"The Words of Eternal Life"

"If it isn't possible for a true believer to 'lose their salvation,' then why is there a need for all of the rigorous, often repetitive, instructions in the New Testament? After all, the Scriptures were mainly written to the Church." 

I believe this is a fair and important question to answer. 

Why is it that so much of the New Testament is dedicated to instructing believers in the faith if we have blessed assurance? Why bother? 

First, I think it's helpful to quickly establish the difference between what biblical scholars call a "descriptive text" and a "prescriptive text." Simply put, a descriptive passage is 'describing' to us something that happened - history. A prescriptive passage of Scripture is 'prescribing' to us a command to follow. 

This difference is important to keep in mind each time we read the Bible because if we conclude an interpretation that God is not revealing to us in his Word, then we can construct a wrong theology based on our erroneous understanding, a meaning God never intended in the text. 

Remember Scripture only has one meaning - the one God assigned to it, not our own personal feelings and thoughts about that particular verse. Only God's truth grows us into healthy sheep, not our "truth." What is "true to us" is the very thing that gets us off track in a hurry. 

For instance, one of the most common errors in reading the Bible is to take a descriptive text that is telling us something, giving us an historical account like when David killed the giant Goliath who was mocking God or Esther bravely interceded for her people, and make it about us. "Now I need to go slay giants, risk my life, and be the hero."

No, these passages are describing events and pointing us to Christ in their narratives. Friends, it is part of our fallen human nature to always be making everything about ourselves, including the Bible, and puffing up our own egos. Ironically, the Bible's power, when we interpret it correctly, keeping it in context, is to destroy this sin of pride in our lives and conform us into the image of Christ as we read and study it. 

So we must cut the rows sharp. We must divide the Scripture passages rightly and handle them with fear and trembling. ( 2 Timothy 2:15 ) 

With this knowledge in mind, much of the four Gospels and the Book of Acts are descriptive texts - not every part, but most. They are giving us a lot of historical content, important details for us to know about the life of Christ and the early church. I immediately think of the Book of Luke since Luke, who wrote Acts as well, was not only a doctor, but a keen, meticulous historian. ( More on Luke in the next blog. ) 

Conversely, the Epistles are mostly prescriptive in nature, giving us something to do. For example, "Let love be genuine."  "Count it all joy when you suffer tests of various kinds." 

So now to our original question: "Why all of the instruction if we are eternally secure in Christ?" 

It goes back to what I said in the last blog about our sanctification process. In the golden chain of God's redemption of sinners in Romans 8:29-30, which we also saw can't be broken up into pieces, "For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his son..."  "Being conformed into the image of his Son," is our sanctification process. 

Salvation, including God foreknowing, calling, predestining, conforming, justifying, and glorifying is a work of God from start to finish. Even the process of sanctification is a work of God the Holy Spirit; He is the One empowering and guiding us. But he isn't going to do this part without us. 

"Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure." ( Philippians 2:12-13 ) God does the heavy lifting, but he's not going to do it without his child. 

Dr. Tim Keller used to say that this was genius on God's part because if we were just puppets or mere spectators, we wouldn't want to get out of bed in the morning. But if it was all up to us, we would collapse under the weight. As God would have it, we get to be a fellow worker alongside of him in not only our own sanctification, but in the sanctification of others. The Church. 

So we have much of the Bible to help us with this transformation. 

Since our completion into the image of Christ ( glorification ) isn't until the next life, we still battle the flesh in sins like our aforementioned pride and selfishness and these Scriptures not only remind us of the fight that still exists until then, but they encourage us to keep fighting. They strengthen us to persevere when we encounter doubts or go through seasons of grief and trauma. 

They remind us of an important truth that I believe makes all the difference in our faith: Our suffering and trouble in these trials, tests, and tribulations has purpose. It's not for nothing. They are earning for us an eternal weight of glory. One day when we stand before our Father, I believe with all of my heart, we will not want to have lived an easy, charmed life. You may be thinking too late for that, and I'm right there with you. 

We can take heart that there is something immensely valuable in our suffering. The Holy Spirit is using it to transform us back into the image of Christ that was shattered in the Garden from the sin of our first parents. 

