Scripture References:
Romans 8:8
Hebrews 11:6
Hebrews 13:21
Psalm 22:3
Proverbs 8:30
John 8:29
Matthew 3:17
There is motive behind every action: The dude on the block wants money. The chick giving away her purity wants to feel loved. The single mother working two jobs just wants her son to have a better life. The guy who is smoking weed just wants to relieve himself of the weight of life for a moment. And the foul rapper is doing what he thinks he must do for the fame.
So as a Christian what motivates you? Are you motivated by the same things that motivate the world? Are you influenced to act by the want unlock the blessings of God, monetary or physical? Or are you motivated to be the number one Christian in the eyes of your peers?
Truth be told, as a Christian none of the previous should be your chief motivation, even though many of these things are. What should motivate us as Christians? the pleasure of our holy and glorious God. The ultimate want and desire of our heart should be to please the Lord of our lives.
So how do we please this glorious and holy God? The answer is found in the scriptures:
1. Don’t Live by the Flesh/Live by Faith
Romans 8:8 says that it is impossible for man to please God in the flesh. Therefore in order to please God man must first, by the Spirit, crucify his flesh and daily beat it into subjection.
In turn in no longer living by the flesh, we must instead live by faith, as Hebrews 11:6 says, “without faith it is impossible to please God.” Specifically we must let God work within us. Look ahead to Hebrews 13:21 which states:
“make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom [be] glory forever and ever. Amen.”
We must let God work in us and in doing so He himself will work in us what pleases Him.
2. Live a Life of Praise of and Worship unto God
“But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.” Psalm 22:3
God inhabited the praises of Israel. This word inhabitest used in the King James Version is the Hebrew word yashab which means to dwell or remain. God is and omnipotent, all powerful being that can do whatever at anytime but chose to remain in the praises of Israel. Why would he do this unless remaining in these praises was something that he enjoyed or pleased Him?
King Solomon personifies wisdom in Proverbs 8 and in verse 30 says that he was the Lord’s delight everyday because he daily rejoiced in God. We must go beyond the weekly corporate worship and daily take time to and praise God, stand in awe of his glory, and worship Him for who he is.
3. Live as Christ Lived
Christ lived a life that pleased God. In fact Christ proclaims Himself in John 8:29 that he always did what pleased God. In Matthew 3:17 God proclaims that Jesus not only was his son but his son in whom he was well pleased.
In order to truly please God we must live a life imitating Christ. We must go through the gospels see how Christ lived his life on earth and what he did to please God and, by the Spirit, do those same things.
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
The Gospel-Part 4
Question 4-How Do We Receive the Gift of Salvation?
Scriptures:
•Ephesians 2:8-9
•2 Timothy 1:9
•Romans 10:9
•John 6:36
•2 Corinthians 4:7
I was very intent in wording the question for this section of the study. It initially seems illogical to ask the question “how do we receive something?” This concept remains true in our salvation because we do not as much do anything to receive it. Instead our salvation is totally the work of the Triune God. Ephesians 2:8-9 states:
For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; [it is] the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.
We in fact had no hand in our salvation: Christ works on the cross saved us from sin, we receive this gift by faith and that faith is actually a gift from God, in the form of the Holy Spirit. We are totally dependent on God and can do absolutely nothing to save ourselves. As 2 Timothy 1:9 says it:
who has saved us and called [us] with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began,
We must understand that God, before the earth was even formed, elected a certain group of people that he would save. This elect people was elected by God, their sins were atoned for by the works of the Christ, and believe and have faith in Christ due to the witness of the Holy Spirit.
However we must also understand that we can’t disregard personal responsibility (which is actually carried out by the power of the Spirit). Romans 10:9 explains what we must do to be saved:
that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
Essentially, we must due two things to receive this salvation from Christ: confess Jesus is Lord, and believe that He did rise after his crucifixion.
To comprehend what it means to “confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus” it is necessary to do two quick word studies.
First to define Lord:
Throughout the bible the word Lord is used in two forms. The first is the all caps “LORD” which actually is not LORD but the Hebrew word “Yahweh” which is a name of God deemed to holy to be written by the Old Testament authors. The second form, the one used in Romans 10:9 is the Greek word kyrios or the Hebrew ‘adown. The definition of this word is the more practical definition of Lord. That is the definition that describes a supreme ruler or master. Essentially it is a ruler or controller of something.
