Hardened Hearts (2)

Posted on by korgrocker

“So you see, God chooses to show mercy to some, and he chooses to harden the hearts of others so they refuse to listen. Well then, you might say, “Why does God blame people for not responding? Haven’t they simply done what he makes them do?” No, don’t say that. Who are you, a mere human being, to argue with God? Should the thing that was created say to the one who created it, “Why have you made me like this?””
Romans 9:18-20 NLT

Paul puts himself in the shoes of his readers. He asks the question – if God has hardened people’s hearts, can they be blamed for not responding to Him? A follow on question might be, if God wants everyone to be saved (1 Timothy 2:4) why would he apparently prevent most people from responding to His grace and mercy? 

The place to start is probably a scene in a Garden with three actors – Adam, Eve and a serpent. The introduction of sin into a sinless world automatically included a hardening of hearts, as selfish and godless thoughts grew a layer of callouses around hearts that were previously soft and attentive to God. And the same condition has afflicted all of mankind, up to the present day. Has hard-heartedness been a condition caused by God or by sin? I’m reminded of an oyster, a shellfish that deals with an irritating grain of sand by depositing layers of calcium carbonate around it to mitigate the irritation. A human being will allow callouses to build up around a sinful heart so that the voice of the conscience within becomes increasingly quieter. The thing is, God allows it to happen because He has granted to mankind free choice. Human beings can choose to sin or not to sin. But perhaps God has hardened hearts in judgement for the sin that came through Adam. 

Happily, hardened hearts are not a terminal condition. Through God’s grace and mercy, hearts can be softened – that’s why Jesus came to this world. Heart surgery was, and is, His speciality. The layers of hardness are peeled back to expose the softness of a repentant sinner’s heart, open and pliable in God’s hands.  

But there is hope for a hard-hearted people. We read in Ezekiel 11:19-20, “And I will give them singleness of heart and put a new spirit within them. I will take away their stony, stubborn heart and give them a tender, responsive heart, so they will obey my decrees and regulations. Then they will truly be my people, and I will be their God”. In the context of Ezekiel’s day, this was when the exiles were returning from captivity, through choice. Many of course stayed behind. And the same will apply to those exiled in their sins, and who make the choice to turn or return to God. Through God’s grace and mercy, He will do what is necessary to turn a hard stone into a “tender, responsive heart”. 

So today we pilgrims once again follow the advice of a psalmist, who wrote in Psalm 139:23-24, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life”. That’s where we start when we have perhaps found ourselves exiled away from our home with God, into the darkness of the societies around us. It’s a dangerous prayer to pray. We might find stuff within us we rather not have known about. Painful to consider and deal with but God has our future at heart. There is no room for hard hearts calloused by sin in Heaven. God is in the business of softening hearts, – if we let Him.

Dear God. Thank You for Your grace. You are so concerned about each one of us that You never stop loving us and forgiving us when we confess our sins. Thank You. Amen.

Totally Convinced (4)

Posted on by korgrocker

And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Romans 8:38-39 NLT

Paul finishes his musings about God’s love and what could get in the way with it, by writing a catch-all statement. Just in case he had missed something that might possibly block him from experiencing God’s love, he included the thought that there was nothing that God had created that would apply. And because God created everything, that was a very complete and conclusive statement. 

But in all of Paul’s thoughts, he missed out one very important entity that will block us from God, and that is our sin. It won’t stop God from loving us, of course, but a sinful human being can never enter His presence. The purity and holiness that is God’s very essence can never be soiled by sin in any form. The rebellious devil and his angels were evicted from Heaven because sin could never be allowed there. Heaven is a very real place with very real conditions, and sin won’t be one of them.

Are there ever any times when we pilgrims feel isolated and forgotten by God? Have we ever felt that our prayers never go beyond our ceilings? Just when we need God in a situation, does He seem to have gone on holiday somewhere? However, we can be assured that God will never forget us, or leave us. What God said through Joshua in Joshua 1:9 applies just as much today as it did then. He said, “This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go”. Some of the last words Jesus spoke before He ascended into Heaven were the reassurances that He will always be with us, His disciples. Matthew 28:20, “Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age”.

