Tag Archives: devotion

Discernment and Thinking

Social Media Distortion vs a Spirit-led Mindset

Constant viewing of Facebook video feeds can potentiate several negative temptations or spiritual issues in Christian life, which biblically and theologically align with core warnings about the dangers of unchecked desires and “worldly” patterns.

Temptations such as pride, idleness, envy, lust, covetousness, and distraction are recurrent themes in Scripture regarding the misuse of time and attention, and Satan may exploit these to hinder spiritual transformation and destabilize marital and family relationships. 1 Founders Ministry

Biblical Definition of Temptations

Scripture frequently describes temptation as any lure or enticement that leads to actions, attitudes, or desires contrary to God’s will (see James 1:14-15, Galatians 5:17-21). Facebook and similar platforms may facilitate: 2 Gospel Coalition

Idolatry of self: Promoting one’s image, achievements, or desires over God’s glory. “For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.” (Romans 8:2, 8-9)

Sexual immorality and impurity: Exposure to suggestive content or interactions that feed lustful thoughts (Matthew 5:27-28).

Envy and covetousness: Endless comparison with others, dissatisfaction, and greed (Colossians 3:5, Hebrews 13:5).

Idleness and distraction: Wasting time online at the expense of spiritual disciplines and relationships (Proverbs 14:23). 1 ibid. Founders Ministry

Distracting believers from prayer, worship, and godly living, leading to spiritual stagnation and relational decay.  3 Redemption Bible College

Spiritual and Psychological Dangers

Social media, such as Facebook video feeds, can create cognitive and spiritual distortion by:

Warping reality and identity: The curated content and algorithms may shape Christians’ minds toward anxiety, outrage, or numbness, pulling them away from transformation by the Spirit of Christ (Romans 12:1–2). 4 Abounding Grace Radio, Chris George

Fostering division and critical spirit: Learned patterns of response to others on social media can foster quick judgments, arguments, and dissensions that can arise, damaging unity with others (Galatians 5:19-21). 4 Ibid. Abounding Grace Radio, Chris George

Idolic Digital addiction: Where your attention gravitates, your mind may have a preoccupation with feeds that can disrupt healthy spiritual practices and relationships, as most evangelicals, such as John Piper’s Desiring God website, warn strongly of the  negative effects on a Christian’s faith from heavy social media use. 5 DesiringGod.org

Satan’s Strategies Against Spiritual Transformation, Family and Marriage

Biblically, Satan is described as an adversary who “prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8). His strategies include:

Encouraging patterns of selfishness and instant gratification that may undermine sacrificial love in marriage. We are told to stay awake because Satan is doing his damnedest to influence us for our destruction. (Ephesians 6:10-13, 18)

Using digital platforms to facilitate lust, secrecy, or emotional affairs erodes intimacy and trust between spouses. 1 Ibid. Founders Ministry

Theological Framing and Response

Theologically, Christians are called to “deny self,” “walk by the Spirit,” and “renew their minds” (Mark 8:34, Galatians 5:22-26, Romans 12:2). Practices to counter negative spiritual influences include: 2 Ibid. Redemption Bible College

Set your mind on things above” is a biblical command from Colossians 3:2, encouraging believers to focus their thoughts, priorities, and aspirations on spiritual, eternal matters rather than temporal, earthly concerns. This involves aligning one’s mindset with heavenly values and God’s eternal purposes, leading to a life transformed by Christ and centered on spiritual goods like peace, love, and a new identity in Him. Regular self-examination, confession, and mindful content selection. (Colossians 3:2-4)

Selecting online and social media platforms that embody the Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ, and cultivating a spiritual discipline that carefully considers every thought and action, reflecting love, peace, joy, humility, and purpose.  This biblical mindset helps strengthen and protect marriages and families. Active resistance to divisive, lustful, or envious patterns that may undermine both personal transformation and marital fidelity. 5 Ibid. Abounding Grace Radio, Chris George

In summary: Constant viewing of Facebook video feeds may foster biblically defined temptations and psychological issues, which Satan can use to weaken a Christian’s spiritual growth and family relationships unless intentionally moderated through prayer, accountability, and Spirit-led discernment. abounding 2 Ibid. Gospel Coalition, Ian Harber

1 Founders Ministry

2 Gospel Coalition

3 Redemption Bible College

4 Abounding Grace Radio, Chris George

5 DesiringGod.org

Church Assembly

The Great New Jerusalem Allegories

There are several allegories in the Book of Revelation that relate to the New Jerusalem. Those depict pictures of people prepared to meet the Lord Jesus Christ at the Second Advent, which is Judgement Day.

Jesus Christ gave these allegories to His church through the Apostle John on the Isle of Patmos. They offer profound insights into God’s perspective on living holy lives before Him as His people in the New Covenant. The teaching of Sanctification – to be spiritually transformed into the image of His Son when led by the Holy Spirit of Christ — is a teaching of the utmost importance today.

As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” (1 Peter 1:14-16)

It is clear that to be cleansed from sin by the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit is very important for the Church, under the headship of our Lord Jesus Christ. None of us will attain perfection in this lifetime. Yet, sanctification is the work of a lifetime, as one seeks to obey the Lord’s guidance in His Word. Even the apostle Paul noted that he had not yet attained perfection. “Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.” (Philippians 3:12)

The Light of the City Analogy

“The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp.” (Rev 21: 23-24)

Scripture tells us that Jesus came as a great Light into the world. The spiritual symbol of light is also a predominant teaching of Christ, emphasizing the filling of the Spirit, which is actualized in the New Jerusalem. Jesus declared, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12) John further developed the teaching of light to mean that we would have fellowship and unity with Christ. “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.” (1 John 1:7)

The light of the Holy Spirit is also to extend to the nations in the new earth as the Gospel goes out from the true church. “The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendour into it.” (Rev 21:24)

Light is the subject of Jesus Christ’s parable of the ten virgins, and is dependent on oil in the lamps, oil being another symbol of the Spirit of God. Expanding on light, we read “I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp.” (Rev 21:22-23)

The Allegory of the Purity of the Bride of Christ

The New Jerusalem imagery is about the Holy Spirit bearing the light of Christ into the hearts of men who will abide as one with Christ and His Father in His spiritual kingdom, a city not built with hands, one that Abraham foresaw, “whose designer and builder is God” (Heb 11:10b).

It is interesting that the angel showing John this symbolic vision is one of the seven angels pouring out the seven last plagues, the outpouring of which is evidently prior to the Second Advent of Christ. He says to John in his vision:

“‘Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.’ And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal” (Rev 21: 9-11).

