The New Self

Ephesians 4:22 to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, 23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

22 ἀποθέσθαι ὑμᾶς κατὰ τὴν προτέραν ἀναστροφὴν τὸν παλαιὸν ἄνθρωπον τὸν φθειρόμενον κατὰ τὰς ἐπιθυμίας τῆς ἀπάτης, 23  ἀνανεοῦσθαι δὲ τῷ πνεύματι τοῦ νοὸς ὑμῶν 24  καὶ ἐνδύσασθαι τὸν καινὸν ἄνθρωπον τὸν κατὰ θεὸν κτισθέντα ἐν δικαιοσύνῃ καὶ ὁσιότητι τῆς ἀληθείας.

Paul is cranking up the exhortations in this book.  He spent the first three chapters covering the gospel and now he starts getting into commands.  It is vital that we do not read any of these commands in a vacuum.  The assumption for all of these is that we will have appropriated the first half of the book before we try to apply the second half.  This is vital or else we are straying into legalism, which Galatians tells us does not save us.

I love this passage because of its implications for personal transformation.  I've been through some pretty serious sins in my life and I still find them tempting.  However, I do not subscribe to the AA model of "once a always a " where you fill in your personal sin (i.e. drunkenness, gluttony, lust, etc.)  Instead, I take the command of this passage to heart.

Paul is saying that we have an old self.  Remember from the early part of chapter 2 that we were dead in our trespasses and sins.  We were like the prodigal in the parable of the two sons.  We were lost.  But God transformed us from the inside-out.  He made us alive together in Christ.  That is what Paul refers to here as well.  We are to put off the old self, be renewed in the spirit of our minds, and then put on the new self.

I think that the middle is key.  How are we renewed?  We spend time in God's Word.  We spend time with God's people.  We sing songs that tell us more about God.  We avoid things that pollute our minds.  I am not a hardcore separatist, but I don't watch any TV either.  There is just too much on TV to pollute my mind.  I have to be careful when I am online (more careful than I am sometimes) so as not to feed the lust of the eyes.  It is an ongoing battle to be sure.  The word ἀνανεοῦσθαι is a present passive infinitive.  As an infinitive it is difficult to pin down exactly how to take this, but the fact that it is in the passive tells me that this is something that happens to my mind.

What are you doing to renew the spirit of your mind?  It forces me to ask myself the same question.  Sure, I have my daily quiet times and read good books, but I also know that there are more positive things I can do and I can avoid some negative things as well.  How about you?

Power in Weakness

2 Corinthians 12:9 But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

9 καὶ εἴρηκέν μοι· ἀρκεῖ σοι ἡ χάρις μου, ἡ γὰρ δύναμις ἐν ἀσθενείᾳ τελεῖται. ἥδιστα οὖν μᾶλλον καυχήσομαι ἐν ταῖς ἀσθενείαις μου, ἵνα ἐπισκηνώσῃ ἐπ᾽ ἐμὲ ἡ δύναμις τοῦ Χριστοῦ.

This comes at the end of Paul talking about how he has a "thorn in the flesh" that he asked God to remove.  He asked three times and this was God's response.  I think any of us who have struggled with besetting sin have used this verse as a crutch.  I eat a lot and that is my "thorn in the flesh."  Or I look at porn because it is my "thorn in the flesh."  Although I am free from porn I still find myself getting too close to it sometimes. That happened last night, which was frustrating to me.  While I didn't see anything that you couldn't see on broadcast TV I knew where my heart was.  That frustrates me.

So while I do not use this verse as an excuse, it does encourage me a little bit.  It seems every time I get a little too far away from the cross I start to move closer to porn.  And when that happens I think of this verse.  I am reminded that it is only by grace that I can walk in freedom.  And I am also reminded that I cannot do this on my own.  I need God's grace for my daily life.  The cross is not a "one and done" experience.

I have been set free from some things and that is the basis of my testimony.  This way I can καυχήσομαι ἐν ταῖς ἀσθενείαις μου.  Why do I do this?  ἵνα ἐπισκηνώσῃ ἐπ᾽ ἐμὲ ἡ δύναμις τοῦ Χριστοῦ.  There is no mystery in the Greek here.  It means what it looks like in English.

Such a simple, beautiful truth.  I want nothing more than to see Christ magnified and exalted in my life.  I do not want to sin to make this happen (may it never be!) but when I am tempted I want to turn that into a way to bring Him glory.  The fact that I am not who I was just amazes me.

Living with Deception

Mark 14:18-19
(18)  And as they were reclining at table and eating, Jesus said, "Truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me, one who is eating with me."
(19)  They began to be sorrowful and to say to him one after another, "Is it I?"

