Thoughts on Romans - Day 22

                                                    Romans 8:26-30

²⁶ In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. ²⁷ And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.
²⁸ And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. ²⁹ 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. ³⁰ And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.


         For so many years I didn't understand what salvation really is. (I probably still don't) I knew I was forgiven of my sins and going to Heaven and somehow Jesus was inside me so wherever I went He went, so avoid doing that and going there and looking at that. But what I didn't understand was the transforming power of the Spirit. He came to take control. Just like Spiderman who got bitten by the radioactive spider, my genetic code was being changed. (figuratively) Peter Parker was able to climb walls, have supernatural strength, sense danger, spin webs, etc. His whole being was changed - he was a new person. When we get saved the Holy Spirit comes inside our life and changes us into the image of His Son. Not instantly of course because we still need to let the old self get out of the way and embrace the new. Just like the ill-fated Spiderman 3, we can refuse to let Him take over and become powerless and unchanged and painful to watch.

        How do we allow these changes to take over us? God brings suffering and difficulties into our lives to make us realize how much we need Him and depend on Him. It drives us to our knees and we pray, "God take this difficulty away from me". Meanwhile the Holy Spirit is interceding for us to the One who sees inside of us and the Holy Spirit is saying, "Not yet. He still needs more death to self". 

 This gives a whole new understanding to Romans 8:28 when we see it in this light. Paul is saying , "In the process of you becoming a 'little Jesus', God finds it necessary to strip off the old you through difficulties in life because if everything is going smoothly why would anyone want to change things up? You may beg God to change your circumstances, and BTW He does love you coming to Him - that is one of the main reasons He allows those things is to drive you closer, but God has a life manager inside you telling Him what you really need. You may be praying, "Lord, deliver me from this problem and please do such and such." Meanwhile the Holy Spirit inside of us is praying a better prayer that may even be contrary to what we are praying, but it will lead to a better solution to the problem and enhance God's goal of having you become more like him. What God is going to do in this situation may not look like what you want and not at all how you would solve it, but know this, it will be the perfect solution to the problem in regards to making you more like His Son, Jesus. He was the first to be raised from the dead and he is in the process of resurrecting you."  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rf8Zzn4nOzc

         Lord, thank You that you have a plan for my life that includes stripping away the old me and making a new me that looks more and more like Your Son. Help me to be still and not resist the transformation. Amen

Thoughts on Romans - Day 21

                                      Romans 8:14-25
For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. ¹⁵ The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” ¹⁶ The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. ¹⁷ Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.
¹⁸ I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. ¹⁹ For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. ²⁰ For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope ²¹ that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.
²² We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. ²³ Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. ²⁴ For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? ²⁵ But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

               Interesting qualifier here at the beginning of this passage - "for those who are led by the Spirit". It reminds me of Chapter 4 where the father of faith, Abraham, walked in the footsteps of faith. It is by believing we are saved, by faith alone not works we become children of God. However, true faith and true believers will live a life of being led by God. If we are the ones calling the shots in our lives and doing what we want, even though we many years ago "got saved" we have to question if we really meant it when we said "forgive my sins, I give my life to You".

             What does that have to do with sonship, which my spell check has now underlined for me 3 times, or with being children which is mentioned 5 times? As I think about what it means to be one of my children, a few things from this passage come to mind. One, they are my heirs. Everything I own including my GI Joe collection and Michael Jordan rookie cards belongs to them, someday they get it all. In the same way, whey inherit the riches of the kingdom of God when we go to live with Him which also includes new bodies which don't have the sin nature and don't feel pain anymore.
               Number 2, my kids aren't my slaves although they are not my equals. They are free to do whatever they want to do, go wherever they want to go, be whoever they want to be, etc. but yet they should fear me, respect me, and honor me because of my position of authority in their life so that all their acts of freedom don't shame me but rather honor me. They should still call me "Dad" rather than "Jim" but yet still have that relationship where they can call me "daddy" or come to me at any time of day or night for the smallest of reasons. Even if they mess up royally, they will always be my children - I will never disown them and I will always love them. When we are saved, God is our father not the "big guy upstairs". We seek to honor Him with our life, not because we have to but because we want to. Being His child gives us direct access to Him day and night and He will always hear us when we call out to Him for the biggest of things, smallest of things, to thank Him, praise Him, or confess to Him.
              Lastly, they have been given my name, "koerten". Just like they could bring shame to that name, I could bring shame to them. In contrast, God's actions could never shame us, but us identifying with Him can bring about suffering to us in a world that hates and is opposed to the name of Jesus. It is tempting to change our name to avoid persecution. It is tempting, getting back to the beginning, not to be led by God which brings us in opposition to that name, but rather lead ourselves into the flow and acceptance of the world.