So if God has never left us, how is it that we can feel that He has? Sin may get in the way, of course. And our enemy, the devil and his forces, may have a part in it. But sometimes that is how things are. At times of apparent spiritual isolation, it is our faith that keeps us going. God is always there for us. So we continue to pray, read our Bibles, fellowship with other Christians, because that is what faith does. We perhaps evaluate what we’re doing, just to make sure that a spiritual error of one kind or another hasn’t crept into our devotional lives.  But sadly, I have known people who return to their old lives in a sinful world, because of their doubts and lack of faith. Instead of pressing through they turn around on their journey, complaining that God’s demands are too hard for them, perhaps convincing themselves in the process that God doesn’t exist anyway. We who are strongest in our Christian walk need to encourage our weaker brothers and sisters to keep the faith. 

Paul wrote that nothing in all creation can separate us from God’s love. That is a statement that underpins our faith. It is a pillar on which our future is built. If the Bible has recorded such a statement we cannot ignore it. The Holy Spirit inspired Paul to write it. Perhaps He is inspiring us to heed it.

Father God. We know You are always there for us. Thank You. Amen.

God is for Us

Posted on by korgrocker

“What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else? Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? No one—for God himself has given us right standing with himself. Who then will condemn us? No one—for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honour at God’s right hand, pleading for us.”
Romans 8:31-34 NLT

Paul reaches a climax in his writing, asking the question “What shall we say…?” It’s not like Paul to be lost for words. As the most prolific writer in the New Testament, his literary skills are without doubt. It is just incredible that he was able to write so much, being so busy with his missionary journeys. Perhaps spells in prison might have helped, giving him time to think. But Paul refers to “wonderful things”. What were they? Previous verses refer to those who put their faith in Jesus being adopted into God’s family, giving us a relationship with God so close that we can call Him “Daddy”. Paul writes about our legacy as heirs of God, with the benefits of a living and loving will available to us. He muses about our future glory and the new bodies that God will provide for us one day. They describe the work of the Holy Spirit within us, even to the extent of “groaning” our prayers on our behalf. And the previous verses set out a scenario that assures us God-lovers that whatever happens in our lives, He will bring a good outcome. Wonderful things indeed, and I can imagine Paul being overwhelmed with a flood of emotions, full of gratitude and worship.

It is obvious to Paul, and it should be to us as well, that with such a loving God on our side, nothing can ever successfully “be against us”. We may be going through a difficult time, with an antagonistic boss, or a controlling partner. Fellow students at school or college may ridicule us. Workmates may shun us. In some parts of the world, civil authorities may incarcerate us, or abuse us. Martyrdom is not a foreign phenomenon for Christians in hostile countries. But because “God is for us”, we can be assured that He will never desert us, because we are His children. Which parent abandons His offspring when in a time of need? Perhaps a premature entry into His arms is to be welcomed when times are hard. But through it all, our tormentors will one day have to stand before God and account for their behaviour. We have read the Book and know how it all ends. We’re on the winning side.

Such an assurance of God’s support and resources provides for us the confidence we need for living. We read in 1 Peter 2:9, ” … you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light”. We have stumbled upon an eternal and far-reaching truth, that provides for us the realisation that we are living in God’s light. We have ended up aligning ourselves to the One who holds the whole of creation together. And we look back to our God-less lives and realise just how dark they were. In fact, if it wasn’t for God’s light spilling off of His people, the blackness of life would have been total. Do we realise that as we pilgrims walk in this world, we are spiritual beacons giving off the light of God? 

We are living in an age where no weapon conjured up by the devil and his minions can ever be successful against us. Yes, discomfort and even death may be on the horizon for some, but through it all, our wonderful Heavenly Father has it covered. He’s on it. We can worship Him with a peaceful confidence of His love and care.

Heavenly Father. You provide light for a dark and desperate world. Please help us to reflect that light into the lives of those around us, those so oppressed by sin and hopelessness. We worship You today. Amen.

Being Justified

Posted on by korgrocker

“For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.”
Romans 8:29-30 NIVUK
“For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And having chosen them, he called them to come to him. And having called them, he gave them right standing with himself. And having given them right standing, he gave them his glory.”
Romans 8:29-30 NLT

We’ll spend another day with these two verses in Romans 8. This time the word “justified” or phrase “right standing with himself” appears in the text, depending on which of today’s Bible versions we look at. What does it mean to be “justified”. 

