Tag Archives: romans 8

May 21 2013

Keep Oklahoma in Prayer Tonight

Children pulled out the rubble dead.

Many pulled out alive.

Many missing.

I tried to tune out the terrible news, a typical suppressive defense mechanism that many of us employ in trying to stay sane.  Than the article stated that there are dead children.  Missing children.

One cannot but image oneself in that situation.  Trying to find your children in the rubble.

An AP photographer wrote graphic details about taking pictures of children being rescued and passed from arms to arms.  Oklahoma trauma center pictured as a disaster zone.

Why does this happen so often?  Natural disasters, tragedies, shootings, epidemics, struggle to survive?

As Christians we turn to the Word of God for answers.

We find this in Romans 8:

18I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. 19For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. 20For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21thath the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.

22We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. 24For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? 25But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

As we pray for the victims let’s focus on this message of Truth.  Creation is subjected to fall, as humanity is subjected to sin.  But it does not end there.  If it were to end there we would be the most wretched people alive.

There is a hope in Christ, a hope of Redemption that goes beyond this temporary groaning of Creation and Flesh.

Keep Oklahoma in prayer tonight.

photo: FoxNews

Apr 12 2013

How to Overcome Lustful Temptations

The primordial sin of the flesh according to apostle Paul in Galatians 5 is lust and the sexual sins associated with it.

It is the number one struggle of young men and women, and it is magnified in the information age when they are bombarded by all sort of immoral digital data.

After a long and admired pastoral career, John Piper offers relief for young believers who struggle with this problem in an interview transcribed by the Christian Post.

“Why does lust, I’m thinking mainly men but not just men, why does seeing have such a force to draw us to click on pornography or linger over some bathing suit issue of Sports Illustrated or to linger over some ad for a movie. What is it about us?” asked Piper.

“And my answer? It’s like drunkenness,” he said.

“In the same way drunks need designated drivers to help them out when they are too inebriated to function, Christians should have friends in their life whom they can count on to help them through lustful addictions.”

“My question is, is there something like that that we should do for each other? If ‘psycho-erotic euphoria’ is as powerful as drunkenness and I think it is, then we need people in our lives who will break our arm. Paul says I pummel my own body; you should pummel me,” said Piper.

“Look, if you’re drunk and you’re about to kill yourself, you better be glad there is somebody in your life to throw you in the backseat of the car,” says Piper.

“But this lust thing is much more like drunkenness than it is like anything else and so we may need this kind of personal accountability.”

Piper endorses accountability partners and relationships within a very close circle of friends (2-3 people) who can keep each other accountable by close monitoring from many aspects.  This is a physical and emotional approach.

To this I would add that fighting lust and its derivatives (such as pornography) must be done “BY THE SPIRIT” as commanded in Romans 8:13

“For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.”

BY THE SPIRIT means by the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit in the believer’s life:

  • The believer must allow the Holy Spirit to continually point him to Christ and to the cross when temptation comes.  Looking at the precious sacrifice of Christ will help the believer realize the suffering that Christ endured for him and for his sin.  Such an approach will make the believer realize the importance avoiding the trap of sin, and ask “will I crucify my Savior willingly again by indulging in sin?”
  • The believer must allow the Holy Spirit to remind him of Scripture.  Just like Jesus fought the devil using Scripture while tempted in the desert, so must the believer fight using “It is written” Luke 4:8
  • The believer must be filled with the Holy Spirit in order to receive power for witnessing to the world (Acts 1:8) which will inherently shift focus away from lust and unto the Kingdom of God.

image credit: TGC

Mar 30 2013

Who Raised Jesus from the Dead?

The straight forward answer is that God raised Jesus from the dead as Acts 2:24 states: “God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.”

But I love the trinitarian implications found in Scripture with respect to Christ’s resurrection.

Most references to God raising Jesus up refer to God the Father.  Even the mockers testified truth when they said in Matthew 27:43: “He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him. For he said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” The Father-Son relationship was validated by the resurrection, and God the Father proved to be faithful in resurrecting Jesus.

Scripture also gives us evidence that Christ’s power was involved in the resurrection, as Jesus is the Second Person of the Trinity.  In John 11:25 Jesus makes the powerful statement “I am the resurrection and the life,” assuming to Himself the power to life.  Jesus also said in John 10:17-18, “I lay down my life that I may take it up again…  I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”

The Father has assigned the task of life to the Son.

The Holy Spirit is also closely implicated in the greatest and most important event to ever grace the face of the universe.  Romans 1:4 says that Jesus “was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead.”  And Romans 8:11 makes it clear that the work of the Holy Spirit in bringing us to life is similar to the work of resurrecting Jesus: “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.”

The Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit have achieved the greatest and most glorious act in this work of redemption when Jesus was resurrected.

And we rejoice as we look forward to God resurrecting up His saints in a similar fashion!

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Mar 20 2013

Atheism as the Wisdom of the World

The late William Provine, a biologist at Cornell University, made the following statement about evolutionary theory:

“Let me summarize my theory on what modern evolutionary biology tells us loud and clear.

There are no gods, there are no purposes, there are no goal directed purposes of any kind.

There’s no life after death.

When I die, I’m absolutely certain that I’ll be dead.

That’s the end of me.

There’s no ultimate foundation for ethics, no ultimate meaning in life, and there’s no free will for human beings either.” (1)

It is mind-numbing to see the level of truth suppression in these statements made by what society considers a brilliant man.  I sat through an eight year college and medical education and took some of the same courses as this biologist, yet I hold to a different standard, an absolute standard for the purpose of life, ethics, and morality.

