The Call to Serve

Galatians 5:13

Jesus commanded that we serve one another, but obeying this mandate in humility is not natural for us. Sure, there are times we like to help others. But service that involves self-sacrifice--especially for someone we deem undeserving--much more difficult to do.

What does it mean to serve? Consider Christ's example. He gave up everything in heaven to live among us, subjecting Himself to dishonor and human frailty. And He loved even those who rejected Him. Think about how He humbled Himself and washed the disciples' feet at Passover. This was a disgusting, lowly task that a slave might be assigned--far from anything a king should do. He even knew these men were about to abandon Him but served them anyway.

Ultimately, Christ gave His life for us. And He did so while we were still sinners (Rom. 5:8). Serving others was His lifestyle--part of who He was and what He did. As His followers, we should strive to be like Him.

Therefore, service involves first dying to our selfish attitudes and motives. Only then can we live to glorify Christ. Jesus said that the greatest commandments are to love God wholeheartedly and to love others (Matt. 22:37-39). Ironically, it is only when we humbly serve others that we experience God's fullness in our own lives.

Many try to achieve happiness by striving after their own desires. The result? Tired, unsatisfied people. True contentment happens only when we walk closely with Jesus. He shows where we can humble ourselves and take care of others. These actions, done through His strength, will be blessed.

~Charles Stanley~

The Gospel of God's Grace # 53

A Study of the Epistle to the Romans

Preservation: Kept Securely in Christ Jesus - 8:1-39

In a real sense the eighth chapter of Romans is the conclusion, the consummation, of the apostle Paul's treatise on salvation, answering the question, "how does God save sinners?" The climax is in this chapter.

In chapters 1, 2, and 3 the whole world was shown condemned and lost in sin. In chapters 3, 4, and 5 condemned sinners were seen as justified and declared righteous, if they believe on Jesus Christ. Then, in chapters 6 and 7, the method of sanctification was explained.

Now then, the end of chapter 7 completed the treatment of justification and sanctification. There remains just one more question that can arise: will this divine method of justification and sanctification last? The eighth chapter of Romans was written to answer that question, and the whole burden of the chapter is this: "if you are in Christ Jesus, you are safe!" Justification and sanctification in Christ will endure.

So then, we might say that the theme of Romans 8 is  "security", or to put it broadly, "preservation."

There is a peculiar phrase which occurs in the opening verse of this chapter and also in the last verse. That phrase is "in Christ Jesus." If those two ideas are put together, "preservation" and "in Christ Jesus," this statement results: "preserved in Christ Jesus." Moreover, this very phrase occurs in the first verse of Jude. Speaking of the saints, he declares, "You are preserved in Christ Jesus."

The roots, so to speak, of the teaching of this chapter may be found in the saying of our Lord Jesus Christ while He was upon earth. Those who like to criticize God's Word and are  not in sympathy with the faith often say that Paul was in conflict with Jesus Christ. They say that Jesus Christ gave us truth while Paul gave us theology. But the germ of this chapter can be seen in what Christ taught and said while on earth. At least three passages from the gospel of John can demonstrate this. The gospel of John is preeminently the gospel for the Christian. The Lord says: "He that heareth my word, and believeth on Him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life" (John 5:24).

This chapter of Romans starts out with those two ideas - first of all that there is no condemnation to those that are in Christ Jesus. Christ taught this truth, and Paul developed it under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. The second verse says, "The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death,"  and that idea is developed down at least to verse 11, dealing with the passing from death unto life.

When Christ prayed concerning His own, He said, as He spoke to His Father, "The glory which thou gavest me I have given them" (John 17:22). He spoke in the past tense, "I have given them" - not, "I will," but "I have". The whole central section of Romans 8 (from verses 18 - 30) is permeated with the idea that Christ expressed in John 17:22. Paul begins with reckoning "that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared to the glory," down to verse 30, where he says, "whom He called, them He also justified; and whom He justified, them He also glorified."

One other statement of Jesus, "They shall never perish" (john 10:28) contains a concept worked out in Romans 8. Practically the whole chapter in germ form, is contained in what our Lord Jesus Christ taught in the three passages.

Somebody has called Romans 8 the brightest jewel in the setting of the Bible, and surely it is only as you examine the diamond closely, as does the expert, that you can comprehend its beauty and glory! It is impossible to mention, let alone explain, all the truth that is in this chapter of Romans. That would be a hopeless task in one chapter. When we come to form an outline of the chapter, again we almost despair - not that one cannot find an outline, but the trouble is to find one that is suitable for the study and comprehending all the truth that is in it. I have tried a dozen or two, and all were good, but somehow each outline seemed to leave out about nine tenths of the truth!

