes interpret the Greek preposition εν (in) with our English preposition “by”, as in the case of 2 Timothy 2:1 which we quoted last week:

2 Timothy 2:1    You then, my child, be strengthened by (εν) the grace that is in (εν) Christ Jesus,

 Another example we use, because of its importance, is Romans 5:9 and 10; “we shall be saved by his life.”  Paul is writing we are being saved “in” His life. This simple preposition fundamentally changes the way we see who we are “in Christ.”  

The Lord’s prayer in John 14 also coveys a spiritual relationship more hands on than legal: “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.” In this same passage Jesus says: “In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you” (John 14:20ff).

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In Christ: The Mystery of Grace

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Peter tells us the angels in heaven look at us in wonder because we have a salvation completed in Christ Jesus Himself (1 Peter 1:12).   In fact, as we read the first chapter of 1Peter, we cannot turn away without being awe struck by God’s grace, which we possess in Christ Jesus.  We are the benefactors of God’s love in such an astounding way, a way we actually distort trying shape it and size it into our inadequate capacity to understand.

Understanding the mystery of being in Christ, and becoming an effective minister in our “niche” capacities, is one of our challenges. Paul tells us through his letter to the Ephesians, “speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into Him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love” (Ephesians 4:15-16). 

The three New Testament passages used for teaching spiritual gifts for believers are 1 Corinthians 12, Romans 12 and Ephesians 4. The first two are more “list” focused and the Ephesians passage, which I prefer, is more “function” focused.

While it is important to express our “niche” capacities in spiritual ministry, our primary focus is to grow up into Christ who is the head of His body.  Maturity in Christ gives us a far better yield of our fruit we bear and enables us to grow in faith.

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In Christ: Prologue

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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.

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Milt to Maturity: Spiritual Anatomy - 7

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We are remiss exiting this spiritual anatomy discussion without connecting to scriptural teaching about the Body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:27). We tend to focus exclusively on being “individual members of it.” 

Jesus Himself makes the point for us in John 17:21,

“That they all may be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.”

Our connection to the Body of Christ seems secondary because we are insecure about our primary relationship in Christ. Grace is a relationship! The “Body” is interpreted as the church, where we gather to satisfy social needs while becoming spirituality religious. Nurturing a relationship with a living Person is not a religion.

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Milk to Maturity: Spiritual Anatomy - 4

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Our anatomy discussions have been focusing on discernment, not just good v. evil but spiritual “things” exposed in our temporal and corporeal experience.  In Adam, we are spiritually dead and totally bonded to time and space references. This all changes when we are born again. Our essence becomes eternal and we are faced with dilemmas of blending spiritual realities into corporeal experience. 

Our spiritual “things”, however, turn into genuine, quality realities as we move from drinking milk and begin digesting spiritual meat. The “things” in our life turn out to be elements of deep relationships and the “things” become tools in growing out of circumstances into grace by faith. 

Paul tells us in Romans 5 that since we have been justified by faith we not only have peace with God but we also have access by faith into grace in which we now stand. It is this moving into our grace relationship by faith that changes circumstances into opportunities for moving from milk to maturity. The important “things” in our natural life, our temporal and corporeal life, becomes a smaller part of a much bigger reality challenging our comfort zones.

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Milk to Maturity: Spiritual Anatomy - 3

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Seeing ourselves from God’s vantage point may be impossible. But God has blessed us, even through a glass darkly, with a view of eternality we do experience while still wearing shoe leather. It is a blend of the first Adam and the Last Adam and we are elected to contain both. It is a parallel Paul makes for us in Romans 5:12-21 providing a comparison and contrast. The first Adam Paul points out, “was a type of the one who was to come” which was Jesus Himself, the “last Adam”.

The first Adam was a created life. God provided Adam with his own righteousness and he had eternal life.  Death for Adam was not a natural consequence until after he sinned.  God created Adam from the dust and breathed into him the breathe of eternal life.  Adam was the product of God’s work and it was good.  Adam and God had a personal relationship including communion and fellowship.

Adam’s single sin brought an end to fellowship with his creator. It was this single sin that separated Adam and his prodigy from God.  Man’s nature became independent from God and that is why it is sinful. 

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Milt to Maturity: Spiritual Anatomy - 2

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Last week we looked at who we are in Christ. We tried to expose the quantum leap from being dead in sin to being spiritually alive in Christ. What we didn’t do is deal with the sin question except in a very general way. Yes, the scripture says sin no longer rules us but we all deal with its effects in daily experiences. The effects of sin are so severe gross assumptions can easily be made that are not scripturally based. 

Next week we will probably conclude this spiritual anatomy discussion with a comparison of our relationship to Adam with Jesus the man-God, the last Adam. Foundational to that discussion and germane to this discussion is the nature of our sin inheritance. To do this we want to refer briefly to Hebrews 7:10 where the writer of Hebrews says Levi paid tithes to Melchizedek through Abraham even though Levi had not yet been born, Genesis 14:18ff.

This example gives us God’s view of man within the context of His plan and purposes. God viewed Levi in the loins of Abraham to be paying tribute to Melchizedek in the same way we participate to Adam’s behavior because we were in the lions of Adam, even though we were yet to be born. When Adam sinned, we sinned.