Category: Devotional

Niceness Is Not Enough

Posted onAuthorRyan Higginbottom

Preaching about evangelism makes most people uncomfortable. Not everyone is a gifted evangelist, though some high school and college ministry activities may overlook this fact.

The alternative I’ve most often heard to an overemphasis on extroverted, street-corner gospel sharing concerns “friendship” or “relationship” evangelism. The idea is that your closest relationships naturally give you an opportunity to talk about matters of great importance. Like the apostle Philip, we can invite our friends to consider the claims of Jesus. “Come and see.”

This is (more or less) how I came to faith during my first year of college. A friend invited me to tag along first to church and then to a conference. Then, boom—that was the first time the gospel lightbulb lit up my heart.

Witnessing for non-professionals

Much “witnessing” advice related to friendship evangelism is inspired, so far as I can gather, from 1 Peter 3:15.

but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,

The plea goes something like this. Live your life in such a way that people will wonder what’s different about you. They’ll ask, and you’ll have the chance to share the gospel or invite them to church.

There’s a phrase in this advice, however, that is often underexplained: “in such a way.” What exactly about my life will make someone ask me about it?

Will they know us by our niceness?

I fear many people process this exhortation as: be nice. If we’re extra nice to our neighbors and unbelieving family members, maybe they’ll wonder why we’re so nice. Surely niceness like this must have a supernatural origin!

The problem with this thinking is that tons of non-Christians are really nice! Like, way, way nicer than I am.

I’m not against niceness. Kindness, after all, is a fruit of the Holy Spirit. However, I don’t personally know anyone who has been drawn to the Lord by the niceness of others. Niceness isn’t inherently Christian, and niceness doesn’t necessarily point beyond oneself.

What behavior distinguishes Christians as Christians? Jesus said that people will know we are his disciples if we love one another (John 13:35). There’s one uncontroversial answer.

Here are two others.

What do we do with sin?

As a person walking around, living in the world, sin is unavoidable. We sin against others, and others sin against us. How we think about sin, and how we react to sinful offenses, really matters.

How do we handle the sin of others against us? What do we do when we sin against a friend? When we are confronted with our own moral failings, how do we react?

The Bible has specific answers to these questions, but there’s a good chance following the Bible’s instructions will strike others as strange. If you own your sin and seek forgiveness from those you harm, you will likely be initiating uncommon conversations.

Non-Christians handle sin in plenty of ways, but it often amounts to burial. If we pretend it didn’t happen, we can move on. But unforgiven sin is like mold growing behind the shower walls. You might not notice it right away, but it’s doing damage. We may eventually need to tear down the walls.

What do we do with Jesus?

Because Christians have been forgiven of their sins, they rejoice in their Savior. A real Christian cannot be neutral about Jesus.

Do our actions and words shine a spotlight on Jesus? Could we say, with saints through the ages, that the last thing we’d give up is our friendship with Jesus?

Sooner or later, a skeptic or curious outsider to Christianity must confront the claims of Jesus. And, as C.S. Lewis famously wrote, Jesus doesn’t allow someone to shrug and claim that he is only a good teacher. He made head-turning claims, and we must reckon with their veracity.

Getting close

Being nice to our neighbors is, in one sense, easy. We can deliver cookies and casseroles, we can loan cars and water plants, we can run errands and shovel driveways, all from a safe distance. Getting close is the hard part.

For a friend to see how I handle my sin (and theirs), we need to be in each other’s lives enough to sin against each other. If my neighbor is going to observe how I think and speak about Jesus, we probably need to share more than a five minute conversation about the lawn.

This is uncomfortable for me, and maybe for you too. But if you’re feeling weak and unable, God is happy to use that weakness to bring himself glory (2 Cor 12:9-10). He’s been there, too—getting close to sinners and dealing with their sin is one of the things he does best. He can help.

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No Longer on Repeat

Posted onAuthorRyan Higginbottom

The task isn’t really that hard, and it probably takes at most 30 minutes. But in my mind—ahead of time—it stretches on for multiple, grueling hours.

No one likes cleaning their bathroom—I get that. For me, part of my avoidance of this chore is that the bathroom just doesn’t stay clean. No matter how good a job I do, the shower, sink, and toilet will all need to be cleaned again. My work feels ineffective when I know I’ll need to pick up that same scrub brush again next week.

Early Christians who received the epistle to the Hebrews were tempted to turn from Christ back to their familiar Jewish practices. The author of this letter pleads with them to stay; most of the argument is how much better Jesus is than what had come before.

One part of that argument concerns Jesus’s sacrifice of himself. This work was so great that it only had to be done once. That was new.

