Romans

This week at the Institute Chad taught the book of Romans. I loved this week because we got to go through an entire book of the bible in class, which rarely happens. Romans is 16 chapters packed with insight and wisdom! Paul wrote this letter to the Romans in 57 AD on his way back from his 3^rd missionary journey. The central theme of the book can be summed up as the righteousness of God revealed in the person of Jesus Christ. Within it the book can be broken up into seven themes: 1. Not ashamed of the gospel,  2. Condemnation,  3. Justification,  4. Sanctification,  5. Restoration,  6. Application,  7. Conclusion

Not ashamed of the gospel-

Paul, in the first part of Romans, wrote about the power of the gospel and his enthusiasm to tell it to the Romans. In chapter 1 there are two verses that a lot of Christians hear often; Romans 1:16,17 “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, ‘But the righteous man shall love by faith.’” These are great verses but too often the only part that stands out anymore is “I am not ashamed of the gospel” and the rest is skimmed over. It shouldn’t be! Why is it that Paul and other Christians are not ashamed of the gospel? Because the gospel is the power of God, it brings salvation to EVERYONE who believes, and it makes known God’s Holy perfection. The gospel is powerful, more than I can comprehend, and that is why we should not be ashamed of it.

Condemnation-

In the next couple of chapters Paul wrote to the Romans about the unrighteousness of both Gentiles and Jews and their need for God’s righteousness. So in contrast to what was just written in v. 17 about the righteousness of God being revealed, now in v. 18 Paul talks about the wrath of God being revealed against all unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth. Righteousness and wrath are both part of God’s character. His wrath against unrighteousness is required for His righteousness.

Paul wrote in Romans 1:19-32 that God has made Himself known to the Gentiles through the creation of the world. But because they didn’t glorify Him God and instead perverted His glory, God, in His wrath, “gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity” (v. 24) and He “gave them over to degrading passions” (v. 26) and He “gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, being filled with all unrighteousness…” (v. 28) Then in Romans 2:1-3:8 Paul wrote that in the same way the Gentiles are unrighteous, so are the Jews. The Jews were obsessed with their works, thinking that living by the Law and being circumcised made them righteous before God, but Paul wrote in Romans 3:20 “by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight.”  To summarize this section, Paul said that the entire world, both Jews and Gentiles, are unrighteous and will be accountable to God. This would be a very depressing way to end the letter, but luckily Paul immediately goes into writing about justification.

Justification-

The Law is not the source of righteousness but God is. God has now given us a way to obtain righteousness through the faith that Christ came to die for all sins on the cross. There is no partiality between whom God allows to justify. Romans 3:23,24 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus.” Anyone who has faith is justified. And having been justified by faith, the result of righteousness is that we have peace with God and we rejoice in hope. And to bring a little encouragement to everything Paul had just written about the unrighteousness of all people, he explains in Romans 5:9 “having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him.”

Sanctification-

Paul then goes on to warn that just because we are justified by Christ’s blood we can not use that as an excuse to then go on and keep sinning. We’re now going through a process of sanctification, demonstrating God’s righteousness within us. In doing so we are indentifying with Christ- Romans 6:4 “Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.” We are not mastered by sin because we are obedient from the heart to righteousness that is promised to result in sanctification with the outcome of eternal life. That is not to say that we are free from temptation and the ability to sin because we are still human, living in the flesh. But we have now been giving the Holy Spirit. So we either set our mind on the flesh that is death, or we set our mind on the Spirit that is life and peace (Romans 8:6).

Restoration-

In chapters 9-11 Paul wrote about Israel’s acceptance of God’s righteousness through faith. The message of salvation has been the same throughout all time. Paul used a lot of Old Testament scripture to prove to the Jews knew the O.T. well that the same message existed before Christ. Some Jews rejected the gospel but some hearing that God extends grace to Gentiles accepted the message out of jealousy. Paul uses the illustration of an olive tree to explain the body of believers. The root is holy and the branches are Israel, God’s chosen people. The Jews who reject the gospel are broken off and Gentiles who accept the gospel are able to be grafted in. Then Paul praises God for His wisdom and knowledge, His judgments and endless ways.

Application-

After describing the justification, sanctification and restoration of God’s righteousness Paul wrote to the Romans telling them how they should live and apply what they just heard. Romans 12:2 “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.” The word “transformed” means to go through metamorphosis. We should not live the same as we used to. Our mindset should be completely changed because God’s righteousness has been made known to us. And it’s written that we should apply this through our bodies, gifts, life, submission, interaction, unity, personal sacrifice, and authentic worship.

Conclusion-

In conclusion Paul wrote to the Romans in Romans 15:5,6 “Now may the God who gives perseverance and encouragement grant you to be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus, so that with one accord you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” And with one accord go where the gospel has not been preached. Then Paul tells of his plan to further take the gospel to the Gentiles and gives glory to God.

