God Isn't Hiring Dish Washers

Reflection on Matthew 23:25-26

A quick break from Romans thanks to some thoughts from today's daily reading.  In declaring the seven woes of the pharisees, Jesus makes a wonderful reference to the new covenant and our true and only hope of righteousness...

   “25 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 26 You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean.” (Matthew 23:25–26, ESV)

We discussed Thursday that our only hope before God is the righteousness of Christ, not our own.  Even our faith is not the substance of righteousness but merely the access to it by union with Christ.  Here we see the pharisees have not yet learned this and they rely on their own righteousness.

Jesus makes clear in John chapter 6 what is required for of us and it is not that we clean up our behavior and make ourselves worthy of God's favor...

“54 Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” (John 6:54, ESV)

This is the cup and the plate we must partake in.   We need Christ and we need his cleansing blood to justify us before God.  We need not only his broken body that took our guilt and shame but his risen and glorified body whereby he offers to save us by his life and delivers newness of life to our souls that we might walk and live as those brought from death to life!

“9 Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.” (Romans 5:9–10, ESV)

“4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.” (Romans 6:4, ESV)

So I take from Jesus' teaching here in Matthew 23:25-26 that he refers to the body or the person of the pharisee as the cup and plate.  We can only see cleansing of our hearts by the work of God, not our own work.  We cannot simply white knuckle it and clean up our life while not surrendering to Jesus and not embracing Him in person.  Religion and rules do nothing for us except possibly impress others. Jesus is the substance and the need of our hearts.

Let us eat and drink to our fill and let us be cleansed by the only righteousness that is true.  Let God grant us the righteousness of the Son by our union with him.  Let us abide in Jesus and be transformed by his power and not try to do it ourselves.  The end of self improvement is death...God is not hiring dishwashers.  Remember that the only wages we can earn with God is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

We either worship God with our hunger and thirst or we dishonor him with it.  For what do we thirst?  Let us put down the dishtowel and pick up our bible with bended knee.  The only way we can get clean dishes is by dining heartily!  We must come and seek the wine to be poured into our dirty cup and the bread to be broken upon our filthy dish.  Let us dine upon Christ for true righteousness because the Christian life is not a struggle for holiness but a daily fight for joy in Christ.

Soli Deo Gloria!

Grace Reigns! 1 & 2

A Study of Romans 5:20-21

See the original post for all the questions that we will look at regarding this passage...

“20 Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, 21 so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 5:20–21, ESV)

Today I looked at the first two questions.

1. In what way does the law "increase the trespass"?

Looking at Romans chapter 7 it appears that the law increases the trespass in a few ways.  First, it makes us know what sin is.  It shows us that we have the capacity to sin and it can even arouse in us greater desire to chase it in rebellion.  Second it makes sin clearly wrong and evil.  When sin is made known to be in opposition to the living God of all creation we know that it is not something minor but it is a gigantic problem and it is infinitely evil.  Thirdly it empowered the enemy with a weapon of condemnation and a point of departure to tempt us with.  The law brought a conscious ability to break the law and this was exploited by Satan.

“5 For while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death.” (Romans 7:5, ESV) 

“8 ... For apart from the law, sin lies dead. 9 I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died. 10 The very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me. 11 For sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me.” (Romans 7:8b–11, ESV)   

“13 Did that which is good, then, bring death to me? By no means! It was sin, producing death in me through what is good, in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure.” (Romans 7:13, ESV)

2. What kind of "increase" of sin is this?

So this increase in sin is not ultimately something coming at me from the outside but it is sin within me being realized and activated.  External influences, such as the law, play a role in the increase but sin was a powerless capacity lying in wait within Adam even before the law was delivered.  

This passage in Romans 5 shows that Israel's sin existed before the law was given by Moses and points out how our sin is different than Adam's.  Adam had the choice to not sin because he was spiritually alive and good.  Adam was also a representative of all mankind and his sin was granted to us by inheritance.  Today we are born without an ability to not sin (you bust be born again) since death reigns over all.  So the law that Moses delivered pointed to something that was already there and really brought condemnation and warning.  Our sin has power over us even when we don't recognize it as sin!