The marriage of Christ to His church, the bride, is a teaching that is common to all Christians. The angel says, “I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb…and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem”. This symbolism was accomplished “in the Spirit” because it is meant to reveal the place where Christ rules as King in His authority, yet is united to His subjects in a matrimonial way as a loving husband is to his Bride. By showing us the symbolism of the bride, we see in parallel the New Jerusalem as the sanctified individuals who make up the final church of Jesus Christ. It is my belief that this is not a denomination-based movement, but rather one led by those who are guided by the Spirit of Jesus Christ.

Paul made this clear in the epistle to the Ephesians: “For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He Himself being the Saviour of the body” (Eph 5: 23 ).

In the same chapter, Paul emphasized the idea of mystery and we learned from Daniel that God reveals mysteries regarding His own symbols. “This mystery is great; but I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church” (Eph 5: 32). Paul was specifically called by Jesus to articulate the meaning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

The City Dimensions Analogy

The perfection of the city is emphasized by the use of twelve tribes and twelve apostles, twelve gates, twelve angels; and further twelve times twelve indicated by the wall being “144 cubits thick” and the city being 12,000 stadia high; and the redeemed are indicated as being of a number of symbolic multiple of twelve being 144,000 yet of a group that no man can number. Symbols and reality intertwine in the book of Revelation as scripture unwinds scriptural truth:

It had a great, high wall with twelve gates, and with twelve angels at the gates. On the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. There were three gates on the east, three on the north, three on the south and three on the west. The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. The angel who talked with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city, its gates and its walls. The city was laid out like a square, as long as it was wide. He measured the city with the rod and found it to be 12,000 stadia in length, and as wide and high as it is long. He measured its wall and it was 144 cubits thick, by man’s measurement, which the angel was using. The wall was made of jasper, and the city of pure gold, as pure as glass. The foundations of the city walls were decorated with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald, the fifth sardonyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst. The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl. The great street of the city was of pure gold, like transparent glass ” (Rev 21: 12-21).

Further examine the symbolism of purity in the symbolic foundation of the city decorated with “every kind of precious stone” verse 19 and the element of pure gold:

The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald, the fifth sardonyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst. The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl. The great street of the city was of pure gold, like transparent glass. (Rev 21: 19-21)

Gold is also used in the Old Testament by the prophet Zechariah to depict a refining process which God’s faithful people go through, referring to sanctification – prophecies about sanctification are nothing new in the Word:

And I will put this third into the fire,
and refine them as one refines silver,
and test them as gold is tested.
They will call upon my name,
and I will answer them.
I will say, ‘They are my people’;
and they will say, ‘The LORD is my God.’” (Zech 13:9)

The world today is distracted by two primary sins: 1) new age sorcery, such as witchcraft, the law of attraction (which is theosophy), tarot card reading, and horoscopes; and 2) sexual immorality, such as adultery, homosexuality, and pornography. This will carry on until judgment day. In fact, look at the prophecy that declares these sins will proceed right up to the Second Advent of our Lord on Judgment Day – in fact, during the seven last plagues, prior to His coming, two-thirds of the earth will not repent:

The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands nor give up worshiping demons and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk, nor did they repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts. (Rev 9:20-21)

“In the whole land,” declares the LORD, “two-thirds will be struck down and perish; yet one-third will be left in it. This third I will bring into the fire; I will refine them like silver and test them like gold. They will call on my name and I will answer them; I will say, ‘They are my people,’ and they will say, ‘The LORD is our God.’

In Revelation, Jesus uses gold as an allegory and states, “I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.” (Rev 3:19)

The Purification from Sin: Clothing Allegories

Another allegory common to the Revelation is the symbolism of white clothing, which serves as a covering of righteousness to conceal our Adamic nature of sin, emphasizing the idea of total reliance on Christ’s righteousness to cover our sin. (cf. Rev 3:5, 19; 21:19-21, 27)

Further, we find contrasted people who cannot enter into the city in Revelation 21: 27: “Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life”. Our names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life, prior to the Lord’s Second Advent. “He who overcomes will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out his name from the book of life, but will acknowledge his name before my Father and his angels”. (Rev 3:5) This is pre-Second Advent language.

Prior to the Second Advent

There is an invitation to those who will hear prior to this period, being given by the true church of Jesus, referred to as His Bride. This is the church in sync with His Spirit, working in unison to proclaim the truths of the New Jerusalem together. Only certain people will hear that call: “The Spirit and the bride say, “Come” and let him who hears say, “Come!” Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life.” (Rev 22:17) The gift of the Holy Spirit is being offered to those who will hear, to come into union with the Lord, as One.

“Behold, I am coming soon! Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy in this book.” (Rev 22: 7)  Then he told me, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, because the time is near. Let him who does wrong continue to do wrong; let him who is vile continue to be vile; let him who does right continue to do right; and let him who is holy continue to be holy.” (Rev 22: 10-11)

“Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.” (Rev 22: 12) Jesus prayed that the church would enter into a sanctification process in order to become one with Him. “They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified”. (John 17: 16-19)

 Water of the River of Life Allegory

The Holy Spirit indwelling the church of Jesus Christ is depicted as running in her midst as a river from the throne of God in the New Jerusalem, which is evidently His church:

Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.” (Rev 22: 1-4)

Conclusion

The sanctification message of Jesus Christ is proclaimed by His Holy Spirit within His church, as He continues to summon His church and the world today to repent and walk in holiness before Him, bearing the image of Jesus Christ as ambassadors for Him prior to His return on Judgment Day. “For ‘we will all stand before the judgment seat of God'” (Rom 14:10)

The doctrine of Sanctification through the Spirit of God, as we claim the merits of Christ’s blood for our redemption as we repent, is a very important doctrine of the Word to proclaim in the last days prior to the Second Advent of our Lord.

To comment, email editor: glenjackman@adviceon.com

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Top 10 Highlighted verses in the ESV Bible

I’ll leave you with these several scriptures: Top 10 Most-Highlighted Verses in the English Standard Version

1    Proverbs 1:7: The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.

2    Proverbs 3:5–8: Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him…

3    Romans 10:9–11: because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved…

4    1 Corinthians 10:12–13: Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability…

5    Galatians 2:19–21: For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me…

6    Philippians 1:5–6: because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

7    Philippians 4:4–9: Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything…

8    Colossians 1:9–14: And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding…

9    2 Timothy 3:14–17: …All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness…

10    Hebrews 11:6: And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

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The Glorious Implication of Being ‘Born Again’

This is a very interesting and logical piece by a fellow we do not know, David Prince, about being born again, which my wife noted on Facebook:

No one brags about being conceived or born.

Only a fool or madman would claim any credit for that.

How did each of us come to be? Well, Dad’s sperm united with Mom’s egg, we were conceived, and then some forty weeks later, we were born.

It is hard to imagine a more passive experience. All this happened to us and for us.

Being conceived and born is thus a gift we receive, to which we contribute nothing.

So it is with being re-conceived and re-born as a Christian.