Holy Spirit

Of the three persons of the trinity the Holy Spirit seems to be the one that is most misunderstood, under-taught, and under-acknowledged in the church. But the bible tells us so much about the Spirit and seeing that the Holy Spirit is what lives inside of every believer, it’s interesting that we don’t discuss it more. Before this year at the Institute I really didn’t know much about the Holy Spirit at all, but as of now the Holy Spirit is the most intriguing person of the trinity and I’m overwhelmed by the work of the Spirit and of the power that each Christian has because we have God abiding in us!

This week the Holy Spirit was our topic, taught by Peter Deison, a pastor in Dallas, Texas. We were loaded with information about the deity and person of the Spirit, the work of the Spirit, the fruits of the Spirit, the filling of the Spirit, and our battle between our flesh and the Spirit.

The Holy Spirit acts in many ways but a couple points that really stood out to me were the ways in which the Spirit empowers believers in wisdom and understand of scripture and how He guides believers to do the will of God.

If a passage from the bible is read to a believer and an unbeliever, their takeaway will be very different. 1 Corinthians 2:12-16 says, “Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God, which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words. But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. But he who is spiritual appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no one. For who has know the mind of the Lord, that he will instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ.”

When we have the Spirit He will lead us to do the will of God by inspiring us and overseeing our circumstances in life. Philippians 2:12,13 “So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.”  But we have to be obedient to God’s commands and we have to continually choose to “walk in the Spirit.”

It is so important for believers to understand that we have God abiding in us and working in our lives to guide us in the will of the Lord. The Spirit of God in us is able to do great things in our lives if we allow Him to. There is a battle now going on in all believers because we live in flesh but also in Spirit. It is possible to quench the Spirit and refuse to live the life He has for us, but we should choose every day to follow the Spirit of God who has a bigger and better plan for our lives. A great passage the speaks to this is Galatians 5:16-24 which says, “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law. Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”

The way of the Holy Spirit is the only way that we can fully experience God and be led to accomplish the will of God! The more I study the Holy Spirit the more I realize what an incredibly powerful gift we as believers have been given to the glory of God!

The Acts of the Apostles

This weeks subject was one that I had been looking forward to for awhile. The establishment of the church and missionary journeys of the early church is so important for believers to have knowledge of but isn’t something that I had ever studied or even heard much about before this year. Mitch Maher came and spoke to our class again this semester and for three days we went through the book of Acts.

In 28 chapters Luke outlined the establishment of the church and the spread of the gospel from Jerusalem to the whole world within about 65 years. Peter did a lot of the work establishing the church in Jerusalem and Paul was a major figure in taking the gospel to different parts of the world as far as Rome. The best way to study the book of Acts is to break it up according to the progress reports of the missions that Luke wrote of…

BIRTH OF THE CHURCH IN JERUSALEM

Luke started off by recalling Jesus commanding his apostles not to leave Jerusalem until the power of the Holy Spirit came upon them. On the day of Pentecost when all the apostles were together “a noise like a violent rushing wind” came from heaven and the Holy Spirit filled them. They began baptizing in the name of Jesus Christ the people who received the word of God.

Progress report: “And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved.” Acts 2:47

EXPANSION OF CHURCH IN JERUSALEM

As the church expanded a godly community was living and sharing all things together. Peter and the apostles continued to perform healings. The church started facing persecution, moral compromise, and distractions but more and more people were becoming believers.

Progress report: “The word of God kept on spreading; and the number of the disciples continued to increase greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were becoming obedient to the faith.”  Acts 6:7

Extension of the church to Judea & Samaria

Stephen preached to the Jews but was persecuted to arrest and later death. Persecution was so bad that Philip had to escape Jerusalem and began spreading the gospel outside of Jerusalem to half-breed Samaritans. Saul, a major player in the persecution of Christians, was miraculously converted on his way to Damascus and began preaching the gospel to Gentiles!

Progress report: “So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria enjoyed peace, being built up; and going on in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it continued to increase.”  Acts 9:31

Extension of the church to Antioch

The gospel is taken to Antioch to be preached to the Gentiles. It’s there that Peter emphasizes the message that the gift of the Holy Spirit was for all people. God does not show partiality toward Jews or Gentiles.

Progress report: “But the word of the Lord continued to grow and to be multiplied.”  Acts 12:24

Extension of the church to Asia Minor

Paul took a missionary journey to Asia Minor where he preached the gospel and gave encouragement to the disciples to persevere through a lot of tribulations. At the end of his journey he returned to Antioch.

Progress report: “So the churches were being strengthened in the faith, and were increasing in number daily.”  Acts 16:5

Extension of the church to Aegean Area

Paul took another missionary journey and in the middle of it he got a vision to go even further west and spread the gospel to Macedonia. He then also went to Greece and Ephesus before returning again to Antioch.