Have you forgotten this? Are you in a season of dryness or darkness? Because true believers go through these times, more often than we might admit. One of Jesus' most precious prescriptions to us in the Book of John is to "abide in Him." "Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me." ( 15:4-5 ) 

So remember, we have a part - we are told to abide in Jesus. How do we do this? I love the illustration our pastor gave last Sunday using wood. Our farm is half open acres and half wooded, so I could relate to the analogy. We are consistently burning wood that has overgrown the driveway or come down during a wind storm. We seem to always be having bonfires of one sort or another. 

Pastor Charlie said that his family too lives on the edge of a wooded area and he talked about forgetting to cover firewood during rain and how virtually impossible it is to start a fire with soaking wet wood. Even if you douse the wood with gasoline, the fire just quickly burns the fluid off and the wet wood remains. 

There is only one way to get a piece of wood that wet to burn. Toss it into a roaring fire. 

When we feel like a piece of wet wood, we are not abiding in the burning love of Christ. We don't start with us; we start with Christ. We start with Grace. And abiding in Christ is what we are to do every day of our lives. It's an ongoing endeavor. Again and again in this transformation to Christlikeness. Each morning we grab our Bibles to abide in his words. We meditate on the words and preach them to our hearts; we pray to God about everything. 

When we gather for personal or family devotions, we are abiding in the Vine. When we praise and thank him for all his many blessings and grace, we are abiding in Christ. When we gather for worship service with our brothers and sister in Christ to hear God's Word and partake in the Lord's Table, we are abiding in Christ. When we suffer strong and remember Christ's blazing love and willing sacrifice for us, we are abiding in Christ. 

Pastor Charlie said that "abide" means "to live" so we need to "make a home there." This phraseology appeals to me on so many beautiful levels maybe because I'm a nurturer at heart. I picture my happy hens fluffing up their nests, making a home so they can lay their eggs. It reminds me of how my dogs decide on a guarding location on the top of a hill and then begin to push earth around with their big noses constructing a suitable position for the day to watch out for predators, protecting those under their care. Revealing God's divine nature. 

My metaphors are all over the place this morning; but whatever comes to our minds, the New Testament is full of prescriptions for us to follow, turning pain into joy, helping us to serve the Lord with gladness for his kingdom, to live a full, abundant life in Christ empowered by the Holy Spirit, working side by side with our Father. What a blessing it is to be a child of God. 

These prescriptive texts, God's commandments, inspire works that do not save us or even keep us saved, the law doesn't have the power to save us, only the Gospel of Jesus Christ when we repent and trust Him. These works flow out of a grateful heart that has been saved by that amazing grace of our sovereign Lord. 

💜

Eternally Secure Too

"What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?" ( Romans 8:31 ) 

Up until recent years the Farmer and I both struggled with the Christian doctrine of "eternal security," known in reformed circles as "preservation and perseverance  of the saints," and to others in stark, plain language as "once saved, always saved." 

Personally, I'm fond of the term "blessed assurance." Fanny Crosby's 1873 timeless hymn "Blessed Assurance" was written, ( music by Phoebe Knapp ) as the title affirms, for the very purpose of encouraging believers of their security of eternal life in Christ as we watch and wait for that day, continuing until then to be transformed into the image of Christ. The beloved hymn reflects such Scriptures as Hebrews 10:22-23:

"let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful." 

And John 10:28: "I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, no one will snatch them out of my hand."  

Interestingly the Farmer and I began to grasp the truth of "blessed assurance" at the same time; however, true to our usual form, through different reasons from the Scriptures. 

What we did share in common was a misunderstanding of salvation. Our confusion, and more to the point, ignorance, of what took place at Calvary in the first place was the very thing leading us to our wrong conclusion: that it was possible for a true believer to fall away or to walk away from Christ. 

As new believers, I'd have to say most of us, if not all, are unaware of what has actually transpired in our hearts and on the cross. It's deep. Eventually the truths of Scripture are revealed to us as we feed on God's Word. Salvation and assurance go hand in hand. I believe the Bible teaches us that it is impossible to separate them. 

And I believe the best place to settle this matter of assurance is in a passage many commentators call the greatest in all of Scripture, the "golden chain," found in Paul's letter to the Romans:

"And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers." ( Romans 8:28-29 ) 

Whom God foreknew ( not 'what' he foreknew, but 'who' he foreknew ) 'fore' meaning before the foundation of the world as shown in Ephesians 1:4, 'knew' Paul is using as the Old Testament Hebrew writers used the word 'know' - as in an intimate sense, as in Adam 'knew' his wife. 

