Weekend Quote

According to the Scriptures the Church is the habitation of God through the Spirit, and as such is the most important organism beneath the sun. She is not one more good institution along with the home, the state and the school; she is the most vital of intuitions- the only one that can claim a heavenly origin. ~ A.W. Tozer

Weekend Quote

Dear Christ, make one that which we are and that which we appear to be. Be Lord of naked faces. ~Calvin Miller

Daily Word

You, however, are not in the flesh but in the spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to Him. Romans 8:9. Christians are not in Adam, dominated by the “flesh”, but are under the rule of Christ, because the Spirit who dwells in them is the Spirit of Christ. Though the body is still subject to death, life prevails because those united with Christ live to God in the sphere of the Spirit. The duality in view here is not simply the distinction between the physical and the spiritual sides of the believer’s life, but between two spheres of existence- bodily life in a fallen world with its ever present physical death, and life in the Spirit, a participation in the resurrection of Christ. Think long and hard on this throughout today. What does it mean to you knowing that the Spirit of Christ dwells in you, and how will that change your does that change your life from this point forward?

Daily Post

For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot. Romans 8:6-8. Paul’s contrast between the old life and the new, between life in the flesh and life in the Spirit, is now worked out in detail in terms of two settled attitudes or mind-sets: one under the influence of the “flesh”, the other under the influence of Christ through the Spirit within believers. The natural person regards God as an enemy. Pure anti-God hostility is incapable of anything else, and is the real mind- set of everyone who is not yet renewed by the Spirit. Each of us must seek to put God “first” daily in our lives. With so many distractions it’s easy to let our relationship slip down the list of priorities. Slow down today and ponder on where you’re mind spends more time…in the Spirit or the Flesh?

Daily Word

For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. Romans 8:3-5. Paul does not criticize the moral law, but notes once more that because of humanity’s sinfulness it cannot bring salvation. Many today claim to be “Christian” yet by all outward appearances appear to walk purely in the flesh. What does it mean to you to walk in the Spirit, and how is the “righteous requirement of the law” fulfilled in you as compared to those who walk in the flesh?

Daily Post

There is therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. Romans 8:1-2. Paul wants the glory of their salvation, rather than the depressing reminder just given of their continuing sinfulness, to fill his readers’ minds and bring joy to their hearts. The apostle’s concern here is pastoral. Paul is telling his readers, in light of the foregoing reminder of their continuing sinfulness; they must now recall their acceptance, immunity, and security in Christ. “No condemnation” was probably meant in both senses- the judgment and the punishment. The law of the Spirit means His operative power. The law of sin is the operative power of sin, or else the divine law as used by sin to produce death. When we feel condemned over sin it is a matter of the Holy Spirit working within us to make right through repentance that which we have done to offend our God. Following our repentance there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ! What has the Holy Spirit laid upon your heart?

Daily Post

Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin. Romans 7:24-25. Paul is not crying out in despair (who will deliver me from this body of death). The physical body, is viewed as the means by which sin is expressed. Paul’s desire here is not for death as such, but for the deliverance that will ultimately be consumed in resurrection. Paul totally approves God’s law, yet his “flesh” still serves sin. New life in the Spirit is experienced by individuals in mind, body, and spirit that continue to bear the marks of sin. What does it mean to you to “serve the law of God with your mind, and how are you applying that in your life today?

Weekend Quote

It is the great moment of our lives when we decide that sin must die right out, not be curbed, or suppressed or counteracted, but crucified. ~ Oswald Chambers

Weekend Quote

There is hardly ever a complete silence in our soul. God is whispering to us well nigh incessantly. Whenever the sounds of the world die out in the soul, or sink low, then we hear the whisperings of God. He is always whispering to us, only we do not always hear because of the noise, hurry, and distraction which life causes as it rushes on. ~ Frederick Faber

Daily Word

For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have a desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil is close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Romans 7:15-23. Paul is able to analyze, but not to explain the contrast between himself and the “sin that dwells within me.” There is a real and bewildering conflict between the energies of sin and of the grace in his life. He hints, however, that the indwelling sin is a temporary lodger in him. While sin still accompanies his new identity in Christ in his life, the new identity will result in the final triumph over indwelling sin. Today, spend some time to truly grasp who you are in Christ. The flesh is full if sin but triumph over it is both promised and assured.

