Romans 6:15-16 // Instinctive Obedience

What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid. 16 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? (Romans 6:15-16)

Funny, I was thinking about this idea when I woke up this morning, I did not know I would be studying this passage. I was remembering the time on ANZAC day a few years ago when I was put in charge of a banner party for one of the RAAF Squadrons, being a Cadet Under-Officer in the Australian Air Force Cadets. I remembered how while we were marshalling, a younger than middle-aged civilian, he had some connection to the squadron whose banner we would be carrying and was standing behind us, telling the Cadet Warrant Officer under my command that the way we had been told to march past the shrine was incorrect and dishonouring to the fallen and we should do it his way instead.

The elderly veterans did not say anything and soon he was telling his ideas to all my cadets and I was standing listening to him as well. I weighed what he was saying in my mind. I had no way to know whether what he was saying was right and true or not. I knew I was responsible for the banner and banner party and I wanted to do right by the veterans to honour them properly. I also knew I needed to make a decision quickly and stick to it, to show any weakness would be to surrender entirely to the will of this charismatic man who seemed to have some connection to the squadron and therefore more right to decide on this matter.

But I knew that if we did something different from everyone else, it would be very obvious and would make the parade look silly. I had been drilled to obey orders except for an extremely good reason, and this was not clear enough to disobey over. I quickly decided. I told the man he could bring his complaint to the parade marshals, but we would follow the instructions we had been given unless given different instructions by out commanders.

The Cadet Warrant Officer and cadets looked unsure, the former asked if perhaps I should go and ask the parade marshals about it. If I had shown weakness at this point I don't know what would have happened. But I said the man could go and ask them, we would obey our orders and that was an order. They still looked a little unhappy, the man was very convincing, but they were drilled in instant and instinctive obedience to orders and they did not question me.

The man began to now focus on cajoling me, and when that didn't work he quickly switched to trying to destroy my credibility. He questioned my right to be in charge, my competence, my character and when I stopped paying attention he started trying to undermine me to everyone else. One of the veterans tried to reason with him and he went a bit more quiet. From then on he muttered snide remarks about me loud enough for me to hear.

It was quite troubling, the remarks continued as we marched in the parade right until we got the point where he had the disagreement with the marching orders. We had been told to simply follow the people in front of us, and that was my intention, he had told us to turn at another point. But everyone was turning at that point, so all his lobbying was pointless, it turned out we were always going to do what he had been pushing for, we just didn't know it.

I never heard from him again, but to me it illustrates this about obedience. When things are difficult we depend on some particular thing to guide us. I depended on following my orders and my desire for unity in the parade and it worked out well for me. God wants us in life's decisions to depend on his commandments. I was the servant of my senior officers, I would do whatever they told me to do on the parade, because they gave me my position and my right to be there. But when a man who is not my master tells me to do something I can disregard it. If I had obeyed the man I would have showed that I did not consider my senior officers to be my masters, but rather my own ideas.

Obedience to God, especially when I don't understand why, is the ultimate sign of loyalty to Jesus Christ.

Romans 6:12-14 // Resist Sin

Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. 13 Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. 14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace. (Romans 6:12-14)

Do not allow yourself to be a slave to sin, which would drive you to sin. Also do not let any part of your body do something that will lead you into sin but rather obey God and do things that will lead you to a restored relationship with him. The reason we can do the above is that we can be free from addiction to sin by the grace of Jesus, which we trust in to save us; rather than the law, which we trust to tell us why we need saving but we are not saved by.

Sin comes in many forms. If you feel guilty about it, don't do it. Don't do things that you know will weaken your resistance to sin. Do things that you know will strengthen your resistance to sin. Do not allow one sin to cost you your life. Jesus can give you the will and the strength to do all this, just ask him.

Path of Wisdom

But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. (James 3:17)

This is in the context of a command to love peace and harmony, to not envy each other. So I need to try to understand it in that context. So what does it mean by wisdom from above?

I thank thee, and praise thee, O thou God of my fathers, who hast given me wisdom and might, and hast made known unto me now what we desired of thee… (Daniel 2:23)

And thou shalt speak unto all that are wise hearted, whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom, that they may make Aaron's garments to consecrate him, that he may minister unto me in the priest's office. (Exodus 28:3)

The wisdom God gives is the ability to know what I need to do now. Wisdom from God is not general knowledge, but the ability to identify what knowledge is needed. We all have values, some are tactical, some are strategic. Tactical values govern the way we believe things should be done, strategic values govern what things we believe should be done. Wisdom is having a good set of strategic values.
The wise student knows what he needs to learn properly and what can be crammed just before the exam because he will never use them again. The wise man realises that nothing in this short life has any significance if he has a possibility of gaining a higher and greater life for eternity, and so true wisdom leads a man to salvation. (2 Tim 3:15) But the wisdom of the world is foolishness because it causes people to value the things of this short life more highly than eternity to their eternal regret. (Col 2:8)

Because God knows everything and always knows the best thing to do, we could also roughly define ultimate wisdom as "thinking about things like God does".

