GOD'S GREAT NEWS for MAN'S GREAT PROBLEM - Romans 1-8

Roy

I want to begin with a story about one of the smartest men I have ever known. He was a graduate student in Geology at Stanford, a clear-thinking Canadian by birth, and a confirmed atheist. He was a scientist, a zealous disciple of the philosophical naturalism which pervades the academy. He was living with his girlfriend, and the research he was undertaking would make him a world authority in one particular area of hydrology. He epitomized what the world conceives as the highest form of evolved humanity: young, good looking, extremely intelligent, ambitious, sexually liberated, feeling no need for God. His name was Roy.

But while Roy may have felt no need for God, God felt a need for Roy. God strategically placed Roy in a graduate laboratory with a strong Christian man who befriended Roy, listened to him, discussed life and philosophy with him, lifted weights and ran stadium stairs with him, and generally loved him in a thousand everyday ways. Roy was particularly drawn to the quality of marriage relationship this Christian man had with his wife. Ever so slightly, Roy started to become interested in this man's Christian faith.

This process resulted in Roy attending his first ever Christian service on Easter Sunday in 1992. He came to the Easter Sunrise Service at Stanford, an outdoor celebration of resurrection life. There he heard the gospel of God preached for the first time. Just the other day I found his response card filled out that morning, stating that he had attended the meeting and wanted some more information.

But these things take time. Another year went by, during which Roy's friendship with this Christian man deepened on all levels. They spoke much more frankly about each objection that inhibited Roy from becoming a Christian. By the Easter Sunrise Service in 1993, many of us were expecting Roy to become a Christian. But more time was needed, as his final questions were being resolved.

Finally, in the summer of 1993, on a Tuesday afternoon, Roy called me at my office and said he wanted to see me. He came into my office, and proceeded to ask me the golden question of questions: "How can I become a Christian?" This was the crucial moment, the day of salvation in Roy's life. Here is how I responded to his question.

I will share in these pages how I answered Roy's question. But the question for each of you is this: how would you have responded? What would you have reached for? Many of us would reach for a tract that we have on hand that encapsulates the gospel. Some of us would grab the little mustard colored book by Campus Crusade. Some of us would grab the phone and refer the question to a pastor. But my hope and prayer is that after this study, all of us would reach for the Bible, and share about the gospel of our Jesus Christ right from the pages of Scripture. There is no firmer ground.

Starting with the Definition of the Christian

So, let's return to Roy's question: "How can I become a Christian?" I turned to Roy and said, "Roy, if you want to become a Christian, we better start with the definition of what a Christian is." Roy agreed that this was the most logical way to begin. Then I said, "Let me give you a Biblical definition of what a Christian is, because there are so many misconceptions swirling around about who Christians are and what Christianity is. This is not my own definition, but the definition first expressed by the Apostle Paul in his magnum opus, the Epistle to the Romans. Here is Paul's definition of the Christian, found in Romans 8:9:"

"However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him."

"Thus, A CHRISTIAN IS ONE IN WHOM THE SPIRIT OF GOD LIVES, BY INVITATION. Paul is saying here that humanity basically fits into two categories from God's perspective: those who are "in the flesh," i.e. those who are human beings born of the flesh but not indwelled by God, and those "in the Spirit," i.e. those who are human beings born of the flesh but indwelled by the Spirit of God. The Spirit of God is thus the key to becoming and being a Christian. Without Him living within, a person cannot be a Christian. The indwelling Spirit is the necessary and sufficient condition of being a Christian.

"This means that the Christian has a rich spiritual life by the union of the Holy Spirit with their human spirit. Christianity becomes a marriage of oneness between the indwelling Holy Spirit and our spirit. This means the Christian is a Christian based on a profound relationship, a relationship of incredible intimacy where God is with us and in us every moment of every day, wherever we find ourselves: in bed, at our desk at work, standing in line at WalMart, eating a meal, even in the bathroom. This also means that being a Christian is a profoundly internal change of the human heart through this new spiritual oneness with the indwelling Holy Spirit, not just some set of religious rules you sign up to follow."

Roy was taken aback by this definition, but I can still remember that blazing fire in his blue eyes as he considered this for the first time. As I have subsequently found with every person with whom I share Christ in this way, he had never heard nor even imagined that this was the definition of a Christian. The elegance of this definition compelled him immediately.

It also started the conversation right where Roy was at the moment he stepped into my office. When a person is honestly considering what is means to become a Christian, he or she will already have a conception of what a Christian is. But because they are asking questions, they are clearly in search of a more complete answer. By starting with the definition of a Christian, we are starting from where the person is at that moment, addressing the immediate need the person has, and doing so with complete philosophical and personal integrity. Any honest and open dialogue starts with the process of defining the key terms.