Daily Quote

Did that which is good, then, bring death to me? By no means! It was sin, producing death in me through what is good, in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure. For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin. Romans 7:13-14. Paul poses a question, and then answers it. It was sin in him that became the cause of his spiritual death by leading him to break God’s law. Sin is seen to be “sinful beyond measure.” Paul declares the law sets forth the standard to which life governed by the Spirit should conform. By contrast, he calls himself “of the flesh” because he cannot fully reach his standard. As a moral ruin, now under construction, he displays the marks of what he has been as a result of Adam as well as of what he will be in Christ. Most Christians today recognize their sin on the surface, but fail to recognize the depth of their “moral ruins.” Unfortunately the grace of which they walk is simply “cheap grace” that quickly gives way to compromise in their lives and prevents them from truly becoming what they can be in Christ…There is nothing partial in total depravity!

Daily Word

I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died. The very commandment that promised life proved to be death for me. For sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment deceived me and through it killed me. So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good. Romans 7:9-12. He was alive, not in the sense of having a spiritual life, but in his own estimation. Knowing the law, which promised life for obedience, made Paul realize that law-keeping was required. Trying to obey it made him realize that inwardly, in the desires of his heart he was constantly breaking the law even before he knew it, and when he saw what he was doing he couldn’t stop it. Paul writes that sin, the anti-God, anti-law driving force within him, “deceived me and…Killed me.” He became convinced that spiritually he was lifeless and lost. In itself the marks out a path that guarantees God’s favor and humanity’s happiness. But where sin reigns, the law brings only misery and death. The law reflects Gods character (holy); it is the objective norm for humanity’s covenantal response to God (righteousness); and it is beneficial for each one of us personally, since we have been created in God’s image (good). Chew on this one several times today!

Daily Post

What than shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would have not known sin. For I would have not known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “you shall not covet.” But sin, seizing the opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. For apart from the law, sin lies dead. Romans 7:7-8. The God-ordained role of the law in a fallen world is to reveal the nature of human sin. The law not only defines sin, but acts as a catalyst, provoking the precise sinful reactions that it forbids and condemns. In itself the law, which brings us to know the reality of sin in our own moral and spiritual system, is “holy and righteous and good.” The law is a faithful revelation of what is right or wrong, and does not lose its validity to measure and direct moral behavior. If you were to randomly ask five people on the street to name the 10 commandments (God’s law). I bet 4-5 couldn’t. Ask the same five to name 15 types of beer, and 5-5 probably could. Which category do you fit in?

Daily Post

Likewise, my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God. Romans 7:4-5. The believer dies through being united with Christ in His death, breaking the chain of disobedience and death that bound the sinner together with Adam in his destiny. Here Paul refers to the physical death of Christ. Bearing fruit is a metaphor meaning result or consequence from and action. In this case bearing fruit for God is a way of determining who belongs to Christ (Matt. 7:16). Do those around you recognize you for living out a fruit bearing life, and is it good fruit or bad fruit?

Weekend Quote

The Sermon on the Mount cuts across differences of temperament and variations in capacity. It outlines the kind of character which is possible for any man, gifted or relatively ungifted, strong or weak, clever or slow. Once more we find Christ placing His finger, nor upon the externals, but upon the vital internal attitude. ~ J.B Phillips

Weekend Quote

A man’s spiritual health is exactly proportional to his love for God. ~ C.S. Lewis

Daily Post

Or do you not know, brothers’- for I am speaking to those who know the law- that the law is binding of a person only as long as he lives? Foe a married woman is bound by law to her husband while he lives, but if her husband dies she is released from the law of marriage. Romans 7:1-2. Paul now expands on the theme of the believer’s relationship to the law. Although the law is holy, just, and good, the sinner’s subjection to it resulted only in condemnation, because law in its justice uncovered every transgression and failure. In this section the relationship of the sinner to the law is compared to marriage. The point of the comparison is that death brings an end to these relationships, and the widowed partner is free to be in a new relationship. Because the “marriage” was broken by death, the believer is not an adulteress and cannot be condemned by the law. The believer dies through being united with Christ in His death, breaking the chain of disobedience and death that bound the sinner together with Adam in his destiny.

Daily Word

For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regards to righteousness. But what fruit were you getting at the time from the things at the time of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:20-23. How many things do you spend wasted time on that bear absolutely no fruit in your life in comparison with that which you do that bears fruit?

Daily Word

I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification. Romans 6:18-19.Christians have been set free from the law as a system of salvation. Being justified by Christ, you are no under God’s law, but under His grace. You have been set free from sin’s dominion. You have been supernaturally regenerated and made alive to god through union with Christ in His death and risen life. The illustration of slavery is an inadequate representation of the Christian life, especially in Roman context, because it could convey harsh connotations of human slavery and inadequately express the truth that the yoke of Christ is made easy. Nevertheless, Paul retains the metaphor, probably believing that the greater danger is of failing to fulfill personal moral responsibility to the Lord. Sinfulness does not stand still but grows worse.

