PRAYER OF CONSECRATION
Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.
Jesus, I belong to you.
I lift up my heart to you.
I set my mind on you.
I fix my eyes on you.
I offer my body as a holy and living sacrifice to you.
Jesus, We belong to you.
Praying in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, amen.
Romans 8:1–11 (NIV)
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.
You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. And 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 because of his Spirit who lives in you.
CONSIDER THIS
Romans 8 introduces us to what I like to call the second half of the gospel. This is the territory of great awakening. Why do I say this? Because most self-identifying Christians are not really pressing into Romans 8 so much. They are still back in Romans 5–6 territory as it relates to their faith and living more in a Romans 7-esque experience of anemic growth and arrested development. And if you don’t believe me take a look at this five-minute video we made on day one of Seedbed (now more than ten years ago).
Here’s why I call Romans 8 the territory of great awakening. When the church wakes up to the second half of the gospel, the world will wake up to the first half of the gospel. See what I mean? The world is simply not going to wake up as a result of the witness of a lot of half-baked Christians. So what about this movement from the first half of the gospel to the second half of the gospel? Here’s a sketch:
The second half of the gospel is the big shift from:
- Romans 5–6 to Romans 8.
- Jesus is my Savior to Jesus is my Lord.
- The Holy Spirit is an interesting idea to the Holy Spirit is an infused reality.
- Deliverance from the penalty of sin to deliverance from the power of sin.
- Forgiveness for sins to freedom from sin.
- Justification by grace through faith to sanctification by grace through faith.
- Lord, you took me out of Egypt too—now take Egypt out of me.
- God as King and Judge to God as Abba Father.
- True in principle to true in fact.
- Christian in name to Christian in game.
- A life of commitment to a life of consecration.
- I’m not perfect, just forgiven to I’m not just forgiven I’m being made perfect.
Again—the big idea—when the church wakes up to the second half of the gospel, the world will wake up to the first half of the gospel. And then we will be ready to lead them into the fullness of the second half. It makes sense, doesn’t it? When a person who says they are a Christian actually begins to live the Christian life, people take note.
And if you didn’t take time to watch the five-minute video, now would be a good time. And no comments on how much I’ve aged!
THE PRAYER
Father, I’m ready for the second half of the gospel. I am ready for the life-giving law of the Spirit to be the governing dynamic of my life. I am ready to leave behind the country of a compromised life. Thank you Jesus for this life, which is your life in my life. Thank you for sending the Holy Spirit who makes this life real. I’m ready. Praying in Jesus’s name, amen.
THE QUESTION
Does the first half—second half framework help you make sense of how the gospel works? Are you ready? What holds you back?
THE HYMN
This week we will be singing one of the all-time greatest hits of Charles Wesley, “Love Divine All Love’s Excelling.” It is hymn 88 in our Seedbed hymnal, Our Great Redeemer’s Praise. We will take our time as it could fairly be called the theme song of the second half of the gospel. It is dense with theology and we need to digest the depths of what we are singing.
For the Awakening,
J. D. Walt
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4 Responses
It’s impossible for me to view the current state of the world at this time and not see that much of what was once assumed to be reality has been revealed to be a mirage. There is a sense of betrayal by most of our once trusted institutions, the institutional church, no exception. Could this be a God given prequel to the next Great Awakening? Once all the man-made props are decimated, what is left but exclusive reliance on God’s grace. Jesus said, “Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man.” (Luke 21:36)
For several hundred years, modernism has promised utopia without God. In the last century, existentialism made man the measure of all things. Post-modernism is recognizing that the promises of both are a sham. Young people are recognizing that reason doesn’t fulfill the needs of man, but they don’t have the solid basis of a Christian God to turn to. So they are making things up, based on the influence of existentialism.
To me, this is an opportunity. In the past wishy-washy Christians (like me) have been one of the biggest impediments to the gospel. We have an opportunity to introduce Jesus to a pantheistic world that has rejected such Christianity, much like Paul in Athens. Let’s tell them about Jesus, not a religion.
Rob, I agree. Now is the the time to not only proclaim Jesus, but also to display Jesus as we submit totally to his will in us. The contrast between religion and true discipleship will draw both young and old to Christ.
Desire-governed minds do what they want. Spirit-governed minds obey the risen Jesus.
Desire-governed people are hostile when they don’t get what they want. They are dragged along and controlled by compelling cravings and rebellious compulsions.
Spirit-governed governed people overflow with inner peace. They soar in the wind of God’s Spirit as they ever surrender to and submit to the realm of the resurrected Jesus.
If we don’t want to be “half-way,” Christians today need to be able to say and to demonstrate: “This (what we’re now experiencing) is that (the Spirit-led experiences taught in the Bible).” See Acts 2.