   “12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned— 13 for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. 14 Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come.” (Romans 5:12–14, ESV)

Yes this seems like a downer message about sin and its reign in our lives but there is great benefit here.  Paul is establishing one side of a comparison that will blow us away in the rest of the study.  Even so, we can honestly reflect on the sinfulness of sin and own up to the fact that it is in us and that we are responsible for it.  We need confession and repentance.  Praise God for his grace that we will see reigns in us who are in Christ Jesus!  A starting point of acknowledging our need is a good place.  The Lord looks upon those and takes residence with those who are humble and contrite and who tremble at his Word (cf. Isaiah 66:1-2).

Soli Deo Gloria! 

Grace Reigns!

A Study of Romans 5:20-21

Paul closes the fifth chapter of his letter to the Romans with this statement about grace...

“20 Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, 21 so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 5:20–21, ESV)

Chapter five was about life in Christ and how we have peace with God through faith in this Christ.  Remember that the letter originally was not broken into chapters but the translators did this to help us.  Paul seems to conclude this topic, or maybe transition into the next topic (chapter six), with a comparison of sin and grace.

Let's look at this passage and give it some study in order to really get something from it rather than just say, "Hmmm, interesting".  I have come up with some questions of my own here that I plan to answer over the next week or so and I will post my references and answers as I work toward a conclusion on the whole passage.

I may not answer these questions in order and I may not come up with definitive answers to each one either.  Anyhow, let's dig in and chew this passage for the insight and meaning that it holds for us.   Post your thoughts and comments as you study this if you like- may we be encouraged by one another's faith!

Questions-

• In what way does the law "increase the trespass"?
• What kind of "increase" of sin is this?
• How is it that grace reigns?
• What is the relationship between grace and righteousness?
• Which kind of righteousness does he speak of (active or passive)?
• In what manner does grace (through righteousness) lead to eternal life?
• What is the role of "Through Jesus Christ" in this reigning?
• How does the comparison to how sin reigns in death impact this reigning of grace?
• Why does sin reign "in" something but grace reigns "through" something?
• Why does sin simply have an end point (death) and grace has something (righteousness) between it and eternal life?
• What is the main point or principle or doctrine or takeaway from this passage?

Soli Deo Gloria! 

Where is My Mind?

A reflection on Romans 8:5-6

Paul showed us that we have a war raging and its all abouit where we put our mind.  Here he explains that we must put our minds on the things of the Spirit if we hope to survive the battle.

"For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. " (Romans 8:5-6, ESV)

So my first concern each day cannot be what the day holds or what is on my calendar or what problems I have to solve or who I need to speak to or see...my first concern each day needs to be setting my mind on Jesus.  My first concern each day needs to be renewing my mind in the Word of God and engaging in the battle.

There is no survival apart from this...

Soli Deo Gloria!

Do We See?

A reflection on Romans 7:14-25

Paul draws an amazing picture of the christian experience in this passage.  We have two natures.  The law of sin in our body constantly wages war against the law of God in our minds.  Do we see it?  

   “14 For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin. 15 For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. 16 Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. 17 So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. 18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. 21 So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. 22 For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, 23 but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. 24 Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.” (Romans 7:14–25, ESV)

Paul sees it and the new creature who has spiritual life sees it.  The war rages every day!  Do we see it or are we failing to renew our minds and failing to see it?  It is definitely there so if are not aware of it, the enemy is winning.  Even as christians we can still be captive to this law if we do not renew our minds and set our minds on the Spirit rather than on the flesh.  We need this active renewal every day because there is no rest to the war that our sin nature wages against our new man.  We must engage in this battle if we hope to walk this life in a transformed and Spirit empowered manner.  Indeed we must if we are to confirm our election and remain faithful until the end.  If we are in Christ we will indeed walk according to the Spirit.  Paul will expound on this in Chapter 8.  

We must die and be freed from our captivity to the law of sin and death in order to now experience this battle of life.  This life is a fight for faith whereby we must renew our minds daily and maintain awareness of the evil lying close at hand in our members.  We cannot be complacent and think that we can just cruise along.  If we are complacent and are cruising along then the flesh is winning and we are deceived.  We need transformation and this only comes from renewal of the mind so that it is set on Christ and not on the world.  Paul concludes the chapter simply stating that we serve the law of God with our minds but the law of sin with our flesh.  If we fail to engage our mind for Christ then our flesh will default us into captivity to the law of sin.  This is a lead into the need to set our minds on the Spirit and not on the flesh.  To set our minds on things above and not on the things of the world.  We can walk victorious if we do so.  If we do not then we will serve sin still.

