Weekly Teachings

Romans 7:14-18 The Law is spiritual and good, but we are “of the flesh, sold under sin.” Because the Law came from God, it is good. Paul knows this and wants to keep it, but something is holding him back: his flesh. His desire is to do what is right, but he can’t seem to carry it out. Romans 7:19-20 He keeps doing evil, even when he knows it is wrong. He says, “It is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.” Does this mean that Paul isn’t responsible for disobeying God since it’s not really him doing it, but some kind of sin force? Douglass Moo nicely explains what’s going on here: “At first sight, Paul would appear to be saying something unlikely and, indeed, dangerous: that he is not responsible for his actions. But this is not what he means. His point is that his failure to put into action what he wills to do shows that there is something besides himself involved in the situation...another factor that interferes with his performance of what he wants to do. This other factor is indwelling sin. sin is not a power that operates outside of people, making them do its bidding; sin is something resident in the very being, “dwelling” within people, ruling over them like a master over a slave.” Romans 7:2-24 Paul cries out, “Wretched man that I am, who will deliver me?” He feels so conflicted, so trapped, so helpless that cries out for help. In fact, this moment of surrender is precisely the key that unlocks the door of deliverance. Romans 7:25-8.4 If you are “in Christ Jesus” there’s a new factor: the spirit of life. You’ve got your own will, sin dwelling in you, and now you’ve got the spirit of life that can set you free in Christ Jesus! This means you can overcome. You can have victory over sin. Because of what God has done in Christ, you can be delivered! If this is the case, does that mean genuine Christians no longer have to deal with the flesh and the pull of sin? Romans 6:9-14; 13:13-14; Galatians 5:17, 24-26 Even as a Christians we have to consider ourselves “dead to sin and alive to God.” This takes continual effort to bring areas of our lives to God and seek deliverance. We cannot make provision for our flesh to gratify its desires. Even if the flesh remains within us, we also have the spirit to aid us. What’s important is that each and every day we wake up and crucify “the flesh with its passions and desires.” 1 Douglass Moo, The Letter to the Romans, Second Edition (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2018), p. 481.

Judges 2:11-19 The book of Judges repeats a cyclical theme throughout. First, the people forget and forsake God for idols. Then, God withdraws His protection, and oppressors take advantage. Amidst great suffering, the people cry out for deliverance. So, God raises up a judge to rescue the people. While that leader lives, the people remain faithful, but then they once again forget and forsake God. Around and around we go with generation after generation repeating the same pattern. Judges 3:15 God raised up Ehud to deliver the people from King Eglon of Moab. (On his left-handedness, see Judges 20:15-16; 1 Chronicles 12:2.) Judges 3:19-21 Ehud courageously used his left-handedness to assassinate the king and bring relief to God’s people. Judges 3:31 Shamgar was a farmer with an ox goad, but God worked through him to save Israel from the Philistines. Judges 4:4-9 Deborah was a judge and a prophetess who brought a word of the LORD to Barak to attack Jabin, king of Canaan. Judges 4:13-15 Barak fought against Jabin’s commander, Sisera, and his 900 iron chariots and routed them. Sisera escaped on foot, but met his demise at the hands of a woman, Jael, who lulled him to sleep and hammered a tent peg through his skull. Judges 6:1-6 Once again, Israel turned away from God and faced the consequences. The Midianites scraped Israel clean of food, making the people hide their food in caves. Judges 6:12-16 God finds a scared farmer named Gideon and sends an angel with the words, “The LORD is with you, O mighty man of valor.” After working with him extensively to build his faith, God brought a huge victory through Gideon, defeating 135,000 Midianites with 300 Israelites. Psalm 18:2-6 The LORD is our rock, fortress, and deliverer! Let us call upon Him and cry out for deliverance in our own time. Let us put our trust in Him. Judges 9:52-54 Gideon’s son, Abimelech, was a power-hungry, fratricidal tyrant. He attacked other Israelites that didn’t accept his legitimacy until an unnamed woman dropped part of her bread maker on his head. (See also 2 Samuel 11:20-21.) 2 Chronicles 16:9 Likewise, Jephthah and Samson were outcasts through whom God brought sensational deliverance for His people. His eyes are running to and fro, looking for people to work with-those whose hearts are blameless toward Him. Is your heart blameless toward Him? God delights to use unqualified people in the hardest times to accomplish His greatest work. He is our deliverer. Let us look to Him for our deliverance now.

Deuteronomy 24:17-22 God made provision for the vulnerable in ancient Israel. This included the sojourner, the orphan, the widow, and the poor. He put safeguards in place to ensure these people would have what they needed. Psalm 82:3-4 The rulers of God’s people were supposed to enact justice for the weak and fatherless as well as rescue the weak and needy. Leviticus 19:18 Beyond those in positions of power, God commanded regular Israelites to love their neighbors as themselves. Jesus, himself, echoed this great commandment (Mark 12:31). 1 John 4:16-21 Perfect love casts out fear. God calls us to act from love and not fear. Those who act out of fear are self-focused and driven by self-preservation, but those who act out of love are other-focused and driven by genuine concern for others. We can learn a great deal from the example of our Lord as well as his followers through the ages, especially in times when plagues broke out. 2 Timothy 1:7 God gave us a spirit of power, love, and self-control rather than fear. This equips us to ground our security in God’s hands while acting in conformity to Christ’s example of self-sacrificial love on the cross. The darker our times, the brighter the light shines.

Self-control (enkrateia): restraint of one’s emotions, impulses, or desires; self-control 2 Samuel 11:1-5 David provides us with an excellent example of the disastrous consequences that unravel when we lack self-control. In this case, a single impulse that he could have easily overcome led to increasingly more difficult circumstances. Self-control is telling yourself “no” when you’re tempted to do something wrong and “yes” when you don’t feel like doing something right. Mark 14:53-63 Jesus provides a sterling counterexample to David. Instead of allowing his own desires or others to push him around, he stays true to God even in the most stressful moments. He knew the prophecy and conformed his behavior to it, even though it was excruciatingly difficult (Isaiah 53:7). Even when he hung on the cross, he continued to resist sin, deceit, returning insults, or uttering threats (1 Peter 2:21-23). Mark 2:14-20 Self-control can become a vice if we overdo it. The Pharisees so trained themselves to control the minutiae of their lives that they devolved into legalism and self-righteousness. They even looked down their noses and accused the only perfect man of not living up to their standards! Although the Pharisees are famous for going to the maximum with self-control, there was a group of Christians who made the Pharisees look free-spirited. In the sparse reports we have about them, we have the name Ecratites, which translated literally means something like “Self-Controllers.” This group didn’t believe in eating meat, drinking anything but water, or sexual intercourse even within marriage. Even so, Scripture warns us not to fall into such extremes (1 Timothy 4:1-5).