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ROMANS ROAD
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Romans
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Modified from Irving L.
Jensen's excellent work "Jensen's
Survey of the NT" |
|
Romans 14:13-21:
Our Responsibilities
Under Grace - Part 15
by Dr. Wayne A.
Barber |
|
Some
years ago, I had the opportunity to visit the palace where Romania’s
former President Coucescu and his wife ruled very cruelly in Romania for
twenty some odd years. I had the opportunity to go into the former office
of Mrs. Coucescu. While she was in power she had made the decree that all
the Bibles in Romania were to be confiscated and turned into toilet paper.
In that office we took 18 Bibles, translated into Romanian, and presented
them to 18 members of Parliament of the Romanian government. I had the
opportunity to take the Word and to share with those men that this is the
only thing that can transform their lives, that this is where the answers
to nations and people of this world is found. What a precious, precious
opportunity, and what a precious Book we have.
We are still in Romans 14. We started back in chapter 12 looking at the
practical part of the book of Romans. The first eleven chapters covers
God’s grace. Then chapters 12-16 talk about our responsibility under God’s
grace. So many people preach God’s grace as if God does everything and we
have no responsibility. That is not right. Our responsibility is found in
Romans 12:1-2, which says to present our bodies a living and holy
sacrifice, acceptable unto Him. This is our loving offering back to Him,
daily, moment by moment. Then verse 2 says to let this Book renew our
minds and be transformed by the renewing of our minds.
Those two verses tell us how we are to relate to God. Then from 12:3 all
the way through chapter 16 is how we relate to one another. I can’t repeat
it enough that the spiritual well that all these chapters flow out of is
Romans 12:1-2. When we are in love with Christ, living in that intimacy of
relationship with Him, His Holy Spirit produces in us a love that Romans
12:9 says is without hypocrisy. Now this love is something the world will
pick up. The Christians will know it immediately, and the lost world is
looking for this kind of love. When this love is in us, it causes us to
have a divine sensitivity to people around us.
There are several things I want you to see in our text. First of all, I
want us to look at the necessity of walking according to love. Paul brings
this out so clearly beginning in verse 14. He starts off by showing his
own personal conviction. He says, "I know and am convinced in the Lord
Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself." Now what is he talking about?
The context has been food, what you eat and what you don’t eat. He knows
that no food is unclean in itself. There is nothing wrong there.
The word for "know" is eido. It means a knowledge that is intuitive
because of the presence of the Holy Spirit in Paul’s life. He didn’t have
to go to a class to learn this, although he was taught by the Holy Spirit
for three years in the desert. He understood something. In his heart the
Holy Spirit had taught him something: that no food is unclean in itself.
Then he says, "I know and am convinced." The word "convinced" is the word
pietho. I am glad that word came up here, because I want to show you the
root of faith. When you say you have faith, it comes right out of this.
You see, pistis is the word for faith. Pisteuo, which is the word for
believe, is the next word that comes out of that. The root word for all of
it is the word pietho, which we are looking at here. I don’t have faith
just because I think I understand something. But when I am fully
convinced, totally convinced to the place that I am willing to move out on
it, that is what faith really is.
You can’t have faith without obedience. I don’t tell you about my faith. I
show you my faith by how I live. If I live a certain way that means I am
fully convinced of something, and it has caused me to live that particular
way. So Paul uses that word, "I am fully convinced." Paul understood
something, and it motivated his life.
The key is in the next phrase. "I know and am convinced in the Lord Jesus
that nothing is unclean in itself." That little phrase "in the Lord Jesus"
is the key. Now, "in the Lord Jesus" is only found once right here in
Romans. But "in Christ Jesus," which is the same thing just turned around,
is found 13 times in Romans. I want us to look back and see that
everything that Paul has in his standing with God the Father is resident
in Christ Jesus. He knows this. It is not what he eats or doesn’t eat, or
in what he does or doesn’t do. It is what Christ did, what Christ is
doing, and what Christ will do. Everything is based in Christ. He is fully
convinced of this.
Go back with me to Romans 3:24. He uses the phrase "in Christ Jesus" there
to show us something. He is convinced of this. Paul knew that only in
Christ would he find his redemption. Nothing he could ever do could ever
suffice for what God ordered. It was only in what Christ did. Verse 24
says, "being justified [Justified means to be acquitted of a guilty
verdict, and of course, we are all guilty because we were in Adam] as a
gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus." Paul
knew that the message of grace meant that he only could find his salvation
in Christ Jesus. Faith alone in Christ alone. There was no other way. It
was not in what he did and not in what he didn’t do, but in what Christ
had done.