To continue on the verse. When it says first pure, what does that mean? Does it mean "at the beginning" or "above all else"? There doesn't seem to be anything in other translations that points to either over the other. I think it is a chronological reference, because it is contrasted with the other virtues, and it doesn't seem apparent to me why purity would be so much higher here that it rates a special mention but not especially elsewhere in scripture.

So I'll run with the chronological interpretation and you can correct me if I'm wrong.

But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. (James 3:17)

God's wisdom does not lead us to argue with each other or want what other people have. The first result of knowing what I need to do to be saved is that I begin to get sin out of my life. Eventually this will mean that I begin to live up to a higher moral standard than those around me and I will be condemned as a legalist and a fanatic, and when people accuse me of this I will suddenly sympathise with legalists and fanatics and to a greater or lesser extent I will become one myself. But if I continue to let Jesus work on my life I will not stop there.

I will become more relaxed as I stop feeling so guilty and start realising that God cares more about my heart than legal details. So I will become peaceable. I won't argue with people any more. I won't get upset when I am accused of being legalistic or fanatical and people will stop accusing me of it. I will start to get on with everyone, even though most people will bitterly oppose me at every turn. I will be peaceable.

I will realise that pretty much everyone is seriously deficient in loving attention and I will realise that with the love Christ has given me for his children I will do them more good listening and smiling and agreeing where I possibly can than by giving them every argument and evidence imaginable where they are wrong. I will be gentle. 

More could be said about the other things, but you get the idea...

Romans 6:8-11 // Right Thinking

Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him: 9 Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him. 10 For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God. 11 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 6:8-11)

Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them. (Hebrews 7:25)

Often, a slave has no way of being released except by dying. So it is symbolically with our slavery to sin. Our baptism has the effect of working as a death to our slavery to sin, but by faith we believe that it is not the end of life, we live on in slavery to Jesus, who alone should be our master.
When Jesus was raised from the dead it was not like most restorations from death. Lazarus was dead four days, so his resurrection was not really the same as resuscitation, there was some miracle there. Yet Lazarus is now dead again. But when Jesus rose from the grave he had a new body that could do amazing things and he could even travel to and from God's universal HQ. Eventually Jesus left Earth in a dramatic fashion and did not return, promising that he would return in the same way he left. So until you see a man floating down from the sky don't believe it is Jesus. But anyway, Jesus' resurrection was special. It was not only witnessed, but permanent. Jesus is still alive out there today.

Jesus died for our sins and lives to plead on our behalf (like a defence lawyer). Apparently in Jewish society at the time, the defence lawyer was also the judge, only the prosecutor was a different person. Jesus is both judge and defender. We are safe in the judgment if we are under his protection.

It can be helpful to think of yourself as dead to sin, you are dead as far as sin is concerned. You do not need to succumb to any temptation. Also, you are alive to God, you are living for Christ, you are still alive so you can still do something for God.

The way you think really matters. Make a point of consciously thinking according to faith. Instead of thinking "I just can't overcome this sin" think "Jesus Christ overcame this sin and he has given me all his power to do the same".

And Jesus said unto the centurion, Go thy way; and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed in the selfsame hour. (Matthew 8:13)

These Things Must Come to Pass

Saying, Hurt not the earth, neither the sea, nor the trees, till we have sealed the servants of our God in their foreheads. (Revelation 7:3)

The time of great trouble is not to happen until God's servants have been sealed. That makes being sealed something for us to be looking for now.

Romans 6:5-7 // Freedom from Sin (?)

For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: 6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. 7 For he that is dead is freed from sin. (Romans 6:5-7)

Thy people also shall be all righteous: they shall inherit the land for ever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I may be glorified. (Isaiah 60:21)

This seems to be a bit of a repetition or reiteration of the previous verses, but there is more to see. So we  have already established that by being baptised we symbolically died with Christ on the cross so when we were raised out of the water it symbolised the new life that Christ has given us.
Isaiah 60:21 refers to the people of God as something God has planted. I think the reference in Romans is to being buried, the same way a plant is buried when it is planted, but I think this parallel is still worth noting. So Jesus was planted and I was planted with him. Jesus sprang to life and I sprang to life with him.
Sometimes people talk about our sinful body being destroyed and replaced with a sinless body when Jesus returns. But here the Bible teaches that at the point of conversion our body is, in some profound way, destroyed and so from the point of conversion we are no longer slaves to sin.
When I work for a man I must do what he says, but I can choose to leave and never come back. When a slave works for a man he does similar things but he can never choose to quit, he is a slave. When a slave is freed he may choose to continue working for his old master. When Jesus frees us from slavery to sin, we continue to work for Satan because that is what we are used to doing, but we do not need to do this. As the physically dead man is beyond the reach of temptation or retribution, the converted follower of Christ is beyond the reach of any temptation too strong for him to bear and is also saved from divine punishment.
If you are saved you are not a slave, you can choose to stop serving sin. When I was a child I was a slave to my temper. I would sometimes lose it and could be quite scary, but even when I didn't lose it I simmered with anger, I was quick to resent things. When I confessed it to Christ and asked him to change me, he changed me literally over night. But since then there have been times that I have gone back to this, not as a slave, but a willing participant. The work that the Holy Spirit has been doing in me has been to remove the desire to be angry and aggressive, this has taken a lot of time.

