fruit for our master

Monday, March 23, 2009

[If I haven't heard from you that you read this blog, or visit it, I'd like to hear from you. It's meaningful to me, and helpful, but I'm evaluating whether I'll keep doing it after Lent. I'd especially like to hear from Church of the Apostles people. Thanks. markjdicristina@yahoo.com]


Jer. 16:10-21; Rom. 7:1-12; John 6:1-15

Likewise, my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God. (Romans 7:4)

I think Paul is referring to our uniting ourselves with Christ in baptism, as we saw in chapter 6. He really died. In believing the gospel, in putting our whole trust in his grace and love, we so identify with Messiah Jesus, with his death and resurrection, that we die to an old way of living. In this case, we have died to the law.

Robert put it this way in his sermon yesterday: Jesus - dead, raised; us - dead, raised (preaching on Ephesians 2:4-5).

There are two proceeding truths from this death to the law, from any sort of finding our life, our hope, our future in the law: (1) we belong to another (to him who has been raised from the dead); and (2) that we might bear fruit for God (fruit of sanctification and eternal life).

Now fruitfulness and servitude go together, in the body of Messiah, now that we belong to him, now that we live for life, for love, for God and God's. We belong to and are servants of The Servant; so that we might bear fruit in him and for him who is the first fruit of all creation, of the new creation, in him from whom the Spirit of life and all fruitfulness pours into us abundantly.

But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code. (v. 6)

Now our focus is on life, not law; relying on God the Spirit, not "the letter" (literally); now love, not judgment. This huge shift of heart is literally like death - from perpetually scanning the letters and words of even the beautiful, holy Torah, and evaluating myself thereby... to a continual gaze in adoration and wonder at Jesus, beautiful and holy, dying on the cross and reigning on the throne, and accepting myself thereby...

Bear fruit in me, O living, loving Savior and Lord!