Psalm 20:6-8

Psalm 20:6-8
Now this I know:
    The Lord gives victory to his anointed.
He answers him from his heavenly sanctuary
    with the victorious power of his right hand.
⁷ Some trust in chariots and some in horses,
    but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.
⁸ They are brought to their knees and fall,
    but we rise up and stand firm.

Romans 8:10 - Christ in Us.

Romans 8:10
But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness.

"If Christ is in you". Following on from v9, Paul is talking about the Christian. But what does it mean to have Christ in us? It isn't literal, obviously. Here are some possible reasons for Pauls saying this: 1. We have the Holy Spirit in us, and The Holy Spirit is God, and Jesus is God. Therefore we have Jesus in us (I'm not sure if that's a valid reading of it). 2. It means having the principles or 'spirit' of Christ in us - living how he wants. If we are christians, we need to live like it. There is no such thing as genuine faith without deeds - that faith is dead faith - useless. (James 2:14 onwards). 3. It can be taken as a reference to our unity with Christ - we died with him and we rose with him figuratively. We are co-heirs with him if we are Christians, adopted children of God. We are united to him, and as a church we are the 'body' of Christ with him as our head.

"Your body is dead because of sin" - On reading some commentaries, there seems to be a few views on what this means. Some say it means that we are dead to sin - to the 'flesh' which is how Paul describes the sinful nature previously. It could mean that we are going to die physically, because of our sin, or as a result of Adam's sin - both of those seem valid to me, though forgiven we still will face death. But we have no fear in it. We are saved from God's eternal and just wrath against our sins if we are Christians. Or, it could be Paul continuing on from previous chapters and saying that the 'old man' the sinful man is dead, and we are a new creation in Christ (see 2 Corinthians 5:17). All of these explanations seem reasonable to me, but I haven't explored them thoroughly. One thing to note though, is that sin requires death. We all sin, and by God's perfect law we are all condemned to death - not just physical death, we deserve his wrath eternally (i.e. hell). There is no escape from that, well there wouldn't be, except that Jesus came into the world. He is God, perfect, eternal, creator of the universe. He came to earth as a man, humiliated willingly. He lived, he was mocked and hated, rejected for our sakes, and then murdered by the ones he came to save. But that was all the plan - he came and died and he knew he would. In his death he takes our sin and he takes God's wrath. God dying in our place, The son of God taking the wrath of God which we deserved. Why? For his glory and out of love for us. Yet we are not automatically saved - he calls us to put our faith in him, to repent and turn to him, to give up sin. How do we know Jesus actually dealt with our sin? He rose again. He came back to life and defeated sin and death. He proved that he had truly dealt with sin, because he rose from the dea and death is the penalty for sin. He dealt with it in full and therefore was no longer condemned for our sakes. Therefore there is complete forgiveness in jesus! Turn to him! Repent and Believe for the Kingdom of God is at hand! Mark 1:15! Romans 10:9! Joel 2:32! There is salvation in jesus,a nd in him alone!

"yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness." How are we righteous? Well through Jesus! He died and we take his righteousness, he takes our sin. We are forgiven and 'made right' with God - thats what righteousness means. We are no longer dead in sin, but alive in Christ, no longer enemies of God, but adopted as his children! What a wonderful creator! What a merciful Lord and Saviour! 

God Bless!

A slice of Hosea

I think we too often forget the gravity of sin. Take a read of this: A prophecy of God's just punishment against Israel's sin by the Babylonians attacking them:

Hosea 13:16
The people of Samaria must bear their guilt, because they have rebelled against their God. They will fall by the sword; their little ones will be dashed to the ground, their pregnant women ripped open."

^ That's devastating. But that's what we deserve for our sin. How can God punish even the children? The children also are sinful - we all are. But then take a look at this from two verses before:

Hosea 13:14
"I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death. Where, O death, are your plagues? Where, O grave, is your destruction?..."

There is hope and life. Jesus took God's wrath for our sin - worse then the above mentioned wrath of God. he dealt with it in full so that anyone who turns to him can be saved! How great is God's love!
So what does our response need to be?

Hosea 14:1-2
Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God.
Your sins have been your downfall!
Take words with you
and return to the LORD.
Say to him:
“Forgive all our sins
and receive us graciously,
that we may offer the fruit of our lips.a

Only God can save. Repent and Believe the good news! Jesus has done immeasurably more then we can ever fathom!

Romans 8:9 - Controlled by the Holy Spirit.

Romans 8:9 

You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.