Progress report: “So the word of the Lord was growing mightily and prevailing.”  Acts 19:20

Extension of the church to Rome

Paul felt like he was being called to spread the gospel all the way in Rome. He journeyed there and was hit with persecution harder than ever before. He was imprisoned twice in Rome and in 62 AD was beheaded in Rome. But with all the persecution he knew his mission and purpose and made an incredible impact for the kingdom of God!

As we studied Acts I kept being amazed at how quickly the gospel spread. Another thing that struck me was how effective the missionary journeys were. Even with imprisonment, martyrs, and harsh persecution the apostles never strayed from their mission. Peter gave a sermon in Jerusalem and 3,000 people became believers that day! Paul is one of my favorite people written about in the Bible. His story of conversion and powerful advance of the gospel in his lifetime is both inspiring and convicting. Jesus commanded His people to make disciples and that is still our command today.

“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:19,20

The Return of the Prodigal Son

Return of the Prodigal Son, Guercino, 1619

The Prodigal Son is my favorite parable in the Bible. It's interesting to read it from the perspective of the father, son, brother, and servant. I love this story and it's picture of God's overwhelming forgiveness and love for the lost!

"And He said, 'A man had two sons. 

The younger of them said to his father, 'Father, give me the share of the estate that falls to me.' So he divided his wealth between them. 

And not many days later, the younger son gathered everything together and went on a journey into a distant country, and there he squandered his estate with loose living.

Now when he had spent everything, a severe famine occurred in that country, and he began to be impoverished. So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would have gladly filled his stomach with the pods that the swine were eating, and no one was giving anything to him.

But when he came to his senses, he said, 'How many of my father's hired men have more than enough bread, but I am dying here with hunger! I will get up and go to my father, and will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me as one of your hired men."'

So he got up and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion for him, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. And the son said to him, 'Father I have sinned against heaven and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.' But the father said to his slaves, 'Quickly bring out the best robe and put in on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet; and bring the fattened calf, kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; for this son of mine was dead and has come to life again; he was lost and has been found.' And they began to celebrate.

And he summoned one of the servants and began inquiring what these things could be. And he said to him, 'Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has received him back safe and sound.' But he became angry and was not willing to go in; and his father came out and began pleading with him. But he answered and said to his father, 'Look! For so many years I have been serving you and I have never neglected a command of yours; and yet you have never given me a young goat, so that I might celebrate with my friends; but when this son of your came, who has devoured your wealth with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him.'

And he said to him, 'Son, you have always been with me, and all that is mine is yours. But we had to celebrate and rejoice, for this brother of yours was dead and has begun to live, and was lost and has been found.'"

Trinity

After a great couple of weeks off for Christmas break we didn’t waste any time at the Institute getting back into class mode as we studied one of the greatest mysteries of Christianity: the Trinity! For three days Glenn Kreider discussed Trinitarianism and while I learned so much of what has been revealed about the Trinity I am now even more in awe of the mystery of the Trinity!

There are so many analogies that Christians use to try describing the Trinity but in reality there is nothing like the Trinity. There is one God. The Father is God. The Son is God. The Spirit is God. The three are united and equal but each has some functions or roles that are unique. God is eternally triune but is progressively revealing Himself to us throughout time. God has chosen to reveal himself to us in history through scripture, the world, and the incarnation of Christ.

In the Bible God makes Himself known through the Spirit, through actual texts of scripture, through prophets and the Son. Hebrews 1:1,2 says, “God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in the Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world.” Psalm 19:1 speaks of how God is revealing Himself through the world: “The heavens are telling of the glory of God; and their expanse is declaring the work of His hands.” And up until Christ came to earth the scriptures of the Old Testament hinted at the plurality of God but only became clear when Jesus became human and lived among humanity. Philippians 2:6-8 says, “although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be asserted, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”

While on earth Jesus spent time performing miracles and proclaiming Himself to be Lord both fully human and divine. Christ reveals to man the truth of who God is in what was and still is often thought to be a contradiction because He taught both monotheism and plurality. Jesus taught that there is only one God. John 5:44 “’How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and you do not seek the glory that is from the one and only God?’” But while still holding onto that truth He also distinguished Himself from the Father and Spirit. John 10:17,18 describes the Father and Son as different: “’For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it again. No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father.’” Jesus also speaks of the Spirit not being the Father or the Son when He says in John 15:26, “’When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about Me.’”

God is the triune Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We only know who God is as revealed to us up to this point in time. The trinity is hard to grasp but I’m ok with that. He’s all knowing and I am not. He has all understanding and I do not. That’s what makes me human and Him God. The Trinity is a mystery to me. By reason of evidence I accept what God has chosen to reveal to humanity about Himself, and I accept what God hasn’t chosen to reveal yet about Himself by faith.