Wilderness Wonderings

Wilderness Wonderings

Romans

The Freedom to Serve

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“For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:20-23)

Slavery vs. freedom. The choice is obvious. Given the choice, freedom is the natural decision. But as a slave, what choices do you have? You are driven by other forces beyond your control – appetites, peer pressure, blindness. But how does one transition from slavery to freedom? A slave cannot buy their own freedom unless they have the resources to pay the price for that freedom. And since the slave hardly earns the financial resources to meet the market demand for their freedom, they must depend upon alternatives. The alternatives are death in slavery or redemption from slavery through someone else paying the price – either the slave owner or another.

In spiritual terms, we are all born into slavery. Slavery to sin thanks to the curse applied by the disobedience of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. As slaves, we are governed by our appetites and owned by our enemy, Satan. As he is the “god of this world [who] has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” (2 Corinthians 4:4) Our choices for freedom from this slavery are death within slavery or redemption to a new life under a new Lord. “For the wages of sin is death.” This is what we earn for our labors to fulfill our natural selfish appetites. But God offers a better alternative, if only we would open our eyes to see it and take hold of it.

Because our slavery in sin demands a price to be paid for our freedom, and because that price is too great for us to pay it on our own, God Himself paid the price to give us a new life. He redeems us from the penalty of sin by becoming sin on our behalf. “For our sake, He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:21) The price of death was paid on the cross of Calvary in order to redeem us from the curse of slavery to sin.

As a result, we are provided a new life with a choice. We can choose to live life as a bondservant to our new Lord and enjoy the benefits of our service to Him. The fruit of this life is a treasure most glorious and provides hope beyond our imaginations. However, all too often, we choose to reject His redemption in favor of the familiar chains of bondage. We grow comfortable and adjust to our shackles of pride. We grow complacent and sit on the sidelines, not contributing to the household of our Lord. We live in fear of the discipline of the King rather than live in the freedom of being a child of King.

Freedom is a gift, a gift that we did not nor could we ever do enough to earn. Freedom is also a choice. God doesn’t force Himself upon us. We still have a choice in the matter. We can choose to accept His gift of grace that leads to an eternal life here and now, as well as in the hereafter. Or we can choose to reject His gift and continue to languish in our chains and bondage, wondering why life never gets any better and why we never see any further than our own hand in front of our faces. Just as any parent offers their child a gift, the gift is not theirs until they accept and take possession of the gift. The same principle is true of the fruitful gift of eternal life that God offers us. A life that is lived “in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Not “Christ Jesus our Teacher.” Not “Christ Jesus our Savior.” Not “Christ Jesus our Friend.” It’s “Christ Jesus our LORD.” He paid a price to set us free from our old life. Why then do we continue to live like we are still slaves? The reality is still this: we are either slaves to sin or we are slaves to His righteousness. There is no other option. Freedom is found in righteousness. Not our righteousness, which is worth nothing more than filthy rags.

“We have all become like one who is unclean,
and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment.
We all fade like a leaf,
and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.”

Isaiah 64:6

His righteousness, however, has earned Him the seat on the throne of grace.

“But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it — the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.”

Romans 3:21-24

The King invites you to His table. He redeems you into His household of faith by His sovereign will. He longs to know you and gift your with freedom beyond what you can possibly imagine. Step away from the chains that lead to death and live a life in the embrace of the Father. The price He paid is worth your devotion.

Repent – Refresh – Renew – Repeat

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“For the death He died He died to sin, once for all, but the life He lives He lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. 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. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.” (Romans 6:10-14)

Servanthood is inevitable. You either serve your selfish appetites (sin) or you serve the Father (grace). There is no middle ground and door between the two is dying to self, in order that you might experience a renewed life. With new eyes to have a vision of eternity. With new ears to hear the beauty of creation. With new hands to touch the lives of others. With a new heart broken for the things that break the heart of God.

