Meditations on Romans 8 - A Brief Word on Grace

Whenever we spend time reflecting on God’s grace, it’s important to understand what the Scripture says about grace and godliness. For example, some people read Romans 8:1 and wrongfully think that the idea of “no condemnation” means they have a "green light" to sin or that God no longer disciplines His children. Obviously, both of these thoughts are wrong because they violate Scripture.

First, God’s grace is actually the deepest call to personal holiness. Grace is not a license to sin; it’s liberty from sin! Of course, Scripture is abundantly clear on this point (see Romans 6; 1 John 3:1-3). Paul urges us to offer our bodies as living sacrifices in view of God’s mercy (see Romans 12:1). Also, he explains that God’s grace teaches us to pursue a life of godliness in the midst of this wicked world (see Titus 2:11-14). John MacArthur summarizes this point well when he writes, "Paul did not see God's grace as a static attribute whereby He passively accepts sinners. Rather, he described it as a dynamic force that transforms thought and behavior" [John F. MacArthur, Jr., The Gospel According to Jesus (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1988), 215].

Second, God’s grace doesn’t mean that He refrains from disciplining His children and that His discipline isn't painful. The writer of Hebrews clearly tells us in Hebrews 12:7-8, “Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons.” The Biblical author also continues in Hebrews 12:10-11, “Our [earthly] fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.”

So the two following points are obvious from the above verses. God’s discipline is not a sign of His rejection; rather, it’s a sign of His acceptance. Furthermore, God’s discipline is painful, but it serves the purpose of cultivating a harvest of righteousness in our lives, if we are trained by it.

Every parent knows that discipline is a part of raising their children. In fact, when I was a child, I completely rejected the notion some adults shared when issuing discipline: “This hurts me more than it hurts you.” But now that I am a parent, I agree 100% with this statement. I would rather never have to discipline my children, but I do it – not because it’s pleasurable but because it’s profitable. I do it because I LOVE my children and because they ARE my children.

So this “brief word on grace” isn’t meant to take away anything from the absolute amazing nature of God’s grace which He lavished on us in Christ. Rather, it’s meant to provide a balanced, Biblical view of the active nature of grace as it relates to personal growth in godliness.

Meditations on Romans 8 - Now No Condemnation (Romans 8:1)

Some Christians have an incorrect understanding of meditation. They falsely think that meditation yields a “deeper meaning” of Scripture, and what they mean by “deeper meaning” is an explanation different from a plain interpretation based on a sound method of study.

But meditation doesn’t lead to strange interpretations of the Bible. In Reaching the Next Level I tried to emphasize the benefits of Biblical meditation and summarized that “while meditation doesn’t generate any interpretations which are foreign to the meaning of Scripture, it nevertheless does afford you the opportunity to delve deeper into a proper interpretation and implementation of God’s Word” (Reaching the Next Level, Leader Guide, page 73).

In light of this key point, let’s continue with our meditations through Romans 8 and turn our thoughts specifically to Paul’s words in Romans 8:1: “Now no condemnation.” What do these words mean, and how do they apply to the Christian’s life?

The glorious truth of these words is that Believers are free from condemnation or God’s just judgment since they are in Christ Jesus. While we will explore the words “in Christ Jesus” in a future post, we want to focus on the words “now no condemnation” here.

First, as I just alluded to above, the word “condemnation” refers to God’s just judgment. Because of our sin, we deserve God’s wrath. So the wrath of God is just. In fact, when Paul describes what Believers were in their unbelieving state in Ephesians 2, he writes, “Like [all other lost people], we were by nature objects of wrath” (Ephesians 2:3b).

Second, the word “now” is an adverb. It tells Christians “when” they are free from condemnation. The time is “now”! But it also extends into their future eternal destiny as well. The clear teaching of Romans 8 is that Believers are free from God’s just judgment today because they are in Christ, and since this is true, they can rest in the hope that they are free from God’s just judgment forever (see, for example, Romans 8:9-11, 31-39).

Third, the word “no” means in no respect. As Believers who are in Christ Jesus, our freedom from condemnation is full. There is no sense in which we will be “condemned” by God because Christ has paid the penalty for our sin and has fulfilled all the righteous requirements of the Law on our behalf (Romans 8:3-4).

