This episode begins with the provocative question: "can you put on the breastplate of righteousness and ignore the helmet of salvation?" The answer provided by Paul is a resounding NO. The breastplate of righteousness corresponds with the imputed righteousness of Christ, based on the double-transfer of 2 Cor. 5:21. The helmet of salvation implies the transformation of mind that progressively thinks more and more like Christ. The breastplate of righteousness principally addresses the PENALTY of sin, while the helmet of salvation points to the POWER of sin being broken, as believers put on the mind of Christ. Paul presents a holistic picture of salvation in Romans 8:1-6, in which both the penalty and power of sin are part of the salvation package. The episode notes that 4 of the first 6 verses begin with "for," alerting the reader that the entire passage is one thought. The primary thought is Romans 8:2, the optimistic resolution of the flesh/spirit conflict of Romans 7:14-25: "the Law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the Law of sin and death." So the focus of Paul's argument is that the power of sin has been broken in salvation. Verses 3 and 4 undergird this fact. Sin-debt is paid in the substitutionary debt of Christ and, with the penalty paid, the requirement of the Law is fulfilled in those who are "in Christ," who now live a life according to the Spirit. The evidence that one has received the imputed righteousness of Christ is the mind set on the Spirit. The proof that one wears the breastplate of righteousness is that he ALSO dons the helmet of salvation. The episode concludes with a challenge to all to assess their understanding of salvation and modify it as needed, based on Paul's holistic description given in Romans 8:1-6.
Liberated to Think Spiritual Thoughts
This episode spells out the application of the breastplate of righteousness and the helmet of salvation, using Romans 8:3-4. The first deals with our hopeless position apart from Christ. God judged all of our sins in the flesh of Christ, while he accounts us righteous based on the righteousness of Christ. This breastplate of righteousness makes us POSITIONALLY perfect before God. The helmet of salvation principally addresses our thought life. As we identify with our perfect position in Christ, God works on our CONDITION, replacing bad thinking with the mind set on the Spirit. Sanctification, the process by which the Holy Spirit conforms our CONDITION to our POSITION, utilizes both the breastplate of righteousness and the helmet of salvation. The episode highlights the substitutionary death of Christ and warns against a nonchalant view of Christ's sacrifice or a "Christ-and-penance" view of justification.
You’ve Been Freed..Why Are You Still in that Prison Cell?
This continuation of "Don't Be a Romans 7 Christian" focuses on Romans 8:6, "The mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace." This statement articulates the intentional effort required of every believer to engage the mind on the Spirit. We are free to engage either one, and intentional choices to live for Christ lead to substantial victory over the flesh. The victorious message of Romans 8:2 is that Christians have ACCESS to a higher, more powerful source to live according to the Spirit, "The Law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death." All believers experience the tug-a-war between these two competing principles (Romans 7:14-25), but Christians who INTENTIONALLY engage the mind set on the Spirit access the power to get victory over the flesh. Unfortunately many believers resign themselves to being Romans 7 Christians because they are unaware that they've been liberated. This freedom however requires intentional engagement with the Spirit. The last 20 minutes of the episode provides practical tips on how to set the mind on the Spirit.
Don’t Be A Romans 7 Christian
This episode challenges all believers NOT to be Romans 7 Christians. Many believers correctly observe that half of Romans 7 describes the struggle between flesh and spirit in gory, pessimistic terms. Paul even states that he is a "prisoner of the law of sin and death."
Have you Really Changed Your Mind?
This episode states that the purpose of putting on the helmet of salvation is thinking and acting like Christ. This holistic description of salvation helps distinguish its purpose from that of the breastplate of righteousness, which primarily deals with positional righteousness, the gift of imputed righteousness to every believer. The helmet of salvation builds on the double transfer of 2 Cor. 5:21 (Christ took on our sin while we take on His righteousness), with a view to addressing the believer's actual condition, one in which believers still struggle with sin. This struggle is the theme of Romans 7:21-25, which presents the challenge of thinking and acting like Christ in light of residual evil. The solution, which amounts to taking up the helmet of salvation (thinking and acting like Christ), is Romans 8:2: "the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death." Coupled with the subsequent passage, "the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace", both supply the means by which all believers can substantially have the mind of Christ. Donning the helmet of salvation is radically life-changing.
Are You Putting on the Right Armor?
