Rom 5

Date: 15 February 2009 D - 6

Events:

I’ve been in Colorado for the last few days skiing with my brother Tyler so I’ve got a lot to catch up on!

11 Feb: I flew up to Denver in the afternoon and spent the evening with my brother Tyler and his wife Lindsay. I flew out of Austin because the tickets were half the price as San Antonio and at the airport they had live music so I sat down and had a beer. Only in Austin! Great flight, Tyler picked me up at the Airport then we drove to his house. Tyler and Lindsay have done a ton of work to their house and it looks great. Sooooo proud of my little brother. Tyler and I took his dog Buck out for a good long walk. They have a great trail that comes right up to their neighborhood and winds’ through Denver, Sadie would have loved it :(. We went to bed early to get ready for our big ski trip. I had trouble sleeping, as I always do when I’m away from Marla so I was up reading from 1-3am but slept great before and after.

12 Feb: Tyler got up early (0430) and went in to work before we left for the Mountains at 0700. We had a great trip up the mountain and talked about how difficult it is to keep our joy despite the daily grind of work deadlines and relationships. We both decided that the key is to keep our priorities in order and not allow the job that we spend the majority of our day doing take emotional precedence over our faith, family or friends. Incredible day skiing. It was sunny and warm and the snow was perfect. The tempo was intense; on the fast runs we would go top to bottom nonstop, ski onto the lift (no lines all week) then do it again. On the bump runs we took an occasional break to fall over dead then kept on skiing. I’ve never skied so hard. We went to Keystone so that we could ski from 9 am till 9 pm but by 5 we were smoked. We went back to the Hotel and stared blankly at the TV for a while then worked up the strength to get up and go to a great local restaurant. Had great wings and burgers at the bar while we watched amazing skiing on TV. I slept terribly again away from Marla, got up at 11 and read in the hotel lobby until 0200 then slept good until I got up at 0700.

13 Feb: We were slow to get back out to the slopes that morning but had a great day despite all our pain. By 3:00 I was more ready than been my last run. Made a great fast last run of the season, packed up and drove down the mountain to catch my 7 PM flight back to Austin. I was very happy (and ready) to get home to Marla and Sadie and finally had a good night sleep.

14 Feb: Marla and I slept in a bit then drove to Houston to spend my final weekend with my parents and in-laws. We made some steaks for Valentine ’s Day and watched The Cleaner. It was a great and relaxing day.

Bible:

Rom 5

Peace with God through Faith

5 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 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. 11 More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

Death in Adam, Life in Christ

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.

15 But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man's trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. 16 And the free gift is not like the result of that one man's sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. 17 If, because of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.

18 Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. 19 For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous. 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.


Bible Thoughts:

1. …since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God… The content that follows reveals that the apostle speaks not of a worldly peace (as he immediately guarantees tribulation/suffering) but a spiritual peace. This is the “peace that surpasses all understanding” (Phil 4:7). What advantage has a man who has all worldly comfort and position but is tormented day and night by inner guilt, self-doubt and fear? Why is the suicide rate directly related to socioeconomic status (highest in most successful)? No, the peace that we have through faith in Christ is a full reconciliation so that we may now cry out “abba” (daddy) God (Romans 8:15). Through faith in Christ we are no longer alienated from God and “children of wrath” (Ephesians 2:3) but heirs to an eternal kingdom where “neither moth nor rust destroy.” (Matthew 6:19) The payment that our guilt-ridden consciences have demanded must not be ignored or denied through endless self-help rituals that may never cancel the debt but paid in full by Christ on the cross. With adequate payment for our sins made our “consciences cleansed,” (1 Pet 3:21) we enjoy an inner peace that the world will never understand. A peace that rests in God’s pardon, worth and strength. When your conscience cries out “guilty,” then remember the lashes of Christ and shout back “paid.” When we feel that our strength will not suffice, remember you no longer live by your strength but by God’s; “stronger is he that is in you than he that is in the world.” (1 John 4:4) When we lack self-esteem, remember the sovereign creator of the universe esteemed us enough (not for our deeds but for our person) to crucify his son in order to enjoy us for eternity. When we cower with fear, remember the worst the world can do is “kill the body” and usher us into our eternal mansion. This is true peace.

2. …Through him we have also obtained access by faith… Remember it is no abstract faith that saves us. It is a Christ honoring faith in his victory over sin in His life and his victory over death in his resurrection. “faith alone” that is without an object never saved anyone.

3. …we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. This phrase gives us the punch line of the following discourse on suffering. Though our world falls apart around us (see Job 1-2), when we hope in the glory of God we too may say, “the Lord has given and the Lord has taken away, blessed be the name of the lord” (Job 1:21). As we realize our hope is not in this world but in the promise that after the trials of this life cease, then we Christians will behold the full glory of God. The most beautiful regions of the world pale in comparison to God’s glory as this world is a victim of the fall of Adam in Gen 3:17-18 “ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life;18 thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you” My parents just came back from the Patagonia, Argentina and I have seen pictures of the amazing waterfalls, lakes (great for wakeboarding) and wildlife, as stunning as this scenery is, it is actually still but a glimpse of the glory of God as it is cursed by Adam’s disobedience. This is why, when I looked over the majesty of the Rocky Mountains I said to Tyler, “if this is our punishment, our cursed world, how much greater our reward, how much greater will be the full untainted glory of God!” If those mountains are beautiful now when we fear Adam’s curse on nature that leads to avalanches, the curse on animals that makes Mountain Lions aggressive, and the curse that makes us rightfully fearful of our fellow man, how much greater the Glory of God reflected in Heaven’s Rocky Mountains without the taint of Adam’s curse on nature, animal, and man.

