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Articles from Pastor Jon's Blog

Romans 8:16 2007-06-13 00:00:00 Romans 8 - A New and Wonderful Life in the Spirit Romans 8 begins with no condemnation; it ends with no separation, and in between there is no defeat. The audio for Romans 8:12-22 is available at Springfield Calvary's web site. 3. (16) The evidence we are children of God: the testimony of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, a. The Spirit Himself bears witness to our spirit that we are children of God: Plainly put, Paul says that those who are God?s children, born again by the Spirit of God, know their status because the Holy Spirit testifies to our spirit that this is so. i. This is not to say that there are not those who wrongly think or assume they are God?s children apart from the Spirit?s testimony. There are also Christians whose heads are so foggy from spiritual attack that they begin to believe the lie that they are not God?s children after all. Nevertheless the witness of the Spirit is still there. b. We are ch ...

Romans 8:14-15 2007-06-12 00:00:00 Romans 8 - A New and Wonderful Life in the Spirit Romans 8 begins with no condemnation; it ends with no separation, and in between there is no defeat. The audio for Romans 8:12-22 is available at Springfield Calvary's web site. 2. (14-15) Living in the Spirit means living as a child of God. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, ?Abba, Father.? a. It is only fitting that the sons of God should be led by the Spirit of God. However, we should not think that being led by the Spirit is a pre-condition to being a son of God. Instead, we become sons first and then the Spirit of God leads us. i. Paul didn?t say, ?As many as go to church, these are the sons of God.? He didn?t say, ?As many as read their Bibles, these are the sons of God.? He didn?t say, ?As many as are patriotic Americans, these are the sons of God.? He didn?t say, ?As man ...

Romans 8:12-13 2007-06-11 00:00:00 Romans 8 - A New and Wonderful Life in the Spirit Romans 8 begins with no condemnation; it ends with no separation, and in between there is no defeat. B. Our obligation: to live in the Spirit. 1. (12-13) Our debt is to the Spirit, not to the flesh. Therefore, brethren, we are debtors; not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.  a. We are debtors ? to the flesh, to live according to the flesh: The flesh (again, in the narrow sense of sinful flesh in rebellion against God) gave us nothing good. So we have no obligation to oblige or pamper it. Our debt is to the Lord, not to the flesh. b. For if you live according to the flesh you will die: Paul constantly reminds us that living after the flesh ends in death and we need the reminder because we are often deceived into thinking that the flesh offers us life. c. By the Spirit you put to death the ...

Sunday Quotes 06.10.07 2007-06-10 05:00:00 God made the Sabbath and blessed it - even the rainy ones. - Unknown Too many church members have been starched and ironed without being washed. - Unknown Life's greatest tragedy is to lose God and never miss Him. - Unknown The rewards are always at the end of the road. It pays to go all the way with Jesus. - Unknown The way to preserve peace in the church is to preserve the purity of it. -- Unknown Religious differences are not nearly so disastrous as religious indifferences. -- Unknown<:))))><< ...

Romans 8:9-11 2007-06-09 00:00:00 Romans 8 - A New and Wonderful Life in the Spirit Romans 8 begins with no condemnation; it ends with no separation, and in between there is no defeat. The audio for Romans 8:1-11 is available at Springfield Calvary's web site. 4. (9-11) Christians are empowered to live in the Spirit. But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.a. But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you: Because the Holy Spirit is given to each believer when they are born again, every Christian has within themselves a principle higher and more powerful than the flesh. ...

Romans 8:5-8 2007-06-08 00:00:00 Romans 8 - A New and Wonderful Life in the Spirit Romans 8 begins with no condemnation; it ends with no separation, and in between there is no defeat. The audio for Romans 8:1-11 is available at Springfield Calvary's web site. 3. (5-8) The futility of trying to please God in the flesh. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. a. Set their minds on the things of the flesh: Paul gives an easy way for us to determine if we walk in the Spirit or walk in the flesh - to simply see where our mind is set. The mind is the strategic battleground where the flesh and the Spirit fight. i. We shouldn?t think of those who set their minds o ...

Romans 8:2-4 2007-06-07 00:00:00 Romans 8 - A New and Wonderful Life in the Spirit Romans 8 begins with no condemnation; it ends with no separation, and in between there is no defeat. The audio for Romans 8:1-11 is available at Springfield Calvary's web site. 2. (2-4) The contrast between life in the Spirit and life in the flesh. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. a. The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death: The law of the sin and death was a strong and seemingly absolute law. Every sin we commit and every cemetery we see proves it. But the law of the Spirit of life in Christ is stronger ...