In 1 Peter 1, Peter twice speaks of us being “born again”: Verse 3: “According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be BORN AGAIN to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead…”

Verse 23: “…You have been BORN AGAIN, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God…” Peter uses the Greek verb ἀναγεννάω (anagennaō), which more accurately means to be “begotten [or conceived] again” (vv. 3, 23).

Now understand the clear implications of this: just as when we were first conceived and born again, we contributed nothing, but all work was performed by our earthly parents, so also when we are reconceived and reborn, it is a work done upon us, a gift given to us by our Heavenly Father.

We had no involvement in it.

We are purely passive.

Therefore, we are not re-conceived because of some work we performed.

We are not reborn because we made a decision to do so.

We are not born anew because we reasoned our way into it, committed our lives to God, or cooperated in our new conception and new birth.

Just as none of us decided to be conceived and born the first time, neither did any of us Christians decide to be reconceived and reborn as children of the Father.

All glory goes to God, who by the Gospel brings us to faith in Christ, generates new life within us, makes us a new creation, and causes us be born again.

God gives, we receive. And that’s that.

Source: Pastor David Prince titled “The Glorious Implication of Being ‘Born Again’”

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Logos Article: Are You Making These 7 Common Evangelism Mistakes?

Here is an article written by James Rayment about evangelism, courtesy of Logos.com, the platform where I manage my biblical resources.

Introduction

I run The Al-Ma’idah Initiative, an organization that trains Christians to communicate truth to Muslims in ways that resonate. I work out of a coffee shop in Seattle, where I regularly have conversations with people from a wide range of worldviews. Over the years, my evangelism relationships have led me on extraordinary adventures—from the streets of Guadalajara, Mexico, to the deserts of Saudi Arabia—and I have seen God do amazing things.
Yet I find most Christians dread evangelism. They feel inhibited from having conversations about faith with non-believers. But in my experience, their efforts at evangelism feel unnatural and unnecessarily difficult due to some simple mistakes.
Let’s identify and address these so that you can feel more confident—and even enjoy—what God has called each of us to do.
  1. Waiting to earn the right to share
  2. Avoiding controversial topics
  3. Rejecting those who resist
  4. Losing your composure
  5. Relying on a script
  6. Outsourcing your evangelism
  7. Trying to evangelize alone

1. Waiting to earn the right to share

Many Christians feel they must earn someone’s trust before sharing the gospel with them. So instead of being upfront about what they believe, they try to avoid bringing attention to their faith, hoping that one day, when the time is right, they’ll be able to speak as a friend whose input is valued.
But building a relationship on a shallow foundation of shared activities or pop culture without anything of depth requires Christians to shrink back from their identity and God’s Spirit within them. Yet it’s precisely this Spirit and our nature as “salt of the earth” that our non-believing friends need (Matt 5:13).
Sometimes Christians have an evangelism strategy that looks like this: Be someone’s friend for years, waiting for them to face an existential crisis, at which point we swoop in and share the gospel. (In this way, we are kind of rooting for our friends’ lives to collapse, so that we can help them rebuild.) Now, such collapse certainly happens to some. But remember, not every testimony is, or needs to be, a dramatic one. For instance, although Jesus’s healing ministry is memorable, there were also thousands in the crowds who just saw him and believed.

2. Avoiding controversial topics

Growing up as a Christian in the UK, every piece of conventional wisdom I received instructed me that the best thing Christians could do was steer clear of controversial issues, as such things get in the way of our ability to share the gospel. After all, the Bible does say to avoid foolish controversies (Titus 3:9).
Yet we err when we apply this too broadly. Consider that many of the controversies modern Christians want to avoid are the very things the Bible thinks important to address. Jesus and his apostles don’t merely address salvation. They address our sinful human nature as the reason we need God’s salvation in the first place. They address sexuality, money, politics, culture, and how we are to live as transformed individuals.
While many in our culture will be offended by what the Bible has to say about these topics, others will experience God’s Word as the remedy to a sickness they could never diagnose. In fact, I would argue that our failure to apply the Bible to a host of issues has created a vacuum that non-Christians, like Jordan Peterson, are filling with Bible-adjacent ideas.

3. Rejecting those who resist

When I worked for a well-known missions agency, I was trained to categorize people into three groups: seeker, neutral, or closed. I was taught to respond to each based on their openness to the gospel.
But while this may be a natural way to deal with people, I don’t believe it aligns with what the Bible teaches.
First, according to the Bible, the reason we are saved isn’t primarily because we seek God, but because God himself seeks us: “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost” (Luke 19:10).
Further, if you look at the ministry of Jesus, some who were initially receptive to him, like Judas, later betrayed him. Others who were originally antagonistic to Jesus—like James (John 7:5) and Paul (Acts 9:1–2)—God redirected for his own purposes, making them into some of his greatest messengers.
One of my friends is from Turkmenistan. His brother-in-law was the first Turkmen to become a Christian after the fall of the iron curtain. My friend’s friend reacted, “Turkmen are Muslim! If you weren’t my wife’s brother, I would kill you right now!”
Sensible mission agencies would tell you this person is closed to the gospel and you should move on. However, being in the same family meant that there were months of heated arguments, which eventually resulted in my friend becoming a Christian—and eventually a pastor. In fact, he essentially became one of the founding fathers of Turkmen Christianity, facing imprisonment, torture, and assassination attempts. None of that has stopped him from faithfully teaching the Bible for decades and becoming the leading provider of Christian Turkmen content worldwide.
It haunts me to think about non-Christians we may have given up on due to their initial resistance. When you look at leaders like Moses (Exod 3–4) and Paul, both of these men were resistant before God intervened. And God did not squash their stubbornness and aggression; he redirected it for his glory.
http://logos.com/church?blog_campaign=l4c&blog_adtype=inline_middle

4. Losing your composure

Running a ministry to Muslims in a liberal city like Seattle, I’ve notice some interesting patterns. I’ve observed a commonality between those with revolutionary worldviews and those with Islamic ones: Both often expect me, their convinced ideological opponent, to respond to them with fear or anger. They either anticipate that I’ll bow to the inevitability of their ascendant ideology without pushback, or that I’ll react with unhinged fury, confirming their stereotype of the bigot or Islamophobe. What they are not prepared for is a jolly Christian who is friendly and honest, confident yet calm!
We’re familiar with Peter’s call to give a defense “with gentleness and respect.” But I’ve never sat through an evangelism training that emphasized courage. Yet courage is such an important part of evangelism that the Apostle Paul actually refers to it as a sign to them: “[A]nd not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God” (Phil 1:28).
Not only will being calm and courageous make us more interesting to talk to, it’s also a way of leaning on the promises of God.

