Author: Proud Mpofu

By John Stott

Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Christ there. Acts 8:5

It is difficult for us to conceive how bold Philip’s action was in evangelizing Samaritans, for the hostility between the Jews and Samaritans had lasted about a thousand years. But Jesus had told his followers to include Samaria within the area of their witness (1:8). So Philip preached Christ in a Samaritan city, and many believed and were baptised. But when the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the Word of God, they sent two of their number (Peter and John) to investigate. On arrival they discovered (we are not told how) that the Samaritans had received the gospel and baptism without receiving the Holy Spirit. So the apostles prayed for them and laid their hands on them, and they received the Spirit. Did Luke understand the Samaritans’ divided experience as normal or as abnormal? Opposite answers were given. According to some Christians, initiation into Christ is a two-stage experience, either baptism followed by episcopal confirmation or regeneration followed by baptism with the Spirit as a second and subsequent experience.

According to other Christians, however, initiation into Christ is a single-stage experience comprising repentance and faith, new birth, baptism, and the gift of the Spirit. If this is correct, then the Samaritan experience of two stages was abnormal. For the apostles’ normal teaching was that all believers receive the Spirit when they believe (Acts 2:38; Rom. 8:9), and their normal practice was not to send an apostolic delegation to evaluate the work of evangelists.

So why did they do it on this occasion? And why, in any case, was the Spirit not given to the Samaritans when they believed? The most natural explanation of the delayed gift of the Spirit in the case of the Samaritans is that this was the first time that evangelism had taken place outside Jerusalem and inside Samaria. This is the importance of the incident in Luke’s unfolding story.

By John Stott

While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit”. Then he fell on his knees and cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he fell asleep Acts 7:59-60

Stephen’s death was full of Christ. Following his speech, Luke records three further sentences that he spoke. Firstly, he said, “Look….I see heaven open and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” (v. 56). Perhaps Jesus had stood up to welcome his first martyr. Unwilling to listen to Stephen’s exaltation of Jesus, the Council rushed at him, dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Now he uttered his second sentence: “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit” (v. 59). His prayer was similar to that which Jesus prayed just before he died, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit” (Luke 23:46). Thirdly, when Stephen fell on his knees, he cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them” (Acts 7:60). This was reminiscent of Jesus’s first words from the cross, which Luke has also recorded.

There were, in fact, several parallels between the death of Jesus and the death of Stephen. In both cases, false witnesses were produced and the charge was one of blasphemy. In both cases, too, each prayed for the forgiveness of his executioners and for the reception of his spirit. Luke concludes his narrative with the words “he fell asleep” (v. 60) – “an unexpectedly beautiful and peaceful description of so brutal a death,” wrote F.F. Bruce.

What interests many people most about Stephen is that he was the first Christian martyr. Luke’s main concern lies elsewhere, however, namely with the vital role Stephen played in the development of the worldwide Christian mission. His teaching showed already from the Old Testament that God was tied to his people, not to buildings. So now Jesus was ready to accompany his people wherever they went. This assurance is indispensable to mission.

God has bound himself to his church (promising that he will never leave it) and to his Word (promising that it will never pass away). But God’s church means people, not buildings, and God’s Word means Scripture, not traditions. As long as these essentials are preserved the building and the traditions can, if necessary go. We must not allow them to imprison the living God or to impede his mission in the world.

For Further Reading: Acts 7:54-60

By John Stott

These men began to argue with Stephen, but they could not stand up against his wisdom or the Spirit by whom he spoke
Acts 6:9 – 10

Stephen was one of the Seven, and Luke declares him to be full of the Spirit, wisdom, grace, faith and power. Yet surprisingly, he provoked some Jewish opposition. He was accused of speaking “words of blasphemy against Moses and against God” (v.11). When he was brought before the Sanhedrin, the accusation turned out to be that Stephen “never stops speaking against this holy place and against the law” (v.13). This was, of course, a very serious charge, since the temple and the law were the Jews’ most precious and sacred possessions.

Some commentators have criticized Stephen’s speech before the Council as being rambling, dull, irrelevant, and even incoherent. But this is a superficial judgement. In particular, Stephen argued that the great figures of the Old Testament never imagined that God could be imprisoned in man-made buildings. Stephen picked out four major epochs, dominated by four major characters, in order to prove his point. Firstly, God appeared to Abraham in idolatrous Mesopotamia. Secondly, God was with Joseph in an Egyptian prison. Thirdly, God was with Moses in all three periods of his life. Fourthly, although David and Solomon built the temple, they knew very well that the Most High does not dwell in buildings. Thus, the single thread that runs through Stephen’s speech is that Yahweh is a pilgrim God. His presence cannot be localized. He is always on the move, calling his people out in fresh adventures and always accompanying them as they go.

