Romans
12:14-21, Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what
is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another
in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit,
serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be
constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to
show hospitality.
Paul
begins this section back in verses one and two with a commitment to
present our bodies a living sacrifice linked to a refusal to be
conformed to this world, instead, we are to be transformed by the
renewing of our minds. The renewed mind lives a different kind of
life than the mind of the flesh we are born with. We are to bless;
rejoice; weep with the sad; live in harmony; be humble; avoid
arrogance; live honorably; be peaceful; never seek revenge; treat our
enemies well and overcome evil with good! That's a pretty heavy dose
of responsibility and a very large guilt trip for many of us. Thank
God, we don't have to do it in our own strength.
Every
believer needs to understand that Christianity is not just a club to
join. Nor is it simply that we have a lot of new rules to learn.
Both those positions leads to some kind of legalism. When a person
is saved by the power of God changes start happening. When we are
born into this world we are born sons and daughters of Adam and Eve
and as such we inherit sin and rebellion. We also have a lot of
growing up to do. Some of us actually do grow up! Being saved and
becoming a Christian leads a person to new birth, in a new family,
with new strengths and new relationships.
In
fact…
We
have a new mind.
Because…
A
Christian has put on a new self.
Listen to what Paul wrote to the Colossian church in Colossians
3:9-10, Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the
old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is
being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.
I
think it's very interesting that Paul begins this with, "Do not
lie to one another". One of the attributes of God is that he
does not lie. And when the Spirit of God comes to live in us lying
should become a thing of the past. I was blessed by being able to
come to the Lord as young boy. I got into enough trouble after that,
even as a believer, no telling how much trouble I would have gotten
into had I not known the Lord. However, one of my big problems as
child was the problem of lying. It was almost a game with me and I
had to really work at becoming a truth teller.
John
tells us in the first chapter of his gospel that as many as receive
Christ, those who believe in his name, are given the power to become
children of God. If we are children of God we take on the family
characteristics of God. We have put off the old man who is in the
image of Adam, our natural forefather, and we have put on the new man
who is in the image of our heavenly Father. As a result we are now
being renewed in knowledge after the image of God. The believer is
not perfect but is being perfected. I used to have a little badge
that, I sometimes wore, that said, "PBPWMGIFWMY". Those
letters stand for, "Please be patient with me, God isn't
finished with me yet", leaving me to make the explanation. Since
our ultimate goal is to be like Jesus — God certainly isn't
finished with me yet! If I'm to be like Jesus, I will outlive
Methuselah! Remember, upon salvation we take on a new nature the new
nature has a new set of values.
With
a new set of values.
Listen while I read from Ephesians
4:20-24, But that is not the way you learned Christ!— assuming that
you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in
Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner
of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed
in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created
after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
Every
family has values! They may be good or they may be bad, but they are
values. During my childhood I often heard my mother and father say,
"That's not what we do in this family!" And I knew that our
family values would be enforced strictly. Today, the shapers of
influence, representing a small minority of the population, are
continually presenting a "new normal" that has a definite
set of values. Those values are like the ones mentioned by the
Apostle in writing to the Ephesians when he said that their former
manner of life was corrupt through deceitful desires. The so-called
"new normal" accepts homosexuality as a natural lifestyle,
promiscuous sex as being normal, and same-sex marriage as being
correct. I could go on and on but don't choose to.
Well,
those values are not the ones that I grew up with. Nor are they the
family values presented in the Bible. This past week on Facebook one
of my male friends posted a picture of his male "fiancé".
I challenged him to think about God's view of such a relationship.
His answer was, "Well there is no right or wrong if I'm a child
of God because are we not made in his image?"
I
copied for him several verses from Romans chapter 1. He responded by
saying that's not the way he interpreted God's word. Obviously, he
had bought into the "new normal". I am grieved to see the
path our culture is on. As Christians we must stand in opposition to
those things that do not glorify God. We're not to be hateful but we
are to be forceful. As for me, I'm tired of pussyfooting around. At
the same time, I know that we are to witness respectfully and gently.
When the Bible is clear on the subject we need to take our stand on
the word of God, while remembering that God's goodness brings men to
repentance.
We
have a new mind with a new set of values and…
With
the ability to grow spiritually.
Listen while I read these earlier verses in Ephesians
4:15-16, Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in
every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole
body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is
equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so
that it builds itself up in love.
