The Surprising God

This post reproduces in part (with minor edits),  President Dr. Michael Morrison's  address at the Grace Communion Seminary 2023 graduation ceremony. "Christ with His Disciples" by Mironov (public domain via Wikimedia Commons) The Great Commission In Matthew 28:18-20 (NRSVUE), we read these important words spoken by Jesus to his disciples: All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to follow all that I commanded you; and behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age. Matthew ends his Gospel with this passage, often referred to as The Great Commission. Its literary placement at the very end of the book gives it some prominence. These are the words that Matthew wants us to remember. Matthew is telling us how Jesus wants us to respond to what he has done and what he has taught. When we hear the words “Great Commis...

This post exegetes Romans 8:17-27, providing context for the 7/23/23 RCL Epistles reading. It draws on "The Expositor’s Bible Commentary" and  "The Message of Romans" by John Stott.  "The Suffering Christ" by de Bois Clair (public domain via Wikimedia Commons) Introduction Romans Chapter 8 addresses the ministry of the Holy Spirit in our sanctification (which, as Paul notes in Romans 7, is something the law is incapable of doing). This transforming ministry of the Spirit has multiple aspects and brings us multiple blessings—several of which are enumerated in Romans 8:1-17. But at the end of v17, Paul introduces a part of our sanctification we often find troubling—the suffering we experience as Christians.  Why do we suffer in this life? Paul now turns to this question, pointing out that for Christians, suffering is not meaningless, nor an indication that God has abandoned us—rather, through the indwelling Spirit, our suffering is redemptive —it leads to ou...

This post exegetes Romans 8:1-17, providing context for the 7/16/23  BS 7/23/23 RCL Epistles readings. It draws on John Stott’s "The Message of Romans," and "The Expositor’s Bible Commentary." "Pentecost" (detail) by Mildorfer (public domain via Wikimedia Commons) Introduction In Romans Chapter 7, Paul  addresses the frustrations of seeking to live for God under the law. Then in Chapter 8, he addresses  the blessings that come through living for God in the Spirit. Paul thus contrasts the law and Spirit—showing that the law has no power to save or to deliver from indwelling sin, whereas the Spirit does both. Paul's goal in making this conrast is to point Christians away from living under the law to a life that is animated, sustained, directed, transformed and enriched by the Holy Spirit. In Romans 8:1-17, Paul describes four glorious blessings of life in the Spirit: 1) no condemnation, 2) liberation, 3) a new mindset, and 4) a new identity,  1. No cond...

This post exegetes Romans 7:7-25, providing context for the RCL Epistles reading for 7/9/23. It draws on John Stott’s "The Message of Romans," and "The Expositor’s Bible Commentary." "St. Paul Shipwrecked on Malta" by Laurent de La Hyre (public domain via Wikimedia Commons) Introduction In Romans 7:1-6 Paul celebrates the release of believers from the law, characterizing the law negatively as barring marriage to Christ, arousing sin, causing death, and impeding life in the Spirit. What gives?  Is Paul teaching that the law is evil?  Paul anticipates these questions and accusations and addresses them by asking and answering two related questions: *Is the law sin?* (7), and *Did that which is good [the law] become death to me?* (13). To both questions Paul replies: *certainly not!* (7) and *by no means!* (13). Paul then proceeds in the rest of Chapter 7 with a lengthy digression about the purpose of the law (Romans 7:7-13) and the weakness of the law (Romans...

This post exegetes Romans 6:15-23, providing context for the RCL Epistles reading for 7/2/23. It draws on John Stott’s "The Message of Romans," and "The Expositor’s Bible Commentary." "The Slave Market" by Boulanger (public domain via Wikimedia Commons) Introduction In Romans Chapter 6 Paul addresses the accusation that his teaching concerning grace promotes sin.  His response in the first half of the chapter is to discuss  the logic of baptism , showing that grace both justifies and sanctifies—leading believers to both die to sin in Christ and to live to righteousness in Christ. In the second half of the chapter Paul makes the same point by discussing the logic of conversion , using the metaphor of slavery to show that grace delivers believers from ‘slavery to sin’ (leading to death) and makes them willingly  ‘slaves of God’ (leading to righteousness and life). Romans 6:15 . Paul begins this discussion of slavery by asking, *Shall we sin because we are no...