As for the law (Stephen’s second topic), he turns the tables on his judges. It is not he who shows disrespect for God’s law; it is they. They are “stiff-necked people, with uncircumcised hearts and ears” (&:51), just like their fathers. They are resisting the Holy Spirit and rejecting God’s Messiah.

For Further Reading: Acts 6:8-15

By Martin Morrison

Haven’t you discovered certain music or a certain song awakens an inconsolable longing in your heart. An inexplicable longing. You wish it would never end. You wish you could live there forever. Sometimes it is so deep, it is painful. Have you ever wondered what that is? The Bible says that it is a longing for eternity. “God has set eternity in the hearts of man”, Ecclesiastes 3:11.

Now, you may say to me, I don’t believe in heaven or hell. I don’t believe in God. I don’t believe in the afterlife. I will never call myself a Methodist or a Muslim or Hindu or Baptist. That may well be true. But let me tell you what is equally true. You will never escape eternity. It is inside you. It has been placed there by your creator, whether you believe in him or not, whether you believe in organised religion or not.

We were made for eternity. We were hardwired to live for eternity. Eternity is not what you believe, Eternity is what you are. In the movie, The Matrix, Morpheus says to Neo, “Let me tell you why you are here. It’s because you know something. What you know you can’t explain, but you feel it. You’ve felt it your entire life. There is something wrong with the world. You don’t know what it is, but it’s there, like a splinter in your mind driving you mad”.

What’s wrong with the world, is that you and I were made for eternity and when we deny it, it’s like a splinter in your mind driving you mad. Ecclesiastes says that we were made for another world. We were hardwired to live forever. God has set eternity in our hearts.

Our problem is that we have denied that inescapable fact. Our problem is that we have eternity amnesia. We’ve forgotten that this world is not the destination but the preparation. We’ve forgotten that we were created for another world.

Let me tell you what happens when we have eternity amnesia. We live in constant frustration. We live with constant unrealistic expectations. Our problem is that we expect the things of this world to satisfy our yearning for another world. And it never will. No creature or created thing can satisfy the longing of our hearts, only the Creator can.

C S Lewis said, beware the false poison of the false infinite. It is sweet, but it is poison, because it is a false infinite. So we take a false infinite, a false god, a false idol and attempt to fill the vacuum of our disenchanted world, but it never works.

Because of my job, I often officiate at weddings. In the wedding talk, I often say what is politically incorrect. “If you think that one person , namely your new spouse, can satisfy all the desires of your heart, you will be sadly disillusioned. No human being can do that, only God can”.

You’ve seen those books. 1001 Books you must read before you die; 1001 Restaurants you must experience before you die; 1001 Places you must visit before you die; 1001 Movies you must see before you die. That is a destination mentality. This world is all there is. So try and squeeze every possible pleasure or experience into your life, to quench the longing of your soul. And Solomon the wisest man who ever lived, apart from Jesus, says that all you will be left with, is a bitter taste in your mouth, because nothing created can satisfy the eternal longing of your soul. Vanity, all is vanity.

The only antidote, the only answer is not to look at created things, but the Creator. The one who said, “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly”, John 10:10.

For further Reading: Forever: Why you can’t live without it by Paul David Tripp, from which the main ideas of this devotion are derived. Available from Kindle, Amazon.

 

By Martin Morrison

It has happened to me a couple of times. Thankfully not too many! The worst occasion was when I was studying at Seminary to prepare for full-time Christian ministry. I was about 28 years old. My very best friend, let’s call him John, and I shared digs and did almost everything together. We studied together, we stayed together, we did ministry together. He was probably my best friend, because unlike most other sensible people, he actually laughed at some of my jokes! A few. Well, one or two!

The problem arose out of the blue and was totally unexpected. Apart from our Seminary studies, mid-week we were involved in small group ministry in a local church. Every Saturday night we did street evangelism in the Chicago city centre. Trying to share the Gospel and Gospel tracts with people as they ambled on the city streets. On hot, humid summer evenings the inner city Chicago streets were bursting with people chilling out on a Saturday night. I think having a South African accent helped. People listened for a few minutes, to try and work out where we were from!

