The Unburdened Nature of Life in the Spirit

I just read a blog post* by a man I've never heard of, Garris Elkins, who wrote about a time when they returned from being missionaries in Europe. All they had at the time were the stuff in their suitcases, some books, and a chair in an attic...and as they stayed in the US their collection of stuff increased. But he recalled something they learned in the time when they had been so unburdened:  

"Years ago we made a valuable discovery. We discovered that everything we would need to accomplish what God asks us to do we already carried within our hearts and spirit.  This is what makes this life of faith so beautifully simple and yet profound. This life in the Spirit is not a cumbersome life.  It requires no physical maintenance, storage or oil changes.  The physical stuff that attaches itself to our lives is never greater in significance than the spiritual deposit each of us carries within our hearts."

It's a very freeing concept. And so true! How often I've thought of the people in primitive huts all over the world who can be happy with very little...and how much time I spend maintaining stuff, stuff and more stuff. One time when my husband's job loss put us in a very unsteady-seeming position (though God had it all in hand, but I have to admit that even though we'd been through that same thing many times before, and God had always proved Himself faithful, I was fretting more than ever otherwise in my life)...when all I could picture was us being without a home, without all our stuff. I didn't think of it as freeing then. All I could imagine was homelessness. If we were put into that position of losing our home, though, I hope we could look to God and see what He would have us do. After all, like Mr. Elkins says, "...everything we would need to accomplish what God asks us to do we already carried within our hearts and spirit." That is true of every believer, and in fact, the promise that tells us so is in 2 Peter 1:3-4: 

"His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire." 

The beauty of what Mr. Elkins was saying is the free nature of a life in Christ, that we need not be hindered by much in the way of material possessions. (I say this with 25 fingers pointed back at me...well, 3 or so in reality, but if I had 30 fingers, at least 25 would be pointed back at me.) It makes me want to dive into our junk drawer...oh wait, that's a junk garage...and get rid of a good amount of really useless stuff. It's better than watching Hoarders!

But...that life is not maintenance free. It might not need anything in the way of painting, sorting, cleaning...but it does take maintenance. In fact, the passage that follows the above Scripture has something in the way of maintenance and building upon what God has started in you: 2 Peter 1:5-11:

"For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ."

That type of maintenance is the most rewarding kind...it is of an eternal, supernatural, attractive and beautiful nature, given by God, empowering the believer to better serve God. His ways are not burdensome...how beautiful is that! Well...I have a garage to clean...talk to you soon!

* http://www.prophetichorizons.com/2014/08/the-stuff.html

Applying Romans 3

This Romans 3 passage has come up repeatedly in discussion and debate with a friend of mine; if I understand his perspective, he sees it as proof that we can’t really do well enough to please God, that everything we do is tainted by sin. I see it, taken in its context, as a description of how all apart from God are under sin and cause Him grief and alienate us from Him, the Jew and the Gentile together. The description here doesn’t seem to me to be intended to describe the abiding believer, but how the unbeliever is shut up into sin and alienated from God until he comes to Christ; there are many Bible verses that seem to indicate that our believing changes us through the grace of God in Jesus Christ so that we are now able to please Him and obey Him and the taintedness of sin is no longer an issue in the things we do in His strength.

Romans 3:10-18                      ...as it is written,
“There is none righteous, not even one;
There is none who understands,
There is none who seeks for God;
All have turned aside, together they have become useless;
There is none who does good,
There is not even one.”
“Their throat is an open grave,
With their tongues they keep deceiving,
 “The poison of asps is under their lips”;
“Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness”;
“Their feet are swift to shed blood,
Destruction and misery are in their paths,
And the path of peace they have not known.”
“There is no fear of God before their eyes.” 

We now have righteousness imputed to us as believers in Christ, even described later in that same chapter:

Romans 3:21-26                       But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed; for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.               

2 Corinthians 5:21                 He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

Philippians 3:8-10                   More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.

So that portion has been provided for every believer.