Our reading and meditation on the Word of God is not to check a box but to know the heart of God and to survive the battle!  We must wage war with a rock solid hope in the victory already won by Christ.

   “56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 58 Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.” (1 Corinthians 15:56–58, ESV)

Soli Deo Gloria!

Whom do We Serve?

We are Enslaved to Whom we Obey-

   “15 What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! 16 Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? 17 But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, 18 and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness.” (Romans 6:15–18, ESV)

Jesus told the pharisees that they were enslaved to sin simply because they were sinners

“34 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin.” (John 8:34, ESV)

Jonathan Edwards, in a Sermon from 1720 says the natural man serves a tyrannical master...

"The service of sin is a most tyrannical service; men therein lose their reason and understanding. Sin makes all his servants labor till they are blind and mad, till they are not able to see whereabouts they are, and then leads [them] away towards their own destruction."

But we are free men and have the power to walk in newness of life, having been set free from sin!  We now serve a gracious master.  Let us then remind ourselves...even preach to ourselves daily...that sin has no dominion over us and we need not present our members to sin, but rather, we can present our heart and soul to God and He will bring about obedience by the blood of His Son and the in-working of His Spirit for the sake of His glory!

“4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.” (Romans 6:4, ESV)

“13 Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. 14 For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.” (Romans 6:13–14, ESV)

Soli Deo Gloria!

Do We Worship in Spirit and Truth?

A Reflection on David's Effort to Bring the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem-

Observe the worshipful celebration that surrounds this procession but let us always consider our hearts and ensure that we worship God in Spirit and Truth...

“3 And they carried the ark of God on a new cart and brought it out of the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill. And Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, were driving the new cart, 4 with the ark of God, and Ahio went before the ark. 5 And David and all the house of Israel were celebrating before the Lord, with songs and lyres and harps and tambourines and castanets and cymbals. 6 And when they came to the threshing floor of Nacon, Uzzah put out his hand to the ark of God and took hold of it, for the oxen stumbled.” (2 Samuel 6:3–6, ESV) 

So here we see the happy occasion of the Ark being brought to the City of David (Jerusalem) as David has recently taken the City for the Israelites under his newly established throne over all of Israel.  Notice, however, that there is a problem.  Compare their actions against God's specific direction regarding how to handle the holy things of the tabernacle and the movement of the Ark of the Covenant...

“15 And when Aaron and his sons have finished covering the sanctuary and all the furnishings of the sanctuary, as the camp sets out, after that the sons of Kohath shall come to carry these, but they must not touch the holy things, lest they die. These are the things of the tent of meeting that the sons of Kohath are to carry.” (Numbers 4:15, ESV)

“13 You shall make poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold. 14 And you shall put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark to carry the ark by them. 15 The poles shall remain in the rings of the ark; they shall not be taken from it.” (Exodus 25:13–15, ESV)

 “8 And four wagons and eight oxen he gave to the sons of Merari, according to their service, under the direction of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest. 9 But to the sons of Kohath he gave none, because they were charged with the service of the holy things that had to be carried on the shoulder.” (Numbers 7:8–9, ESV)

David and his men were ignoring God's law and they were perhaps more in celebration of their conquest and their own efforts, not realizing fully that God was greater than the blessings and more to be honored than His gifts and completely responsible for their strength?  Their eyes were not on the Lord as evidenced by this neglect of God's plain direction.  Do we tend to do the same?  Do we sometimes ignore God and His direction?  Do we act with motives more about ourselves that "doing all things to the glory of God"?  Do our actions tell of our heart?  Are we sometimes deceived?  Do we sometimes receive God's blessing only to value the blessing more than God?

Next we see the outcome of their misplaced effort that did not honor God and was not revering the truth of His Word...

“6 And when they came to the threshing floor of Nacon, Uzzah put out his hand to the ark of God and took hold of it, for the oxen stumbled. 7 And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzzah, and God struck him down there because of his error, and he died there beside the ark of God.” (2 Samuel 6:6–7, ESV)

Let us learn to obey God and to seek to honor Him not by our own ideas but by the truth of His Word.  See how David's response to this chastisement by God is probably like our own can be...