The genius in sharing our faith this way is that it allows the Christian to make the Biblical definition of a Christian the starting point of the conversation. In one fell swoop, we have obliterated many of the basic objections a person has about becoming a Christian, simply because they have misunderstood what a Christian is. Because this definition is both so compelling and so radical, it allows the conversation to proceed down a Biblical path. It also helps us to clarify for ourselves exactly what a Christian is, so we can begin the conversation being clear in our own minds. This is far preferable to allowing the conversation to be determined by the questions, doubts and rabbit trails in the mind of the person seeking information. Not that those questions or concerns are invalid ... but it is better to frame the conversation with Biblical definitions and concepts.

Let's reflect further on the enormity of this definition, and why it is such a good starting point for communicating the gospel of God. What keeps most people from becoming a Christian in the first place is a general misconception of what a Christian is. Some fall into a trap of categorizing a Christian in sociological terms: a person is considered a Christian because he lives in a place or in a country considered historically "Christian," rather than a country considered historically "Muslim" or "Atheist" or "Animist." For example, this misconception gives birth to the false notion that "Of course I'm Christian ... I'm Texan," as I have heard some people say down in my ancestral home state. This defines someone as Christian purely on the basis of external, statistic analyses of large populations, not based on the state of the individual person's heart.

Another false definition of a Christian falls into the category of "I am Christian because I do Christian things." These "Christian things" might include going to church every Sunday, trying to follow the Golden Rule and the Ten Commandments, giving a tithe to a local church, teaching Sunday School, having a half-hour daily "quiet time" of Bible reading and prayer, etc. This gives birth to the false notion that I am defined by the "Christian" things I do. Again, the focus here is on externals, outward activities accomplished, rather than on the state of the person's heart. But Christianity is more about "being" than it is about "doing," at least at the point of the definition of a Christian. And if the definition is right, the "being" will lead to much fruitful "doing" over time.

The tragedy of this errant definition is that being a Christian is synthesized to an ethic only, a rule of behavior. But being a Christian is far more about a relationship than about a rule. It is not an ethic to follow, it is a life to live. It is not a set of rules to try to live up to, but a profound relationship to enter into. It is more like a marriage than a marriage certificate.

So, having considered some of the misconceptions arising from false definitions, let me recap: Paul tells us in Romans 8:9, "However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him." Thus, A CHRISTIAN IS A PERSON IN WHOM THE HOLY SPIRIT LIVES BY INVITATION.

Those last two words are crucial: BY INVITATION! The Spirit of God does not live in a person from birth. Every boy and girl baby since the days of Adam and Eve has not been born with the indwelling Spirit, but with indwelling sin. This is an iron rule, with only One notable exception. Sin has been the great problem of humanity since the dawn of time, and this problem has to be addressed with total honesty and integrity as the next step of sharing our faith.

Romans 1-3: Humanity's Great Problem: INDWELLING SIN

Romans 1:18-20; Romans 3:9-20; Romans 3:23

Once Roy's eyes were opened to consider what a true Christian is from Rom. 8:9, and I spoke of how the Spirit comes in by invitation only, I told Roy that we had to face some very bad news. Often we have to face the bad news before we are ready to hear the good news. This bad news can be condensed into one word: SIN. It is the chief subject introduced in Rom. 1:18-20:

"For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse."

It is summarized in Rom. 3:9-20:

"What then? Are we better than they? Not at all; for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin; as it is written, 'There is none righteous, not even one; there is none who understands, there is none who seeks for God; all have turned aside, together they have become useless; there is none who does good, there is not even one. Their throat is an open grave, with their tongues they keep deceiving, the poison of asps is under their lips; whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness; their feet are swift to shed blood, destruction and misery are in their paths, and the path of peace have they not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes. Now we know that whatever the Law says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, that every mouth may be closed, and all the world may become accountable to God; because by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified in His sight; for through the Law comes the knowledge of sin."

And it is synthesized in Rom. 3:23:

"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God ..."

As I took Roy through these passages, which converge to the synthesis of the universality of sin in Rom. 3:23, it seemed obvious to both Roy and me that we needed to have a clear definition of sin. Sin, I told him, is this: an all-pervasive sickness of the heart, characterized by an intense need to assert our own self-sufficiency; a plague of self-centeredness that infects every part of the body from head to toe and back again as we see in the physiological imagery of Rom. 3:9-20. Sin makes us say to God in a thousand ways: "I DON'T NEED YOU!" We can communicate this overtly when in open rebellion against Him, and we can utter it covertly and piously when we try to take control of our lives through legalism, rules or formulae when we are believers. Sin is a sickness unto death, a selfishness which is so common to us we are almost completely unable to identify it. It has been the scourge of humanity since it was introduced into the human river at the source by Adam in the garden.

