A Living Sacrifice: Studies In Romans (Part 3)

Romans 1:8-15

First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world. For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I mention you always in my prayers, asking that somehow by God's will I may now at last succeed in coming to you. For I long to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you—that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith, both yours and mine. I want you to know, brothers, that I have often intended to come to you (but thus far have been prevented), in order that I may reap some harvest among you as well as among the rest of the Gentiles. I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. So I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.

Paul's Desire to Come to Rome

Paul gives thanks to God through Christ for the faith of the believers at Rome because it is "proclaimed in all the world." The testimony of the church at Rome was renowned. Surely the fledgling church that was spreading into every corner of the world beginning at Jerusalem must have felt gratified that they had now reached as far as Rome itself. This was quite an accomplishment for a church somewhere around twenty-five years old. There is no sure evidence concerning who founded the church at Rome, but by now they had grown enough to establish a good reputation in the world.

Though Paul had never visited Rome, he prayed for them daily "asking that somehow by God's will" he might "at last succeed in coming" there. Apparently, Paul had tried before without success to visit Rome. However, Paul trusted all things to the will of God knowing that God directs our steps according to His will. Paul's desire is that he "may impart" to them a strengthening spiritual gift and find mutual encouragement in their faith. There is no doubt that the incredible spiritual insight that follows in the epistle to Rome demonstrates that Paul had plenty to impart.

A Living Sacrifice: Studies in Romans (Part 2)

Romans 1:1-7

Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh and was declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ,

To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Greeting

Paul's greeting establishes several themes that shall echo throughout the letter. First, the gospel that Paul preaches is the good news that God "promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures." This opening salvo introduces the premise Paul shall work from as he explains his revelation of God's plan for redemption. Paul refuses to countenance for a moment that the message he preaches is anything other than what the prophets foretold concerning the salvation of Israel and the world. This is of the highest importance to Paul because of his critics, who snipe that Paul's doctrine overthrows the law and voids the promises of God to Israel. Paul will show that, contrary to his critics' claims, his doctrine teaches that the law and the prophets are fulfilled in Christ.

Paul insists that his teaching is according to the Scriptures. Because this is such a major sticking point with Paul, he will carefully weave numerous quotations and allusions to Scripture into the fabric of the epistle. He is careful to show that his doctrine is based upon the Word of God. The scriptural content of Romans is simply amazing. Even when Paul is not quoting Old Testament passages directly, Scripture informs and shapes every word he writes.

The promises of God made to Israel through the prophets "are concerning his Son," Jesus Christ. This is the controlling idea for Paul. Everything is about Jesus. Jesus is the center of every promise in the law and prophets. He fulfills them all. Jesus, as the Son of God, is "descended from David according to the flesh" and is the long-awaited Messiah, the king and priest who would arise to deliver Israel from her enemies and from her sins. According to the flesh Jesus descended from David, but according to the power of the Holy Spirit—the "spirit of holiness"—He is "the Son of God in power." The resurrection demonstrated both the divine origin of Christ and the power of God to raise the dead, which, as we shall see, is the hope of Israel. In the resurrection of Christ, God keeps His promise and demonstrates His power to make all things new. Both God and Christ are vindicated (justified) in the resurrection. Moreover, the people of God share in this vindication, which is an idea Paul will develop as he goes along.

Paul confesses the fundamental Christian creed that "Jesus Christ [is] our Lord." This is the earliest formal expression of the Christian faith. The confession, "Jesus is Lord," was a direct challenge to the Romans loyalty oath, "Caesar is Lord." Christians today have largely reduced the lordship of Jesus to merely an internal relationship with Jesus as "Lord of my heart." The early church had no such idea or option. Indeed, they would have recoiled at the modern pietistic idea that isolates the reign of Christ as a personal, mystical experience with God that has no bearing on everyday life in the real world. To the early church "Jesus is Lord" meant something very real, very practical. It meant that kingdom of God had come into the world through the incarnation, resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ and that the entire world must be told.

The early church meant to say, and they said it, that Jesus is Lord over all the rulers of the world. They believed so fervently that "Jesus is Lord" that they died for it. If they had meant to say that Jesus was only the Lord of their heart, they could have saved their lives and pledged allegiance to Rome. Caesar had no problem with lords in the heart. But when those lords suddenly reared up and claimed to rule the world, and when these lords refused to bow before the august, imperial "son of God," then Caesar had a problem. For Caesar and the rest of the first century world there was no separation of church and state. Religion and politics were intertwined in those days. In fact, it was not long after Paul penned these words that the first worldwide persecution of the church broke out under Nero. For the next three centuries, the church died for their confession, their faith, that "Jesus is Lord." Thus, when Paul writes to the church at Rome—at Rome, no less!—that Jesus is the only true Son of God and that He is Lord of all, it was a direct challenge to Caesar's pretentious authority.

Paul's experience on the road to Damascus formed the matrix for his enduring conviction that Christ rules over all creation as Lord of all. From that moment, Paul's understanding of the law and prophets was dramatically reoriented. From that moment, Paul understood the promise of Israel's restoration and the redemption of all creation in terms of Christ exaltation to the right hand of the Father. The rule of Christ had begun, and now the Lord Jesus Christ was at work subduing all His enemies under His feet through the power of the indwelling Spirit within the church. This conquest of the earth and the defeat of hostile principalities and powers is the done through the evangelistic ministry and mission of the church. Jesus is Lord!