“8 And David was angry because the Lord had broken out against Uzzah. And that place is called Perez-uzzah to this day. 9 And David was afraid of the Lord that day, and he said, “How can the ark of the Lord come to me?” 10 So David was not willing to take the ark of the Lord into the city of David. But David took it aside to the house of Obed-edom the Gittite. 11 And the ark of the Lord remained in the house of Obed-edom the Gittite three months, and the Lord blessed Obed-edom and all his household.” (2 Samuel 6:8–11, ESV)

So David interprets God's judgement against Uzzah as a breaking out from God's normal patient and merciful temperament with His people. Perhaps David considers Uzzah's action as righteous? Perhaps David thinks it better we break God's law than allow the Ark to be "defiled" by falling to the ground? In a sermon I recently heard by R.C. Sproul, R.C. suggests that Uzzah errantly assumed that his hand was less defiling than the dirt of the ground. He notes that dirt does not sin but honors God perfectly always in doing precisely what it was created to do. Uzzah did what the Apostle Paul condemns in Romans...

“8 And why not do evil that good may come?—as some people slanderously charge us with saying. Their condemnation is just.” (Romans 3:8, ESV)

Does God owe us mercy?  Do we have a posture of entitlement before God?  David sinned here and he was angry at God for reminding him that we are to hallow His name.   David needed time and space from his error for God to bring repentance and restoration.  Do we sometimes get mad at God and do we fear Him only after we are disciplined in some manner?  Only after we suffer a consequence to our sin?  Is this what it takes?  Perhaps we should fear Him naturally and live joyfully under His authority and carry the ark on our shoulders in the first place.

David got there after a few months and then he tried again with a new repentant, God-exalting attitude and he worshiped now in Spirit and in truth.  He offered worship to God on God's terms and he did not presume to make up his own rules.  David was quite over the conquest of his hand and surely gave God David humbled himself before the Lord and this fear of God is the beginning of wisdom...

   “12 And it was told King David, “The Lord has blessed the household of Obed-edom and all that belongs to him, because of the ark of God.” So David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-edom to the city of David with rejoicing. 13 And when those who bore the ark of the Lord had gone six steps, he sacrificed an ox and a fattened animal. 14 And David danced before the Lord with all his might. And David was wearing a linen ephod. 15 So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with shouting and with the sound of the horn.” (2 Samuel 6:12–15, ESV)

David writes Psalm 68 sometime following this and we see his heart giving glory to God for all power and strength...

“35 Awesome is God from his sanctuary; the God of Israel—he is the one who gives power and strength to his people. Blessed be God!” (Psalm 68:35, ESV)

Let us check our heart and be certain that we are not feeling an entitlement to God's mercy.  Let us seek to live under His authority by submitting to it.  Let us search out His direction rather than making up our own ideas of what it is to follow Jesus.  Let us not do evil thinking that good will come of it.  Let us not dishonor God in how we live but let us always walk in surrendered obedience to His good will and let us be like the dirt- that we would fulfill our purpose as image bearers always.

Soli Deo Gloria! 

Reflection on Psalm 139

Psalm 139

This psalm is wonderful and tells of the omniscience (all-knowing) and omnipresence (everywhere) of God as well as His loving care.  Much gold to be found here but let's highlight verse 5 where it sits in this section from verses 1-10.

Verses 1-10

“1 O Lord, you have searched me and known me! 2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. 3 You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. 4 Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether. 5 You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it. 7 Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? 8 If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! 9 If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, 10 even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me.” (Psalm 139:1–10, ESV)

Reflections on verse 5

Here is such high and wonderful statement that Davis goes on in verse 6 to say that it is too high for him.  David says this truth is too incredible to comprehend correctly.  We cannot possibly understand this and yet continue to have one ounce of worry or fear or distress in our souls.  We err when we fail to see the strength in our position in God's grace, but of course, this is human.

