In the story of Jean Valjean, the bishop purchases him from darkness to light, from evil to good. From then on, Valjean becomes a servant of good, according to the author. But is he? The author, Victor Hugo, a socialist, defines Valjean’s goodness in terms of socialist values (worker pay, alms to the poor, etc.), but Valjean still breaks the law. His whole persona, created in the city of Montreuil-sur-Mer, which made him mayor, was fake. He escaped the condemnation of his criminal passport by lying about himself. He doesn’t worship God; he doesn’t submit to French law; and he remains deeply conflicted as a character. While he has changed as a character, he has not become holy!

In our text, the apostle is adamant, we do not have the ability, even as believers, to obey God apart from grace. Acquitted from the law (justification), having died to sin and the flesh, we still lack the ability to obey God. Paul says, “For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out,” Romans 7:18. How will we ever become obedient children of God?

Enter the Holy Spirit! The Holy Spirit is the great actor on the scene who transforms us into law keepers! Join us Sunday as we begin to consider life in the Spirit!

Each of the past few weeks I’ve asked a version of this question, “What would it be like to live as someone justified before God?” I dare say that none of us have thoroughly processed the answer to that question. We know this truth intellectually, but we still relate to ourselves, God, and others, based on our performance. We love control, we’re addicted to duty, order, our rights, and our outward performance. We gossip, complain, defend ourselves, boast, and criticize others. All of these are efforts to build and defend our own self-righteousness. (Thoughts taken from Jack Miller’s Sonship series.)

Since chapter one of Romans, the apostle has presented the reality of our sinfulness and God’s just condemnation; there are none who are righteous. As members of Adam’s dynasty, we are bound to sin, judgment, and death; we cannot produce or make ourselves righteous. Then, in chapter three, Paul presents God’s righteousness provided in Christ, and now, in chapter eight, presents the relief of grace in the precious words, “no condemnation.” What relief! Join us Sunday, as we worship our Savior and rejoice in divine acquittal.

In Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables, Jean Valjean is contemplating his life as a criminal. He was sentenced to several years of hard labor for stealing a loaf of bread to feed his sister and her seven children. He served additional years for several attempted escapes. As he walks alone, hungry and tired, he contemplates the harshness of the law and his severe sentencing for breaking it. The law of France has crushed him and left him, as the author says, “without the one word ascribed on the forehead of every man, hope.”

Hugo highlights the cold, harsh nature of the law. In our text, the Apostle Paul contemplates the nature of God’s Law. God’s law is spiritual, holy, righteous, and good, he says. It instructs us if we’ll listen to it. At the same time, God’s law elicits a response from our flesh. It seems that this beautiful thing from God has the opposite effect on us, driving our performance or our rebellion. But the fault is not with God’s law, but with our flesh. Our only hope for deliverance is through Christ Jesus our Lord, and what a deliverance we’ve received.

Join us Sunday as we worship the Great Law-keeper and consider the beauty of God’s law.

If you have children, have you ever had that moment when a child did something without being asked? They saw the kitchen trash was full and took it out, even putting new bags in the cans? You thank them for doing it, and they respond with words of ownership and gratitude for all that you do. If you haven’t had that moment, I’m here to tell you, it can happen. As they mature they will appreciate more and more all that you do for them and this gratitude should create “obedience from the heart.” 

That’s what our next text of Romans 6 talks about, “obedience from the heart.” This is something that the Law cannot produce. Adam’s dynasty of death doesn’t produce this. Only grace can produce obedience from the heart. Join us Sunday as we consider this powerful working of God and worship him for all he does for us!

According to the Apostle Paul, when the Holy Spirit united us to Christ, the relationship with our former family ended, and we were brought into God’s family. This is bigger than switching from Ford to Toyota. Our affiliation with the Empire of Evil has concluded, and we have been brought into the Kingdom of Light. All that Christ has done (crucifixion, death, burial, resurrection, and new life) has been applied to us by the Holy Spirit.

 So what does that mean for us today? First, it means that when our old family, the culture created by depraved hearts, makes demands of us or encourages us to live in our passions, we have every right and obligation to say, "no." Second, when our sinful passions urge us to satisfaction, we have every right and obligation to say, "no." Third, we have every reason, based on what Christ has done, to pursue obedience to Him out of gratitude for his overwhelming grace. Finally, having been brought into this new family, we have a new relationship to pursue in our fight against our desires. This is the focus of what Paul says next.

 Join us Sunday as we consider the pattern of pursuing God's grace and worship the Giver!

Have you ever had an oppressive boss? Most of us have. I had one who constantly criticized our work as a painting crew. We were never fast enough, our lines never sharp enough, and our clean up always subpar. We would spend all day in a newly constructed home, without air conditioning, sweating and painting. Our boss would come in, spend fifteen minutes, paint a door and tell us, “see that, a ten minute door.” Then he’d demean our performance and get back in his air conditioned truck and move on. Not the inspiring moment he intended for sure. 

