sermons | study
These are sermons preached during our Sunday worship services. (Recordings were not always successful, so there are gaps in the postings.)
This chapter is so filled with solid teaching that we do well to progress through it slowly. In these few verses, Paul provides helpful explanation of verse four, which affirms that the Holy Spirit fulfills the righteous requirement of the law in Christians. How does this happen, and what is meant by "walking in the Spirit"?
There is much encouragement in this text for believers, with its emphasis on the fact that our salvation and sanctification are not dependent upon us, but God! This text is not often mentioned in connection with the teaching of the Trinity, but it is clearly trinitarian in its presentation of the work of God in us.
Chapter divisions were not in Paul's epistles, but this verse does mark a transition, as is indicated by the connecting word "therefore." Building on the teaching of the letter up to this point, Paul emphatically states a gospel truth that has great meaning for us as Christians.
In this text, Paul summarizes in a powerful manner the teaching of the second half of chapter 7. The intensity of his emotions at this point encourage us to take to heart as well as mind the truths that he is affirming.
Sound theology always begins with objective truth before considering subjective experience, and that pattern is seen in the Epistle to the Romans. In presenting the gospel, Paul has first laid a foundation of truths and now in chapter 7 speaks of his personal experience. His example here will deepen our own understanding of God and of ourselves as his people.
In this passage, we see a glimpse of Paul's spiritual autobiography as he illustrates from his own life the doctrine he is presenting to his readers. Even today as we read his words, we can identify with his experience and gain insight for our lives.
This passage introduces important teaching concerning the law from the perspective of those who are united to Christ by faith. What role does the law play in God's work of saving sinners, and what role does the law play in our lives after our conversion? These questions and others have crucial implications for our lives as followers of Christ.
It has often been commented that Paul is a master teacher, and one method an excellent teacher uses is to present the same basic truth from different perspectives, so that those learning gain a thorough grasp of that truth. In our passage today, Paul underscores the teaching that the gospel, not human effort or will, provides the only truly comprehensive means of dealing with human sin, but he does so from a different viewpoint from that used in the first half of this chapter.
Biblical faith certainly includes an emotional aspect, but it is first of all a matter of understanding. For those who are followers of Christ, a true grasp of fact precedes feeling. What we think, then, matters greatly for us as Christians, and this passage is a great help to us in learning to think rightly, to "think God's thoughts after him."
In this sermon, I quote from Timothy Keller's excellent study book on Romans: "Chapters 1-5 explain what God has accomplished for us in the gospel; chapters 6-11 tell us what God will accomplish in us through the gospel." In these opening verses of chapter 6, Paul reminds us of important truths that form the basis for a command directed to us.
God deals with us not as autonomous individuals, but as creatures corporately made in his image. This reality seems strange to our post-modern perspective, but Romans 5 and other passages reveals how our identity in Adam as sinners explains our natural human condition, and how God rescues us out of slavery to sin and death by giving us a new identity in Christ, experienced through our union with him by faith.
It is a blessing and privilege to preach God's Word, and that is especially in my thoughts as I post this sermon on a passage that is so rich in truth! On this Lord's Day when we also had the blessing and privilege of the Lord's Supper together, I was also reminded of the intimate connection between the gospel preached both through the exposition of God's Word and the sharing of the Sacraments.
These verses complete the thought begun in verses 1-5, so Romans 5:1-11 is in fact one unit of thought. This teaching provides for those who trust in Christ alone the basis for an unshakeable confidence in the love of God that gives believers peace with God, now and forever.
This sermon resumes a series on Paul's Letter to the Romans. Having established the teaching of justification by faith, Paul now turns the blessings that this brings to believers.
Chapter five of Judges is a song in celebration of the victory recounted in chapter four. Such victory songs were common in the culture of the ancient world. An example from earlier in the Bible is Miriam's song of victory after God brought the Israelites through the Red Sea and destroyed the Egyptian army. Judges five is the song of Deborah rejoicing in the LORD's victory over his and his people's enemies; at the same time, the song includes both a challenge and a promise for us today.
This exciting passage is important to the development of the overall themes of the book of Judges, including the sovereignty of God, divine judgment of sin, salvation by grace, and the need for a redeemer that is ultimately fulfilled only in the Redeemer Christ. In a less obvious way, this narrative illustrates what it means for human beings to be male and female in the image of God. The strong female characters Deborah and Jael play central roles, not only in the narrative action, but also in the revealing of the nature of relationships between men and women as God created them to be. This sermon focuses primarily on this latter topic, and owes much to Sam Andreades' work in his thought provoking book enGendered.
It has been an unexpected and remarkable blessing to enjoy during my ministry in Greenville an encouraging and strengthening relationship with a godly mentor, Dr. Arnold Olsen. He and his wife Ruth are wonderful exemplars of devoted love, and they came to mind as I studied the Bible’s account of Othniel and Achsah, which provides us with significant teaching in regards to a proper understanding of gender roles as God intends them to be.
Sunday | August 16, 2015
Continuing this series on the Bible's teaching concerning relationships, this sermon gives attention to significance of the order of God's creation of the genders. Without compromising the doctrine of gender equality before God, the Scripture teaches that there are differences in the gender roles of men and women. What does it mean for God to first create the man, commission and command him, and have him begin his work, and then afterwards create the woman? What does this difference between equals tell us about gender roles today?
Sunday | August 2, 2015
This sermon series on relationships began on June 28th with a consideration of the Trinity, and we do well to keep returning to think about the character of God as we think about what should be the character of our relationships with others. First Corinthians exhorts us: Let all that you do be done in love. Were we to obey that command, would not our relationships give off a pleasing aroma to God, the scent of love?
The importance of creeds as patterns of sound words and good deposits is evident in the emphasis that Paul gives to this theme in this letter written to Timothy, whom he mentored and with whom Paul developed one of his closest relationships.