So, God fore-loved us. 

The text goes on to say that those God foreknew, he predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son.... this is the believer's sanctification process. ( 2 Corinthians 3:18 )  

Not to get too technical, but it's important to know because its a clue to how God has designed his salvation; we are sanctified at the moment of conversion with a "positional" sanctification - it's all in there, everything we need, we're born that way, or better said, "born again" that way, like a little acorn with everything compressed inside of its small hull to grow into a mighty oak. 

And then the Holy Spirit begins to help us "work it out" - ( this part of the process biblical scholars refer to as "progressive" sanctification. ) The Holy Spirit helps us to become what we are. Isn't that beautiful? Even though it certainly isn't without growing pains. 

The Holy Spirit does all of the heavy lifting, but he isn't going to do it without us. ( Philippians 2:12 ) Just like we love our young grandchildren to help us at the farm. Of course we could do it ourselves, but what a joy it is to have those eager little hands working beside us through the daily chore list. God supplies the power, and we are his fellow workers. ( 1 Corinthians 3:9 ) 

Now look carefully at the next verse: "And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified." ( verse 30 ) 

Remember that I said "justification" is a once for all legal act of God declaring us righteous the instant we put our trust in Christ that continues in our on-going sanctification process, Christ-like transformation, in this life and will be completed in the eternal state in glorification! 

Justification is not because of our good works. It is entirely a work of Christ. If salvation comes through our works then we are adding to God's grace and grace ceases to be grace and is something we have earned for ourselves. And we have something to boast about, but Romans tells us a different story. 

In Romans we see God is the One foreknowing, predestining, calling, conforming, justifying, and glorifying. 

And even though Romans lays out these events in a procession, like a golden chain; they are at the same time like a "bundle package" each with a separate purpose, but all part of the whole. In other words, you don't get one without the others. 

Glorification is fulfilled in the the future, in the eternal state, when God "puts the final touches," so to speak, on his children, and we become holy and blameless before Him. Praise God. It is when our battle with sin, the flesh, the world, and the devil is finally over forever and ever. Amen! 

God does it all from start to finish. 

Do you want to argue with that? 

Look at the next verses: "What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can. be against us?" ( verse 32 ) It is clear from the context, Paul is talking about our salvation! Next verse:

"He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?" 

Do you think God is going to drop us? No way. He's already given his Son for us. Next verse:

"Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn?" 

God justified us. Who in the world can come against God the Father Almighty? and condemn us? He has declared us justified. Think about this: God has justified us. God has declared that we are righteous in Christ. 

Romans 8:1 tells us "There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." It is impossible according to the Word of God for us to come under condemnation again. If we are condemned, God's Word isn't true. And God's Word is true! God doesn't lie. 

Next verse: 

"Christ Jesus is the one who died - more than that, who was raised - who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us." ( verse 34 )  Do Christ's prayers fail? I dare say not. 

If you're a Bible reader, you probably know the rest of the chapter. Paul goes on to list all of the things that don't have a snowball's chance in hades of separating us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. And if you think he left anything out, Paul adds at the end, "nor anything else in all creation." In case we're still holding onto the notion that we can take ourselves out of God's "golden chain" of redemption. We can't. Friends, we simply do not have that kind of power. And seriously, does anyone want to do that? 

I know this raises some questions. 

"What if this argument for assurance gives someone who isn't truly saved false hope?" and "Doesn't this doctrine give people a license to sin?" 

Concerning the later question: All I can say is that if you come to faith in Christ by the power of regeneration of the Holy Spirit, you will not want to sin or displease God because you understood at conversion that you were a sinner in need of Christ's forgiveness and beyond thankful for it. Your persistent guilt and shame and need were the very things that drew you to him in the first place by God: 

"Now the tax collectors and sinners were all drawing near to hear him." ( Luke 15:1 ) "And the Pharisees and the scribes grumbled, saying, "This man receives sinners and eats with them." ( v.2 )  

Secondly on false converts, I don't believe there could be a more crucial concern raised. I agree. We live in a church culture of "easy believism" where the smallest speck of anything even remotely religious or good counts as "Christianity." So this question can't be underestimated. 

Paul strongly advises in 2 Corinthians 13:5 to examine ourselves to see if we are, in fact, in the faith. The shortest, and I believe clearest, answer is the one we looked at last blog in Jesus' parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector: 

A genuinely humble, grieving attitude over our sin against a holy God whose grace and mercy we desperately need and would be lost without, and an assuming of that posture every day of our Christian lives is where the true Christian life begins and remains until glorification. 