          Could I look at your Facebook page and identify you as a Child of God? Could I look at your checkbook and identify you as a Child of God? Could I hire a private investigator to follow you around and put hidden cameras in your house to build a case against you as being a Child of God? Are you led by the Spirit? Are you one of His?

          Lord, thank You for making me one of Your Children. Thank you for my amazing future coming but also thank you for being my daddy that I can call on day and night. Help me to honor you with the short time I have left on Earth. Help me to follow your lead rather than mine. Amen

Thoughts on Romans - Day 20

                                              Romans 8:1-13
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, ² because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. ³ For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, ⁴ in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
⁵ Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. ⁶ The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. ⁷ The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. ⁸ Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.
⁹ You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. ¹⁰ But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. ¹¹ And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.
¹² Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. ¹³ For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.


             In 1st Samuel (or one Samuel as Donald Trump would say) the Israelites and the Philistines were at war. But like Hunger Games, representatives or in this case a representative was sent out from each side to fight and the winner was to determine which side would serve the other side - which side would be the victor sparing further bloodshed. The problem was that the Philistines sent out the terminator (Goliath) and the Israelites had no one that remotely matched up. Enter David. David trusted solely in the Lord. Even though the Israelites were weak and unable to defeat Goliath, God was so much bigger than him so David knew that if He could let God do the fighting for him, it was no match. We all know the outcome.

            In a like manner, the law to us, is an unbeatable opponent. It mocks us for our weakness. It exposes our frailty and we live in fear and slavery to it. The moment we  entertain the thought that we might be able to beat it, the law flexes a muscle - like covetousness, envy, or jealousy and we go back to our hole and hide from it because who isn't covetous, not even Paul (chap.7). Along comes God to fight our battle against the opponent we can't beat. Jesus defeated the law by fulfilling all it's requirements. Like The Last Starfighter, he defeated the unbeatable video game and fought the battle for us. If we just align ourselves with Him, we are victorious. We identify with Him. We say "I am no longer under condemnation, a slave to fear, a slave to evil but I am with Jesus".

        If you or I are living in condemnation, guilt, fear - anything but joy, freedom, and victory - we really don't understand our victory. We don't understand grace. We are still trying to fight Goliath and we can't win. Don't you know that he has already been defeated. Come follow Jesus today in freedom and victory.

         Lord, You have taken away all the sins of my past. I am a new creation. Any condemnation I feel and any past guilt is being placed on me by myself. Help me to trust what You have done for me and in me through your Son and through Your Spirit. Amen

Thoughts on Romans - Day 19

                                   Romans 7:14-25

We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. ¹⁵ I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. ¹⁶ And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. ¹⁷ As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. ¹⁸ For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. ¹⁹ For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. ²⁰ Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.
²¹ So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. ²² For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; ²³ but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. ²⁴ What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? ²⁵ Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!
So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.


           Passages like this gave grace a bad name to me. Christian music artists love to write songs on this passage. I would review a new album and comment, another Romans 7 song. In other words," I'm a Christian and I want to do what is right but I keep sinning. Oh well, I'm only human - Grace." Grace is the theme of so many message series, the title of multiple books and the name of every 10th Christian church. To me, grace was a word used to describe the non-victorious Christian life and still feel spiritual and excused when you say it.

       When you read Romans 7, actually Paul is not justifying his behavior but lamenting it and actually longing for the day when this life is over and the sin nature is gone. He hates his behavior so bad that he is looking forward to his death. He hates his behavior so much that this freedom from his sinful behavior is what he first thinks about in regards to Heaven instead of the streets of gold, the beatific vision, eternal life, etc. I have wondered before, when we get to heaven and a million years from now, what is to prevent another rebellion like what occurred with Lucifer? I think the answer on our behalf is that our sin nature will be gone. On behalf of the angels- maybe seeing the rebellious 1/3rd in hell for all eternity is certainly a deterrent. Maybe the angels who remained voluntarily gave up their free will? Maybe God created Lucifer as a one of a kind? I have no idea.