Freedom from the slavery to sin, freedom to choose right and shun (stay away from) wrong is mine and yours the moment we give all to Jesus. To no longer have the taste for sin takes longer, perhaps a lifetime.

Advantageous Altruism

Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets. (Matthew 7:12)

For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it. (Mark 8:35)

And the people stood beholding. And the rulers also with them derided him, saying, He saved others; let him save himself, if he be Christ, the chosen of God. (Luke 23:35)

There is an idea in the Bible that like Jesus I should serve and save others even at the cost of my own life. Jesus knows that by trying to save others I will be saved in the process.

I don't need to stop wanting to be saved, but I need to turn my attention from what I need to do to be saved to how I can save others even at my own cost.

When Jesus was on the cross he could have expected someone to save him, after all, he had done so much for so many. I suppose in our lives we will face the same betrayal where nobody stands up for us though we stood for them. But Jesus could have saved himself, but didn't because by suffering he saved us. What a man.

Romans 6:3-4 // Baptism

Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? 4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. (Romans 6:3-4)

The body slipping under the water in baptism represents burial, because the old life is dead. The body rising back out of the water represents resurrection, because we have a new life from Jesus Christ. If you have been baptised by immersion, you are a partaker of Christ's death. If you are a partaker of Christ's death, who was raised from the dead, you will also be restored to life, a new and better life.

If you have been considering baptism, perhaps now is the time to commit.

If you have been baptised, take a moment to remember your baptism, and what led you to it.

Romans 6:1-2 // Finding Remorse

What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? 2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? (Romans 6:1-2)

Welcome to Romans chapter six. I was told once that if I memorised it it would help me to overcome sin, so I did, but I found that just memorising and reciting a chapter does not give victory, Jesus gives victory. The useful thing about memorising it was that I understood it much better than I otherwise would have, and through memorisation and meditation it was engrafted to me to an extent.

So we have just been learning about how (catch this) more laws = more sin = more remorse = more forgiveness from Jesus. So it would be easy for someone to catch this idea and run with it as Martin Luther did by saying he will commit more sin so that he can be sure he is saved by grace alone.
Paul and I have just made the argument yesterday that by having more rules (like where to live, what to eat, what to watch, and what to wear) we help people to be saved (as long as the rules are God's rules) because they have more opportunities to see that they will not measure up except by the power of Christ. The 'weakness' in our argument, the natural retort, is this: "If you want me to feel more remorse, I'll just commit some more of the 'big' sins and then I'll feel remorseful enough! I don't need your laws and rules, I can find plenty of sin on my own."

Paul's response to Martin Luther or the modern Christian is clear: "Not at all!" "No way!" ("God forbid" is simply the strongest "no" the translators had when they made the translation. The original is also simply the strongest "no". It could be literally translated: "No, no.") So why does Martin Luther's argument work "not at all"? Because salvation is a death to sin, that idea will be developed more. But basically, we cannot sin more to get more grace because the grace is given to stop us sinning.

Grace was given to free me from bondage to anger. When I was faced with bondage to vain imagination should I have deliberately lost my temper at someone so that I would get grace to overcome my diseased imagination? No way, that's absurd. But rather, it wasn't until I was convicted that my imagination was causing me to sin that I received the grace to overcome it. As the law reveals new flaws in our character we will receive new grace to overcome. If I refuse to let Jesus overcome a particular sin in my life because I want to keep being forgiven I am being a fool. There are enough sins in my life for Jesus to keep overcoming them one after another until I am ready to meet him face to face. New revelations on things to improve bring new grace and growth. Returning to old sins brings stagnation (corruption through not moving) and spiritual death.

What is the next thing Jesus wants to overcome in my life?

Romans 5:20

Continuing Romans, we have just been told that as one man's disobedience caused many to be sinners, even so one man's obedience can cause many to become righteous.

Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: 21 That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 5:20-21)

What does this mean? When there are no copyright laws, nobody pirates media, but they may not pay the producer and soon media would cease to innovate. As there are gradually more and more laws in our society it gets harder and harder to avoid breaking the law. But these laws are usually introduced for good reasons and although we technically commit more crimes our society is better as a whole because of it.
In the same way, when there are few moral laws, we would not break them very often. But since there are many such laws we all break them. But even if we did not break moral laws often it would not be helpful for us. We need many laws about right and wrong to help us see that we need the forgiveness of Jesus. When we have seen that we are very guilty, we come to Jesus for forgiveness and he gives us power to overcome these sins and love each other.
Therefore just as one man's sin brought us death, and one man's obedience brought us life: the law brings us remorse (~repentance) and Jesus brings us pardon and reform.
Without the law to bring remorse, it would be hard for us to feel the need for Jesus to pardon and reform us.

