Joshua and Judges: The doctrine of leadership part 33 - Essential qualities of leadership: The filling of the Spirit; Rom 5:12- 6:13.Title: Joshua and Judges: The doctrine of leadership part 33 - Essential qualities of leadership: The filling of the Spirit; Rom 5:12- 6:13.
Announcements / opening prayer:
The Suffering Saviour, F.W. Krummacher wrote, "We are standing on the summit of Mount Calvary — Golgotha — horrifying name — the appellation of the most momentous and awful spot upon the whole earth. Behold a naked and barren eminence, enriched only by the blood of criminals, and covered with the bones of executed rebels .... An accursed spot, where love never rules, but where naked justice alone sits enthroned, with scales and sword, and from which every passer-by turns with abhorrence, a nocturnal rendezvous of jackals and hyenas. Only think, this place, so full of horrors, becomes transformed into 'the hill from whence cometh our help,' whose mysteries many kings and prophets have desired to see, and did not see them. Yes, upon this awful hill our roses shall blossom, and our springs of peace and salvation burst forth. The pillar of our refuge towers upon this height. The Bethany of our repose and eternal refreshment here displays itself to our view. Truly the ancients were in so far correct in their assertion, that Mount Calvary formed the center of the whole earth; for it is the meeting-place where the redeemed, though separated in body by land and sea, daily assemble in spirit, and greet each other with the kiss of love."
Rom 5:12 Therefore, just as through one man sin [sin nature] entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned —
Rom 5:13 for until the Law sin was in the world; but sin is not imputed [ellogao = charged to their account] when there is no law.
Rom 5:14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses [still under the penalty of Adam's sin], even over those who had not sinned in the likeness of the offense of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come.
Rom 5:15 But the free gift is not like the transgression. For if by the transgression of the one the many died, much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many.
Rom 5:16 And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned; for on the one hand the judgment arose from one transgression resulting in condemnation, but on the other hand the free gift arose from many transgressions resulting in justification.
Rom 5:17 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.
Rom 5:18 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.
There never has to be a question again as to whether the manner of my life is good and acceptable. I have been given the life that is Christ which is justified.
Rom 12:1 I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present [same verb as used in Rom 6:13] your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual [intelligent or reasonable] service of worship.
"spiritual" - logiko,j [logikos] = of reason, rational, intelligent. The sacrifice is to be intelligent, in contrast to those offered by ritual and compulsion.
The presentation of our bodies as living and holy sacrifice is to be in accordance with the spiritual intelligence of those who are new creatures in Christ and are mindful of "the mercies of God." As the Spirit teaches us of the deep things of God we can offer ourselves as servants of God in an intelligent manner, knowing exactly what we are thinking and doing and why.
Rom 12:2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove [infinitive of dokimazo] what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.
Rom 12:2 "Do not be conformed" = Stop masquerading in the outward coverings of this world, its mannerisms, speech expressions, styles, habits.
"world" - aion = floating mass of thoughts, opinions, maxims, speculations, hopes, impulses, aims, aspirations of the current spirit of the world of men who are living alienated from God.
Rather we are to be transformed, or as the translation is in Mat 17:2, transfigured.
The renewing is the gradual conforming of the man more and more to that new spiritual world into which he has been introduced, and in which he now lives and moves.
It is living in the divine nature as a fellow worker with God, so high as the heavens is our calling. This is the working of the Spirit in filling the believer so that he overcomes evil and produces divine good.
The result of this life is that the saint proves something. Proves is dokimazo, meaning to put to the test for the purpose of approving, and finding that the thing tested meets the specifications laid down, to put one's approval upon it.
A believer can read about the life and say that he approves, but can he really approve of the life without living it? Does he know what it is like to have a life that is saturated and controlled by the word of God?
Joh 7:17 "If any man is willing to do His will, he shall know of the teaching, whether it is of God, or whether I speak from Myself.
Through the justified life the believer is proving and approving of that which is good, well pleasing (acceptable), and perfect or complete. These things flow from the righteousness of God.
Rom 6:13 and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.
(Rom 12:1 I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present [same verb as used in Rom 6:13] your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual [intelligent or reasonable] service of worship.)
Due to a lack of understanding of the deep things of God many believers fear this verse. They see it as an impossible demand and shirk away from it as it condemns them. If they understood our present section of scripture, such a verse would comfort them and excite them.
Rom 5:18 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.
People of the world, the unbeliever and the carnal Christian, determine the righteousness of their life by the opinions of others and the world system. It is the world's definition of righteousness and not God's. They say that they are living good and acceptably if the people that count in their eyes are in agreement and if the world at large is also. Yet as God has shown us, man can do nothing good or acceptable or perfect. The believer, now that he has been gifted with the justified life, no longer has to ask this question in ignorance. He is justified in life, meaning the life that is Christ. He has been graciously gifted with such a life. He can, through the revelation from the Spirit of the word of God, come to know exactly what that life is and he may know for certain that he is walking in it before God and no longer based on the opinions of men, not even other Christians.
The life that he has been given through the grace of God in Christ is fully justified before the one who really counts - God the Father.
To all believers this text is an exhortation to turn away from the self-will that is here shown for what it is and to enter into magnificence that is our position in Christ; to walk in what you now are by His given, justified life, and by means of the Spirit of God. It is not "Be who you ought to be," but rather it is, "Be who you are."
Live the gospel. Let the free gift within you flow through you.
John 7:37-39 "If any man is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. "He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, 'From his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water.'" But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
Live every waking moment in the justified life and rely fully on the Holy Spirit to show you.
Rom 8:16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God
There is a life of the child of God and there is a life of the child of Adam. We were once enslaved to the former, but now, through the abundance of the free gift, we rule in life as sons of divine royalty, as royal priests and ambassadors.
If you have a true longing to live in holiness that longing has come from your new nature and not from the old. The old nature may desire a semblance of holiness for many selfish reasons, but he cannot legitimately long for it. Only the new nature longs to walk in righteousness. As Christ said, "Blessed are you that thirst and hunger for it." You do so only because you have been made righteous by the righteousness from Christ.
Rom 5:19 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. |