       Here we see in Romans 7 the greatest Christian of all time almost sounding schizophrenic in regards to the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde inside of him. Was he really that bad? No, actually he was that good that he realized he was that bad. I got my wife a bathroom magnifying mirror once because I used one at a hotel and thought it was pretty cool. She yelled at me and made me take it back immediately because she said the last thing she wanted was to see herself up closer. This is what happened to Paul as he got closer to the Light. Martin Luther spent hours a day in confession and the confessional priest dreaded to see him coming. Why? Because he was getting so close to God that his sins were magnified. Enter grace. Grace is realizing how bad you are but rather than justifying your behavior, excusing it, or continuing it you are drawn to the wonder of God's love for you and fall deeper in love with Him. (thus the comparison to marriage early in the chapter)

             Thank you God that even though you see me as I am, you love me. Gracious! 
      
        

Thoughts on Romans - Day 18

                                         Romans 7:7-13

What shall we say, then? Is the law sinful? Certainly not! Nevertheless, I would not have known what sin was had it not been for the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” ⁸ But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of coveting. For apart from the law, sin was dead. ⁹ Once I was alive apart from the law; but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life and I died. ¹⁰ I found that the very commandment that was intended to bring life actually brought death. ¹¹ For sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, deceived me, and through the commandment put me to death. ¹² So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good.
¹³ Did that which is good, then, become death to me? By no means! Nevertheless, in order that sin might be recognized as sin, it used what is good to bring about my death, so that through the commandment sin might become utterly sinful.

         I was thinking about Abraham, Noah, Lot, Isaac, Jacob, Judah, and all those who came before the law. I sure am more judgmental of them than I think God was. Abraham was afraid of people so much that he had his wife lie that she was his sister so they wouldn't kill him and steal her (twice). His son Isaac did the same thing with his wife. Noah got drunk and lay naked then cursed his son who made fun of him. Lot lived in Sodom and got so drunk that his daughters had children by him. Judah solicited a prostitute which happened to be his daughter in law. Jacob tricked his blind dad into thinking he was someone else and his sons sold their brother into slavery because they disliked him. These are our heroes. They are in the hall of faith in Heb. 11

       Could it be that they were "graded" only on their faith rather than their bad behavior? Abraham left his country and offered up Isaac because he believed God. Noah built an ark because he believed God was going to flood the Earth. Lot left with the tunic on his back believing God was going to torch Sodom. We are saved by faith not the law. The law was given to show us our need for a savior to lead us to faith in God's sacrifice of His son. The honor God gives to those behaving badly in Genesis only confirms salvation by faith not works.

        Karen gets upset with me when I get upset with the grandchildren for hitting each other, grabbing things away from the other one, etc. I think, "how can they be so naughty" and get frustrated with them. Karen says, "maybe they don't know it is a sin. Have you ever told them it's a sin?" She's right. They are acting sinful because they are sinners, but like the patriarchs, maybe they don't know what sin is. Our job as parents and grandparents is not to referee, distract, put in time out, separate the kids but rather teach that their behavior is contrary to God's will - sinful - and eventually point them to a savior who will take away those sins.

         Lord, I confess that I can't keep your law. Coveting? Who doesn't?! I need forgiveness. Thank you for sending your only son to die for my sins. Cleanse my heart and give me a heart that doesn't want to sin. Amen

Thoughts on Romans - Day 17

                                         Romans 7:1-6

 Do you not know, brothers and sisters—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law has authority over someone only as long as that person lives? ² For example, by law a married woman is bound to her husband as long as he is alive, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law that binds her to him. ³ So then, if she has sexual relations with another man while her husband is still alive, she is called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is released from that law and is not an adulteress if she marries another man.
⁴ So, my brothers and sisters, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God. ⁵ For when we were in the realm of the flesh, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in us, so that we bore fruit for death. ⁶ But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.


          There are 2 ways to live the Christian life. I do believe you can be a saved person in both manners but one way is the right way and one way is the wrong way. One is the free way and one is the bondage way. One is the energizing way and one is the draining way. One is the New Testament way and one is the Old testament way. One is Grace and one is law.