Secondly confess:
The Greek word used in this passage is homologeo which essentially means to confess. However, in this particular passage the word actually connotes some form of legal action that comes with this confession. Basically, in confessing a legally binding contract is verbally signed
So in conclusion, Paul instructs us in this verse to commit ourselves to Christ as our Lord, supreme controller, over our life. Confess Jesus Christ is our Lord and in doing so legally uphold our side of the deal and make Christ the ruler of our lives. This of course can only be done by the power granted to us through the Holy Spirit
However Paul also tells us we must believe in our hearts God raised him from the dead.
We must truly know in our hearts that Jesus Christ was the Son of God, he died on the cross for our sins, and he rose from the grave showing his supremacy over death. This by no means can be done on our own but is totally done by the power of the Spirit. See in John 6:36 which states:
But I said to you that you have seen Me and yet do not believe.
There is a large amount of people who physically saw Jesus. However, these people, despite seeing God manifested in flesh, did not truly believe he was the Son of God. We can do nothing ourselves to believe in Christ. Even the mere reading of bible is not enough for us to truly have faith in Christ works. Instead our belief and faith is totally the work of the Triune God in the witness of the Holy Spirit. See 2 Corinthians 4:7 which states:
For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.
We have seen God in the face of Christ and now have faith in Christ works solely by the witness of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
Study Questions:
•What part do we play in our salvation?
•What “personal responsibility” is necessary in receiving salvation?
•What does it mean to confess the Lord Jesus Christ?
•How do we believe in God?
Scriptures:
•Ephesians 2:8-9
•2 Timothy 1:9
•Romans 10:9
•John 6:36
•2 Corinthians 4:7
I was very intent in wording the question for this section of the study. It initially seems illogical to ask the question “how do we receive something?” This concept remains true in our salvation because we do not as much do anything to receive it. Instead our salvation is totally the work of the Triune God. Ephesians 2:8-9 states:
For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; [it is] the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.
We in fact had no hand in our salvation: Christ works on the cross saved us from sin, we receive this gift by faith and that faith is actually a gift from God, in the form of the Holy Spirit. We are totally dependent on God and can do absolutely nothing to save ourselves. As 2 Timothy 1:9 says it:
who has saved us and called [us] with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began,
We must understand that God, before the earth was even formed, elected a certain group of people that he would save. This elect people was elected by God, their sins were atoned for by the works of the Christ, and believe and have faith in Christ due to the witness of the Holy Spirit.
However we must also understand that we can’t disregard personal responsibility (which is actually carried out by the power of the Spirit). Romans 10:9 explains what we must do to be saved:
that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.
Essentially, we must due two things to receive this salvation from Christ: confess Jesus is Lord, and believe that He did rise after his crucifixion.
To comprehend what it means to “confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus” it is necessary to do two quick word studies.
First to define Lord:
Throughout the bible the word Lord is used in two forms. The first is the all caps “LORD” which actually is not LORD but the Hebrew word “Yahweh” which is a name of God deemed to holy to be written by the Old Testament authors. The second form, the one used in Romans 10:9 is the Greek word kyrios or the Hebrew ‘adown. The definition of this word is the more practical definition of Lord. That is the definition that describes a supreme ruler or master. Essentially it is a ruler or controller of something.
Secondly confess:
The Greek word used in this passage is homologeo which essentially means to confess. However, in this particular passage the word actually connotes some form of legal action that comes with this confession. Basically, in confessing a legally binding contract is verbally signed
So in conclusion, Paul instructs us in this verse to commit ourselves to Christ as our Lord, supreme controller, over our life. Confess Jesus Christ is our Lord and in doing so legally uphold our side of the deal and make Christ the ruler of our lives. This of course can only be done by the power granted to us through the Holy Spirit
However Paul also tells us we must believe in our hearts God raised him from the dead.
We must truly know in our hearts that Jesus Christ was the Son of God, he died on the cross for our sins, and he rose from the grave showing his supremacy over death. This by no means can be done on our own but is totally done by the power of the Spirit. See in John 6:36 which states:
But I said to you that you have seen Me and yet do not believe.
There is a large amount of people who physically saw Jesus. However, these people, despite seeing God manifested in flesh, did not truly believe he was the Son of God. We can do nothing ourselves to believe in Christ. Even the mere reading of bible is not enough for us to truly have faith in Christ works. Instead our belief and faith is totally the work of the Triune God in the witness of the Holy Spirit. See 2 Corinthians 4:7 which states:
For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.
We have seen God in the face of Christ and now have faith in Christ works solely by the witness of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
Study Questions:
•What part do we play in our salvation?
•What “personal responsibility” is necessary in receiving salvation?
