A Problem We Face After Becoming a Christian and How to Deal with It (How a Classical Apologist should Apply Presuppositional Apologetics)
We know of the first problem the
Bible presents, that there is a separation between God and man, and we know
that Jesus alone is the mediator, the Savior, our redeemer, and our solution to
the problem. Many of us however, do not understand the (second) problem we face
after
we are saved from our sins.
Paul, on a huge discourse about
the Law and sin in Romans, comes to a place inevitably examining his own sin.
He says in Romans 7:
Did that which is
good, then, bring death to me? By no means! It was sin, producing death in me
through what is good, in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through
the commandment might become sinful beyond measure. 14 For we know that the law
is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin. 15 For I do not understand
my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. 16
Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. 17 So
now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. 18 For I know
that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to
do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. 19 For I do not do the
good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do
what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.[1]
Paul hates what
he does. What I find interesting is that he writes in another letter, “For the
word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us
who are being saved it is the power of God.”[2] With
this in mind, it causes me to think, why did Paul hate what he was doing
in Romans 7? Was the message of the cross foolishness to him at one point? It would
seem to go without saying…
Now frustrated at his own
actions because he knows what is good and what is right, every time he sets out
to do what is right, he fails. But what is it that causes him to want
to do what is right? The question here is on the noetic effects of sin. How did the curse,
after the fall of mankind, effect our
thinking? The fact that Paul was a Christian is what made him hate what he was
doing. This is because Paul was at this point indwelled by the Spirit.
Paul shifts this idea from
impossibility to possibility in Romans chapter 8 and says that “There is now no
condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,” which we know. Jesus saves us
from our past sins, our present sins and our future sins. Slight Rabbit trail
alert: I define sin as a moral failure, by the way. I get that definition from the Ten Commandments. Breaking any of those is a moral failure against God, and so a sin, an archer’s term for missing
the mark, is failing God… Falling short; coming up short (Romans 3:23).
He knows what is good but cannot
carry it out. (Here enters another issue to the second problem) The question is why not? But then in
Romans 8, it seems that he can carry it out!
5 For those who
live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but
those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the
Spirit. 6 For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the
Spirit is life and peace. 7 For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to
God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. 8 Those who are in
the flesh cannot please God.
9 You, however,
are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in
you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. 10
But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit
is life because of righteousness. 11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from
the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give
life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.[3]
Examine this text for a moment…
Paul says in chapter 7 that he cannot carry out living a good life in the eyes
of God. He knows what is right but he cannot do it. I want to now answer why
he knows what is right (which is different than the idea that he
cannot carry out what is right, which we will get to below).
The reason he now knows what is
right, as alluded to above, is because the Holy Spirit indwells him. He explains
in Romans chapter 8 verse 9 above that “You however are not in the flesh but in
the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. What he is saying here
is that the Spirit of Jesus dwells in Christians. The moment one becomes a
Christian, they become a dwelling place for the Holy Spirit.[4] Again,
look at verse 9 from above: “Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does
not belong to Him.” The opposite of this statement is also true. If you belong
to Christ, then you have the Spirit of Christ! What this means is that if you
are a Christian, then: God. Lives. In. You.
This idea answers a lot of questions
that I frequently hear from young Christians and people who are trying to learn
about Christianity (For instance, can
a Christian be possessed? Jesus says, “A house divided against itself
cannot stand.”[5] If
this is the case and God lives in us as Christians, then there is no room for a
demon in us if the Spirit of God lives in us!).
Paul now knows what is good
because the Spirit indwells him, but he is not yet filled with the Spirit;
he is not yet walking by the Spirit. There is a difference. The moment one becomes a Christian, they
become deeply aware, in a sense, of their own sin. This comes from the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Let
me remind you at this point that “the message of the cross is foolishness to
those who are perishing but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God.”
This is why Paul hated what he did in Romans 7. He couldn’t carry out what is
right, but at the same time, he now recognized what is right.
John 16 teaches us that the Holy
Spirit will convict the world in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment.
This answers the question of blaspheming the Holy Spirit.[6] This is the only unforgivable sin.
What this means is that one suppresses the conviction of the Holy Spirit in
regard to his or her sin and the need for a Savior. In other words, if you
leave planet earth without trusting in, relying on, and hoping in Jesus alone
for your forgiveness of sin and for eternal life, then this is unforgivable,
and you will be condemned to hell for eternity (I will soon write about this as
well). So then, because God lives in us, we cannot be possessed by the devil (“if
in fact the Spirit of God lives in you”), and we have the opportunity to live a
life pleasing to God.
Paul is frustrated at how he is
living (in Romans 7) because he now knows what is right and pleasing to God
because the Spirit lives in him, but because he draws his power to please God
from his flesh, he realizes that he cannot carry it out. He is trying
to get fruit to grow from a dead branch, so to speak (The flesh is dead[7]). It
simply will not happen. Yet in Romans 8, especially considering verse 11, Paul
teaches us that the Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead will also give life
to our mortal bodies. This is a key phrase. He is not saying that we
will one day be able to please God, but that we can do it now. We can live a
life pleasing to God in our mortal bodies!