I want to suggest four or five and then go more deeply into one I have decided on.

Possible Outlines of Romans 8

Security

First, a simple outline emerges from the viewpoint of "security." The chapter starts with the phrase, "In Christ Jesus." I want to state it like this: "Jesus Christ is around us." Of course He would be, if we are "in" Him (vv. 1-4). Next, the Holy Spirit is "in" us (vv.5-27). God is "for" us (vv. 28). In this chapter is stated very beautifully the relation of the Triune God to the believer.

Ministry of the Holy Spirit

The second outline can be made from the standpoint of the "ministry of the Holy Spirit: the Spirit of Life" (vv. 1-13); the Spirit of adoption (vv. 14-17); the Spirit of glory (vv. 18-25); and the Spirit of intercession (vv. 26-27). That does not exhaust His ministry by any means, but that is all here in this chapter. However, some of the chapter is thus omitted.

~Alva J. McClain~

(continued with # 54 - "Series of Contrasts")

Is There A Change In You?

 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but 

Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I

 live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave 

himself for me. -Galatians 2:20

Paul knew the importance of a changed life. Since in our old life 

(the life we lived in sin) we were separated from God because of 

sin, when we start this new life (life in Jesus Christ), we must 

put that past life behind us. Paul says, "I am crucified with 

Christ." What does he mean by this statement?

Paul writes in Colossians 3:5, "So put to death the sinful, 

earthly things lurking within you. Have nothing to do with 

sexual immorality, impurity, lust, and evil desires. Don’t 

be greedy, for a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping 

the things of this world. (New Living Translation)." We must 

put to death (crucify) the earthly things that live in us. Those 

"earthly things" are the sins of our past life, we must not walk 

in those any longer. To keep walking in the old way of life 

means that Jesus died on the cross in vain. Believe me, Jesus 

didn't give up His life on the cross so that we can continue to 

live in sin. Just one encounter with Jesus is enough to change 

people. Take Paul, as an example. In Acts 9, we see him setting 

out for Damascus to take prisoner anyone who believes in 

Jesus. Along the way, he had a divine encounter with Jesus, and 

walked away as one of the greatest missionaries of all time. 

Paul was not the same. Take Zacchaeus, the tax collector. In 

Luke 19, we discover that he had to climb a tree to see Jesus 

passing by. Jesus called to him and told him to come down 

because He was going to go to his house. He had a life changing 

encounter with Jesus. We read in Luke 19:8, "And Zacchaeus 

stood, and said unto the Lord: Behold, Lord, the half of 

my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken any thing 

from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold. 

(King James Version)." Zacchaeus was not the same.

Are you the same now as you were before you gave your life to 

Jesus? Tomorrow, we're going to dig a little deeper into what it 

means to be crucified with Christ. For now, can others see a 

change in you, or do you just go about living in the same sins? 

~Think About It~

The Gospel of God's Grace # 52

A Study of the Epistle to the Romans

Sanctification: The Wrong Way by Works of the Law

In this passage are three cycles. In each one of those cycles Paul states a fact, proves it, and draws a conclusion. Then he goes over it again.

Verse 14 states the fact: "For we know that the law is spiritual." Verses 15-16 present the proof: "For that which I do I know not; for not what I would, that do I practice; but what I hate, that I do. But if what I would not, that I do, I consent unto the law that it is good."

Verse 17 marks his conclusion: "So now it is no more I that do it, but sin which dwelleth in me." He does not do what he wants to do; he does what he dose not want to do.

Is Paul trying to get rid of his responsibility for sin? Paul is saying, "I gave myself over to sin." We all do it. We did something we liked to do which we know is sin. We did it, and then sin became the master. While the first time it may have been something we wanted to do, and enjoyed doing, after sin becomes our master it compels us to do something we do not want to do. Paul is saying, "The reason why this conflict is in my life is that I am under the mastery of sin, and I want to escape. It is no more I that do it." But Paul remains responsible, because he permitted himself to become a slave to sin.

Paul is not trying to shed responsibility here. He is only showing that sin has obtained a mastery in his life that he could not break. He is a slave. Isn't that the experience we have  sometimes, wen we lose sight of Jesus. We try "to be good" by keeping rules and laws?

Now follows the second cycle: Verse 18 states the fact: "For I know that in me, that is, in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing." The latter part of verse 18 and verse 19 present the proof: "For to will is present with me, but to do that which is good is not. For the good which I would I do not; but the evil which I would not, that I practice."

