Benefit #9 - Being Joined Back to God

"For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life." (Romans 5:10)

Make no mistake about it, before we are saved, we are enemies to God.

A co-worker of mind made a very astute comment yesterday. Upon watching one of the most disobedient, defiant, and just generally bad kids that our after school program has ever known, he stated that "God sees our sin just as equal to his." And how true is that? All of us, no matter how "bad" or "good" we are, have sinned and become enemies to God because he hates sin. A common expression in Christian life today is "God hates the sin but loves the sinner." I am not 100% sure that expression is completely true. It is true that God loves his creation but he does not love it when he looks at us and sees sin, thus making us a sinner. When Jesus reconciled us to God through His death, God no longer sees our sin but sees Jesus in our place. Likewise, we are saved by Jesus' life and nothing else.

Another benefit of salvation is that we are joined back to God - reconciled. When we live our lives apart from Him, we make ourselves his enemy. As David Crowder writes, God is the "antonym of me." Through Jesus, God does not see our sin anymore. Does this fact allow us to live our lives anyway we please because we are saved? No, we are called to live holy lives (Rom. 12) in the thankfulness of what Jesus has done for us.

Dr. Mohler's Reading Habits

For those who know who Dr. Al Mohler is, then it is already been established in your mind that he is, well...put simply, a genius. If you are unfamiliar with the man, he is the president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY , and is also an extrordinary scholar, preacher, exegete, spokesperson, blogger, radio call-in-show host, etc. He truly is a renaissance man. He, along with CJ Mahaney, Mark Dever, and Ligon Duncan have formed a group blog called "Together For The Gospel." So far, the blog is pretty interesting to read as they talk to each other, make fun of each other, and all of the things friends would do while sharing a blog and simultaneously living in different parts of the world. The following is a snipet of Dr. Mohler's "reading habits." It's also been documented that he reads around 1,000 pages a day.

Mohler: "In the course of any given week, I will read several books. I know how much I thrive on this learning and the intellectual stimulation I get from reading. As my wife and family would be first to tell you, I can read almost anytime, anywhere, under almost any kind of conditions. I have a book with me virtually all the time, and have been known to snatch a few moments for reading at stop lights. No, I do not read while driving (though I must admit that it has been a temptation at times). C.J., I took books to high school athletic events when I played in the band. [Heap coals of scorn and nerdliness here.] I remember the books -- do you remember the games?

A few initial suggestions:

1. Maintain regular reading projects. I strategize my reading in six main categories: Theology, Biblical Studies, Church Life, History, Cultural Studies, and Literature. I have some project from each of these categories going at all times. I collect and gather books for each project, and read them over a determined period of time. This helps to discipline my reading, and also keeps me working across several disciplines. "

After reading this, I am shocked to know that Dr. Mohler was that guy who read books while at a football game! And he was in the band while doing it. That fact alone does not take away from is accomplishments - in fact, it probably is a reason he is where he is today. He is the president of a seminary while I am in my last semester IN seminary. By the way, I was watching the games and doing stupid high school stuff with my friends. Below is the link to the entire blog entry.

Entire Entry

Benefit #8 - Being Saved from God’s Wrath

"Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him." (Romans 5:9)

If this benefit isn't means to come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, I don't know what is. Through Jesus, we are saved from God's wrath that is coming to mankind on account of our sin. Paul paints a very vivid picture in the first two chapters of what the wrath of God is and why mankind deserves it. In summation, mankind has exchanged the truth of God for a lie. What lie? Any lie that states that God is not the God the Bible says that He is.

However, we have been "justified by His blood." When Jesus died on the cross, he paid our death penalty. We were sitting in the courtroom in the defendent's chair, dreadfully anticipating our sentence. We were guilty as charged with our sin and knew it. The judge had just given us our penalty (eternal death) and at the perfect time, Jesus entered and took our place. He took our place on the cross. We should have been on the cross in between the two theives, not our perfect Lord! However, by His grace, Jesus took our place and justified us by shedding his blood, so that ours would not have be shed and die an eternal death.

Benefit #7 - Eternal Life

"For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:6-8

Without a doubt the greatest benefit of saving faith is eternal life. After all, the byproduct of putting one's faith in Jesus as Lord and Savior is eternal life. As Paul states we were ungodly. That is, we live our lives contrarty to that of God's standard until Christ rescues us from our sins. We had no strength to save ourselves and Christ died for us poor sinners.