In Romans 6:11, Paul knew something else. It says, "Even so consider
yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus." Paul knew
that the only way he could be changed was to have this new life. This new
life was in Christ Jesus; it wasn’t in himself. That is why he always
leaned on and drew from the spiritual well of Christ. He knew that he
could put no confidence in his flesh. The new life that God had given him
had freed him from the penalty of sin and the power of sin and one day
would free him from the presence of sin.
Paul was convinced in Romans 6:23 that salvation was only in Christ Jesus.
He says, "For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is
eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." That life, that salvation, is only
in Christ and it is a free gift of God’s grace. It wasn’t based on what he
did or on what he didn’t do.
It is in Christ that now I never have to fear any condemnation. Paul knew
this in Romans 8:1: "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who
are in Christ Jesus." You see, the person who doesn’t understand grace
feels like if he eats certain things, that will somehow condemn him,
somehow affect his standing with God. But Paul knew that there couldn’t be
any condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.
In Romans 8:2, Paul knew that the Spirit of God being in him is the key to
his being free from the law of sin and death. Verse 2 reads, "For the law
of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin
and of death." That is why when he ate food or didn’t eat food. It had
nothing to do with him and God in Christ Jesus.
In Romans 8:39, Paul knew that nothing could separate him from the love of
God. Even when he sinned, even when he messed up, nothing could separate
him from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus. Verse 39 says, "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."
Romans 12:5 shows us that Paul knew that only in Christ could he find
unity with other brethren. In other words, what unifies the body of Christ
is His life in them. It is in Christ Himself. It is not in what they do or
don’t do, not in whether they eat certain foods or don’t eat certain
foods. It is in Christ alone. Verse 5 says, "so we, who are many, are one
body in Christ, and individually members one of another." We are members
of each other. So there is the unity. Paul realized it was Christ who
formed the basis of the unity, not what they did or didn’t do.
In Romans 15:17, Paul knew that only in Christ do we have a reason to
praise. He says, "Therefore in Christ Jesus I have found reason for
boasting in things pertaining to God." Now here is man that is wrapped up
in a person, the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. His salvation, his life,
his freedom from the penalty of death, his freedom from the power of sin,
all these things are resident in a person. That is the message of grace.
In Christ there is no condemnation, in Christ we have unity one with
another. We think that we have got to look the same way, wear the same
clothes and do the same things. Paul says, "No, no, it is in Christ." That
is the message of grace.
He said, "I know this and I am totally convinced." As a matter of fact,
the phrase "in Jesus" is found two times in Romans. In Romans 3:22 it
says, "even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all
those who believe; for there is no distinction." Paul knew that the only
righteousness he could ever have was going to be found in Christ Jesus. In
Romans 1:17 it says that righteousness comes by faith. He is fully
convinced and totally trusts Christ and obeys Him. Out of this comes a
righteous life. This is righteousness. It is not what he did for God. It
is what God would do through him. That is the message of grace. It is not
me, it is Christ. That is why he says, "We preach not ourselves but we
preach Christ Jesus."
Then in Romans 3:26 Paul knew that only in Christ would he find his
justification, not in a set of rules. He says, "for the demonstration, I
say, of His righteousness at the present time, that He might be just and
the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus." Now he is fully
convinced of this, and his words from Romans show this that he is fully
convinced that grace means that it is all in Christ Jesus. It is not in
me, it is not in what I do or don’t do. But he gives an allowance for
others to not understand that. Now this is the beauty of how God works in
a mature believer’s heart. You may understand grace, but somebody else may
not understand that grace. You will be given out of the grace you
understand and are living under the ability to be divinely sensitive to
those people.
Back in Romans 14:14, he says, "I know and am convinced in the Lord Jesus
that nothing is unclean in itself; but to him who thinks anything to be
unclean, to him it is unclean." Now that is amazing to me. Logizomai is
the word for "think" which we saw back in Romans 6:11. There he says,
"even so consider these things." That word "consider" is logizomai. It
means to sit down and put all these things together, think them through,
draw a line and come to a conclusion. Paul said that there are going to be
brethren in the body of Christ who are going to come to the conclusion
very sincerely. They are going to look at the scriptures, and they are not
going to see what you see. They are not going to understand what you
understand and they are going to come to the conclusion that they can’t
eat certain foods. He says, "Therefore, to that person, if he thinks it is
unclean and he has sincerely checked it out, it is unclean."
