This episode highlights the imperative of Psalm 29:1-2, contending that Christians incorporate its mandate as an objective of holistic salvation. "Ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. Ascribe to the Lord the glory due His name." The New Testament version of this imperative is 1 Peter 2:9, where believers are called to "declare God's excellencies." Glorifying God is therefore a principal objective of the Christian faith. Psalm 29:3-9 implicitly suggests the means of glorifying God. The resounding theme is the overwhelming "voice of the Lord" governing storms. The description culminates with the almost out-of-place comment that "in His temple everything says, 'Glory!'" The logic of the psalm is therefore the following: 1) Believers acknowledge the imperative of human existence, to glorify God, 2) Believers attune themselves to the sovereign VOICE of God, 3) Believers respond with their VOICE, crying out Glory. Christian salvation largely follows this pattern. Christians seek to glorify God by submitting to Christ. They abide in Christ, attending to His sovereign voice, bearing fruit as they verbally declare God's excellencies. The latter part of the episode emphasizes the imperative in the "shema," "HEAR oh Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one." This basic axiom of Judaism is more than a confession of monotheism: the emphasis is on the response of believers who are called to hear and obey the VOICE of God. Interestingly, Jews often referred to God as "hashem" or "the name." So with respect to the imperative of Psalm 29:1-2, Christians are called to glorify Christ by eagerly LISTENING to His Voice, glorifying His name in response. It is, after all, the NAME of the entire trinity in which all Christians are baptized, and the basis for glorifying God.
“Purpose-Derived Peace”
This episode on holistic salvation addresses the reason why many believers don't experience consistent peace. Isaiah declares that God "will keep in perfect peace all whose minds are set on Him." (Isaiah 26:3) The NT equivalent is Romans 8:6, "the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace." Holistic salvation doesn't just refer to deliverance from the penalty and power of sin--it is related to finding our purpose in God. When believers set their minds on God, they discover and regard His works and naturally want to co-labor with Him in His work. This then is the recipe for perfect peace that holistic salvation intends. Many unfortunately conclude that a lack of peace is primarily associated with sin issues, when in fact this myopic, even self-centered view of salvation doesn't grasp the principal objective, which according to Hebrews 9:14, is to serve God. When Christians identify their purpose after gazing on God and His works, they can potentially experience the perfect peace promised by Scripture. The latter part of this episode addresses obstacles to peace, coming from John 14:27. Christ offered "non-contingent" peace that couldn't be taken away if believers set their minds completely on God, for "the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace."
The Dynamics of “Peace” among the Righteous and the Wicked
This episode begins with the question, "why do believers often struggle to have peace, while unbelievers, when circumstances are favorable, seem to be at peace? The answer rests on the nature of both. Believers delight with the law of God in the inner man, while they struggle against residual evil. They are conflicted until they substantially set their minds on the things of the Spirit, leading to life and peace. Unbelievers, by contrast, are dead spiritually, so there is little opposition to their minds set on the flesh, temporarily allowing for a superficial peace when sinful desires are satisfied. If believers resign themselves to being Romans 7 Christians without allowing the promise of Romans 8:2 to manifest, their lives will largely be defined by the conflict of the flesh verses the Spirit. Mature believers however apply the Romans 8:2 promise to their lives and intentionally set their minds on the things of the Spirit, leading to life and peace. The latter part of the episode addresses the superficial peace of the wicked who are largely successful at suppressing the truth in unrighteousness. Critically they rationalize that their apparent peace will endure beyond the grave, for they actually think that God is just like them. (Psalm 50:21) The program concludes with the shattering of the peace of the wicked in an eternal hell. Lastly, the episode posits that the same distorted picture of God as infinitely tolerant among unbelievers also colors the perception of Christians who bank all on the imputed righteousness of Christ, without cooperating much with the Spirit of truth that sanctifies them. The loss of peace is usually the result.
Peace Doesn’t Just Happen
This episode unpacks the salvation package of "life and peace." Paul states that the mind set on the Spirit is "life and peace." (Romans 8:6) Most Christians embrace some aspect of the eternal life promised in salvation but struggle to experience the peace promised to believers. This episode paints a HOLISTIC salvation picture and the necessity of intentionally directing our minds on the Spirit. The elusive nature of peace among Christians highlights the incomplete appropriation of the salvation package and the lack of intentionality of many believers who experience life on auto-pilot. Not surprisingly real peace is lacking as the de-fault expression of the flesh emerges when the mind doesn't ACTIVELY engage the Spirit. One indication of the mind set on the Spirit is focus on the works of the Lord. Psalm 28:4-5 and Romans 1:18-23 posit that the fundamental difference between believers and unbelievers is acknowledgement or rejection of God's works. The holistic salvation package of "life and peace" is the consequence of a mind set on the Spirit, that has an unquenchable regard and appreciation for the works of God. If Christians suffer from a lack of peace, the remedy, to a substantial degree, is intentionally setting the mind on the Spirit, Who graciously supplies the peace that surpasses understanding.
“The Sound of ‘One Hand Clapping’ Doesn’t Sound like Salvation”
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.
The Law Helps to Think God’s Thoughts after Him
This episode exposes the fleshly arguments that some use to justify continued expression of the flesh. The argument largely rests on using Paul's own words in Romans 7 as an excuse for not forcefully advancing spiritually. Paul himself describes himself as a prisoner of the law of sin and death in verse 23. In verse 25 he observes 2 warring principles within, and neither is ascendant. Selective proof texting of Romans 7 is naturally a convenient rationalization for Christians bent on tolerating a fair degree of carnality. Romans 8:2 thoroughly debunks the flesh's convenient co-opting of Paul in Romans 7, insisting that substantial victory is available for Christians who set their minds on the Spirit. Love of God's Law also becomes the lens of the mind set on the Spirit.
Are You a True Believer or a Mercenary?
This episode addresses the purely "transactional" understanding of salvation by mercenary Christians. "Transactional" Christians are professing Christians who have made a calculated decision to "follow" Christ, not because His way is better, but because He's the only One who can satisfy their sin-debt. While elements of this perspective are also embraced by genuine believers, true Christians follow Christ because they actually see Christ's way as so much better. They reflect on their false ways by contrast, and repent. Like the Psalmist, they have two encounters with the Law of God: one challenging and convicting, the second delightful and instructive. Mercenary "believers" are likened to the wicked, lazy "servant" in the parable of the talents. That servant also had a transactional understanding of "accepting" Christ. He took care of his sin-debt problem by ostensibly trusting Christ and then went off and buried his talent in the ground. He never fell in love with Christ and never delighted with the Law of God in the inner man. The other 2 servants delighted in the gifts of the Master and invested those gifts to honor Him. A transactional, mercenary view of Christ and the salvation He offers is consequently not salvation at all, for the wicked lazy servants ends up in hell.
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."
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