Romans 12: part 3

9 Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good. 10 Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another; 11 not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; 12 rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer; 13 distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality.
14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. 16 Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion.
17 Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. 18 If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. 19 Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,”^[a] says the Lord. 20 Therefore
“ If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
If he is thirsty, give him a drink;
For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.”^[b]
21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

It is an easy thing to quote ‘love your neighbor,’ but to really know what that means… that’s a completely different story.  This passage is really just a way to live, because Christians, in general, should live a life of love.  I wish I could participate in the life of God to the extent that this passage emulates.  God help me to let my love be without hypocrisy.

Romans 11

1 I say then, has God cast away His people? Certainly not! For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. 2 God has not cast away His people whom He foreknew. Or do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel, saying, 3 “LORD, they have killed Your prophets and torn down Your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life”?^[a] 4 But what does the divine response say to him? “I have reserved for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.”^[b] 5 Even so then, at this present time there is a remnant according to the election of grace. 6 And if by grace, then it is no longer of works; otherwise grace is no longer grace.^[c] But if it is of works, it is no longer grace; otherwise work is no longer work.
7 What then? Israel has not obtained what it seeks; but the elect have obtained it, and the rest were blinded. 8 Just as it is written:
“ God has given them a spirit of stupor,
Eyes that they should not see
And ears that they should not hear,
To this very day.”^[d]
9 And David says:
“ Let their table become a snare and a trap,
A stumbling block and a recompense to them.
10 Let their eyes be darkened, so that they do not see,
And bow down their back always.”^[e]

God’s grace saves the willing, not the unwilling: those who will receive grace by faith and obey God. Israel is not willing, for she seeks righteousness on her own terms: through the works of the law, not through the grace of Christ. She stubbornly and freely hardens herself in unrepentance. God does not cast the people away; they remove themselves. God has given them a spirit of stupor. – from the Orthodox Study Bible

11 I say then, have they stumbled that they should fall? Certainly not! But through their fall, to provoke them to jealousy, salvation has come to the Gentiles. 12 Now if their fall is riches for the world, and their failure riches for the Gentiles, how much more their fullness!
13 For I speak to you Gentiles; inasmuch as I am an apostle to the Gentiles, I magnify my ministry, 14 if by any means I may provoke to jealousy those who are my flesh and save some of them. 15 For if their being cast away is the reconciling of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?

Has Israel stumbled that it should fall permanently? Since the people have fallen away because of Christ, are they beyond salvation? No, for through Israel’s failure to believe, salvation has come to the Gentiles. Further, through the Gentiles’ faith, Israel’s opportunity for salvation is renewed. God’s presence among the Gentiles provokes the Jews to jealousy and anger that they might believe and experience the fullness of grace. As their being cast away is caused by their own unbelief, their return through faith would be so glorious, it would be as life from the dead, the final resurrection itself.

16 For if the firstfruit is holy, the lump is also holy; and if the root is holy, so are the branches. 17 And if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive tree, were grafted in among them, and with them became a partaker of the root and fatness of the olive tree, 18 do not boast against the branches. But if you do boast, remember that you do not support the root, but the root supports you.
19 You will say then, “Branches were broken off that I might be grafted in.” 20 Well said. Because of unbelief they were broken off, and you stand by faith. Do not be haughty, but fear. 21 For if God did not spare the natural branches, He may not spare you either. 22 Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness,^[f] if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise you also will be cut off. 23 And they also, if they do not continue in unbelief, will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again. 24 For if you were cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, who are natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree?
25 For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. 26 And so all Israel will be saved,^[g] as it is written:
“ The Deliverer will come out of Zion,
And He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob;
27 For this is My covenant with them,
When I take away their sins.”^[h]
28 Concerning the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but concerning the election they are beloved for the sake of the fathers. 29 For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. 30 For as you were once disobedient to God, yet have now obtained mercy through their disobedience, 31 even so these also have now been disobedient, that through the mercy shown you they also may obtain mercy. 32 For God has committed them all to disobedience, that He might have mercy on all.
33 Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!
34 “ For who has known the mind of the LORD?
Or who has become His counselor?”^[i]
35 “ Or who has first given to Him
And it shall be repaid to him?”^[j]
36 For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen.

