Romans

Up to Jerusalem

“Behold we are going up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man will be accomplished”

Luke 18:31

Jesus knew exactly what was going to happen to Him in Jerusalem (vv 31-33) but the disciples didn’t. We are told that it was hidden from them (v 34). This reminds us that God can and does keep things hidden from us. Some things He grants only through careful and faithful study (2 Timothy 2:15; 3:16-17). Like any good teacher He only teachers us that which we are ready to receive. The problem in our learning is never with the Teacher.

As with Jesus, the aim of the Christian is to do the will of God. We usually interpret that as serving where we think we are of most use to God but that may not be the case. Unless our service is in obedience to the will of God we may just be accumulating wood, hay, and straw (1 Corinthians 3:12). Our service must be in His will and that is where He judges us most useful. It is not for us to choose our place or role. The clay does not tell the potter what to make of it. Jesus always obeyed the Father (John 8:29). His aim, and ours, is to obey the Father and be led by the Holy Spirit.

There are many examples in the Bible and church history where God seems to us to have wasted His most gifted people. Stephen (Acts 7) and James (Acts 12:2)  are two of many examples. We cannot see what God is aiming at, so let us walk by faith and trust God to accomplish His plan and purpose in and through us.

Jesus went to Jerusalem and the cross to fulfill the will of God as prophesied in Scripture. Though they did not understand, the disciples went with Him anyway. Oswald Chambers writes, “In our Lord’s life Jerusalem was the place where He reached the climax of His Father’s will upon the cross, and unless we go with Jesus there, we shall have no companionship with Him. Nothing ever discouraged Our Lord on His way to Jerusalem. He never hurried through certain villages where He was persecuted, or lingered in others where He was blessed. Neither gratitude nor ingratitude turned Our Lord one hair’s breadth away from His purpose to go to Jerusalem.” We may not be able to see our “Jerusalem” but we will go toward it as Jesus did, in the will of God as a living sacrifice on the altar of His love (Luke 14:27; Romans 12:1-2).

I’m Not That Bad

“… we preach Christ crucified: to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness.”

1 Corinthians 1:23

One of the most abhorrent and counter-cultural ideas in Christianity is that everyone is a sinner, and is freely offered forgiveness and redemption. Every “monster”, no matter what they have done, can be saved. Is there any sin that is too great for Christ’s atonement on the cross? No. Was his death sufficient to cover all the worst atrocities perpetuated throughout history? <strong>Yes, it was.</strong>(1 John 1:7)

This concept is anathema due to one of our greatest weaknesses – the persistent notion that at least we are “not as bad as those others”. After all, it’s insulting and degrading to be lumped into the same category as those we regard as the “worst of humanity”.

A certain man was quoted saying “Don’t compare yourself with anyone in this world. If you do so, you are insulting yourself.” (this quote is also attributed to another). This implies that we often sell ourselves short – by comparing ourselves at our worst, to others at their best. It has a grain of truth: that we fail to retain a right picture of ourselves. Although I expect the author of the quote did not intend it, a higher truth may be obtained from it: that we should instead compare ourselves with some One who is not of this world.

We ask the mirror on the wall, “who is the fairest of them all?” and the mirror replies, “You are the fairest” – but the mirror is merely parroting what we already believe to be true. The higher truth is that only through God’s eyes (as revealed in his Word) can we know ourselves truly. And only thereafter can we start to see our fellow humans in the right way as well.

We must let go of pride (Isaiah 5:21), and let go of condemnation (Romans 8:1). Instead of comparing ourselves to fallen creatures, we must set our eyes on the sinless one, Jesus, who has called us to Himself as the Way, the Truth, and the Life (John 14:6).

Emotions

‘Jesus wept.’

John 11:35

Guest post by Mikayla Johnson

Everyone has emotions. We all feel many emotions at different times for lots of reasons. Our emotions change as a result of different situations. Every single person is different, and this is the same with emotions too. We don’t always experience them in the same way as each other, but we all experience emotions. Having emotions is a part of being human.

In the Bible there is a verse that says, ‘Jesus wept.’ (John 11:35). This verse is well known and is the shortest verse in the whole Bible. This verse shows us that Jesus has emotions, just like us. The verse took place after Lazarus had died. Jesus went back to Judea to find that he had been dead and in a tomb for four days. When He saw Lazarus was dead, He wept. Jesus cried because He had lost someone that He loved. We all cry and feel sad sometimes and Jesus does too. This verse can help us to connect more with Jesus because we know that He knows what it feels like to be sad. He knows what it’s like to be human because He is God in human form.