Jesus once said “If anyone wishes to come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me.” (Luke 9:23). I’ve never been one that likes the modern use of the phrase “my cross to bear.” Its use implies that in the experience of life, we are expected to inevitably suffer on a daily basis for just existing. However, the reality is that Jesus is calling us to do three things:

  1. Set aside our worldly passions and self-centered ambitions
  2. Identify with His suffering with gratitude and humility daily
  3. Renew our vision towards His Kingdom

It begins with repentance. It begins with laying aside our selfish ways that have caused us to continually run headlong into the same wall over and over again, frustrating our efforts at life. Instead of living life blaming everyone around us for why things are going our way, perhaps the best place to look is inward and examine our own heart. As Paul wrote “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Romans 12:2)

Once we experience repentance, we need to remember to daily and humbly recognize and honor and submit to the sacrifice that Jesus paid on our behalf. Yes, the Scriptures do say that there will be suffering in this life. But all of us suffer – it’s the human experience. But suffering is a state of mind, more so than a physical reality. Sure, there is physical pain and mental emotion pain, but suffering is allowing that pain to paralyze you to the point that you begin to implode upon yourself. When we identify with His suffering, it doesn’t mean that we go about our renewed life hunched over and complaining all the time about how difficult the Christian life is. It is difficult, yes. But it is far more rewarding when we recognize that we do not have to work for or earn the Father’s favor. He paid the price to make us His own. That blood redemption is what makes all the difference.

Once we recognize and identify with the price that Jesus paid to redeem us, then we are called to renew our vision for His Kingdom. This means not allowing our lives to be characterized by sin, but by redemption. Not to allow our lives to be ruled by the failed kingdom of this humanistic existence, but to be ruled by the grace of our Abba Father who love us, comforts us, and empowers us to be His ambassadors in this world.

“Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making His appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.” (2 Corinthians 5:20) Just as today, ambassadors between nations and kingdoms are sent to do 2 main missions: 1. represent the executive leader of the country they serve and 2. appeal for relational reconciliation between the members of the two kingdoms. Ambassadors are expected to represent the king, President, etc. in their behavior and actions and decisions in the execution of their duties. More importantly, we are called to reconcile the world to our Creator and draw all into a relationship with Him so that we might all experience the joy of His Kingdom.

That is what it means to no long let sin have “dominion over you” but to live “under grace.” It does not mean that we live wanton lives disregarding the dictates of God’s word. As with any Kingdom, there are rules for order and expectations of behavior in society. We cannot live a libertarian existence in the Kingdom of God and expect to experience the grace and joy that the Kingdom affords. If that is the case, then we are quite literally spitting in the face of Christ and saying that His sacrifice was worthless.

Repent your behaviors. Reset your attitudes. Renew your vision. It’s a daily habit. It’s a daily requirement. For the sake of the Kingdom.

A Question of Life and Death

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“For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin.” (Romans 6:5-7 ESV)

The issue of sin in the life of the believer is not a question of right or wrong; it’s a question of life and death. If we establish the fact that sin, by definition, is disobedience to God, then the transformative power of grace is defined by the daily surrender (metaphorically dying to self) to the will of the Father.

Jesus said in John 10:10 that “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come that they may have life and have it abundantly.” A life that is characterized by sin and walking in the selfishness of the flesh is a life that is submitted to the thief and is marked as a dead existence. However, a life that is characterized as submitted fully to Christ, daily surrendering our will to the will of the Father through the power of the Spirit for the glory of the Son is a life that is resurrected.

We find salvation in Christ because the Holy Spirit has convicted us of our sin and as a result we come to understand that our way of living is a dead end and doesn’t work in the grand eternal scheme. We learn that like children we are enslaved to our natural appetites, desires, and carnal thinking. However, living in the Spirit is a transformative experience that begins with the renewal of the mind, transforming the heart, and working its way out in our choices, actions, attitudes, and behaviors.

