Letter to Rome

One of the Institute staff led us through Romans this week, our very own Chad Hampsch. Romans in one sentence is the “righteousness of God revealed” and one main way his righteousness is revealed is in the person of Jesus Christ. A definition of righteous is “the state or condition of perfectly conforming to God’s perfect law and holy character.”

The first chapter of Romans introduces our author, Paul. He has a great desire to visit Rome and is encouraged by their growing faith. Paul is eager to share the Gospel because it is the foundation of our salvation.  Romans 1:16-17 “For I am not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "BUT THE RIGHTEOUS man SHALL LIVE BY FAITH." We should never forget the gospel as believers. Also we must remember that the Gospel is for everyone, Jews and Gentiles. Paul then leads into chapter two by saying that both Gentiles and Jews are unrighteous. In chapter two he tells Jews that having the Law does not make them more holy and he points out that they cannot uphold all of the Law. God’s standards of judgment of mankind are truth, impartiality, and Jesus Christ. 

Then Paul beings to explain justification starting in the middle of chapter three and goes until the middle of chapter five. To be justified means to be made sinless and holy, to be declared innocent. Romans 5:9 “Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath of God through Him.” Chapter six shows what sanctification looks like and points out the differences between being a slave to sin and slave to righteousness. If we are justified then we are freed from sin and enslaved to God. Although we are not slaves to sin anymore sanctification is still a process.

         Paul goes out of his way to reference figures of the Old Testament. We see this in chapter nine. He knew that the Jews would know the Old Testament very well. He alludes to the figures from the past to point out that righteousness is attained by faith. He saw that the Jews were pursuing righteousness but not attaining it because they were trying to attain it by works. They were stumbling over the stumbling block of Jesus Christ who we put our faith in to make us righteous. Since they Jews were rejecting the Gospel, Paul shares it with the Gentiles. He hoped that by Gentiles becoming believers the Jews would become jealous and become believers as well. After showing the need for a Savior, the equality of the Gospel, the promises of receiving the Gospel, and God’s plan of restoration Paul offers application to the reader.

         Every believer must present everything to God. In chapter twelve, He asks us to present our bodies, gifts, and life to Him. He is the reason we are alive and He gave us our gifts and talents to bring glory to Him. He deserves our whole life because He has the best plan for our lives. Paul gives us steps to live devoted to Christ. Paul offers steps to be a Christian in the world. We all have the same faith, but different conviction but we are to live in harmony with all people.

          In Paul’s conclusion he offers encouragement to the Gentiles and shares his desire to preach the Gospel where it is not know. We should encourage fellow believers and have the desire share the Gospel, whether that’s here in America or in different country. He ends with a warning to beware of those who cause division and try to deceive with flattery. He desires for unity in the body of believers.

          Every book of the Bible offers wisdom from God. Romans offers wisdom on our faith and how it is available to everyone. While I don’t run into Jews on a daily basis, I do know that the idea that being a good person is the way to heaven is prevalent in America. Romans encourages to share the Gospel with them and I can use verses in Romans to show them that God’s own chosen people needed faith and not just the Law.  My prayer as I read Romans was “Lord, show me how to deny myself. Show me how to use my life for you. Show me how to exercise brotherly love.” There are also parts of Romans that can be debated. Debate is not bad; it causes us to dig deeper into the Word. However some questions will not have answers. When that situation arises I cling to Romans 11:33, “Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways!”

Help! I need somebody! Help! Not just anybody!

John 16:7 says, "Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.". This is Jesus talking to his disciples and preparing them for his ascension to heaven. If I had been there when Jesus said that it was to our "advantage" if he left us I'd be confused. Earlier in John 14:16-19 Jesus told them, “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live." This would be my thoughts if I were a Jesus' disciple, "The world won't see you, but I will be able to? What does that mean?" It was almost as if Jesus was speaking in riddles. However the disciples had seen Jesus' faithfulness in keeping promises, so hopefully they would have been encouraged when they heard that the Father was going to give them a Helper, forever and that Jesus would not leave them as orphans. 