But here is his point in verse 15: he shows you that there are going to be
two different ways of seeing it. Verse 15 reads, "For if because of food
your brother is hurt, you are no longer walking according to love. Do not
destroy with your food him for whom Christ died." Wow, there is his point.
What he is saying is, if you are living out of Romans 12:1-2, then the way
you treat people is directly the effect of that. It’s not how much you
understand about grace. You can write books on it and still not live under
it. What you understand is one thing; living under grace is another thing.
And when you live under grace, he says in chapter 6, you are no longer
under law, you are under grace. And when you live under grace, the key to
that is a divine love that is without hypocrisy and everybody in your path
somehow becomes a beneficiary of that. When you run into a weaker brother,
you don’t hurt that weaker brother just because you understand what that
weaker brother does not understand.
He says, "For if because of food your brother is hurt, you are no longer
walking according to love." Then he says, "Do not destroy with your food
him for whom Christ died." The word for "destroy" is apollumi. Now ollumi
is the word for destroy, but apo is an intensive. When the two are put
together it forms an interesting word which means to wholly destroy, to
devastate.
"Now wait a minute, if this person is in Christ who is weak in the faith,
how can you destroy him? Do you mean destroy him in his eternal life?" No.
What is the context? Back in verse 12 he says we will all be judged
according to the deeds done in our body. The context has been that one day
we are going to stand accountable before a Holy God. What I think he is
talking about here is that when I am using my understanding of grace to
demean and scorn and discourage a weaker brother, what I am actually doing
is destroying his opportunity one day when he stands before Christ to
receive all the rewards that he could possibly receive. You see, I am
tearing down; I am not building up. He says, "Do not destroy with your
food him for whom Christ died."
Oh, folks, woe be it when we think that what we understand makes us
spiritual. What makes us spiritual is when we are living under that which
we have understood, allowing the Holy Spirit of God to absolutely capture
our lives and to control our lives and it is all out of a loving
relationship and a grateful attitude towards God Himself. Then we don’t go
around destroying others, particularly in their opportunity one day when
they stand before God to receive all the rewards they can possibly
receive. We draw the conclusion then that if we are walking according to
love we are doing exactly the opposite, we are building them up. When we
are not walking according to love, then we are tearing them down. All the
more reason to live according to Romans 12:1-2.
When we were on our trip, we went over to Moldova in Russia. It is the
part of Romania that Russia took over after World War II. It is the most
incredible place I have ever been. Legalism, weaker brother, Romans 14—it
is camped out in Moldova. For instance, when we got to Moldova, our guide
said, "Wayne, have you got a tie?" I said, "You know I don’t like to wear
a tie in these kind of meetings." I said, "I don’t think I really want to
wear a shirt and tie." He said, "Son, you don’t understand. These people
look at you as a keynote speaker, and they are going to look for you to
have a coat and tie on." I was thinking to myself, "Legalistic!" I forgot
all about Romans 14.
I went up to my room, and I was just arguing with the Lord saying, "God,
why do I have to do this? I have to speak in 45 minutes. Why can’t I
just..." and it was like the Lord was saying, "Hey, Wayne, Romans 14!" Oh,
it hit me right between the eyes. I am not to scorn and demean a weaker
brother. I asked the Lord to forgive me. It even changed the whole
attitude of putting that shirt and tie on. I got to thinking, "You know, I
don’t want to walk in here and, just because I understand grace, force my
convictions down their throat. I want to go in the love that the Holy
Spirit produces when you are living under His grace." It is not when you
understand it as much as when you are living up under it. God just gives
you a heart that people cannot explain. You cannot give it to somebody,
and somebody can’t give it to you. It comes out of that divine
relationship of God inwardly and it just gives you such a sensitivity to
the people.
The first few times we spoke, it was just like they were expressionless. I
guess a part of their culture is not to show emotion. But the next to last
message we saw it turn the corner. Our message has never been about
anything but the sufficiency of Christ and the power His Word has in your
life. That is all we have ever preached over there. They started seeing it
and just started waking up to it. Before we left it was just wonderful to
see what God had done with the leadership of Moldova. Moldova is one of
the fastest growing areas for evangelism in the world. However, it is also
the most persecuted area. The government has looked upon Christians as if
they are just dirt.
