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DirtBags 6/10/2011

2011. John Creamer. All rights reserved.

Questions:

• What are some examples of life-or-death situations?
• What various responses might people have when faced with a life-or-death situation?
• What are some of the determining factors in how people respond to these difficult situations?

Scientists led by Dr. Steven Maier at the University of Colorado wanted to know if something in the brain’s circuitry might control this. They reported in the journal Nature Neurosciencethat when a [laboratory] rat is in a stressful situation, it uses a decision-making part of the brain called the medial prefrontal cortex to decide if the situation is controllable: if it is, that section of the brain sends a message to a region deep in the brain stem where basic life functions like heart rate are controlled and calms everything down. [According to Dr. Maier], “What the prefrontal cortex does is it detects when you have control and then says, ‘Cool it brain! You don’t need to get so aroused and agitated.’”

In our day-to-day physical life, life-or-death situations often come at us without warning, such as an automobile accident, a health crisis, being caught in a natural disaster such as a tornado, being in the wrong place at the wrong time such as an armed robbery, or any number of unforeseen situations.Perhaps scientists will one day determine why different people have different responses to these life-or-death situations.

Meanwhile, in Romans Chapter 8 Paul describes a different kind of life-or-death situation as well as the determining factor for life…or death…

Scripture: (Underline/italics in Scriptures are mine for emphasis.)

Romans 8:5-6(NIV) 5Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.6The mind of sinful man£ is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace;

• In our spiritual life, life-or-death need not be at the last moment—without warning; spiritual life-or-death is the result of our own personal decision…whether we choose to have the mindof sinful man or the mind controlled by the Spirit.

If we choose to have the mind of sinful man we choose death.

If we choose to have the mind controlled by the Spirit we choose life and peace.

Romans 8:7-8(NIV) 7the sinful mind£ is hostile to God. It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so.8Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.

• What is characteristic of the mind controlled by the sinful nature relate to God? (Hostility.)

Romans 8:9-11(NIV) 9You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.10But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness.11And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.

• If Christ is in us, [even though] our body is dead because of sin, what about out spirit? (It is alive because of righteousness [through our faith in Christ Jesus].)

But…we are still under obligation to decide which mind we choose to follow…

Romans 8:12-13(NIV) 12Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation—but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it.13For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live,

• We know which mind we should follow, yet we still sometimes make wrong choices to live according to the sinful nature. How can we correct this? Ray Stedman comments on this:
  

Just being a Christian does not mean that automatically you begin to look and act and talk and think and react like Jesus Christ. You do not become Christ-like when you become a Christian. Your human spirit is, for it is linked with him, but you may not act that way for quite some time. It depends on whether you are walking (behaving) according to the flesh or according to the Spirit.

Romans 8:5-13 tells us that if we are in the Spirit, we have the possibility of walking according to the Spirit, and thus we have power to overcome the sin that is within. Now, that is a very important matter, and one that we ought to understand clearly. Because we do not always feel that we have power to overcome sin, we need to recognize that certain facts are true, whether we feel it or not. The fact is that, because we are in Christ, and in the Spirit, we have the power to walk according to the Spirit -- if we choose to. As Paul says in Galatians 5:25, "If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit," (Galatians 5:25 KJV). That is the way to victory.

What happens when you, as a Christian, let yourself live just like the world does and never bring the perspective of God into what you do? Then you are living according to the flesh. And the thinking of the flesh is death, while that of the Spirit is life and peace. In other words, this describes the results that come right now in our experience. Death is not something waiting for you at the end of your life; it is something that you experience right now, whenever you live according to the flesh.

What is death? If you study through the Scriptures you will find that death, in this present experience, always comes down to four basic things: fear, guilt, hostility, and emptiness. Those are the forms of death, and they come when you have your mind set on those things -- and only those things -- that the flesh desires: making money, having fun, fulfilling yourself, and gaining fame. If that is all you want out of life, then you will also have with it fear, guilt, hostility, emptiness, in all their various forms: Fear can appear as worry, anxiety, dread, or timidity. Guilt can show up in your life as shame, self-hatred, self-righteousness, or perfectionism. Hostility will manifest itself as hate, resentment, bitterness, revenge, or cruelty. Emptiness can show up as loneliness, depression, discouragement, despair, meaninglessness. These are all symptoms of death.

As if that were not enough, these symptoms of death not only have this immediate effect upon our feelings, but they actually go on to settle into the body and affect our physical functioning. As many of us, perhaps, have already found from our various experiences of death, we can develop nervous twitches, tics, rashes, eczema, ulcers, stuttering, heart attacks, cancer, and many other diseases. This, literally, is death. We are producing death in our experience if, as Christians, we continue to live and think and act like the world lives and thinks and acts. If, on Monday morning, we go right back to living just like everyone else does, and reacting like everyone else does, living for the very reasons they live for, death will be produced in our lives. You can see this in the world around. All around us we see testimony to the fact that fear, guilt, hostility, loneliness, and emptiness are the results of thinking like the world thinks.