•What does it mean to confess the Lord Jesus Christ?
•How do we believe in God?
The Gospel-Part 3
Question 3-How are our sins atoned for?
Scriptures:
•Leviticus 16:1-34
•Romans 3:20
•Romans 3:28
•Romans 5:6,8-10
•Galatians 2:16
•Romans 3: 23-25
Our sin problem has left us offensive to God and deserving of his wrath, the just penalty of death. The question is how are we to escape the wrath of God? To understand how we do this we must first understand the definition of the word atonement.
Dictionary definition: satisfaction or reparation for a wrong or injury; amends
Definition of Hebrew word kaphar: to cover, purge, make an atonement, make reconciliation, cover over with pitch
In the days of the Old Testament the people of Israel would yearly atone for their sins on the 10th day of the 7th month of the year, on the day they called the Day of Atonement. A high priest would enter into the temple, confess the sins of Israel on the head of a goat and send it into the wilderness. He would then take another goat and sacrifice it, take his blood into the Holy of Holies and sprinkle his blood seven times on and before the mercy seat. (Leviticus 16:1-34)
This atonement, however, was temporary. And we still search for a way to eternally atone for our sins.
Paul makes it obvious in Romans and Galatians that man is not the solution:
Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law [is] the knowledge of sin. -Romans 3:20
Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law. -Romans 3:28
knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be
justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified. -Galatians 2:16
The law exposes what God deems as right and wrong. It defines what sin is. Therefore the declaration that the revelation of sin can’t justify us implies that man has no way to justify himself before God or atone for our sin issue. Basically, as long as man are sinners we will be unable to atone for our own sins because of our sin. CJ Mahaney states it in this way:
“I can’t atone for my sin. I cannot satisfy God’s righteous requirements. My disobedience condemns me before a righteous God. And I’m captive to sin. It is humanly impossible to free myself from sin. A divine rescue is necessary. I need a savior.”
Thank God a savior has been provided. As Romans 5:6 says:
For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.
Christ came and atoned for our sins when it was physically and spiritually impossible for us to do so. If we continue to read through Romans 5:8-10 we see Christ death is the necessary atonement for sin:
But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son…
God’s righteous judgment declared that a man must die because of his sin. So Christ became a man and died the death for every sin that was and would be committed by the elect. His blood covered our sin and the wrath of God was satisfied in the death of Christ. Romans 3:24,25 states it:
being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth [as] a propitiation by His blood, through faith…
God sent Jesus to be the propitiation by his blood. The Greek word for propitiation is hilasterion which means a way of appeasing or expiating. Essentially, God sent Jesus to die for our sins and appease or satisfy God’s wrath over sin. Jesus was the only man able to die for our sins because he was the only man sinless.
Therefore, Jesus came, and died on the cross to satisfy the wrath of God and his blood is propitiation that covers or atones for our sins
Study Questions:
What is atonement?
Why can’t man atone for their sins?
How does Christ atone for our sins?
What is propitiation?
How do receive the gift of salvation? (worded purposely)
Scriptures:
•Leviticus 16:1-34
•Romans 3:20
•Romans 3:28
•Romans 5:6,8-10
•Galatians 2:16
•Romans 3: 23-25
Our sin problem has left us offensive to God and deserving of his wrath, the just penalty of death. The question is how are we to escape the wrath of God? To understand how we do this we must first understand the definition of the word atonement.
Dictionary definition: satisfaction or reparation for a wrong or injury; amends
Definition of Hebrew word kaphar: to cover, purge, make an atonement, make reconciliation, cover over with pitch
In the days of the Old Testament the people of Israel would yearly atone for their sins on the 10th day of the 7th month of the year, on the day they called the Day of Atonement. A high priest would enter into the temple, confess the sins of Israel on the head of a goat and send it into the wilderness. He would then take another goat and sacrifice it, take his blood into the Holy of Holies and sprinkle his blood seven times on and before the mercy seat. (Leviticus 16:1-34)
This atonement, however, was temporary. And we still search for a way to eternally atone for our sins.
Paul makes it obvious in Romans and Galatians that man is not the solution:
Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law [is] the knowledge of sin. -Romans 3:20
Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law. -Romans 3:28
knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be
justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified. -Galatians 2:16
The law exposes what God deems as right and wrong. It defines what sin is. Therefore the declaration that the revelation of sin can’t justify us implies that man has no way to justify himself before God or atone for our sin issue. Basically, as long as man are sinners we will be unable to atone for our own sins because of our sin. CJ Mahaney states it in this way:
“I can’t atone for my sin. I cannot satisfy God’s righteous requirements. My disobedience condemns me before a righteous God. And I’m captive to sin. It is humanly impossible to free myself from sin. A divine rescue is necessary. I need a savior.”