So to build these people up in the faith and to build them up in their
relationship with Christ and His Word became such a precious task once we
realized we don’t take our understanding of grace and cram it down their
throats. We don’t walk into a weaker brother and demean him or scorn him
or make fun of the fact that he thinks one way when you think another way.
God the Holy Spirit will not allow you to do that, folks, He will not
allow us to do it. So the necessity is we don’t want to destroy somebody
else’s opportunity to receive all the rewards that God will give them. He
knows their hearts, we don’t. As they are walking with Him, we don’t want
to destroy that. So therefore, we walk according to love.
The second thing I want you to see about walking according to love is the
characteristics of walking according to love. Now we have seen some of
these in previous chapters, but he nails them here. Look at verses 16-18:
"Therefore do not let what is for you a good thing be spoken of as evil;
for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and
peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. For he who in this way serves Christ is
acceptable to God and approved by men." How does he nail them? First of
all he says, "Therefore, do not let what is for you a good thing be spoken
of as evil." What is the "good thing"? The "good thing" is to understand
grace, to understand that you don’t have to worry about what you eat or
not eat as far as your relationship with God. That is a good thing to
understand.
Paul says, "Don’t let what is a good thing for you be spoken of as evil by
somebody else." The word "spoken of as evil" is blasphemeo, which means
for somebody to look at you and tear your whole reputation down. Here you
are, a person who understands what is right. Don’t let somebody kill your
witness by the fact that you misuse that freedom. If you do, you have
become a stumbling block for a weaker brother.
Verse 17 goes on, "for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but
righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit." You see, when we
present our bodies to Christ, renewing our minds in His Word, then we will
have a deep conviction that flows out of understanding His grace. We will
not allow those convictions to offend a weaker brother. We are going to
have a divine sensitivity.
Now the Jews misunderstood. They thought that when Jesus came He was going
to set up a political kingdom. They didn’t have an understanding of the
fact that He was going to die on a cross, resurrect, ascend and be
glorified. But He was going to send His Spirit back to set up a spiritual
kingdom within the hearts of all men. Now the spiritual kingdom of God,
where He rules and reigns, is marked by several characteristics. That is
what Paul brings out. He said it is marked by righteousness, by peace and
by joy found in the Holy Spirit.
Let’s back up. What is righteousness? The word "righteousness" is one of
the key words in Romans. It is a relationship word. The righteousness of
God was seen when He sent His Son to die on the cross. That is how He
wants to relate to man. He loves man. It is a pure love. Romans 1:17 says
now we have righteousness. It says righteousness comes by faith. Faith is
the key. This righteousness is from faith to faith, for the righteous man
lives by his faith. As I am trusting God, living Romans 12:1-2, out of
that is going to flow righteous living, a righteous conduct. How I treat
others will be known as what God is doing through me, not what I am doing
for God.
Peace is the second thing that marks the kingdom of God being manifested
in a person’s heart. Not only is it a quality of life, but it is a
motivation of life for others. There is something in me that just wants to
be at peace with my brother. Romans 12 says there will be times when I
can’t be at peace with my brother. But the motivation in my heart is
always to be at peace. It doesn’t matter if it is a brother in Christ or a
person in the secular world. I just want to be at peace with all men.
There is something in my heart that desires that.
Then the other word is joy. It is the inner exhilaration that shows itself
in the countenance of one’s life. You can’t get away from it. Any time you
see the joy produced by the Holy Spirit, it is always something that just
shows in the countenance of somebody. When you have that in your
countenance, people really can’t turn you away. They may not agree with
you, they may hate what you are saying, but there is something about you
that they are drawn to. It is like a magnet. Lost people, hostile people,
every kind of person is drawn toward people who have the inner
characteristic of joy that just shows in their countenance. That is the
Holy Spirit of God, the kingdom of God, alive in someone’s heart.
All of these are found, as he says, only in the Holy Spirit. Outside of
the Holy Spirit’s control there is no righteousness, there is no peace,
and there is no joy. It only comes out of this relationship that we have
with Christ with His Holy Spirit producing it.
Now when these qualities are the makeup of our life, look at what he says
in verse 18: "For he who in this way serves Christ is acceptable to God
and approved by men." The word "acceptable" means "well-pleasing." The
opposite of it means to be oppressive and hard to bear. It is what I just
finished saying. When you are serving God out of a loving heart and God
the Holy Spirit is manifesting His characteristics of righteousness and
His characteristics of peace and His characteristics of joy, then what is
going to happen is, you are going to be well-pleasing to God, first of
all. God is going to be pleased with that. But God is not the key right
here; it is with all men. All men are going to be well pleased with you.