The problem arose in that over a period of time, John was showing significant fruit and “results” both in the small group ministry and on the city streets. Everyone was congratulating him on how the Lord was using him. You would have thought that I would be delighted. God was growing his Kingdom through my best friend.

Sadly, not. I became jealous. It was a relatively new and unpleasant emotion. I couldn’t shake it off. The more the Lord used and blessed him, the more I resented it. It is not difficult to understand the root cause of jealousy, namely pride. I wanted the glory and was jealous that he got it! It made me wonder whether I was doing ministry for human attention or for God’s glory! I discovered that our motives are always mixed at best! “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?”, Jeremiah 17:9. At some point in time we all have to realize that painful truth about our own hearts, even as believers! If you don’t understand what I am talking about, you are obviously still a very young Christian!

Historical literature has many examples of jealousy, probably the most notable being that of the composer Salieri and his envy of Mozart. Not many knew or heard of Salieri the classical composer, hence his jealousy of the great Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Antonio Salieri, Mozart’s nemesis, when confronted with the limitations of his own mediocre talent, believed that God had cheated him, while a vulgar, immoral, undeserving brat seemed to possess divinely inspired musical gifts.

I was neither Salieri nor Mozart! However, in my distress, I searched high and low for written material to help me get rid of my aching sin. To quote Douglas Coupland in another context, “it was like a thorn in my mind driving me mad”! There is a vast amount of literature on almost every sin under heaven, but not jealousy. In the end, it was one of the Puritans, probably John Owen, who provided succour for my wretched heart. His advice was counter intuitive, certainly to me.

He advised any Christian struggling with jealousy to earnest pray for the person of whom they are jealous. And in particular to pray that God would bless and use them more and more! “But Lord, I said, that’s precisely what I don’t want. Don’t you get it!”.

Well, of course the Lord gets it! After some time, I very begrudgingly and almost insincerely starting praying for the Lord to use and bless John. It wasn’t magic, but almost! Like the morning mist is burnt up by the rising sun. That particular curse was lifted almost overnight. The Lord took away my wretched jealousy as soon as I prayed for God to grow his kingdom and his name through my best friend. What a burden was lifted! I was free!

Perhaps God was teaching me, as John the Baptist said of Jesus, “He must increase, but I must decrease”, John 3:30. Strangely, after all these years, I still have so much to learn about that verse!

By Martin Morrison

Failure can haunt you. The memory of past sins can debilitate you in your Christian journey. The reminder of errors in judgement can paralyze your walk with God. That sudden and painful thought that wakes you up in the middle of the night and refuses further sleep. No matter how much you lecture yourself to quieten your mind, the thought resurfaces when least expected. It is strange how your mind is able, so to speak, to have a mind of its own!

“He has risen. He is not here. But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you”, Mark 16:6 – 7. That was the advice of the young man in the tomb, given to Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome when they came to anoint the body of Jesus after his crucifixion.

The key phrase is, “Go, tell his disciples and Peter”. Thomas Brooks, commented on this verse and especially the phrase, “and Peter”. I paraphrase:

“What love! What mercy! Christ looked more upon Peter’s sorrow than his sin, more upon his tears than his oaths. The Lord will not cast away weak saints for their great unbelief. Or cast them away for their seasons of hypocrisy, seasons of pride, seasons of passion. We will not throw away a little gold, because of a great deal of dross that clings to it; we will not throw away wheat because it is mixed with chaff, and will God?

We do not throw away our garments because of spots, or books because of some blots, or jewels because of some flaws. Will the Lord cast away his dearest ones, because of their spots, blots and flaws. Surely no!  God looks more at the garment than the spot. God looks more at the book than the blot. God looks more at the jewel than the flaw.

Weak Christians are more apt to look upon their infirmities than on God’s grace, and because their gold is mixed with a great deal of dross, they are ready to throw away all as dross.

Well remember this: the Lord Jesus has as great an interest in the weakest saints as the strongest. He has an interest as a friend, a father, a husband. Yes, though saints are weak, very weak, he cannot but overlook their weakness, and keep a fixed eye on their graces”.  

Despite Peter denying his Lord and Saviour not once, not twice, but three times, Jesus longs to see Peter after the resurrection in Galilee. He longs to restore him, he longs to embrace him in his arms, he longs to commission him again to service.

In God’s economy, human failure, can never be the last word. In God’s family, failure can never exclude you from membership or service. How can it? Your entrance into the family was not through victory. It was through grace. So how can failure exclude you? You were not included because of success, so how can you be excluded because of failure? God’s love and grace will always trump or conquer our failures. Big and small. Otherwise it wouldn’t be grace. Otherwise God wouldn’t be God!