Repentance is a daily renewing of the mind, recognizing that that our old life before we met Christ is now crucified and buried and left for dead behind us. Our new life in Christ is a life that is no longer a dead, burdensome existence that weighs us down, but is characterized by love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. These are all the fruit of the Spirit-filled life that grow in our hearts, minds, and attitudes driving our actions forward for the sake of the Kingdom of God, not our own mini-kingdom where we make the rules on our own.

As a result, this necessitates an external standard of moral truth as opposed to a relativistic standard of truth that applies to each individual. Truth is not relative. We can all agree that murder is wrong, but on what basis? When we take away an objective, external standard of moral truth, we end up with shifting standards that result in chaos, confusion, and anarchy.

As a bondservant of Christ, we are free from the shackles and enslavement to sin that is self-destructive. The difference between being a slave and a bondservant is the ability to exercise the will. As a bondservant, it is your choice to submit to the will of the Father in your heart and mind. Aside from Christ, you are enslaved to your sin and self and all of the desires, appetites, and self-destructive behaviors that can naturally bring. Sure, by worldly standards, there are “good people” in the world. But that standard is constantly shifting with the winds of time from one month to the next, none more apparent than it is today.

However, with a standard that is solid and unchanging – a foundational rock upon which you can build your life, the life in Christ – there is peace and stability and hope. There is confidence in knowing that the standards do not change. There is confidence in knowing that we are all held accountable to the same standards. There is confidence in knowing what it takes to please the Father because His nature is unchanging.

The Grace of Repentance

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“What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 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 6:1-4)

One of the great tragedies of the modern church is that we have allowed the humanistic philosophies of the Enlightenment to color our interpretation of God’s Word, instead of taking His word for what it is – the truth. We have abandoned truth in favor of our own morally relativistic perspective of life that disregards God’s definition of sin and have compromised our understanding of what it means to be disciple of Christ.

In fact, we have gone so far as to no longer publicly discuss the basic spiritual principle of repentance. The prevailing gospel message of the last several decades as been if we simply pray a prayer of forgiveness and get baptized, that is all we need to do in order to obtain our “fire insurance” and avoid hell. However, now we find ourselves even denying the existence of Hell. If Hell doesn’t exist, then why did Jesus even go to the cross to reconcile us to God Himself. If God is holy and just, then it necessitates the existence of an eternal punishment for those who defy His Word. The question then is “Is there salvation without repentance?”

Our salvation is not dependent upon our works. Ephesians makes this clear that we are saved through grace, not works. But repentance is the evidence of the transformation that comes from genuine salvation. Repentance comes as we are motivated out of gratitude and love for our Abba as we seek to please Him. Repentance means turning away from a harmful path to a path that is designed for our betterment. Repentance is the choice to walk in His way because we know our way was not working. If there is no transformation, there is no salvation.

Recently I was watching a few of our grandchildren at a small park on a river in Belton, Texas. We were near a pizza restaurant and there were some concrete stairs about 5 feet high going down towards the river from where we were about 200 feet away. As I was watching our grandchildren play, I noticed the youngest (17 months old) curiously taking quick steps towards the stairs going down. Fearing for her safety, I took off running as quickly as I could, but her dad saw me running, assessed the situation and took off as well and beat me to her before she could tumble down the stairs. And then he walked her back to where the rest of the family was gathered.

This is the picture of repentance and what it means to “walk in newness of life.” Left to our own devices, we were and are heading towards disaster with nothing forward but the potential danger and pain. But the Father comes along and he scoops us up to save us from our own curious devices and carries us to safety in His arms. And He brings us into a family that is there to help guide us and keep us safe from the dangers of this world.

Sometimes we may not like it. We want to scream and throw our fits and still do our own thing, but Jesus is the better way. The holy way. The grace way. He loves us enough to give us boundaries by which to live. He loves us enough to discipline us when we cross those boundaries. And He wants us to trust Him and His way.

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