Verse 20 is the conclusion: "But if what I would not, that I do, it is no more I that do it, but sin which dwelleth in me." Again this is the same conclusion - "Sin is my master, my lord, my kin. I cannot break it." Paul has gone around the cycle twice and comes out the same place: still sinning.

Now the third cycle comes up (each cycle begins with a similar phrase: "We know"; "I know"; "I find"): Verse 21 states the fact: "I find then the law, that, to me who would do good, evil is present." Verse 22 presents the proof: "For I delight in the law of God after the inward man." In the latter part of verse 25 appears the conclusion: "So then I of myself with the mind, indeed, serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin."

Let us face it, the conclusion is the same, isn't it? The sinner never gets anywhere. Obviously, this is not the pace to stop. That is not the normal situation for the Christian. God forbid!

If we go back now, do we have anything to do with law? Do we serve law? We are dead to law. When a man comes to this last verse, he should go back to the sixth chapter and consider that he is dead to sin, and then to the first part of the seventh chapter and read that he is dead to the law. Reckoning those two things to be true, what is the only way to escape this situation? The answer is to present himself to Christ.

There is a parenthesis in this passage. "O, wretched man that I am! What shall I do?" Does Paul say that? Paul never would have said, what. "Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" His answer: "I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord!" He will deliver me - He has delivered me, in fact. "For if we have become united unto Him in the likeness of His death, we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him" (6:5-6).

Do you believe that is true today? Are you ready to reckon it to be so? Then you have the deliverance he is talking about here. He delivers us! There is deliverance in no other.

May we learn here just what Paul is talking about. It is good for us to be brought into a place like this in order that He may take us on into victory!

~Alva J. McClain~

(continued with # 53 - "Preservation: Kept Securely in Christ Jesus")

We Shall Never See Divine Things By the Aid of Our Reason

Jesus... said, “What do you want Me to do for you?” They said to Him, “Lord, let our eyes be opened.” (Matthew20:32,33 ESV)

We shall never see Divine things by the aid of our reason. We shall never see things because they are put plainly to us by the one who ministers. No, it will only be as Jesus of Nazareth comes into touch with us and we with Him. And that applies to every stage of the Christian life. If there are any reading these lines, who have never in the first place had their eyes opened to see, so that the result is Life eternal – for knowing is only another word for seeing, and Jesus said, "This is life eternal, that they should know Thee the only true God, and Him whom Thou didst send, even Jesus Christ" (John 17:3); "that they should know" – another word for seeing – if you have not yet entered into Life, received eternal Life, remember that it will not just happen to you; it will not simply happen. You will have to become tremendously concerned about this and show t he Lord that you mean business; you will have to be like Bartimaeus and cry, and "so much the more" cry. Remember that the Lord does so often wait, delay, and hold off, to see if we really place value upon this seeing. We are tested as to how much we esteem His things.

And what is true at the beginning is true all the way along. There is no end to Divine revelation; there is no end to our seeing. Oh, how little we have seen, how little we know, of the vast stores of Divine intention and thought and purpose and meaning. We stand and paddle on the shores of this vast ocean of God and of His purposes and meanings in our creation. How little we know about it! – and we are not going to know until we have deep heart exercise. But it is there, and it is there for us, and oh, we have got to come in this way – "so much the more." Are you like that after a conference, or after any meeting in which there has been a ministry of God's Word? Are you sure you have seen all that God meant you to see? Are you just hearing what is said? You agree – but what is the effect? The real effect waits upon this heart exercise, this crying out – and a crying out "so much the more." The Lord is not close a nd mean, holding it from you, but He is wanting to know that this is of greater price to you than all else; if needs be, of greater price than your sleep, your rest: you are going to give Him no rest until He opens your eyes.

By T. Austin-Sparks

The Gospel of God's Grace # 51

A Study of the Epistle to the Romans

Sanctification: The Wrong Way by Works of the Law

The Law and Sin

The first six verses raise a serious question in that, "The sinful passions ... were through [or by] the law." Somebody will surely say that the law must be sinful. What is Paul's answer in two words? "God forbid!" (You will notice, if you go back to the sixth chapter, the same response to the three great questions he asked there.)

If the law is not sin, what is it? The first thing the law does is to reveal sin. And that is a good thing. Paul says, "I had not known lust" or "coveting" (v. 7). The two words are the same. "I had not known coveting, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet: but sin, finding occasion, wrought in me through the commandment all manner of coveting: for apart from the law sin is dead" (vv. 7-8). The law did not do it, but sin (as the Greek has it) took up a base of operation in the law itself and worked the sin of coveting.

Law not only reveals sin, but it provokes sin. Law does not cause sin, but law in the carnal mind provokes sin. The moment a man tries to be holy or righteous by keeping the law, the very commandments that came to him will provoke him into acts of sin.

