Saturday, May 16, 2009

What about the Apostle Paul?

In Phil. 4:8 Paul tells us what God wants us to think, or as the NKJV puts it, what to meditate on. Then he makes the incredible statement, ‘Those things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do.’ He was inspired by the Holy Spirit to write this, and therefore must have lived the kind of example that was above reproach. This statement is why I respectfully disagree with many fine Christians who think Paul had a real problem with sin based on Romans 7:13-24. Verse 19 summarizes it well, ‘For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil that I will not to do, that I practice.’ My own opinion of this passage is that Paul was talking about his life before his conversion or that of an unsaved or at best, a carnal individual. He then switches at Rom. 7:25 through chapter 8 speaking of the victorious Christian life in Jesus, being indwelt by the Holy Spirit. In literature it is perfectly acceptable to write in this way, using first person in the present tense to describe the individual who is ‘sold under sin.’ An unsaved person who is reading this passage can easily identify with Paul’s use of the first person.

There is a contrast here between the unsaved or carnal life and the victorious life Christians can have, no longer under bondage to sin, but free to live for God. Rom. 8:5 clearly shows the difference: those who set their minds on the flesh live according to the flesh, and conversely those who live according to the Spirit, set their minds on the things of the Spirit. Basically it is where one has his heart, if it is on the world – consumed with making money, buying bigger and better toys, getting ahead at all cost, then this is a carnal mind which in verse 7 says is the enemy of God. Now I don’t know about you, but I think it is pretty important not to be an enemy of God. We have the same ability to live the victorious life that Paul lived. We first must be saved by the blood of Jesus, then allow God’s Spirit to control our minds.

When we take the position that Paul had a hard time avoiding sin, and pretty much was constantly sinning according to chapter 7, we take the position that the carnal life is the normal life for a Christian. However if we say that chapter 7 was pre-conversion autobiographical and chapter 8 is the victorious life God expects us to live, we can confidently live the life that God wants us to live.

May each of us so live that others may confidently do those things which they learned and received and heard and saw in us.

No comments:

Post a Comment