Recentered on the Word

Can a single decision change a Christian's life? I think it can!

There is one decision that the Book of Romans urges every Christian to make. It is a decision so significant and with such potential to transform and bless that Paul devotes eleven chapters to preparing us to consider it.

Romans 12:1-2 invites individual believers who have read this great treatise on the mercies of God to respond in a way that pleases God and maximizes their experience of their so great salvation. It is a commitment to God separate from the decision to put your faith in Christ, and it moves the Christian into a new experience of devotion and intimacy with Christ. The choice we are asked to make is to present our lives to God:

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In our modern minds, chapters 9-11 may seem like a sudden history lesson, interesting to some but irrelevant to the discussion. Understanding the great and glorious themes of salvation and appreciating more than ever the mercies extended to us through grace (chapters 1-8), we could quickly move straight to the practical application of those themes to our lives in chapters 12-16.

Not Paul. Guided by the Holy Spirit Himself, the apostle to the Gentiles digresses into a discussion of his people, the Jews, who had, for the most part, failed to accept the salvation offered in the Gospel, even though they were God's chosen race and it was presented to the Jew first (1:16-17).

When we ask these questions we need a history lesson on the mercies of God. The Greek word for mercy occurs seven times in these three chapters but only twice in the rest of the letter! To assure us that God is faithful to His promises while remaining righteous, Paul begins with the particular problem of the Jewish resistance to the Gospel and ends with an unfolding of the divine purpose in history, which, in some ways, goes beyond any comparable passage in the whole Bible. The lesson is profoundly simple:

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Listen, and be encouraged.

Salvation then includes the free gift of justification, the process of sanctification, and the future rewards for the sanctification process included in glorification. In moving from "sanctification salvation" to "glorification salvation," we are moving from what we are to "work out" (Philippians 2:12-13) with a view to future reward (2 Corinthians 5:10) having received "justification salvation" as a grace gift apart from any works (Romans 3:24) to the actual experience of our promised deliverance from the very presence of sin forever in heaven (Romans 13:11; 1 Peter 1:9).

In Romans, Paul transitions from sanctification to glorification in 8:16-17 by speaking of two categories of glory—unconditional and conditional. This begins his presentation of the glorifying mercies of God in salvation.

Romans 8:16 and 17 confront us with a double heirship. One of these is for all believers. The other is for believers who suffer in fellowship with Christ. Echoing the words of the Lord in the upper room (John 16:33, 17:22-24), Paul reminds us of another reality…when we will not feel the way we do now:

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Listen, and be encouraged.

Christ's mighty work on the Cross sets His people free from the reign of sin and death (Romans 5:12-18). His mighty life provides the power to live the life they were set free to live (5:19-21). And His Holy Spirit unites them with Him through spiritual baptism (1 Corinthians 12:13). This concept of being united with Christ is developed chiefly by Paul. In Romans 6:1-10 he links union with Christ to victory over sin, teaching that believers are identified with Christ's death, burial, and resurrection:

The Spirit unites believers to Christ—dead to sin and alive to God!

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Listen, and be encouraged.

Romans 3:21-26 is the foundational passage for the doctrine of justification. All the concepts involved in justification—the righteousness of God, faith, grace, redemption, and propitiation—are skillfully and wonderfully integrated into the most powerful paragraph in the Bible. Justification by faith has been "ground zero" to every revival in church history. Humanity's ruin through sin and God's remedy through faith in the justifying merit of Jesus Christ is a message that cannot be restrained. The personal implication of this powerful doctrine is profoundly simple:

When I believe in Christ, God declares me Righteous.

The full and free justification offered to all humanity, through faith alone, in Christ alone, brings ecstatic joy and the most profound comfort to every believing heart.

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Listen, and be encouraged:

In the first hundred years of Christianity, there was no more strategic community of believers than those living in Rome. "All roads lead to Rome" was a common phrase demonstrating that the city was the Empire's cultural, commercial, and political center.

To this young church, Paul writes his most thorough treatise on Christianity. His purpose is clear—to call them to a life of commitment by giving their all to God (Romans 12:1-2). His motivation is also clear—to encourage them to make this radical but reasonable decision because they are overwhelmed by God's mercy.

He speaks from his own experience. Since he met Christ on the road to Damascus, he found he could do the will of God with a free spontaneity and overwhelming joy he had never known under the law. By exalting God's grace and mercies, he became a strategic, radically committed follower of Christ. And so, to these well-placed believers in Rome, he exalts God's mercy and grace.

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THE ETERNAL BENEFIT AND VITAL ROLE OF COMMUNITY:

Spiritual maturity sets us on a path to realize our destiny, which we were made new in Christ to accomplish (Ephesians 2:8-10). It's a winding path following a continual process best described by Paul in Philippians 3.

In the maturing process, Paul describes an awareness of a value system changing dramatically because of who he now was in Christ: Those who walk in the Spirit glorify God in their liberty. Freedom from the Mosaic Law does not mean freedom from responsibility. Truly spiritual Christians will fulfill the "law of Christ" by gently restoring those within the community of faith who have lapsed into sin. You who are spiritual (who walk in the Spirit) gently and humbly restore your sinning brothers and sinners. This is what I call The Great Exchange.

Those who live in high-trust friendships and cultures can experience release to their destiny in Christ.

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The Eternal Benefit of Spiritual Maturity:

Spiritual maturity sets us on a path to realize our destiny, which we were made new in Christ to accomplish (Ephesians 2:8-10). It's a winding path following a continual process described by Paul in Philippians 3.

In Paul's process of maturing, he describes an awareness of his value system changing dramatically because of who he now was in Christ:

God has a specific destiny for your life. It is always greater than your capacities and goals.

Results of Living by the Spirit from Galatians 5

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Those Christians who live by the Spirit display Christ's selfless love, not by following the law but by having crucified the flesh (5:22-24).

• This is the true fruit of liberty—love. We have been set free to live by the Spirit to love with the type of love characterized by the eight characteristics listed (22-23).

• Since the law was given to constrain the flesh, there's no need for the law when we live by the Spirit (23b).

• When we trusted in Christ, the power of the flesh in our lives was crucified (24).

• Specific Warning to the Galatians: "If you're led by the Spirit, you'll live by loving one another well. That's not how you're treating one another according to the reports I've heard" (25-26).

True spiritual maturity: Liberated Christians, living by the Spirit, glorify God by their Christ-like love.

Christ set us free to mature and love others.

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Liberty leads to maturity; legalism leads to immaturity. Even one legalistic rule, regulation, or preoccupation derails the work of the Spirit in your life to make you more like Christ.

What is a rule, regulation, or preoccupation that you feel you are most vulnerable to following to "become righteous" due to your home, church, or religious culture of origin?

Liberty leads to unity; legalism leads to disunity. What do you feel is a non-biblical "standard of righteousness" by which you're most prone to judge others?

Maturity always loves; immaturity always self-indulges. Ask God, "Where am I using my liberty in

unloving ways"? When He answers you, listen!

Love fulfills every commandment; legalism focuses on just a few. The truly liberated Christian fulfills every commandment as he or she follows the Spirit's leading to love Christ and others. (See also Romans 8:3-4, 13:8-10.)

The burning question for the spiritually mature is not, "Am I measuring up to the expectations of my religious culture?" The burning question for the spiritually mature is, "How best am I to love others (especially in the assembly, and even more especially my enemies) with the love of Jesus?