There is a side point I find interesting. That is the question of salvational issues. If many laws bring us greater remorse and lead to greater pardon and reformation, then it is pointless to talk about issues as being salvational or not. Every true law of God we know helps us to find salvation, though on its own it probably doesn't make much difference.

Stories

And it shall come to pass, when your children shall say unto you, What mean ye by this service? 27 That ye shall say… (Exodus 12:26-27)

Remember his marvellous works that he hath done; his wonders, and the judgments of his mouth; (Psalm 105:5)

Who can utter the mighty acts of the Lord? who can shew forth all his praise? (Psalm 106:2)

History. Most people see it as pretty boring, I think this is because they haven't been taught it properly. Sorry to all the history teachers out there, maybe it's the curriculum's fault. History isn't boring, we all love stories, and history is stories.

The Bible is full of stories. We tend to want the Bible to be full of essays and prescriptions (statements about what to do) but instead it is full of stories. Stories really are much more fascinating.

God wanted his people to remember the stories of what he had done as a safeguard from forgetting about him. We tell children a few stories, but there are a lot more that could be told. I have said that when I am going to preach I am far more nervous about giving the children's story than the sermon. But I always do it, because the children's story is the sermon that people are most likely to remember.

I have written this as a series of random thoughts as they occurred to me, but if I wanted to be really effective in communicating these thoughts I would do well to reflect them in a story.

Charles Dickens significantly impacted his world with his stories about the oppression of the poor. No Prime Minister or Archbishop has made greater strides for the help of the poor than Dickens, and all through the power of the word, of verbal communication.

The Bible also has the same power of the word, this power is most often through stories.

Tell me the story of Jesus.

Victory Through Pain

We are studying the rebellion of Korah today, so I thought I might listen to a song by the band the Sons of Korah for the first time. I picked the first result which was Psalm 91, this is for you Stephenie: [Old Link]

Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet. (Psalm 91:13) I think we can take this to be a prophecy about the Messiah. It is the Messiah that was to crush the dragon's head. I made this connection listening to the song where it is a more obvious link.

If this prophecy is about Jesus, then we should consider the fact that in order to defeat the dragon Satan, Jesus died on a cross. All these messages of protection apply not so much to our mortal life but as Jesus says:
And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. (Matthew 10:28)

If you are saved you can rejoice, because your names are written in heaven. (Luke 10:20) Nothing can hurt the saved more than they can bear, because God is merciful and this mortal life is just a shadow of things to come.

When peace like a river attendeth my way
When sorrows like sea billows roll
Whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say
It is well, it is well with my soul.

Freedom and Slavery

Welcome to another episode of "Randomly Opened My Bible To A Passage"

Who hath sent out the wild ass free? or who hath loosed the bands of the wild ass? 6 Whose house I have made the wilderness, and the barren land his dwellings. 7 He scorneth the multitude of the city, neither regardeth he the crying of the driver. 8 The range of the mountains is his pasture, and he searcheth after every green thing. (Job 39:5-8)

God is the one that gives us the power to live free and independently. Like the wild donkey, we will be dependent on our parents for a long time, but then God mysteriously sets us free to make our own way and our own home in the world. The wild donkey does not need to live comfortably in a city, or be enslaved to man, and even so man does not need to be a slave to human expectations and ideas. We all answer to God. We do not need earthly riches to have joy and freedom but we do need to be rich in giving to others.

Art thou called being a servant? care not for it: but if thou mayest be made free, use it rather. (1 Corinthians 7:20)

Do not become a slave, but do not seek to throw off the authorities that God has put in place for your protection. The Christian is not called to be a slave to man or a rebel, but a slave of Christ for the blessing of creation now and for eternity.

Romans 5:13-17 // Death, Sin and Law

(For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law. 14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come. 15 But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many. 16 And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification. 17 For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.) (Romans 5:13-17)

Here are the parentheses (brackets). Paul was talking about death coming into the world through sin and that because we have all sinned we are all subject to death. Let's go through it and try to make sense of it.

At the time before the law was given there was already sin in the world. Sin is not imputed when there is no law, unlike human laws, God doesn't hold you guilty if you didn't know you were breaking the law. Despite this death happened between Adam and Moses.

Enoch did not die, but he was the exception, and Moses must have been resurrected since he appears to Jesus (Matthew 17:3 etc). Since Moses was resurrected we could say that death ruled from Adam until Moses and then Moses was the first to be resurrected and death no longer ruled. But I'm not sure that's what Paul is meaning. I think he just means that although there was no written law from Adam to Moses there was still sin and death.

Death even came to those like Abel and Noah who did not commit the kind of sin that Adam did. Perhaps this refers simply to the sin of eating the fruit, but that seems a bit trivial. I think Paul is referring to the fact that Adam knowingly committed a deliberate act of rebellion against God's commandment (sin) and he is saying that even those who sinned out of ignorance and not rebellion, those who were exceptionally righteous by human standards... Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God. (Genesis 6:9b) even these died, ultimately because of Adam's sin.

