040825

 

No hemp day

Takes SO LONG to cook other foods. And NOTHING is "safe"


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⭐we become slaves of whomever we continue to obey. Sin leads to death. Obedience leads to righteousness. We choose which one to obey and become the slave of that one. Paul seems to be showing that we are in an ongoing battle to serve the right master. Our choices matter because we are either contributing to death or to righteousness.
Paul has been warning the Christians in Rome not to volunteer to sin. They have been freed from the authority of and slavery to sin. It is not in command of their bodies any longer, thanks to Christ's death for their sin on the cross and their spiritual death with Him when they were saved.
The Roman Christians came to faith in Christ at some point. They became Christians. In that moment, sin lost its true power over them. They stopped being slaves to sin. God—and, in a sense, those who led these new believers to Christ—handed them over to the teaching of God's truth by their leaders. The new Christians became obedient to that teaching instead of living as slaves to sin... Even today, those who trust in Christ are meant to devote themselves to obeying the teachings of God's Word.
⭐They were once slaves to their sinful desires, as we all once were. Now, though, they have become obedient from their hearts and committed to obey the teaching of God's truth. In fact, Paul now writes, they have become the slaves of righteousness.
By this, Paul means that the Roman Christians are presenting themselves—their bodies and minds—to God to be used to accomplish His righteous purposes. It sounds odd to the modern mind, that Paul would describe this commitment to be used by God for righteous purposes as "slavery." And yet, Paul began this letter by describing himself as a "slave" of Christ, using the Greek word doulos: a bond-servant. His terminology in this verse uses the same root word. Still, Paul seems to say in the following verses that even this version of "slavery" is not the best concept to describe this commitment to serve God's righteousness. Instead, he uses this "human term" because of our limited ability to fully understand this change in our allegiance...what it means to be under the authority of righteousness.

Paul wants to be sure none of his readers picture our relationship with God in terms of a fearful or degrading experience. Rather, he acknowledges that his metaphor is not exactly a perfect fit, though he will continue to use it.
As he refines the idea, Paul will make clear that Christians are absolutely under the full authority of God to be used for His purposes. However, God remains a loving Father and does not compel us to act against our will. He is always Master, and He is ever calling believers to obey Him.

Paul makes it clear that God wants us to choose obedience to Him. Why else would we need to be told to do so? He commands those in Christ to present their members—bodies, minds, will, etc.—as slaves in the service of righteousness. He tells us to do this in the same way that we once presented ourselves as slaves to impurity and lawlessness.
Paul describes those who are not in Christ as under compulsion to serve sin. They must obey their sinful desires. That is their work. The result of that work? More and more lawlessness. That is, they succeed in creating more sin in their lives and in the world.
Those in Christ, on the other hand, are used by God to serve righteousness. What comes from that, Paul writes, is sanctification or holiness. The New Testament often uses the word "sanctification" to describe the process of being made holy, of becoming like Christ. God uses our service to righteousness to contribute to that process.

Paul has posed only two possible realities for human beings. Initially, we are all slaves to sin, meaning we are under compulsion to obey our sinful desires. Those who express saving faith in Christ, on the other hand, are "slaves to righteousness," meaning we are so closely connected to Christ that it is becoming our nature to serve righteousness.

This leaves no room for a third option. Human beings cannot be morally independent or neutral. No moral choices exist other than serving sin or serving righteousness. This is consistent with the rest of Scripture, which depicts only two eternal categories of humanity: sinners who are saved by grace through faith alone (Ephesians 2:8; Revelation 22:1–5), and sinners who reject God and are separated from Him forever (John 12:48; Revelation 20:11–15).
Now Paul considers the advantages of either option. As in other parts of this book, he speaks from the perspective of a saved believer—his "we" means those who are Christians, not all men. Here Paul writes that when we were slaves of sin, before trusting in Christ and becoming Christians, we were free in regard to righteousness. Since we had no identity in Christ, we had no mandate or calling to do what was right. That was a "freedom," in a sense, Paul writes. He will show in the following verses that such autonomy comes at a high cost.

⭐‼️"And how did that turn out?" That's the question Paul is asking about his statement from the previous verse. There, he wrote that before his readers became Christians, they were free from righteousness. That is, they had no requirement, no compulsion, to do what was right in the eyes of God. Some may see this freedom from righteousness as a valuable thing, but Paul immediately shows that it always leads to shame and death instead of the joyful life we might imagine. Paul challenges his readers to describe what they actually got from living free of righteousness. What fruit did that produce? What results came from that?
The lasting result from living free from the control of righteousness is shame. All of us who once indulged in being free from righteousness before we trusted in Christ may feel shame about the consequences that came from serving our sinful desires. This is a good kind of "shame," a right evaluation of the pain created by our sinful choices.
Even more lasting for those who continue to live free from righteousness is death. All sin leads eventually to death and separation from God in hell. Death is the ultimate "fruit" of living free from the control of righteousness.

Shame and death. Paul described those as the consequences, or "fruit," of a life lived free of the control of righteousness. Slavery to sin always leads to shame and, eventually, death. Paul's readers in Rome, however, left that life behind. Through faith in Christ and by God's grace, they had been set free from their slavery to sin. They had been loosed from the compulsion to serve their sinful desires.

Now they had become "slaves of God." Paul has previously described this same state as being "slaves to righteousness" (Romans 6:18). Paul began this letter by describing himself as a slave or servant of Christ Jesus, using the word of his day for a person who entered freely into a master/slave relationship with another. While not a perfect analogy—as Paul himself noted (Romans 6:19)—it's useful to make the point at hand.