What is life? Once again, if I may summarize all that the Scriptures say on this, life includes four basic things that are opposite qualities to death: If death is fear, then life is trust, hope, and confidence. If death is guilt, then life is a feeling of acceptance, security, and assurance. If death is hostility, then life is love, friendliness, kindness, and reaching out to others. If death is emptiness, then life is a sense of well-being, fulfillment, excitement, vitality, and fullness of life.With life comes peace, which, of course, is an inner calm, a quiet spirit, a remarkable sense of being able to cope and to handle life. That is what comes when the mind is set on the Spirit.

What we really are saying is that behavior depends on seeing and recognizing who you are and the basic facts about your identity. Psychologists tell us this. They say that only when you have a clear idea of who you really are can you then act that way. But you can't turn the two around. You can't act like something you would like to be, and thus gradually become that kind of person. That is what confuses so many people today. Millions of people today are operating on the basis that they will become the kind of person they would like to be if they act that way. But that is wrong. The Word of God tells us the truth -- the way to become different is to become changed at the very basis of your being by faith in Christ, so that you are something different. And if you believe what you are, you will begin to act that way. What a difference that makes!

In the second half of Romans8, Paul gives us a further revelation of what being in Christ and in the Spirit actually means. The apostle has been leading us step by step to understand more fully our new identity in Jesus Christ. The more we understand that identity, and the more we believe it to be true, under all circumstances, the more quickly we will begin to act that way.

What are the signs in our lives to show us whether we are living according to the sinful nature—the sinful mind—which is death, or whether we have our minds set on what the Spirit desires [which] is life and peace?

Galatians 5:16-17(NIV) 16So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.17For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want.

• How do these verses describe the life-or-death conflict going on within us?

Galatians 5:19-21(NIV) 19The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery;20idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions21and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

• What are the signs of our living according to the sinful nature [which is death]?

Galatians 5:22-26(NIV) 22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,23gentleness and self–control. Against such things there is no law.24Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires.25Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.26Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

• What are the indications we are living in accordance with the Spirit [which is life]?

Other indicators of living in accordance with the Spirit [which is life and peace]:

Ability to lead…

(Acts 6:1-7 NIV) In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Grecian Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. {2} So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, "It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. {3} Brothers, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them {4} and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word." {5} This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit; also Philip, Procures, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism. {6} They presented these men to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them. {7} So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.

• What was the need? (Take care of the overlooked widows.)
• Verse 3…As the Twelve searched for men to meet the need, what qualifications did they say the seven needed to possess? (Full of [keeping in step with] the Spirit.)
• What was the result in verse 7? (Word of God spread, number of disciples increased.)

…Ability to lead people to the Lord…

(Acts 11:24 NIV) He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord.

• According to this verse describing Barnabas, what is one of the evidences of a person full of [keeping in step with] the Holy Spirit?

…Ability to deal with life’s adversities and hard times…

(Romans 5:3-5 NIV) Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; {4} perseverance, character; and character, hope. {5} And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.

• When we are in step with the Holy Spirit, how do we deal with adversity?

…To intercede for us when we don’t know what we ought to pray for…

(Romans 8:26-28 NIV) In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. {27} And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will. {28} And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

• Have you ever tried to pray, but did not really know what to pray for or how to pray? What assistance does someone keeping in step with the Spirit receive?
• What reassurance in verse 28 do we have about how things work out when we are in step with the Spirit?

…To give us righteousness, peace and joy…to overflow with hope…

(Romans 14:17 NIV) For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit,

(Romans 15:13 NIV) May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

• What is God’s plan for us as we live in accordance with the Spirit? (Righteousness, peace and joy; as we trust in God we overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.)

…To enable us to proclaim the testimony about God…

(1 Corinthians 2:1-5 NIV) When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. {2} For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. {3} I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. {4} My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, {5} so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power.

• Verse 1…What was Paul ‘proclaiming’ to them?
• How did he not proclaim the testimony about God to them?
• According to verse 5, why did Paul rely on keeping in step with God’s Spirit instead of his persuasive human skills to reveal God to these people?

…To help everyone understand the testimony about God…

(1 Corinthians 2:10-14 NIV) but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. {11} For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man's spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. {12} We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. {13} This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. {14} The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. {15} The spiritual man makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man's judgment: {16} "For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him?" But we have the mind of Christ.

• According to these verses, how does a person ultimately come to understand the testimony about God?

…The Spirit is a deposit, guaranteeing our salvation…

(2 Corinthians 1:21-22 NIV) Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, {22} set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.