This is continuing from the previous verses which have described what it is to be controlled by sin. Paul continues here to describe the christian. We are not controlled, or characterised by the sinful nature, we are not always under its power, not constantly rebelling against God. That's what sin is, it's rebellion against God. As Christians we are no longer slaves to sin, but rather slaves the God - willing slaves, thankful slaves for his burden is easy and light, he is good, he is gracious and merciful and perfect. It is a blessing to serve God. But not only that, the Spirit lives in us - God lives in us. How is that possible when we were sinners, rebelling against God and his enemies? Well through Jesus, who is God, who came and died in our place, who took our sin and God's perfect punishment for our sin. Through Jesus who suffered and died in our place so we wouldn't have to suffer eternally. Through jesus who rose from the dead, who conquered sin and death and proved it. Through Jesus with whom we are united, he died for us and rose again and he is preparing a place for us. So how do we tell if we have the spirit in us? Well anyone who genuinely repents and puts their faith in Jesus has the spirit. That's God's promise and he does not lie. (Romans 10:9, Joel 2:32, etc). So how can we tell if other people have the spirit? Well they change from being controlled by sin to being controlled by the spirit - that means a change of life. A change from rebellion to obedience. Genuine Faith in Christ always produces good works - not because those good works save us, but because true faith involves submitting to him, and repentance involves turning away from sin. Therefore, within reason we can discern if someone is a christian by how they act - it isn't definitive, and God alone knows the truth, but it's a very good indicator.

The last point of the verse is about belonging to Christ. It's stated in the negative - the non-christian does not belong to Christ, but that means that the Christian does belong to Christ. What a blessing! We belong to the creator of the universe, we are his people. He is faithful and merciful and gracious, accepting us though we are wretched sinners and washing us clean with great personal cost. If he has done all that, then how much more will he sustain us and preserve us in him! As Christians we have full assurance of salvation. If we are genuinely God's people we will never fall away - not because we are good, but because God is all powerful, faithful, good and keeps his promises. Because he won't let us slide away.

Soli Deo Gloria!

Romans 8:7 - "The sinful mind"

Romans 8:7
the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so.

This passage is fairly similar to the last one, and what I say will probably be along the same lines. But that doesn't mean that it shouldn't be said - there is wonderful truth in these words, but challenge and comfort, and I see no problem with expressing it daily and repetitively.

"The Sinful mind": that means the mind which strives after sin, which loves sin and ultimately the mind which is controlled by sin. It is us. Aside from Christ, this is us - from Adam to the last person alive before the second coming. This is you and it is me (without Jesus), we are both completely and utterly depraved, slaves of sin and completely under its control. What does that result in? Well verse 6 tells us that its death - God's eternal wrath (i.e. hell). What does the passage say about the sinful mind? about us before we are saved in Christ? We are "Hostile to God". We are sinful, he is perfect - the exact opposite. We are evil, he is good. We are rebellious to him, he is the lawgiver and judge. He is the creator, we are the creation who ignore him. He is all wise, we live our own way and reject his way. He is all powerful, we deny that and set ourselves us as 'gods', living our own way. His law demands obedience and we shout "NO!". He is just, sin is corrupt and cruel. he is eternal, yet we deny his existence claiming that we evolved instead from pond scum, or at the very least we acknowledge his existence yet pretend he has no impact on our lives or right to rule them. This is us. This is you. This is me. We all sin.

Likewise, God is hostile to sin. He isn't just a helpless teddy bear who's sad because we disobey. Sure, he's sad that we reject him, and he's angry - rightly so. As a result his wrath is on us, eternal condemnation, hell, his justice - his perfect, pure, good and righteous justice is on us. Sin "does not submit to his law" and the result of that is death (Romans 6:23). What's worse is that we cannot submit to his law - we are hopeless, helpless, powerless to save ourselves. We do not obey his law, and we cannot obey his law. We have no strength to oppose sin in our lives and obey God, sin is our master. Well, if we're christians, it was our master. Yet look back to v1! "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus". How? Jesus is God. He is all powerful, he is holy, he is just, he is majestic. He created the world. He is all knowing. He is GOD (along with the Father and the Holy Spirit). He gave that up and instead became a frail, weak, finite human being. Still 100% God, but living on earth as a human. He got hungry, he probably got sick, he died, he suffered, he made and lost friends. He was rejected, beaten, scorned, mocked and rejected. He was murdered by those he came to save - crucified. But he knew that would happen. Yet he still came. He died. What's the significance of that? He was perfect, and he came and took our sin if we are christians. He died the death we deserved, took the wrath, God's just and perfect penalty against our sin in our place if we are his people. Then he rose again, proving he had truly conquered sin and death, he had truly dealt with it in full and therefore had risen again - no longer under the sentence of the law because of our sin. Why would he do that? Two simple yet awesome reasons: 

1. For his glory. God deserves and demands all praise. But he doesn't demand it unwarranted  He deserves it for creating and sustaining us, and now also for saving us and giving himself for us.

2. Because he loved us. Sure, we are sinful and evil, and God is just, he hates sin and will put and end to it. He will judge the non-christian and send them to hell eternally. But he still loves us, he does not want any to perish. He loved us so much that he was humiliated for our sakes and took the wrath we deserved.

1 Timothy 2:3-4

"...This is good, and pleases God our Saviour, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth."

John 3:16-17

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him."

So two points of application: 

Non-Christians: you are stuck in your sin. You cannot escape. Turn to Jesus. Repent and out your trust and faith in him alone. We cannot do it ourselves, but God is gracious and ready to forgive. He is also able - Jesus is God, his death is more then enough to cover any and all of your sins no matter how "bad" they seem to you.