Roy and I spoke further of the slick nature of sin. The most insidious aspect of sin is its banal commonality. It is so commonplace we have accepted it as normal. This is just "being human," after all. Consequently, the term "sin" has fallen out of vogue. Many would argue that there is no such thing as sin, just unfortunate choices made by inherently good people. But the twisting and infernal effects of sin on humanity are more clearly reported in the annals of the twentieth century than in any preceding century. Who would argue that humanity is without sin when standing in the shadow of the ovens at Auschwitz? Who would dare talk about "inherently good people" while reading about the Stalinist purges in the former Soviet Union? Who could foolishly deny sin and the existence of evil in the world when digging up the skulls in the killing fields of Cambodia? And who would argue about the insidious and crafty effect of sin on our own supposedly "civilized" nation that has shamelessly aborted over 30 million innocent babies over the past thirty years? In the gnawing chaos of the modern world, it floors me that people steadfastly refuse to admit the reality of indwelling sin.

But to those who are still trying to cling to the sinking ship of an "inherently good humanity," J. I. Packer offers a good definition of sin to make them pause as well. He has this to say about indwelling sin, or the depravity of man: "Not that in every point man is as bad as he could be, but that in every point man is not as good as he should be." Who would disagree with this postulation?

It is most essential that any person seeking to become a Christian be confronted with the stark reality of sin first. If we do not have an understanding of the terribly bad news of sin, then the great news of salvation falls flat. Without stepping into the darkness and feeling its cold and clammy grasp, the rising sun will seem to carry only cold comfort. Without understanding the magnitude of the problem of sin, the cross of Christ seems like a strange rite of sacrifice imposed on an innocent Man by a capricious God. But when we stop to consider our sin, when we rise up to understand its insidious and all-pervasive influence in our lives, then we begin to taste our need for salvation. Then our theology of the "depravity of man" ceases to be an intellectual discussion and we encounter the "depravity of ME." When I have to face the depravity of me, I find myself in a place of dire need, a man sickened by a plague that poisons me from head to toe. I need a doctor, and I need Him now.

Thankfully, Roy did not question the reality of sin. As I said before, he is one of the smartest men I know. He had by the time we spoke together considered not just the depravity of man, but his own "depravity of me." But admitting the reality of sin, and even beginning to fathom the depths of its horrible effects on me myself, immediately begs a question: If humanity's greatest problem is indwelling sin, what is the solution to the problem? Paul gives us God's mysterious solution to this problem in Rom. 3:21-26, 4:22-25, and Romans 5:6-10.

Romans 3-5: God's Great Solution: THE CROSS OF CHRIST

Romans 3:21-26, 4:22-25, 5:6-10

God's solution to the problem is scandalous and glorious, unthinkable yet its logic is inescapable, an object of terrible pain and greater beauty. God's solution was a brutal sacrifice on the most painful machinery of death ever devised by man. It was a death by slow torture, death by agonizing and prolonged suffocation. It was a humiliating death of public nakedness. It was the cross. And it was God the Father who put God the Son on that cross, that we might be saved. It was the chosen self-sacrifice of God that was God's solution to humanity's greatest problem. He could have left us alone with our problem, but He became one of us to solve our problem, because He loved us. At the center point of history it casts its shadow on all that happened before and all that has happened since. The axis around which the Bible, Romans 1-8, and human experience revolves is the old rugged cross. God's great solution is the cross of Christ.

Paul introduces this grand solution at the darkest point of Romans 1-8, after Paul's withering depiction of all humanity under sin in Romans 3:9-20. He introduced the cross in Romans 3:21-26:

"But now apart from the Law the righteousness of God has been manifested, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe; for there is no distinction; for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God displayed publicly as an atoning sacrifice in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed; for the demonstration of His righteousness at the present time, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus."

The central role of faith in the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ is reiterated by Paul in Romans 4:22-25:

"Therefore also it was reckoned to him as righteousness. Now not for his sake only was it written, that it was reckoned to him, but for our sake also, to whom it will be reckoned, as those who believe in Him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead, He who was delivered up because of our transgressions, and was raised because of our justification."

The salvation of the sinner at the foot of the cross of Christ is illuminated by Paul in Romans 5:6-11:

"For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life."

As Roy and I went through all these things, he started to catch a glimpse of the grandeur of the cross of Christ. He saw very clearly that salvation for the sinner can be found only at the cross of Christ, which was the supreme expression of God's love in history. The cross of Christ is God's way of salvation for humanity, and it is the only way by which a sinner can be reconciled to God.

