This episode ties identification with Christ's resurrection to the power of that resurrection. The Scriptures abound with descriptions of the transformative power of the Holy Spirit in believers, and this power is actually the same power that rose Christ from the dead. (Eph. 1:19-20) Peter observes that "God's divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness." (2 Pet. 1:3) The great hope of the Christian faith is that we ultimately don't depend on ourselves to mature ourselves into the likeness of Christ, we abide in Christ and wait till His power transforms us. As we identify with Christ's death, we reckon ourselves dead to sin. We wait for God to transform us, and we experience burial, sometimes an extended period of time in which we see little change, but in faith we persistently shove the rotting corpse of the flesh back into the ground. Then, in God's time, "light rises in the darkness for the upright." (Psalm 112:4) Resurrection power, the same power that rose Christ from the dead, invigorates and animates our souls, expanding our capacity for the divine life, even to the point where Paul says "we are filled up with all the fulness of God." (Eph. 3:19) Giving all glory to God, Paul concludes that "we have this treasure in earthen containers, so that the extraordinary greatness of the power will be of God and not from ourselves." (2 Cor. 4:7)
Are You Still on Milk?
This episode challenges believers not to adopt a welfare mentality towards Christian growth, in which the principal means of grace are neglected. The Word of God, prayer, and corporate worship are the mediated means of grace essential to Christian growth. The author of Hebrews decried the welfare mentality of his recipients: "By this time you OUGHT to be teachers... you have come to need milk and not solid food." This spirit of dependency that doesn't advance to maturity manifests among modern Christians who neglect Scripture, prayer, and corporate worship. Grace is mistakenly viewed as unmediated, coming directly from God, so diligence in cultivating the MEANS of grace is not an urgent priority. This childish welfare mentality describes many American Christians, whose only encounter with God's Law is negative, void of the positive cravings for the Law experienced by the psalmist in Psalm 119. The clear application of Psalm 119 for Christians is the diligent embrace of God's Law resulting in delight. The psalmist's attitude was the antithesis of the welfare mentality common today.
Loving the Law Presumes Knowing the Law
This episode elaborates on the reasons why many Christians fail to fall in love with God's Law, as the psalmist did in Psalm 119. In addition to failing to embrace holistic salvation promised in Romans 8:2, leading to a convoluted appreciation of God's Law, many modern believers do not intentionally set their minds on the Spirit. They presume that regeneration automatically makes them spiritual. Survey evidence by George Barna indicates widespread Biblical illiteracy among evangelical Christians, resulting in an inability to accurately discern flesh from spirit. (Hebrews 4:12) Since Scripture is substantially an expression of God's moral Law, failure to love God's Law partly stems from ignorance of the Scripture.
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.
Life in Christ Trumps Sin and Death
This episode spells out the answer to the question raised in the previous broadcast: "Why do many REGENERATE believers have less appreciation for God's Law than the UNREGENERATE author of Psalm 119? The short answer is that many Christians' theology of sanctification is the pessimistic lens of Romans 7:14-25. Perpetual war between the flesh and the Spirit is the defining description of their sanctification experience and critically, their perspective hasn't been qualified by the clear promise of Romans 8:2: "The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death." Paul set up his argument for Christian freedom in Romans 7, where Romans 8:2 is the optimistic conclusion. The key to growth and spiritual victory is verse 6, where the "mind set on the spirit is life and peace." Based on what Paul just declared in verse 2, the mind set on the spirit is stronger and more powerful than the mind set on the flesh. Christian failure to appropriate victory is sometimes a casualty of bad theology where the pessimistic lens of Romans 7:14-25 is divorced from the optimistic conclusion of Romans 8:2. With respect to appreciation of the Law, a pessimistic adoption of Romans 7:14-25 as the final word understandably colors one's view of the Law. A holistic love for God's Law is one of the many benefits believers should experience when their sanctification expectations are informed by Romans 8.
How an Exclusive Romans 7 Theology Undermines Delight in God’s Law
This episode provides another possible reason why many Christians do not have a full appreciation of the Law, and this lack is made more salient because the psalmist in psalm 119 wasn't even born again. The psalmist was nevertheless beside himself with love and delight in God's law. So how is it that NT believers, who by definition are born again, have less delight with the Law of God than the unregenerate psalmist in Psalm 119? The episode first addresses the presumption of many that the psalmist was born again, showing that the Scripture indicates regeneration is a result of the resurrection (1 Peter 1:3) and the glorification of Christ (John 7:39) Believers consequently were NOT born again in the Old Testament. They nevertheless put their faith in God and even delighted with the Law of God, based on the influence of the Holy Spirit. So again, how is it that the unregenerate psalmist, who is INFLUENCED by the Spirit, delighted more with the Law than many REGENERATE Christians today? The episode contends that the sanctification expectations of "Romans 7" Christians stunt appreciation of God's Law. If Christians are at best divided souls, where the fleshly and spiritual principles are intractably at war, WITHOUT the expectation that the Spirit gains the upper hand, then the natural consequence is that these believers can never attain a holistic appreciation of God's Law. But this purely Romans 7 theology collapses in light of Romans 8:2, "For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death." The episode closes by exhorting believers to embrace the substantial victory of the Spirit over the fleshly principle and as a bi-product holistically delight in God's Law.