Verse 22 is very scary, but very good motivation to continue in the grace of God.  I need to continue in repentance every day to continue living off the root of the olive tree.  God’s holiness makes me holy because he has grafted me into his family. It’s wonderful to know that even if a branch is cut off, God is able to graft it back in again.  By the way… old olive tree = Jews, branches grafted in = Gentiles, new cultivated tree = Church.

Romans 8: part 1

1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus,^[a] who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. 3 For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, 4 that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. 6 For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. 7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. 8 So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

Two ways of human existence are expounded. The “mind” here is far more than intellectual capacity. It is the highest knowing faculty of the soul (Gr. nous), the spirit behind all we think and do. To repent means to have ‘a change of mind” – not a change of intelligence, but a change of heart. To be carnally minded ( lit. “to have the mind of the flesh”) means to choose to have one’s whole existence, soul and body, captivated by sin. This is a turning against God and His righteousness, an enmity with God rather than peace with Him. The carnally minded cannot be subject to or please God.  “A bad tree [cannot] bear good fruit” (Matt. 7:18), but it can choose to become a good tree through repentance. To be spiritually minded (lit. “to have the mind of the Spirit”) means to choose to be liberated by the Holy Spirit, so that one’s whole nature becomes spiritual, body and soul. Christians are free to set their minds on the Holy Spirit, allowing Him to have His way (His things) and actively pursuing virtue and goodness.

When fire penetrates iron, the iron becomes fiery hot without ceasing to be iron. So our human nature, body and soul, in its union with Christ becomes like God without ceasing to be human; it is interpenetrated by the energy and grace of the Holy Spirit.  We become spiritual. Self-indulgence and sinful pleasure are scorned, and all the pains and sufferings of the Christian life may be endured with joy.

9 But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. 10 And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.

The gift of new life is not magical, but requires the cooperation of the believe in obedience to God. For we are His children (v. 14), as He leads us by the power of the Spirit. Therefore, the body becomes the follower, not the leader. We personally choose the way of the Spirit and deliberately put to death sinful deeds.

Romans 7

1 Or do you not know, brethren (for I speak to those who know the law), that the law has dominion over a man as long as he lives? 2 For the woman who has a husband is bound by the law to her husband as long as he lives. But if the husband dies, she is released from the law of her husband. 3 So then if, while her husband lives, she marries another man, she will be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from that law, so that she is no adulteress, though she has married another man. 4 Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another—to Him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God. 5 For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were aroused by the law were at work in our members to bear fruit to death. 6 But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter. 7 What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, “You shall not covet.”^[a] 8 But sin, taking opportunity by the commandment, produced in me all manner of evil desire. For apart from the law sin was dead. 9 I was alive once without the law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died. 10 And the commandment, which was to bring life, I found to bring death. 11 For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me, and by it killed me. 12 Therefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good.

If we were held knowledgeably under sin by the law, then by the fulfillment of the law and the Incarnation, death, and resurrection of Christ, we are freed from it.  So that we may participate in the life of God.

13 Has then what is good become death to me? Certainly not! But sin, that it might appear sin, was producing death in me through what is good, so that sin through the commandment might become exceedingly sinful. 14 For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin. 15 For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. 16 If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good. 17 But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. 18 For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. 19 For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. 20 Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.
21 I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. 22 For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. 23 But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. 24 O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 25 I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!
So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.

This passage I think is often quoted with confusion, probably because of the play on words that St. Paul uses and its translation into English.  I also find that verse 18 is commonly used to support the belief that there’s nothing good inside a person, however, that’s complete nonsense.  The passage is depicting a contradiction within the person to will good and to do good or evil.  The task is on our part to strengthen our will so that we may overcome our fleshly desires and act on our will, which is what God wants. This is really just a summary of the Christian life.  We constantly battle against ourselves and our passions to become more Godly and participate in the life of God, the life of the Church, etc.  Indeed, we need to thank God for his grace and mercy in helping us along this path.

By the way, the word mind, in the greek, I just looked up and it’s the word Nous.

Holy Baptism

What is Baptism? Simply put, baptism is our death, burial, and resurrection in union with Jesus Christ.  It is a rite of passage, given by Christ to the Church, as an entrance into the Kingdom of God and eternal life.