 

For Further Reading: The Works of Thomas Brooks.

By Martin Morrison

At first sight there seems to be a real contradiction in the teaching of Paul when it comes to anger. On the one hand Paul teaches us, “to bear with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive”, Colossians 3:13. On the other hand, “If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed”, Galatians 1:9.

Nowhere in the New Testament will you find Paul more angry than here in Galatians 1. He is calling God’s curse on someone, ostensibly a church leader in Galatia. It’s almost equivalent in our culture to tell someone “to go to hell”! Whereas, in Colossians 3, he calls on us to bear with one another, to forgive one another. Is Paul confused or schizophrenic?

The Bible does not forbid anger. God’s wrath and anger is often displayed throughout the Bible, as is his grace. Preminently, the cross is where God’s wrath and grace meet. Remember the first time you played with a magnifying glass. The thrill of being able to concentrate the sun’s rays in one tiny bright spot. Surely you remember when your brother showed you how you could concentrate the sun’s rays on the skin of your arm!! The cross is where the focus of God’s wrath and God’s grace is at its most intense and excruciating.

Elsewhere Paul teaches us, “Be angry and do not sin”, Ephesians 4:26. Which means that it is possible to be angry and not sin. There is such a thing as righteous indignation. We ought to be angry with sin, with injustice, with corruption, with racism, with evil.

Sadly, we too often sin in our anger. When we say things which are hurtful and damaging. When we are unwilling to forgive. When we hold a grudge against others. The Bible is quite clear that we are not to take revenge; that we are not to repay evil with evil. Jesus says, “But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you”, Matthew 5:44.

It seems that in Galatians 1, Paul is responding with righteous indignation to very dangerous false teaching. The context is most clearly explained in Acts 15:1, “But some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved”. In effect, they were saying that faith in Christ is not sufficient for salvation, you also need religious works. In this case, circumcision. Paul responds with anger. They are subverting the Gospel of grace. This cuts to the very heart of the Christian faith.

Now we need to bear in mind that we are not Apostle’s as Paul was. Great care and wisdom is needed before we respond in a similar way. However, it would seem that anger is appropriate when a serious principle or Gospel truth has blatantly been committed. Galatians 1, was no doubt written long after Acts 15 occurred. One would surmise that there had been opportunity for discussion, perhaps even vigorous debate. However, by the time of Galatians, all other avenues had probably been exhausted, which compelled to Paul to speak with such force and anger. The very heart of the Gospel of grace was at stake.

However, it would seem that when we are slighted in some way; when we are ignored; when we are personally maligned; when the offence is personal; when it is not a matter of principle or Gospel truth, that we are to “bear with one another” or “to forgive one another”. It seems that in those cases where it is only my ego, or my importance at stake, that “love covers over a multiple of sins”.

Of course, the great question is whether the issue at stake is my pride or a principle! How often don’t we get that wrong. That’s why we need wisdom!

By Eddie Lombard

 

20 “Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.21 Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
Mark 10:20-21

No one likes to think of themself as a bad person. If I were to ask the question: “Are you a bad person?” most people would evaluate themselves and say: “Well, I am no Mother Teresa but I am also definitely no Donald Trump!”

Mark 10:17-31 helps us to see ourselves through the eyes of our Lord Jesus and how desperately we need Him to rescue us because:
“not one of us are righteous, no not even one” Romans 3:10

A rich man came to Jesus with a very noble question. He wanted to know the criteria for eternal life:
“Good teacher” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” vs 17.

He was rich, respectful and moral. All the characteristics of a 1st Century man who would be seen as blessed by God. In his time there would be no better candidate for ‘good’.

Jesus’ reply should shock us like it did him. No man is good enough Jesus says, we are all bad in God’s eyes.

Jesus did this by showing the rich man his pride. The rich man took real pride in his attempts to keep the law, at least the second half of the 10 commandments. This pride in his work to keep the law showed his moral bankruptcy. So Jesus turned to the first half of the 10 commandments, showing the rich man what he really loved:

“Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

The man left Jesus because his heart loved wealth more than Jesus’ offer of eternal life. An offer that we saw previously was for anyone to “receive the kingdom like a child” vs 15 and come follow Jesus.