We are called to repent and believe, and this does not stop at salvation. It is a way of life for us, not to keep us saved, but done because we are saved. Again, it is what will flow out of the heart of a true believer.   

Good works are crucial in a believer's life, but they are the fruit, not the root. We don't do them to be saved; we do them because we are saved. In other words, the good works that flow out of our hearts after conversion are the proof of our salvation. 

Think of Jesus with the sheep on one side of him and the goats on the other at the final judgement in Matthew 25:31. Those who are given eternal life are the sheep who cared for their brothers and sisters in Christ. "Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you did it to me. It was just like caring for Christ himself because he is part of the Body. Jesus Christ is the Head. 

This was the assurance they were his - they cared for each other when they were hungry, sick, in need of shelter and clothing, imprisoned. They didn't do these works to keep their salvation, no, they did them because they were saved. And the text suggests that they didn't even know it - they just did it. These works just flowed out of them. They weren't doing the works to be seen by men, but for the Lord in response to all he had for them by the grace of Christ. 

"So does this mean someone who falls away from the faith wasn't ever saved?" Perhaps, but we have to be careful with this question because saints of God still sin and struggle with sin in our sanctification process. Scripture makes this clear. The Holy Spirit is transforming us into the image of Christ - it's a lifelong process. And it is possible to "fall away from grace" as Paul indicates in the Book of Galatians and slip back into a works righteousness mentality that is so tempting to our human nature because we like to pride ourselves on our spiritual work ethic. 

We are not sinless, I've heard it said, but we should "sin less." And Christians can fall into some deep sin - that's why the daily means of grace or spiritual disciplines of Bible reading, meditation, prayer, gathering and doing life with our church family, evangelizing, and suffering with our dependence entirely on Christ is so very important. It's our lifeblood as a believer and follower of Jesus. 

I believe the Bible clearly teaches us that if someone is a true believer, Christ will bring them back to the fold and if they weren't, we need to pray continually that they repent and trust in Jesus for the forgiveness of their sins. 

Finally, I believe we need to ask ourselves this question: "On what am I basing my salvation?" Christ righteousness with some of my good works added? Or maybe we're basing it on a decision we made for Christ at summer camp or an evangelistic crusade. Is our salvation based upon Christ alone? Upon his willing sacrifice for our sins? Or am I trusting in my own faith to finish up the job and keep myself saved? 

Friends, if we don't have the ability to save ourselves in the first place, then we certainly don't have the ability to keep ourselves saved. If we had the power and ability to keep ourselves, why on earth would we need Christ to die for us? We could have just done it. Except we can't. If eternal security is left up to us, we're all going down with the ark. But thank God it isn't! And this final analysis was what sealed the deal for me.

Please see Romans 8, John 10, John 17, and the entire Book of 1 John which was written for the main purpose of giving the believer assurance of their salvation. It's a beautiful read. 

However, the matter of blessed assurance was "forever" settled in the Farmer's heart one day when his eyes popped open as he read the most famous and well-known Scripture in the Bible. John 3:16: 

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life." 

"God himself gives us eternal life when we believe in Jesus," he said with amazement like it was the first time he'd ever heard the gospel truth. "Eternal means forever; it doesn't end. If it gets taken away then it wasn't truly ever eternal to begin with, meaning that it really wasn't "forever" and God is a liar. And 'God is not a man that he should lie.'" 

I reminded him that this truth also corresponded with what Jesus said in John 10:28, ( notice that there are 'three' promises of assurance packed into this little verse - it's dynamite ) Jesus is speaking - read it again: 

"I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand." 

And you can't snatch yourself out of Christ's hand - you don't have that kind of power. ( Remember what Paul said in Romans 8:39, "nor anything else in all creation" ) Don't read your meaning or personal theology into the text - let the words stand. Let them stick. Don't do harm to Jesus's beautiful promise. Receive the truth of blessed assurance. 

Jesus said that the Holy Spirit will be with us forever! If the Holy Spirit leaves us, no matter how we imagine that can possibly happen, then it wasn't forever, was it? And Jesus doesn't lie either. Just like you were born in a physical birth once, you're born in a spiritual birth only once. You can't be "born again" again. 

