Scripture Reading: Romans 6:1-6
"To be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually
minded is life and peace. Because THE CARNAL MIN D IS
ENMITY AGAINST GOD: for it is not subject to the law of
God, neither indeed can be. SO THE N THEY THAT ARE I N
T H E FLESH CANNOT PLEASE GOD" (Romans 8:6-8). So
many warnings throughout God's Word; so few who properly
heed them! Thebelieverhasbeensufficiently enabledto resist
the temptations of the worldly elements. His problem is that
he neglects to maintain his focus upon the Person of Jesus
Christ, thus lowering himself to the plane of the carnal
creature of whom the psalmist says, "[He] will not seek after
God: God is not in all his thoughts" (Psalms 10:4).
Rather, the believer should follow the example expressed
by David: "Search me, 0 God, and know my heart: try me,
and know my thoughts" (Psalms 139:23). "Knowing this, that
our old man is crucified with Him , that the body of sin might
be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin"
(Romans 6:6).
"Know ye not that the friendship of the world is ENMITY
WIT H GOD? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the
world is the enemy of God" (James 4:4). These are strong
words, but they deal with a strong issue! The great God and
our Saviour Jesus Christ performed a redemptive work the
magnitude of which is inconceivable to our meager capacity of
understanding. But the significance is made perfectly plain to
us through holy writ. "[Christ] His own self bare our sins in
His own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should
live unto righteousness...being made a curse for us" (I Peter
2:24, Galatians 3:13).
Hope is built upon faith. Faith is that by which we know God exists, that we are Elect, and that we are loved by Him. Faith is also that by which we walk, live righteously, and are sanctified. By faith we are justified before ourselves. But faith also is the substance (hupostasis) of things hoped for (Heb. 11:1). Hope is much more than the modern definition and usage of the word (a wish or desire). Scriptures call Hope the anchor of the soul (Heb 6:18 That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we [that is, the author and Hebrew audience of the epistle] might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us: 19 Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil;). Paul says we are saved by Hope (Ro. 8:24). He also prays that we may given the spirit of the truly revealed wisdom in the detailed knowledge (epiginosko) of him, that the eyes of our understan
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