Paul now writes that, by trusting in Christ for our salvation, we have entered into that same relationship with God. Our identity is so closely connected to Christ that we are being changed to people who are bound to do what is right. This is who we are now. This is good news. Why? Because the "fruit"—the natural consequence—of serving righteousness is sanctification and eternal life. This is opposed to the shame and death which follow from serving sin.

Sanctification, translated sometimes as "holiness," is the process of being changed in our inner selves to become more and more like Christ. We are not fully there (1 John 1:9–10), but because we now belong to God, we are on the way. He is changing us (1 John 3:2).

Ultimately, the result of this path we are on in Christ will be eternal life. We will participate in the glories of God forever (Romans 5:2).


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⭐"Repent" is from the Greek root word metanoeo. It means to completely change one's paradigm, to admit error and accept the truth. In Christianity, it means to accept the viewpoint of God about the world, Jesus, and oneself, and act accordingly. "Forgiveness" is from the Greek root word aphesis. It is a pardon, granted by the victim of a crime or offense, whereby the victim agrees to relinquish his or her right to recompense from the perpetrator. In this case, God forgives our crimes against Him and places the burden [of justice] on Jesus.
So it is that Peter calls the Jews to admit they are wrong, accept God's correct view of things, and trust that Jesus has paid for their sins."

‼️⭐only Christ can condemn us, but instead He has already taken our condemnation on Himself.
We are in Christ by faith, so closely associated with Him in God's eyes that His death has already paid the price of our sin. He was resurrected and now stands at the Father's right hand interceding for us. This is available to those who put their faith in Jesus, but only to those who do so (John 3:16–18).
The picture Paul paints is of Jesus standing by to advocate against anyone who would accuse us to God for our sin. He might say, "I died for that sin. The penalty is paid." Now that God has justified us in Christ, and because God is for us, no accusation or condemnation can stand against us in the throne room of God.

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‼️Gnostics believe that all physical matter is evil; therefore, the human body, all forms of sexuality, and pleasant food were labelled as evil. As a result, the Gnostics rejected marriage and taught people not to eat certain foods... According to Paul, the physical things God created for our benefit should not be rejected. Paul's reference here is not to the early church, but goes all the way back to God's creation in Genesis chapters 1 and 2. No food is to be rejected out-of-hand (1 Timothy 4:4), but should be embraced with a grateful attitude. The ability to thank God for good things, instead of rejecting them, is credited to those with correct understanding of God's Word and His will.
⭐everything God created has some good purpose. Nothing in this world is supposed to be treated as "evil," in and of itself. Of course, good things can be abused. Alcohol has use, but can be abused in drunkenness. Food is good, but can be abused in gluttony. Sexuality is good, but it can be abused if practiced outside of godly marriage. Both verses 3 and 4 refer to the importance of receiving God's creations with a thankful spirit. Christians are to pray and give thanks for food, not reject it based on a false understanding of God's truth... Jesus "declared all foods clean." We are to give thanks for our meals and for our marriages (1 Timothy 4:3), knowing that both are "good" (Genesis 1and have been blessed by God.
⭐Nothing God created is evil, in and of itself. Various false teachers, particularly those adhering to Gnosticism, were teaching that physical matter was sinful. As a result, these people discouraged both marriage and the eating of certain foods. Paul's response appeals to God's role as the Creator (1 Timothy 4:3–4). In fact, everything God created has some good purpose. Nothing given to us by God is meant to be rejected out-of-hand. Rather, we should be thankful for the opportunity to use His creation in a positive way.

Here, Paul extends this teaching even further. The physical creations of this world all have some positive use, but even more so, those things used in a thankful, prayerful, biblical way become "holy"! The food we eat, the materials we build with, the blessing of sexuality within a marriage—everything God gave us in this world can be more than just "good." It can be holy and used for His glory, when used as He intended.

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While Jesus calls us to be servants (Mark 10:43) and slaves (Mark 10:44), the position is not reciprocal; the Suffering Servant of Isaiah 53 acts for our benefit, but He is God's servant, not ours (Isaiah 53:11). Our attitude is like His, but where we literally put ourselves in the position of servant or slave for others, He takes the "form of a servant" to God, not to us (Philippians 2:7–8). For us to usher in and be a part of the kingdom of God, we must live out our understanding that we are ultimately powerless (Mark 10:14–15). God has the real power, regardless of our lot in life. Even if we are recognized as leaders in the church, that role is still in essence a servant.
"Slave" is from the Greek root word doulos. It means someone who is bound to another to see to their needs; the submission of a doulos is at a higher level than that of a diakonos or servant (Mark 10:43). Christian leadership isn't a straight master/slave relationship. It's more like the slave who has authority over a man's children, even though the children will one day be his master. Christian leaders are first slaves to Christ, for His will. Christ's will is that the needs of His church body are met...
"Servant" is from the Greek root word diakonos. It refers to someone whose duties are to fulfill the desires of another. Diakonos is where we get the word "deacon" from, servants of the church who make sure church resources are distributed to those who need them (Acts 6:1–6). This speaks to the role of a leader in the church, who should become a leader, and the proper motivation of leaders in the church... Jesus says the role of a leader in the church is that of a servant: someone who takes care of the needs of another. Granted, servant-leadership often involves impressing upon people what it is they actually need. But it is all for others, not for selfish ambition, pride, or honor... The role of a leader is to look to Christ and follow His direction for the benefit of His church... When we remember that the role of every believer is to bring the church and other individuals closer to Jesus, the label "slave" takes on a new, nobler meaning.