One day the Farmer said to me, "You know if it was possible to lose your salvation the poor angels in heaven who rejoice every time a sinner comes to faith in Christ would never get a break. "Hey everyone, don't sit down yet, John just got saved again." I'm not making this up. lol Who thinks of that? My Farmer. 

This is our story. This is our song. 

Praising our Savior all the day long. 

Blessed assurance Jesus is mine.

Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine.

💜

"My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand." ( John 10:27-28 ) 

"In him, you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory." ( Ephesians 1:13-14 ) 

Sorry for the length, but the doctrine is worthy. 

"The True and Better Adam"

"When he established the heavens, I was there; when he drew a circle on the face of the deep, when he made firm the skies above, when he established the fountains of the deep, when he assigned to the sea its limit, so that the waters might not transgress his command, when he marked out the foundations of the earth...Wisdom has built her house; she has hewn her seven pillars....The woman Folly is loud; she is seductive and knows nothing." ( Proverbs 8:27-29, 9:1,13 ) 

The Bible doesn't spell everything out for us. 

In other words, it's a book that makes us work for it. This is how God in his infinite wisdom has arranged to reveal himself to his children. We are invited to dig into the Bible's history, law, poetry, songs, gospels, epistles, and wisdom literature. Even the genealogies and building instructions are revealing something to us about our Creator. 

I've mentioned before how our church fathers diligently poured over the Scriptures to come to a comprehension of how the church is to understand such deep doctrines as the Trinity, the two natures of Christ, and the antinomy of God's sovereignty and man's responsibility. 

For instance, instead of explaining to us the difference between wisdom and folly, the Book of Proverbs portrays them as women. Although this comes as a warning, we find the personifications sticking with us. The stark contrast paints a vivid picture in our minds of good and evil, pride and humility, wisdom and foolishness, we can't imagine soon forgetting. What a clever way for the Holy Spirit to teach us about wisdom and thus reveal another attribute of our God and the Holy One all at the same time. 

The Bible isn't boring, to say the least, its instruction is full of colorful imagery, clarifying analogies, and sobering parables. I've noticed that it disciplines us over and over with the same exhortations spoken in a variety of ways. God knows how the human brain he created learns best. 

And we don't get too far into the Bible either before realizing that this isn't a book about man. We play a part, most definitely. However, after Genesis 3 and the fall of Adam and Eve, all the way until the very end of the apocalyptic Book of Revelation, it is the story about God saving his people who fell into sin. 

Friends, we are those sinful people being redeemed. Already early into November, we are seeing signs of the approaching Advent season when we will celebrate the birth of our Lord Christ coming into a humanity full of darkness, wrapping himself in human flesh to bring his light and sacrifice to them, fulfilling the plan and purposes of God that existed before the foundation of the world.  ( Ephesians 1:3-23 ) 

In church last Sunday I heard a quote during the sermon I didn't want to forget because I think it's helpful in seeing how God's story of redemption and his Son have always been woven within every fiber of the smaller narratives throughout the Scriptures, and I wanted to share it. I know it will bless you: 

“Jesus is the true and better Adam, who passed the test in the garden and whose obedience is imputed to us (1 Corinthians 15). 

Jesus is the true and better Abel, who, though innocently slain, has blood that cries out for our acquittal, not our condemnation (Hebrews 12:24). 

Jesus is the true and better Abraham, who answered the call of God to leave the comfortable and familiar and go out into the void “not knowing whither he went” to create a new people of God. 

Jesus is the true and better Isaac, who was not just offered up by his father on the mount but was truly sacrificed for us all. God said to Abraham, “Now I know you love me, because you did not withhold your son, your only son whom you love, from me.” Now we can say to God, “Now we know that you love us, because you did not withhold your son, your only son whom you love, from us.”

 Jesus is the true and better Jacob, who wrestled with God and took the blow of justice we deserved so that we, like Jacob, receive only the wounds of grace to wake us up and discipline us. 

Jesus is the true and better Joseph, who at the right hand of the King forgives those who betrayed and sold him and uses his new power to save them. 

Jesus is the true and better Moses, who stands in the gap between the people and the Lord and who mediates a new covenant (Hebrews 3). 

Jesus is the true and better rock of Moses, who, struck with the rod of God’s justice, now gives us water in the desert. 

Jesus is the true and better Job—the truly innocent sufferer—who then intercedes for and saves his stupid friends (Job 42). 