4. …we rejoice in our sufferings… While this will seem masochistic to the world, the Christian is to “rejoice in suffering" because suffering magnifies Christ in at least two important ways:

1) It reveals our inner sinfulness thus illuminating our need for Christ’s forgiveness. As I sit here writing, my dog at my feet, bible at my right hand, hot tea at my left without distraction and without pain, it is fairly easy to deceive myself into thinking that I’m pretty darn good. The problem is that my assumed goodness is inversely proportional to my felt need for Christ. As Christ said, “I did not come to heal the righteous but the sinner.” Though none is righteous, and all need Christ’s righteousness it is hard for me to remember my own depravity as I sit here in comfort. However, take me away from my nice home, pretty wife and great puppy and put me in traffic rushing to work, getting cut off once, twice, three times, S@1% is that construction! And my sin becomes blaringly apparent. Fore, “out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks” (Matthew 12:34). I am both ashamed and frightened as I hear all forms of vulgarity and hatred spewing from this “sanctified” heart of mine. It is then that my felt need for Christ increases exponentially as I no longer deceive myself into thinking I am the pinnacle of goodness and am force to admit that, in my flesh, I am little more sanctified than the jerk that just cut me off . The same sin present in traffic is present in my heart even the monastery of my home; I am just better able to pridefully ignore and deny its existence.

2) It refocuses our “hierarchy of need.” With Job as our example, after all of the false assurance of worldly relationships and possession is stripped from us and we are forced to rely on the only One worthy of true assurance, the only One able to provide true safety, and the only One who loves us inside and out (not the glorified front we put forward to the world) then and only then to we remember “our first love,” and derive our assurance, strength and Love from the “unchanging,” “rock of our salvation.” When we, as Christians, undergo suffering we are forcibly reminded that this world is not our home that we are to live as aliens sojourning across this land anxiously anticipating the return of our master and our glorious life to come.

5. ...suffering produces endurance…endurance produces character…character produces hope…and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. As above, suffering both reveals our hidden sins and redirects us to the only One worthy of hope. This process as we see here, however, does not happen overnight, but through a series of sanctifying (maturing) steps that ultimately result in the correct placement for our hope in our savior Christ. This is a good lesson for me to remember, as often it is easy to stand outside a suffering person’s life, make an assessment as to why they are suffering (which in my case is invariably accurateJ) and propose a simple solution. Problem and life’s mysteries solved, let’s watch the football game. Real life, however, is not that easy. As a Christian friend, it is my responsibility not to minimize my loved ones problems or expect a rapid recovery as soon as my friend see’s the light. At times though the reason for the suffering seems simple and the solution straightforward, as a friend I must “bear with” my Christian brothers as they “wrestle with God” there not only for a quick solution but a bit of empathy. To a head dominant Christian like me this patience is sometimes forgotten. Likewise, our own spiritual maturity takes time, it is not healthy or realistic to read the bible and then immediately expect of yourself the faithfulness of Paul or the spirit of Elijah. Do not be disappointed or doubt your salvation the first time you ask, “one mountain to pick itself up and throw itself into the ocean” if it doesn’t actually happed as this feat of faith takes at least one or two years of spiritual maturity to accomplish J. Point is, our very faith is a gift and as Paul will soon say in Rom 12:3-4 “I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.” Not to say you should not desire a deeper relationship and faith, but your faith is your gift, we are not to judge our measure of faith against our fellow Christians and somehow feel prideful , ashamed or envious but instead feel thankful that we have even the maturity the we have been gracefully given. We all have our contribution to the body of Christ, what would the body be if it was all heads without a heart or hands? This is not an excuse for spiritual stagnation but a recurrence for those who are frustrated to the point that they doubt the sincerity of their Christian conversion, we must rest always in the Gospel, that our conversion does not rest in our works or will but in God’s decision and Christ’s love. Your frustration is evidence of your re-born heart that now desires a deeper faith. I am weary of those “Christians “content in their worldliness not striving for an intimate relationship, not convicted of their sin and not warring with their flesh daily.

6. — 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. As Christ was whipped, spit on, insulted, and hung on the Cross he uttered the words, “Forgive them for they know not what they do.” The scene is powerful, I can’t do it justice so here it is, Luke 23:34-38
“4 And Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." And they cast lots to divide his garments. 35 And the people stood by, watching, but the rulers scoffed at him, saying, "He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his Chosen One!" 36 The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine 37 and saying, "If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!" 38 There was also an inscription over him, "This is the King of the Jews." Truly, Christ has seen us at our worst. The holiness of God has seen every hidden sin in all its heinousness, sin’s we would not admit to our best of friends for fear they would leave us. But, far from leave us, Christ endured the most horrendous, undeserved ridicule and death, paying the debt our sinfulness demanded in order to enjoy us as his beloved friends forever in his kingdom.