          I often think of it this way. Let's say that I work for the Hospital and they pay my salary. I would get a certain number of sick days and vacation days. I would be expected to look , dress, speak in a way that represents them well. They would expect me to study and stay current with medicine. They would expect me to work a certain number of hours a week and be punctual. In return they would pay me what they deem to be a fair wage. Now let's say I am self employed. I can take as many sick days as I want, as much vacation as I want, I can dress, talk, act any way I want. I can be as punctual or tardy as I want. I can see as many or few patients in a day as I want. The interesting thing is that since I am owner of my own business I find myself never taking a sick day while at least one of my employees is "sick" every week. I find myself coming in earlier and working all night long because I feel responsible to the patients, to the reputation of the practice and to the success of the practice.

        You see, as an employee, I am under bondage, do this or we will let you go. Therefore I do what is demanded of me, no more no less (unless I can get away with it) and hope I am meeting my standards so I can take home a paycheck which I am not grateful for because I earned it. As a non-employee I am free to do whatever I want but I tend to do even better because I am representing the practice that is associated with my name. I am grateful for every paycheck and every patient that passes through the door.

         Paul says this is the way it is in the Christian life. You can live in bondage to the law trying to keep it to please God and living in a continual grumbling, failure mode hoping He will say "good enough" or you can live in the life of the Spirit. In this life you know God has freed you from the law and already accepts you. Therefore you can live a free life representing Him as you go out of gratitude for what He has done without grumbling, complaining, or fear of judgement. Which way are you living? Which way am I living?

             Lord, help me today to live in the Spirit bearing fruit for Your glory not for my acceptance knowing full well that You already think I'm awesome in Your sight. Amen

Thoughts on Romans - Day 16

                                                Romans 6:17-23
But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance. ¹⁸ You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.
¹⁹ I am using an example from everyday life because of your human limitations. Just as you used to offer yourselves as slaves to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer yourselves as slaves to righteousness leading to holiness. ²⁰ When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. ²¹ What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! ²² But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. ²³ For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.


    Allegiance. If someone asked me if that word is in the Bible, I would have said no. So, I looked it up in the Greek and the word is used 117 times in the New Testament but in TNIV this is the only time it is translated allegiance. In Matthew 26 it is used 11 times so I looked at that and it was used in regards to Judas "handing over" Jesus. It has already been used 4 times in Romans mainly in Romans 1 where the people that reject God are "handed over" to the results of the life they have chosen. The really cool verse though is Galatians 2:20, possibly one of the greatest verses in the Bible.

^" I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." Gal.2:20

      Christ was handed over by Judas, yes, but Galatians says, no, Judas did not hand Him over but Jesus gave Himself up to die on the cross. It was a willing decision. And I believe that this is why TNIV translates this word Allegiance. We have heard the gospel and we have pledged that we are going to give ourselves willingly to God. Our whole lives. Whatever He asks. You see getting saved is more than asking forgiveness for our sins. It is pledging allegiance to a new master. It is surrendering our lives to God. It is dying to our own way and following a new master.

       I know that sounds harsh but let me give 2 reasons why it isn't. Number one, look how sin is described by Paul just in Romans 6 - evil desires, ever increasing wickedness, impurity, slavery, things resulting in death, weak in yourselves, things you are now ashamed of. This is like me saying to my son "I am going to give you a brand new Bentley but you have to give me the keys to your 2009 Ford Escape with 150k miles on it that is stuck in 2nd gear" and he would say "no thanks, I like my Escape" That is crazy, but most people for some reason choose bondage to the decrepit over handing their lives over to Jesus. The other reason that this isn't harsh is seen in verse 17 also where Paul says "you have come to obey from your heart". Since Valentine's Day just came and went, "hearts" have been everywhere. Paul is saying we need to pledge allegiance, surrender, hand ourselves over, etc. but he also is telling us that if you fall in love with someone, that is easy. I have surrendered my life, my future, my money, my allegiance to my wife and I don't even think about it. It's a no-brainer. It is no effort. It is not painful, restrictive or bondage. Why? Because she is the love of my life.

          Lord, I pledge allegiance to You today, gladly!

Thoughts on Romans - Day 15

                            Romans 6:11-16

In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. ¹² Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. ¹³ Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. ¹⁴ For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.
¹⁵ What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? By no means! ¹⁶ Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?