When I changed companies, working for a new crew, my boss was encouraging, championing my work, even giving me more responsibility. It was such a unique experience, especially when contrasted with my former boss. Whenever my new boss would walk in though, initially I’d find myself emotionally prepping for criticism, only to be surprised with kindness and encouragement. There were moments of correction, but they were motivating.

In our text Sunday, Paul lays a foundation of what it means to be united to Christ and his life giving salvation. He wants us to see that we’ve been taken out of Adam’s family, dominated by sin and death, and placed in Christ’s family with freedom from our old oppressive master. His conclusion, do not let sin have dominion over you. You don’t have to obey your passions any more. 

Join us as we consider the life of freedom given us in our participation of Christ! 

This week the world was shocked to learn from the Princess of Wales, Kate Middleton, that she was diagnosed with cancer. A young mother of three young children with a pivotal role in the British Empire is facing her connection with Adam’s dynasty of death. While her prognosis seems to be good, death still reigns, looming over her, close enough to feel its breath on her neck. I grieve what she is experiencing and pray for the restoration of her health. 

This past week, in considering Romans 5:12-21, we learned that Adam broke faith with God and his guilt was placed on his family. As a result, along with the corrupt nature of our ancestor, death spread to all mankind. Now, we sin because we’re sinners, corrupted sons and daughters of Adam. But God, rich in mercy, sent his Son to rescue Adam’s race. As the apostle says Jesus was, “delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification,” Romans 4:25.

Jesus, like Adam, is the head of a family; but unlike Adam, he does not break faith with God -- he obeys. Like Adam, he has something to ascribe to his family; but unlike Adam, it is righteousness -- not sin. Paul makes the point that the gift of grace overcomes the sin in the most sinful person who turns in faith to Christ. The resurrection settles the question of his righteousness and assures us that our hope in Christ is proper. Join us Sunday as we worship and rejoice in Jesus’ dynasty of life!

Sunday is Palm Sunday when we celebrate the triumphant entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. Palms and garments were laid in his path as he rode into the city. It begins his final week before his death on the cross. While the people were “stirred” up, some of them shouting Hosanna and celebrating what they perceived as a political movement, and others asking who he was, Jesus knew what he was moving toward: death. 

Sunday we’ll put Passion Week in context by considering Romans 5:12-21. In our text, the Apostle Paul describes the effects of Adam’s sin on our race: condemnation and death. Like a cruel master, death reigns over humanity, even for people who don’t knowingly break God’s law. When God gave the law, the conscience of man awakened, and the numbers changed. He could no longer ignore what the law exposed. What might have seemed like a minimal intrusion became an avalanche of evil. 

Our cursed race needs more than a cleanup on aisle nine; we need the waters of Niagara Falls to cleanse us. Join us Sunday as we consider the reason for Passion Week and ultimately Good Friday. 

Great acts of sacrifice are easy to spot. On 9.11, police and firefighters raced up the burning towers of the World Trade Center to rescue victims of the terrorist attack. During WW2, Nicholas Palermo ran toward three machine gun nests, taking them out to rescue his unit, sacrificing himself in battle. Rosa Parks, working with Martin Luther King, prepared and executed a plan to challenge the Montgomery segregation law, knowing it would lead to her arrest but that it would also create a legal battle pushing the issue to the Supreme Court. These individuals put their lives on the line out of affection for others. Their affection was put on display for all to see!
 
The Apostle Paul assures us that hope in our glorification and eternal life will not disappoint us. We won’t die and be shut out of heaven on a technicality. How do we know this to be true? All we need do is look at the masterpiece of justification and our fears are relieved. Jesus sacrificed himself for us while we were still God’s enemies, sinners facing his judgment. If he would do that in our “weak” condition, then he will certainly carry us to the finish line now that we are justified by faith. Join us as we consider this well-known text, Romans 5:6-11.

I’m meditating on Isaiah 8:11-14 often these days. The prophet Isaiah has seen the glory of God, Isaiah 6, and surrenders to God’s call to be a prophetic voice to the wicked king Ahaz. The king turned everything into a religious shrine to the pagan gods, even sacrificing his own children. Isaiah confronts Ahaz, promising a sign of God’s rescue from those seeking to overthrow him. Then in chapter eight, he says,

For the LORD spoke thus to me…do not call conspiracy all that this people calls conspiracy, and do not fear what they fear, nor be in dread. But the LORD of hosts, him you shall honor as holy. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. And he will become a sanctuary.

Do you see the progression? He sees the glory of God, his holiness on display, and the hardships of his world don’t overwhelm him. For Isaiah, God was bigger than life’s problems and became his sanctuary.
 
In our text in Romans, Paul says that one of the benefits of our justification is our hope in the glory of God. Having our sins atoned for and receiving the robes of Jesus’ righteousness is such overwhelming grace from God that it guarantees our participation in God’s glory. Paul’s crescendo of the benefits of justification is that we will share in the glory of God because that is the privilege of the righteous Son. Then he tells us that this truth even reorients our experience of suffering or hardships. We begin to see that God uses hardships to conform us to Christ so that we can share in his holiness.
 
What a great truth, one that when understood, becomes our “boast.” Join us Sunday as we consider this great truth and worship our Savior.