Paul says, "Apart from the law, sin is dead." It does not mean that it does not have existence. It means that it is dormant. The law only exposed his true nature. Sin lies torpid like a serpent in the sun, until stirred up by the law.

Verse 9 declares that sin produces death. When was Paul ever "alive with the law"? It was when he was a child. Brought up at his mother's knee, he was taught to trust Jehovah; but there came a time in his life, at the age of twelve, when he was made a "son of the law." Then the whole body of the law was imposed upon him in a regular ceremony as a rule of life. When Paul was a child, he was taught just to trust and believe His promises, "but when the commandment came, sin revived." Sin was there all the time. He was born in sin, but it lay dormant until this moment. "Sin revived and I died." He passed under the doom and curse of the law, and he died spiritually. When we bring our children up, we have a right to teach them that the atonement saves them until they come to the age of accountability, when death comes by sin and they must have the new birth.

Verse 10 goes on with an affirmation concerning "the commandment which was ordained to life." As God had declared, "This do, and thou shalt live!" The law was intended to be unto life. But Paul says, "I found [it] to be unto death, for sin, finding occasion, through the commandment, beguiled me, and through it slew me" (7:10-11).  "Finding occasion" means finding a base of operation. This is a military expression. So sin, taking up a base of operations through the commandment, deceived and slaughtered. In that verse is a picture of the fall. Substitute for the word "sin" the word "serpent." Every man falls some time in his early life, just like that.

But verse 12 insists again that "the law is holy." The law must be holy if it does its work. It is the work of the law to prescribe how man shall life, and if he does not so live, to slay him (or, bring a curse upon him). The law reveals sin, provokes sin, condemns sin and slays man. So the law is holy, righteous, and good.

Another question arises: "Did then that which is good become death unto me?" (v. 7:13). Paul's answer: "God forbid!" This difficult verse teaches one thing plainly: "But sin, that it might be shown to be sin, by working death to me through that which is good; - that through the commandment, sin might become exceeding sinful" (7:13). Sin is a terrible thing, whereas the law is good. The nature of sin becomes all the more plain, because it can take a good thing (the law) and work evil through that good thing. The law demonstrates this, so that in the final analysis it reveals how sinful sin is.

The Law and The Carnal Man

"We know that the law is spiritual." What is the matter then? Why cannot the law, if spiritual, holy, and good, bring holiness? Here is Paul's answer: "But I am carnal." There is the key to it.

A statement in the eighth chapter sheds further light: "What the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh" (8:3). It fails to accomplish in your life and mine what it should, not because there is anything the matter with the law, but because we are carnal.

Unsaved men are "sold under sin." Therefore Paul is talking about the "I," not the new man. When he talks about the new man, he says, "I died." But he is now expressing a supposition. "Supposing I do not reckon myself to be dead and recognize I am carnal. I am sold under sin." This poses a hopeless case. You cannot improve the "old man." He is always what he is.

~Alva J. McClain~

(continued with # 52)

The Lord is my Light and my Salvation

Psalm 27:1

The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

 

"The Lord is my light and my salvation." Here is personal interest, "my light," "my salvation"; the soul is assured of it, and therefore declares it boldly. Into the soul at the new birth divine light is poured as the precursor of salvation; where there is not enough light to reveal our own darkness and to make us long for the Lord Jesus, there is no evidence of salvation. After conversion our God is our joy, comfort, guide, teacher, and in every sense our light: He is light within, light around, light reflected from us, and light to be revealed to us. Note, it is not said merely that the Lord gives light, but that He is light; nor that He gives salvation, but that He is salvation; he, then, who by faith has laid hold upon God, has all covenant blessings in his possession. This being made sure as a fact, the argument drawn from it is put in the form of a question, "Whom shall I fear?" A question which is its own answer. The powers of darkness are not to be feared, for the Lord, our light, destroys them; and the damnation of hell is not to be dreaded by us, for the Lord is our salvation. This is a very different challenge from that of boastful Goliath, for it rests, not upon the conceited vigour of an arm of flesh, but upon the real power of the omnipotent I AM. "The Lord is the strength of my life." Here is a third glowing epithet, to show that the writer's hope was fastened with a threefold cord which could not be broken. We may well accumulate terms of praise where the Lord lavishes deeds of grace. Our life derives all its strength from God; and if He deigns to make us strong, we cannot be weakened by all the machinations of the adversary. "Of whom shall I be afraid?" The bold question looks into the future as well as the present. "If God be for us," who can be against us, either now or in time to come?

~Charles Spurgeon~