An old pastor of mine used to define justification as “just as if we had never sinned”. Quite close to the mark. But although there has been much theology written about justification, all easily accessible via Mr Google, it has no impact unless there is a personal experience woven into the definition. I’m sure many of us can spout out what justification means. It all starts with man’s ubiquitous sin. We have all sinned, as Paul wrote in Romans 3:23 – “For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard”. And that sin will inevitably one day have to be accounted for, and punishment dispensed. An unrepentant sinner will one day find himself standing before God to give an account of his life. Perhaps God will ask him why he never had his sins forgiven through the death of His Son. Ignorance won’t be an excuse. There are no mitigating circumstances. The punishment is eternal death without parole, in a place far worse than any human jail.

But through our faith in Jesus, who took on board all sins committed, past, present and future when He was crucified at Calvary, we are now declared righteous. It is not as though God now considers us as being holy, which is something internal, but being justified declares that we are sinless in His sight. The sins we have confessed and repented of are now accredited to Jesus rather than to us. And because of that we are now declared righteous in His sight. We are “justified”. 

Far too simple, some say. Christians who believe this are naïve and deluded, goes the criticism. There will always be many who reject such a profound explanation. A question is often, ”How do we know all this is true? No-one has returned from the dead to confirm it”. Jesus told a parable about the Rich Man and a poor man called Lazarus, who begged for money at his gate. Lazarus ended up justified in God’s presence but the Rich Man ended up in hell. He begged Abraham to send Lazarus back to speak to his brothers, to warn them about what would happen to them unless they changed their ways. And the conclusion of the story can be found in Luke 16:19-31, “But Abraham said, ‘Moses and the prophets have warned them. Your brothers can read what they wrote.’ “The rich man replied, ‘No, Father Abraham! But if someone is sent to them from the dead, then they will repent of their sins and turn to God.’ “But Abraham said, ‘If they won’t listen to Moses and the prophets, they won’t be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead’”.

We pilgrims will nevertheless keep on warning those around us. We share our experiences, our testimonies, and the picture of a God of love and well as a God of righteousness and holiness. Our message of hope will mostly be rejected, we know. But unless we try how can God’s love touch someone we know? We can never give up sharing what God has done for us.

Father God. We worship You today, the wonderful and merciful God, with the gracious power to forgive our sins through Your Son Jesus. Amen.

Creation is Groaning

Posted on by korgrocker

“Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse. But with eager hope, the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay. For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.”
Romans 8:20-22 NLT

In these verses, Paul brings to the Roman Christians the thought that creation is not just about them. It includes everything God has made. And he makes a shocking statement – God’s curse has blighted everything He has ever created.  All because of Adam’s sin. As an aside, we should always be aware that sin has its consequences. But Paul goes on to say that it is not just humans who would like to be relieved of the curse hanging over them. All creation would like to experience curse-relief as well. Freedom from death and decay is right up there as the top creation priority.

God said that mankind would have to work hard to stay alive, as we read in Genesis 3:17-19, “And to the man he said, “Since you listened to your wife and ate from the tree whose fruit I commanded you not to eat, the ground is cursed because of you. All your life you will struggle to scratch a living from it. It will grow thorns and thistles for you, though you will eat of its grains. By the sweat of your brow will you have food to eat until you return to the ground from which you were made. For you were made from dust, and to dust you will return””. As a consequence of Adam’s sin, the ground was cursed, and it has been ever since. As we know, farmers go to extraordinary lengths to grow crops, with fertilisers to encourage growth and introduce the required nutrients into the soil, herbicides to kill and control weeds. Sophisticated farm machinery takes some of the sweat off the task – no more hand digging for example – but things in God’s plan for creation weren’t supposed to be like this. Some have even suggested that “work” of any kind is cursed.

We also read in Genesis 3 that animals were cursed, starting with snakes. Apparently, according to Genesis 3:14, snakes might one day have been more upright. “Then the Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, you are cursed more than all animals, domestic and wild. You will crawl on your belly, grovelling in the dust as long as you live.” And from the same verse, the implication is that “all animals, domestic and wild” were cursed. 