The lordship of Christ stands in towering majesty over Paul's teaching in Romans, and it is the lordship of Jesus that commissions Paul with "grace and apostleship." The mission of the church flows directly out of the universal authority of Jesus over all things. If Jesus is not presently Lord of all, then the church has no mandate for mission.

Further, the mission of the church is "to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations." This particular form of the Christian mandate falls into three parts: First, the Christian mission preaches "the obedience of faith." The gospel of Jesus Christ is the story of how God is redeeming the world and saving man from his sins through Christ's death, burial and resurrection. Those who hear and believe by the grace of God are brought to obedience to the faith by the power of the Holy Spirit. This obedience is worked out after the pattern of the Great Commission as converts are baptized and discipled according to the commandments of the Lord (Matthew 28:18-20).

Second, the mission of the church is "for the sake of His name." This is another way of saying that the conversion of all nations is to the glory of God, that His name may be honored among the Gentiles. Christian converts are saved when they call on the name of the Lord (Acts 2:21; 22:16) and the name of the Lord is called upon them (James 2:7). "For the sake of His name" also refers to the authority that His name represents. Those who are baptized in His name publicly bow their knee before Him and confess that "Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father" (Philippians 2:9-11). The mission of the church is for the sake of His glory and dominion throughout all creation.

Third, the mission of the church is accomplished "among all nations." Paul opens with the declaration that he shall be careful to prove in the body of the letter, that the gospel preached to Abraham and his seed is now being preached to all nations. The gospel is no longer limited to Israel and preached to Gentiles only in a secondary and derivative sense. The gospel is for "all nations."

Moreover, the church at Rome knows very well that the gospel is being preached to all nations because it has reached to "you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ." The believers at Rome are living witnesses to the truth of Paul's message. Those in Rome are "loved by God and called to be saints." This is a powerful statement for one who had been indoctrinated from birth that pagans were dogs and worthy only of death unless they converted to Judaism. Paul declares that God loves the Gentiles and has called them to be saints, or holy ones. This means that Paul is deliberately placing Gentile believers in the category with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, with David and the rest of the Old Testament believers. God has made the believers at Rome saints. There is no higher honor than this, to be called the saints of God.

A Living Sacrifice: Studies in Romans (Part 1)

Introduction

The Epistle of Paul the Apostle to the Romans is considered by many to be Paul's finest work. It is doubtless the most closely reasoned presentation of Paul's theology. Indeed, even when Romans is considered apart from its spiritual and theological value, it still stands as one of the greatest literary masterpieces of all time. Its impact has been felt throughout history like no other particular work. Because of its great significance, the world is overflowing with books and commentaries on Romans. It has been written about and preached about probably more than any other book in our Bible. And yet, it is quite impossible to exhaust the riches of spiritual insight contained here. We could—and should—study Romans for a lifetime and never close the book on the subject. It remains just as fresh and alive today as it was two-thousand years ago.

This study will approach Romans as more of a survey than a deep, detailed exposition. We will emphasize the themes of Romans and learn how Paul weaves these themes into a sort of grand-theme—the scheme—of God's plan of salvation for the world. It is my goal to present the central message of Romans as a sort of interpretive grid that we may place over and draw out the finer points of Paul's theology here and elsewhere. If we can get the big picture, the smaller pieces of the puzzle will slip into place.

Of course, it is very important to make theology more than a theoretical, academic exercise. We must allow the Word of God to break in upon our lives and transform our ministry and mission. So, we shall also spend some time applying the message of Romans to our present situation and, hopefully, showing that Paul's vision of God's everlasting purpose is just as relevant today as it ever was.

Paul's theology of salvation in Romans falls into the following broad outlines: First of all, both Jews and Gentiles are saved by grace through faith apart from physical circumcision and the deeds of the Law. Second, God is fulfilling the promises declared by the prophets to Israel through an extended scheme of hardening Israel in temporary unbelief and extending mercy to the Gentiles until they reach universal fullness thereby provoking Israel to jealousy and precipitating Israel's return and restoration. Third, faithful Gentiles are being formed together with faithful Israel into a living sacrifice that must be presented "holy and acceptable unto God." This task belongs to Paul as a sort of "priest" to God on behalf of the Gentiles. Finally, this justification of both Jews and Gentiles by the grace of God permits—indeed, requires—full table-fellowship between Jews and Gentiles in communion and community.

It will probably help us to understand Romans better if we consider the book as a whole and then pay closer attention to the details of the text as we move through each section, chapter and verse. As noted above, Paul weaves many themes into Romans. This can make the book difficult to understand and easy to misread. Even the apostle Peter commented on this! We cannot untangle all the knots. Now and then we must simply step back and marvel at the big picture that Paul weaves so carefully into a breathtaking tapestry. Those pesky knots hold the threads together. This book is beautiful, and very moving, when rightly understood.

