All posts by Luella Campbell

ROMANS…THE KEYS – 15d

Bible Study, ,

I am inserting this post here to shed light on a very important point Paul made in Romans 8:17 regarding suffering. 

Some months ago, I was searching the Scriptures to find out the real meaning of Jesus’ suffering. I had thought that what Jesus suffered was the terrible things that happened to Him when He was crucified, but then…the Holy Spirit began to show me from the Bible, that His suffering was much more than that. 

My question was connected to something Paul wrote in his letter to the Romans. 

“Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭8‬:‭17‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Paul’s words puzzled me. What if I never suffer like some people suffer for their faith in Jesus? Does this mean that all the people, like me, who never suffer in this way, will not share in His inheritance or reign with Jesus?

So, if I must suffer like Jesus suffered, what did He suffer? 

The first thing the Spirit showed me was that Paul didn’t say that we must suffer FOR Jesus. He said that we must suffer WITH Jesus. Our identity and union with Jesus means that we are part of what He suffered and the way He suffered. 

This thought led me to the next discovery. What did Jesus suffer?

Isaiah prophesied…

“He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces, he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.”

‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭53‬:‭3‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Rejection! He was rejected. He was dismissed and treated as though He were worthless…like rubbish to be thrown into the trash. This is the worst that one person can do to another. They cancelled Him! This must have been the nature of His suffering…so I thought. 

So, was it rejection that caused Jesus’ suffering? No, rejection was not the cause but the trigger…but His suffering went deeper than that. 

Injustice! Did the people treat Him with injustice by rejecting Him? Why do they reject Him? Why did they crucify Him?

 Did Jesus suffer injustice? Yes, He did! Injustice of the worst kind because the religious leaders punished Him by crucifixion for being who He said He was…the Son of God… but was His suffering in the injustice He received…or was it something else?

Jesus had the same capacity to respond in a sinful way to unjust treatment as we do because He was human. 

Hebrews tells us that…

“In bringing many sons and daughters to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through what he suffered…Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.”

‭‭Hebrews‬ ‭2‬:‭10‬, ‭18‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Now we are slowly getting nearer to the real meaning of Jesus’ suffering. Not only what He suffered but also when he suffered.  When did Jesus suffer? He suffered when He was tempted! His suffering was not about what people did to Him. His suffering was about the way He reacted to what they did to Him. Jesus’ reaction was about revealing what was in Him when He suffered…in His humanity, especially in the way He reacted to injustice. 

Why injustice?

Why injustice? Injustice is the one thing that arouses our urge to retaliate. Everything inside us revolts against unjust treatment. I retaliate because the other person treats me as worthless, has no regard for who I am, that I am a person of worth created in God’s image. 

This truth reaches deep into our souls, and affects us right from the moment someone says or does something unfair, even and especially in our early childhood. A careless, unthinking comment can damage a child for life even if no harm is intended. 

Something like “You can do better…” when a child produces something imperfect, can cause a child to believe that the person was meaning, “You are not good enough,” or even, “You are not wanted.” From that moment on, a child might react to any words or actions that trigger the same belief even if they are not true. Nasty words, rebellious actions, unruly behaviour…tell the story of retaliation against words that make them feel rejected by unfair treatment.  People retaliate against injustice by punishing everyone around them, and especially those nearest to them, by bad attitudes and bad behaviour…or punishing themselves by actions and behaviour that cause harm to themselves. 

Think about it! A careless comment to a young child spoken even without intention to wound, can be a deep hurt that lodges in the soul and colours everything that is said to or about him/her. From that moment on, the child behaves in a way that retaliates to the perceived hurt… and usually overreacts. Everything is viewed through the original perceived wound. 

“You can do better,” is interpreted as, “You are not good enough…” or “You are imperfect,” or ”I reject you because you don’t measure up to my standard.” Whatever the statement, it is filtered through, “You can do better.”

So, we come to the issue of Jesus’ attitude to retaliation. His life was peppered with rejection. How did He react? Did He defend Himself? Did He hit back? Did He take revenge? No! He refused to retaliate to injustice. He practised self-control…self restraint. He said “No!” to the temptation to vindicate Himself by punishing Himself or others…and therein lies the temptation and the suffering. He always spoke the truth, not out of emotion or out of what others thought or said about Him, but out of who He knew He was…the Son of God. 