Once for All

By the time we reach Hebrews 9, we’re deep into the author’s argument about the superiority of Christ. In the passage below, we read reasons why Christ entered heaven.

For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. (Hebrews 9:24–26)

Unlike the high priest, who entered the earthly holy place every year (on the Day of Atonement), Christ entered heaven “once for all.” He did this “to put away sin” (Heb 9:26). (In other places near this passage, his purpose is stated as “bear[ing] the sins of many” and “deal[ing] with sin.”)

We don’t have a good category for this in modern life—not in the same way that first century Jewish people did. Picture some regular ritual, set to repeat for the rest of your conscious life. And then, a man comes along and completes that ritual in such a way that it never would need to be performed again. Ever!

On a much grander, more significant scale, it’s like someone scrubbing the shower so thoroughly and excellently that it never would need scrubbing again.

Let’s pause and glory in the implications. The fact that Christ’s sacrifice only needed to happen once shows us (among other things):

  • how holy and pure he was;
  • how steadfast he was in the face of suffering;
  • how faithful he was to his father;
  • how righteously he completed his mission;
  • how acceptable was his sacrifice;
  • how complete is the Father’s forgiveness;
  • how thorough is our cleansing;
  • how secure is our adoption as children of the Father; and
  • how perfect and deep and eternal is the Father’s love for us.

This phrase “once for all” is only three words, but it is no small phrase!

A Second Time

Jesus’s sacrifice only needed to happen once, but he will appear again.

And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him. (Hebrews 9:27-28)

Jesus no longer needs to deal with sin, but he will return to save his people.

I love the emphasis in this passage. It is just as certain that Christ will appear a second time as it is that man dies once and then faces judgment.

Until Then

The work of Christ was definitive and effective. It never needs to be repeated. That once-for-all work set a people apart that will be saved when Jesus appears a second time.

The task for those who follow Christ in the mean time is to wait eagerly for him (Heb 9:28). Waiting is difficult; by definition it means enduring a delay—persevering for a time, submitting to God’s superior wisdom and care for us.

But our waiting is not the flinching of those bracing for punishment. It isn’t the sour-stomach dread of those wondering how bad the news will be. Our waiting is to be eager.

If we understand what Jesus’s work for us accomplished and the eternal implications, we would wait differently: as those leaning forward, pressing our noses against the pane glass windows, hearts thrumming with the anticipation of our favorite person in the world turning into our driveway.

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Those Who Hope Are Transformed

Posted onAuthorRyan Higginbottom

Most Christians I know have felt stuck in their walk with God at one point or another. For some this lasts a month or two, but for others it can drag on for years. Why is this?

For those who have the Holy Spirit and regularly seek the Lord, it seems like growth should come more easily. Trees don’t always produce fruit as quickly as we’d like, but with the right soil and care, they do produce fruit.

It’s probably rare that a stalled spiritual life is the result of a single cause. And different people are different! But the Bible does help us ask some relevant questions.

Confidence Now

The apostle John wrote his first letter to explain how believers might have assurance of eternal life (1 John 5:13). In the middle of the letter, he discusses how to have confidence both now and when Christ returns.

One of the reasons believers can have confidence in their salvation now is objective: God has loved us and called us his children.

See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God’s children now (1 John 3:1-2)

John points to the facts of the gospel and the words of Jesus for this evidence. What he has written in his Gospel account is more than enough to justify these claims. The “kind of love” the Father has given stretches from a cosmic scale (”In the beginning was the Word…”) to the washing of feet, from welcoming notorious rebels to dying at the insistence of religious leaders. It’s the kind of love that cannot remain in the grave—the stone must roll away.

John also teaches that godly actions come from godly people: “If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him” (1 John 2:29). “Practicing righteousness” cannot mean mere external conformity to some list of rules, as true righteousness involves desires, motives, and worship.

Confidence Later

John wants his hearers to have confidence in their salvation when Christ appears, not only in the present time.

John confesses he does not know exactly what we will be like when Christ appears, but what he can say for sure is lovely: “when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2).

Make sure you grab onto this promise with both hands. We shall be like him. These bodies and minds of ours that are shot through with sin and shame will be transformed. The curse—which has invaded our every cell—will be no more. God is holy and glorious, and we shall share in that holiness and glory!

I’ve written a lot in the last few years about hope. My shorthand definition of biblical hope is that hope is the joyful expectation that God will keep his promises.

John does not beat around the bush—he writes to give hope: “And everyone who thus hopes…” (1 John 3:3). When John describes the promise of God to be fulfilled when Christ returns, he’s calling us to hope! Believe this promise, picture it being fulfilled, reflect on just how wonderful that fulfillment will be.

Hope is powerful, and it has natural consequences. “And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure” (1 John 3:3). Those who hope in this way will purify themselves. Note that this requires and assumes that we understand how God is pure and how we aim for that purity.

