Biblog

If we are in Christ Jesus, we will walk in the Spirit like Jesus walked...
And it came to pass also on another sabbath, that he entered into the synagogue and taught: and there was a man whose right hand was withered. And the scribes and Pharisees watched him, whether he would heal on the sabbath day; that they might find an accusation against him. But he knew their thoughts, and said to the man which had the withered hand, Rise up, and stand forth in the midst. And he arose and stood forth. Then said Jesus unto them, I will ask you one thing; Is it lawful on the sabbath days to do good, or to do evil? to save life, or to destroy [it]? And looking round about upon them all, he said unto the man, Stretch forth thy hand. And he did so: and his hand was restored whole as the other. And they were filled with madness; and communed one with another what they might do to Jesus. (Luke 6:6-11)

The healing of the man with the withered hand provides us an example of walking in the Spirit, which helps us to understand how to obey God's law. The Pharisees had many false interpretations of the word of God, and the Pharisees held onto their power base in their culture by teaching this long list of rules... Look at the way Jesus destroyed their power base and false teachings.
1. He asked questions about doing good and healing
2. He did not disobey any of God's laws, while at the same time showing the wickedness and foolishness of the Pharisees laws.
3. He spoke.
4. The man with the withered hand, lifted his hand (death to life), confirming the Spirit's power.

The Pharisees saw their power based destroyed in one quick second and went insane with rage! The Pharisees had no idea what to do. They looked for a way to accuse him -- by reviewing their false interpretations of Gods law, and still they were frustrated. Did he walk too far on the Sabbath? No. Did he do too much work on the Sabbath? No, he only spoke. Did the man with the withered hand do too much work on the Sabbath? Well, even a Pharisee will occasionally lift up his hand on the Sabbath.... so we see the Pharisees (in their madness) begin to walk in the counsel of the ungodly, and sit in the seat of the scornful (Psalm 1:1), and communed one with another what they might do to Jesus. Jesus heals the man with the whithered hand (Psalm 1:3) and prospers in all that He does. The man with the whithered hand stood up ( in the presence of God - the Son of God), but the Pharisees could not stand in the judgement. (Psalm 1:5) The ungodly are like the chaff which the wind (Spirit) driveth away. (Psalm 1:4)

Romans 8:1 [There is] therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

Pondering this notion of "walking not after the flesh, but after the Spirit"....
One thing that struck me this morning was the parallel to Psalm 1:1 "Walk not in the counsel of the ungodly..., but delight in the law/word..."

I filled in a few more of the Greek hints (re-editing/expanding my post for 12-Jan-2004).

Two Words are all I studied today... No Condemnation
It's Wednesday already and my study of Greek is painfully slow... but "Don't Worry, Be Happy" - there is No Condemnation for those in Christ Jesus, so it's OK to only study 1 or 2 words a day. Day by day Jesus is teaching me. He is the living Word.

What I mean is, "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly". Absorb it all. Study it carefully. Meditate on it continually... but if you have a day that the paths of righteousness seem to you as difficult as slogging through a field of thick mud - do not despair, O Pilgrim. Continue on. God promised his word to be light for the path. He did not promise the path would be easy. But I want to go fast, keep moving quickly, get to my desination in a hurry. Why? Suddenly I realize God wants me to slow down and just ponder these two wonderful words... No Condemnation.

Continuing our study on Romans 8:1 -- Move your cursor slowly across the Greek text to see short definition; click to view more detail from Blue Letter Bible and Thayers Greek Lexicon.

ουδεν αρα νυν κατακριμα τοις εν χριστω ιησου μη κατα σαρκα περιπατουσιν αλλα κατα πνευμα

View whole chapter of Romans 8 in Greek NT.

As my friends, family and daily readers know, I stated my goal for the first 90 days of 2004 was to focus on Romans 8 and Psalm 91 (at the same time). If you want to follow along, you should read both passages (chapters), and in fact -- read the whole book of Romans (or least the first seven chapters) for the context. The context is important because the first word in Romans 8 is therefore.
"[There is] therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." My teacher in college said when you see a therefore, you have to find out what it's there for. Why did he say therefore? What preceded it?

Let's do a 30 second review of Romans 1 to 7 to see the context of chapter 8.
1. Paul greets the readers of his letter. (Rom. 1:1-15)
2. Not ashamed of the Gospel, theme of letter - Righteousness of God (Rom. 1:16,17)
3. The Universal Sinfulness of Man
   a. Gentile/Pagan Sinfulness and God's anger (Rom. 1:18-32)
   b. Jewish Sinfulness (Rom. 2:1-3:8)
   c. Universal Sinfulness - everyone is a sinner (Rom. 3:9-20)
4. God's Righteousness in Justification (Rom. 3:21-5:21)
5. Grace conquers the power of sin - Dead to Sin, Alive in Christ (Rom. 6)
6. Believers are not yet sinless, but dead to any condemnation of the law (Rom. 7)
7. Therefore, believers - living in the Spirit - have victory over sin and the flesh. (Rom. 8)

Therefore now no condemnation... The Greek word of the day is αρα, transliterated ara {ar'-ah}, and translated as therefore, so then, wherefore.