The reason is because the Spirit of God lives in us! We just have to give the
control over to Him in every circumstance, in every decision, which I will
elaborate on below. Romans 8 (et. al.) is where Paul not only knows what is
right, but that because the Spirit of Christ lives in Him, he can now carry out
what is right/ good.
Now, I am not advocating that we
can ultimately be perfect in this life, I think that our flesh makes that
impossible.[8] I
do not believe that a soul of a man, when separated from the flesh, will “look
on a woman with lust and therefore commit adultery with her in his heart.”[9]
There is no longer flesh in which to lust.
The flesh is dead. With this in mind, because we do have access to the power of God, we can ultimately please Him. 2
Peter 1 says,
“His divine power
has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the
knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, 4 by which he
has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them
you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the
corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. 5 For this very
reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with
knowledge, 6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness,
and steadfastness with godliness, 7 and godliness with brotherly affection, and
brotherly affection with love. 8 For if these qualities are yours and are
increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge
of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Peter tells us to make every effort, in verse five, and
also explains that we can take part in the divine nature. What does that even
mean?! The divine nature is moral perfection. The reason that we
can take part in the divine nature is because the Spirit of Jesus lives
in us. We can take part in moral perfection! But we can only take part in it
because we are still in the flesh. Paul says, “For now we see in a mirror
dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then
I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.”[10]
Now (as in, while we are in the flesh) we see dimly (partly). Then (when we
shed/molt the flesh; I. e. die) we
shall fully know.
Consider also 2 Peter 1:3… Peter
says that we, as Christians, are equipped with everything we need to live a life
of godliness. What is this “everything we need?” Well, it is God, of course! If
God lives in us, what more do we need to please Him who called us to His
own Glory and excellence? The answer is nothing.
One might ask, “Can Christians
sin?” This seems like a no-brainer, but in case someone doubted, think of 1
John 1:9, which is, in fact, written to Christians: “If we confess our sin, He
is faithful and just to forgive us for our sin and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness.” Interestingly, King David, a man after “God’s own heart,” says
in Psalm 66:18 that if he had cherished sin in his heart, the Lord would not have
heard him. In any event, it is clear that Christians (those who have the Spirit
of Jesus indwelling them) can sin.
Paul, in Romans 7 is indwelled by
the Spirit. This gives him a knowledge (and also justification before God) that
he is not pleasing God by what he is doing, and one can get a deep sense of his
frustration. Being indwelled by the Spirit is very different than being filled
with the Spirit.
Look at another thing Paul wrote
in Ephesians 5:
Therefore do not
be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18 And do not get
drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit,
19 addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and
making melody to the Lord with your heart, 20 giving thanks always and for
everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 21
submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.[11]
In verse 18, Paul is advising the
Ephesians to not get drunk, but instead that they should be filled with the
Spirit. He is referring to taking part in the divine nature here. He is saying “Walk by the Spirit, and you will
not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against
the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are
opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.”[12]
The Ephesian people to whom Paul writes are already Christians (those who have
the Spirit of Jesus indwelling them),[13]
but apparently they are being a little crazy. They have the indwelling of the Spirit, but are not filled with the Spirit… they are not walking by the Spirit. What this means
is that we have the opportunity to please God with how we live. The Spirit of
Jesus gives life to our mortal bodies... The bodies we have now. We can please
God through the power of Christ living in us.
This second problem we encounter
is that because we continue in sin and know it, we become frustrated and angry
about it because the Spirit convicts us of our sin; because we, by having the
Spirit, have a keen awareness of our sin. We want to please Him, but cannot do
so by drawing our power from the flesh. We must draw power from God in order to
please Him. He alone is good.
This is likely why there are
people who go to church for 20 or 40 years and are still a little crazy. They are
not walking by the Spirit. They are not being filled with the Spirit. They are ultimately
not drawing their power to please God from the Spirit of Him who indwells them.
They are attracted to Jesus because they know that He saves them from their
sin, and they are saved “if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in them.” But Jesus
saves the whole person! He is the answer to the problem of living to please God
after we are saved as well.
It seems that one of the reasons
God desires us to walk by the Spirit/ be filled with the Spirit, is because there
is to be Order in the Church.
All through the New Testament, one can see the patterns that continue to arise,
in which one of them is the idea that followers of Christ are to be gentle,
loving, thinking, compassionate, logical, and respectful, and they are to have
a very specific behavior that marks them. I think that one of the major reasons
for this is because when someone peeks into the windows of the church, they
should not see chaos, which I will elaborate on further below. 1 Peter teaches
us that our behavior really says something about the body of Christ; the
church. We are ambassadors individually and as a body of believers.