Another word John uses for purification is abiding in Christ. And he counsels that abiding in Christ—or purifying ourselves because of our great hope—gives us confidence when he returns.

And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming. (1 John 2:28)

As we grow in godliness, we grow in our future confidence before Christ. By the power of the Spirit, and because we are forgiven, we will increasingly say no to sin. We will not shrink back from him in shame.

Look to His Promises

If you feel stuck in your walk with God, if you feel you’ve reached a plateau or are even losing your footing, the apostle John has a word for you. Lean into hope.

It may be that you’re not growing because you’re not hoping. The Bible doesn’t call us to focus on the future to the exclusion of the present, but our hope is clearly forward-looking.

Have you meditated on the future? Have you let your sanctified imagination loose on the idea of new bodies, a new earth, and new heavens? Have you pondered what it will be like to see God as he is? To be like him?

These are not idle daydreams; this is not a frivolous thought experiment. If you want to grow in purity, in your God-likeness, hope like this might be just what you need.

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How to Enjoy Your (Vain) Life

Posted onAuthorRyan Higginbottom

When Christians think of Ecclesiastes, they probably think of vanity. If it’s been a while since they read or studied the book, they might only remember that famous line: “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.”

And yet, even though “all is vanity,” not all of Ecclesiastes is about vanity!

A surprising thread runs through this gem of ancient wisdom literature. The Preacher wants his hearers to sober-mindedly face life and to enjoy themselves in the process.

There are a small number of passages in Ecclesiastes in which the Preacher explicitly discusses joy or enjoyment. I’ll be drawing from those passages for this post and connecting them to some of the larger themes of the book.

Our Days Are Few

Death is coming, and it may come much quicker than we’d like. This is one of the drums Ecclesiastes bangs repeatedly; it is also a key to enjoying life.

Behold, what I have seen to be good and fitting is to eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the toil with which one toils under the sun the few days of his life that God has given him, for this is his lot. (Ecclesiastes 5:18)

In the context of another passage about enjoying life, the Preacher also says, “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might, for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to which you are going” (Eccl 9:10).

Ecclesiastes puts our life in context, and one foundational context is that life is finite. We may act as though life will extend forever—that’s often easier than confronting our mortality, after all—but pretending does not conjure reality. This life ends, no exceptions.

It may seem counterintuitive, but accepting this truth makes life easier to enjoy. We cannot enjoy this life after we die; therefore, we should enjoy life now. Let’s push it a bit further: if, drawing on a monastic impulse, we refuse to enjoy what God gives us in this life, we do not honor our God who loves to give.

Receive God’s Gifts

In his book Living Life Backward, David Gibson presents one of the early contrasts in Ecclesiastes as gain versus gift. Will we take good parts of our human lives (work, wisdom, pleasure) and use them for our gain, or will we receive and enjoy them as gifts?

Recognizing the good things in our lives as gifts, the Preacher would contend, is crucial to our joy.

There is nothing better for a person than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his toil. This also, I saw, is from the hand of God, for apart from him who can eat or who can have enjoyment? (Ecclesiastes 2:24-25)
I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live; also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil—this is God’s gift to man. (Ecclesiastes 3:12-13)
Behold, what I have seen to be good and fitting is to eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the toil with which one toils under the sun the few days of his life that God has given him, for this is his lot. Everyone also to whom God has given wealth and possessions and power to enjoy them, and to accept his lot and rejoice in his toil—this is the gift of God. (Ecclesiastes 5:18-19)

We honor God most when we enjoy his gifts as gifts—when we don’t try to make them into anything more. They are not meant to increase our status, they do not determine our identity, they are not a way for us to earn favor with God or others.

We are on the path to enjoying life when we recognize God as the good giver he is, developing the habit of receiving what God places in our empty, outstretched hands. The Preacher mentions food, drink, work, wisdom, knowledge, wealth, possessions, and marriage in the context of gifts of God we should enjoy. God does not give all of these gifts at all times to all people; yet when he gives, we can rejoice.

God Must Give the Joy

One of the most sobering passages in Ecclesiastes comes at the beginning of chapter 6.

There is an evil that I have seen under the sun, and it lies heavy on mankind: a man to whom God gives wealth, possessions, and honor, so that he lacks nothing of all that he desires, yet God does not give him power to enjoy them, but a stranger enjoys them. This is vanity; it is a grievous evil. (Ecclesiastes 6:1-2)

The Preacher writes this directly after noting how good it is when God gives power to enjoy his gifts (Eccl 5:19). So, let’s make this crystal clear: not all who have God’s gifts will enjoy them!