Thank God a savior has been provided. As Romans 5:6 says:
For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.
Christ came and atoned for our sins when it was physically and spiritually impossible for us to do so. If we continue to read through Romans 5:8-10 we see Christ death is the necessary atonement for sin:
But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son…
God’s righteous judgment declared that a man must die because of his sin. So Christ became a man and died the death for every sin that was and would be committed by the elect. His blood covered our sin and the wrath of God was satisfied in the death of Christ. Romans 3:24,25 states it:
being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth [as] a propitiation by His blood, through faith…
God sent Jesus to be the propitiation by his blood. The Greek word for propitiation is hilasterion which means a way of appeasing or expiating. Essentially, God sent Jesus to die for our sins and appease or satisfy God’s wrath over sin. Jesus was the only man able to die for our sins because he was the only man sinless.
Therefore, Jesus came, and died on the cross to satisfy the wrath of God and his blood is propitiation that covers or atones for our sins
Study Questions:
What is atonement?
Why can’t man atone for their sins?
How does Christ atone for our sins?
What is propitiation?
How do receive the gift of salvation? (worded purposely)
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
The Gospel-Part 2
Question 2-What is the “bad news”?
Scriptures:
• Genesis 2:16-17
• Genesis 3:6-7
• Genesis 3:22-24
• Romans 3:10-18
• Romans 3:23
• Romans 6:23
We have established the gospel as the “good news”. The next step is understanding what the good news is. To find this, however, we must first understand what the “bad news” is:
“way before anything was created, He (God) had a plan to create a world with people and to save people from sin.” -Marcus Gray
God has always set out a way for man to be saved from their sin. So when God created Adam He set up a covenant with Adam and promised him eternal life. God told Adam simply not to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil warning that if he ate of the tree he will surely die.
But Adam disobeyed God and ate from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. When this happened Adam and Eve’s “eyes were open”. This simply means that in eating from the tree Adam and Eve actually did have knowledge of good and evil. They now knew what was morally right and wrong. In Genesis 3:22 God says:
Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever.
God states that man, in an attempt to be more like God, now knows good and evil. Because of this Adam could no longer have eternal life unless he also ate from the tree of life. The covenant was broken.
Because the covenant was broken and Adam now had knowledge of good and evil, Adam had a sin problem. And because we are children of Adam, we inherit that same sin problem. As Romans 3:10-18 says:
There is none righteous, no not one; There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one.
and continues on to say:
Their throat is an open tomb; With their tongues they have practiced deceit; The poison of asps is under their lips; Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood; Destructions and misery are in their ways; And the way of peace they have not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes.
But why is sin an issue? The answer is found in Romans 3:23 and 6:23 which respectively say:
For all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God.
and
For the wages of sin is death.
Our sin is an issue because the “wages” or penalty for our sin is death. The Greek word used for death here is thanatos and can be interpreted as meaning “the death of the body with implied meaning of future misery in hell”. Basically this “death” directly refers to not only the death of the body but the eternity in hell spent after that death as well.
This makes perfect sense when we look at Romans 3:23.
God is a perfect, righteous, holy, and glorious person who cannot dwell amongst anything unholy and unrighteous. This is made obvious throughout the Old Testament when several times the glory of God would blind men, condemn them of their sinful nature, or even in some instances destroy a man.
This inability to be around the glory of God and in God’s presence is due to our sin. God hates sin and our sin separates us from God. Because of this separation it is totally impossible for man to dwell in heaven with God. Instead man, because of our sin, is condemned to eternity in hell, fully separated from God. This is the bad news.
Study Questions:
• What is the “bad news”?
• What did Adam and Eve do?
• Why do we have a “sin problem”?
• Why can’t God dwell amongst sin?
• What is the solution to our “sin problem”?
Scriptures:
• Genesis 2:16-17
• Genesis 3:6-7
• Genesis 3:22-24
• Romans 3:10-18
• Romans 3:23
• Romans 6:23
We have established the gospel as the “good news”. The next step is understanding what the good news is. To find this, however, we must first understand what the “bad news” is:
“way before anything was created, He (God) had a plan to create a world with people and to save people from sin.” -Marcus Gray
God has always set out a way for man to be saved from their sin. So when God created Adam He set up a covenant with Adam and promised him eternal life. God told Adam simply not to eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil warning that if he ate of the tree he will surely die.
