The Bridge Commentary is a running verse by verse breakdown of the Books of the New Testament including word definitions, significant historical background and comments.
In today’s post, we continue our march through Roman’s chapter eight. Right after Paul climbs the heights of joint heirship with Christ, he tackles the subject of suffering. Is all suffering the same? The Bible has the answer. To what end does it all come to? Paul tells us in one word, glorification.
[Tweet “Over 200 million believers are persecuted for Christ daily. Jesus identifies with us in this area.”]
What does it mean to be a joint-heir with Jesus? In today’s post, we’ll take a look at this exciting promise from the Word of God as we continue Roaming through Romans.
[Tweet “The fact we could share anything with Jesus is altogether nothing but the grace of God.”]
In this post we look at the Holy Spirit’s most important role of witnessing in the hearts of God’s children there relationship status with the Father. We also look at four different Greek words for ‘children’ or ‘son’ and it’s relevance to Romans 8:14-16 as we continue ‘Roaming through Romans.’
[Tweet “By two immutable witnesses, the Word and the Spirit, you have full assurance of salvation.”]
What does the Bible mean when it applies the term adoption to believers in Jesus? Is is it any different than the American concept we are familiar with? In this post, we will take a look at the idea and, while doing so, uncover a first century ceremony known as the Toga of Man-hood.
[Tweet “Coming to Jesus is a welcoming into the God’s family as ‘a full son with legal rights’.”]
Every believer has a mighty Helper. Even the weakest child of God can make this claim. In today’s post, we take a look at one area where the Spirit of God will lend His aid on your behalf as we continue Roaming through Romans.
[Tweet “The Spirit indwells us and His help can be accessed at any given moment.”]
John Flavel said, ‘It is easier to declaim, like an orator, against a thousand sins of others than it is to mortify one sin, like Christians, in ourselves; to be more industrious in our pulpits than in our closets; to preach twenty sermons to our people than one to our own hearts.’ 1 Mortifying sin was Paul’s subject here in Romans 8:12-13. What can we learn about how to put this into operation in our everyday lives?
What is a Christian? In the Letter to Diognetus, which dates back to the second century A.D., an anonymous writer describes a strange people who are in the world but not of the world.
“Christians are not differentiated from other people by country, language, or customs; you see, they do not live in cities of their own, or speak some strange dialect. They live in both Greek and foreign cities, wherever chance has put them. They follow local customs in clothing, food, and other aspects of life. But at the same time, they demonstrate to us the unusual form of their own citizenship. “They live in their own native lands, but as aliens. Every foreign country is to them as their native country, and every native land as a foreign country.
“They marry and have children just like everyone else, but they do not kill unwanted babies. They offer a shared table, but not a shared bed. They are passing their days on earth, but are citizens of heaven. They obey the appointed laws and go beyond the laws in their own lives.”
“They love everyone, but are persecuted by all. They are put to death and gain life. They are poor and yet make many rich.”
“They are dishonored and yet gain glory through dishonor. Their names are blackened and yet they are cleared. They are mocked and bless in return. They are treated outrageously and behave respectfully to others.”
“When they do good, they are punished as evildoers; when punished, they rejoice as if being given new life. They are attacked by Jews as aliens and are persecuted by Greeks; yet those who hate them cannot give any reason for their hostility.” The word “Christian” has lost much of its meaning in our culture. It means “Christ in one.” 1
Port Authority Police Department officers Will Jimeno and John McLoughlin were the last two people rescued from the World Trade Center after the September 11 terrorist attack. For Will Jimeno, that tragic day represents a defining moment in his Christian faith. Jimeno, McLoughlin, and three other officers entered Tower 1 to rescue civilians. But when they got inside, the building collapsed. McLoughlin and Jimeno were pinned under large blocks of concrete rubble and twisted steel. The other three officers were killed. For the next ten hours, Jimeno and his partner fought pain and thirst inside a concrete tomb swirling with dust and smoke. At times, ruptured gas lines would hurl fireballs into the ruins, threatening to burn the two men to death. In another terrifying moment, heat from the fireballs “cooked off” the ammunition inside the firearm of a fallen officer, sending fifteen bullets ricocheting around the chamber.
Jimeno’s hope began to falter. “I was exhausted. I had done everything as a police officer that I could do, and everything as a human being,” he said. “I just knew I was going to die.” Just then, Jimeno saw a figure coming toward him through the rubble. “He wore a glowing white robe and a rope belt,” Jimeno said. “I couldn’t see his face, but I knew it was Jesus.” The vision filled Jimeno with hope. “I had this resurgence of the will to fight,” he said. Turning toward McLoughlin, he yelled, “We’re going to get out of this hellhole!” Several hours later, U.S. Marines and NYPD rescue workers lifted the men out of their concrete prison. The events of that day have given Jimeno a new perspective on the brevity of life. He noted that, even if a person lives to be ninety years old, that’s only a little over thirty-two thousand days. “It’s not that many,” Jimeno said. “You have to do good and do right with the small period you have in between.” 1 Jimeno had a vision of Jesus. The Lord enabled him to momentarily be in the Spirit. Paul references the phrase in the Spirit in Romans 8. What can we learn from Paul about this place called ‘In the Spirit’?
According to the Greek dictionary, carnality means to have the nature and characteristics of the flesh (or more simply, it means “fleshly”). What, then, is the flesh? Sometimes it refers to the whole material part of man (1 Corinthians 15:39; Hebrews 5:7), and based on this meaning, carnal sometimes relates to material things like money (Romans 15:27) or to the opposite of our weapons of spiritual warfare (2 Corinthians 10:4). But the word flesh also has a metaphorical sense when it refers to our disposition to sin and to oppose or omit God in our lives. The flesh is characterized by works that include lusts and passions (Galatians 5:19–24; 1 John 2:16); it can enslave (Romans 7:25); and in it is nothing good (Romans 7:18). Based on this meaning of the word flesh, to be carnal means to be characterized by things that belong to the unsaved life (Ephesians 2:3). 1 The Apostle Paul addresses carnal mindedness particularly in Romans chapter eight. Let’s take a look.
Romans chapter eight has several ‘who or what’ we have ‘in Christ’ positional statements. The entire chapter includes what Jesus has done for us as well as information we need to access His finished work through the vital ministry of the Holy Spirit. In today’s post we are going to look particularly at verse five in relation to what it says about flesh versus spirit.
The entire second chapter of James addresses two areas: the hypocrisy of partiality or prejudice (James 2:1-13) and the life-altering alliance between faith and works (James 2:14-26). In the first section, using the rich and poor as an illustration, James disassembles the sin of prejudice, as it existed among the congregation.
The entire second chapter of James addresses two areas: the hypocrisy of partiality or prejudice (James 2:1-13) and the life-altering alliance between faith and works (James 2:14-26). In the first area, using a real-life incident between a rich and poor man, James disassembles the sin of prejudice, as it existed among the congregation. In today’s post, we are going to answer several questions from the early part of James chapter 2. Among these questions, who is the gold-fingered man?