Consider these words that preceded the greatest act of humility as the Son of God. 

“Jesus knew that the Father had given him authority over everything and that he had come from God and would return to God. So he got up from the table, took off his robe, wrapped a towel around his waist, and poured water into a basin. Then he began to wash the disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel he had around him.”

‭‭John‬ ‭13‬:‭3‬-‭5‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Only someone who knew who he was could do that!

Imagine how difficult it must have been for Him to stay silent during His trial, when His judges accused Him of blasphemy and many other trumped-up charges. He had every reason to defend Himself, but He did not. Before the Sanhedrin…before Pilate…

“Then the high priest stood up before the others and asked Jesus, “Well, aren’t you going to answer these charges? What do you have to say for yourself?” But Jesus was silent and made no reply….”

‭‭Mark‬ ‭14‬:‭60‬-‭62‬ ‭NLT‬‬

“Then the leading priests kept accusing him of many crimes, and Pilate asked him, “Aren’t you going to answer them? What about all these charges they are bringing against you?” But Jesus said nothing, much to Pilate’s surprise.”

‭‭Mark‬ ‭15‬:‭3‬-‭5‬ ‭NLT‬‬

“Then the high priest asked him, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?” Jesus said, “I Am. And you will see the Son of Man seated in the place of power at God’s right hand and coming on the clouds of heaven.”

Mark 14:62-62 NLT

Jesus answered only one question…not in defence but in testimony. I AM! That was the last straw for His accusers. 

“Then the high priest tore his clothing to show his horror and said, “Why do we need other witnesses? You have all heard his blasphemy. What is your verdict?” “Guilty!” they all cried. “He deserves to die!” Then some of them began to spit at him, and they blindfolded him and beat him with their fists. “Prophesy to us,” they jeered. And the guards slapped him as they took him away.”

‭‭Mark‬ ‭14‬:‭63‬-‭65‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Peter summed up Jesus’ attitude throughout His trial. He was not looking for a way to wriggle out of His predicament but willingly submitting to the Father’s purpose because He was a son who always submitted to and obeyed the Father… and because He knew the outcome. How He reacted to injustice during His last hours was a testimony to His victory over sin in all its forms, throughout His life. 

Peter holds up Jesus’ example as a pattern for believers to follow…the only and effective way to respond to injustice…

“But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.”

This is the way we suffer with Jesus, by adopting His attitude and doing what He did. 

“He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.” When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. “He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.”

‭‭1 Peter‬ ‭2‬:‭20‬-‭24‬

The key to the victory over the onslaught to one’s identity depends on which way we are looking. Inwardly…we are insulted…we retaliate. Upward…we are untouched. We entrust to the Father the right and power to take revenge because He is just

and He will act for us. 

Paul affirms Peter’s counsel with a 

command…

“Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord…Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭12‬:‭19‬, ‭21‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Only by grace and through the power of His Spirit can we follow Jesus’ example. Retaliating to injustice has set the world on fire…everywhere! Refusing to retaliate stops the downward process in its tracks and puts the fire out. 

So, why do some people speak and behave in cruel and unjust ways towards others? They are inadvertently giving evidence to deep hurt that festers inside and shows on the outside that their lives are poisoned by their own unresolved rejection. 

What is the solution? Cut off the root by honest confession to God and the choice to trust Him for vindication… and the flow of poison will cease. 

Do not retaliate! Retaliation in all its forms…anger, bitterness inside or revenge outside, will effectively disqualify you from inheriting the nature of Jesus when you see Him face to face. Confirm His nature being formed in you in this life by entrusting yourself to Him who judges justly. Then you will receive your inheritance in the life to come…the glory of Jesus!

To be continued

ROMANS…THE KEYS – 15c

Bible Study, ,

We have now been introduced to  a major role player in this new life in the Spirit…our minds…our thoughts and ultimately…what we believe. 

We always respond to and act out of what we believe. The thoughts that we think that are based on  either truth or delusion, form our beliefs. So, the key to lining up our conduct with the truth about our new lives is to connect our thoughts with what is true. The Holy Spirit takes what we believe to be true and makes it real in us. 