              As I said in the last blog, which I feel is OK to repeat since Paul is repeating himself a lot, (and since he is under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit that must mean God repeats Himself which means my wife is a very Godly person) the wrong attitude or question is "How close can I get to sin without sinning"? It is like our children asking," what is the worst television show you will let me watch?" Or, "What cuss words can I say"? or, "how far can I go with my boy/girl friend without it being a sin?" Paul says we are dead to sin and alive to Christ. We are no longer slaves to sin but slaves to Christ. Those kind of questions are kind of hybrids. They say I want to be a slave to Christ but sin is not dead. Sin is too much fun to let it die, so let me feed it just a little. Paul would say the proper question isn't "how close can I get to sin without sinning, but how humanly close can I get to God?

           I guess in my field of OB/GYN, if a baby is in distress I wouldn't say "how long can I let this distress go on before the baby suffers brain damage"? I would rather ask, "how can I deliver the brightest, healthiest baby?" Or in surgery, "how unsterile can we be without getting an infection?" (OK I have asked that on mission trips) but rather "how germ free can we make this surgery?" When we ask questions these ways, it is obvious which question we should be asking. So why is it that in our moral spiritual lives we settle for the lesser choice? And a better question, knowing that we do this is how can we stop doing this and start striving for the best?

       Paul gives 4 commands - count, don't let, don't offer, and offer. The 2 positives are count and offer. These 2 make me think of every day in my quiet time I preach the gospel to myself. I say," I have died with Christ on the cross and therefore sin has died too. I am alive through the Holy Spirit's regeneration and I will let Him live the life of Christ through me. So here are my hands, my tongue, my eyes, my whole body is surrendered to You to do as You wish." And then the negatives are don't let and don't offer. These 2 make me think of setting up boundaries in my life - areas that are far enough away from sin that if I happen to go there, my conscience will go crazy, yet without sinning. For example when my youngest son was dating his future wife they made a rule never to be in a house alone together. Would that have been a sin - no but they didn't want to" let" or "offer" so they made rules far away from sin so that if it happened we would get phone calls asking how soon we could get home because they were sitting outside on the porch. These 2 negatives make me think also of accountability groups to ask you the tough questions and lovingly hold each other accountable.

      Lord, this sounds like we need to take this sin thing seriously. Forgive me for making more plans on making money and planning time off than I do planning not to sin and scheming how to get closer to You. Change my priorities and help the motivation to be passionate love for You. Amen

Thoughts on Romans - Day 14

                                             Romans 6:1-10
What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? ² By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? ³ Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? ⁴ We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.
⁵ For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. ⁶ For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin— ⁷ because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.
⁸ Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. ⁹ For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. ¹⁰ The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.


          What if your child said to you," I think I should keep getting in trouble at school because it shows everyone what a loving, forgiving, gracious parent you are and how wise you are in knowing how to deal with difficult situations. Other parents will start coming to you for advice and you may even get to teach a class on parenting on Wednesday night at church." What are the problems with this - and there are many!?

       First of all, the people that I want to hear talk on how to raise children are ones whose kids didn't get into trouble. None of us parents want to go through the stress of our kids rebelling and getting into trouble so we want to know what we can do to prevent that. We recently taught a class at church by Tim Kimmel on parenting with grace. I stalked his kids on the internet before I taught it to make sure they weren't Juvenile delinquents, and they weren't because frankly, I don't want to waste my time reading a book on how to parent by Ted Bundy's parents. Paul says in Romans 6 basically that we are part of God's family. He wants you to represent the family well. It glorifies Him the most when we don't sin and really, after all He has done for us, why wouldn't we want to?

       Secondly, if my child says that, I know they aren't looking out for my good, they are just wanting to behave badly and trying to shmooze me. A good parent is wise to their kids schemes. Somehow we know when our kids say "I accidently knocked my sister over" if it was an accident or they meant to do it. Paul knows that the people who are saying ,"The more I sin, the better God's grace appears", are just looking for an excuse to sin and he knows that they really haven't been saved. He knows that people who have been saved didn't necessarily give up all their sins prior to conversion but came with the bent knee saying,"God, I submit to your control of my life, whatever You tell me to do, I will do." If your child says, "How many speeding tickets can I get before you take away the keys?", they aren't ready for the keys.