Peter
closed his second epistle with the admonition to grow in grace and
the knowledge of the Lord. We are designed physically to mature over
a period of time. God also designed us to spiritually mature over a
period of time. We are to grow up in every way into him who is the
head, into Christ! Our natural condition at birth is "all have
sinned and come short of the glory of God". The glory of God is
none other than Jesus Christ himself! And we are naturally far short
of that goal. However, when Christ comes to live in our lives the
Holy Spirit enables us to mature spiritually. We will be built up in
love and we will reflect that love to those around us.
Spiritual
growth involves all of our being. We need to read the Bible,
fellowship with other believers, offer our prayers to God in the name
of Jesus and listen for the voice of God in the midst of all the
chaos around us.
A
new way of living. Since
we have been born again we are to be…
Living
according to the Spirit.
Listen while I read, Galatians
5:16-17, But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the
desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the
Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for
these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things
you want to do.
We are to live in the
Spirit and not fulfill the lusts of the flesh! The problem many
Christians deal with is trying to suppress or defeat the flesh. The
old adamic nature will always be with us. You can't tame the flesh
because it is always trying to revert to our adamic nature. Everybody
has a method for the way they live their lives. Most of us have never
thought out the method. That means, simply put, that our method is
pretty much the way of the flesh.
Really, we should not
focus on the habits of the past or the struggle that we have in the
flesh. We should focus on living according to the Spirit. Don't even
allow the desires of the flesh any time in your mind. It's your mind
you should determine, by choice, what has space in it. There are only
two choices: being Spirit-dependent or or, being flesh-dependent.
Where are you at in this process? Is your method Spirit-dependent ,
or is it flesh-dependent? The Holy Spirit is to be the fountain of
our life. And if we are led by the spirit we will not fulfill the
lusts of the flesh!
We have a new mind, with
a new set of values, and the ability to grow spiritually.
No
longer in the flesh.
Listen while I read from Galatians
5:18-21, But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity,
sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of
anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies,
and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those
who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
Upon
presenting a similar list in First Corinthians 12, the apostle adds
these words that could be shocking to some, "And
such were some of you."!
In other words, the Corinthian church had members who had, in the
past, openly acted out "the works of the flesh". Every
church, everywhere, has such members in their ranks. I would go
further. I would not say, "And such were some of you."
Instead I would say, "And such were ALL of you!" All of us
once walked after the works of the flesh. And the flesh is still with
us! Usually in the Bible the word "flesh" refers to our old
nature. The flesh that we were born with is no longer our way, but it
is certainly our "old way". Over the years I've gotten lots
of help from Bill & Anabel Gillam, especially in the area of the
flesh. I quote Brother Bill, "Indwelling Sin will continually
seek to mislead you with first-person-singular-pronoun logic that his
way is the true way". (Bill
Gillham, Lifetime
Guarantee)
The voice you hear in your head almost always speaks in the
first-person-singular to make you think it's your own idea. Or, Satan
will use a voice that we are naturally afraid of. That's the old
habits of the past, the flesh, trying to drag us back into a false
way of living. Having been born again we are no longer to live
according to the flesh. We have a new life and a new way of living.
There is an old chorus
that we used to sing it goes like this:
I
have the fruit of the Spirit, I'm abiding, abiding in the vine.
Abiding
in the vine, Abiding in the vine, love, joy, health, peace,
He
has made them mine. I have prosperity, power and victory
Abiding,
abiding, in the vine!
Our new way of living
does involve prosperity, but it may not mean money. Jesus said the
thief comes to steal, kill and destroy. But he went on to say that he
had come so we may have life and have it abundantly. Abundant life is
so much more than material things. Abundant life is the life of
Christ in us and that is our hope of glory.
We have a new mind, with
a new set of values, and the ability to grow spiritually.
We have a new way of
living and it is according to the Spirit; no longer according to the
flesh! It is…
A
blessed way.
Let's hear the words of the shepherd boy who became a King, Psalm
1:1-3, Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he
meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of
water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not
wither. In all that he does, he prospers.
The
person who does not live by the flesh but instead delights in the
things of the Lord is going to be blessed. Several years ago I was
going through some of the things my mother had left behind. One of
them was a study outline that she had prepared to teach her Sunday
School class and the text was Psalm one. She had listed a number of
the characteristics of a godly man that are found in this passage and
then she had written in the margin beside that list, "My darling
husband". I was blessed to be raised by man and a woman who
honored God with their lives.