So what are some points to ponder light of the truth that there is “now no condemnation” for those who are in Christ Jesus?

• We are not who we were. There is “now” no condemnation. Obviously, there was a time when we were condemned. Do you remember what life was like when you were lost? I’m not talking about “living in the past;” I’m talking about celebrating God’s deliverance from the past!

Paul told the Believers at Ephesus to “remember” who they once were apart from Christ. Among other things, he reminded them in Ephesians 2:11-13 that they were once separated from Christ, without hope, and without God, but “now” in Christ they have been brought near through Jesus’ blood.

Oh, the glorious truth of who you are "now" as a Believer in Christ! While we don’t see right now all that we shall be (see 1 John 3:1-3), we thank God that we are not who we used to be. We were blind, but “now” we see. We were lost, but “now” we’re found. We were dead, but “now” we’re alive. We were not a people, but “now” we are the people of God. We were in the kingdom of darkness, but “now” we are in the Kingdom of God’s dear Son. There is “now” no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus!

• Christ is our perfect righteousness. Apart from Christ there is nothing but condemnation. In Christ there is no condemnation! Peter tells us that “Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God” (1 Peter 3:18a). John writes that “if anybody does sin [and we all stumble in many ways, see James 3:2], we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense – Jesus Christ, the Righteous One” (1 John 2:1b). Paul also says that “God made [Christ] who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

I know this news sounds “too-good-to-be-true”, but it is true! Christ took our sin upon Himself and gave us His perfect righteousness. All of this is true “now” for those who are in Him. God now relates to us as He relates to His Son, the Lord Jesus, because we are in Christ. We have a standing before the Father as His adopted children (Romans 8:15-16). We have peace with God; we have gained access to God; and we rejoice in the settled assurance of one day seeing His glory (Romans 5:1-2). Again, all of this is true “now” because we are in Christ!

• We are free. Since Christ paid the penalty of our sin in full, we are free in Him! Believers are called to stand firm daily in the freedom Jesus has given them through His finished work. Paul says in Galatians 5:1, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.”

The implication of Galatians 5:1 is painfully clear: Although Christ’s death and resurrection secures the Believer’s freedom, this doesn’t mean Believers are standing firm in their freedom. Far too many times, I personally struggle with living in light of this truth. I grab the broken cuffs of sin at my feet and latch them back onto my wrist through my legalistic efforts to live the Christian life.

Legalism is poison. Simply put: Legalism is the false view that says I have to live a certain way in order to gain God’s approval. Legalism magnifies my performance and scorns Christ’s finished work. It is bondage – the opposite of the freedom Christ came to give in Himself.

Romans 8:1 reminds us to focus on Christ alone. There is “now no condemnation” for those who are “in Christ”. Jesus is everything! When I focus on myself, I’m in bondage. When I focus on Christ, I stand firm in freedom because He is my freedom.

So how are we living today – reaching for the shackles of legalism or resting and rejoicing in the finished work of Christ? Are we living by our flawed attempts to merit God’s approval through our fleshly performance, or are we trusting in Christ alone? Remember: Outside of Christ, there is nothing but condemnation, but in Christ, there is now no condemnation!

Meditations on Romans 8: Therefore... (Romans 8:1)

I'm working through memorizing Romans 8 these days with another fellow-Believer. As I'm going through each verse, I'm finding "succulent details" (as one person called them) in God's Word. These are powerful insights God is using to nourish my spiritual life. So I thought I would periodically pass some of them along to you in the form of brief meditations.

I'll begin with the very first word of Romans 8:1, "Therefore...." Anyone who's heard me preach before probably knows exactly what I'm about to say, right?

Altogether now: "Anytime we read a 'therefore' in the Bible, we should always ask what the 'therefore' is there for!"

Of course, this little saying isn't original with me, although I honestly don't know where I first heard it. Also, I'm sure I'm not the first person to underscore the importance of the "therefore" which begins Romans 8.

In the immediate preceeding context, Paul has just finished Romans 7. You'll recall that this is the chapter where Paul voices his personal struggle with the battle every Believer faces: "I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do-- this I keep on doing" (Romans 7:18-19, NIV).