(18)  καὶ ἀνακειμένων αὐτῶν καὶ ἐσθιόντων ὁ Ἰησοῦς εἶπεν, Ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν ὅτι εἷς ἐξ ὑμῶν παραδώσει με, ὁ ἐσθίων μετ' ἐμοῦ. 

(19)  ἤρξαντο λυπεῖσθαι καὶ λέγειν αὐτῷ εἷς κατὰ εἷς, Μήτι ἐγώ;

This is one of those passages where I really try to put myself in the setting.  These twelve men had seen a lot and been through a lot with Jesus.  They had learned to expect the unexpected with Him as His teachings continually turned their worldviews around.  Remember, this is the same guy who touched lepers and spoke to a Samaritan woman.  

Their indignation at his statement comes through much more strongly in the Greek.  When they all say, Μήτι ἐγώ the word μητι indicates that they expect a negative response.  No one thinks that Jesus is referring to him.

Except for Judas Iscariot.  He knew the truth.  We know from a previous verse that he had already plotted with the Jews to betray Jesus.  I can only imagine how his heart must have been racing at Jesus' statement.  He had to know that he was found out.  Then it was confirmed later with Jesus' symbolic dipping of the bread in the bowl.

There are a lot of things we can apply from this passage.  However, the one dear to my heart is unconfessed sin. Are you a professing believer with unconfessed sin in your life?  I'm specifically thinking of sexual sin like porn or homosexuality.  Is this something that you are trying to hide?  When it's talked about at church do you take the stance of Μήτι ἐγώ like Judas did here?  Does it eat away at your heart every time you have to put on the good church face to cover up this secret life of sin?  Do you look at your kids and realize that these naked people after whom you lust are other people's little princesses?  

I don't care if you talk to me, your pastor, or a trusted friend.  Talk to someone.  Have the humility to get help about this.  We have too many people saying Μήτι ἐγώ at church every week.  Please stop being one of them.

Standards of Beauty

Song of Solomon 1:15-16
(15) Behold, you are beautiful, my love; behold, you are beautiful; your eyes are doves.
(16) Behold, you are beautiful, my beloved, truly delightful. Our couch is green;

I thought I'd take a little break from Jeremiah to talk about this great book. There is a ton of controversy about the treatment of this book out in the blogosphere. Should it be preached? If so, how much should the pastor unpack the figurative language? What is appropriate for a congregation?

I don't really want to get into all that so much. I don't plan to discuss what the shoots of the garden represent, etc. In fact, I don't know if I'll write about this book every day as I go through it. However, this passage in chapter 1 is worth noting.

Earlier in the chapter the woman bemoaned the fact that her skin was dark because of the time she spent outside. Apparently the standard of beauty in that day was for women to be fair. On a side note, I'm sure that this woman would be mystified at the ubiquity of tanning beds in our culture.

In verses 15 and 16 Solomon reassures her that she is truly beautiful to him. Think about that for a minute. Is that the message you convey to your wife? Is your head on a swivel when you're at the mall or do you have eyes only for your wife? Are you able to resist the temptation of all that is on the internet partly because you are satisfied with your wife's beauty?

I acknowledge that we are 35 and that my wife takes good care of herself. However, that has not always been the case. Plus, going through 3 pregnancies changed her body significantly. Yet through it all I strove for her to be the gold standard of beauty.

Am I sometimes distracted? Of course. However, I am often reminded of just how fortunate I am to be married to my wife. She really is my standard of beauty and that is a work of God's grace in our lives.

Dangers of the Prostitute

Proverbs 23:22-28
(22) Listen to your father who gave you life, and do not despise your mother when she is old.
(23) Buy truth, and do not sell it; buy wisdom, instruction, and understanding.
(24) The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice; he who fathers a wise son will be glad in him.
(25) Let your father and mother be glad; let her who bore you rejoice.
(26) My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes observe my ways.
(27) For a prostitute is a deep pit; an adulteress is a narrow well.
(28) She lies in wait like a robber and increases the traitors among mankind.

This is a timely word for me. Lately I keep having these nightmares that I am dabbling in porn. I know that part of this comes from the times when I see more than I should online. I'm not as careful as I once was. I don't go looking for porn, but I don't need to read the Fox News story about how the two stars of "Peepshow" were hanging out by a pool in Vegas either.

Verse 28 really hit home with me today. Let's face it -- the many of the models today are effectively like the prostitute in these proverbs. She leads men astray. Some of these ladies have been at it for a long time. Obviously they like having the money that comes from the modeling. Maybe their intentions are not to lead more men astray. However, that is invariably what happens.

It is so easy to go down the wrong roads. I pray for a clearer vision of the cross and the freedom that He bought for me there. It's great that I don't have to give in to the flesh anymore no matter how strongly it cries out. I thank God for a renewed vigor in this fight.