This is the essential news of Christianity: that the terrible problem of indwelling sin can be solved by faith in the cross and resurrection of Christ. The logic to this argument is this: 1) A person born in sin and thus tainted by sin has no moral authority to judge another and forgive sin -- we cannot heal ourselves; 2) Only God, perfect in morality and sitting in judgment over the world, can forgive sin; 3) God's method of providing forgiveness for sin is always through a blood sacrifice, where the lifeblood of an innocent was shed to cover the sin of the guilty, starting with Passover and continuing in Leviticus with the laws of atonement; 4) An atoning sacrifice thus had to be provided for a person's sin to be forgiven by God; 5) In an act of pure grace, God provided Himself as the ultimate atoning sacrifice, a perfect and final substitution of a sinless Christ for a sinful humanity; 6) God accepted that sacrifice of atonement at the resurrection; 7) Any human being can accept God's forgiveness for sin through faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

This is the incontrovertible logic of salvation as put forth by Paul in Romans 1-5. It makes the cross of Christ the only means of salvation for humanity. There is no other. Many in our politically correct world today would rise up and tell us that there are many ways to God. But this simply is not true. There is no door to God for a sinful man or woman to enter unless the terrible padlock of sin is removed. And GOD'S way of transcending sin is only by faith in the forgiveness offered by God at the cross of Christ. MAN's speculations about "many paths to God" are only the empty hopes of sinful men and women who do not wish to humble themselves before God, ask for forgiveness, and change their moral lifestyle.

Thus, the cross of Christ is both the scandal and the glory of Christianity. It is a sign of abject humility that its detractors try to transform into a symbol of arrogance. It is a sublime gift of God's own self, His ultimate grace, to die the worst death imaginable. What more could God give? What can man or woman possibly add to this inescapable logic of salvation? Only God can forgive sin, and He has forgiven it at the cross of Christ. All we must do is accept that sacrifice by faith, and receive His forgiveness for ourselves. There is no other way to find forgiveness, liberation, and peace.

At this point in the conversation, Roy was profoundly moved by the cross of Christ. As well he should be, because Paul immediately talks of the profound changes effected in the life of the believer once he has accepted the atoning sacrifice of Christ on the cross. Those changes are depicted in Romans 6:1-11 and Romans 7:14-25.

Romans 6,7: God's Great News: A Christian's IDENTITY IS CHANGED!!

Romans 6:1-11; Romans 7:14-25

One of the crucial questions in Roy's mind, and in the minds of most people seriously contemplating becoming a Christian, is this: what will happen to me if I become a Christian? What changes are in store for me?

Greater changes than any of us can ever imagine at the point of conversion. I am convinced that the change in identity, relationship with God, and eternal destiny that occurs in an instant at the point of conversion is a reality that takes us the rest of our lives even to begin to fathom. The change is so great that Paul uses the language of life and death, the starkest contrast on the human horizon, to depict the change in Romans 6:1-11:

"What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace might increase? May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it? Or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, in order that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old self was crucified with Him, that our body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin, once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Even so, consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus."

Thus, our new identity is that we are Christians, we are "in Christ Jesus." We have been crucified with Him and raised with Him, mysteriously dying to sin with Him and raised to life with Him. He is in us by the Spirit, and we are in Him through the Spirit. The most simple way to say this is the 5-word statement: JESUS CHRIST IS MY LIFE. Paul said the same simple truth a slightly different way in Philippians: "for me to live is Christ." We change from a "me" to an "us," entering an eternal relationship of oneness with Jesus Christ that is like an eternal marriage. Our identity is changed forever.

But a curious dual-reality also accompanies this change in identity. Sin's power over us is broken, but its influence remains strong. We live in newness of life by the Spirit, but residual sin still afflicts us. This is the painful reality of the Christian life, which Paul portrays for us in all its torturous difficulty in Romans 7:14-25:

"For we know that the Law is spiritual; but I am of flesh, sold under sin. For that which I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate. But if I do the very thing I do not wish to do, I agree with the Law, confessing that it is good. So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which indwells me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the wishing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. for the good that I wish, I do not do; but I practice the very evil that I do not wish. But if I do the very thing I do not wish, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wishes to do good. For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind, and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I MYSELF with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin."

The great news Paul perceives at the end of this tortured journey is the fundamental new identity in the Christian; it is WHO THE CHRISTIAN REALLY IS!! It is what Paul calls "I Myself," the one who serves the law of God. That is what defines Paul now, not the sin that before enslaved him and defined him as a "sinner." Thus, the glory of becoming a Christian is that you not only find God through the sacrifice of Christ on the cross, you find yourself as well. We have a new and eternal identity, separated in the here and now from sin. What great news!!