Paul elaborates on his own “God’s curse” statement by adding that the curse manifests itself in “death and decay”. We, of course, know that every living thing will die and decay one day. As I look around the woods near my home (it’s early March when I am writing this) vegetation has died right back leaving only the hardiest of plants hanging grimly on to what life they can retain. Trees are devoid of leaves, and the fall from last year lies mouldering around the undergrowth. Can I hear it all groaning? In the stillness of my early morning walks, there sometimes seems to be a hint of pain in the air, punctuated only be the occasional birdsong, echoing around the saplings and more mature trees. But, thankfully, Jesus makes all things new in the right season. We read in Isaiah 43:19a, “For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it … ? In Revelation 21:5a we read, “And the one sitting on the throne said, “Look, I am making everything new …”. I know that these two verses are slightly out of context but they illustrate the point that God hasn’t forgotten us. Every year God breathes new life into His creation. We see it around us, as the buds start to swell and leaves slowly appear. Perhaps with a groan and with pain accompanying the new birth.

It won’t be long before the new foliage appears, fresh and green. Flowers start to emerge, blanketing the forest flow with wonderful colours. And this is the world under a curse. Just imagine how much more beautiful Heaven will be, once it is released in “glorious freedom” from the curse of “death and decay”. 

Dear Father, You created a glorious world but it is now blighted by sin. We pray for forgiveness for our sins and pray the prayer at the end of Revelation – “Come Lord Jesus”. We look forward to the new Heaven and Earth. Amen.

Residence Permits

Posted on by korgrocker

“But you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you. (And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them do not belong to him at all.) And Christ lives within you, so even though your body will die because of sin, the Spirit gives you life because you have been made right with God. The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you.”
Romans 8:9-11 NLT

Scientists claim that there could be just as many non-human organisms living within or upon us as there are human. Wee beasties such as the bacteria in our gut. The microscopic mites that live on our skin. And many others as well. There is a synergistic process at work that mutually benefits both us and the other organisms. But none of this was what Paul was referring to. He said that there is also a synergistic process going on within our spirits. Within us lives either sin or the Holy Spirit. And we will be controlled by one or the other. 

Our spirits are home to a violent battle between two opposing enemies. They are battling to take control over our minds, our actions, over who we are. There will be no prisoners of war. It’s a fight to the death. But God, through His love and grace, will win in the end, if we let Him. Paul reminded the Roman Christians that “even though your bod[ies] will die because of sin, the Spirit gives you life because you have been made right with God”. Sadly, we live in bodies that will eventually wear out and die – sin will overtake us one day. But our spirits will live on, in a wonderful partnership with the Holy Spirit.

But Paul continued by reminding his readers that the “Spirit of God” is so powerful that He raised Jesus from the dead. And through that same power He was going to “give life to your mortal bodies”. But we know that our bodies will become lifeless one day, and end up buried or cremated, ultimately to disappear from this life forever. Paul wrote to the Corinthian church the following words, “For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down (that is, when we die and leave this earthly body), we will have a house in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands” (2 Corinthians 5:1). One day we will receive a new body, and we get a few clues about what that might be like from reading the Scriptures about Jesus after His resurrection.

The Holy Spirit living within us has a transformational impact on who and what we are. We are given access to God’s thoughts. We are able to follow His ways. We really do become a new creation, as Paul wrote about in Ephesians 4. No more do we have to be controlled by our sinful thoughts. But we have a choice. Who have we provided a residence permit for? Sin or the Holy Spirit? Hmmm…

Dear Father. Thank You for Your grace and love. Without it we would be a miserable and lost people. Please help us to allow Your Spirit to refine and improve us, so that we become more like Jesus in true holiness and righteousness. Amen.