Common sense may dictate that joy rises and falls in proportion to our possessions, health, or other tangible markers of vitality. But that’s not the way God’s world actually works. God gives some great wealth and no joy while he gives others meager belongings and exceeding happiness. This is part of the upside down nature of the kingdom of God.

God Approves

The Preacher pulls few punches in Ecclesiastes. He writes about oppression, futility, and death. A lot.

Yet this honest assessment of the fallen creation, far from being a barrier to joy, is a prerequisite for joy. There is no hero’s journey we must undertake. Rather, we only need to see ourselves as finite and created, receive good gifts from our creator, and use those gifts in the way they are intended.

God gives to those who please him (Eccl 2:26); for those whose work he has approved, he tells them to eat with joy and drink with a merry heart (Eccl 9:7). The honest reader of Ecclesiastes must ask: How can I please God?

The looking-ahead answer that Ecclesiastes gives is to “fear God and keep his commandments” (Eccl 12:13). In its massive scope, and in the face of human sin, this points ahead to Jesus, the one who perfectly feared God and kept all of his commandments.

We may not think of Jesus as the most joyful human ever, but he was—and is. Joy is a fruit of the Holy Spirit, so those who walk by the Spirit will grow in joy. And instruction for growth in this joy is found in part, of all places, in Ecclesiastes.

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Ecclesiastes As Invitation

Posted onAuthorRyan Higginbottom

The book of Ecclesiastes occupies a unique place in the Bible. It is the only book of philosophy, it is the book that speaks most relentlessly about death, and it is the only book supplying the lyrics to a #1 Billboard song in 1965.

Ecclesiastes is also brutally honest about life in a fallen world. It is so honest, in fact, that some Christians find its assertions and conclusions difficult to stomach.

But we will make no apologies. The Preacher of Ecclesiastes takes a clear-eyed look at the world around him and reports his often-devastating findings. If we listen closely, these observations ring in harmony with the frustrations we hear from our neighbors, our coworkers, and our own hearts.

All is Vanity

My neighbors don’t usually use language like “vanity” or “meaningless,” but I catch the sentiment in some of their complaints.

What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun?
The sun rises, and the sun goes down, and hastens to the place where it rises.
All streams run to the sea, but the sea is not full; to the place where the streams flow, there they flow again.
What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun. (Ecclesiastes 1:3, 5, 7, 9)

Perhaps you’ve heard (and thought) it too! I’m stuck, making no progress in my life. I hate doing all of these tasks over and over and over—it seems like I’m never done. I thought we were making progress as a society, but I see the same old things come up year after year.

Ecclesiastes opens with a discussion of the absurdity that gives the book its distinct flavor. Specifically, the first eleven verses of the first chapter provide the book’s most extensive explanation of the word translated “vanity” or “meaningless.” I’d wager that if you haven’t expressed some version of these thoughts, you probably haven’t been honest about your experience of life.

Return to the Dust

While we don’t often talk about death in casual conversation, everyone knows it’s coming.

I said in my heart with regard to the children of man that God is testing them that they may see that they themselves are but beasts. For what happens to the children of man and what happens to the beasts is the same; as one dies, so dies the other. They all have the same breath, and man has no advantage over the beasts, for all is vanity. All go to one place. All are from the dust, and to dust all return. (Ecclesiastes 3:18–20)

Given the right setting and a close degree of friendship, we don’t need to scratch too deeply to broach this topic. Almost everyone has had a relative, friend, or pet die. Our lives are inescapably finite, and the Preacher of Ecclesiastes points this out in ways we might resent.

How steep was the fall of humanity into sin? The Preacher says: it was THIS steep—man has no advantage over the beasts. The Fall was devastating, with infinitely many consequences, and the Preacher insists we not look away.

Injustice

Whether in national headlines or in booths at local diners, injustice is a hot topic.

There is a vanity that takes place on earth, that there are righteous people to whom it happens according to the deeds of the wicked, and there are wicked people to whom it happens according to the deeds of the righteous. I said that this also is vanity. (Ecclesiastes 8:14)

Why do the wicked prosper? Why aren’t good people rewarded? If we’re looking honestly at the world, we need to grapple with these questions and be ready to discuss them with our curious friends, because they surely are thinking (if not talking) about them.

An Invitation to the Bible

Our friends who have little familiarity with the Bible may be surprised to hear that these frustrations are voiced in the Bible. No, it’s not just “a list of rules” or “moral stories.”

Those same friends need to hear that the Scriptures also address those same frustrations. And, when possible, these friends need to hear it from us!

God knows the dissatisfaction and discouragement you feel. It’s in the Bible! Wouldn’t you like to hear the remedy the Bible prescribes?