These conversations happen prior to Jesus' death and resurrection and the disciples don't receive the Holy Spirit until after Jesus' resurrection on the day of Pentecost. Have you ever been to a amusement park or eaten a delicious new food? Then you are in conversation with someone who has never been to that park or has never tried that food. You share details of how fast the ride went and how sharp the turns were or how the food tasted like peaches mixed with cotton candy, but the truth is they won't really know what the ride is like or how the food tastes until the experience it for themselves. I feel it is the same way for the Holy Spirit. The disciples didn't seem to understand that Jesus was going to raise from the dead. (Ever heard of doubting Thomas? "Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, 'We have seen the Lord!' But he said to them, 'Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.'" John 20:24) So its not unbelievable that they didn't grasp the idea of the Holy Spirit. 

Acts 2 is where we see the disciples receive the Holy Spirit. "When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them" Acts 2:1-4. Then the disciples began declaring the Gospel in many different languages and the people around them thought they were drunk. However they immediately realized that they had Christ living inside them. Here are some other instances we see the Holy Spirit in Scripture.

"But Peter said, 'Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back some of the price of the land?'" Acts 5:3. In this story a husband and wife lie to the Holy Spirit and they are immediately struck dead. Remember the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Truth (John 15:26).

And in Romans 8:26 says, "In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words;". We should be every thankful that when our words fail,  Christ is faithful.

So the Holy Spirit is very important in our lives. In John 14 it describes that the world will not see him, but believers will. So having the Holy Spirit is a mark of being a believer. And you receive the Holy Spirit the moment you turn your life over to Christ and believe in him (John 3:3-6, Romans 8:9-14). It is also important because it leads and guides us. It is amazing that Christ is with us and in us at all times. I forget this all to often. When we listen to the Spirit we will be transformed to be more like Christ. The Spirit desires us to live life to the fullest and find freedom and he knows exactly how to do that. And if you are not a believer the Holy Spirit still plays a role in your life. "And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me" John 16:8-9.

Lights, Camera, ACTS!

        Hello readers! We are back in full swing at the Institute. We dove into the New Testament book of Acts this week with Mitch Maher guiding us through it. We spent three day looking at the history, people, and stories in Acts.

        Luke is the author of Acts and is credited with recording the birth of the church. Acts opens up with Jesus already having been resurrected and he is visiting the disciples. Now I don’t know if I would ever get used to hanging out with someone who was raised from the dead. Jesus was dead for three days. Modern technology today can help revive a heartbeat, but we aren’t digging people out of graves to restart their heart. All this to say, I can imagine the disciples were experiencing feelings of shock, confusion, amazement, disbelief, and excitement all at the same time. Back to Acts, Jesus has told them that he must leave to go be with the Father and that he is sending them the Holy Spirit to be their helper.

        In Acts 2 we see the Holy Spirit fill the disciples and they begin to proclaim mighty works of God in many different languages that they had not spoken before. The crowd around them thinks the disciples are drunk. Now that the disciples are baptized with the Holy Spirit, it’s GO TIME! Peter stands up to declare that this is a sign from God and Jesus has been resurrected to the right hand of God. Peter says to repent and be baptized and three thousand people become believers that day. And so begins the church.

Jesus leaves the earth, but sends the Holy Spirit to empower the disciples and spur them to proclaim the message of salvation. The Holy Spirit does the same for believers today. The disciples are also performing signs and wonders by the power of the Holy Spirit. These disciples have found the truth and are now spreading it. Shortly after the verse about the three thousand being saved it says in Acts 2:47, “And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved.” The disciples are in Jerusalem when this occurs. In the next chapters, up until Acts 8, Luke describes how the gospel spreads through Jerusalem.