Prayer- 

Lord God in heaven.  Help me to know that you hem me in.  Help me to know that you are holding me with your gentle and strong hand exactly where you have me and exactly where you want me.  Your protection and your guidance and your power beset me.  I am unable to escape and no power can stop your hand that keeps me.  I am fixed in such a way that there is no chance of failure.  Lord you hold me from each side altogether even knowing my failures and my weaknesses and my faults.  You know everything about me and then you tell me that you hem me in.  Thank you for such a confidence when I consider how much you know of me.  Thank you that my own insufficient knowledge of myself that would already damn me and put me to shame is not the glue that holds me.  It is you who hem me in by your strong hand and it is you who go before and come behind me.  You are the God of my past and my future.  You are the king of my present and my strength.  Let my mind not lose sight of this O God and let me understand more and more the truth of this wonderful psalm and let me rejoice in my standing.  Let me not be proud when I am on the mountain, but let me trust in your hand alone.  Let me always see your hand as generous an merciful and gracious and never as impinging upon my rights or my freedoms.  Let such lies be far from me and let he be humble and contrite before you that I would tremble at your Word O Lord.  I thank you for thy love and care in the name of your holy Son- Amen!

Charles Spurgeon's comments-

From the Treasury of David, C.H. Spurgeon's commentary on the Psalms: 

“Thou hast beset me behind and before.” As though we were caught in an ambush, or besieged by an army which has wholly beleaguered the city walls, we are surrounded by the Lord. God has set us where we be, and beset us wherever we be. Behind us there is God recording our sins, or in grace blotting out the remembrance of them; and before us there is God foreknowing all our deeds, and providing for all our wants. We cannot turn back and so escape him, for he is behind; we cannot go forward and outmarch him, for he is before. He not only beholds us, but he besets us; and lest there should seem any chance of escape, or lest we should imagine that the surrounding presence is yet a distant one, it is added,—“And laid thine hand upon me.” The prisoner marches along surrounded by a guard, and gripped by an officer. God is very near; we are wholly in his power; from that power there is no escape. It is not said that God will thus beset us and arrest us, but it is done—“Thou hast beset me.” Shall we not alter the figure, and say that our heavenly Father has folded his arms around us, and caressed us with his hand? It is even so with those who are by faith the children of the Most High.

Our good shepherd knows us intimately and keeps His guiding hand upon us!

Soli Deo Gloria!

I Need Easy Steps! I Need a Formula!

So how do we die to live?

Matthew 16:24 essentially gives us three steps at the outset...

“24 Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” (Matthew 16:24, ESV)

Deny yourself / Take up your Cross / Follow Jesus

Restated, this can be-  

1. Turn around
2. Surrender
3. Walk together

Turn around:  This denial we discussed is not ultimate, so what is it?  I think it begins with denying the lie of the world that it's all about me and that all we have is what we see.  Denying self is about refusing to accept anything that pulls me away from God.  Denying is about getting clarity in stopping the direction I am heading and turning to see the cross of Christ.  Denying self is also to admit that I don't have the ability in myself to follow Jesus and that I need God to act in me.  Denying self is also recognizing that I am a sinner and confessing and asking God to change me.  

Surrender:  Jesus said that you must renounce all you own or you could not follow Him.  This sounds like the parable about the treasure in a field where the man sells all he owns in order to have the treasure by buying the field where he buried it.  So surrender, I think, is making Christ the treasure of our life and putting down any old goal or desire or driving factor in our life and replacing it with one purpose- Jesus.  Our old desires and our old purposes die on the cross and we now live to God.  I am no longer a firefighter…I am a disciple of Jesus who sometimes works at a fire station.  But this is supernatural.  We need God to work in us to give us this surrender, this death.  This is abandonment of trust and hope in the world for our satisfaction or happiness and replacing the object of our hope and trust and letting God be our portion and the strength of our hearts.

Walk together:  Jesus wants us to follow his example.  Jesus wants us to follow Him.  Jesus wants us to rely on the Father as He did.  Jesus wants us to Pray and to seek only the Father's will as He did.  Jesus wants us to sacrifice ourselves for our bride as He did.  Jesus wants us to put others before ourselves as He did.  Jesus wants us to be compassionate and merciful to those who are suffering as He was.  Jesus wants us to keep our eyes set to heaven and to not store up treasures on earth as He did.  Jesus wants us to walk in fellowship with the Father as He did.  Jesus wants us to live crazy meaningful lives that change everything like He did.  Jesus wants us to be servants as He was.  Jesus wants us to conquer with surrendered obedience to the Father as He did.  Jesus wants us to trust that He has made a way.  Jesus wants us to believe that He is our advocate and that He holds us firmly on the path.  Jesus wants us to live in the light of the truth and not in the shadows of the lies of the world.  Jesus wants us to be on mission.  Jesus wants us to be disciples.  Jesus wants us to make disciples.  Jesus wants us.