     Lastly, if my child says that to me, they don't understand that there is more to being a good parent than forgiveness - there is discipline and tough love. People who emphasize and assume on only one aspect of God's character like forgiveness or love or grace don't really know Him. A good parent might make his child sit in jail overnight to learn consequences. A good parent may let their child be expelled and work at a fast food restraunt for a year to change their behavior. Paul is saying, "do you know the dangers of sin? It is so bad it cost the life of God's son. Stay away before it destroys you!"

     Lord, keep me from sin today. Help me represent You well today.  Thank You for Your grace to me and help me never take that for granted. Through your Holy Spirit give me a sensitive conscience that I may flee from all appearance of evil today. Amen.

Thoughts on Romans - Day 13

                                        Romans 5:12-21
Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned—
¹³ To be sure, sin was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not charged against anyone’s account where there is no law. ¹⁴ Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who is a pattern of the one to come.
¹⁵ But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many! ¹⁶ Nor can the gift of God be compared with the result of one man’s sin: The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation, but the gift followed many trespasses and brought justification. ¹⁷ For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!
¹⁸ Consequently, just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people, so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for all people. ¹⁹ For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous.
²⁰ The law was brought in so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more, ²¹ so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

        I hear this 2 to 3 times a day," (s)he is perfect"!

 Rabbit trail - Isn't it interesting in the English language how we can change the gender with one or 2 letters - (s)he  or (fe)male. The nurses at our hospital take advantage of this and fill out all the paperwork ahead of time on newborns by writing "male" on their birth records and if it is a girl they add "fe". I remember an irate father who saw this paperwork ahead of time and said "we've been keeping the gender hidden from us for 9 months and I can't believe that you have ruined this for me". I tried to explain to him what the nurses do but he didn't believe me. Fortunately it turned out to be a girl or we would have never heard the end of it.

        It isn't surprising that everyone says the same thing," (s)he is perfect"! With all the millions of chromosomal divisions, viruses and bacteria floating around, background radiation, pollutants, chemicals, deli meat (ha), it is amazing that we see so few birth defects and not surprising that parents of newborns breathe a sigh of relief as a baby comes out "perfect." But is it? This passage tells us differently. The Presbyterians would tell us that the child is born a sinner. The Baptists would tell us the baby is born sinless but has an inherited sin nature so it will sin. Either way, we soon see it. Freud gave us the stages of development - oral, anal, phallic, latent, genital. Erikson gave us trust, autonomy, industry, initiative. Jung, Plotkin, Adler all took their stabs at explaining development, too, but I think they all got it wrong. I think it should go - physically unable to sin, able to sin yet unable to stop behavior (terrible twos), able to sin but able to stop behavior for selfish reasons (i.e. punishment). We are sinners through and through and the Bible teaches us, and if we are self aware, that even our best efforts have selfish gains attached to them. It is even no surprise that evangelistic efforts are aimed at our self - centeredness - do you want to live forever, do you want to go to Heaven, you don't want to go to Hell do you?

              Fortunately, the old inferior Adam has been replaced by the new superior Adam who can take all those sins away and put inside of us His life - a new decision maker that chooses not on what is in it for me but rather what glorifies my/His Father. Unfortunately that old chooser is still inside me wanting to be in control so it is a daily battle for supremacy in my life.One of the sweetest parts about Heaven is going to be finally getting rid of that old chooser!

             Lord, You could have left me in my sinful plight yet You came and died for me to give me a brand new creation where I don't have to wait for you to come by "in the cool of the day" covered by my man made efforts to hide my sin but I am moment by moment in your presence free from shame and covered by Your righteousness.I am eternally grateful! Amen

Thoughts on Romans - Day 12

                                   Romans 5:9-11

Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! ¹⁰ For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! ¹¹ Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.


          Growing up in Church. I remember living in Wausau, WI, going to Wausau Bible Church listening to Pastor Al Abrahamson. I had to be in the 7th grade or less because we moved the summer between 7th and 8th grade which I remember being fortunate because we were responsible for making an insect collection pinned to a poster board that summer at Horace Mann Middle School. We would come home from Church and my dad would always ask me what I learned from the message. (I never asked our kids that for that reason - but Karen always did because she didn't grow up in church. If she had, she would have known how much we church kids hate that question -ha) I would always say I didn't understand it and he would always give me a hard time about not paying attention. One Sunday I decided to take notes and I could see my dad being excited. What he didn't realize until I read him my notes afterward is that I was writing down all the big words I didn't understand to defend my non-listening position. The pastor must have been preaching from Romans because I remember reconciliation, propitiation, atonement, redemption, justification, and every "ation" word except vacation. After that my dad didn't give me a hard time but somehow that note made it to the preacher and he read it from the pulpit and everyone had a good laugh. 

