Paul defines “hope” in Romans 8 as waiting eagerly and patiently for our adoption as children of God and the redemption of our bodies, verses 23-25. One day, we’ll be free of this ridiculous, insane, frustrating world forever. And it was in this hope we were saved; it lifted us out of the empty, [...]
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Following on from the last blog (“An obvious proof the Spirit is at work in us”), the “obvious proof” is the hope that the Spirit gives us, a hope that enables us to “wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies,” Romans 8:23.
But what does that mean, [...]
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How important is the Spirit in a human life? In Romans 8 it is hugely important, for seven reasons:
1) The Spirit sets us free from sin and death (verse 2)
2) “Live according to the Spirit” and we can fully meet the righteous requirements of God’s law (verse 4), “put to [...]
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To a realist, Barack Obama’s “Yes, we can!” is drowned out by the clear lesson of human history, that no matter how well-meaning or how well-intentioned we are, the world never gets better. Human nature still hasn’t evolved to a higher plane; instead, it just keeps on being human nature, the same old [...]
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What frustrated Paul so much was not being able to do what he so desperately wanted to do – and isn’t that the problem that frustrates all of us? In our inner beings, we’d love to do good and make our world a better place. Barack Obama’s stirring call “Yes, we can!” struck [...]
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It is a firm atheist belief that humans are perfectly capable of being good without God, and Humanist societies in several countries want it spelled out on buses and in subways, too – either as a question, “Can you be good without God?” or as an outright statement of fact, “You can be [...]
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Paul boils all human life down to one simple statement: “For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live,” Romans 8:13. And how do we know if we’re living according to our sinful [...]
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Some non-Christians seem a lot more Christian than Christians. They’re nicer, kinder, happier, more giving, more sociable, more involved in the community, more even-tempered, more disciplined, better adjusted and more normal. It’s a bit discouraging when you’re a Christian bumping into people like that, because if non-Christians can be such good people, why [...]
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“Please close the door behind you.” What a final statement that is. The interview’s over. There’s no more to be said. You walk to the door, open it, walk through and close it behind you with a click, leaving behind whatever happened inside the room forever. But it’s the closing of the door [...]
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The monster within us, this sinful nature we’ve got that has us completely captive to “sin and death,” was in for a shock when God sent Jesus. Up to that moment, it had complete freedom to do whatever it wanted with us, because anything we threw at it was useless. Our determination to [...]
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