This is interesting, it sounds like the doctrine of Original Sin, I suppose this is a passage used to support that teaching. But I don't think it can be taken to go as far as that, because the verse before the parentheses states ...and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: even if you never sinned the doctrine of Original Sin teaches that you would still die for Adam's sin. But Paul says we are all subject to death because we have all sinned. If he wanted to teach Original Sin he could have stated it much more easily.

Anyway, so even those who have never done any very "terrible" sins are still subject to death because they have done "small" sins which are still justly deserving of death, even though God might have been able to excuse them if not for Adam's rebellion that has set us as a race on a trajectory in opposition to God. Adam was the first man, he is the father of us all, but the real father of us all is our Creator God. I'm trying to understand the statement ...who is the figure of him that was to come. I assume it is saying that Adam is a type or symbol of Jesus who was to come, (and has now come) but I don't understand how this fits into the context. Maybe I am misunderstanding, and it is actually speaking of someone else.

Adam's sin affected all of us, even those people who have been exceptionally righteous. Jesus' righteousness and sacrifice for us is similar but different. It is similar because just like one man Adam caused this problem for all of us, one man Jesus solves it. It is different because Adam's sin does not automatically make me wicked, I make myself wicked; Jesus' salvation on the other hand automatically makes me righteous in a moment. Jesus Christ gives us so much grace that this is possible, he has done a lot more for us to be saved than Adam ever did to cause us to sin.

Think about the things Jesus has done to save me.

Romans 5:12,18-19 // What's The Deal With Adam's Sin?

Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: ...Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. 19 For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. (Romans 5:12,18-19)
So as by one woman sin entered the world… er, no! …by one man sin entered the world. But didn't Eve sin first? Maybe, maybe not. The Bible says that sin entered the world by Adam's sin not Eve's.

And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression. (1 Timothy 2:14) The woman was deceived and because of it broke (transgressed) the law. The man knew exactly what he was doing but broke the law anyway. Who sinned? The man.

I don't fully understand where the line is with sin, I certainly don't think I can draw a neat line between right and wrong. But God seems to distinguish greatly between sins that are ignorant and sins that are informed. Eve did A first because she was not fully informed of the facts. Adam did A second despite being fully informed of the facts. Adam sinned and if Eve sinned at all it was somehow less significant, therefore Adam's sin is counted as first. This is Paul's reasoning not mine. I had different reasoning about this before I read these passages.

So let's continue. The problem of sin is in the world because of the first man, our forefather (ancestor). Because of sin we also have the problem of death and all the things that go with it. Because each one of us has followed in our forefather's footsteps into sin we also follow him into death. (Not because we are born "mortal"?! Something to think about there, not sure I understand it right.)

What follows in Romans is a long parenthetical statement that I will handle tomorrow to avoid breaking up the thought Paul has here.

People sometimes wonder how it can be fair that we all suffer for what Adam did, but what about the fairness of us all benefiting from what Jesus did? Adam was our forefather, and the consequences of his sin naturally devolve on us. Christ was Adam's maker, his spiritual father, and the blessings of his righteousness (lack of sin) can be given to us if we make him our spiritual father rather than copying Adam.

If you want to be like Jesus, spend time thinking about him.

Romans 5:9-11 // Reconciliation

Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. 10 For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. 11 And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement. (Romans 5:9-11)

This word "atonement" is in the KJV OT 69 times and the KJV NT once, that is here.

According to Young's Literal Translation the word here means "reconciliation". The Hebrew Torah's usage of "atonement" is quite different to this, but I think Paul is simply meaning "reconciliation" in this passage. We should bear in mind when reading other passages that atonement means something different. This is the passage where we get "at-one-ment" from, but don't go back and retrospectively apply this definition to passages like Leviticus 14:33-57, because it just doesn't make sense.

But back to this passage.

We have already shown that we might be said to be righteous by the power of Jesus' blood. But what about our rightful punishment for the things we have done? If Jesus has said you are righteous, then he will save you from the punishment you deserve. Why is this? Think about it, we were God's enemies once, and God was willing to give his Son to bring us back to his side. Now that we are back on God's side why would he turn around and kill us? That doesn't make sense. Since God has gone to all this trouble to get you onto his side he is going to do whatever he needs to do to keep you there, alive and happy. In addition you can have the joy of knowing that Jesus loved you so much that he gave everything to restore his friendship with you, to win your love.

The word atonement is normally used for the time when the priest would finish the symbolic salvational work after the sacrifice. After Jesus' sacrifice he like the priest of old has gone on to the work of atonement.

How much do you sacrifice to forgive and to win over your enemies to be friends? It's not an easy thing. But if we want to be like Jesus it's something we ought to think about.

Intercession; Effective and Ineffective

Pardon, I beseech thee, the iniquity of this people according unto the greatness of thy mercy, and as thou hast forgiven this people, from Egypt even until now. (Numbers 14:19)

I have been in authority at times, and occasionally someone will do something for which he needs to punished. In a military culture nobody argues with it. The one to be punished takes his punishment and the rest try to be invisible lest they get dragged in to the situation.