Many people view Ecclesiastes as a confusing, downer of a book. But if we listen closely to both the Preacher and our neighbors, we might find instead that it is a great start to deeper, spiritually-significant conversations.

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How Loss Informs Life

Posted onAuthorMeghan Watt

“I work, I want to do something, and I’ve forgotten that everything will end, that there is—death.”

Between my sporadic Sunday School attendance this summer and my wrist falling numb under the weight of my nightly reading, I’m not sure which book I’m in lately: Anna Karenina or Ecclesiastes. If you’ve never had the pleasure of reading Leo Tolstoy’s works, I commend them to you. However, you need not go down the rabbit hole of Russian literature to understand the human experience expressed in the quote above.

Anna Karenina is not just a story about the societal expectations and scandals of 19th century Russia; it follows the results of the fall from Eden to now. The frustrations experienced are part socio-economic, part relational, part vocational. I’m through about two-thirds of the novel, where the frustrations are largely vocational—but not at the root. At the root the frustration is death.

Konstantin Levin is a protagonist in Tolstoy’s story, and the reader can find him relatable in his natural pragmatism and solution-oriented reasoning. His brother, Nikolai Dmitrich Levin, is quite the opposite: heavily philosophical and driven into a little bit of madness by speculation and addiction. Konstantin (Levin) owns a large estate and is in the farming business, while Nikolai has spent much of his time in the city as some loose version of the prodigal son. The two brothers spend a lot of their conversations missing one another like ships in the night. Where one is spinning his wheels seeking to understand the solution to inefficient farming and agricultural work, the other is burying himself in political movements and skepticism.

During one notable visit from his brother, Levin quickly realizes that Nikolai is dying. He shows up to Levin’s door quite sick, both understanding what neither one will admit. As he coughs deeply into the night in the other room, Levin has the soul-shaking epiphany that death will end it all. For everyone.

Death, the inevitable end of everything, presented itself to him for the first time with irresistible force. And this death, which here, in his beloved brother… was not at all as far off as it had once seemed to him before. It was in him, too—he felt it. If not now, then tomorrow, if not tomorrow, then in thirty years—did it make any difference? (pg. 348)

Ignorance is Bliss?

This painful reality should feel somewhat familiar to each of us. Whether it’s a sudden onset, or a slow realization, at some point we each turn a corner and see a glimpse of our fragility. Here Levin is trying, in vain, to circumvent the reality that faces him now, with raised eyebrows and a taunting grin.

You thought you might evade me, Death mocks.
To which Levin answers, I thought nothing of you at all.

I remember reading a verse in Ecclesiastes shortly after confessing Christ in college: “It is better to go to the house of mourning than the house of feasting…” It struck me so oddly as a twenty-something who loved a good gathering of laughter. I remember wondering if the author was being contrary for dramatic effect or had intended his proverb to be read with a hint of sarcasm. Choosing a funeral over a party? I had no category for that. Wasn’t death the enemy? I hadn’t yet watched suffering, I didn’t have friends who miscarried, and I wasn’t familiar with faces that had seen war. I, in Levin’s company, hadn’t given death much thought at all.

About seven years later, kneeling beside my father’s hospital bed, I finally realized that life was delicate, and I read Ecclesiastes in a new light. There was something validating and freeing in the Preacher’s words. Like Levin, I caught sight of something greater that would swallow me up without a Savior. And like Levin, I faced loss, and with loss, I faced life. What did it mean to live if this is what it was to die? Even the best memories fade like a lingering breath and we must face the fact that our hard work and legacies will one day buckle underneath the weight of an ending. Similarly to you, perhaps, I realized that every day begged the question, then what for?

The Only Ground is Gospel

The rest of Ecclesiastes 7:2 reads, “for this is the end of all mankind, and the living will lay it to heart.” This is instructive for our smiles and for our sorrows, no matter our age. The end of all mankind is the house of mourning, and death is no respecter of persons. Neither the Preacher, nor Tolstoy, gives us anywhere else to land. And therein lies the great hope of Christ. There is another side and its name is Eternity. The low blows and deep pains of this life are overshadowed by the Son that never sets. Because of the gospel, we have an endless peace that doesn’t delude itself into thinking there is meaning to be found here outside of Christ. He saw the great vanity of mankind for what it truly was—the senseless suffering that it actually is—and instead of avoiding the gaze of death, he entered into it. He overthrew it. He conquered the absurdity of this meaningless mess.

And still, he calls it good that we might enter the house of mourning. The God of Scripture compels us to stare down our fragility without wincing. We must see the suffering to see the joy. We must look deeply into the eyes of hopeless toil if we’re ever to work for the glory of God. We must step over the threshold of the sick and dying if we’re ever to hold a newborn baby dearly. We must stand near the coffin if we’re ever to laugh well with our friends.