Paul mentions that men themselves will hardly ever die for "good" men. But Christ, the perfect God-man died for us sinners, evil men that we are. Praise God for is grace and persistance toward us, a created race that is disobedient.

Unsettling article concerning "unwanted children"

I don't usually venture into these waters but a story from bpnews.com has really disturbed me. The article focuses on abortion and recalls an interview on ABC News' Nightline that aired on January 11. The following are some quotes from the doctor, interviewer (the same guy that interviewed Michael Jackson some years ago), and some abortion "ex-mothers." CAUTION: if you are a younger reader, you may not want to read some of this post.

One of the most shocking comments: "I've had one of the most emotionally satisfying careers that I can imagine anyone having," Harrison said Jan. 11 on the ABC News program "Nightline." "I can't tell you how satisfying it is when two weeks after a young woman has come in distraught and thinking that her life is ruined, and she comes back two weeks after the abortion and she is a new woman. She's been given her life back."

This philosophy equates that a baby being born "ruins" a woman's life. For most of the history of the entire world, a baby has been thought of as a "gift from God" mainly beacause it is. The whole process of fertilization, pregnancy, and birth is a true miracle - rather one thinks it comes from God or evolution. However, this philosophy that espouses that unwanted babies "ruin" a mother's life just shows how selfish our society really is. The feeling is that we "deserve" the best of our life and anything that gets in the way can be rightly discarded. This is extreme selfishness.

Furthermore, "Bashir cited to Harrison as facts these stages in the unborn child's development: The heart is pumping blood after 21 days; brain waves are recorded after 42 days."And you are, every day, relentlessly terminating that life," Bashir said to the doctor. "And you are happy with that?""Am I happy with it? No, but I'm not distressed about it," Harrison said. "I would be a lot more distressed if I could not terminate that life for the patient that that life is going to be a disaster for."Bashir also asked him, "When does life begin?""When fertilization occurs, that is a new life. And that's why I say that I kill life," Harrison said, while denying the unborn baby is a person, "that I kill something that's potentially a person. It's not a person."When Harrison mentioned a patient who has had nine abortions, Bashir asked, "Is that really appropriate?""If she needs nine abortions, yes," the doctor said.

I'm sorry, but nine abortions is not appropriate; it is irresponsible. Children are a byproduct of sexual intercourse. There are no accidents. Any couple that decides to have sexual intercourse knows that there is a possibility of becoming pregnant.

Lastly, "Amanda, 20, told the Times, "It's not like it's illegal. It's not like I'm doing anything wrong. I've been praying a lot, and that's been a real source of strength for me. I really believe God has a plan for us all. I have a choice, and that's part of my plan."

Again, our consumer-driven society has brainwashed young girls (as well as older girls) into believing that their life has purpose, a plan (which everyone's life does) but that they can do whatever they would like, as long as it is "legal" to ensure that their plan goes through smoothly.

Unfortunately, what is "legal" changes with the wind. However, God's Holy Word does not change. It has been from the beginning and will be until the end.

Entire Article

Benefit #5 and #6 - God's Love and the Holy Spirit

"Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us." (Romans 5:5)

A fifth benefit of salvation is the fact that God pours out a special kind of love to us. Of course, God loves all of mankind; after all, he created them and gave his only Son to die for mankind. But when we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, a special transaction takes place. God comes and lives inside of us. How is this possible? In John 16 Jives gives a long explanation of the Holy Spirit's work, the sixth benefit.

He states "when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak; and he will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for he will take of what is mine and declare it to you." Furthermore, Jesus states in Acts that "you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you;"

Thus, the Holy Spirit, God Himself, comes and resides inside each believer. This is a special privilege that not every one had. Some Old Testament saints were said to have the Spirit at times, but we can be confident that we have Him at all times. One who is not a believer does not have the Spirit, who guides believers in this life. This is hard for non-believers to understand because it is only through God's love and the Holy Spirit's indwelling that brings light to this truth. The Scriptures say that the Gospel itself is a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles. Keep this in mind when you are witnessing. It is not by your power that people come to a saving knowledge of Christ, it is only through the Spirit's illumination so that we will not be prideful.