A church situation is very different. Often enough, someone, usually female, will feel it her duty to defend whoever it is that has broken a rule. I have noticed that although I experience this, many other leaders don't. Most leaders have little tolerance for this kind of nonsense and people learn not to get in the way. But this kind of leadership does not belong in the church. It is not the kind of leadership that God displays.

God left himself open to being persuaded, though only by those who were themselves innocent. When somebody tries to stop me from dealing punishment I don't resent it, but it is usually done very ineffectively, and Moses sometimes did it ineffectively as well:

And they fell upon their faces, and said, O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and wilt thou be wroth with all the congregation? (Numbers 16:22)

That was a good try. God did exactly what Moses and Aaron suggested, he did not punish all of Israel for the sin of Korah et al. Instead he killed everyone involved in the rebellion, a lot of people.*

In my experience it is similar. Someone will tell me all the reasons why I am being unreasonable to expect this or that and that I should show mercy. All this accusation against me makes me very disinclined to show mercy and usually strengthens my resolve. But if somebody did what Moses did in Numbers 14:19 that would be a completely different thing.

In Numbers 14:19, Moses did not say that the people did not deserve to be punished. To admit this makes the advocate much more credible. If you try to defend a man who is known to be guilty by telling me he is only a little bit guilty all you will achieve is a loss of credibility. But confessing the guilt, if you proceed to appeal to my goodness or my reputation for goodness to motivate me to show mercy it will be hard to refuse. This principle for making good appeals is found elsewhere in the Bible and is effective in other situations. 1 Samuel 25 for example.

What does this look like today? An example might be if your child is doing poorly in school. If you tell the teacher that actually your kid is super smart and you don't understand why he would be doing poorly, you are implying that the teacher is the problem. You are not going to help your child's situation. If you admit your child has some behaviour problems and that you (yourself) really should have trained him better, then ask the teacher to use his gifts and talents to do whatever can be done, the child will be much better looked after. What teacher doesn't want to prove his abilities by turning around (that's what repent means in a moral context) a student that is failing? You are appealing to his reputation for his help, and not making it hard for him to be nice to you by criticising him, even if he has been negligent.

For me today this principle is most significant in interceding to God for my denomination. It is an incredibly wonderful movement, but like the children of Israel it has a few problems from time to time. Not everyone agrees on what these problems are, one man's problem is another man's reform. But I have my views on the matter and I am concerned for the future of my denomination if certain "reforms" get through. What can I do? I can do nothing but pray and intercede that God would have mercy on us, because without a doubt we have been guilty. If we are punished it will not help those outside, God's end time message will be greatly hindered if the Holy Spirit is withdrawn from those who are meant to preach it.

Maybe there is an individual person or a group you feel you should intercede for, why not do it now?

*It is worthwhile to note that Korah's children were not killed (Psalm 42 etc), so clearly this was not rough justice where children were killed for no good reason. Only those who joined in the rebellion were killed, and presumably this is always the case when God kills people.

Romans 5:8

For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. 8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:6-8)

Yesterday I was hand billing at a train station. That is, I was handing out brochures (bills) to invite people to our seminar which we are hoping will generate their interest in the Bible and God. I do a lot of hand billing, but something new and exiting happened yesterday. I offered the brochure to a rather rough-looking man who had a rolled up newspaper in his hand. He took one look at it and with impressive deftness smacked it straight to the ground with his newspaper. I immediately and instinctively gave a glib and cheerful goodbye as he walked away. I find this kind of behaviour more invigorating than intimidating. The brochure was drenched in a puddle and one of my fingers which was in the way of the newspaper club had gone a bit numb, but the experience made me more cheerful. A crowd of commuters came around the corner and started passing me, and more of them took brochures than usual. I was glad I had not been put off.
Not long afterwards, another rough looking man passed and I offered him a brochure. I don't remember exactly what he said, but the word he emphasised was a strong expletive (swear/curse word) and he didn't take a brochure. You get this kind of experience from time to time, but it's the people that run away from you that hurt you more. Not that I want more people to swear at me, but when another person behaves badly we feel like a good person, when another person feels victimised by us we feel bad.
I only thought about this because of the passage in Romans here. I was thinking about who I would die for. I remember in school when I was planning to apply for the Australian Federal Police one of my classmates asked if I would take a bullet for the Prime Minister (our equivalent of the President) and of course I said I would. Of course, it would be part of my job then, but I really think I would even now. The Prime Minister's life is important to my country and therefore to most of those I love. If my country is at peace my family and friends are far more likely to be safe. The death of a Prime Minister could start a war, to prevent that my life would be worth expending (paying). So logically it makes sense to die for the Prime Minister, but there are probably quite a few people that I would do that for, maybe some for which there is no logical reason. Some of these people I am more sure I would die for than others. I got nipped by a little dog to protect my little sister, but that's pretty much the closest I have come to actually getting real experience in this thing. As it says in Romans, maybe some of us would give our lives for someone who we think is worth it in some way.
But would I risk my life for those two ruffians that I met at the train station? What about the dozens of other ruffians I have met in various places. I don't know what I would actually do in the confusion of the moment, but logically of course I wouldn't. There are some people that the world would frankly be better off without (this is not against those two guys personally, they may be okay, I'm referring now to wicked men in general), and like most of us I don't class myself as one of them. So why should I deprive the world of myself and foist a thug on it instead, who would probably just go and sell drugs to school kids anyway.