Then “there is none who understands” is changed:

1 John  5:20                           “And we know that the Son of God has come, and has given us understanding so that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.”

Regarding whether anyone seeks God, you know that people in fact do, only by the power of the Holy Spirit working in them;

Acts 17:24-28                        “The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things; and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we also are His children.’”

Hebrews 11:6                         “And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.”

Though as sinners we turned aside, God has brought us back, and reconciled us to Him through Jesus Christ:

1 Peter 2:25                            For “you were like sheep going astray,” but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.”

He also causes believers to do His will:

Hebrews 13:20-21                  “Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord, equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.”

Of course we don’t do any of this that God desires of us and created us to do, while we are dead to Christ or by our own strength, but only by the power of His Spirit working in us. So it’s essentially Him seeking us; imputing His righteousness to us; giving us understanding; enabling us to do His will.

And as I understand it, all of that is only active while we abide in Him (John 15); when we don’t, our ways default back for that period of time as if we were unbelievers…acting unrighteously or self-righteously; not seeming to understand or seek His ways; turning aside and becoming useless, not doing good; disregarding and disobeying what we have come to know and believe; and we grieve Him (Ephesians 4:17-32).

Here’s another verse that relates to quenching/grieving the Holy Spirit; just in case it is helpful:  

1 Thess. 5:19-24a                    “Do not quench the Spirit; do not despise prophetic utterances. But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every form of evil. Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass.”

If all the aspects of Romans 3:10-18 have countering passages for the believer elsewhere in the Bible, how can the passage be still true of us, as we abide in Him? There is no mention of sanctification in that chapter, so I don't think Paul was speaking of it in those terms; there are 8 versions of the word "just" or "justify." Romans 3:5-6 speak of God's wrath and condemnation, which applies only to the unbeliever (there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, Rom. 8:1); Romans 3:9 talks about being under sin. 

When we don't abide in Him, I think we default to being like the unbeliever as Romans 3:10-18 describe, when we're trying to do things in our own strength; but since we forever have His positional righteousness, even when we live like that, we are not under His wrath and condemnation but under His grace even though we grieve Him (I don't know what that looks like; I know His grace never breaks through to condemnation and wrath for the believer, but it's almost like we give it stretch marks; it clearly inflicts pain on Him). 

Romans 3:20 talks about how by the works of the law no one will be justified in His sight. We know that the believer is justified because of Christ. So when we do works, abiding in Him, it is not with any hope of furthering justification or any change in righteousness or status in God's sight. We are free to obey without it seeming to God that we think we can earn His favor since we know we already have it. We are free to obey simply to show our love for Him. 

Romans 3:21 talks about the righteousness of God through faith. I hold that our positional righteousness is perfect; because it is Jesus' perfect righteousness imputed to us, not dumbed down or defiled or changed in any way. That whole chapter is not about how we are worthless sinners, which we are, saved by grace; it is about how the need for Christ applies both to the Jew and the Gentile because apart from Christ, we all are not seeking, not righteous, not understanding, not doing good.

In response to Christ’s work, out of love for Him, it seems that every believer would want to live for Him, trying to please Him in all respects in our obedience to His truth:

Ephesians 5:6-10              Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not be partakers with them; for you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light (for the fruit of the Light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth), trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord.

Pilgrim reads the signs through Romans

A picture comes to my mind as I read Romans, resurrecting the character “Pilgrim” from Pilgrim’s Progress. As he goes through the path of Romans, Pilgrim notices and reads a number of helpful signs, some of which are so small as to be barely noticeable; these signs, continually appearing through the Book of Romans, are vital indicators, though, because they emphasize transitions that draw attention and illuminate and direct the reader to the correct conclusion.

Road signs:

"Therefore": Because of what was just written—because of the indicative, an imperative is likely ahead of you.

Romans 1:18-25:

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.

Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

"For": The stuff that was just written, a conclusive thought, possibly an imperative, was based at least in part on this thought, an indicative.

Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. ²⁵ For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator,who is blessed forever. Amen.

"For this reason": What was just written led to the following theological reality.