But Adam disobeyed God and ate from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. When this happened Adam and Eve’s “eyes were open”. This simply means that in eating from the tree Adam and Eve actually did have knowledge of good and evil. They now knew what was morally right and wrong. In Genesis 3:22 God says:
Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever.
God states that man, in an attempt to be more like God, now knows good and evil. Because of this Adam could no longer have eternal life unless he also ate from the tree of life. The covenant was broken.
Because the covenant was broken and Adam now had knowledge of good and evil, Adam had a sin problem. And because we are children of Adam, we inherit that same sin problem. As Romans 3:10-18 says:
There is none righteous, no not one; There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside; They have together become unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one.
and continues on to say:
Their throat is an open tomb; With their tongues they have practiced deceit; The poison of asps is under their lips; Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood; Destructions and misery are in their ways; And the way of peace they have not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes.
But why is sin an issue? The answer is found in Romans 3:23 and 6:23 which respectively say:
For all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God.
and
For the wages of sin is death.
Our sin is an issue because the “wages” or penalty for our sin is death. The Greek word used for death here is thanatos and can be interpreted as meaning “the death of the body with implied meaning of future misery in hell”. Basically this “death” directly refers to not only the death of the body but the eternity in hell spent after that death as well.
This makes perfect sense when we look at Romans 3:23.
God is a perfect, righteous, holy, and glorious person who cannot dwell amongst anything unholy and unrighteous. This is made obvious throughout the Old Testament when several times the glory of God would blind men, condemn them of their sinful nature, or even in some instances destroy a man.
This inability to be around the glory of God and in God’s presence is due to our sin. God hates sin and our sin separates us from God. Because of this separation it is totally impossible for man to dwell in heaven with God. Instead man, because of our sin, is condemned to eternity in hell, fully separated from God. This is the bad news.
Study Questions:
• What is the “bad news”?
• What did Adam and Eve do?
• Why do we have a “sin problem”?
• Why can’t God dwell amongst sin?
• What is the solution to our “sin problem”?
The Gospel-Part 1
Question 1-What is the gospel?
Scriptures:
• Romans 1:16
If you were to ask any group of “Christians” for their definition of the Gospel you are likely to find various different responses. Some may say “it’s Christ dying on the cross”, some will say “it’s the fact God’s loves you and wants to you to love Him back”, some might say “it’s your sins being forgiven” while other may even say “it’s how Christ died so Christians could be happy” or “live a good life” or even “have money”. While some of these statements do hold some truth in them the complete and full gospel is not any of these things itself.
In Romans 1:16 Paul says:
For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes…
He defines the gospel as “the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes” meaning he defines the gospel as the way God saves people.
The Greek word for gospel is euangelion. The definition of euangelion is simply the good news. It is the promise of salvation and the fulfillment of salvation by Christ. Essentially that is the gospel. The good news of what Christ did to save those who believe in Him.
Study Questions:
• What is the Gospel?
• What do we need to Christ to save us from?
Scriptures:
• Romans 1:16
If you were to ask any group of “Christians” for their definition of the Gospel you are likely to find various different responses. Some may say “it’s Christ dying on the cross”, some will say “it’s the fact God’s loves you and wants to you to love Him back”, some might say “it’s your sins being forgiven” while other may even say “it’s how Christ died so Christians could be happy” or “live a good life” or even “have money”. While some of these statements do hold some truth in them the complete and full gospel is not any of these things itself.
In Romans 1:16 Paul says:
For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes…
He defines the gospel as “the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes” meaning he defines the gospel as the way God saves people.
The Greek word for gospel is euangelion. The definition of euangelion is simply the good news. It is the promise of salvation and the fulfillment of salvation by Christ. Essentially that is the gospel. The good news of what Christ did to save those who believe in Him.
Study Questions:
• What is the Gospel?
• What do we need to Christ to save us from?
Friday, January 9, 2009
I'm An Heir: Our Sonship Through The Spirit-Part 2
Watsup Yall,
Lets begin where we left off,
in verse 14 of Romans 8 Paul reveals that all people who follow the Spirit's lead are indeed HEIRS. In verse 15 he explains his previous statement:
Paul then reveals that the Holy Spirit that leads us is in fact the Spirit of adoption. As we continue in the verse we see that this is the Spirit of adoption because by the Spirit we now cry "Abba, Father." Paul is highlighting the fact that the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives reconciles us with God and by the Spirit we are now his children again.