The disciples pick up on Jesus’ teaching. In their minds they saw this “blessed man”. He represented the best that their culture could produce. If he cannot inherit eternal life by his good works, then “who can be saved?”vs 26. Jesus’ answer helps us clearly see that no man is good enough to inherit eternal life, that is exactly why Jesus had to come to save us. That is why Jesus had to come to earth, be rejected by all and then die that lonely death on the cross, so that we can be saved. Vs 32-34. No man is good enough to inherit eternal life. In fact, we are all so unrighteous that is why Jesus came to save us from our own self-righteousness.

Prayer points:
Ask the Lord to help you see yourself through His eyes. Then thank the Lord of Jesus who came to save us from ourselves.

By Martin  Morrison

Who are you?

The person sitting at my left at a coffee shop referred to himself as a banker. Banking is his vocation, but it is not who he is. A lady with a broken marriage referred to herself as a failure. Although she may have failed at her marriage, that is not who she is. A man born in poverty referred to himself as born on the wrong side of the railway track. But that is not who he is.

It shows that when people answer the question, “Who am I”, they very often answer in terms of their vocation, or some particularly formative or emotional experience. Perhaps, you carry great deal of emotional baggage from negative or sinful experiences. Perhaps you are struggling with your self-image or identity. Your struggle may have a long history, but somehow you can’t resolve your identity.

As Christians, whatever our past, our identity is found in at least two key concepts. Let’s unpack them:

            a) I AM A CREATURE

We need to start with the most basic truth about us: we are created beings, “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them”, Genesis 1:27.

UTTERLY DEPENDENT.

This is a profound truth, because if God created us, then we are utterly dependent on God, “Since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything”, Acts 17:25. Every breath we breath is a gift from God. Imagine if God took away your breath for a mere ten minutes, well, you would be dead! “What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?” 1 Corinthians 4:7.
“Obviously, the wider culture in which we live today fails to recognize that we are dependent on God for everything. Often it rejects the idea outright. And as the influence of the culture inevitably infiltrates our thinking as Christians, we can begin to forget we are totally dependent on God for every aspect of our lives”, Jerry Bridges.
It is important to realize how physically fragile we really are. We all know stories of family members or friends, who experienced sudden illnesses or life-shattering experiences without a moments notice. Who of us knows what tomorrow will bring, or even what the next hour will bring.

MORALLY ACCOUNTABLE.

Unlike all the other animals, we are created in the image of God. Central to this fact is that we are moral beings, who have the ability to know right from wrong. We are therefore morally accountable to God. The reason you feel guilt, the reason you feel conscience stricken, is precisely because you are made in the image and God and God holds you morally accountable. “So then each of us will give an account of himself to God”, Romans 14:12. We are not free simply to disobey God and expect it will make no difference.

The poem Invictus, has these memorable words, “I am the master of my fate; I am the captain of my soul”. Many think that the poem teaches courage and fortitude. It is actually a defiant statement of independence from God. In many ways, it is the default attitude of every human being. We don’t like to be dependent and accountable, yet we are.

“I am a creature, created in the image of God, fully dependent on him and fully accountable to him”. If you don’t understand this most basic truth, you will never understand yourself. You will never understand God and you will never understand life.

         b) I AM IN CHRIST

Every person who has ever lived, whether they acknowledge it or not, is a creature dependent on God and accountable to God. But if you are a Christian, there is another critical concept to understand. There are many ways in which the Bible describes your new status as a Christian, but the most profound is that you are “in Christ”. Paul uses this phrase more than 160 times in his new Testament letters, meaning that we are “united to Christ”.

IN ADAM

However, what does it mean to be united to Christ? “For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive”, 1 Corinthians 15:22. Adam along with Eve, ate the forbidden fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. They both instantly died spiritually and eventually died physically. Adam had been appointed by God to represent the entire human race. As a result, the consequences of his sin fell upon all humanity. For instance, when a rower in a boat race drops his oar, it not only affects all the other team members, but may sink the boat. In the same way, Adam our representative sinned and the consequences reverberated throughout history.

In answer to the question, “Who am I”, we would therefore have to say, “I am a sinner”. Imagine two men, Adam and Christ, standing before God. Behind Adam stands all of humanity representatively united to him. We all came into this world, “in Adam”. Paul describes our dismal condition as being spiritually dead; slaves to the world, the flesh and the devil; objects of God’s wrath. Think of that! We are all born “in Adam”, and so are objects of God’s wrath.