Daily Word

But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves to sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. Romans 6:17-18. While Paul stresses the activity of the individual in conversion (“present yourselves”, “obedient”), he gradually traces all right responses to the grace of God. While the individual is active in conversion, it is in a non-contributory and non-meritorious way, so neither divine grace nor divine sovereignty is compromised. The opposite of slavery to sin is commitment to the new life-style that grace produces. Where has compromise made its way into your new life-style leaving trace of bondage and sin from your old life- style?

Daily Quote

What then? Are we to sin “because we are not under the law but under grace? By no means! Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves to the one you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? Romans 6:15-16. That the Christian is not under law but under grace might appear to provide a license for moral carelessness. Paul denies this, since under the reign of grace Christians have become slaves of God. The freedom of grace is therefore freedom for obedience and service, not for license in moral carelessness. Paul called himself a “bond slave” of Christ. Today, consider the depth of what it means to be a slave and whom it is you tend to be most obedient towards remembering “you are slaves to the one you obey.”

Weekend Quote

In the average church service the most real thing is the shadowy unreality of everything. The worshiper sits in a state of suspended mentation; a kind of dreamy numbness creeps upon him; he hears words but they do not register, he cannot relate to anything on his own life-level. He is conscious of having entered a kind of half-world; his mind surrenders itself to a more or less pleasant mood which passes with the benediction leaving no trace behind. It does not affect anything in his everyday life. He is aware of no power, no Presence, no spiritual reality. There is simply nothing in his experience corresponding to the things which he heard from the pulpit or sang hymns. ~ A.W. Tozer

Weekend Quote

God fully expects the church of Jesus Christ to prove itself a miraculous group in the very midst of a hostile world. Christians of necessity must be in contact with the world but in being and spirit ought to be separated from the world- and as such, we should be the most amazing people in the world. ~ A.W. Tozer

Daily Post

Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal bodies, to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under the law but under grace. Romans 6:12-14. Since the reign of sin has been broken, all attempts on sin’s part to recover dominion can and must be resisted. Your body, once ruled by sinful desires, must no longer be yielded to them. The controlling principle in the life of the believer is the reign of grace that sets free from the reign of sin and transforms into the likeness of Christ. In what area have you yielded yourself over to sinful desires? Today, repent…and allow the reign of grace to control and set you free!

Daily Quote

For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. Romans 6:7-10. Here Paul is discussing the reign of sin, and not merely its guilt. “That we will also live with Him” includes the idea of resurrection, but also implies present participation in the risen life of Christ as one who is “alive to God.” Are you “alive to God?” What area(s) in your life do you need to submit to God in order to live your life more fully to God?

Daily Word

We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. Romans 6:6. While the “old self” includes pre-conversion life, it includes much, much more, and should be interpreted to mean all that we were through our union with Adam. We are to think of this as having been nailed to the cross to die. Union with Christ in His death does not destroy the body as such, but it does in the body’s role as the inescapable tool of sin by destroying the reign of sin in the body. Christian’s bodies are now dedicated to Christ and bear Holy fruit in His service. We are no longer “enslaved to sin”, since bodily existence dominated by the cravings of sin has given way to bodily existence dominated by a passion for righteousness and holiness. How does the understanding of your body’s role as an “inescapable tool of sin”; having been destroyed through your union with Christ…Change the way you live your daily walk…or does it?

Daily Post

Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we to might walk in the newness of life. Romans 6:3-4. Baptism, the sign and seal of the initial union with Christ, is the burial service for the “old self” as well as the inauguration ceremony for the new person in Christ. As such, it proclaims that those united to Christ have died to sin. Having been baptized, signifying an inward cleansing and remission of sins, Spirit-wrought regeneration and a new life, and the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit as God’s seal testifying and guaranteeing that you will be kept safe with Christ forever…Are you still walking around in your grave clothes?

Daily Word

What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Romans 6:1-2. So great was Paul’s emphasis on the freeness of God’s grace in the face of sin that his preaching had been accused of ignoring the ethical requirements of the law. Now he makes the point that to continue in sin would involve a contradiction of the Christians new identity in Christ. Christians are to refuse to allow sin to usurp authority in their lives, and instead are to yield the whole of life to God in the assurance that since they are under grace, not law, as the means of their salvation, sin is no longer their master. What area in your life does sin appear to usurp authority and lead as master?

Weekend Quote

The church must examine herself constantly to see of she be in faith; she must engage in severe self-criticism with a cheerful readiness to make amends; she must live in a state of perpetual penitence, seeking God with her whole heart; she must constantly check her life and conduct against the Holy Scriptures and bring her life into line with the will of God. ~A.W. Tozer

Weekend Quote

The cross would not be a cross to us if it destroyed in us only the unreal and the artificial. It is when it goes on to slay the best in us that its cruel sharpness is felt. ~ A.W. Tozer