I cannot even begin to categorize the philosophical belief expressed in this quote.  Blind fatalism may apply, but that would imply fate as a driving factor.  Even atheists may want to depart from Provine’s position of no “meaning in life.”

So depressing to apply such philosophy to one’s life… No goal directed purpose to anything…

But more importantly, such godless worldview is contradictory in its premises.

If there is no foundation for ethics and therefore no absolute morality, then moral relativism is the moral law of the land.  Everyone sets up their own system of right and wrong with respect to morality.  That implies free will in action, the volition and ability to do what everyone feels good and right for themselves.

That would appear to make sense in a land without ethics.  But… Provine says that there is no free will for human beings, contradicting his previous statements…

Provine is correct in one sense.  There is no absolute free will because human beings do not posses the ability (without divine redemption) to lead a sinless life even if we want to.  We are chained to this fallen creation until the finalization of our redemption (Rom 8:20-21).

Delight in Truth readers, with respect to Dr Provine, we are dealing with a case of 1 Corinthians 1 wisdom of the world gone bad.  Paul tells us that the wisdom of the world cannot be applied in knowing God ( 1 Cor 1:21).  He will not reveal Himself via the wisdom of the world, but by the Word of God through the mysterious work of the Holy Spirit.

That is the folly of the cross! The world considers it foolishness… the whole idea of absolute morality, total depravity, and the need for our sins to be imputed onto Christ crucified in order that we may attain righteousness.

When the sinner realizes this, they will never be the same again.

(1) quote from Rodi – Agnus Dei

Mar 13 2013

The Promise of Prayer

I will pray for you.

I will keep you in my prayers.

You are in my thoughts and prayers.

You are in my thoughts.

There is a spectrum of promises in the above statements from a very strong statement like “I will pray for you” to a much weaker declaration “you are in my thoughts.”

These statements have become clichés in our godless society and I have seen even secular people make them.  We have arrived at a point where such promises have lost their values because people may not follow through on these difficult to fulfill promises.

So we water them down.  We go from promising to dedicate time in prayer for someone to promising to think about someone.

I would like to warn Delight in Truth readers to guard your promises carefully, and not make the promise of prayer if you know you cannot keep it.  Prayer is not something to be taken lightly.  Prayer is antithetical to everything that makes up the carnal man, and that is why prayer is not easy.

When you promise to pray for someone, you promise to engage in a spiritual battle on their behalf, and it is a great thing when you follow through on it.  When you pray for someone you are interceding for them, and it literally means you are standing in the gap for them in prayer.  Paul confirms this in Ephesians 6:18 where he talks about  “praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints…”

And when you do follow through on your promise to pray you must remember the all-powerful Intercessors you have on your side!

  1. Jesus Himself our LORD and savior is the ultimate intercessor, and the best thing you can do is to lift up your subject to Jesus.  As a man you cannot be an effective advocate in prayer without Jesus.  I love how Isaiah presents Christ as the final intercessor to the Father: “He [the LORD] saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no one to intercede; then his own arm brought him salvation, and his righteousness upheld him.  Isaiah 59:16
  2. The Holy Spirit is also your intercessor and ally in prayer and will sustain you as you pray for someone.  My favorite chapter in the Bible, Romans 8, provides amazing Scripture about the Holy Spirit helping us in prayer: “26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. 27 And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.”

Prayer is spiritual warfare and it is not easy, but when we have Jesus and the Holy Spirit as intercessors, we can become effective intercessors ourselves for the those who need us to pray for them.

We must take the promise of prayer for others very seriously and ground ourselves in the teaching of Scripture that Jesus and His Holy Spirit will intercede for our prayer subject!

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Mar 5 2013

Dilation and Evacuation: Raw, Real and Evil

I am beginning to devote a considerable portion of Delight in Truth to the Pro Life cause because the Spirit of life, the One who raised Jesus from the grave, the One who gives life (Romans 8:11) to our mortal bodies is Pro Life.

I am posting in the video below the testimony of Dr. Anthony Levatino, a board certified Ob-Gyn who used to perform abortions and who became Pro Life after his daughter was struck and killed by a car.

He said: “If you haven’t gone through that kind of tragedy, you don’t have a clue. You may think you can imagine it, but trust me: You have no idea what it’s like to lose a child, in any way.”

Seeing his daughter die was so traumatic for him, that he began seeing abortion as the violent death of someone’s son or daughter, and he became a Pro Life activist.

The video contains a short clinical description of what a dilation and evacuation around minute 2:45.

The ending is bound to leave a mark in your soul.

Mar 2 2013

Pro Life Victory in Arkansas

This week the pro-life movement in Arkansas gained a small but important victory in the battle against abortion.

Both houses of the legislature passed the “pain-capable unborn child protection act” or anti-abortion pain bill for any baby over 20 weeks gestation.  The bill argues that the fetus is capable of feeling pain and therefore suffers a horrific death at the hands of the abortionist.

Even though democratic governor Mike Bebee vetoed this life saving bill, both houses of the legislature came through with an override and the bill is now passed.

The constitutionality of the law will most likely be challenged by the ACLU, but for now the law stands.

Progress is slow and methodical, but the pro-life movement continues to grow especially among younger people, many of whom are Catholics and Evangelicals.  One could argue that is not a victory because it only limits abortion, and it does not ban it completely, and I agree that any abortion is an act of depravity and a grave sin.

But in the grand scheme of abortion legality which is here to stay for the foreseeable future, our time-tested course is to chip away at this behemoth from any and all angles.  These kind of pro life victories help invigorate those who persevere in this legal and spiritual battle.

The sanctity of life is held up by the testimony of the One who’s Spirit is called the Spirit of life (Romans 8).  Our actions and testimony must be in line with the One who is called the Spirit of life.

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