I’m fairly certain that Nikolai will die of the illness he carries. I’m not sure about the course of Levin’s life. I don’t know if the redeemable qualities of Tolstoy’s writings will trace the gospel call to the lost and dying. But one thing I know is that God has used, and will use, the frailty of our frame to remind us of his perfect strength. Deepening wrinkles, graying hairs, and weakening bones will all serve to remind us that this is not our true tent. Business lost, money made and spent, houses built and torn down all stand as a blare horn for our hardened and arrogant hearts. Come, be humbled at your humanness, and live. 

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10 Truths About the Holy Spirit from Romans 8

Posted onAuthorRyan Higginbottom

Romans 8 is a favorite chapter of the Bible among Christians, and for good reason. It is encouraging, memorable, and oh-so-quotable.

But because it is so beloved, it is easy to lose the main ideas of the chapter among the glorious promises. To be specific, what would you say Romans 8 is all about?

The Frequency of the Spirit

When we start to observe the text of Romans 8, one phrase jumps out. The Holy Spirit is all over this chapter!

A quick count reveals that the word “spirit” appears 22 times in Romans 8. This is the most that word appears in any chapter of the English Bible! (I made these counts and comparisons using the ESV.) This was unexpected for me, because I don’t often see people reach for this chapter to teach about the Holy Spirit.

Is the Holy Spirit the main subject of Romans 8? In my friend Peter’s post on Romans 8:28, he provided an outline of much of this chapter, so I won’t repeat it here. Even if the Spirit is not at the center of this chapter, he is indispensable to its main ideas.

What Can We Learn About the Spirit?

I thought it might be instructive to exercise our observation and interpretation muscles in a brief look at Romans 8. While focusing mostly on the occurrences of the word “Spirit” in this chapter, I’ll list some truths that are relatively straightforward from the text.

  1. The Spirit is the “Spirit of life.” In contrast to the “law of sin and death,” which condemns, the Spirit’s law sets us “free in Christ Jesus” (Rom 8:2).
  2. The Spirit is opposed to “the flesh.” Christians walk according to the Spirit, not the flesh. They live according to the Spirit and set their minds on the things of the Spirit instead of living according to or setting their minds on the things of the flesh. The flesh brings death, but the Spirit brings “life and peace” (Rom 8:4–6).
  3. Those with the Spirit belong to God. Those with the Spirit are “in the Spirit.” Without the Spirit of Christ you do not belong to God. Having the “Spirit of Christ” and having Christ in you appear to be the same thing (Rom 8:9–10).
  4. Those with the Spirit will rise from the dead. If you have the Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead, that same Spirit will give you the same result (Rom 8:11).
  5. We need the Spirit to “put to death the deeds of the body.” The parallel structure of Romans 8:13 also implies that putting deeds to death by the Spirit is what it means to live according to the Spirit.
  6. All who are led by God’s Spirit are God’s children (Rom 8:14). Part of what it means to have God’s Spirit (Rom 8:9) is to be led by God’s Spirit.
  7. The Spirit we have received is the “Spirit of adoption.” This Spirit is contrasted with a spirit of slavery which leads to fear; the Spirit of adoption produces affectionate cries (“Abba!”) to our Father (Rom 8:15).
  8. The Spirit testifies that we are God’s children. The Spirit “bears witness” along with our spirits that we are children of God. And as children, we are “heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ” (Rom 8:16–17).
  9. We have the first fruits of the Spirit. Having the Spirit in this way causes us to groan inwardly along with the creation, as we await our adoption as children of God (Rom 8:23).
  10. The Spirit intercedes for us. In our weakness, we don’t know how to pray as we should. But the Spirit helps us, praying with groans that are too deep for words. Because the Father knows the mind of the Spirit, he receives what is in our hearts (Rom 8:26–27).

Observation Leading to Understanding

Observation is necessary but not sufficient for understanding the Bible. It is a means, not an end. Observing the Bible is like gathering sticks for a fire: Without the wood, there’s nothing to burn; but the sticks themselves produce neither heat nor light.

But these observations and interpretations about the Holy Spirit help us toward the main point of Romans 8. We see how the Spirit marks and indwells God’s people, identifying them as his beloved children. This relationship with God produces suffering with our fellow heir (Jesus), but glory with him as well.

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The Grace of Thinking Soberly

Posted onAuthorClifford Lester

I recently attended the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in America, our church’s denomination. General Assembly—or GA for short—is the annual gathering of church leaders, elders, and representatives of the PCA, along with their families and guests. This year, there were over 2,400 Commissioners, the Teaching and Ruling Elders who handle the business of the PCA.