The Spirit also is the proof of this sonship, as verse 16 says:
Not only is the Spirit the reason for our adoption, He is the proof to us that we are adopted and are children of God.
This section of text concludes by Paul informing and reminding us that if we are children we are also heirs and also shows us what we are heirs to. Verse 17 states:
Its obvious that if we are children of God we are heirs. Any father or parent who was loving and willing enough to adopt a child would definitely choose to give that new child an inheritance. They would choose to make that child an heir. However what we must understand and what Paul explains to us in this verse is what we as heirs are to and do inherit.
The scripture tells us first we are heirs of God. The first thing we inherit when becoming a child of God is God himself. We are blessed with the opportunity to see Him, be with Him, worship Him, and just enjoy His glorious pressence. What a wonderful gift.
The scripture then tells us we, being children of God, are joint-heirs or co-heirs with Christ, the Lord's son. So along with inheriting God we inherit everything that Christ inherits, with Christ, being a fellow heir with Him.
So what does that mean? What does it mean to be a joint-heir with Christ and inherit everything he does? What exactly do we inherit? Well Paul answers these questions in the rest of verse 17 by explaining to us that we will suffer and be glorified together with Christ. We inherit Christ's suffering and Christ's glory that will be inherited after this earth.
This is two-fold and we must take joy in both. We can't simply enjoy and take part in the glory of Christ and thats it. It is made plain we will first suffer with Christ. We will feel his persecution and we will receive the same hate he receives. We will grieve the lost like he does and we will suffer on this earth as he did.
However, will be glorified with him as well. We will take part in the glory of Christ with Christ after this world ends. And as verse 18 says "...the sufferings of this present time are not worthy of the glory which shall be revealed in us."
So be an heir. Take part in the suffering of Christ and be joyful in it knowing your are living as an heir and knowing you will take part in Christ's glory.
mike b,
4HISglory
Lets begin where we left off,
in verse 14 of Romans 8 Paul reveals that all people who follow the Spirit's lead are indeed HEIRS. In verse 15 he explains his previous statement:
"For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out Abba, Father"
Paul first explains the fact that when we recieved the Spirit it was not for us to remain in bondage, enslaved, and fearful. He reitterates the fact that the Spirit that was to free us was not given to us so we could continue to live as slaves.
Paul then reveals that the Holy Spirit that leads us is in fact the Spirit of adoption. As we continue in the verse we see that this is the Spirit of adoption because by the Spirit we now cry "Abba, Father." Paul is highlighting the fact that the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives reconciles us with God and by the Spirit we are now his children again.
The Spirit also is the proof of this sonship, as verse 16 says:
"The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are childeren of God"
Not only is the Spirit the reason for our adoption, He is the proof to us that we are adopted and are children of God.
This section of text concludes by Paul informing and reminding us that if we are children we are also heirs and also shows us what we are heirs to. Verse 17 states:
"and if children, then heirs-heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with, that we may also be glorified together"
Its obvious that if we are children of God we are heirs. Any father or parent who was loving and willing enough to adopt a child would definitely choose to give that new child an inheritance. They would choose to make that child an heir. However what we must understand and what Paul explains to us in this verse is what we as heirs are to and do inherit.
The scripture tells us first we are heirs of God. The first thing we inherit when becoming a child of God is God himself. We are blessed with the opportunity to see Him, be with Him, worship Him, and just enjoy His glorious pressence. What a wonderful gift.
The scripture then tells us we, being children of God, are joint-heirs or co-heirs with Christ, the Lord's son. So along with inheriting God we inherit everything that Christ inherits, with Christ, being a fellow heir with Him.
So what does that mean? What does it mean to be a joint-heir with Christ and inherit everything he does? What exactly do we inherit? Well Paul answers these questions in the rest of verse 17 by explaining to us that we will suffer and be glorified together with Christ. We inherit Christ's suffering and Christ's glory that will be inherited after this earth.
This is two-fold and we must take joy in both. We can't simply enjoy and take part in the glory of Christ and thats it. It is made plain we will first suffer with Christ. We will feel his persecution and we will receive the same hate he receives. We will grieve the lost like he does and we will suffer on this earth as he did.
However, will be glorified with him as well. We will take part in the glory of Christ with Christ after this world ends. And as verse 18 says "...the sufferings of this present time are not worthy of the glory which shall be revealed in us."
So be an heir. Take part in the suffering of Christ and be joyful in it knowing your are living as an heir and knowing you will take part in Christ's glory.
mike b,
4HISglory
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