After Paul explains his painful struggle, he cries, "What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God-- through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Romans 7:24-25a)!

Now we can better see the meaning for the "therefore" which begins Romans 8, can't we? Paul is about to tell us more concerning his "rescue from the body of death through Jesus Christ." The key to victory in his spiritual life is Jesus Christ! Or, we might put things this way: Paul's sinful nature brought defeat; the power of the Holy Spirit brought deliverance!

So, if we too have truly experienced Christ's rescue, deliverance, or salvation, "therefore" what? Well, this is what we're about to explore.

Paul wrote in Galatians 5:1, "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery." Believers are free in Christ (John 8:32, 36; Romans 8:1-2), but they must "stand firm" in spiritual freedom.

Yet, how do we stand firm in our freedom? We must live in light of the truth of God's Word in the power of His Spirit.

"Therefore," let's walk in Christ's deliverance together as we live in light of God's truth in Romans 8 by the power of the Holy Spirit!

Lessons Learned...So Far! (My Multi-Site Journey)

Now that I’ve posted a few blogs on my personal multi-site journey (see previous four posts entitled “Sovereignty and Sensitivity”), I want to summarize a few lessons I’ve learned. It’s important to mention these lessons have been learned “so far” because I’m on a journey. Of course, this means that I’m learning “as-I’m-going,” and it also means that “hind-sight-is-20/20” many times.

While I’ve already identified some of these lessons along the way in the “Sovereignty and Sensitivity” blog posts, I hope this summary list will be a convenient place to highlight some of them. So what are some lessons I’ve learned…so far?

• Trusting God involves action. I believe God showed us the second step of our journey after we were willing to take the first step of our journey.

• God provides for where He guides. Our fellowship witnessed God’s provision for both staffing and financial needs as we followed His leadership by faith.

• Obstacles are opportunities. There is a solution for every problem as long as God is factored into the equation.

• Growing pains definitely exist. Following God’s direction by faith is exciting, but it also involves a lot of painful stretching.

• Adjustments are necessary. Sometimes certain decisions or directions initially appear to be the right ones, but changes need to be made as God reveals a different path or approach.

• Security is required in transitions. By the word “security,” I’m referring more to leaders than to anyone else. In other words, some leaders put themselves under relentless pressure to make the right decision the first time and every time there is a decision to be made. They give themselves no margin for mistakes or growth by "virtue" of their mistakes. The problem with this is that it’s simply not reality. While leaders clearly want to make right decisions, they are human like everyone else, and they are learning as they walk along life's journey. Also, security in leadership is very important for another reason. When someone suggests an alternate view or an adjustment to a plan, an insecure leader gets defensive and resists some changes which naturally come with transitions. As you can see from the length of this “brief” explanation, I’ve been helped a lot by this lesson in my personal multi-site journey and spiritual growth in general.

Again, the above lessons only summarize and highlight some of the main ones I’ve learned so far. I’m still on the journey, and as the person who mentored me for years at the beginning of my Christian life used to say, “I’m learning and growing!”

Sovereignty and Sensitivity Part Four (My Multi-Site Journey)

After our fellowship voted to move forward with the River Road multi-site and we began some outreaches there, we sought to be sensitive to God’s further direction. Remember: The title of these last few blogs is “Sovereignty and Sensitivity.” The basic point is that God has been and is leading us according to His absolute sovereignty, and we are called to follow His leadership with sensitivity.

This overall point manifested itself to us in two ways. First, since the donut outreaches went so well, we thought an after-school tutoring ministry would be great for the River Road campus. A couple of teachers in our fellowship did an excellent job outlining a plan, and we presented it to the fellowship in order to gauge the possibility of moving forward on this front. However, various aspects of the idea were not coming together, so we sensed that the timing was simply not quite right.

Second, we wanted the Lord to show us who would be able to become the “point person” on our staff to provide leadership for the River Road campus. At first, we had a general sense that our youth pastor at the time would be the most natural person for the position, but as he prayed about the opportunity, he did not think God was leading him toward the campus pastor role at River Road. He did, however, suggest to another one of our staff members that he should consider the opportunity. Ironically, at first, this other staff member did not think much about the opportunity, but one day in his prayer-time, he sensed a clear direction from God to transition into the role.