Another thing about this verse though is that Jesus was about to raise Lazarus from the dead. Jesus knew that He was about to raise Lazarus, but He still took time to mourn because He was sad to lose someone that He loved. He was going to fix the problem, but He still stopped to comfort Mary and Martha who were mourning the loss of their brother.

In the Bible there is another verse that says,‘Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.’ (Romans 12:15). Jesus did this as He comforted Mary and Martha. He was mourning because Lazarus had died but He was also comforting Mary and Martha by mourning alongside them. Jesus loved Lazarus and when he died Jesus mourned just like we do when someone that we love dies. Recently my Grandmother died, and I know that Jesus understood how I was feeling. So, when emotions come, whether they are because of good or bad circumstances, Jesus can help us because He knows what we are going through. And He has the most powerful emotion of all, His love for us.

Watch and Pray

 “Then Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve, went to the chief priests to betray Him to them”

Mark 14:10

In this chapter we read that Jesus prayed, Judas betrayed and the disciples slept. Was that situation any different to that which often happens today?

We read in Romans 8:34, “Christ who died, and furthermore is risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.” In Hebrews 7:25 we read, “Therefore He [Jesus] is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.” Jesus intercedes on behalf of His people. Romans 8:26-27 tells us that the Holy Spirit intercedes for us as well.

Judas, one of the twelve, betrayed Jesus to those who wanted Him crucified. In the professing church there have always been wolves in sheep’s clothing teaching false doctrines. As such they betray Jesus. Just as Judas was never saved (Mark 14:21) neither are false teachers who deny Christ and would crucify Him again if they could. Since they cannot, they are trying to put to death faithful and true believers so they can continue in fleecing the flock, as Judas did (John 12:6).  Paul warns Timothy of such people: “Now the Spirit expressly says that in the latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons” (1 Timothy 4:1). Jesus also warned of the false teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees (Matthew 16:6, 12). We see that there are the “Judas’” who are betraying Jesus today by denying His words for personal gain.

The disciples slept while Jesus prayed and while Judas was betraying Him. A large part of the reason that the betrayal of Jesus by the unbelieving professing church has been successful is because the true church of born again believers has largely been asleep. By God’s grace there remains a faithful remnant who cling to Him and His word and are not deceived.

False teachers abound as Jesus said they would. Speaking of the Tribulation time He says, “For false Christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect” (Matthew 24:24; cf. vs. 5 & 11) Jesus prayed, Judas betrayed and the disciples slept. His words to His disciples were, “Watch and pray” (Mark 9:38).

Evaluating your Soul

“What will a man give in exchange for his soul?”

Matthew 16:26

This is the one of the questions being asked of people throughout the ages. For the most part people put the question out of their minds thinking perhaps that they will worry about it at another time or that it doesn’t matter. By His words and actions Jesus always provoked people to consider eternity and the question as to who He is. He even asked His disciples who they believed Him to be just before making the above statement (16:15).

What could be of such value that it was of more value than our eternal soul? Jesus gives two possible answers in Matthew chapter nineteen.

A wealthy young man in a place of authority came to Jesus and asked Him what he needed to do to obtain eternal life (Matthew 19:16). He wanted to exchange something for eternal life. He claimed to have kept all the commandments that relate to human relationships (v 20) but then Jesus asked him to abide by the commandments that relate to his relationship with God. To obtain eternal life the young man would need to forsake all that he currently valued, earthly treasure, and follow Jesus, heavenly treasure.

At the time the young man regarded his temporal wealth and position of more value than his relationship with God (v 22). Though he wanted eternal life he was not willing to exchange his wealth for it. There are many who want heaven but not Jesus and neither will they surrender control of their lives and possessions to Jesus. Jesus gave His life for us. Can we give less to Him (Romans 12:1-2)? Others may not wish to exchange human relationships for their soul. I have heard people say they would rather be in hell with friends than in heaven with Jesus. They have no idea of the enormity of what they are saying. There is nothing wrong with love for family and a desire to be with them. We should be very thankful when that is possible; but will we give family priority ahead of Jesus? He says, “Everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or farms [employment] for My names sake, shall receive many times as much, and shall inherit eternal life” (19:29). Anything we put ahead of Jesus is an idol which will control our life. We must exchange that idol for Jesus in order to obtain eternal life. Eternal life is only found in Him (1 John 5:11-12).