5. Relying on a script

In my experience, much of the evangelism training in the Christian world—both East and West—focuses on simple methods or formulas designed to make evangelism easy to teach. There is certainly a measure of wisdom in that.
What I have observed is that many such methods, like the Four Spiritual Laws, are built for very specific contexts, like sharing the gospel with a stranger on a college campus. The downside of this simplification is that people may become well equipped to share on campus, but have a hard time adapting what they’ve learned once they leave that open marketplace of ideas (and their flexible schedules) for a more structured life with fewer natural opportunities to engage others.
The New Testament never gives us an exact formula for how to share the gospel. Instead, we see the gospel preached in different ways to different groups of people depending on context. Paul puts it this way: “Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person” (Col 4:5–6).
Notice Paul’s assumption: “each person” may need a different answer. Therefore, we should not be preparing to repeat the same conversation over and over, but to apply the whole counsel of God to any situation. This takes more training and discipleship than an evangelistic script can provide, but it will serve us better in the long run and make evangelism more natural.

6. Outsourcing your evangelism

Growing up in England, where there were not as many evangelical Christians around, inviting friends to church always felt difficult. For me, that meant I felt a need to explain the gospel to my non-Christian friends in a way that made sense to them, because I didn’t expect church to resonate with them.
When I moved to America, I joined a rising Seattle megachurch—one that later imploded. For my first couple of years there, I loved it, and I couldn’t wait to invite people to hear the Bible clearly preached in a way that connected with our time and place. But once problems and church drama came to the surface, I was no longer excited to bring my non-Christian friends. This gave me an important realization: If I don’t share the gospel with my non-Christian friends, there might not be anyone else who does.
At this point I realized I had been slacking. I hadn’t been working to communicate Christianity in a way that my friends would understand. I had just been inviting them to hear someone else do it.
Now, inviting your friends to church is good. But consider that you may actually be better suited to share the gospel with them then your pastor or favorite speaker might. God is capable of introducing your friend to anyone—but he chose to put you in their life.

7. Trying to evangelize alone

To counterbalance my previous point, we also need to understand that the church is one body with many parts. Your words will uniquely resonate with some people and not others, and you probably know who those people are.
But you probably also know people in your Christian community who could reach those you can’t. Perhaps there’s a way you could introduce them?
And even for those you can reach, introduce them to your Christian community. Show them that it’s not about you being exceptional, but that God is at work, not only in your life, but also in the lives of others.
After all, Jesus said: “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35). If your non-believing friends only encounter you alone, how would they ever get to see the love amongst Christians in action?
Jesus told his disciples he would make them “fishers of men” (Matt 4:19). Maybe we picture one guy with a line catching a single fish. But the fishing his disciples practiced was a team sport—several men shoulder to shoulder, each holding part of a net, wading through the water together.
So find your team. Walk shoulder to shoulder in speaking the truth in love to the people around you who need to know Jesus.
And I hope you have as good a time doing it as I have.
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Quick Notes: Ephesians

The Book of Ephesians is a letter written by the Apostle Paul to the church in Ephesus, a significant city in Asia Minor. Let’s examine the two main sections: chapters 1-3 focus on teaching what God has done for believers, while chapters 4-6 provide practical guidance on living and how believers should respond practically in their own transformed lives.

Chapters 1-3: Our Riches in Christ

Paul begins by celebrating the incredible spiritual blessings believers have in Christ. He emphasizes that God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world, which strongly indicates that God predestined believers to come into a relationship with Him. Further, in that unity with Him, we are to be holy and blameless. Through Christ, we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins, and are adopted as God’s children. The Holy Spirit is given as a seal and a down payment of our inheritance — an abiding confidence in eternal life.

A key theme in these chapters is the mystery of Christ, which Paul reveals: both Jews and Gentiles are united in one body, the church, through Christ. God’s plan was always to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under Christ. This unity is a powerful testament to God’s sovereignty, wisdom and grace.

Paul prays for the Ephesians to truly grasp the immense power of God at work in them – the same power that raised Christ from the dead and seated Him at God’s right hand. He stresses that salvation is by grace through faith, not by works, so no one can boast. We are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works.

Chapters 4-6: Our Walk in Christ

Moving from doctrine to practice, Paul urges believers to “walk worthy of the calling” they have received. This involves living out their new identity in Christ. He emphasizes unity in the Spirit, calling believers to humility, gentleness, patience, and love, working to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. He highlights the various spiritual gifts given to the church – apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers – all of which are designed to equip the saints for ministry and build up the body of Christ.

Practical instructions for daily living abound:

  • Putting off the old self and putting on the new self: This means renouncing former ways of life (lying, stealing, corrupt speech, anger) and embracing righteousness and holiness (speaking truth, working diligently, speaking encouraging words, forgiveness).
  • Walking in love: Imitating Christ’s selfless love, particularly in marriage, where husbands are to love their wives as Christ loved the church, and wives are to respect their husbands.
  • Family relationships: Children are to obey their parents, and fathers are not to provoke their children but bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord. Slaves (servants) are to obey their masters, and masters are to treat their servants justly.
  • Spiritual warfare: Paul concludes by encouraging believers to “put on the whole armour of God” to stand against the schemes of the devil. This spiritual armour includes truth, righteousness, the gospel of peace, faith, salvation, and the word of God, along with prayer.

In essence, Ephesians is a powerful message about the incredible identity and spiritual blessings believers have in Christ, and the consequent call to live out that reality in unity, love, and spiritual strength within the church and in the world. It paints a grand picture of God’s redemptive plan to bring all things together in Christ.

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Book Review: Experiencing God: Knowing and Doing the Will of God

Henry and Richard Blackaby, in their revised and expanded edition of Experiencing God: Knowing and Doing the Will of God, outline seven realities that describe how individuals and churches can experience God and His work. These realities provide a framework for understanding God’s activity and participating in His purposes.

Here are the Seven Realities of Experiencing God:

  1. God is always at work around you. This reality emphasizes that God is not distant or inactive, but constantly at work in the world and in the lives of individuals. Experiencing God begins with recognizing and acknowledging His ongoing activity.
  2. God pursues a continuing love relationship with you that is real and personal. God desires an intimate and personal relationship with each person. This reality highlights the relational aspect of experiencing God, where He actively seeks to connect with us in a deep and ongoing way.
  3. God invites you to become involved with Him in His work. God doesn’t just want us to observe His work; He invites us to participate with Him in accomplishing His purposes. This reality emphasizes that God has a plan, and He often chooses to work through His people.
  4. God speaks by the Holy Spirit through the Bible, prayer, circumstances, and the church to reveal Himself, His purposes, and His ways. God communicates with His people in various ways. This reality underscores the importance of listening for His voice through His Word, in prayer, through the events and situations in our lives, and through the community of believers.
  5. God’s invitation for you to work with Him always leads you to a crisis of belief that requires faith and action. When God invites us to join Him in His work, it often requires us to step out in faith beyond our comfort zones and natural abilities. This “crisis of belief” demands a decision to trust and obey Him.
  6. You must make major adjustments in your life to join God in what He is doing. Responding to God’s invitation and walking in obedience often necessitates changes in our plans, priorities, and even our lifestyles. This reality emphasizes the need for a willingness to adjust our lives to align with God’s will.
  7. You come to know God by experience as you obey Him, and He accomplishes His work through you. The deepest knowledge of God comes through firsthand experience as we obey Him. As we step out in faith and allow God to work through us, we see His power and character in new and profound ways.