“So, you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father.” For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children…”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭8‬:‭15‬ NLT‬‬

Do you get it?

When we come to the realisation and conviction that the Holy Spirit is in us and that He is confirming in us the truth that we are God’s children…we start thinking about ourselves the way God thinks about us…not slaves to sin any longer but God’s beloved sons and daughters. We begin to view ourselves and our lives differently. We belong to Jesus. We stand right beside Him in God’s estimation. We are heirs with Him because we are also sons and daughters in His family…and the Holy Spirit confirms this truth in us, witnessing in us that we are God’s children. 

“And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory…”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭8‬:‭16 NLT‬‬

What will we inherit with Jesus? 

John helps us to understand what we will inherit in our new life in God’s eternal presence…

“See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are! …Dear friends, we are already God’s children, but he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is.”

‭‭1 John‬ ‭3‬:‭1‬-‭2‬b ‭NLT

We will inherit the nature of Jesus, the weight and substance of who He is in His nature, although not in His divine attributes. We are not God. We are His offspring, created in His image, bearing His likeness character. 

Before He went to the cross, Jesus asked the Father to restore to Him the glory He had with Him before He came to earth. 

“Now, Father, bring me into the glory we shared before the world began.”

‭‭John‬ ‭17‬:‭5‬ ‭NLT‬‬

How would the Father do that?

Jesus had laid aside His glory…the full weight of His deity with the Father…and become fully human, participating in the limitations of His and our humanity. 

“Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being…”

‭‭Philippians‬ ‭2‬:‭6‬-‭7‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Jesus needed to go through the cross as a human to be glorified with the Father. This does not mean that the Father had to add something to Jesus to restore His full nature as God. What does He mean, then?  I can only guess. 

I think that, through the cross experience, Jesus confirmed in His human life those attributes in His human nature that were in the Father…His love, mercy, and compassion. Everything that the Father is, is also in Jesus in His human nature…which He demonstrated by the way He lived on earth and related to humanity. 

Now, Paul adds a condition to our position as heirs of God’s glory. If we are to inherit the very “weight” or substance of God’s nature, His “glory”, we need to fulfil one condition…we are to learn to suffer as Jesus suffered during His life on earth. His suffering in a specific way qualified Him to be the perfect sacrifice and Saviour of sinners.  

“He never sinned, nor ever deceived anyone.”

‭‭1 Peter‬ ‭2‬:‭22‬ ‭NLT‬

In between this statement and the following is the most profound key to the nature of our suffering which qualifies us to share in His glory…

“He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.” For “you were like sheep going astray,” but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.”

‭‭1 Peter‬ ‭2‬:‭24‬-‭25‬ ‭NIV‬‬

“But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering.” Romans 8:17 NLT

What does this mean? 

Watch this space for our next post…

To be continued

ROMANS…THE KEYS -15b

Bible Study, ,

How does the living by the Spirit work in us? If we have died to the law so that the law no longer holds us in bondage, and come alive to the power of the Spirit in us…how do we live this new life in practice?

“Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit. So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace. For the sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God’s laws, and it never will. That’s why those who are still under the control of their sinful nature can never please God. But you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you. (And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them do not belong to him at all.)”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭8‬:‭5‬-‭9‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Those who have traded “road rules” outside for the Holy Spirit inside through faith in Jesus, have a new way of navigating life. Instead of trusting self with its perpetual drag towards sin, we look and listen to the Holy Spirit Inside us to give us the power to stay safe on the road and walk in the right direction. 

We must learn to think what is now true. Which way are we thinking? If we keep thinking about ourselves…listening to what our sinful desires demand…we will be pulled in that direction. Paul said that this will take us downhill into death…slowly cutting us off from the life of Jesus in us.  

“But you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you. (And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them do not belong to him at all.)”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭8‬:‭9‬ ‭NLT

Here’s the thing! Despite our bodies being subject to death now, our spirits are alive because of Jesus…and the Holy Spirit, who now inhabits our bodies, will bring our bodies back to life.  We have spiritual life now.  When Jesus comes, we will also have physical, resurrection life. Guaranteed!