The Book of Life

“Anyone not found in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire”

Revelation 20:15

This may seem an inconvenient truth to those not aspiring to have their names in the Book of Life. They may use any one of a variety of ways to quench their conscience and bring false hope to their hearts. Some remain indifferent and ignore their conscience. Others, who love sin, object by opposing anything godly. They will try and coerce others to agree with them in order to bolster their own confidence.

For those who believe the verse above, having their name in the Book of Life is of the highest priority, resting only when they are assured that their name is in that Book. There is but one way to accomplish this and that is God’s way.

John writes, “He who has the Son has life; and he who does not have the Son does not have life” (1 John 5:12). In his Gospel he writes, “As many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name” (John 1:14). Having one’s name in the Book of Life is by receiving Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour – but how do we receive Him? The answer is in a number of places in the Bible. Paul writes, “By grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, and not of works, lest anyone should boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9). He also writes, “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23).

What is the gift of God? The most memorised verse in the Bible tells us that the gift of God is not a “what” but a “who”. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). Jesus is the Gift of God which is why only those who have received Him by faith have eternal life (John 14:6), and therefore have their name in the Book of Life.

The reason Jesus is the only way is because He alone has dealt with our sin. He did that on the cross at Calvary and it is to Jesus we must come, humbly: confessing our sin of not believing and receiving Him. This will mean a total change in direction – from being indifferent or rejecting Him, to believing His word and receiving Him as Lord and Saviour. This is repentance. Our joy in life comes from confidence that our names are written in the Book of Life.

Deifying Mankind

“The heavens are Yours, the earth also is Yours; the world and all its fullness, You have founded them all”

Psalm 89:11

If we base our knowledge on the theory of evolution we might unwittingly find ourselves right where the world now finds itself. We are led to believe that the world is in crisis by way of living creatures becoming extinct and a change in the climate that will lead to the destruction of all things living, including mankind.

Listening to David Attenborough one could easily be led into thinking that evolution is guided by the intelligence and will of the creature. While he doesn’t say so directly in as many words this subtle implication is clear. He marvels at the beauty, complexity and built-for-purpose intricacies of living things but attributes them to the living thing itself as though it had guided its evolution into the perfect creature it is without any input from outside its being.

If (as many believe) living creatures have evolved, i.e. intelligently and purposefully created themselves to perfection, then the highest order in the creation must also have created itself. The highest order in the creation by far is mankind. What we have in the theory of evolution is therefore the deification and worship of man. This began in the first days when Adam and believed Satan’s lie, “You will be like God” and “You will not surely die” (Genesis 3:5, 3). Ultimately, the worship of man is worship of Satan because it is his lie.

Peter (2 Peter 3:1-13) and Paul (2 Timothy 3:1-9) warned of the perilous times ahead that will result from believing Satan’s lie. The circumstances they describe are now evident. Attempts by mankind to improve itself have proven and will prove futile. Knowledge may have increased but character has not changed. Education has not improved man’s character. It has opened up new ways to express sinfulness. Turning from God, who alone gives life, means a decline into physical and spiritual death (Romans 6:23; Hebrews 9:27). Deifying mankind will not prevent climate change in the future (see e.g. Revelation 6:12-17). Human effort to save this world will prove futile. Only Jesus Christ’s return will save the world (Matthew 24:22). Yes, we should care for our environment as a delegated responsibility from God (Genesis 2:15) but not as an act of deified mankind in defiance of our Creator (Revelation 4:11).

Christ Sets Free

“You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.”

“Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.”

John 8:32, 36c

Some time ago in South Africa, my friend Paul and I were sharing the truths of the Gospel with more than twenty men who were in prison awaiting trial. For two hours we preached the Gospel of Christ, with Q & A, and the importance of knowing the truth. John recorded Jesus saying “I am the truth” (John 14:6) and “the truth shall set you free.” The apostle Paul wrote that believers are set free from sin by Jesus Christ (Romans 6:7, 18). One of the men asked us, “Are you saying that if I became a Christian, when I go to court, I will have to tell the truth?” Our answer was, “No, you won’t have to tell the truth; but if you truly are a Christian – you will want to tell the truth.”

The truth is that truth concerning Jesus Christ who delivers us and frees us from the power of sin, death and the wrath of God by way of the cross. Some may think that telling the truth merely sets us free from the sense of guilt but that is not the freedom of which Jesus is speaking.