For the second year, I was privileged to attend GA as one of those Commissioners. There is a joy (some might call it a twisted joy!) in listening to the various reports, being a part of the discussions, hearing both sides of an argument, and operating within the polity and practice of the PCA. However, for a rookie like me, GA can feel overwhelming. The decorum that brings joy can also be challenging. The opinions in my head do not always come out in thoughtful, well-spoken ways. Simply put, it’s easy to feel like a small fish in a big sea.

Thinking Soberly

In Romans 12:3-8 Paul writes:

3 For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. 4 For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, 5 so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. 6 Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; 7 if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; 8 the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.

Paul’s primary concern is that everyone should not think of himself (or herself) more highly than he ought. This is for good reason, because we all struggle with pride in one way or another. We struggle with self-importance, self-sufficiency, self-promotion, and more. (I’ll note that all of those are about me and myself.)

Then Paul says that we need to “think with sober judgment” about ourselves. This includes the aforementioned caution of thinking too highly of ourselves. But, it also includes the opposite: thinking too lowly of ourselves. We may think we have nothing to offer God’s people or we struggle with anxiety about how our work within the church could fail. Maybe we compare ourselves to others, thinking we could never measure up to the standard they possess.

Paul reminds the Romans, and through Scripture he reminds us, that God has assigned us all a measure of faith and he has gifted us all in different ways and we should use those gifts! We are all part of the body and within that body, one man’s “eye” is as valuable as one woman’s “ear” and those are as valuable as my “big toe.” My gifting might seem insubstantial, but thinking soberly means understanding that, without my “big toe” the body would walk slower and be off-balance and unstable.

Back to GA

I enjoy GA and, at times, I feel like a sponge soaking everything up. But then I see some of the older, respected guys and feel inadequate. Perhaps the day will come, Lord willing, when I will know the Book of Church Order front to back and understand the church’s polity, but today is not that day!

But I’m on equal ground here, inexplicably. I was called and sent to serve and represent WPCA at General Assembly and I trust that I’m using my gifts for the building up of the body, both locally and denominationally. That provides motivation to serve well now and to strive to grow in order to better serve in the future. Because serving well means thinking soberly about who I am in Christ as I seek to serve the body for the glory of God.

Photo credit: Cliff Lester

Efficiency is Not the Path to Blessing

Posted onAuthorRyan Higginbottom

The sales pitch of much new technology boils down to increased efficiency. If we buy their sprockets, we’ll be able to do things faster, with less friction.

For some new technologies, this is a wonderful development. I try to remember to thank God every time I use our washing machine.

And yet, efficiency is only one measurement. Tech companies aim to convince us it’s the only measurement that matters, but we need to be wiser than that.

So much of a Christian’s life is not efficient, likely by God’s design. If we swallow the lie that efficiency is the goal, we’ll abandon or minimize many good and necessary parts of following Jesus.

Worship

It would be hard to describe the weekly Christian gathering as efficient. There’s time before the service—getting a bulletin, finding a seat, chatting—which isn’t explicitly worship. There are donuts and coffee afterward. An organizational design expert would gladly charge Christians a large sum to redesign our buildings and programs to increase their efficiency.

Private worship bears the same marks. Is prayer efficient? Is reading and studying the Bible an economic use of our time? Probably not. But, as Tim Challies recently pointed out, sanctification has no shortcuts.

But once again, what if the struggle is key to the purpose? What if prayer isn’t meant to be easy, and what if its difficulty accomplishes something meaningful inside of us? What if the process of correctly interpreting the Bible and faithfully applying it is a means God uses to form his people?

When God calls us to worship, he calls for our attention. He calls us to slow down and interact with him. This cannot be sped up or optimized.

Relationships

Building friendships takes time. Some interactions (like service projects and trips together) seem to speed this up, but I think that’s mostly a mirage. Close relationships and tight-knit communities develop over years, not days or weeks.

Serving others rarely happens in a snap. Listening to a friend, offering them counsel, and praying with them can’t be accomplished quickly. If we prioritize efficiency when caring for and loving others, we’ve got everything mixed up. One of the most valuable things we give when we serve others is our time, and this cannot be outsourced or played at 1.5 speed.

Character Formation

We cannot take a pill to be more joyful, and no LLM will be able to make us more gentle or kind. The fruit of the Spirit are called “fruit” at least in part because they grow—like fruit! That is to say, not quickly! Patience is one of these virtues, after all (Gal 5:22-23).

When the Bible speaks of character growth, one bit of fertilizer that is often mentioned is suffering (Rom 5:3–5). And though suffering helps to refine and change us, we’re also not told to seek it out. And, as anyone who has suffered can tell you, suffering is not accomplished quickly.

What’s the Highest Good?