Jesus is the true and better David, whose victory becomes his people’s victory, though they never lifted a stone to accomplish it themselves.

Jesus is the true and better Esther, who didn’t just risk losing an earthly palace but lost the ultimate heavenly one, who didn’t just risk his life but gave his life—to save his people. 

Jesus is the true and better Jonah, who was cast out into the storm so we could be brought in.”

Christianity isn't a story about Christians.

It's a story about Christ. 

💜

( Quote from "Preaching: Communicating Faith in an Age of Skepticism," Dr. Timothy Keller ) 

Love and Truth

Yesterday the Farmer and I experienced the pain and joy of attending the funeral of a dear senior saint who had been a faithful inspiration to us for over twenty years. Although our hearts will ache at her absence we will greatly rejoice because those in Christ who are absent from the body, and our gatherings, are present with their Lord. ( 2 Corinthians 5:8 ) 

In this we rejoice with her. 

The Book of Romans has been called by many Bible scholars and commentators the most important and greatest book in Scripture. 

"Paul's letter to Rome is the high peak of Scripture, however you look at it. Luther called it the 'clearest gospel of all.' 'If a man understands it,' wrote Calvin, 'he has a sure road opened for him to understanding of the whole Scripture.' Tyndale, in his Preface to Romans, linked both thoughts, calling Romans the principal and most excellent part of the New Testament, and most pure Evangelion, that is to say glad tidings and that we call gospel, and also a light and a way in unto the whole of Scripture,' 

All roads in the Bible lead to Romans, and all views afforded by the Bible are seen most clearly from Romans, and when the message of Romans gets into a man's heart there is no telling what may happen." ( Knowing God, J.I. Packer, pg. 230 ) 

When I first came to faith in Christ I read Romans through many times attempting to absorb as much of the doctrine of the gospel as I could comprehend, little by little. There was a problem though: I would concentrate heavily on chapters 1 - 11 and then coast through 12-16. Rinse and repeat. 

In Chapters 1-11 in the Book of Romans, the Apostle Paul unpacks the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the clearest, most detailed explanation that exists in the entire Bible, beginning his exquisite exposition with a stark and graphic picture of the human condition and ending it with this glorious doxology:

"Oh the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgements and how inscrutable his ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor? Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid? For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him are all things to him be glory forever. Amen." ( 11:33-36 ) 

Except that's not he end of the story. 

There are five more chapters to go. 

If Romans 1-11 is theology; Romans 12-16 is how we are to live that theology out in our lives and the church. 

I thought about this yesterday of all places at a funeral as I was hugging necks. I'm writing this blog to remind myself more than anyone else, and any other Bible nerds that coast through the end of Romans, that a head full of knowledge without a heart full of love is a "noisy gong or a clanging cymbal." To have all knowledge and have not love is the same thing as having nothing. ( 1 Corinthians 13:1- 3 ) 

The beauty of the gospel is that it is the power of God, not just to save us, but to transform us back into the image of Christ that was shattered after the fall in the Garden of Eden. In other words, if we are reading and studying the Bible properly, we should see a change in our lives. 

Listen to Paul's Holy Spirit inspired words in Chapter 12: "For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned." ( verse 3 ) 

"Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil'; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality. 

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peacefully with all..... " ( verses 9-18 ) 

And the exhortations continue for four more chapters intertwined with examples lest we have any doubt of what it looks like to walk in the same way as Christ walked or to follow him. 

Chapters 12-16 are how we are to live in light of chapters 1-11. This is what the gospel will look like when it is lived out in the life of a believer. We don't do these good works to earn our salvation; they are the fruit, the proof, of our salvation. The proof we believe 1-11. 

No one reads three-fourths of a novel. That's not the whole story. And yes, we also don't open a novel either and start reading from the back and expect to understand the story. 

Love without sound doctrine can be just as dangerous, leading to acceptance of sin and false teaching. Love must be built on the foundation of truth. The two mustn't be separated, in fact, they can't be. 

Listen to one more verse at the end of Paul's letter to the Romans: 

"I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive." ( 16:17-18 ) 

Paul addresses the importance of both love and doctrine, making a final appeal to the church as he closes up the epistle, to guard each other ( love ) against anyone who would harm the flock and to guard the doctrine ( truth ) you were taught. Love and truth. Guard both. 

Live in both. 

- to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen. ( verse 27 ) 

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