Immediately after our response to that prisoner another stood up and, speaking to his fellow inmates, said, “I will speak the truth at my trial. I know I will receive three life sentences, two for murder and one for abduction but I will not lie anymore.” That is a man who has been born of God and truly understands that “the Son makes you free.” He is now free to tell the truth because he has received the One who is Truth. He now knew Jesus and the truth about Him.

This man had been a slave to sin (John 8:34) and that had brought him to a life in prison but he was now free from the prison of sin and death. He is infinitely more free than many outside of prison. Some might think he was not a good candidate for the Gospel but Jesus thought otherwise. To those who think only morally good people, by their evaluation, are worthy of salvation, Jesus said. “For I did not come to call the [self] righteous, but sinners, to repentance” (Matthew 9:13). It is Jesus who makes us free from sin (John 8:36), its power and its consequences. The cross of Jesus alone is His justification for forgiving our sin (1 John 1:9) and being reconciled to God (Romans 5:10) so that we may call Him “Father.”

Chief of Sinners

“This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief”

1 Timothy 1:15

In charging Timothy with the responsibility to keep others faithful to the true Gospel against those who were infiltrating with error, Paul relates how the grace of God was and is being enacted toward him. He obtained mercy because he did it “ignorantly in unbelief” (v 13) but the grace of God was “exceedingly abundant” in delivering him from that ignorance and unbelief (v 14). He then professes the essential teaching that Jesus came to save sinners. What we may skip over is what he then writes, “of whom I am chief.”

A casual reading may interpret this as saying he was the chief of sinners before he was delivered by the grace of God. That would be a misunderstanding. He is acknowledging that he knows he is still currently the chief of sinners. We will have a shallow understanding of God’s active grace toward us if we don’t know that we are still chief sinners. We may believe theologically that we are but until we know it in our hearts we will have a diminished view of God’s grace.

Paul writes something similar in Romans 3:23. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” The grammar in this verse reveals that we (saved sinners) keep on falling short. The self-righteous doesn’t know this and thereby reveals he has only a shallow understanding of God’s grace.

We are not told what Paul’s “thorn in the flesh” was (2 Corinthians 12:7-10) and perhaps we should be glad of that or we might think there is only one kind of “thorn”. Had he told us we might be taken up with that one instead of the real point of the passage: “My [God’s] grace is sufficient for you” (v 9). Though we know we continually fall short and we know we are the chief of sinners we can also know that God’s exceeding abundant grace is sufficient.

Satan may attempt to use that to discourage us but God wants us to advance in our knowledge, understanding and experience of His exceeding abundant grace. Paul goes on to write “for My [God’s] strength is made perfect in weakness” and “For when I am weak I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:9-10). Jesus said, “without Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). Without God’s active grace through Christ Jesus we cannot minister to others or serve and worship God.

Delight in the Lord

“I delight to do Your will, O my God”

Psalm 40:8

For the most part we live as though God exists to accomplish our will. We decide how, where and when we will serve Him – if at all, and under what conditions. We complain when He allows discomfort or adversity in our lives and may even begin to doubt His care, love or existence. The cure for such doubting is to look afresh at the cross where Jesus suffered and died for our sin. Paul writes that everything that happens to us is for our good (Romans 8:28) and His pleasure (Philippians 2:13). The Lord has a goal for us and He will accomplish it better if we stop getting in the way.

Every commandment of God is an expression of who He is and of His will for us. If we find resistance in our heart to any directive or command then we must review our relationship with Him and His word. The psalmist frequently writes of his delight in the word of God, His law, and His statutes. Any resistance to loving and living God’s word and delighting in His will expressed in those statutes and commands is a red flag exposing a rebellious spirit against Jesus Christ. We must then look afresh at Calvary’s cross.

When we are truly delighting in the will of God we will share John’s delight, “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome” (1 John 5:3). When Christ’s love toward the Father is manifest in us His commandments will not be a burden but our delight because we know everything He allows or brings into our lives is an expression of His love for us. I have heard it said, “God loves us as we are but He loves us too much to leave us as we are.” Paul writes. “He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6).

Discovering His will for us is as the surprise of unwrapping a gift – a gift from someone we know loves us. Look in the Bible for His directives, statutes and commands. In those areas not expressly addressed He gives guiding principles. The Holy Spirit is given to guide us so that we understand them and put them into practice correctly.

Whenever we decide how, when and where we will serve Jesus Christ we are in the way of His will for us and we will not have the delight in life that He desires. When we are deciding pride is ruling. When Christ is leading and we are following then grace is ruling.