This week, our elder, Cal spoke on Romans 5 & 6. You can listen to the message here Today, I’d like to discuss a few elements in these chapters.
Romans 5 Cycle of Spiritual Growth
Paul starts out with what I call the “Romans Cycle of Spiritual Growth.” He says that we take pride, or confidence in our troubles because the troubles produce in us patience. That patience then produces good (or godly) character. That character produces hope. That hope (placed in God) will not put us to shame, because of the love of God that has been given to us through the Holy Spirit.
In a way, this summarizes the path of maturity and growth for anyone in any culture. It is a pattern of life stages. It is endemically how we grow. Yet there is a final piece to the Romans Cycle not necessarily present in cultures and lives without Jesus. That piece is the hope we have because of God’s love and Holy Spirit. Most cultures and people without Jesus can only really hope for a fulfilling life in this world. Some Asian beliefs have a hope in being obsorbed into an ultimate reality by the losing of the self. Yet with Jesus, we have a hope of becoming more fully who we were created to be. That hope is set in eternity. Because it is set in eternity, we are able to both endure and enjoy life here and now.
Because of the work of Jesus on the cross, we have such a hope that lets us live more fully, without fear of death or judgment, knowing we have peace with God and are loved and accepted by Him.
Romans 6 Freedom From Sin
Paul expounds later in Romans 6 that there really is no such thing as a free agent. There is no one who can be free from a sin nature and a Christ nature simultaneously. We will always be bonded to one or the other. We will always have a master.
Why is that? Because “Nature abhors a vaccum” (Rabelais in the 16th-century). According to physics, there is no such thing a complete void. If there is a void in nature, the universe seeks to fill it. It is the same with the human soul/heart. There will always be something in the place of the ultimate focal point/object of worship. If it is not God, it may be a transcendental idea like harmony, justice, or truth. If it isn’t a transcendental idea, it becomes something more tangible like wealth, sensuality, or the self. As one theologian puts it, “If we remove the higher symbols from our reverence, we will inevitably replace them with lower symbols.” That is saying, if we remove God from his rightful position in our hearts and minds, we will inevitably replace him with something more base (lowest thing). We will exalt something not divine to divine status and put all our energies and hopes in it, whether it be money, material gain, power, or sex.
So humanity stands at a divergent path. One path leads to God being the ultimate focal point of our life, worship, affection, energy, and strength. The other path leads to a sad replacement of God, noted in Romans 6 as sin. We will be either bound to the statutes of God, which frees us from being consumed by the things of this world and societies. Or we will be bound to the things of this world and societies, which frees us from the grace and love of God. We pick our master and we reject the other.
As believers, we have been freed from the struggles of finding fulfillment in this world, because of our relationship with Jesus. We have a relationship that is gracious and forgiving, understanding, yet not compromising. And the best part is it is eternal. There is nothing in this world that can remove us from this relationship. That’s a pretty awesome relationship.
I hope this week’s pastor blog has encouraged you in some way. As part of the TGP family, may you be empowered by God to carry out the mission of bringing his