This news then propelled Roy and me forward into the greatest news of the great news, found in Romans 8: the news about the indwelling Spirit!! We have heard about the plague of indwelling sin, and we recognize that indwelling sin still afflicts us even now as Christians. But over and against the scourge of indwelling sin is the glory of the indwelling Spirit of God. To Paul, this is the key to Christianity, this is the greatest news of all!! Let's explore this greatest news in Romans 8:1-4; 8:14-17; and 8:26-39.

Romans 8: God's Greatest News: THE INDWELLING SPIRIT IS THE KEY

Romans 8:1-4; Romans 8:14-17; Romans 8:26-39

In Romans 8:1-4, Paul finally puts the terrible plague of sin to rest. He summarizes in these four verses what he has taken all of chapters 1-7 to communicate:

"There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death. For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit."

This is where Paul shifts his emphasis in Romans 1-8 away from sin and onto the Spirit. This is one of the most profound and fundamental shifts every Christian must make in order to grow in maturity in the Spirit: to quit focusing on sin and the overcoming of sin in our lives and start focusing on the Spirit, living in relationship with Him, coming to rely on His power, resting in His adequacy. This is where I told Roy that the Christian life is not a wearisome and neverending battle against sinful urges, but it is a remarkable relationship with the God living within. The focus of being a Christian is on God, not on sin; the heart of Christianity is walking with the Spirit through every event of life, not just looking to have victory over sin that day. This is what Christianity is about: a relationship, not a rule; a life, not an ethic; a joyous marriage of intimacy, not a burdensome battle against sin.

This glorious relationship is defined by the indwelling Spirit, who is called a "Spirit of adoption as adult sons," whereby we are accepted forever into the inner circle of God's family to enjoy fellowship with Him around His table. Paul tells us this in Romans 8:14-17:

"For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God. For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, 'Abba! Father!' The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him in order that we may also be glorified with Him."

Thus, we are accepted as adult sons in God's inner family circle. This enables us to call God our Father using a common term of endearment. And our eternal security in the indwelling Spirit is clearly seen in these verses: the Spirit defines us as Christians, and He witnesses within our spirits that we are indeed children of God. Once a child of God as verified by the indwelling Spirit, always a child of God through the indwelling Spirit!!

But Paul doesn't shrink from telling us that this life will not only be about a glorious relationship with God through the Spirit, it will also be attended by suffering. Suffering is an unavoidable reality in the life of the Christian, and we cannot share the gospel of God without telling the prospective believer that suffering will come as surely as night follows day.

But there is a deeper truth beyond the suffering, and it is this truth that enables us to withstand suffering and endure it: that through it all, GOD IS FOR US!! The Spirit of God within us intercedes FOR US from within us; the glorified Son, our legal advocate in the courtroom of heaven, stands at the right hand of the Father and intercedes FOR US; and God the Father is FOR US!! If God be for us, who can stand against us? It is on these notes of great joy and victory that Paul concludes his explanation of the gospel of God in Romans 8:26-39:

"And in the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the first-born among many brethren; and whom He predestined, these He also called; and whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? Who will bring a charge against God's elect? God is the one who justifies; who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written, 'For Thy sake we are being put to death all day long; we were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.' But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Amen and Amen!!

Conclusion: Roy Becomes a Christian!!!

By the time Roy and I had worked through all of this, including questions and reading through the passages, I knew it was his day of salvation. At this critical juncture in the conversation, the Spirit seems to lead us at times to pray right then with the person if the person is ready to do so, or to recommend that the person takes some time that day to think about it further and pray to God in private. I sensed the Spirit leading me to encourage Roy to take what we had just spoken about, pray about it and think about it that afternoon, and then to seize the opportunity to invite the Spirit of God to come and live inside Him to make him a Christian. Then I asked him to tell his Christian friend in the lab, and call me, as soon as he invited the Spirit of God to come within him. Roy promised me he would.

The next morning I received a sweet phone call. Roy had taken some time to reflect privately. That very Tuesday night he prayed to invite the Spirit of God to come and live inside him!!! Both his friend in the lab and I were overjoyed, and about ten days later the three of us stood together in the cold Pacific ocean in Santa Cruz. We baptized Roy physically as a symbol of the baptism in the Spirit he experienced that Tuesday night!!! What a joy it is to watch a person born into the family of God by the Spirit, to witness their transformation from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light!!! That is the gospel of God at work in our day!!!

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