"I don’t understand that because they may hate what I am saying. They may
hate my message." That is true. But there is something about you that is
not hard to bear. There is something about you that is not oppressive. It
is not in what you are saying. It is the way you are going about saying
it. You are not coming down on anybody. You are just moved and motivated
by the Holy Spirit of God, and it is not oppressive to people who are
around you.
That is what God does in our heart, folks. But when we don’t understand
that, we take the bull by the horns. We think because of our understanding
we can rule and reign. We forget the kingdom of God that has been set up
in our hearts. Relationships are shattered and devastated, and we are not
well-pleasing to God or man. That is what he is saying. When you live in
such a way that you love God and God is moving in your heart and the Holy
Spirit is in control of your life, then you are going to have a demeanor
that is marked by the very characteristics of God Himself. Men will find
you non-oppressive and not hard to bear. They may find your message
oppressive and hard to bear, but not you. There is something about you
that they see that God is doing in you.
Well, we cannot cheat our brother out of the rewards he may get one day.
Don’t demean him. Don’t put him down. Instruct him, pray for him,
encourage him, but don’t put him down. Then the characteristics of all
that is righteousness and peace and joy when the kingdom of God is being
set up in our hearts and the Holy Spirit is ruling and reigning.
Then thirdly, there is the motivation of walking according to love. Look
at verse 19. All of these sort of dovetail together: "So then let us
pursue the things which make for peace and the building up of one
another." The word "pursue" is dioko. It is also translated "persecute."
That really gives you the picture of the word. It is the picture of an old
dog on the trail of something, like a raccoon or something. But the dog is
chasing after the animal. That dog has one point in his mind. It is not
barking and it is not running, it is catching that animal. That is what he
wants, to catch it to where he possesses it. So you get the word dioko,
which means to pursue after something until it is in your grasp and now
you have it.
Paul says, "pursue the things which make for peace and the building up of
one another." We are to pursue peace with God and the things which make
for peace with man. You are at peace with God when you are living in
Romans 12:1-2, and that causes the Spirit to make you want to be at peace
with all men. Remember Romans 12:18 says, "If possible, so far as it
depends on you, be at peace with all men." There are going to be times
when it is not possible.
We are to pursue that which lends itself to the building up of one
another. The word translated "building up of one another" is the key word,
oikodome. It means to construct a house. We found it in 2 Corinthians 5
when we talked about the fact that there is a body being constructed in
heaven right now. The way I am living right now is causing a garment to be
constructed in heaven. I am going to enjoy when I see Christ to the degree
that I am enjoying Him right now. A lot of people don’t understand that.
There is a building or garment under construction that is going to clothe
my spirit one day when I go to see Him. That garment is under construction
directly related to how I am living right now. That is the same word he
uses here. Pursue the things for the building up of another.
Do you see the truth? In other words, if I am building a garment in heaven
by the way I am living right now, then I do everything I can do in my
relationships to encourage, to instruct and to help out my brother, to
make sure that when he gets there that his garment is everything it ought
to be, so that we can both celebrate when we stand before Christ one day
for the rewards He wants to give to His children. Everything I do must
have that in mind. I don’t want to squelch him. I don’t want to do
anything that would destroy his opportunity to receive what God has for
him one day. So what I pursue is that which builds up, not that which
tears down.
Paul goes on in verse 20, and here is the key: "Do not tear down the work
of God for the sake of food. All things indeed are clean, but they are
evil for the man who eats and gives offense." The word "tear down" is
kataluo. Oh, what a word. When the tragic thing happened in Oklahoma City,
something happened and in an instant the whole thing was torn down. That
is not the word here. Kataluo means to loosen something to where it
becomes unstable and caves in. In other words, when I have a weaker
brother beside me, God is working in his life. Who am I to jump in and
play God in his life? I can instruct, I can encourage, I can pray for him,
but not make fun of him, not demean. Draw him to my side. Because you see,
it is God who is doing the work. If I begin to loosen the things that are
holding him up, if I begin to erode his convictions and tear apart things,
then all that God has been trying to build up is torn down. He says don’t
do that. Pursue the things which make for peace. Don’t tear down the work
of God in somebody else’s life.