Romans is written to Gentiles. Paul makes that clear almost immediately. It is written to instruct Gentile believers in the basic tenets of their faith and to show them in vivid prose God's overall scheme of redemptive history. God plans to redeem the world through His sovereign, predestined plan of salvation "to the Jew first and also to the Greek" (Romans 1:16). In doing this, God is forming one holy nation made up of Jews and Gentiles united together to be the catalyst of redemption and resurrection in the world. However, there is a considerable obstacle to this plan. The Jewish and Gentile contingents within the church are almost hopelessly divided. Certain Jewish Christians are insisting that the Gentile converts must be circumcised and keep the Law to obtain full and "perfect" status as Christians, and this is understandably resented by the Gentiles. Division is the inevitable result.

This is particularly true in Rome where there was a certain degree of hostility to Jews anyway. The Jews had only recently returned to Rome after being expelled by Caesar. So, the Gentile believers, who formed the majority of the church in Rome, would have rightly resented the "older brother" condescension of the returning Jewish believers. Paul sensed this and sought to defuse it. While Paul strongly reinforced the Gentiles' persuasion that they were saved by grace through faith apart from circumcision and law-keeping, yet he also took great pains to warn the Gentiles against developing their own brand of arrogance that would try and turn the tables on the Jewish believers and exclude them from table-fellowship in a tit-for-tat reprisal. Paul is passionate that this sort of division must be prevented. Indeed, Paul sees the eschatological unity of Jews and Gentiles in the church as the precondition of full and final redemption.

Old Covenant Judaism had developed a two-tiered system to allow God-fearing Gentiles close to the covenant without full inclusion. Devout Gentiles could approach the temple as far as the Court of the Gentiles, but if they trespassed further into the temple, they were at risk of death. Gentiles could not come all the way into the presence of God unless they became full converts to Judaism through circumcision and law-keeping. Paul flatly refused to preserve this distinction and division. He insisted that the Gentiles were fully accepted with the saints as heirs of the promise made to Abraham that he should inherit the world. Furthermore, Paul insisted that the acceptance of Gentile Christians could never be based upon adherence to Old Covenant norms. Their acceptance rests in the faithfulness of Jesus Christ. Christ alone has perfectly kept the Law. For Paul, Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of the law, and all who are baptized into Christ fulfill the law in Christ by the Spirit.

Romans cannot be understood without understanding this ever-darkening backdrop of Jewish-Gentile controversy within the early Christian church. This controversy underlies every book of the New Testament. Indeed, the point of the New Testament is the New Testament, the New Covenant fulfilled in Christ. The question of how the New Covenant included Gentiles was the great burning issue of the day. A good portion of this story is told in Acts and Galatians, but the problem is everywhere you turn for the church in the first-century. The problem really revolved around the temple at Jerusalem. As long as the temple was standing the controversy could not be fully resolved because observant Jewish Christians were concerned about ceremonial ritual purity and thus could not contaminate themselves with Gentile Christian fellowship. The Law of Moses and the traditions of their fathers simply would not permit it. The argument was so fierce that even Peter was drawn unwillingly into its hypocrisy in Antioch, an embarrassing lapse that made Paul nearly apoplectic with indignation. Paul's recounting of this story with clear voice and rising tones in Galatians 2 makes it rather obvious that the incident still rankled.

Within the context of this controversy, we encounter another major theme of the book, which is the priesthood of believers and, more specifically, the priesthood of Paul himself. Paul does not spend a great deal of time explaining this, but he very plainly describes his ministry as a priestly ministry. Paul tells us that he serves as a priest presenting the Gentiles to God as an acceptable sacrifice, and thus, he will not permit his offering to be disqualified by self-appointed Judaizers. These Judaizers seem to view themselves as New Testament gate-keepers standing guard at the entrance of the church just as the Levites guarded the gates of the temple. Paul will not abide their impertinence, no, not for a moment. We hear his impassioned cry, "Who shall lay anything to the charge of God elect? It is God that justifies!" (Romans 8:33). One wonders if he had a name or two in mind.

Another prominent theme is the vindication (justification) of God. Paul's critics leveled the charge that his gospel made God a liar. Most Jews insisted that the promises of God were made to ethnic Israel for her return from exile and restoration to the perfect worship of the one true God in the temple according to the Law of Moses, and though, certainly, the prophets foretold that the Gentile nations would be blessed by Israel's return and restoration and come to worship the one true God, their blessing would be secondary and derivative. The Judaizers did not agree with Paul that the Gentiles should be fully included in the covenant by faith in Christ alone. This was heresy! However, Paul insisted that a Spirit-interpreted reading of the Law and Prophets was now necessary because of the radical and unexpected work of God in the resurrection of Christ. The resurrection of Christ made all things new and called for a radically new understanding of the Law and Prophets. This was the "mystery" that Paul spoke about so often, "that the Gentiles should be fellow
heirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel" (Ephesians 3:6). For Paul, Jesus is the fulfillment of the Law and Prophets to all who believe, and the New Testament church, made up of both Jews and Gentiles together in one body, is the true Israel born again by the Spirit. Thus, God is vindicated in the resurrection of Jesus and His promises are sure.

This point of view requires Paul to explain what is going on with Israel's unbelief and rejection of Christ as Messiah. He spends considerable time doing so. Indeed, chapters 9-11 are really the heart of the epistle. Paul insists that the Gentile believers understand the mystery so their confidence in the sovereignty of God will be strengthened and they will come to see the central role they play in the full and final realization of God's redemptive plan.