Before we were converted we were no better a prospect for Jesus to die for than the drug pusher. Jesus' life was worth more, Jesus' even had the option of living forever. But Jesus died so that you and I could potentially change our ways and life forever. Many people have abused this gift, but if you take hold of it and accept Jesus' sacrifice for you then he will consider that his life was worth expending.

Fear God?

My Bible opens naturally to Psalm 146. I do sometimes open up my Bible randomly when I want to look at something different, and I land on Psalm 146 quite often. Because I have looked at it so often, I decided to go to Psalm 147 this morning. This is what I found.

Praise ye the Lord: for it is good to sing praises unto our God; for it is pleasant; and praise is comely. (Psalm 147:1)

This is a happy psalm. It is true, it is a beautiful and attractive thing to lift up others, particularly God. It is enjoyable to focus on the good things in life. I am fairly quick to notice the problems around the place, and without people like me the world would be a very inefficient place. But to fix my attention on the bad does me no good and Christ is teaching me to fix my attention on him and what he will do instead. The next few verses of the psalm describe some of God's wonderful attributes, it is worthwhile to spend a moment thinking about them...

God is supporter, restorer, comforter, counsellor and creator. His intelligence is beyond computation. What is it that he particularly likes? What does the heart of God find appealing?

...he taketh not pleasure in the legs of a man. 11 The Lord taketh pleasure in them that fear him, in those that hope in his mercy. (Psalm 147:10b-11)

As much as it is natural to get exited about other people's legs, that's not what gets God exited. It seems a strange thing that God takes pleasure in people fearing him. We cannot divorce this statement from its plain meaning simply because we do not like it. The word translated "fear" really does mean "fear" in Hebrew and Greek, I've checked, hoping to find it meant something else. The Greek word used is "phobos" which of course is where we get the word "phobia" from. But you will be glad to know that the Hebrew word has got "morally reverence" as its figurative meaning (as opposed to its literal meaning which is simply "fear").
But I would pose the question, what does "morally reverence" mean? What do you revere? You may revere a very famous person, and get nervous around him. Reverence is the fear of offending another or lowering one's self in his estimation (his opinion). I'm not sure how well that fits the idea of being reverent in a place of worship… Well, it is the supernatural being that you are showing reverence to when you revere his temple, not the bricks and mortar that make the temple itself. The more important a person is to me the more I am afraid of hurting that person in any way, damaging our relationship or losing some of that person's respect. It can keep me up at nights, cause me to wander around listlessly or struggle to speak. What is reverence if it is not fear? Reverence is not the same as respect. I respect lots of people, and I show respect to everyone (I hope) but there is no way I revere everyone. I do not fear many people, but those I love deeply I (re)fear (fear/revere). Fear and reverence are really very similar things, but reverence is where fear and love meet. To go back to my analogy of the famous person, the reverence or fear that Psalm 147 refers to could be referred to as: starstruck.

God enjoys it when people are starstruck by him. I guess that's not too unusual, we all do.

But perhaps I should have gone on to the second part of the verse earlier. The idea of fear of God is closely bound to this idea: that hope in his mercy. God does not really want us to gaze at him in wonder because he is glowing with light or because he is the most famous being in the universe. He wants us to be starstruck by him because we know we are in trouble and he is our only chance.
It is such a good feeling to be able to help someone who is in distress, and our way of feeling that (I believe) was given to us to reflect a greater truth about God.

The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth (Exodus 34:6)

Helping people is what God does. He wants to help people, he wants to care for people, even if they don't care about him. We are made in God's image and so we share his character to a greater or lesser extent. It was part of Jesus' mission to cause us to reflect his character fully, that is a goal worth reaching for!

The question we need to ask ourselves is this: Who do I (re)fear the most? Do I (re)fear my friends the most? If they make my decisions for me then I probably do. Do I (re)fear my religious leaders the most? If I accept everything they say then I probably do.

Fear God and give glory to him.

Prayer of Faith

And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. (Romans 5:5)

I didn't address this verse at all yesterday, so I've edited it out of the previous post and given it it's own post here.

Imagine Abraham telling his friends about how God is going to give him a son with Sarah. Imagine telling people about that thing you are praying for that seems like it cannot ever happen. Imagine telling them that you know your prayer will be answered.

There is such a thing as presumption. Believing that God has said something he has not does not guarantee he will bail you out even if you tell everybody.

But if your prayer is according to his word and and from a sincere heart he has promised to answer. Abraham could pray for a son because God promised him one. You and I cannot, because we have not been promised. But we can pray for someone to love, watch over and train in righteousness, and God will answer that prayer.

Instead of thy fathers shall be thy children, whom thou mayest make princes in all the earth. (Psalm 45:16)

Unto Timothy, my own son in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. (1 Timothy 1:2)

False hope is embarrassing. When you thought you were going to achieve something or have an answer to prayer and everyone knew about it, then you failed. We all fear that so much.
But true hope does not lead to embarrassment. It does not make ashamed. Why not?