7. 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. If God loved us enough to sacrifice his son in our wrath-deserving hatred and rebellion from him, how much more is His love now that our debt has been paid, our relationship restored, the prodigal son returned. This is where our hope rests, and this is a hope that is not dependent upon our ability to hide our inner ugliness as are human relationships. But God, having seen our worst, stands with open arms ready to accept us as soon as his grace enables us to admit our true ugliness and need.

8. 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... The doctrine of Original Sin, like the doctrine of the trinity, while explicitly stated nowhere in the bible, is supported throughout the bible. Here we see an example supporting original sin. Adam as our figurehead was created by God with free-will and free-choice but he chose to disobey God and ate the apple from the forbidden tree. When Adam sinned, a curse was placed on man, animal and land (Gen 3). As a result of Adam’s sin, mankind’s desires became in bondage to sin with the ultimate penalty given-- death. Adam’s sin was transmitted to the human race and our will (no longer free) became a slave to sin. Now we truly have free choice we just don’t have free will. Our will, because of Adam’s sin, is forever tainted with the sin of selfishness of worldliness, short of God’s gracious renewal of our heart; we will never choose to serve Him over our own selfish desires. As this verse supports, the evidence that we have all sinned (whether in action or inheritance) is that we all suffer sin’s penalty, physical death. The evidence that babies, as being conceived by Adam’s seed are sinful in their flesh is that they suffer the penalty physical death. I have great hope that infants who die are not sent to hell but it would be contrary to the gospel and work of Christ to attribute their salvation to their innocence. No, if they are saved, they are saved by the very same God given, Christ honoring, sin atoning spiritual rebirth granted to them that has been granted to me. Their rebirth just occurs far earlier than mine did.

9. 13 for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given… death reigned from Adam to Moses, As evidence that sin exists prior to the law, Paul says that sins result (death) reigned prior to the giving of the Law to Moses.

10. even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, In my opinion, this verse speaks of either the compulsion of the world to sin (without free will) or the discrepancy between Adam’s active sin and the worlds inherent sin. I lean towards the latter because of verse 18 (below). Whereas Adam’s sin was a sin of action, man’s sin now while not always an active sin (infant) is always a sin of inheritance (seed of Adam). For me, the most convincing argument for inherited sin is the virgin birth. If Christ had been born naturally, he too would have inherited the sin of Adam. However, by necessity, in order that Christ was able to be sinless throughout his life, Christ had to be born without the taint of original sin.

11. …18 Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men… As Adam’s sin systemically affected the human race, Christ’s sacrifice is sufficient to rescue the human race.

12. …20 Now the law came in to increase the trespass…Here, Paul says the law not only defined the trespass (as earlier) but increased the trespass. It is clear from the new testament (Matthew 5-6) , that the trespass is not in action but in motive. The law is to be joyously kept with the motive of honoring God, not reluctantly kept for fear of condemnation. Even if the law were completely kept in action but not loved, the law would be violated. Without the Holy Spirit, it is impossible to value God’s law and keep it joyously, instead we look at the law as condemning and, as we see our flesh violate it, we come to despise the law more and more. As it is impossible to keep the whole law, even in action, we end up judging our action against the perfection the law demands, we come to resent the law more and more and in so doing our trespass increases.

13. …as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord… Well put. As Adam sinned and his offspring (humanity) inherited his sin evidenced in the death of our flesh, through Christ’s death, we have been given righteousness that will ultimately lead to our bodily resurrection and ultimate triumph over the grave.

Sun Tzu:

“So what kills the enemy is anger, what gets the enemy’s goods is reward.”

“If you stir up your officers and troops so that hey are all enraged, then they will kill the enemy. If you reward your men with spoils, that will make them fight on their own initiative, so the enemy’s goods can be taken. That is why is said that where there are big rewards there are valiant men.”

The Intellectual Devotion (Kidder, D. & Oppenheim N. The Intellectual Devotion, Rodale. NY, NY 2006):

The Heart of Darkness: written by Joseph Conrad in 1899 it is a concise 80 pages depicting a flashback by a man named Marlow, who has taken a job with a Belgian colonial trading business called only, “the Company.” He is sent to the Belgian Congo to captain a steamboat up the Congo River which is run by an ivory trader named Kurtz. Upon arrival in Africa, Marlow is struck by the decaying Company facilities and racist Europeans’ unabashed exploitation on the native Africans. As Marlow makes his way up the river into increasingly remote territory, his journey becomes as much psychological as physical. As the trappings of civilization fall further away, Marlow begins to see himself as traveling into the primal, unknown reaches of the human mind. Heart of Darkness is particularly familiar today because of its unorthodox but spectacular film adaptation, Apocalypse Now (1979).