Moreover, the theme of God's vindication leads Paul to assert that believers also are vindicated (justified) in Christ. We are lifted up into the Holy of Holies to serve as holy priests in the presence of God in Christ. God, Who is just, has become the justifier of those who believe. We are acquitted in the law-court of divine judgment. We are made righteous in Christ. The Law could never produce such righteousness because of the weakness of the flesh. Only through confidence in the faithfulness of God in Christ can we access such perfect righteousness. All of this will come into clearer focus as we go along.

As we trace our way through the themes of the book we come to the question of communion and community. Table fellowship is an underlying motif throughout Romans. Inevitably, Paul is a practical man. He is never interested in theology for theology's sake. It is always how theology is lived out in everyday life, how the Word becomes flesh, that is uppermost in Paul's mind. This is certainly the case in Romans where the driving force of his theology leads inexorably to the very practical matter of how Jewish and Gentiles Christians can and must eat together. The church is united or divided around this question, the question of how to join together in koinonia.

Paul's theology is a theology of unity through diversity. Paul examines this point explicitly in Romans 14. Paul understood that the church could never be formed into one harmonious whole until the question of ritual purity and dietary exclusivity was resolved. Paul is concerned with the practical implications of the new, Spirit-filled community formed from justified Jews and Gentiles together in Christ. This immediate proximity of Jews and Gentiles in Christian fellowship created temporary difficulties while the church remained in its immaturity awaiting the removal of the Temple and its obsolete rituals. This is the concern of the final chapters, as he seeks to teach the church how to be a unified community while still divided by convictions and culture.

Romans is written in three basic sections. Chapters 1-8 are an extended discussion of justification by grace through faith. Chapters 9-11 are an extended discussion of God's predestined plan of salvation for Israel and the Gentiles. Chapters 12-16 discuss the Gentiles as an acceptable, corporate sacrifice unto God and the practical implications of living as such. The central text of the book is Romans 12:1, 2: "I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship." Paul is concerned that the Gentiles be offered up by his ministry as an acceptable sacrifice unto God. This is the primary motif and the subject title of our study: A Living Sacrifice.

This overall message of the book must be understood in order to understand its component parts. We have often lacked in our understanding of the book because we have not grasped the central message. We cannot "spot-read" and "proof-text" passages and accurately present Paul's doctrine of salvation. Many errors have arisen because of this tendency. As we consider Romans verse-by-verse, let us keep the overall theme in mind. Paul writes to persuade us that the church is gathered together out of every nation into one body in Christ. And because Christ is our spotless sacrifice, we are accepted as a living sacrifice in the presence of God. This gracious acceptance of free justification in Christ is the basis of our communion with God and must be the basis of our communion with one another.

A Living Sacrifice: Studies in Romans (Promo Post)

It may be apparent to the few who stumble by this blog on occasion that I have not kept the content current. I hope to remedy this unacceptable state of affairs by presenting a series of articles on the Book of Romans. I have high hopes for this series. I plan to organize the material into a book on Romans to be published, God willing, next year (2009). This material follows the same outline as the podcasts on Romans, for both simply follow the text, but this series will be a unique presentation of the material. I hope this will be a blessing, and I look forward to getting your feedback!

I Corinthians 2: Part 2

In the middle of chapter 2 Paul abruptly veered into one of the most profound statements on preaching contained in Scripture, and it is hither I have been hastening, for this is the point I really want to get at. After asserting that he determined to know nothing "save Christ and Him crucified" (2:2), Paul refuted the idea that his simple preaching lacked wisdom. Paul insisted that his preaching imparted wisdom, but only the mature understood it (v. 6). This wisdom is neither the wisdom of the world nor of the rulers of this world, but rather, this wisdom is a secret wisdom that is hidden in the counsels of God, a wisdom that God sovereignly decreed before the creation of the world, the wisdom that is the Logos, the everlasting Word of God. The wisdom of the Greeks was the transient wisdom of a dying age. But the wisdom of the Cross is the eternal wisdom that predates the world. Indeed, this wisdom not only predates the world, this is the wisdom that called the world into being. The world flowed out of this wisdom. One could say that this wisdom is not in the world, but the world is in this wisdom, for all things are held together by the eternal purpose and plan of God (v.7).

This mysterious and hidden wisdom could not be understood by the rulers of this age, for if they could have seen the purpose of God, they would not have fulfilled it (v.8). The wise of the world have not seen it with their eye, heard it with their ear, nor even imagined it in their heart. However—and this is where the drums should roll and the trumpets blare—God has revealed His secret wisdom to us! Furthermore, God has revealed it to us by His Spirit, thus the wisdom of God cannot be known by the mind of man. To try and present God's wisdom with human wisdom is futile. This is why Greek rhetoric could not do the job in the first century, and this is why post-modern, gobbledygook preaching will not get the job done today. You may grow a crowd, but you cannot build a church apart from the enlightenment of the Spirit. True converts come into the church through the wisdom of the Cross, and the wisdom of the Cross can only be seen by the revelation of the Spirit. When we have succeeded in making the gospel acceptable to the unregenerate man, we have just succeeded in damning him to hell. That sort of saccharine, sophistical preaching only inoculates unbelievers against the truth. The Spirit must reveal the wisdom of God or it will remain forever folly to those who are perishing (1:18).