Romans 1:24-27:

Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator,who is blessed forever. Amen.

For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error.

"But": What was said before might leave you swimming in a half-truth. There is another aspect that will complete the thought and rescue you.

Romans 2:1-11:

Therefore you have no excuse, everyone of you who passes judgment, for in that which you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things. And we know that the judgment of God rightly falls upon those who practice such things. But do you suppose this, O man, when you pass judgment on those who practice such things and do the same yourself, that you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance? But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who will render to each person according to his deeds: to those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life; but to those who are selfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, wrath and indignation. There will be tribulation and distress for every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek, but glory and honor and peace to everyone who does good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For there is no partiality with God.

"What then?" Or, "What shall we say, then?" A question indicating a person might go one of two divergent directions based on the previous thought. The writer then brings up the worst predictable and natural conclusion, and negate it with further explanation of why it doesn’t work; because that wrong conclusion could really trip up your walk.

Romans 3:1-4:

Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the benefit of circumcision? Great in every respect. First of all, that they were entrusted with the oracles of God. What then? If some did not believe, their unbelief will not nullify the faithfulness of God, will it? May it never be! Rather, let God be found true, though every man be found a liar, as it is written,

“That You may be justified in Your words,
And prevail when You are judged.”

"Now": Probably a thought that will bring the previous thought up a notch; the next step up on the ladder, or the next hill to climb to see things more clearly.

Romans 3:9-20:
What then? Are we better than they? Not at all; for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin; as it is written,

“There is none righteous, not even one;
There is none who understands,
There is none who seeks for God;
All have turned aside, together they have become useless;
There is none who does good,
There is not even one.”
“Their throat is an open grave,
With their tongues they keep deceiving,”
“The poison of asps is under their lips”;
“Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness”;
“Their feet are swift to shed blood,
Destruction and misery are in their paths,
And the path of peace they have not known.”
“There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God; because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.

"But now," or "So then": Here’s a conclusion based on the previous thought, pretty much like therefore; it might well be new to you, so read it carefully and consider the changes that need to take place because of it.

Romans 3:19-25:

Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that every mouth may be closed and all the world may become accountable to God; because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin.

But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. 

Romans 5:17-18:

For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.

So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men. 

"Even so": This one problem happened and as a counter to our desperate need, God brought this solution about. As you can see in this passage, it’s sort of an “On the other hand, in spite of what was just said, keep these things also in mind” thought; don’t despair when things seem beyond hope; God is in control and makes things as they should be, giving us a way out. It seems to follow the phrase “as [this bad thing happened],”

Romans 5:18-21:

So then as through one transgression there resulted condemnation to all men, even so through one act of righteousness there resulted justification of life to all men. For as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, even so through the obedience of the One the many will be made righteous. The Law came in so that the transgression would increase; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more, so that, as sin reigned in death, even so grace would reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

"Or do you not know": If you don’t believe what was just said, here’s another basic bit of theology that I thought would already have made this clear to you—another indicative.

Romans 6:1-3:

What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? ² May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? ³ Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death?

"May it never be!" I saved my personal favorite for last. This statement, occurring 10 times in Romans, is Paul’s strong, passionate warning, an indicator that the previous statement or question is a faulty conclusion that the reader might assume. This statement is something like the railroad crossing road block, complete with bells ringing and flashing red lights – so you don’t get in the train wreck of disastrous theology. Read on in the passage, and you will find reasoning why this doesn’t work, and/or an explanation of what does work instead.

Romans 3:3-4:What then? If some did not believe, their unbelief will not nullify the faithfulness of God, will it? ⁴ May it never be! Rather, let God be found true, though every man be found a liar, as it is written,“That You may be justified in Your words,And prevail when You are judged.”

Disclaimer: I am not a theologian, but I play one on my blog. Be like the believers in Acts 17:10-11: The brethren immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived, they went into the synagogue of the Jews. Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.

All passages of Scripture are quoted from New American Standard Bible (NASB)and the emphasis upon the words in italicized bold print, or underlined, is mine.

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