Yes,
we
have a new mind, with a new set of values, and the ability to grow
spiritually. We have a new way of living and it is according to the
Spirit and no longer according to the flesh! It is a blessed way
with…
A
new strength. We
often excuse ourselves, or even complain, by saying, "I am just
not strong enough for this." We need to remember that…
Our
weakness is not a problem. Read
what Paul discovered about his weakness. He was struggling with some
kind of problem that he called a "thorn in the flesh" and
he had asked God three times to take it away. Listen to God's answer.
2
Corinthians 12:9-10, But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for
you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will
boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of
Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content
with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities.
For when I am weak, then I am strong.
Paul,
who had struggled with his weaknesses, could now say that he could
boast in his weaknesses! Only in weakness do we really recognize our
need for God. The Apostle Paul had good flesh credentials. He was
circumcised the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of
Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews, etc. etc. God had to bring him
down, not just a notch, but all the way down. You see, God is not
interested in how able we are he is interested in our understanding,
and demonstrating, how able he is!
Sometimes
when a person is first saved they might think, "This is easy."
But, as time goes by, we begin to discover the Christian life is not
easy! In fact, it is hard! After more time, and struggle in our own
strength, we finally throw up our hands and say, "This life is
impossible!" We did not learn, or we soon forget, that only one
person has ever lived the Christian life and that person is Jesus
Christ!
Yes,
we have a new mind, with a new set of values, and the ability to grow
spiritually. We have a new way of living and it is according to the
Spirit; no longer according to the flesh! That is a blessed way with
a new strength. Our weakness is not a problem because…
He
does the work. Listen
while I read from 1
Thessalonians 5:23-24, Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you
completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept
blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is
faithful; he will surely do it.
I
want to be completely holy. I want my entire being to be acceptable
to God. I try, and I try, but I fail again, and again. I find soon
that I can do nothing of any lasting value on my own. And then I find
this wonderful prayer from the apostle Paul to the church in
Thessalonica. He prays for them what I would pray for myself. "May
your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming
of our Lord Jesus Christ". WOW! How can that be? What can I do?
What great work does he demand that I can be totally sanctified? And
that's the way we would be left, if the apostle ended this passage at
the end of verse 23. But he didn't. He went on to say that he who
calls you is faithful; HE
WILL SURELY DO IT!
He will do it? I thought WE had to do it and I knew that I could not
and I suspect that you can't either. So life seemed hopeless. This
passage speaks to my needs as does Philippians
1:6, And
I
am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it
to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. He
will bring it to completion! Not, "We will bring it to
completion." Or, "You will bring it to completion." He
who called you is faithful; he will do it. Praise God! I can't do it
and I know that I can't; but he can do it, and I believe he can do
it! You see…
His
strength is ours.
Remember the words of Paul in Philippians
4:13? I can do all things through him who strengthens me.
Yes,
we
have a new mind, with a new set of values, and the ability to grow
spiritually. We have a new way of living and it is according to the
Spirit; no longer according to the flesh! It is a blessed way with a
new strength that ignores our weakness because it is in His strength,
not oursl
Paul
prayed for the Ephesian church: Ephesians
3:14-19, For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom
every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the
riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power
through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in
your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in
love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the
breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of
Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the
fullness of God.
What
an awesome prayer! That prayer fills all my needs. Remember, this is
not strengthening me in my own strength. It is being strengthened
with power through the Holy Spirit. Our faith will grow and we will
be foundationed in love. Then, and only then, we will know the love
of Christ and be filled with the fullness of God!
When
a believer looks at the demands of the Christian life the view can be
very discouraging! The values we grew up with are often in direct
opposition to the values of Christ. With all the hustle and bustle of
the world around us and the pessimism shown by most people it is easy
to forget that we have the mind of Christ. We know we can't live the
Christian life in our own strength. We struggle along and get weaker
and weaker. But the day will come, I promise you, when we finally
give up. And when we give up, the Spirit of God within us, in one way
or another, will press home the truth that he who began a good work
in us will bring it to completion. He who calls us is faithful even
when we are faithless. HE WILL DO IT! Have you trusted him? Is he
your Lord and Savior? If you feel the tug in your heart to come to
him he will not turn you away.
All
scripture quotes from:The
Holy Bible : English standard version.
2001. Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.