Christians: If the sinful mind is hostile to God and leads to death, and in Jesus we have life, then we also must not have a sinful mind - we need to get rid of sin in our lives. Not just lessen it, but destroy it. It is hostility to God, and if saved then we can no longer be hostile to God. It has no place in our lives. Get rid of your sin! We still fall and fail, repent when you do. But don't be ok with that - fight it and get rid of it! James 4:4 You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.

Soli Deo Gloria!

Romans 8:6

Romans 8:6

The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace;

Here we have the comparison clearly between living for sin/'self' and living for God with the results of both. 

First to the sinful man: "The mind" means what they are focussed on, their goals, their passions, their aims. Gill makes a parallel of it to the 'wisdom' of man and we know from 1 Corinthians 3:19 that "the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God's sight". Our sin (and as humans we have "all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God" - Romans 3:23) deserves only one thing: death. It is the result of it, it is the payment of it. Barnes says this: "it not only leads to death, or leads to misery, but that it is death itself; there is woe and condemnation in the very act and purpose of being supremely devoted to the corrupt passions, Its only tendency is condemnation and despair." Sin itself has the very goal of condemning us before God. What does Paul here mean by death? He cannot simply mean physical death because we know that all die - christians and non-christians no matter if we are forgiven by God or not. Paul means not only physical death but spiritual death. Sin is a direct attack on God, on his character and on who he is. He is good, sin is evil. He is perfect, and just, sin is wicked and corrupt. He is all wise, sin is rebellion against God and trying to live by our own 'wisdom'. He is all powerful, the creator of all things, sin is a denial of his right to rule over our lives. God is the just and perfect judge, and sin deserves his wrath for eternity - we can never ever have the full punishment for it. That is how bad sin is. So what is sin? Disobedience to God. Yep, one 'little' lie is bad enough to make us deserve eternal wrath in hell, and we've all done much worse then that.

But of course thats not the end of the story. In fact, thats the beginning. The point of the gospel is that Jesus is God, and he came to earth as man. He came and died in our place if we are christians - taking our sin, and God's wrath. He is God, so he could take it and the punishment for it. He humbly submitted himself to God and died in our place so we may be forgiven if we have faith in him - not just belief in him, but personal trust that he has saved us if we are his people. He then rose again, proving that he had fully dealt with sin - he had dealt with it, and he dealt with death which was the physical consequence of it here. What a might and gracious saviour!

"The mind controlled by the spirit". A quick point: Controlled = controlled. We are either slaves to sin (which leads to wrath) or slaves of God. If slaves of God we are so willingly, and it is an honour. He is a good master, his burden is easy and light. But we owe him all none the less. But what awesome Grace! We have the Holy Spirit in us! God living in us to help us, to encourage us, to grow us, to challenge us, to rebuke us and to strengthen  us. Constantly with us. As I said before, "the mind" refers to what we are focussed on. As Christians we need to be focussed solely on God, on serving him - it should be joy to us to serve him and to give up sin. We were created to glorify God and through Jesus we can do that. As christians, if we have genuinely repented of our sin and turned to God, we will fight sin. How can we have God living in us yet keep disobeying him? Sure we stuff up, and there is forgiveness in Christ, but there needs to be a change in life once we are saved. How are you living? Does it match your faith? 

And we have God constantly looking after us and caring for us, constantly helping us - the creator of the universe helping and caring for us! What's the result? Life and peace - Life as opposed to death. We were dead in our sin, now, through Jesus alone, we are alive in Christ! and we have the promise of eternal life in heaven as well after we die! Peace refers to a few things: peace of conscience - we have no guilt, there is complete forgiveness in Jesus. Peace from fear - we have God protecting us and nothing will ever happen to us that is out of his control. Peace of assurance - we know we will have eternal life with him at the end no matter how much we stuff up if we are genuinely his people. But most of all: Peace with God. We were his enemies, directly attacking him with our sins, yet in Jesus we are adopted as Children. From death to life, from condemnation to grace, from enemies to children of God, from a worthless existence outside of what God created us for to being able to serve him and live as he created us to. What a glorious saviour! What a marvelous creator! 

Soli Deo Gloria!

Habakkuk 3:17-18

Habakkuk 3:17-18

Though the fig tree does not bud
    and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
    and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen
    and no cattle in the stalls,

yet I will rejoice in the Lord,
    I will be joyful in God my Saviour.

I read through Habakkuk today and it's just encouraging to see his faith and God's faithfulness and mercy and grace in the midst of a promised destruction that was coming. God is just, he is mighty and he will put an end to sin. But he will also save his people and we have hope - though everything may be wrong, though it may all seem hopeless and there be nothing to rejoice in, we can rejoice in God, who has saved us in Jesus if we are christians, who has dealt with our sin in full and who has promised us eternal life and joy in his presence (and who always keeps his promises).

God Bless!