As you can see from the two examples above, the title, “Sovereignty and Sensitivity,” is appropriate for these blogs. It conveys the idea that God is leading according to His perfect will, timing, and power, and our call is to walk in step with His Spirit as we seek to follow Him with sensivitity.

Sovereignty and Sensitivity Part Three (My Multi-Site Journey)

One of the first outreaches we did at the River Road campus was a “donut outreach” for the high school located right across from the Church. Actually, as I recall, this idea was mentioned on the very night we were discussing whether or not to purchase the property for a multi-site location. Needless to say, we voted to get the property, and so we had a “donut outreach” scheduled within a very short time.

Our idea was to create a make-shift drive-thru in the Church parking lot so students driving to school could pick-up a donut and some juice. We had a great group of volunteers show up for the outreach; we set-up a canopy, some tables for the donuts and juice, and some cones for directing traffic. We figured a few students (and maybe a few teachers) who drive to school would pick-up some breakfast, and we would have the opportunity to share a “God bless you” with them at the beginning of their day.

In order to spread the word about the outreach, I (along with others) were positioned down the road with poster signs announcing “free donuts and juice” ahead at the Church. At first no one seemed to take us up on our offer. Then it happened….

I looked down the road from where I was standing with my poster sign, and I saw a large group of students walking across the road to get their donuts and juice. I must confess that my first thought was: I am SO FIRED! Then my next thought was the words of Jesus in John 4:35b, “I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest” (NIV).

I don’t want to get anyone in trouble, but let’s just say we had a lot of students FLOOD the Church parking lot that first day – many of whom did not drive themselves to school. When the school leadership talked to us later in the morning, they were extremely understanding and gracious. They knew that we didn’t want students crossing the road in any way. They understood we were thinking only students driving to school would drive-thru for a donut and juice.

So the school leadership told us that we could come on campus to share the donuts and juice before school began in the morning! I remember our youth pastor at the time telling me: Isn’t this just like the Church today? Here we are staying at our building, asking people to come to us, while God is opening a door for us to leave our building to go to where the people are!

Wow! What a powerful principle at the very heart of our entire multi-site strategy. One of the points we love about multi-site so much is that it helps us understand the Church is God’s people on mission. In other words, the Church is not a “place” where the world is invited to come to hear the Gospel; the Church is God’s people mobilized to go and preach the Gospel to the whole world!

One other point that began to surface on that morning was: If we were going to go on campus to hand-out donuts and juice, we were going to need A LOT MORE donuts and juice! It was one thing for us to plan to have breakfast for students driving onto our campus, but it was going to be an entirely different thing for us to take donuts and juice to any student from the entire school who wanted some.

So I remember asking our youth pastor, “What kind of resources do you think we need to do this every week for the rest of the school year?” Since we didn’t have many weeks of school left, he did a quick mental calculation and threw-out a number. We both talked about the number – a dollar amount which we did not have in our budget approved specifically for this type of outreach.

But I mentioned to our youth pastor that someone in our fellowship had given a special, designated gift for community outreach events. Although I knew some of that gift had already been spent on a recent event, I figured we could find out how much was left and then plan from there.

Now guess how much was left of that gift? You’re right! When we heard the balance of what was left from that gift (remember that it was a gift given months before this time), the amount just covered what we thought we needed. Once again, God had already provided for our needs even before we knew about them!

This was just the beginning of God’s work at the River Road campus, but it was an exciting beginning for sure.

Sovereignty and Sensitivity Part Two (My Multi-Site Journey)

As I mentioned at the end of my last blog, I believe God was already preparing the next step of our fellowship’s multi-site journey about 23 ½ hours after we took our first step! Actually, He gave me an indication that something along this line might be coming our way a couple of months before.

During the holiday season before January 2011, I had breakfast with a Church planting consultant in our area. Our conservation began with a few questions about our ministry and my recent books, Reaching the Next Level. Then he asked if our fellowship would be open to working with another Church in some creative way in light of our multi-site thinking.