“And Christ lives within you, so even though your body will die because of sin, the Spirit gives you life because you have been made right with God. The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭8‬:‭10‬-‭11‬ ‭NLT‬‬

So, instead of looking inside and finding sinful desires, we must look inside and find the Holy Spirit at the steering wheel. The old self has been replaced by another “driver”. He waits for us to acknowledge Him and let Him be in control. 

The obligation to sin because of the hold sin had on our flesh, has gone. There is another who has power in us…the Holy Spirit. We can and must choose to give Him the power to neutralise the pull of our flesh. 

“Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, you have no obligation to do what your sinful nature urges you to do. For if you live by its dictates, you will die. But if through the power of the Spirit you put to death the deeds of your sinful nature, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭8‬:‭12‬-‭14‬ ‭NLT‬‬

It’s all about perspective and choice. We have a new perspective…the Holy Spirit in us, not our sinful desires, is in control. Our minds…the way we think…and what we believe to be true…play the major role. We are now free to choose who or what will influence the way we will go…downwards into sin or upwards into obedience and holiness. 

“And since we are his children, we are his heirs. In fact, together with Christ we are heirs of God’s glory. But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭8‬:‭17‬ ‭NLT‬‬

This thought leads us into another big subject…

To be continued

ROMANS…THE KEYS – 15a

Bible Study, ,

Romans 8 is a panoramic view of the wonderful benefits of God’s righteousness that are now ours because we are “in Christ”…in union with Him through the Spirit. 

As Paul digs deeper into the righteousness of God, powerful keys open doors into this life of righteousness we are to live, built on the foundation of God’s righteousness. 

Romans 8 is the most profound of all Paul’s writings that unlocks the “why”, “what”, and “how” of our new life in Christ, based on what God has done to make this possible. 

This chapter begins with a statement that we believers can lean all our weight on…the first of Paul’s “keys” of understanding,  that forms a solid wall of protection around our minds, and neutralises one of Satan’s most potent and dangerous fiery darts…condemnation!

“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭8‬:‭1‬ ‭NIV

“Therefore”… is the “why”… the bridge…the indisputable reason for our confidence, all of which reasoning has gone before in the previous seven chapters. God has done, through Jesus, everything needed to cancel condemnation. 

No condemnation!

Why is there now no condemnation?

“…because, through Christ Jesus, the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭8‬:‭2‬ ‭

Let’s look at that again. 

Yes, the whole world, Jew and Gentile, are guilty of sin. Yes, all are under sentence of death. Yes, no one can escape God’s wrath… but God, because of His great love, stepped in and took the rap Himself. He is both righteous and just…righteous because He punished sin, and just because He can forgive the sinner since sin’s debt has been paid and sin atoned for through the blood of His Son. But why the “why”?

The real reason that God can be both righteous and just is that Jesus fulfilled the law in His human life…He lived in perfect obedience to the letter and the spirit of God’s covenant with Israel…and then He died in payment for the broken law which He didn’t break. 

Look what happened as a result!

“He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross. In this way, he disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross.”

‭‭Colossians‬ ‭2‬:‭14‬-‭15‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Jesus took away the reason for Satan’s accusations against us. Yes, we have broken the law and incurred an un-payable debt, but…Jesus paid our debt. 

Jesus fulfilled the law, once and for all, and made it obsolete as a  way to please God and a charge against us. The broken law, the one thing that separated us from a holy God, and roused in us the rebellion in our hearts, has been fulfilled by a human. God can no longer judge us for breaking His law because our debt has been paid by Jesus in our place and…Satan’s hold on us has gone. He cannot accuse us for breaking God’s law because Jesus fulfilled it perfectly for us as our representative. 

The law…the  invoice of all the debts we owed the Father because we broke the law…was  the one thing that stood between us and God. He nailed it to the cross as proof of payment. Jesus paid our debt in full. God has done away with the law as a way to be right with Himself. The invoice has been fully paid. We have the receipt, the blood of Jesus.  

Satan still tries to hold us guilty for breaking the law but his ruse, his lie, has be exposed. The law as a way of righteousness no longer applies. There is a new law in place…the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus…

God has put in place His way… another way to live that satisfies God’s holy standards…the Holy Spirit who now lives inside us!