We need to listen to God for his plans for you, before you plan for God only with your ideas.

Henry Blackaby, particularly through his widely influential work Experiencing God, strongly emphasizes the critical need to listen to God for His plans for you before you create your own plans for God. This core teaching is a foundational aspect of his approach to knowing and doing God’s will.

Here’s a breakdown of how Henry Blackaby initially taught this, based on a significant scipture, “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.” John 16:13

  • God Takes the Initiative: Blackaby consistently asserts that God is always at work and always takes the initiative in a person’s life. He created us for a love relationship and actively pursues it. Therefore, our role is not to come up with our own grand schemes and then ask God to bless them, but rather to discern what God is already doing and then join Him.
  • Focus on God’s Agenda, Not Your Own: A central theme is moving from a “self-centered” life to a “God-centered” one. This means shifting focus from “what do I want to accomplish for God?” to “what is God doing, and how can I join Him?” He argues that people often get busy doing things they think will help God, but if they haven’t first listened, they might be hindering His actual work.
  • God Reveals His Will Through Various Means: Blackaby teaches that God communicates His purposes and ways through several channels:
    • The Bible: God’s written Word is a primary source of revelation. (John 16:13)
    • Prayer: This is seen as a two-way conversation where we speak to God and also listen for His response.
    • Circumstances: The events and situations in our lives can be indicators of God’s activity.
    • The Church: God can speak through other believers and the community of faith.
  • The “Crisis of Belief”: When God reveals His invitation to join Him, it often leads to a “crisis of belief.” This is a point where one must decide whether to trust and obey God’s revealed plan, even if it seems illogical or requires significant adjustments, rather than clinging to their own pre-conceived notions.
  • Adjusting Life to God’s Activity: True discipleship involves making “major adjustments” in one’s life to align with what God is doing. This implies a willingness to alter personal plans, priorities, and even lifestyles in response to God’s leading.
  • Knowing God Through Obedience and Experience: Blackaby believes that the deepest understanding of God comes through obeying Him and experiencing Him at work through your life. You don’t fully “know” God by simply having intellectual knowledge about Him; you come to know Him intimately as you step out in faith and see Him accomplish His purposes through you, which stem from His initial revealed plan.

In essence, Blackaby’s teaching is a call to a radical shift in perspective: from planning for God based on our ideas to listening to God for His existing plans and then aligning our lives with them. This necessitates a deep, ongoing relationship with God, characterized by humility, attentiveness, and a readiness to obey.

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Romans 5: The Heart of the Gospel and Peace with God

Note: You can see the Bible text as you read by hovering over the scriptures or clicking them.

Faith brings joy to the believer. In Romans 5:1-11, Paul presents the gospel’s truth in ways that stretch our thinking — and bring joy into our lives as one of God’s elect. On the one hand, we are complete in Christ (our acceptance with him is secure); on the other, we are growing in Christ (becoming more and more transformed–like him).

Before we begin, I present eight brief points to help you get a Coles Notes snapshot. I encourage you to review the remaining study and increase your faith in Christ as your Redeemer.

Eight benefits of Justification by Faith in Christ as your Saviour:

  1. Peace: Romans 5:1
  2. Access: Romans 5:2
  3. Hope: Romans 5:2
  4. Patience—fruit of tribulations: Romans 5:3
  5. Love: Romans 5:5
  6. Holy Spirit: Romans 5:5
  7. Deliverance from the Great Tribulation: Romans 5:9
  8. Joy: Romans 5:11

God’s Reconciliation is toward man: Forgiveness is the key to redemption in Christ, offering us a change from enmity to friendship. Justification by faith is an act of God which is permanent. Let’s dive a bit deeper:

Romans 5:1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Chapter 5 begins with an affirmation of the Christian’s standing before God—that the Christian, through believing faith in Christ, has been justified and declared righteous by God, once for all. The result of this is that the Christian no longer lives under the fear of judgment and the wrath of God but has peace with God, which is not merely a subjective feeling but an objective reality. (See John 14:27)

How does being made right in God’s sight by our faith in Christ affect our relationship with God? First, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. Having peace with God means no more hostility between us and God, and no sin is blocking our relationship with Him, because Christ’s atonement on the cross offers God’s forgiveness as we acknowledge that Jesus took our sins upon Himself as a propitiation for the believer’s sin. Thereby, a new relationship has been established, so we no longer dread the outcome of judgment but live under the protection established by God. 1 

Romans 5:2 Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

Not only has Christ made us right with God, but He has also given us personal access to God. His grace brings us into a place of the highest privilege, where we now stand, a blessing of God’s justification because of our faith. We have been brought into a place of favour with God. Instead of being his enemies, we are now his friends—in fact — his very own children (John 15:15; Galatians 4:5). Mankind was created for glory, but because of sin, had fallen “short of God’s glorious standard” (Romans 3:23). It is God’s purpose to recreate his image, his glory, entirely in us so that we can confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory. Anticipating our future with God ought to bring great joy. We stand in God’s grace, and the outcome of our lives is secure in his hands. We no longer need to be haunted by thoughts of judgment; now we can reflect upon and respond to his grace. 3 

Romans 5:3-5 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

These verses describe the transformative process of sanctification, in which persecution and suffering lead to perseverance and hope. (see 1 Peter 1:6–7; 2 Corinthians 12:9) This process is by grace through the Spirit, evidencing the internal work of the new covenant, where God writes His law on the hearts of believers– a step-by-step transformation that makes believers more like Christ. (Jeremiah 31.33; Hebrews 8:10, 10:16,)

Followers of Christ have no reason to fear the final judgement at death or if yet alive when Christ returns on the judgment day, for they now belong to God. Indeed, they know that they have received God’s love because the Holy Spirit poured His love into their hearts at conversion—the time when they believed and accepted the salvation offered by Christ’s sacrifice on the cross.

Romans 5:6-8 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

The death of Christ for the ungodly is the ultimate demonstration of grace. This is the expiatory sacrifice that pays the penalty Adam’s disobedience incurred, restoring what Adam robbed from God and man-obedience and life.