While I assured him that we were always open to God’s will, I must admit that I was nervous about this idea. I firmly believe in the autonomy of the local Church. Our fellowship was simply trying to follow God’s lead for us; every other fellowship had to follow God’s lead for them.

Well, as I mentioned above, about 23 ½ hours after we officially decided to call our Nations location our first multi-site campus, I received a phone call. The person on the other end of the line was a leader in the fellowship the Church planting consultant mentioned to me a couple of months earlier. Although we could not meet immediately, we did schedule a meeting later that week. Of course, I didn’t know why he wanted to meet with me, but I figured that a multi-site opportunity might surface in our conversation.

As we talked, this lay-leader shared with me how their fellowship had been struggling. They had a building on six acres of land across from one of the largest high schools in our parish (this is Louisiana!). Yet, they could not understand why the ministry was not growing as they envisioned. He told me that their fellowship was ready to make the painful decision to disband, and they wanted to know if Woodland Park would be interested using their location as a multi-site campus.

Immediately, I sensed that God was showing us the next move for our journey of faith. Just as God parted the flooded Jordan only after the Israelite priests stood in the water (Joshua 3:15b-16), the Lord was opening another door for us since we were willing to trust Him in taking our first step of faith. However, this second step of faith was going to be a little more involved for two reasons.

First, it was going to “cost” something. The balance on the facility and property was about $105,000.00, but the current fellowship was very gracious. All they asked was for us to assume the balance of the loan, and they voted to give their entire savings of about $10,000.00 toward the loan. Basically, God provided the building and land for approximately $95,000.00. So our Church made a pretty aggressive move of faith. We paid about $45,000.00 immediately and borrowed against our own contingency fund to cover the other $50,000.00.

Second, it was going to take time to prayerfully discern God’s direction. While we began outreach events to high school students across the road from the new building, we did not begin services at the new facility immediately. We wanted to wait on God in prayer. There were several questions we didn’t know answers to. For example, how were we going to “staff” the new work? When were the services going to take place? What was the expression of the ministry going to look like?

All these were important questions that needed to be answered, but we didn’t know the answers as the journey began. Yet, here is what we did know: If God was leading us, He was going to direct us on the details. We knew God wanted to use the Body of Believers for the works of service (Ephesians 4:11-13). We knew He was going to provide answers for the details as we followed Him. We knew that His Spirit was going to impact lives for the Kingdom.

And God has been faithful! As mentioned above, we began a few outreach events to high school students. Also, we were approached by another ministry in the community who needed a place to meet during the summer months for their Cowboy Church services. They began using the building on Sunday nights, and the Lord allowed us to be a blessing to their work.

On the “provision” front, we realized a few months after we made the decision to move forward with this multi-site opportunity, we had extra funds which allowed us to satisfy our financial obligations for the balance of the loan. Lastly, after months of waiting on the Lord, one of our staff members sensed that he was willing to transition into the campus pastoral role at the new site. So we put together and approved a plan for his transition, and he led a core group of Believers to organize the new work over the course of a few months. Then on Christmas day (2011), the first official service was held at the River Road campus with about 100 people in attendance. In the weeks following, their attendance has held at a very solid level.

As I look back over this second step in our multi-site journey, a few insights seem clear to me:

• Walking by faith calls us to take action while we trust. I believe God didn’t open the second opportunity until after we walked through the first door of opportunity.

• It’s been well-said that where God guides, God provides. Of course, this covers both our financial decision and our staffing decision. “Hind-sight” reveals to me that God already had the entire amount of the building and land and the staffing plan covered before we even made the decision to follow Him. We simply had to obey God and prayerfully seek Him.

• Remain focused on God’s Kingdom. Although the Cowboy Church outreach (which is still meeting at our River Road campus) isn’t technically a part of our fellowship, they are a part of God’s Kingdom work in our community. We are on the same “team” with all who partner with us to proclaim the Gospel to the lost.

We are on a journey of faith! We don’t know everything God has planned, but He does. Isaiah 46:10 says, “I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please” (NIV).

Basically, God is eternal and sovereign. We may not know what awaits us around the next bend in the road, but God knows the “end from the beginning.” So we can trust the Lord as we follow Him (Proverbs 3:5-7). He is leading us for the glory of His name!