I think that ultimately and naturally,
people are attracted to order. I have heard an objection to this with the idea
of addictions, but let’s think of the nature of an addict for a moment. We
might think at first, that they want chaos, but this is in fact the opposite of
what is true. The reason people become addicts is because they want to escape
the chaos. Sometimes, reality is chaotic. Early on, when we dabble in alcohol,
drugs, sex, etc., it often works the same way that cults try to win someone over to their false religion. Someone has a bad day and they want to
escape. Alcohol is something an adult
drinks. Kids want respect from their peers, they want to have freedom, so they
sometimes try to find these things that help them leave reality. Cult member’s
prey on those who have been through hard times and offer them a false hope,
which is enough to get their wing caught in the flytrap. Addiction is very similar.
The false hope is a temporary escape, and in these cases, escape from disorder.
Unfortunately, the result is also disorder, because addiction is not the means
to find order.
People are attracted to order, and
this is why I believe the New Testament is filled with arguments for good behavior…
As in, why does good behavior please
God? Is it only because He Himself is good? Or could there possibly be more
reasons? Peter teaches us about our collective and individual behavior in 1
Peter 3 and so does the author of Hebrews in chapter 13. The thing is, when
people look into the windows of the church, the body of Christ, the New
Testament teaches that order will attract the curious, the
disorderly. Who would want to go into a bar, honestly, when there is a giant
brawl and the cops are everywhere? The same goes for the church. No one wants
to go into a place where there are a bunch of known hypocrites, or adulterers,
or greedy people. These are the kinds of things that push people away from the
church. You have probably even heard the excuses before if you didn’t use one
of them yourself.
In any case, order in the church
will possibly attract those who are looking for a break from the chaos of life.
People naturally want to have peace, which is order. The body of Christ is to
be a place of peace and hope for those who wander aimlessly through life, or
who are experiencing war. Walking by the Spirit causes order. Being filled with
the Spirit results in order in the church.
Here, we go a bit deeper: As far
as presuppositional apologetics being the starting point from which to do apologetics, I
would beg to differ. Presuppositional apologetics presupposes the idea that God exists
and that the Bible is the word of God. How do we know that God exists? Because
the Bible tells us so. This circle of reason traps a person who is trying to
build their theistic beliefs on firm foundation. Perhaps this is convincing to
one who already is a theist, but questionably unconvincing to a skeptic.
On the other hand, if one is already a Christian, a presuppositional apologetic
platform could be used to teach Christians that this suppression of the Holy
Spirit goes deeper than our first problem as we discussed above: that there is a separation between God and man, and we know that Jesus alone is the mediator, the Savior, our redeemer, and our solution to the problem.
There is a second level, in a
sense, of suppressing the Holy Spirit. The first is blaspheming the Holy Spirit.
The second is not walking by the Spirit, which ultimately is grieving the Holy Spirit. [14] Paul
says, in Romans 8:5, “For those who live according to the flesh set their minds
on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set
their minds on the things of the Spirit.” It is one or the other. Your mind is either set on the things of the flesh or on the things of the Spirit. If it
is set on the flesh, it is hostile to God.[15] Therefore,
grieving the Holy Spirit is walking by the flesh instead of walking by/ being
filled with the Spirit.
Presuppositionalism has its place,
but it is not the place which is historically understood. It is useful, but
only to one who is already a follower of Christ. Which, ultimately causes presuppositional apologetics to no longer be an apologetic method, but at this point becomes a discussion in theology.
“Walk by the Spirit, and you will
not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against
the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are
opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.”[16]
“The apostles said to the Lord, ‘Increase
our faith!’”[17]
© Nace Howell, 2020
[1]
Romans 7:13-20.
[2] 1
Corinthians 1:18; emphasis mine.
[3]
Romans 8:5-11.
[4] 1
Corinthians 6:19-20: “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy
Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20 for you
were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.”
[5]
Matthew 12:25.
[6] Mark
3:28-30: “Truly I say to you, all sins shall be forgiven the sons of men, and
whatever blasphemies they utter; but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit
never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin."
[7]
Romans 8:6.
[8] 1
John 1:8-9.
[9]
Matthew 5:28.
[10] 1
Corinthians 13:12; emphasis mine.
[11]
Ephesians 5:17-21; emphasis mine.
[12]
Galatians 5:16-17.
[13]
See Ephesians 1:1.
[14]
Ephesians 4:25-32.
[15]
Romans 8:7.
[16]
Galatians 5:16-17.
[17]
Luke 17:5.
Pastor Nace, thanks for that! For some reason I have been concentrating on Romans lately and found chapters 7&8 a great help in my attempts to walk with the spirit.Your insights are much appreciated!
ReplyDeleteIt is my pleasure! I know it was a lot of material to work through, but I just wanted to be thorough of a topic so misunderstood. Thank you!
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