IN CHRIST

The other man standing before God is the last “Adam”, namely Jesus Christ. Just as God appointed Adam to represent all of humanity, so he appointed Christ to represent all who trust in him as Saviour. In Adam, there is universal condemnation, but in Christ there is a universal offer of salvation. “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”, Romans 5:19.
Someone has said it like this: “He lived the life we could not live, and died the death we deserved to die”, or again, “He was treated as we deserved to be treated, in order that we might be treated as he deserved to be treated”.

IN THE SPIRIT

Not only has Christ assumed the responsibility for our obedience to the law of God; not only has Christ paid our penalty of death for not obeying the law, but he has given us his Spirit to live within us. “That which is born of the Spirit is Spirit. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit”, John 3:6 – 8.

By the work of God, I am no longer in Adam; I am in Christ, pardoned and filled with his Spirit.

“Do I as a Christian understand myself? Do I know my own real identity? Say this over and over to yourself, first thing in the morning, last thing at night, whenever your mind is free,” I am a child of God, God is my Father; heaven is my home, every day is one day nearer. My Saviour is my brother, every Christian is my brother or sister too”. J I Packer.

For Further Reading: Who am I? Identity in Christ, Jerry Bridges, from which this devotion is derived; Knowing God, J I Packer.

By Reggie Lamityi

It wouldn’t be too much of a stretch to say that this lockdown hasn’t been easy for most of us. Some of us have struggled with: (a) extreme loneliness and depression, (b) anxiety over health (ours and that of our loved ones) and the economy, (c) secret sin as our fight against it has been weakened in the age of virtual meetings, (d) suffering in our world i.e., racial tensions and inequality and (e) lack of patience with our kids and balancing being present for them while working at home.

What we often won’t admit is that these struggles can be so overwhelming that they can cause us to wonder whether God is still for us. Paul, who was a student and messenger of Jesus, reminds us in what is called the greatest chapter in the Bible that none of these struggles can separate us from the love that God has shown us in Jesus. So for the next six weeks we will marinate on six lessons that Paul offers to us from Romans 8.

Lesson #1 An undeniable freedom

In the preceding chapter, Paul lifts the curtain into his own heart and allows us to see his own struggles (the war that wages within him): he wants to obey God but his sinful desires pull him away from that (7:13-25). Moreover, he actually realizes that on his own he doesn’t have the power to choose and do what is right.

We would expect, that having said this, Paul would condemn himself and wallow in guilt and shame. After all, that’s what most of us do, right? We beat ourselves down to a point where we gravely misinterpret this self-inflicted punishment as remorse and repentance from sin. But in actual fact, this is a pseudo-repentance.

Paul shows us that the path to true repentance and living in a way that pleases God (according to the Spirit) is stimulated and energized by understanding the undeniable freedom we have in Christ. So he doesn’t condemn himself, rather he says in verse 1, “no condemnation exists for those in Christ Jesus.” How is this possible? What is this undeniable freedom?

To answer these questions, we must first consider the word “therefore” which Paul begins verse 1 with: what is “therefore” there for? It is a reminder to us to review all that Paul has said up to this point. So what has Paul said? For now, let me share two overarching points:

• All of humanity has offended God in our actions, is born with the desire to rebel against God, and so deserves God’s judgement (1:18 – 3: 20)
•  But God, instead of justly condemning humanity, shows his love by condemning his Son in the place of his enemies so that those who believe in the work that Jesus did are reckoned as right before Him (3:21 – 5:21)

Now, that is wonderful and momentous news! “This is the gospel: We are more sinful and flawed in ourselves than we ever dared believe, yet at the very same time we are more loved and accepted in Jesus Christ than we ever dared hope.” Tim Keller

Paul is aware that his right standing before God is all God’s work. He didn’t do anything to get himself right and accepted by God, and in the same way he can’t undo the work that God has done. God has eternally changed the position or status of Paul from being “guilty and deserving of condemnation” to “made right with no condemnation that exists because he is in Christ” (verse 1-3). Those who are bible scholars refer to this work as “justification through faith”.

So, because we are eternally justified before God by believing in Jesus, we can have the assurance that we have an undeniable freedom: we are free from the wages (death and judgement) of our sin. So, whatever you are struggling with today, be reminded of this, if you have put your faith in Jesus then God is still and will eternally be for you. It is when we are aware of this that we will readily admit and confess our sin and turn from it, not because we want God to be for us, but because he is already for us.

It is this undeniable freedom that is the greatest motivation in our fight with our daily struggles. Be encouraged and continue fighting during this lockdown!