Now, back to my text. God has revealed His secret wisdom to us by His Spirit. But notice what Paul said next. This is something I have often overlooked: "For the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God" (v.10). Or as the ESV renders it: "For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God." He then says, "For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God" (v.11). Or, again, the ESV: "For who knows a person's thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God." Quite literally Paul was saying that the Spirit of God within us searches out the secret counsels of God and reveals them to us. Not only is this a powerful statement about the oneness of God, for the communion of the Holy Spirit with God is explained as how a man might commune with His own spirit (and yet he is still just one man), this is also an amazing statement about the intercession of the Spirit of Christ for us and how God has placed His Spirit within us to interpret the mind and will of God to us.

The Spirit of God within us "translates" God's Word in a way we can understand. This is called revelation. The Spirit of God does not alter the content of God's Word, but the Spirit within us—which is the Spirit of the Mediator, the man, Christ Jesus—opens our understanding so we may grasp by degrees the secret wisdom of God. This is why human wisdom cannot explain God to skeptics: God must "explain" Himself! If we do not have the Spirit within us interpreting the voice of God to us, we cannot understand the Word. This is why it is so foolish to think that we can convert unbelievers to faith by the force of our "relevant" preaching. If God does not open their heart by the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, our feeble words are in vain.

Of course, I do not mean to say that God imparts revelation in a subjective and personal way apart from preaching. Not at all. Preaching is the vehicle of God's revelation. For Paul went on the say, "Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual." (v.13). And again, ESV: "And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual."In other words, Paul said that he learned the truth of God's wisdom as the Spirit of God revealed it to him, and then he declared that truth in words that were taught to him by the Spirit of Christ. Then he concluded that this wisdom can only be conveyed to those who are themselves "spiritual."

In this one verse Paul showed a three-fold process of prophetic impartation—or to put it plainly, how preaching must work on three levels if it is to work at all. First of all, the Spirit must reveal the wisdom of God to the man of God, the preacher. These are the "which things also we speak." Then, the Spirit must give the preacher words "which the Holy Ghost teacheth" so that the man of God may say it right. He cannot speak with words taught to him by human wisdom. He must speak as the Spirit leads him to speak. This is what we call "the anointing." The anointing first rests upon the man of God in his study during the preparation of the Word and then in the pulpit during the presentation of the Word. The preacher is anointed by the Spirit "to find out acceptable words" (Ecclesiastes 12:10) and to present them in a spiritually persuasive manner. And this manner will not be in conformance to the silly methods of the worldly-wise.

But there is one final level to effective preaching, and this level must not be overlooked: we compare "spiritual things with spiritual." Or, we interpret spiritual truths to those who are spiritual. And right here is where most pastors could just sit right down and cry. Every pastor has faced the frustration of trying to communicate spiritual wisdom to carnal people. It simply cannot be done. They will just sit and stare blankly, as my dad might say, like a mule looking at a new gate. It is not necessarily that they do not want to hear the Word, but they cannot hear the Word unless the Spirit within them interprets it for them.

This is why the congregation needs preparation for the hearing of the Word just as the preacher needs preparation for the preaching of the Word. And it is our job as preachers to promote this sort of preparation. How do we do this? We do so first of all by explaining to the church their desperate need to be filled with the Spirit. The Spirit of Christ within them interprets to them what God is saying through the preaching. If we do not teach them this, our people will fall into the Corinthian trap of thinking that the natural man is able to grasp the spiritual things of God, and they will come to church as carnal as ducks. I am just as smart as the next man, they will say, and miss the point altogether that the smartest man in the room cannot understand the hidden wisdom of God if God does not reveal it to him. Preaching is pointless unless God makes the point.

Second, we prepare people to hear the Word by promoting prayer before service. When the people are taught to seek the Lord that He might reveal His Word to them, an amazing thing happens: God answers prayer! He gives bread to the hungry. If we shall ask, we shall receive. We cannot overemphasize the importance of preparation for preaching in prayer. Third, if we are one of those rare preachers that actually preaches from the Bible, we should push our people very firmly to read the Bible! The vocabulary of the Spirit is Scripture, which is why so many people rarely hear God speak. If we would encourage Bible reading, especially public reading of Scripture—and I mean lengthy selections that actually get people familiar with their Bible—then we would encounter more than blank, eyes-glazed-over-are-you-done-yet? sort of response to preaching.

The bottom line is this: preaching cannot be effective unless it is Spirit empowered from the moment the Holy Ghost gives a word to the preacher, to the moment he steps to the pulpit to deliver that word, until the moment the congregation sitting in the pews feels the gentle urging of the Spirit to "consider what [he says] and the Lord give thee understanding in all things" (II Timothy 2:7). It is all of the Spirit. If our preaching is dull, we do not need to look to the world around us to see how to liven it up with better, more relevant methods. If we desire to build a ministry that lasts, a church that endures the storm, then we must call on God to "[send] forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts crying, Abba, Father" (Galatians 4:6)! Preachers today are facing a crisis of confidence, the ultimate test of our faith. Do we believe the gospel works? Do we trust in the Spirit of God to open the hearts of those whom He has called and chosen? Must we turn to the methods of the world in order to have effective preaching? Must we outsource the building of the church to the experts of the world? I think not. Jesus is still the only builder of the church, and we must be his wise master builders. But that leads us into chapter 3.

