The Hopeful Hopeless: Spider-Man, Paul, and a Bleak Future

On Monday night we went to see The Amazing Spider-Man 2 as a family. We enjoyed it, but we didn't love it. It made me think, though. I walked away from the theatre into the rainy night and there were tears in my eyes, yet more from the emotion the movie left me with rather than the events in the movie itself. This emotion that I was left with was hopelessness. And that was pretty much the opposite of what the movie was meant to convey.

Peter Parker wanted to be Spider-Man because he thought it gave people hope. Hope in what? That was never really stated, just implied. The hope was in the fact that things were going to get better. People were going to get better. Life was just somehow going to get better.

That's why I was saddened - because what Spider-Man was fighting for is not even real hope. It's just misguided optimism, a fake brand of happiness that gets you nowhere. Peter Parker thought he was giving people hope, but he was really only brightening a bleak future.

Paul's words in Romans 15:13 really hit it home to me:

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

True hope comes nowhere but from the Holy Spirit. The unbeliever is the hopeful hopeless, hoping for the impossible, the invisible, and the unrealistic. Things "getting better" is a desperately bleak future to look for. That is why the Christian can rejoice, because their hope is not bleak. It's not in vain. We don't look for the goodness of mankind to pull us through, high school kids in blue and red spandex to give us hope. We have the hope of the gospel. The goodness of God, the glory of Christ's work on the cross, the encouragement of the Holy Spirit is what gives us hope. 

And our hope rests in a coming kingdom, a conquering King who will return for His bride to bring consummation and renewal to a corrupt earth. One day, each Christian will have their hope realized in the return of Christ. But for now we wait with joy and peace. We pray and we trust God. 

And we hope. 

And If Children, Also Heirs ...

After scooting out of town on a little two-night trip (a Christmas present from Mom and Dad), we're back home (and that means I'm back to my laptop!) Lately I've been rolling around some recent verses I've memorized from Romans 8, and they're so encouraging I want to share them with you:

"For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, 'Abba, Father.' The Spirit Himself testifies together with our spirit that we are God's children, and if children, also heirs - heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ - seeing that we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him." Romans 8:15-17

Unpacking the True Biblical Definition of Sanctification

Sanctification. There's another one of those words that Christians litter throughout their prayers and speeches, often without understanding the implications of what they're saying, or misunderstanding the true definition. I know I have. If we unpack this doctrine and boil down the basic questions, we'll be more edified and more equipped to share the gospel.

What is Sanctification?
Sanctification is, quite simply, the process of becoming more holy, or more like Christ. Once you become a Christian, you step onto the winding road of sanctification, in which you're in for a wild ride. You follow this road your entire life, and as you grow in your faith, you're molded more into the likeness of Christ and you become a more mature Christian.

Does the Bible Talk About Sanctification?
The quick answer: 100% yes! Now, for the longer answer: The English Standard Version contains no less than 16 references to sanctification (Exodus 31:13; Leviticus 21:8; 2 Kings 10:20; Isaiah 29:23; Isaiah 66:17; John 17:17; Romans 6:19; Romans 6:22; 1 Corinthians 1:30; Ephesians 5:26; 1 Thessalonians 4:3; 1 Thessalonians 5:23; 2 Thessalonians 2:13; Hebrews 9:13; Hebrews 13:12; 1 Peter 1:2). A verse that I think sums up this doctrine beautifully is Hebrews 13:12: "So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his own blood." Jesus' blood made it so that we might become more like him,  more righteous and more holy. 1 Thessalonians 5:23 also adds to the biblical definition: "Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." Only God can grant us sanctification. We can't become more like Christ on our own. We're helpless without the "God of peace himself." Only he can mold us more into the image of his Son and give us complete sanctification.

When Does Sanctification End?
The simple answer? When we die. Romans 6:22 says, "But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life." From this verse we learn that the end of sanctification is eternal life, i.e. heaven, where the true believers go after they die. Sanctification is a life-long process. Unfortunately, in this world of instant coffee, microwave meals, and I-want-what-I-want-and-I-want-it-now attitude, sanctification doesn't seem too cool. That's because it wouldn't to this sinful world. Christ is offensive to them. So if you're becoming more like Christ, you'll definitely be offensive to this world. But thank goodness that the world is not who we're trying to please. Amen?