God’s plan, from the beginning, was to send his Son to die for us, at just the right time, referring to both the timing in history and the timing in God’s plan (see Galatians 4:4). In the face of our helplessness, God was entirely in control. The events in human history did not determine the plan of salvation; God designed the plan of salvation to happen at just the right time. We are saved only because God took the initiative and demonstrated his incredible grace and love by sending his Son to take the punishment we deserved. God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. Christ’s death is the highest manifestation of God’s love for us. While we were rebellious and despicable, Christ died for us so that we could come to God, find peace with him, and become heirs of his promises. Christ did not die so that we could be made lovable; Christ died because God already loved us and wanted to bring us close to himself. 5

Romans 5:9-11 Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

Justification by Christ’s blood secures salvation from God’s wrath. Through Christ’s atonement, believers are reconciled to God, a key feature of the new covenant where peace and restored relationship replace condemnation.

God made us right in his sight through the blood of Christ shed on the cross (see Romans 3:25). Because God is holy, he could not accept us by simply disregarding or ignoring our sins. Instead, those sins had to be dealt with. And God did this through the sacrificial death of his Son. Again, this justification is God’s approval, given to us only based on what Christ did. God’s acquittal sets free all of us who were otherwise hopeless prisoners of sin. If Christ’s blood was shed on our behalf, then his blood will certainly save us from God’s judgment. 6 

We were enemies because we were rebels against God. Because of Christ’s death, we were restored to friendship with God by the death of his Son. Because Christ’s death accomplished this, his life—his present resurrection life—delivers us from eternal punishment and ensures our salvation. Knowing all that God has accomplished should cause us to rejoice. Paul has already told his readers that they should rejoice in sharing God’s glory (Romans 5:2) and in their problems (Romans 5:3). Now he exclaims that they should rejoice in God. We rejoice in God because Christ took our sins upon himself and paid the price for them with his death, instead of punishing us with the death we deserve. Through faith in his work, we become his friends and are no longer enemies and outcasts. 7 

Romans 5:12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned.

Adam’s one offence brought sin and death to all humanity. Adam was the representative head of humanity at creation, breaking God’s law and causing the imputation of guilt to all. This sets the stage for Christ as the second Adam, who rectifies this.

Sin came into the world through one man. Adam sinned against God, causing a domino effect: sin entered the entire human race, then sin brought death. Because everyone sinned, everyone also died (Genesis 2–3). Death is the consequence of being under the power of sin. It was not in God’s original plan for human beings to die, but it was the result when sin entered the world. Inevitably, the gift of life we bequeath to our children includes the ancestral sting of death. All human beings share two common characteristics: they are sinners, and they will die. 8 

Romans 5:13-14 …for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come.

Sin existed before the Mosaic law, but the law made sin’s nature clearer and increased its recognition. The law’s role was to multiply sin’s awareness, but it could not save — this is where grace superabounds.

God’s law was not given until the time of Moses, so the people who lived between Adam and Moses did not have any specific laws to obey or break. But sin in the world was the power or force that caused people to act independently of God. All people are under the power of sin, and all people act in rebellion against God. Sin was in the world from the beginning, but it came into sharp focus when the law was given. Adam disobeyed an explicit commandment of God (Romans 5:12). His descendants who lived prior to the time of Moses could not break any specific laws because there were none. But they still sinned, as witnessed by the fact that they all died. Adam’s descendants had sinned with Adam (Romans 5:12). Death is the result of Adam’s sin and ours, even if our sins don’t resemble Adam’s. For thousands of years, the law had not been explicitly given, and yet people died. The law was added (Romans 5:20) to help people see their sinfulness, to show them the seriousness of their offences, and to drive them to God for mercy and pardon. This was true in Moses’ and Paul’s days, and it is still true today. Sin is a fracture between us and who we were created to be. The law points out our sin and places the responsibility for it squarely on our shoulders, but it offers no remedy. The contrast between Adam and Christ is that Adam’s one act determined the character of the world; Christ’s one act determined the character of eternity. In modern terminology, we could say that Adam was a flawed prototype, but Christ was the perfect original. Just as Adam was a representative of created humanity, so is Christ the representative of the new, spiritual humanity. 9 

Romans 5:15 But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many.

The free gift of grace through Christ far outweighs Adam’s offence.  Christ’s sacrifice is an expiatory offering that restores and superabounds in grace, bringing righteousness and life to many. God’s generous gift of forgiveness through Christ (justification) has a greater but opposite effect than the trespass of Adam and its consequences. Yet in each case, the act of one affected the lives of many. Because of Adam’s sin, death entered the human race, and since then, all people have died (with the Bible’s exceptions of Enoch and Elijah). All people will die until the end of this age. Because of Jesus Christ, however, we can trade judgment for forgiveness. We can trade our sin for Jesus’ goodness. Jesus offers us the opportunity to be born into his spiritual family—the family line that begins with forgiveness and leads to eternal life. If we do nothing, we have death through Adam; but if we come to God by faith, we have life through Christ. 10 

Romans 5:16 And the free gift is not like the result of that one man’s sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification.

Unlike Adam’s sin, which brought condemnation, Christ’s gift brings justification (when we accept Him by faith) despite many sins. This reveals the superiority of grace over the law–where the law condemns, grace justifies. God passed judgment on Adam’s one sin of disobedience, and as a result, Adam and the entire human race received condemnation and death. Everyone since Adam has sinned, and yet Christ overcame those many trespasses and brought righteousness to those who accept him, even though they are guilty of many sins. The result of sin is death; the gift of God, His justifying sinners, results in eternal life after we physically die, and our future reigning forever with Christ. 11 

Romans 5:17 For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.

Death reigned through Adam’s offence, but believers reign in life through Christ’s abundant grace and righteousness. This righteousness is the divine property of Christ imputed to believers, fulfilling the law’s demands perfectly.

By capitulating to sin, Adam caused death to rule over the whole human race. Death is inescapable; it comes to every living thing. We all live close to the valley of the shadow of death. And the reign of death over creation began because of Adam’s sin. However, there is a remedy. Those who receive God’s wonderful, gracious gift of righteousness will live in triumph over sin and death. What a promise this is to those who love Christ! We can reign in Christ over sin’s power, over death’s threats, and Satan’s attacks. Eternal life is ours now and forever. Though this promise will have its greatest fulfillment in the future, it will also have a significant immediate impact. In Christ, death loses its sting (see 1 Corinthians 15:50–57). We are still subject to the physical suffering and death brought by sin in the world, but we are free from the eternal spiritual separation that we would experience outside of Christ. Also, in the power and protection of Jesus Christ, we can overcome temptation (see Romans 8:17 for more on our privileged position in Christ). 12 

Romans 5:18-19 Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.

The parallel between Adam and Christ is explicit: Adam’s disobedience brought condemnation; Christ’s obedience brings justification and life. This underscores the heart of the new covenant, restoration, and righteousness through Christ’s obedience.