I Corinthians 2: Part 1

The church at Corinth had a problem with preaching. I do not mean to say that they did not like preaching. No, indeed. They liked preaching a lot. In fact it was one their favorite forms of entertainment. And this, of course, was the problem. Preaching had become a show. It had become an amusement, a diversion to be appraised and applauded as just another form of sophisticated Greek rhetoric. The Greeks of Paul's day prized skilled oratory above all other forms of public entertainment. The most celebrated personalities of their day were the sophists and rhetoricians. Accomplished public speakers were the rock stars and movie stars of that day. This attitude bled over into the church at Corinth, and preaching was being corrupted into just another form of public speaking.

Paul highlighted this problem in I Corinthians 1-4 while addressing the more obvious problem of division within the church. The church at Corinth was divided into several factions, and these factions were formed around the names of certain prominent preachers. Some said they were of Paul, some of Apollos, some of Cephas, and others said they were of Christ. These new disciples organized themselves around certain preachers as if they were founders of different schools of philosophy. The Greeks had been reared on the various schools of thought within Greek academic culture, and it seemed very natural to do the same within the church. Of course, the true motive of such posturing was self-promotion and aggrandizement, but pride always wears better under a cloak of piety.

Paul rebuked this division sharply, but then he dug deeper than just surface fissures in the congregation. Paul perceived that there was something more at work there than just a natural human tendency to form parties and organize factions. The division at Corinth arose from a fundamental misunderstanding about the nature of preaching and how the gospel is effectively communicated. Corinth was divided around preachers because Corinth misunderstood preaching. This is how Paul's opening rebuke on division quickly became an extended discourse on the message and methods of preaching.

Just after Paul reminded the Corinthians that they were one in Christ because of their one baptism in His name, he launched into his sermon on the preaching of the Cross. He said, "For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect" (1:17). It becomes evident from this point on that Paul was exposing their pretensions to wisdom that so powerfully dominated the way they viewed preaching and preachers. He asserted that their view of preaching—that the gospel can be effectively presented in "the wisdom of words"—missed the point and the power of the Cross. Men could not be truly converted through the force of Greek rhetoric. They cannot be brought to genuine faith in Christ by human performance.

To think so is to think that men are saved by how we preach rather than what we preach, more by method than by message. And most importantly, to think so is to think that men are saved by the power of man, by the effect of human persuasion. This is intolerable to God, for He insists "that no flesh should glory in his presence" (1:29). God has deliberately determined that His saving gospel cannot be presented in any way that allows preening flesh to take credit for its success. The wisdom of man negates the power of the Cross. Paul said it makes the Cross "of none effect" (1:17). This means human-powered preaching cannot communicate the gospel. The preaching of the gospel only works when it is empowered by the Spirit of God. For the Corinthians this meant that the gospel could not be presented in the popular forms of Greek oratory. Wonder what it means for us today? Could it have any bearing on our current post-modern craze for "relevant" preaching?

Paul insisted that the world in its wisdom would not acknowledge God, so God determined to confound their wisdom with the folly of the Cross and the foolishness of Cross-preaching. To the Jews, it is a scandal: no true Messiah would suffer a cursed hanging upon the Cross. To the Gentiles, it is pure folly: no true sage would establish his philosophy on the basis of death and defeat. The world despises everything the Cross represents. This is by divine design. God planned it this way. Thus, to attempt to borrow the world's wisdom to preach such apparent folly is senseless. We cannot persuade the world to accept the premise of the Cross if we present it in a culture-relevant way. Even foolish pagans are smart enough to know when we try to put the message of the Cross over on them under the guise of sophisticated arguments. They recognize very quickly that the preaching of the Cross offends their intellectual sensibilities, and they walk away in utter contempt. Paul made it clear that there is no way to "pretty up" the Cross. Its power lies in its stark, brutal reality. God has saved the world through the means of a hideous murder.

Think about this. The universal symbol of Christianity is the Cross. People wear it around their neck. Churches hang it on the wall. Drivers plaster it to the bumper of their car. And yet, the Cross is a symbol of execution. We see it so often it has lost its power to shock and offend. But what would we do if we beheld a man walking quietly down the street with a miniature, silver electric chair hanging from a chain around his neck? Or a hangman's noose? A guillotine? And yet, this is exactly what the symbol of the Cross is meant to convey. It is not meant to convey an exciting new philosophy of life. It conveys the sentence of death upon sin, the judgment of God upon the wicked, and the hope of eternal life for those who are baptized into the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

And it is only when the Cross is understood in this way that it has the power to save. A culturally neutral, ambiguously relevant Cross is pure nonsense. The only way the Cross makes sense is when the Cross is boldly proclaimed in all its harsh reality as the sign of God's terrifying hatred for sin and His astounding love toward sinners. To present the gospel in a way that entertains pagans only ensures their damnation, for the only thing that saves—the gospel of the Cross—is "made of none effect" when presented in the words of man's wisdom. This must have been very sobering for the Corinthians. I wonder how this should make us feel?