Because the love of God has infiltrated (gotten) into our hearts through the efforts of the Holy Spirit.

Big question. What is "the love of God"? Is it "love for God" or "love from God"? Our love for God or God's love for us.

This phrase is used a couple of times this way:

But I know you, that ye have not the love of God in you. 43 I am come in my Father's name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive. (John 5:42-43)

Where it seems to me that it means "love for God".

But many times it is used this way:

Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:39)

Where it is clearly describing "love from God". So I'll give the second option the benefit of the doubt.

That means we are hoping and praying according to the love God has given us. This could be love for other people, for God himself and even for ourselves. When our hearts are full of love we know better what to pray and hope for, and we are not disappointed.

When someone you love is sick, you probably should not pray simply for their recovery unless God impresses you to do so. You may need to pray for Christ to overcome Satan in that situation, for that person to have peace and joy in the midst of suffering, or for that person to draw close to Christ at this time and the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. (James 5:15)

Prayer is not twisting God's arm, it is the opportunity to know God's heart. When you know God's heart and confess (agree with) him then you can have hope and not be ashamed. But we need to bare our hearts to him with all the raw emotion that we will (and ought) not show to others.

Experience With God

Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: 2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; 4 And patience, experience; and experience, hope: (Romans 5:1-4)

So just like Abraham God has found a way to exonerate us (find us "not guilty") through Jesus Christ and now we are at peace with God. We are not worried about dying or Jesus' second coming because: Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. (Psalm 23:4)

Even when the wrath of Jesus burns sinners up and all other humans will deserve to be among the destroyed, as it is written...

For the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand? (Revelation 6:17)

…Jesus will enable his followers to survive:

...Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand. (Romans 14:4)

It is the grace of God that empowers us to stand/survive and to actually look forward to Jesus' return. Grace is not merely forgiveness, it is also the power to be restored to the image/character/glory of God.

(I don't use these words (image/character/glory) as synonyms, but they are similar, and can be used interchangeably in the sentence above)

Now, we don't only look forward and enjoy the good stuff. We see the purpose in suffering, and although we do not like it, we do not resent it (blame God) either.

I would like to understand this train of thought about the advantage of suffering, because suffering is an experience that is not unusual, though its cause varies. To be able to suffer and not resent it or become angry with God would be a useful thing indeed. So I have looked up the Greek words used in this train of thought. I don't know what has happened to the English language in the last few hundred years, but for modern English I think the KJV is misleading here.
I turned to a couple of my other free Bibles and found a translation that better fits what I saw in the Greek; the American Standard Version: and stedfastness, approvedness; and approvedness, hope: (Romans 5:4 ASV) For patience/steadfastness, I saw in the Greek an idea that I would translate cheerfulness. The ability to be at least a little bit happy no matter the circumstances around me.
The best example I can give of how suffering leads to cheerfulness is in my work and ministry. I do a lot of door to door work. I get a lot of rejections. It is hard not to resent these, for various reasons. But when I am rejected I try to bless the person rejecting me. I wish them a good afternoon from my heart and I feel happier. I can go on to the next door more positive and less likely to be rejected again, but even if I am, I bless them from my heart. Maybe it is only Jesus who can give this ability, but he can do it for you if he can do it for me.
Experience/approvedness seems to be an idea like "tried and tested" in the Greek. We can stay close to the KJV and say it means "having had an experience with Jesus" in this context. When I have been rejected many times but I pray and carry on despite thinking "this is crazy" and then I receive a great blessing, maybe sooner, maybe later; this gives me an experience with Jesus. An experience that I can always take with me anywhere and that will help me to have hope (which of course is perfectly translated).
When I have learned to be cheerful at hard times I gain an experience with God and I can now have hope for the future in any situation that God knows best for me and will bring me happiness as only he can.

If you want an experience with God, you need to step out in faith, risk a little suffering, and having given your heart to Jesus plead for the joy to endure cheerfully. Then your experience will come.

Romans 4:23-25 // Who is righteous?

Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him; 24 But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; 25 Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification. (Romans 4:23-25)

When the Bible states that Abraham was given righteousness by God, Paul's readers could have been under the impression that it was only so that Abraham would know it. Does that mean that this portion of scripture existed in some form during the life of Abraham, four centuries before Moses?
Many scholars today claim to discredit the Bible by ascribing its authorship to people other than the traditional author. But what if the book of Genesis is a compilation of texts that were written by eye witnesses and edited and published by Moses? But anyway, Abraham seems to have benefited from righteousness being ascribed to him in the scripture, but Paul's point is that it is not only of benefit to him.

Knowing that Abraham's willingness to trust God in what God told him, allowed God to give him righteousness gives us a precedent and a principle that we can count on. God has told us that he restored Jesus from death and that he died in the first place in our place. If we believe this and act on the requirements that come with this belief, the scripture could say of me in the same way: Daniel believed God and it was counted unto him for righteousness.