Acts 8-12 discusses the extension of the church to Judea and Samaria. Acts 13-28 discusses the extension of the church to the remote parts of the earth (Asia Minor, Aegean area, Rome, etc.).

        What we can learn from the church in Acts is that there is transforming power in the Gospel message and in a personal testimony of someone who is devoted to the Lord. The disciples proclaimed it and lived it. Today we have technology, tracts, conferences, camps, and etc. to help spread the message of Jesus Christ. These are wonderful things, I’m simply pointing out that the Gospel is powerful on its own without bells and whistles. However I believe that we as a culture desire to be entertained and so we have come up with creative ways to spread the Gospel and that get our attention. A life transformed by Christ, someone who has done a 180°, is a great tool for spreading the Good News.

        Acts happens to have a very detailed account about someone who did a 180° for Christ. His name is Paul, originally Saul. Acts 9 tells of his conversion and if you haven’t read it, stop reading this and go pick up a Bible. He goes from killing people who followed Jesus to devoting his entire life to following Jesus and telling everyone about it. He killed people because of Jesus and then was willing to be killed for Jesus. He is the man who went to the remote parts to spread the Gospel. He takes three missionary journeys.

On his first journey he is accompanied by Barnabus. They start in Syrian Antioch, then go to Cyprus and visit Salomis and Paphos, both cities in Cyprus. From there they set sail to Psidian Antioch, then to Iconium, Lystra and Derbe.

        Paul starts his second journey by saying, “Let us return and visit the brethren in every city in which we proclaimed the word of the Lord, and see how they are.” (Acts 15:36) He and Barnabas end up splitting ways before the journey begins. Paul on this journey meets Timothy around the area of Lystra and wants Timothy to accompany him. Paul and Timothy end up visiting Macedonia because Paul has a vision to bring the Gospel there. He also visits Thessalonica, Corinth, and Ephesus on this visit.

Then on his third journey he goes to the Galatian region and Phrygia. He revisits most of the cities he went to on his second missionary journey.

        Paul wrote thirteen out of the twenty-seven books of the New Testament. These are the letters he wrote during his three journeys.

1^st Journey: Galatians

2^nd Journey: 1&2 Thessalonians

3^rd Journey: 1&2 Corinthians, and Romans

The rest of his books were written when he was a prisoner in Rome or after his release from prison. And that is just a taste of the book of Acts.

Trinity = Brain Ninja

"If God were small enough to be understood, He would not be big enough to be worshipped." --Evelyn Underhill 

I start with this quote to remind me that while God has given me some insight of who He is, there are also things about God that require me to have faith. I do know that God is faithful and therefore I can trust Him. Isaiah 55: 9 says, “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” The Bible confirms that I will never be able to fully grasp God. Even spending eternity in the presence of God won’t complete my understanding and knowledge of God. There will always be more to learn and to be in awe of.  He is the Creator and I am the creation. The reason I stress how infinite God is versus my finite mind is because we looked at the trinity this week.

This is the trinity in a nutshell: 

There is only one God. 

God has always been and has always been one in three persons.

The Father is God. 

The Son is God. 

The Spirit is God. 

The Father is not the Son or the Spirit. 

The Son is not the Father or the Spirit. 

The Spirit is not the Father or the Son. 

The three are equal, but each has some functions which are

unique.       
                                                          

I believe in the trinity, but that doesn’t mean I fully understand it. However I did learn what trinitarianism (tri-unity) is not.

It is not modalism. Modalism claims that God is one person who appears to us in three different forms or modes. This is not correct because Father, Son, and Spirit all exist at the same time. Mark 1:10-11 describes what happened at Jesus’ baptism, “Immediately coming up out of the water, He saw the heavens opening and the Spirit like a dove descending upon Him; and a voice came out of the heavens: ‘You are My beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased.’”