He says, "All things indeed are clean, but they are evil for the man who
eats and gives offense." Before he said if you think it is wrong to eat
you had better not eat. Here he says if you know it is right to eat, but
you eat and then use it for evil, then that is going to be an evil act as
far as God is concerned. You see, the whole point is not to flaunt our
liberty in Christ when it causes a brother who is weaker to stumble.
The next verse, I think, was not just written for their day. I think it
was as much written for our day, probably more so. Verse 21 says, "It is
good not to eat meat or to drink wine, or to do anything by which your
brother stumbles." Everywhere I go I get this question: "Well, Brother, we
are under grace, aren’t we? Then can you show me in God’s Word where it
says you can’t drink wine?" No, I really can’t. Paul told Timothy to drink
a little wine for his stomach. But I can find where it says don’t drink
wine if it in any way causes your weaker brother to stumble. "Do you mean
to tell me just because I understand grace it doesn’t give me a license to
flaunt it?" That is exactly what Paul is saying. Paul said in another
place, "All things are lawful for me but not all things are profitable or
expedient." In other words, there are some things the Holy Spirit of God
says, "Yes, you are free but you can’t use your freedom here because you
are going to cause a brother to stumble. Now step back and be sensitive to
that weaker brother that is around you." That is when the Holy Spirit
comes on the road.
Listen, it is not in what you think or understand, it is in how you are
living. You do not have this sensitivity unless the Holy Spirit of God has
gripped your heart and you understand you are a product of His grace and
you don’t deserve a thing you have. Therefore you become less arrogant,
and you become less proud. You begin to trust God more and you become
sensitive to the weaker ones that are around you.
Now, when you start living the right way of life, you are going to be a
stumbling block. That is a good kind of stumbling block, but this kind of
stumbling block is the bad kind. This is when you have understood grace
and you are cramming it down the throat of somebody who doesn’t understand
it.
Here is what I am trying to say: when we live Romans 12:1-2 there is just
going to be something about me and you that the world is going to notice,
folks. They may not understand it. They may hate everything we are saying,
but there is something inside of us that they sense has got to be from
God. It is not oppressive, hard to bear and it doesn’t flaunt. There is no
pride in it. It is a just a graciousness, it is a love that God the Holy
Spirit produces in the human heart.
Go over to 2 Corinthians 2:14: "But thanks be to God, who always leads us
in His triumph in Christ." Now, he uses a cultural thinking there that you
have to understand. What he was talking about was back in the Roman
culture particularly, when they would go to battle, they would send their
armies out. And if the army had a victory, they would send a runner back
to the village or town, and the runner would take some fragrant, sweet
incense and go from house to house and shake that sweet incense all over
town. The people would began to smell that aroma and would say, "Oh, a
victory has been won." They would begin to line the streets and wait for
the conquering heroes to come home. It may be a long wait.
Finally, they would look down the road and see a cloud of dust. They would
see the commander in chief in is his chariot out in front. As he comes
down the streets they would see people chained to his chariot behind him.
Everybody realizes that this man has conquered these people and he takes
them through, leading them in his triumph over them.
The Apostle Paul takes something out of the secular mind and puts it over
here in our spiritual vocabulary. He says the whole key is for the world
to be able to look at you and realize you have been chained to the chariot
of the Lord Jesus Christ. You have been conquered. Everybody looks and
sees that. Look at what he says in the next part of verse 14 down through
verse 16: "and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of
Him in every place. For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those
who are being saved and among those who are perishing; to the one an aroma
from death to death, to the other an aroma from life to life. And who is
adequate for these things?"
I wanted to bring us back to what Paul is saying here. He is saying that
if I am conquered by Christ and the world knows it, then I am always going
to be led in the conquering that He brings, the triumph that He gives.
There is going to be a fragrance to my life wherever I go. It is going to
be the sweet aroma of the presence of God. Now to some people it is life
to life, but some people it is death to death. If that fragrance offends
them, so be it. That is the way it is going to be. But woe is the man who
offends them himself. God is going to so tenderize my heart that whether
they are hostile, whether they are friendly, whether they are governmental
or whether they are social, whether they are inside the church or whether
they are outside the church, God is going to so deal with them that they
are going to see me as non-oppressive and not hard to bear. They are going
to sense the fragrance of Christ that is in my life and in your life.
Relationships are the whole thing, folks. It is not how much you
understand, it is whether you are living in light of what you understand.
That is the key. That is what makes you spiritual. |
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