However, rejoice if you are saved because you receive God's love in the form of the Holy Spirit to ensure that you will have eternal life.

Benefit #4 - Suffering

Suffering? How is this a benefit of salvation? One is sure to ask this question. Look at the next part of Scripture:

"And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope." (Romans 5:3-4)

Paul shows us a very interesting progression and an equally interesting and enlightening link between tribulations (or trials, suffering, etc.) and molding ourselves into becoming more like Christ. Paul states that we glory in tribulations. Are you going though some hard times? God may be giving you these trials for a reason. What reason could that be? Trials bring perseverance. What kind of perseverance? It is my experience that when I am undergoing some type of suffering, I turn to God more readily and frequently then I would if I felt self-sufficient. But when things go wrong, eventually we realize that we have only one way to turn and that is to God. Thus, suffering leads to perseverance in turning to God frequently, especially in our hour of greatest need.

And through perseverance, our continual relying on God for our needs, character is produced. For sure, the more time that we spend in prayer and the more we are studying the Word of God, and the more we let God convict our hearts, the more our character will turn into what God desires, which incidentally, means death to pride and rise to humility.

And when we are truly humble, (which is an oxymoron since that will never happen - rather when we are humbled) we will realize that we are nothing without God and will realize that we are all sinners saved by grace and upon repenting of our sins and placing our faith in Christ we will have hope.

Benefit #3 - Hope

"...into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God." (Romans 5:2)

The third benefit of salvation made known in this passage is that of hope. Paul writes that we have peace with God through Jesus, who gives us access to God by His grace where we stand. Therefore, we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

Christians have hope. We have hope that we can believe what we have faith in - that is one day we will live forever with our Creator in Heaven, basking in His glory - not ours. Other religions do not have this hope. Muslims live in fear that they must "be good" in order to get to Heaven and that Allah will maybe have mercy on them. Mormons must also work their way to Heaven. Eastern religions' goal is to eventually come to a state of unexistance. The athiest has no hope except in this temporal life. Where is the hope in these beliefs? It is absent.

Only through Christ, our Creator and Sustainer can we rejoice in the hope that we will one day be able to do what we were created to do: worship God for eternity.

Patterson on Israel and the Christian's role

Paige Patterson on what Christians should think about the nation of Israel

Benefit #2 - Access

"...through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand..." Rom. 5:2

The second benefit mentioned in Romans 5 is found in verse two. Verse one states that as believers, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we also have access by faith into grace. What does this mean?

When we accept Christ as our Savior, we receive special access to God. Paul reiterates this in Ephesians 2:18 and 3:12. Jesus intercedes for us in a special way. He is the bridge from death to life. He helps us cross the canyon that our sin has placed before us.

Romans 8:26 states that "Likewise, the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered." The Spirit gives access to God that we would not even know we have. Indeed, when we are in prayer, the Spirit helps us pray for things when we don't know what to pray for.

Access to God is a privilege that most people, if pushed, would probably admit to desiring. The good news is that that this access cannot be bought, caught, or earned. It is a free gift from God given to those who accept His call for eternal life and salvation.

The 10 Benefits of Salvation (Rom. 5:1-11)

"Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ," (Romans 5:1)

In the book of Romans, the Apostle Paul spends the first four chapters explaining how mankind has sinned. He also explains that such sin brings about seperation from God (since God cannot dwell in the presence of sin), and that such sin also demands a penalty. That penalty is death. Paul then explains how Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, has paid mankind's penalty for us, and that those who accept Him as Lord will have their sin slate wiped clean as their sin was given to Jesus who died on the cross. That is the Gospel! Now, Paul turns his attention to the "benefits" of having salvation, the hope of eternal dwelling and fellowship with our Maker.

The First Benefit - Peace

The first benefit of salvation is peace. Ironically, peace seems to be a a slippery object that people cannot grasp. The world preaches "world peace" but no one seems to listen. Why is this? Because there will never be peace throughout the world as long as sinful people are living and allowed to live their own selfish, self-serving lives.