In Romans 5:18, the one trespass of Adam, as the covenantal head of the human race, brought condemnation and guilt to all people. In a similar way, Christ’s one act of righteousness (either his death as such or his whole life of perfect obedience, including his death) grants righteousness and life to all who belong to Him.

The same statement is made in different words in these two verses. Paul emphasizes the contrasting roles of two single agents, Adam and Christ. Adam’s one sin brought condemnation on the human race; this one person disobeyed God, causing all people to become sinners. But Christ’s one act of righteousness, done because he obeyed God, opened the way for all people to be made right in God’s sight and given eternal life. 13 

Romans 5:20 Now the law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more…

The law increased the awareness and multiplication of sin, but grace superabounded beyond sin’s increase. The law acts like a mirror revealing sin but cannot save, whereas grace delivers and restores through Christ and the Spirit.

The law was given so that all people could see their sinfulness. The purpose of the law for his own people, the Jews, had been to make them aware of their need for salvation. Sin was present from Adam, but the giving of the law was like having a huge spotlight turned on—people’s sinfulness became all the more defined. The solution to sin was not law, but grace. No matter how much people sin, God’s incredible kindness is greater. When our awareness of sin increases, we need to ask God to help us see that his grace is always greater in its capacity to forgive than our capacity to sin. 14

Romans 5:21 …so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Sin’s reign leads to death; grace reigns through righteousness to eternal life. This righteousness is Christ’s, imputed and applied by the Spirit under the new covenant, guaranteeing eternal life and victory over sin’s dominion.

Our age is characterized by sin and inevitable death; but the age to come will be characterized by grace, righteousness, and eternal life. It is common to call the ultimate struggle that is going on in the universe “the conflict between good and evil.” Paul was picturing here the outcome of the war between the Kingdom of grace and the kingdom of sin. Until Christ, the war appeared to be decided, because sin ruled over all people. But Christ’s death and resurrection provided the decisive victory by which God’s wonderful kindness rules. Under the reign of grace, a right standing is declared that will bring eternal life. This ends the first section of Paul’s letter to the Romans and his explanation of the law and its relation to salvation. But the law is not set aside as old and worthless. Paul will explain, in the coming chapters, the role of the law for believers. 15

Summary of the exegesis on Law vs. Grace and the New Covenant in Romans 5

Adam’s sin represents the breaking of God’s law, bringing condemnation and death to all humanity by imputation.

Christ as the last Adam provides an expiatory sacrifice that pays the debt Adam owed, restoring what was lost and superabounding in grace.

The Mosaic law reveals and multiplies sin but cannot save or empower obedience; it acts as a mirror exposing human failure.

Grace through Christ is a free gift that justifies many despite their offences, providing righteousness that perfectly meets the law’s demands.

The new covenant internalizes God’s law by writing it on believers’ hearts, enabling obedience by the Spirit rather than external legalism.

Believers stand in grace, justified by faith, reconciled to God, and empowered by the Spirit to live righteously, reigning in life rather than death.

Where sin multiplied, grace superabounded, showing the overwhelming power of God’s redemptive work in Christ beyond the law’s condemnation.

This exposition aligns with the broader Pauline theology in Romans, the contrast between law and grace, the representative roles of Adam and Christ, and the transformative reality of the new covenant. It underscores that grace does not abolish the law but fulfills and surpasses it by enabling true righteousness and eternal life through Jesus Christ.

1 Bruce Barton et al. Life Application New Testament Commentary (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale, 2001), 596.

2 Douglas J. Moo, Romans, The NIV Application Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 2000), 170.

3 Bruce Barton, Philip Comfort, et al., Life Application New Testament Commentary (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale, 2001), 596–597.

4-15 Ibid

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How False Doctrine Influences Groupthink

The real problem with embracing false doctrine is that once it has influenced you, through your association with a group that promotes it, a spiritual paradigm becomes so ingrained that your awareness is always limited.

However much an individual may try to eliminate their unbiblical distortions and dissolve their conflict with the conscience, some element of subjective distortion and blindness must inevitably remain — at least until God cleanses you from it through the power of His Word, applied by the Spirit of the Lord.

Just as demonic influence affects an individual’s spiritual conscience, it also affects the collective conscience that develops in any human group or society. Any group of human beings—even within a church—can establish a single, undifferentiated consciousness through which each member views the world in precisely the same way. How does this work? Brainwashing begins imperceptibly when others have taught one without serious personal biblical study to affirm a biblical consensus. (Acts 17:11)

However, in any group or society that claims to hold to biblical doctrine, it is possible to assert prevailing views, even if the opinions of a minority of group members may conflict with them. Groups of human beings develop a sense of common identity, shared values, and shared assumptions of what they believe to be accurate. In this respect, they can fall prey to a collective spiritual deception and potential heresy.

The more you hear a lie, the more you’re likely to believe it. This is known as the illusory truth effect. A 1977 study discovered that when you hear something often enough, your brain starts to accept it as true, simply because it sounds familiar.

Apostle Paul warned Timothy and Titus to stand against false doctrine in his pastoral letters.

“…stay there in Ephesus so that you may command certain men not to teach false doctrines any longer nor devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies.  These promote controversies rather than God’s work, which is by faith.  The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.  Some have wandered away from these and turned to meaningless talk.  They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not know what they are talking about or what they so confidently affirm.” (1 Tim. 1:3-7)

“Some have rejected these [faith and good conscience] and so have shipwrecked their faith. Among them are Hymanaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan to be taught not to blaspheme” (1 Tim. 1:19b-20).

Deacons “must keep hold of the deep truths of the faith with a clear conscience” (1 Tim. 3:9).

“The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron” (1 Tim. 4:1-2).

“Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress. Watch your life and doctrine closely.  Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers” (1 Tim. 4:15-16).

“If anyone teaches false doctrines and does not agree to the sound instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ and to godly teaching, he is conceited and understands nothing.  He has an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions and constant friction between men of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain” (1 Tim. 6:3-5).

“Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs” (1 Tim. 6:10b).

“What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus.  Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you–guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us” (2 Tim. 1:13-14).

“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly. Their teaching will spread like gangrene.  Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus, who have wandered away from the truth. They say that the resurrection has already taken place, and they destroy the faith of some” (2 Tim. 2:16-18).

“Don’t have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels. And the Lord’s servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will” (2 Tim. 2:23-26).

“They are the kind who worm their way into homes and gain control over weak-willed women, who are loaded down with sins and are swayed by all kinds of evil desires, always learning but never able to acknowledge the truth. Just as Jannes and Jambres oppose the truth–men of depraved minds, who, as far as the faith is concerned, are rejected” (2 Tim. 3:1-8).

“In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil men and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it…” (2 Tim. 3:12-14).

“Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage–with great patience and careful instruction.  For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry” (2 Tim. 4:2-5).