The Apostle Paul describes the promise of God in this “mystery,” as most Orthodox call it, most succinctly when he writes, “Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we should walk in newness of life” (Rom. 6:4). To baptize (Gr. baptizo) literally means to immerse, to put into. Historically, the Orthodox Church has baptized by triple immersion, “in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit” (Matt 28:19).

In the Old Testament, baptism was pictured by the passage of God’s people with Moses through the Red Sea (1 Cor. 10: 1, 2). John the Baptist, the last prophet of the Old Covenant, baptized in water unto repentance (Mark 1:4; Acts 19:4).  John’s baptism was received by Jesus, who thereby transformed the water and baptism itself. In the New Covenant, baptism is the means by which we enter the Kingdom of God (John 3:5), are joined to Christ (Rom. 6:3), and are granted the remission of our sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38).

What Results from Baptism? From the start, the Church has understood baptism as:

(1) A first and second dying. Our first dying with Christ in baptism was our death with Him on the Cross.  In the fourth century, Cyril of Jerusalem instructed his new converts: “You were led by the hand to the holy pool of divine baptism… and each of you was asked if he believe in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. And you made that saving confession, you descended into the water and came up again three times. In the very same moment you died and were born.”

The second death of baptism is continual – dying to sin daily as we walk in newness of life. St. Paul writes to the Colossians concerning baptism (Col. 2:12) and concludes by saying, “Therefore put to death your members which are upon the earth: fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry” (Col. 3:5).

(2) The resurrection of righteousness. This is our life in Christ, our new birth and entrance into God’s Kingdom (John 3:3), our “newness of life” (Rom. 6:4). It is our being joined to Christ in His glorified humanity and indwelt by God Himself (John 14:23). Our relationship with God is not something static, a legal fiction given to us by a divine Judge. Rather this is a dynamic and real life in Christ, holding the promise of everlasting life. Our resurrection to new life now forms a prelude to the resurrection of our body at Christ’s Second Coming.

(3) An intimate and continual communion with God. We are raised to new life for a purpose: union and communion with God. In this sense baptism is the beginning of eternal life. For this reason, Peter writes that baptism now saves us (1 Pet. 3:21) – it is not the mere removal of dirt from our bodies, but it provides us with “a good conscience toward God.”

Because of these promises, the priest prays for the newly baptized, thanking God “who has given us, unworthy though we be, blessed purification through holy water, and divine sanctification through life-giving chrismation, and who now also has been pleased to bring new life to Your servant newly illuminated by water and the Spirit, and granted remission of sins – voluntary and involuntary.”

from the Orthodox Study Bible

Romans 5: part 2

12 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned— 13 (For until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. 14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come.

“For Adam, sin came first… and then death. For us, it is the opposite: death, mortality, we inherit from Adam, and sin follows after.”

15 But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man’s offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many. 16 And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned. For the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift which came from many offenses resulted in justification. 17 For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.)

“As immortality is not the opposite and equal of mortality but far outstrips it, so that grace of Christ far excels our inheritance from Adam. For by grace not only is Adam’s offense covered and our bondage to death overthrown, but the sins of the whole world are covered as well.  Justification through Christ far exceeds condemnation through Adam. As we all inherit Adam’s mortality, we all shall be raised to immortality.  But  the saving gift of Jesus Christ, though it is free, must be received through the life of faith.  Thus, some shall be raised to life, others to condemnation.”

18 Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. 19 For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous.
20 Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more, 21 so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

“Paul contrasts Adam’s disobedience with Christ’s obedience. Mnay were made sinners refers to mortality and subjection to the law of sin, not to an inherited guilt or an inevitability of sin. However, the first thing damaged in Adam’s nature was his will, and in the death and corruption we inherit our will is also weakened.

In Christ are two wills, human and divine; His human will is obedient to His divine will.  Through His obedience, His salvation brings healing to our will.  Therefore, many – that is, those who believe in Christ – are made righteous and able by grace to participate willfully by faith in God’s righteousness.”

I have not put my words to this topic mostly because I’m sure I would cause more confusion than clarity, and also because it’s a fairly touchy topic, especially considering my background with reformed theology.  I’m going to be posting another note in justification from an Orthodox perspective… a complete quotation from the Orthodox Study Bible in a little while.