Mind Control

Posted on by korgrocker

“Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit. So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace. For the sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God’s laws, and it never will. That’s why those who are still under the control of their sinful nature can never please God.”
Romans 8:5-8 NLT

What controls our minds? We have a thought life, that we think we can control. And it is true that, to a certain extent at least, we can align our thoughts to whatever interests us in that moment of time. We might find ourselves thinking about the latest news, or the next meal. We might have a meeting with a friend or colleague planned. There may be anxious thoughts about how to pay the next energy bill, or the mortgage. Thinking about the behaviour of a family member might be causing us concern. But in all of this, to say we might have control over our minds might not be true at all. Our thoughts are driven mostly by external circumstances. 

Are our thoughts sin though? Obviously, being human, there are human things that we have to think about. That’s why God gave us a mind. But Paul wrote that a mind dominated by its sinful nature would ultimately lead to death. And not just physical death, but spiritual death as well. Intermingled with all our necessary thoughts are sinful thoughts. For example, it is not wrong to plan how we can pay a bill, but sin creeps in when thoughts develop around doing something illegal to acquire the necessary funds. And before long, thoughts can become more focused on an evil way of life than a righteous one. A life “dominated by the sinful nature“.

In Genesis 6:5-6, we read, “The Lord observed the extent of human wickedness on the earth, and he saw that everything they thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil. So the Lord was sorry he had ever made them and put them on the earth. It broke his heart”. These verses were in the preamble to the story of Noah and his ark, and we know what eventually happened to the evil people God broke His heart over. God designed our minds for good, but sin corrupted them. In Noah’s day, God eliminated the problem. In our day He provided a solution.

God’s Laws, as given through Moses, brought clarity to people’s thoughts and behaviours. But sin still prevailed. There was nothing wrong with God’s plans, but in His grace and mercy He decided to provide a lifeline to help sinful men and women to be obedient to His righteous way of life. We know, of course, that the lifeline was God’s own Son, Jesus Himself. We read in Hebrews 4:15-16, “This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin. So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most”.

In Hebrews 4:12-13 we read, “For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes, and he is the one to whom we are accountable”. Regardless of our circumstances, we have a loving, caring God who has provided all the resources we need to live the life He designed us to live free of slavery to sin. By living the Spirit-filled life we will find peace because no longer will our minds be fighting God because of our sins.

Dear Heavenly Father. How grateful we are that You chose to help us to live a life free of sin through the power of Your Spirit within us. We worship You today. Amen.

The Human Jesus

Posted on by korgrocker

The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins. He did this so that the just requirement of the law would be fully satisfied for us, who no longer follow our sinful nature but instead follow the Spirit.”
Romans 8:3-4 NLT

Our sinful natures, ubiquitous and universal, give control freaks a problem. No matter how hard they try, they will never be able to control their seemingly unstoppable ability to commit sins. As Paul said in these verses today, even with the help of the Law of Moses, they will be too weak to effectively live up to God’s righteous standard all of the time. We may all succeed in staying righteous for a few moments, but then, at the very least, our thoughts will wander off and focus on something sinful. But thankfully, God didn’t walk away from us, wringing His hands in despair. He sent His Son Jesus “in a body like the bodies we sinners have”. Surely, He must have thought, they will listen to My Son.

We know from the accounts of the Apostles that Jesus lived His life as one of us but in a sinless state. No-one has ever been able to point a finger at Jesus and say, “Aah, but what about …”. We know how His life ended. Surely the greatest and most devastating miscarriage of justice there has ever been. But by God allowing His Son to be sacrificed, He “declared an end to sin’s control over us”. 

We note from these verses today that God didn’t do away with the Law. But we know that, because Jesus said so in Matthew 5:17, “Don’t misunderstand why I have come. I did not come to abolish the law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. No, I came to accomplish their purpose”. The Law, according to Paul, had a “just requirement” that had to be fully satisfied. And it still does. Jesus told His disciples that He would send the Holy Spirit to help them, and by following Him, they would be released from the power of sin over their lives. Jesus said in John 15:26, “But I will send you the Advocate —the Spirit of truth. He will come to you from the Father and will testify all about me”. And we know how that happened if we read Acts 2.

Through Jesus, there is no more condemnation for sinners like us. As the old song says, “It is no longer I that liveth but Christ that liveth in me”. And because He lives in us through His Spirit, He helps us so that no more will we be under sin’s power. We are free! Praises be to God!