Denying self, taking up a cross, and following Jesus is making our life about Jesus and not about ourselves.  Let us do this each day when we wake.  May we be God-centered, gospel driven, and Christ exalting in our families and in our work and in our ministry and in our recreation.

We need God's grace each step of the way so let us pray regularly and seek to connect with Him in His Word.  We cannot make our life about Jesus without the Holy Spirit doing this in us.  Ask and receive, seek and find.

“10 For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. 11 So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 6:10–11, ESV)

Soli Deo Gloria!

So Die to Live, huh?

A Paradox of choices

Yesterday we looked at the exhortation of Jesus to His disciples in Matthew 16.  See yesterday's post for this.

The expanded statement to be drawn from study of this passage is "Die to death in order to live to life".  There is no ultimate self denial, but only the choice to live rather than die and what kind of self denial is that!

That is called grace and that is called surrender and that is called "God is able and I am not".  Ever tried to get out of a Chinese finger trap?  What seems like giving up and surrendering is actually victory and freedom.

Find the expanded idea to die to death and live to life in Romans 6:10 in the example of Jesus...

“10 For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God.” (Romans 6:10, ESV)

The grounding statement in this Matthew 16 passage is found in verses 27.  The whole passage hinges on the fact that Jesus is going to come and He will repay each person according to what we have done.  See Romans 2:6-10 for a comparison...

“6 He will render to each one according to his works: 7 to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; 8 but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. 9 There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, 10 but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek.” (Romans 2:6–10, ESV)

There are two options in Matthew 16 and here in Romans 2 when we consider the coming of Jesus.  Death or life.  Attain the world or attain your soul.  Seek yourself or seek God.  Follow a lie or follow the truth.  See the two options in Matthew 16-

Option 1 is in verses 24-25.  

Deny yourself this life (later clarified to be "the world") and get some different life (eternal life).  Get Jesus.  Remember that Romans 6:23 says that eternal life is in Jesus.

Option 2 is in verse 26.  

Protect "your life".  Take the world.  Lose your soul.  Don't get Jesus.

The paradox of dying to live comes alive in Romans 2 (pun intended) as Paul writes about how the selfish people (one who obey unrighteousness rather than the truth) will receive wrath and fury but the other people (I guess the unselfish people) will receive glory and honor and peace.  I will take door number two thank you!  But look at what it says.  How does it describe the "unselfish people"?  They seek for glory and honor and immortality!  That doesn't sound very self denying or unselfish, does it?

Or does this maybe reveal the paradox of Matthew 16 for us?  Maybe Paul is taking out the "means" of the kind of self denial that Jesus is explaining in Matthew and jumping right to the "end" of the self denial that Jesus is talking about.  Do you see it?  Do we fail to see that the kind of self denial that Jesus is calling us to for eternal life is no denial at all?  Do we see that it is merely denying ourselves the lies of the world and choosing the truth of what we receive in choosing Jesus?

If we choose to follow Jesus, the world sees us as denying ourselves of certain pleasures and freedoms.  But the truth is that we gain ultimate joy and freedom!  So we are called to give up the pretend happiness and hollow pleasures for the real deal.  Give up the broken copy for the real Mccoy...

“11 You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” (Psalm 16:11, ESV)

So do we settle for the hollow and fleeting and unfulfilling joys of this world or do we go for the glory and honor and immortality in Jesus?  If we live for His glory we honor God and we live forever.

So let us not be enemies of God by making ourselves a friend of this world...

“4 You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.” (James 4:4, ESV)

But let us be rich toward God and enjoy eternity with Him with all that it offers in great excess to this life...

“21 So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”” (Luke 12:21, ESV)

As a wise man once said "You gotta do a little dying to do a little living!"  Now let us die to self  with joy and only in the power of the indwelling Holy Spirit knowing that we are surely not losing anything valuable but rather, we are gaining Jesus- and He is everything!  

So important questions-

1. How do I do it and in what power?
2. When do I get the gain?

More on these to come...but until then-

“11 So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 6:11, ESV)

Soli Deo Gloria!