Therefore, Paul says that "having been justified by faith" (Jesus has paid our sin penalty), we have peace. Who do we have peace with? We have peace with God. God does not have to execute his judgment on us, because he has executed it on His only Son. We have peace with God (how?) through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Peace - the state of mind that the entire race of mankind seeks, cannot be found in money, cannot be found in fame, cannot be found in reputation, and cannot be found even in families. True peace of the heart - the settling, comforting feeling of salvation so that no one shoud worry about their lives, only comes from accepting Jesus as your Lord in the power of the cross. What good news that is!

How Can We Know Who God Is?

(Some material adapted and altered from Wayne Grudem's Systematic Theology)

There are three ways we can know who God is:

1. We can know who God is because He reveals Himself to us.

a. He reveals himself through His Word (1 Cor. 1:18-21) – Man’s wisdom is foolishness to God who alone knows all. God has decided to have his message preached.

b. He reveals himself through His Spirit (1 Cor. 2:14) – The things of God are foolishness to man. Man can only know God through the Spirit. Question: How do we come to accept Christ? Do we find Him or does He find us?

c. He reveals himself through His Gospel (2 Cor. 4:3-4) – Mankind’s minds are blinded unless the gospel of Christ shines on them.

d. He reveals himself through His Son (John 1:18) – Christ also reveals who God is to us.

2. We can know who God is but not completely.

a. We will never know God’s greatness (Ps. 145:3) God’s greatness is un-searchable. No one can find it.

b. We will never know God’s understanding (Ps. 147:5) We will never be able to fully measure God’s understanding – it is too big.

c. We will never know God’s knowledge (Ps. 139:6, 17-18) It is too high.

d. We will never know God’s ways (Rom. 11:33, 1 Cor. 2:10-12)

3) We can know who God is.

a. God is love (1 John 4:8)

b. God is light (1 John 1:5)

c. God is spirit (John 4:24)

d. God is just (Rom. 3:26)

e. God wants to be known (Jer. 9:23-24)

Application:

1) We can only really understand God through His Word. Praise God for showing Himself to us.

2) We will never run out of things to learn about God therefore we can keep learning wonderful things about God.

3) Now that we know who God is, let us truly know God by prayer and reading His Word.

On Humility

Now that I am out of school until the 26th of January, I finally have some time to do some reading of books for fun and spiritual growth and not just for assignment. I recently took some Christmas money and bought a few books at the local Lifeway Christian store here on campus. The first book I've decided to read is by Wayne A. Mack entitled Humility: the forgotten virtue. I know that C.J. Mahaney and Joshua Harris have also recently published a book on this topic but it was not in the bookstore, so I decided to buy this one instead. So far, it is an excellent read. In the opening chapter, Mack describes how all believers are taken into the "valley of humiliation" by God. Why? Mack gives four reasons:

1) "The fact that Scripture teaches the tremendous importance of humility implies that God highly values humility and despises pride." Pride, of course, is the root of the first sin committed in both the spritual and physical world.

2) "God takes believers into the valley of humiliation because we are so prone to pride and so adverse to humility." He adds, "We are born proud, and because of our sinful hearts, we do not naturally seek after God." If one has ever been around children, this fact is most evident. Just yesterday, a 5 year old at my afterschool program decided to put his peer's head in the toilet where he then proceded to flush the commode; a swirly if you will. He then told me "I said I was sorry," as if that fact made the act null and void. That is another discussion entirely, however, the mother's reaction was equally disturbing. When I informed her that we would have to suspend her kid from the program for a day she swore that this act was something that her kid was not capable of and wouldn't have done unless he was "provoked." Provoked or not, that does not excuse the act and I wanted to say "Well, ma'am, your kid is a little sinner like all of us are and is prone to do selfish acts as opposed to good ones." While this is the truth, that way of response is not a humble one and just shows how hard this concept is to control. Also, her response shows the false view we have of anthropology, that mankind is good and not capable of evil unless somehow learned.

3) "God allows us to undergo humbling circumstances because he wants to test and increase our faith." We indeed draw closer to God when we KNOW we have to depend on him. This in turn, decreases our false dependency of ourselves, and increases our real, true dependency on God alone.

4) "God leads us into the valley of humiliation because he wants to use the trials in our lives to produce in our lives a quality of endurance so that we may become 'perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.'" When we go through trials, we are humbled. When we are persecuted for our beliefs, which are ALL inherently contrary to worldly views, we are humbled. Humbling ourselves makes us more like Christ, which in turn glorifies Him.