Romans 8:1 2007-06-06 00:00:00 Romans 8 - A New and Wonderful Life in the Spirit Romans 8 begins with no condemnation; it ends with no separation, and in between there is no defeat. A. Life in the Spirit contrasted with life in the flesh. 1. (1) No condemnation. There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. a. There is therefore now no condemnation: The simple declaration of no condemnation comes to those who are in Christ Jesus. Since the Father does not condemn Jesus, neither can He condemn those are in Him. They are not condemned, they will not be condemned, and they cannot be condemned. i. Paul's therefore is important. It means that what he says comes from a logical argument. It's as if Paul begins, "I can prove what I say here." This is what he proves: if we are one with Jesus and He is our head, we can't be condemned. You can't acquit the head and condemn the hand. You can't drown the foot as l ...

Updates 2007-06-05 16:02:51 Ever have 'one of those days?' How about 'one of those weeks?' So, I am behind on my posting. The audio for Romans 7:13-25 and Romans 8:1-11 are available at Springfield Calvary. On Wednesday, I will begin posting from Romans 8. ...

The Seed 2007-06-04 07:00:00 The Seed A successful Christian business man was growing old and knew it was time to choose a successor to take over the business. Instead of choosing one of his directors or his children, he decided to do something different. He called all the young executives in his company together. "It is time for me to step down and choose the next CEO," he said. "I have decided to choose one of you." The young executives were shocked, but the boss continued. "I am going to give each one of you a seed today - a very special seed. I want you to plant the seed, water it, and come back here one year from today with what you have grown from the seed I have given you. I will then judge the plants that you bring, and the one I choose will be the next CEO." One man, named Jim, was there that day and he, like the others, received a seed. He went home and excitedly, told his wife the story. She helped him get a pot, soil and compost and he planted the seed. Every day, he ...

Sunday Quotes 06.03.07 2007-06-03 05:00:00 The prayer closets of God's people are where the roots of the church grow. -- Unknown You can't hide from God by missing church. -- Unknown We don't pray to be better Christians, but that we may be the only kind of Christians God means us to be; Christlike Christians, that is, Christians who will bear willingly the cross for God's glory. -- From a letter smuggled out from the underground church in Romania "Alexander, Caesar, and Hannibal conquered the world but had no friends.... Jesus founded his empire upon love, and at this hour millions would die for him.... He has won the hearts of men, a task a conqueror cannot do." - Napoleon "A lack of Bible study leads to 'truth' decay." -- Unknown "We are not to be isolated but insulated, moving in the midst of evil but untouched by it." -- Vance Havner<:))))><< ...

Romans 7:25 2007-06-03 00:00:00 Romans 7 - The Weakness of the Law Exposed 2. (25) Paul finally looks outside of himself to Jesus. I thank God; through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin. a. I thank God; through Jesus Christ our Lord! Finally, Paul looks outside of himself and unto Jesus. As soon as he looks to Jesus, he has something to thank God for - and he thanks God through Jesus Christ our Lord. i. Through means that Paul sees Jesus standing between himself and God, bridging the gap and providing the way to God. Lord means that Paul has put Jesus in the right place - as Lord and master of his life. b. So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin: He acknowledges the state of struggle, but thanks God for the victory in Jesus. Paul doesn?t pretend that looking to Jesus takes away the struggle - Jesus works through us, not instead of us in the battle against sin. i. The glorious truth remain ...

Romans 7:24 2007-06-02 00:00:00 Romans 7 - The Weakness of the Law Exposed E. The victory found in Jesus Christ. 1. (24) Paul?s desperation and perspective. O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?a. O wretched man that I am! The ancient Greek word wretched is more literally, ?Wretched through the exhaustion of hard labor.? Paul is completely worn out and wretched because of his unsuccessful effort to please God under the principle of Law. i. ?It is worth bearing in mind that the great saints through the ages do not commonly say, ?How good I am!? Rather, they are apt to bewail their sinfulness.? (Morris) ii. Legalism always brings a person face to face with their own wretchedness, and if they continue in legalism, they will react in one of two ways. Either they will deny their wretchedness and become self-righteous Pharisees, or they will despair because of their wretchedness and give up following after God. b. O wretched man that I am! The entire tone of the statement shows that ...

Romans 7:20-23 2007-06-01 00:00:00 Romans 7 - The Weakness of the Law Exposed 2. (20-23) The battle between two selves. Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.a. I find then a law, that evil is present with me: Anyone who has tried to do good is aware of this struggle. We never know how hard it is to stop sinning until we try. ?No man knows how bad he is until he has tried to be good.? (C.S. Lewis) b. For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man: Paul knows that his real inward man has a delight in the law of God. He understands that the impulse to sin comes from another law in my members. Paul knows that the ?real self? is the one who does delight in the law of God. i. ...

Romans 7:15-19 2007-05-31 00:00:00 Romans 7 - The Weakness of the Law Exposed D. The struggle of obedience in our own strength. 1. (15-19) Paul describes his sense of helplessness. For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good. But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice.a. For what I am doing, I do not understand: Paul?s problem isn?t desire - he wants to do what is right (what I will to do, that I do not practice). His problem isn?t knowledge - he knows what the right thing is. His problem is a lack of power: how to perform what is good I do not find. He lacks power because the law gives no power. i. The law says: ?H ...