In chapter 2, Paul reminded the Corinthians of his method of preaching when he first came to Corinth. He determined that he would stay intently focused on the message of Christ and His Cross. He overcame the temptation to present the gospel in a manner palatable to intellectuals and deliberately avoided "enticing words of man's wisdom." Of course, this does not mean that Paul used coarse language or that his speech was uneducated. It means simply that he refused to use the rhetorical methods of the Greeks to persuade unbelievers that the gospel was true. Paul understood that the only true persuasion of the gospel was the persuasion of the Spirit converting the heart of the hearer. If the Spirit did not persuade men, all of Paul's fancy tricks of oratory would never do it.

The Corinthians considered Paul too simple. Paul responded that his preaching was too difficult. They thought his message was beneath them; Paul said it went over their heads. Paul's simple preaching imparted the most profound form of wisdom ever revealed, the mysterious and hidden wisdom that God ordained to our glory before the world began (2:6,7). Yet, the sophisticated and urbane Corinthians failed to recognize Paul's preaching as the highest form of wisdom because their sophistication was of the wrong sort—the worldly sort. They were carnal and walked as men (3:1-3). Because Paul did not use words of wisdom to present the gospel, the Corinthians concluded that Paul's preaching was shallow and simplistic. They could not have been more wrong. They thought his preaching was beneath them because they were unusually wise. In reality, Paul's preaching was beyond them because they were unusually carnal.

They were too fleshly, too spiritually immature, to recognize true wisdom when they heard it. Paul underscored this fact throughout the rest of his discourse, especially in chapter 4, where his subtle irony broke down into outright sarcasm. The Corinthians were so wise that they had become fools.

Our Reasonable Service

Paul tells us in Romans 12:1 to present our "bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God which is our reasonable service." This phrase "reasonable service" means "rational/spiritual worship." It is important to note that the word translated "reasonable" in the KJV holds both meanings, rational and spiritual. This is important because Paul is not saying, as we often think, that our service to God is not excessive or unfair, that God is only requiring of us what is reasonable. Rather, he is saying that our worship is spiritual in contrast to the carnal sacrifices of the Old Covenant, and it is rational in the sense that the forms and order of worship come as the Spirit directs our mind to understand the revelation of New Covenant worship. This flows directly out of his teaching in Romans 8 (see 8:5-8 in particular) about fulfilling the righteousness of the Law by receiving a spiritual mind in Christ. We worship according to a new way of thinking. Our worship is not "conformed to this world"—the old order—but it is "transformed by the renewing of our mind." This is worship according to the "good, acceptable, and perfect will of God."

This means, then, that New Covenant worship must have a balance of rationality and spirituality. Now, I do not mean to impose our current concerns upon the text and assume that Paul was facing then exactly what we face today. But I do believe that Scripture has a timeless way of speaking to every generation and the problems we face in worship today. Certainly we are not dealing with Judaizers exactly as Paul was then, and Paul was not dealing with the high church vs. free church problem exactly as we are today. However, the principle still applies. Worship must be carefully balanced between the tendency toward hyper-rationality and hyper-spirituality. We must blend both aspects of divine/human interaction as we worship. We must worship rationally with the intellectual mind, and we must worship spiritually with the emotional heart. This seems only reasonable.

The Works of the Flesh Are Manifest

In Galatians 5, Paul tells us that "the works of the flesh are manifest." In other words, the works of the flesh will become obvious over time. The works of the flesh are contrasted directly with the fruit of the Spirit. Just as the Spirit bears fruit, the flesh bears fruit—or, produces works. The apples of the apple tree are manifest. You know a tree is an apple tree because it bears apples. And amazingly, this sort of blatant manifestation is also true of orange trees. You know a tree by its fruit. Seems simple enough.

Just so, we can know what is of the flesh because it will produce the works of the flesh. And the works that the flesh will produce is a rather wicked collection of evil works. The flesh will produce adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, hatred, wrath, strife, sedition, heresies, and so on and so forth. That is quite a list. No doubt.

But here is where it gets interesting. When we think of the flesh and its works, we immediately think of unrighteousness of every type. And we do so because of the aforementioned list of distastefuls. But Paul tells us that these works are the result of seeking righteousness in the flesh, not unrighteousness. In other words, when Paul warns the Galatian believers about the risk of producing adultery and fornication, he is pointing to their desire to be righteous in the flesh. Think about it. Paul is in full battle array against the Judaizers, a bunch of first-century Jewish-Christians that demanded circumcision and law-keeping of Paul's fledgling Gentile congregations. The Judaizers have almost persuaded the Galatians that they cannot attain righteousness before God apart from circumcision and law-keeping. Paul sees this as seeking righteousness "in the flesh." And Paul insists that this sort of self-righteousness will produce exactly the opposite of what the Judaizers promise. They promise love, joy and peace, but they will produce adultery and fornication.

Of course, the Judaizers were not trying to produce adultery and fornication. They were trying to produce holiness. Problem was, they were teaching the Galatians that they could not really be holy unless they were circumcised and kept the law. Both Paul and the Judaizers were working toward the same goal: both wanted the Gentiles to be holy. But Paul insists that true holiness cannot come from the flesh. It must come from the Spirit. He asks, "Having begun in the Spirit are you now made perfect in the flesh?" He understands by revelation what the Judaizers have missed: to seek righteousness in the flesh is to guarantee unrighteousness. When we set out to be holy in the flesh, we invariably end up with the very behavior we are trying to avoid. Seeking righteousness in the flesh will always produce the works of the flesh. That is a profound irony.