It is not arianism. Arianism claims that the Son and Spirit lack full deity. However, Jesus claimed to be the Messiah in John 4:25-26, “The woman said to Him, ‘I know that Messiah is coming (He who is called Christ); when that One comes, He will declare all things to us.’ Jesus said to her, ‘I who speak to you am He.’” If Jesus was not divine then worshipping him would be idolatry. In John 14:26 it says, “‘But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.’” If the Spirit is able to teach us all things, then He must know all things; He must be God. This verse also gives a glimpse at the different functions of the trinity. The Father sends the Spirit in Jesus’ name so the Spirit can teach and remind us of what Jesus said. And we have to remember that Father, Son, and Spirit are eternal and existed before the universe was created. God did not create the Son and Spirit during the time of the New Testament.

It is not tritheism. Tritheism claims that since there are three persons who are fully God, then there must be three Gods. This is not true because in Mark 12:29-30 Jesus says that the most important commandment is “‘Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is one Lord; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength’”. Jesus teaches this and we’ve already established that Jesus and God the Father are One (John 10:30).

Is your brain swimming yet? Mine did the butterfly stroke while I typed this blog and I’m stilling swimming laps. This is where I let my faith step in and I understand that I serve an almighty God. I know the trinity exists, although I may not understand how. I am glad I know what it is NOT so I can better explain or defend it. Since the trinity is so difficult to understand I’ve heard many analogies to try and explain it. For example I’ve heard the trinity is like water, ice, and steam, but that doesn’t even properly explain the uniqueness of the trinity. So from now on when I am trying to teach the trinity to anyone of any age I’m going to say, “There is one God, who exists in three persons: Father, Son, and Spirit. There are not three different gods, three different parts of god, or one god who appears in three different forms.” And if the response is “I don’t get it.” I’ll say, “Neither do I”.

Oldie but a Goodie!

 Habakkuk and Nahum aren’t exactly the first two names people think of when choosing names for their children. However at the Institute this week we learned about them and the rest of the Old Testament prophets and after learning about them I think more people should consider those names. They were men who loved the Lord. All the prophets were called by God to proclaim a message and we learn something different from each of them.

            A general theme of the prophets is one of repentance and restoration. To me that is a picture of Christ’s relationship towards us. God desires for us to repent so he can restore us to be in a relationship with him that will be perfected in Heaven. The prophets’ messages also point to Christ in the fact that some of their prophecies relate to Christ’s first and second coming. They have double fulfillment. For example Isaiah 9:6-7 says, “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end”.  The first part refers to his birth then when it speaks about the eternal government that refers to when Jesus returns to the Earth. Other prophecies are directed at their own time frame or events that will affect a nation. Jonah had a message for Nineveh, yet it still points Christ.

            Jonah is an Old Testament prophet that many are familiar with. Most people know he ran from God, but do we realize why? He did not want to go share the Good News with the people of Nineveh. Nineveh was the capital of Assyria and they were known as a wicked people. Jonah did not want to go there because he knew that the people would repent and receive salvation. He did not think the wicked people of Assyria deserved salvation. He eventually goes to Nineveh and the people repent. The Lord shows Jonah that he has compassion for all his people. “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance” 2 Peter 3:9. The message of Jonah is that salvation is from the Lord.

            The story of Jonah reminds me that the Lord calls us to difficult things but disobeying him is sin. Don’t rebel against God. He is a compassionate God, but he is also a God of wrath. Whatever he calls us to do he will give us the strength to get through.

            Habakkuk is prophet that many are not familiar with. The purpose of Habakkuk is to record his conversation with the Lord about the problem of evil in the world. His message is for Judah and he is the last pre-exilic prophet for Judah. In chapter three his prayer to God for Judah is “in wrath remember mercy”. This Old Testament book points to Christ and shows his faithfulness. He does not forget about his followers in the hard times. We learn how to pursue God from Habakkuk. The outline of Habakkuk is he questions, listens, and then prays. Many times we question God and then we don’t listen or pray. We want answers but are not willing to search or be patient for them.