Elders “must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it. For there are many rebellious people, mere talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision group. They must be silenced, because they are ruining whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach–and that for the sake of dishonest gain” (Titus 1:11).

“Rebuke them sharply, so that they may be sound in the faith and will pay no attention to Jewish myths or to the commands of those who reject the truth” (Titus 1:13-14).

“You must teach what is in accord with sound doctrine” (Titus 2:1a).

Example of the integration of false doctrine

Transcript of Phil Johnson’s YouTube on Ellen G. White’s Hypocrisies

 

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Romans 8: Defines law versus New Covenant grace.

Romans 8 addresses the relationship between the Spirit-led life, the law, and grace, emphasizing that believers are freed from condemnation and empowered to fulfill God’s will through the Holy Spirit. Below is an analysis of key themes and their connection to the law-grace dynamic and the new covenant, which gives the believer the power of the indwelling Spirit to overcome temptation:

Romans 8: The Spirit vs. the Flesh

Paul contrasts life “in the Spirit” with life “in the flesh” (Romans 8:1–8). Those led by the Spirit are no longer under the law’s condemnation (Romans 8:1) because Christ’s sacrifice fulfilled the law’s demands (Romans 8:3–4). The Spirit enables believers to live in obedience to God’s will, revealed in God’s Word—predominantly as expressed in the New Testament, not through legalistic adherence to the law but through a transformed heart. Jesus was instrumental in expanding the Old Covenant law’s viewpoints relating to even our thought life. (Matthew 5:28) 1

Law vs. Grace in Romans 8

The Law’s Purpose: The law reveals sin but cannot provide righteousness (Romans 8:3; cf. Romans 7:5–11). It demands obedience but cannot empower it, leading to frustration (Romans 7:18–24).

Grace Through the Spirit: Believers are freed from the law’s bondage (Romans 7:6) and empowered by the Spirit to fulfill the law’s intent (Romans 8:4). Love becomes the fulfillment of the law (Romans 13:10; Galatians 5:14), as the Spirit produces fruit like love, joy, and peace (Galatians 5:22–23).

No Condemnation: Justification by faith (Romans 3:24–25) removes guilt, and the Spirit’s indwelling ensures believers are no longer slaves to sin (Romans 8:1–2).

The New Covenant in Romans 8

The new covenant, foreshadowed in Jeremiah 31:31–34 and fulfilled in Christ, replaces the old covenant’s external law with an internal transformation:

Internal Transformation: God writes His laws on believers’ hearts (Jeremiah 31:33; Hebrews 8:10), enabling obedience through the Spirit (Romans 8:5–6) and progressive sanctification (Philippians 3:12-14 ). This aligns with Romans 8:4, where the Spirit empowers believers to fulfill the law’s requirements.

Security and Assurance: The new covenant guarantees forgiveness and a permanent relationship with God (Jeremiah 31:34; Romans 8:31–39). Believers are heirs of God, assured of eternal glory despite present suffering (Romans 8:17–18). Romans 8 resolves the tension between law and grace by showing that the Spirit’s work in believers fulfills the law’s intent. This aligns with the broader theme that grace does not negate the law but transforms it into heart-driven obedience. The new covenant’s promises (Jeremiah 31:31–34) are realized in Christ, who fulfills the law and secures believers’ eternal standing.

Key Takeaways

Law vs. Grace: The law exposes sin; grace provides righteousness through Christ and empowers obedience via the Spirit.

New Covenant: Internalizes God’s law through the Spirit, ensuring forgiveness and an eternal relationship with God.

Romans 8: Affirms believers’ freedom from condemnation and their Spirit-enabled ability to live righteously. This framework underscores that the law is not abolished but fulfilled in Christ, and believers participate in this fulfillment through the Spirit’s transformative work.

Caveat Warning to Carnal vs. Spiritual Believers:

Some theologians add a saved/unsaved dichotomy, arguing that Romans 8:5–8 describes two types of believers:

Carnal Christians: Those who complacently live “in the flesh” (Romans 8:5), experiencing spiritual “death” (Romans 8:6) due to unrepentant ongoing sin or lack of Spirit-led obedience, or not adhering to sound doctrine.

Spiritual Christians: Those who walk “in the Spirit” (Romans 8:4), experiencing life and peace through active reliance on the Spirit as they live in obedience.

I believe the above caveat is very important from this perspective—to urge believers to pursue holiness through the Spirit (1 Peter 1:16). I think we need to hearken to this caution, to study the reform position on spiritual regeneration as it can save us from backsliding, and focus on the study of the biblical doctrines (scripture alone defines them) relating to the gospel of Jesus Christ.

While affirming justification (Romans 5–6), we must stress having a union with Christ (Romans 8:1) as the basis for overcoming carnality. Our union is tied to the believer’s positional identity in Christ, urging a renewed commitment to Spirit-led obedience, though, as Paul taught, was progressive sanctification (Philippians 3:12-14 ).

Theological Implications

Practical holiness defines Spirit-filled living, urging believers to pursue transformative obedience rather than resting solely in positional righteousness (of being once justified by believing in Jesus). This aligns with an emphasis on progressive sanctification and the believer’s responsibility to “walk in the Spirit.”  While acknowledging sanctification, specific interpretations often prioritize justification’s irrevocable nature (Romans 8:31–39).

A balanced view corrects complacency by urging believers to actively engage with the Spirit’s work—a theme echoed in the apostles’ writings. This exegesis of Romans 8 diverges from traditional interpretations in its focus on sanctification rather than soteriology (as in the view that Justification in Christ equates positionally to once saved, always saved), particularly in how we frame the contrast between living “in the flesh” and “in the Spirit.”

Here’s a breakdown of the theological Traditional Reform difference:

Traditional Reform Interpretation of Romans 8

Saved vs. Unsaved Contrast: Romans 8:1–8 is often viewed as a contrast between believers (in the Spirit) and unbelievers (unregenerate/unbelievers in the flesh). The Spirit’s indwelling distinguishes the regenerate, freed from condemnation and empowered to obey God’s will.

The law’s inability to save (Romans 8:3) is tied to humanity’s sinful nature, while Christ’s substitutionary atonement and His imputed righteousness fulfill the law’s demands.

Over-emphasis on Justification:

Emphasis is often placed on no condemnation (Romans 8:1) as a result of justification by faith, with the Spirit’s role in sanctification often a secondary process. Justification is the critical first step in believing in Jesus. This is true, but our further sanctification towards holiness means walking in the Spirit and obeying God’s Word — which is sanctification by the Spirit. If we over-emphasize Justification, we may miss the need to obey the Word by the indwelling Spirit of Christ as we abide in Him.

I believe that once we are justified by faith, sanctification by faith continues in lock-step if we obey scripture. If we err, we confess our sin in repentance and continue on our journey in Christ.

1 Dr Donald Barnhouse