This goes all the way back to our original sin in the Garden. Satan did not tempt Adam and Eve to commit adultery (though that may have been difficult right at first, anyway). He tempted them to discern good from evil, to become like God, to seek God-likeness—or, godliness. Did we get that? The devil tempted Eve to godliness. However, their attempt at godliness produced ungodliness. Why? Because they sought godliness apart from God.

When Paul speaks of "the flesh" in Romans and elsewhere, he is speaking of the righteousness of the flesh, the attempt of the flesh to do right apart from faith in God. When we read references to "the flesh" in Paul's writings we automatically think of adultery, fornication and other forms of human mischief. But when Paul speaks of "the flesh," he is thinking of prayer, giving, worship, church attendance, and other forms of human mischief—at least, it becomes mischief when these good things are done in the flesh apart from the life of the Spirit. In other words, Paul understands that the attempt to serve the Lord in the power of human effort rather than by the power of the Holy Spirit is serving God "in the flesh," and it will always lead to the very ungodliness we are trying to avoid. The works of the flesh are manifest.

Saved By Works

The Bible clearly teaches that we cannot be saved by good works. And the Bible also clearly teaches we cannot be saved without good works. This is a notorious "contradiction," but it is only an apparent one. The tension is usually resolved by speaking of works that precede salvation and works that follow salvation. In other words, we cannot be saved by good deeds done prior to conversion, but we must produce righteous works after conversion as the fruit of salvation. Another common explanation is that we cannot be saved by the works of the Law of Moses, the sacrifices and services of the Old Covenant Temple; but we shall be judged by the good works we produce after we are baptized into the New Covenant and fulfill the Law of Christ. Both explanations have a certain truth to them, but I think there is something deeper at work here.

It seems to me that Scripture is teaching us that the works by which we are judged are the works of God in Christ through the Spirit in us. Thus, the works that are accepted in God's sight at the Judgment are the righteous works of Christ in us. Our good works cannot be our good works at all. Our good works must be the good works of Christ in us by the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit. We cannot present our fleshly righteousness—before conversion or after conversion—before God, for the works of man are done in the power of man to the glory of man. The works of Christ within us are done by the power of God to the glory of God. And of course, in a sense, this carries further both points of view mentioned above. The works of Christ in us certainly are the righteous works that follow conversion and are the works that accompany New Covenant salvation. The work of Christ in us is neither our own pre-conversion self-righteousness nor a Judaistic preservation of Old Covenant works.

The key verse is in Philippians 1 where we are told to "work out our own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God that works in us." Here lies the answer to the problem. We work out our own salvation as God works in us. It is not so much a matter of timing, before or after conversion. Neither is it merely a matter of Old and New Covenant. It is a matter of works done by man to the glory of man vs. works done by God to the glory of God. Are our good works flowing out of human strength? Then, those works cannot save us no matter when they are done. Are our works flowing out the power of the Holy Spirit? Then we shall be judged by those works—the works of Christ in us—and we shall be saved by those works. As Paul says elsewhere, the works of man shall be burned up whereas the works of the Spirit shall endure (I Co 3).

The bottom line? We must be filled with the Spirit.

Man Shall Not Live By Bread Alone

Jesus said that man shall not live by bread alone, but by "every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God." Jesus is saying that man lives by the Word of God as much as he lives by bread. This means that our human existence and life proceeds out of spiritual sustenance as much as natural sustenance. Since the fall, and particularly in modern times, man tends to think that he lives only by the natural food that he takes into his mouth, but this is a delusion. Indeed, the lack of true "life" that we see around us every day, the poor quality of life that most people endure, is a result of trying to live only by physical bread, only in the physical realm. Man was created to live by the Word as well as by bread, and thus, those who do not feast on the Word of God are starving their soul. Existence becomes subsistence without the Word of God.

Man gets hungry for bread. Man also gets hungry for the Word. Just as man craves bread, man craves the bread of life, the Word of God. There is no substitute for it. The Word of God is God speaking His mind to us through the Word and Spirit. We receive the Bread of Life when the Word and Spirit bring the Scriptures to life through faithful gospel preaching. We receive the Bread of Life when we read our Bibles in faithful, daily devotions. We receive the Bread of Life when we read morning and evening with our children. We receive the Bread of Life as we meditate daily in the law of God. When we are hungry we will reach for the Bread of Life in any way we can get it.

There is a secret here. We have learned to eat natural bread as soon as we get hungry in the flesh. We must learn the importance of doing the same as soon as we get hungry in the spirit. We must start out our morning with a healthy breakfast of the Word of God. A midmorning snack would be good. And then, lunch—ah, lunch! Everybody looks forward to lunch. Well, how about a moment or two breaking the Bread of Life? We should carry a Bible in our lunch box so we are reminded, "Man shall not live by bread alone." Throughout the remainder of the day, and just before we go to bed, we should seek to satisfy the soul with spiritual bread just as regularly as we seek to satisfy the body with natural bread. It is a simple concept. We just simply need to learn what we are hungry for.