I’m not against efficiency, and I’m certainly not against technology. I am concerned to see some Christians use efficiency and only efficiency as the criteria for whether to adopt a technology or to engage in a practice.

Further, our choices of technology are not neutral. As David I. Smith has written (in the context of AI document summaries), technology disciples us. We are trained and conditioned by the tools we use both to learn and to forget information and skills. Evaluating options based only on speed or output seems like jumping into an ocean of foolishness.

We serve a God who we must admit has not always been efficient. The life of Jesus itself bears this out. And, as those redeemed by God, we are called to much more than economic and productive uses of our time.

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Time Outside of Our Hands

Posted onAuthorRyan Higginbottom

Final exams have been marked and course grades submitted. Graduation has come and gone, along with the mad rush of landscaping, picture taking, and moving out of dorm rooms.

For me, I have a few more end-of-year reports to write until I will be firmly in Summer Time.

This is a nice thing about being a college professor—our schedules and duties are usually obvious. We know when to prepare syllabi and course material; we know when common exams and paper deadlines fall during the semester; we know when the end-of-term chaos begins and ends.

Many jobs have predictable rhythms like this. But if we zoom out a bit, knowing the times and seasons of our lives is not always so obvious.

A Season For Everything

Ecclesiastes 3 opens with the most well-known portion of this little-read book. The Byrds made Ecclesiastes 3:1–8 popular with their 1965 hit Turn, Turn, Turn. This song has tremendous cultural staying power in spite of lyrics which are mostly just Scripture.

But while the Byrds turned this passage into a peace song, this biblical poem does much more. Yes, there really is a time for everything (Eccl 3:1). The opposites that pepper these verses indicate that there is a time for each of those extremes as well as the whole range of options in between.

By the end of this passage, we’re left with two questions. Who controls these seasons? How do we know when our seasons are changing?

The Limits of Time

As the Preacher transitions from poetry to prose, he writes about how man interacts with God regarding time. Though the worker has no gain from his toil (Eccl 3:9, compare with 2:22) and the business God has given man is unpleasant (Eccl 3:10, compare with 1:13), everything is beautiful in its time (Eccl 3:11).

God has put eternity into man’s heart, so that he would be curious and long for the infinite (Eccl 3:11). Man wants to know like God knows and to understand like God understands. But man is not God and does not have the capacity for the same knowledge. This explains our questioning hearts—in seasons of suffering, grief, and confusion we desperately want to know why. We often demand the understanding that comes from knowing the whole and how all the parts interact.

We want what is not ours to have. We want what is God’s alone.

Though man does not know God’s times, there is pleasure to be had in his own time. There is nothing better for man than to be joyful and do good as long as they live. (Note that man’s finiteness is once again in view when the Preacher describes this good.) God’s gift to man is that he should take pleasure in all his toil on earth.

Outside of Time

Man has the limitation of time and death, but God experiences no such limits. (This makes the incarnation of Jesus that much more glorious and breathtaking.)

What God does endures forever (Eccl 3:14). This is in stark contrast to the works of man which will pass away, be forgotten, or both. God has designed this permanence to point to himself, that we might fear him (Eccl 3:14).

Time For Judgment

Not only is man limited in what he can understand and in the longevity and importance of his works, but he makes a terrible judge. Currently, there is wickedness in the places of justice and righteousness (Eccl 3:16).

The Preacher then points to a category absent from the poem which opened this chapter: there is a time for judgment. Notably, for some this will occur outside of the “times” which we can comprehend as part of our lives. God will judge the righteous and the wicked (Eccl 3:17).

If you’re tempted to feel smug as one of the “righteous” when reading that last sentence, here’s a preview of things to come in Ecclesiastes: “Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins” (Eccl 7:20). Without a Savior, we would warrant the judgment of the wicked after death.

Man’s time will end—with regard to longevity, man is no different than a beast—we all die and return to the dust of our origins (Eccl 3:18–21). The Preacher stresses that man has no advantage over the beasts in this regard.

However, this limitation can bring joy. In an echo of verses 12-13, there is nothing better than for a man to rejoice in his work. After all, he cannot know what comes after him (Eccl 3:22).

Joy in Our Time

Time is one of the defining features of our lives. We are beholden to our clocks, the hours of daylight, and the fluctuations of the weather throughout the year. For something so essential to our existence, we have so little control.

By the end of chapter 3, the questions suggested by the poem (verses 1–8) have clear answers. God controls the times, he is the one in charge of our seasons.

One of the themes running through Ecclesiastes is that joy is found in living within (rather than fighting against) our human limitations. While there is no ultimate gain for us from our toil, there is a joy to be found when we recognize food, drink, and everything else as a gift from God.

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