bible.org Archives – Sonshine's Journal

1Cor 9 You may not know this fact, but all of the materials on Bible.org are free to anyone. Only three out of eight employees are salary based; all others, including this author, are full-time…get that… full-time volunteers. You might wonder why? The answer comes from the words of Paul to the Corinthians: “What then is my reward? That when I/we preach the gospel I/we may offer the gospel free of charge, and so not make full use of my/our rights in the gospel.” [1Cor 9:18]

Bible.org is not only volunteer-based; all monies that are received are used for this work strictly by your donations. We are grateful beyond words for you who choose sacrificially to donate to this ministry. Truly Paul’s words ring true: “For since I am/we are free from all I can/we can make myself a slave to all, in order to gain even more people.” [1Cor 9:19]

If you are looking for an end-of-year place to donate, please would you pray to include Bible.org in your donations? It takes hours and much planning to bring these materials to you freely. Again, Paul reminds us why he is, and we are volunteers in the Lord’s ministry: “I/We do all things because of the gospel so that I/we can be a participant in it.” [1Cor 9:23]

Romans 8:

One of the greatest privileges a believer in Christ has is his freedom from condemnation, both here and in the afterlife. Freed from the rules and regulations of the Law, the believer is freed to follow the Holy Spirit’s leading and guidance regarding the standards of the Commandments. Today, in Romans 8 Paul continues his dialog with both Jew and Greek as to how to live as we face the battles between the flesh and the new nature. The battle begins in the mind and is carried out in one’s life.

Point 1: Know that you are no longer condemned by the law of sin. We are free in Christ to walk in newness of life.

Point 2: We will face struggles here until we leave for eternity. Therefore, we need to set our minds on the things of the Spirit not on the things of the flesh. The mind set on the flesh is hostile towards God and brings only death. The mind set on the Spirit is pleasing towards God and brings life. Our attitudes and actions reveal which one we have chosen.

Point 3: Our empowering comes from the Holy Spirit who illuminates our spirit to the things of God. In addition, the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness by reminding us of our new walk, of what is sin, what is displeasing to God through conviction in our spirit. The Holy Spirit intercedes for us in prayer at the throne of God with groanings that cannot be uttered by man. The Holy Spirit searches our hearts to see where we are astray and to redirect us. Lastly, not only does the Holy Spirit intercede for us in prayer but He intercedes for us according to the will of God because He knows the will of God whereas sometimes we are either ignorant or unwilling to accede.

Point 4: Paul has led us through this maze of thoughts to bring us to the crux of this whole issue which is what our total perspective should be as one changed from the inside out. Whereas the enemy seeks to undermine and to destroy, the Holy Spirit seeks to encourage. We are no longer condemned; therefore no one has the right or privilege to be against us spiritually speaking; no one or nothing can separate us from the love of God; and lastly through all tribulations we now can overwhelmingly rejoice and be conquerors.

So the question is why are we wringing our hands and weeping when we should be rejoicing? We are more than conquerors through Christ once we realize the battle begins in the mind and is transferred to our actions and attitudes.

This graphic, courtesy of David Austin, former Exec Direc of bible.org shows how this works.

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