This episode addresses the belt of truth by contrasting it with the belt of the autonomous self, the outlook of all who reject Christ. The belt of the old self is actually a lie and corresponds with the great exchange of Rom 1:25, where unbelievers "exchange the truth of God for a lie." This episode, following the pattern of Eph. 6:10-17, contrasts the armor of God with the armor of man. Every faculty in unregenerate man is devoted to protecting the autonomous self which is principally defined by devotion to the "lusts of deceit." Some of the armor pieces of the autonomous self are the breastplate of self-confidence, the shield of independence, the shoes of hostility, and the sword of the soul, the word of the self. The episode provides a stark contrast of how believers and unbelievers engage the world. Believers are called to honestly evaluate their lingering sympathies with "the lie," while unbelievers are called to reassess their commitment to the lie.
Samson: When One Sin Becomes a House of Cards
Coming from the narrative of Samson and Delilah, this episode posits how God uses deceptive influences to root out and bring into the light our own obstinate embrace of the "lusts of deceit." While Samson's obvious sin was fornication, the narrative also paints him as a liar whose moral compromise leads him to lose the lying game to the seductive manipulations of Delilah. About half of the episode centers on the deceptive nature of the "lusts of deceit" which don't immediately reveal the severity of consequences. The episode deals with many common deceptions that Christians embrace regarding unchecked embrace of the lusts of deceit, including 1)they're somehow the exception to the rule, 2) embrace of God's gifts for kingdom purposes renders indulgence in sin a "minor offense," and finally 3) the bogus conclusion that sin can be managed. All three betray an underlying pride which provides a formidable rationalization for refusing to obey God completely. This monstrous web of deceit came crashing down on Samson..literally in his death. The episode is a stark warning that God takes sanctification seriously and will judge those who "drag iniquity with the cords of falsehood." (Isaiah 5:18)
Motivation for Spiritual Warfare
Paul's confronting of sin in Corinthian believers provides a model on how to address sin issues in other people's lives. Paul effectively balanced a warlike posture with Christlike humility, and his godly concern for carnal believers required that he "speak the truth in love." (Eph. 4:15) What unfolds in 2 Cor. 10 is the predictable deflections of carnal Corinthians who wanted to ignore Paul's rebuke. Carnal believers insisted that Paul was carnal himself, that he "walk according to the flesh." (v. 2) They used ad hominem arguments, noting his lack of charisma. (v. 10) And lastly some Corinthians rejected his rebuke by comparing themselves with other carnal believers. (v. 12) Paul doesn't take the bait and sidesteps the foolish deflections of carnal believers. The episode challenges all believers to anticipate resistance when confronting carnality and not chase after deflections that are skillful attempts to protect sin. Instead we're called to militantly conduct spiritual warfare, taking our own thoughts captive first, and then, in full humble submission to God, lovingly confront unrepentant sin in others, ignoring their predictable deflections.
Is the Truth on Your Side?
This episode continues addressing putting on the belt of truth in the context of spiritual warfare. While Christians are saved from the wrath of God and placed into the Body of Christ upon conversion, they are not fully on God's side until every part of them that is sympathetic to the lie or lusts of deceit is removed. Consequently, God in a general sense is on the Christian's "side," but often acts as if He's not. His higher purpose in the lives of believers is their sanctification, and with respect to truth, "He desires truth in the inward parts." (Ps 51:6) He consequently deals with Christians in ways that sometimes suggest He is not on "their side." The issue of "sides" is addressed from the critical theocentric perspective of Joshua 5:13-15. The episode closes with the Scriptural evidence that sons of God don't partake of nonsensical "sides" theology, they consistently treat "enemies" and friends alike, based on the indiscriminate love of God that's been poured out in their hearts.
I want the Truth..But not Yet
This episode calls believers to put on the belt of truth, fully cognizant that much of us still embraces the lie. Consequently, the life of sanctification is one in which our fleshly natures are subject to being offended and injured by the Spirit of Truth. The episode develops the dynamics of the flesh/spirit conflict in the context of receiving and being injured by the Truth. "The old self which is being corrupted by the lusts of deceit" (Eph. 4:22) is always threatened by God's "desire for truth in the inward parts." (Psalm 51:6) Realistically appreciating this dynamic in our own lives is essential to fully putting on the belt of truth. Christians are better off and safer by being injured by Truth than they are if they embrace the lusts of deceit, which eventually bring forth excruciating pain. The episode is a sober primer for anyone suffering from addictions, in which the lusts of deceit hide a harvest from hell.
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