Let me illustrate…  

There are two ways to obey the rules of the road. One way is by road signs which every driver must obey but… everyone disobeys the road signs even if they are in place, and causes chaos by their disobedience. The other way is to dispense with the signs and put a traffic cop in every car. This way is far more effective because the Holy Spirit’s instructions are internal and personal. 

So, God removed the “rules of the road”, first by Jesus fully obeying them and setting them aside and, second, by putting His Spirit inside us so that we still keep His laws but in obedience to the Holy Spirit because we are no longer in rebellion against God. He broke sin’s power over us.  His law is simple…love Jesus and love one another. 

Finally, how can this be? 

We were once on our own, trying to keep God’s laws but constantly bumping into our old rebellious nature. That didn’t work. Now, however, we are “in Christ”, our old nature dead, buried, and risen to new life in Him. Instead of trying to obey, we simply rest in His perfect obedience. Jesus has “done” everything we were supposed to “do”. It’s s simple as that! 

“The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins. He did this so that the just requirement of the law would be fully satisfied for us, who no longer follow our sinful nature but instead follow the Spirit.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭8‬:‭3‬-‭4‬ ‭NLT‬‬

All that is left for us to do is to say “no” to the old nature that keeps poking its head up out of the grave, and “yes” to the Holy Spirit who is leading us from inside through the Word. 

To be continued

ROMANS…THE STRUGGLE – 14

Bible Study, ,

Paul now introduces his readers to the real problem in the mix. What is it that stirs up so much trouble inside us?  Why do we react so violently when we are faced with God’s holy standards? Why can’t we just obey Him and cut out all the struggle?

“When we were controlled by our old nature, sinful desires were at work within us, and the law aroused these evil desires that produced a harvest of sinful deeds, resulting in death.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭7‬:‭5‬ ‭NLT‬‬

The law! 

Sin is so deeply ingrained in us that we sin naturally but…when God says, “Don’t!”, that’s when our stubborn rebellion kicks in. We see this is in a young child. When we try to stop a child’s naughty behaviour, he/she becomes defiant and does it even more, for example…tantrums when he can’t get his own way. 

So…God’s law stirs up rebellion in us. It triggers our true nature…not just sin but deliberate disobedience because we are rebels at heart. 

Paul found this out to his great distress after he became a believer in Jesus. In his old life, it was relatively easy to obey the law because his obedience was overlayed with his pride, self-righteousness, and self-effort. 

However, when he became a believer, he no longer wanted to please himself. He had a new master but…he did he didn’t know how to tame the old one. The law still played havoc with his old self. The battle lines were drawn but he always came out second best…bruised and beaten because he hadn’t learned how to fight. 

“Well then, am I suggesting that the law of God is sinful? Of course not! In fact, it was the law that showed me my sin. I would never have known that coveting is wrong if the law had not said, “You must not covet.” But sin used this command to arouse all kinds of covetous desires within me! If there were no law, sin would not have that power. and I died. So I discovered that the law’s commands, which were supposed to bring life, brought spiritual death instead. Sin took advantage of those commands and deceived me; it used the commands to kill me. But how can that be? Did the law, which is good, cause my death? Of course not! Sin used what was good to bring about my condemnation to death…So we can see how terrible sin really is. It uses God’s good commands for its own evil purposes.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭7‬:‭7‬-‭8‬, ‭10‬-‭11‬, ‭13‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Now, that’s a real problem! God’s holy law clashed with Paul’s sinful nature and the result was death. The law actually killed him instead of giving him life! How  could that be?

Paul so badly wanted to obey the Lord but his old nature got in the way. 

“So the trouble is not with the law, for it is spiritual and good. The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin. I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate. But if I know that what I am doing is wrong, this shows that I agree that the law is good. So I am not the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it. And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I can’t. I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway. But if I do what I don’t want to do, I am not really the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭7‬:‭14‬-‭20‬ ‭NLT‬‬

What a predicament! How was he to overcome this one? He had no power over his old nature. It ruled him with a rod of iron. 

“I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. I love God’s law with all my heart. But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death?”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭7‬:‭21‬-‭24‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Paul discovered that he would be forever helpless, forever enslaved by his own sinful nature but for one thing…

“Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord…”

‭‭Romans‬ ‭7‬:‭25‬a NLT

To be continued