          Christianity can be a cultural experience. When you grow up in church, especially in the south, it brings back good memories of family, pot-lucks, Sunday afternoon football and in general everything good in life. No wonder people can say, "my faith is very important to me". I just don't hear Paul saying that quote. "My priorities are like this, Faith, family, and tent - making." Paul would say, "Are you kidding asking me my priorities? I was once God's enemy - we all are. And then for no explainable reason He sent His son to die for me so I could be brought back into a relationship with the God I spent my life opposed to. And then His son came back to life and became my friend, ushered me into the presence of His Father who then chose to adopt me into His family making Jesus my brother essentially and now I get to live forever with Him, the King of the whole Universe!! So my priorities... What a silly question, it's Jesus, Jesus, Jesus."

          You see, Paul says he boasts in nothing except Jesus, yet we say, "I don't want to offend anyone, I don't want to alienate anyone, I let my life do the talking, yada yada." I just want to know how you can stay silent when you truly grasp all that God has done for you. The only way is if you have made Jesus part of your life, rather than your life.

           Lord, deliver me from that old time religion today into a dynamic, essential love relationship with You. Let me boast only in You today. Amen

Thoughts On Romans - Day 11

                  Romans 5:6-8

⁶ You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. ⁷ Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. ⁸ But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.


            I just watched an interview of Joni Erikson Tada where she said that every morning she preaches the gospel to herself. Tim Keller often says the same idea and that is that the gospel isn't just our entry point into Christianity but it is our way of life.

            I remember sitting in one of my first meeting on the board of the local Rescue ministry. (By the way, if you are ever asked to be on a board of something be prepared to raise money) Being the only ob/gyn in the surrounding 50 miles that would see patients without asking for them to pay before they are seen, I was inundated with the poor and also had millions of dollars of bad debt. (uncollectable bills). Before you feel bad for me, I still made a great living. One thing that bothered me was that these patients that could never afford to pay me even 5$ could always afford their cigarettes and new tattoos. Every single patient that I would see referred to me from the local indigent clinic, smoked. I shared this at the board meeting as a concern that before we give "these people" (don't ever use those words) any handouts, we should require them to participate in a smoking cessation class. One of the ministers on the board said, "Do you think we are helping 'these people' because they are deserving? I'm glad God didn't withhold His Son until we were deserving." Ouch! You know a principle I learned in my medical training was that if someone was harsh with me over something I did, I never forgot the lesson. I have never forgotten this either.

         I was doing one part of the Gospel right, God didn't demand payment up front when He sent Jesus. I too was offering care up front before being paid. I was living out the gospel in that part of my practice. However, in keeping with the gospel I needed to remember that just as Christ died for me while I was undeserving, I too must lovingly, without resentment offer care to people whom God created and loves as much as He loves me, even though they are unworthy and often ungrateful (poor people are often looking to sue because it could be their meal ticket).I needed to see myself completely the same as them in God's eyes before I could stop judging them. This is just 2 examples of what it means to daily live out the gospel and preach the gospel to yourself. That's my arena... what about yours? 

        Lord, to imply that I have completely dealt with all these areas and am past them is a lie. I need Your help today to live out the Gospel. Thank You for giving me your Spirit which helps me do the impossible. Amen

Thoughts on Romans - Day 10

                                 Romans 5:1-5

Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, ² through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. ³ Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; ⁴ perseverance, character; and character, hope. ⁵ And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.


      Sometimes, in the middle of reading an important passage of scripture a principle comes at you that seems like it doesn't belong. Karen was studying the Lord's prayer and was thinking, of all the things Jesus could have instructed the disciples on prayer, why did He mention forgiving others? I was reading in Galatians 2 and Paul just meets the pillars of the faith and they say, "keep preaching to the Gentiles, but remember the poor". Of all the theological truths they could have said to remember, they said remember the poor? And here in Romans, we have been learning all the great truths of doctrine like justification, redemption, propitiation, atonement, faith, grace, etc. and then Paul throws in suffering. Suffering? How does that fit in?