            These past few weeks studying the Old Testament prophets has given me a new desire to dive in the Word. I was convicted about not knowing a lot about the Old Testament prophets because I’ve been walking with the Lord since childhood. Also I can learn more about the Lord through studying the prophets.

JESUS FREAK

There is an old DC TALK song with the lyrics, “People say I’m strange. Does it make me a stranger that my best friend was born was born in a manger?” Being Christmas time we celebrate the birth of baby Jesus born in a manger. A common phrase heard during the holidays is “Jesus is the reason for the season”. I agree with that statement, but I want to take it one step further and say “Jesus is the reason for life”. Jesus is the reason I’m alive and who I’m living for. I remember being in middle school and desiring to be known as the Jesus Freak. I had the boldness to live out my faith in actions and words. I think when I got into high school I was either focused more on showing Christ with actions, but scared to share my faith through words or I would have the words, but not the actions to back them up. My love for Christ should permeate my whole lifestyle. “Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it” Luke 18:17.

We learned about evangelism this week at the Institute. It is something that God calls us to do. “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:19-20. We also took a look at the different methods of evangelizing. I love to share the Gospel with people I’ve gotten to walk through life with. That’s why I was a Young leader during college. Every Monday Night a Young Life leader would share a part of the Gospel or information about Christ. I got to build relationships with the girls and tell them about Jesus. I enjoyed writing engaging talks about the Gospel and trying to make analogies that they could connect with. Through sharing the Gospel as a Young Life leader I learned that allowing them to see that our lives reflected what we spoke about had the greatest impact. Showing them that as Young Life leaders we weren’t only “Christian” at Young Life Club or at church, but we lived it out every day intrigued them.

Another time I got to share about Jesus was due to having a friendships with a few girls. I served at a church in England for a semester of my college senior year. Each week I was a volunteer leader for a program called Girl Guides, which is similar to our Girl Scouts. I had quickly bonded with two twelve year old girls. After a few weeks of getting to know them and being silly with them at game time they began to open up. When I asked them about how their days went, they would tell me the good points and their struggles. Then one day they commented on the ring I always wore. I told them it was my purity ring. They didn’t understand what that was. I then explained that the ring was given to me by my parents and symbolized the promise to my parents and God that I was going to wait until marriage to have sex. They had somewhat shocked and confused faces. They were even more shocked when I told them I was twenty-one. That made me sad that they were shocked that someone my age had been able to remain pure. They asked me why. I then got to share with them how Jesus was the Lord of my life and I lived my life for him. I learned from that experience that I shouldn’t look at person’s age and doubt that they will be able to understand the Gospel. Also that by showing I cared about them they begin to care about me. Another thing was that innocence is a hard quality for children to maintain in today’s culture.

My last experience I want to share about is one that goes more along the lines of what I picture evangelism to be. The term evangelism usually makes me nervous and involves thoughts of approaching random strangers. The good thing is God will use any means necessary to spread the Good News about the freedom found through Jesus’ death and resurrection. One place I do love talking to random people is on an airplane. I enjoy making friends with the people sitting beside me. Before I got on one of my flights a friend prayed over me that I would get the opportunity to share the Gospel three times within the day. God answers prayers my friends. I sat next to a girl who was nearly the same age as me. We were flying to Spain so we had lots of time to talk. She ended up sharing that she had just broken up with her boyfriend of a long time because she was a Christian and he was a Muslim. She knew that she didn’t want to raise kids under two different religions and that if they married it would probably end in a divorce. I was impressed by that mature decision but gathered from the rest of the conversation that she was struggling with walking with the Lord and having strong faith. I got to share my life story about how I'd grown in the Lord and also how obeying the Lord was of ultimate importance to me, but not always the easiest for me to obey. From this I learned if you ask for opportunities you have to be willing to take them because the Lord will provide. Also by sharing your beliefs and life story you can challenge others to dig deeper and search for truth.