Dear Lord. You set us free from the power of sin and death at Calvary. Please help us to share that truth with all those we meet. In Your precious name. Amen.

Jesus Is The Answer

Posted on by korgrocker

“I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. I love God’s law with all my heart. But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin.”
Romans 7:21-25 NLT

Paul continues with the dilemma we found in a previous blog. He refers to a power within him “that is at war with [his] mind”. There is almost a picture here of a person who, regardless of his heart-felt desires and preferences, is hooked on a drug we call sin. This “drug” is so powerful that there is no natural antidote. There is no rehab centre that could help. The addiction to this drug is beyond anything Paul, or any other human being, could overcome by sheer mental determination. Yes, there might be brief periods of freedom, allowing entry into God’s presence, but soon the “old man” raises his ugly head, and the hassle starts again. In sheer frustration Pail laments, “Oh, what a miserable person I am!” Other versions of the Bible refer to Paul as being “wretched”, surely an undesirable place to find himself. Paul’s loathing of his sinful self caused him to write in 1 Timothy 1:15, “This is a trustworthy saying, and everyone should accept it: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners”—and I am the worst of them all”. The Apostle Paul, the worst of all sinners? Hardly. But that is how he saw himself.

It is true that when we pilgrims hold ourselves in the light of God’s presence, we come up against feelings of guilt. We feel grubby and unclean. The light of His purity and holiness just shows up all that is sinful in us. We can get to this place just by reading the Jewish Law, or the words of Jesus in Matthew 5-7. but there is also a “still small voice” within us, the Holy Spirit, who is quietly reminding us that doing what we know we shouldn’t, repeating a sin, is perhaps not right in God’s sight.

But suddenly, a thought, probably inspired by the Holy Spirit, bursts into Paul’s mind. He exclaims “Thank God!”, as he suddenly thinks, “The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord”. Jesus is the answer. Had Paul taken a long time to get to this point in his life, or was he re-running the sequence of events for the benefit of his Roman readers? Probably the latter, but the revelation of the saving power of Jesus was real and life-changing to Paul. And it is to us as well. 

Jesus told a man called Nicodemus what His mission was by coming to Planet Earth. We read in John 3:16-17, “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him”. Well worn verses of course, but they will never lose their power. Jesus had the answer to Paul’s dilemma, and He is the answer to ours as well. We will find out more in the days ahead.

Dear Lord Jesus. Thank You for coming to this Planet two thousand years ago. And by doing do You showed us the way back to a relationship with Your Father. We are so grateful. Amen.

It’s Sin’s Fault

Posted on by korgrocker

“So the trouble is not with the law, for it is spiritual and good. The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin. I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate. But if I know that what I am doing is wrong, this shows that I agree that the law is good. So I am not the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it. And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I can’t. I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway. But if I do what I don’t want to do, I am not really the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.”
Romans 7:14-20 NLT

Paul is perplexed. In fact, he is so perplexed that he repeats his dilemma twice in these 7 verses. He says, “I am not really the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it”. But is this really the case? Is it a valid excuse to say before a judge, “I haven’t done anything wrong – it’s the sin living within me that is at fault”? Of course it isn’t but, superficially at least, that seems to be what Paul is saying. 

The picture emerges in Paul’s mind that within him there are effectively two people. One person who loves God’s ways, who wants to spend all his time with Him, and who really, really, wants to do what is right. And to help that “man” inside of him is God’s Law, which “is spiritual and good”. The other person inside him is the “old man”, his sinful nemesis, a part of him determined to continue in the ways of evil. Perhaps an internal battle that never seems to subside. The Godly part of him mourns and grieves over the thoughts and actions of the sinful man, leading to frustration and conflict. At least Paul doesn’t blame the devil, as some have done, for his sinful man. Personable responsibility is never avoided, in Paul’s life.

Does all this sound familiar to us pilgrims? Are we too caught up in this internal battle that never seems to end? Of course we are. And in the days ahead, we will, with Paul, journey into a place where God has provided a remedy. What a wonderful Saviour!

Dear Lord. Thank You for Your salvation, a gift so freely given. Help us to grasp it and grow in the nurturing soils of Your grace. In Jesus’ name.Amen.