      Maybe Paul is thinking here as he is writing, you know this is awfully esoteric here. This is a lot of doctrine I'm hitting them with, a lot of heavy stuff, I need to address how what they are going through now in their lives relates to what I have been saying. I don't want to lose them before I get practical in Chapter 12. And maybe, knowing through prophecies of what was coming down the pike for him, he needed to remind himself how these sufferings that he had and was going to have coming would be beneficial in the long run. Whatever the reason, in the midst of this heaviness we once again see that man didn't make up this religion. Paul says in Galatians, "I didn't receive this from any man". Of course not. If man made up a religion it would incorporate works. Intuitively, we don't get anywhere on Earth in our career, sports, financially, academically without working at it. Also the Bible would tell us much more about what we will be doing in Heaven and what it will be like because we always want to know what is in it for us? And the trinity? Who would come up with that? And hell forever? And only one way? And here, suffering is a part of the plan... fellas, lets leave that out because we want people to join our religion.

         God has strangely, yet effectively incorporated suffering into Christianity to weed out the phonies and to solidify our faith and our stand and our citizenship in a different place. He also uses it to draw us closer to Him and further from the world and give us a supernatural closeness to Himself that we could not have without suffering. I often think of the book Tortured For His Faith where the author after being beaten and starved near death sat in his cold dark damp prison cell weeping and felt the arms of God come around him and hold him till the next morning. He wouldn't have given that experience up for anything.

            Lord, thank you that you have allowed me to hear and believe this wonderful gospel that wasn't man-made but designed by You from before time began. Help me desire a closeness to You so badly that I even welcome suffering into my life to attain it. Amen

Thoughts on Romans - Day 9

                       Romans 4:12-25

   ¹² And he is then also the father of the circumcised who not only are circumcised but who also follow in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.   
¹³ It was not through the law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith. ¹⁴ For if those who depend on the law are heirs, faith means nothing and the promise is worthless, ¹⁵ because the law brings wrath. And where there is no law there is no transgression.
¹⁶ Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring—not only to those who are of the law but also to those who have the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all. ¹⁷ As it is written: “I have made you a father of many nations.”He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed—the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not.
¹⁸ Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” ¹⁹ Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. ²⁰ Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, ²¹ being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. ²² This is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.” ²³ The words “it was credited to him” were written not for him alone, ²⁴ but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. ²⁵ He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.


       I colored in blue the theme of this passage - faith. Yes, Abraham is the father of many nations. This is what Christians, Jews, and Muslims have in common. Unfortunately, only Christians have him as our spiritual father as he is not the father of religious works,like the 7 pillars or going to the temple or eating certain foods or wearing certain things, but rather the father of faith.

       There are several synonyms for faith in this passage such as belief and being fully persuaded which leads to walking with footsteps of faith. I love that picture. When we truly believe that Jesus died for our sins and rose from the dead to give us life it affects our daily walk. Every step I take..., you know the song. Wherever I go whatever I do, be it vocation, vacation, recreation, I am living for Jesus. What does that look like? Kind of like the things in green.

        He is my father, I am His child therefore I need to represent the family name. I don't need to worry about money because my Daddy is rich. I don't need to worry about safety because my Daddy won't let anything out of His will happen to me. I don't need to worry about what other people think because the most important Being in the whole universe just gave me the thumbs up.

       He has given me grace - unmerited favor. I didn't have to work for it so I don't have to fear losing it or being unworthy so I can rejoice and revel in the eternal life( he brought me to life even though I was dead and brought me into being even though I was such a nobody it was like I didn't even exist) that God has given me. Nor do I need to look down on other people but rather give them grace like God undeservedly gave me.

     He has made me as if I had never sinned. When God looks at me he sees the righteousness of Jesus. Have you ever been at odds with someone and you just can't sleep, you can't concentrate, your joy is sapped, etc. and then you make up with them and a weight is lifted? Have you ever been married? Then you have a taste of how good it is to have our sins forgiven and be in a right relationship.

       Lord, not only have you given me heaven but you have given me so much more here on Earth. Help me to walk in the footsteps of faith today in the light of your grace to me.