"For this is the will of God, your sanctification." ~ 1 Thessalonians 4:3

Romans Road Review, Or Not-Part 3: Romans 10:9; Romans 10:13

Welcome to my final post of our Romans Road reviewing (or learning). Today we are going to finish off our 6 steps to salvation. For a quick review over what we learned so far, let's look at our first 4 verses: John 3:16; Romans 3:23; Romans 6:23; Romans 5:8. We learned that God loved the world, but we sin and can't enter God's presence. We deserve death, but God sends us a gift. The gift is Jesus, God's son, who died on the cross in place of us. Today we will look at the final verses (Romans 10:9 and Romans 10:13) of this series.

'If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.' -Romans 10:9

'All who call on the name of Jesus will be saved.' -Romans 10:13

So by reading the other 4 verses we learn what God did for us, but these verses tell us what we need to do. We need to confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord. That means that we need to say that Jesus is Lord, but that's not all. We need to believe in our heart, not just in our head, that God raised Jesus from the dead. If we do this we will be saved. The most important thing though, is to call on Jesus. If we call on Jesus we will be saved. It says right there in Romans 10:13. That means that our 6 steps to salvation are:

1. God loved the world. (John 3:16)
2. We sin though, and can not enter God's presence. (Romans 3:23)
3. We deserve to die, but God sent us a gift. (Romans 6:23)
4. God sent us Jesus to die in our place. (Romans 5:8)
   
5. We need to say that Jesus is Lord and believe in our hearts that He is raised from the dead. (Romans 10:9)
6. We need to call on the name of Jesus and then we will be saved. (Romans 10:13)
   

Romans Road Review, Or Not-Part 2: Romans 6:23; Romans 5:8

Welcome back to reviewing, or learning, the Romans Road verses. Yesterday we looked at John 3:16 and Romans 3:23. We learned of the first two steps to salvation.

1. God loved the world (John 3:16)
   
2. We sin though, and can not enter God's presence (Romans 3:23)
   

Today we are looking at Romans 6:23 and Romans 5:8 to get some help for our problem.

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. -Romans 6:23

But God demonstrates His love for in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us. -Romans 5:8

This means step three to salvation is that we deserve to die, but God gave us a gift through His son, Jesus Christ. God showed us His love by sending us the gift of Jesus Christ to die in our place. Wow! Is that amazing or what? Jesus took our punishment. The only perfect being to walk the earth took the punishment for millions of worthless sinners. Now this is great, but we can't stop here. But, we are for now. Don't fret. We'll finish off the last Romans Road verses tomorrow. So the first 4 steps to salvation are:

1. God loved the world (John 3:16)
   
2. We sin though, and can not enter God's presence (Romans 3:23)
   
3. We deserve to die, but God sent us a gift (Romans 6:23)
   
4. God sent us Jesus to die in our place on the cross (Romans 5:8)
   

Romans Road Review, Or Not-Part 1: John 3:16; Romans 3:23

Hello, readers. At my church, Gospel Light Baptist Church, in Sunday School, we are memorizing the Romans Road verses. We memorized John 3:16; Romans 3:23; Romans 6:23; Romans 5:8; Romans 10:9; Romans 10:13. I wanted to share them with you, two at a time. This may be review to you, and it may not. Today we are looking at John 3:16 and Romans 3:23.

"For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only son, that whoever believes in Him will not die, but have eternal life." John 3:16

"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Romans 3:23

In these two verses we learn of the first two steps to salvation:

1. God loved the world
2. We sin though, and so can not enter God's presence

God is perfect and holy and sin can not be in the presence of Him. So now we have a problem. But what can we do about this problem? Tune in tomorrow as we discover how God solved our problem. Or if you just can't wait you can email me anytime or you can look it up yourself with the scriptures above.

These verses may be new to you and they may be review. If you haven't memorized these I would encourage you to because the Romans Road verses will help you lead a person to Christ. They sum up the gospel in a few verses. So, the gist of it: God loved. We sinned. Tune in tomorrow to find what's next.