From Misery to Freedom | Romans 7:14 - 8:4

You're listening to the Bible Guys, a podcast where a couple of friends talk about the Bible in fun in practical ways. Good morning, good morning, talk, good morning to you and you. And man Alive. Monday and Thursday. Monday and Thursday, this week is such a good morning for tuning into the Bible guys. What I mean it could get any better? I don't think not, Jeff. We just peeked. Yep, they did, And so hey, we want to just say thanks for tuning in, and we hope that you're able to share the Bible guys. We haven't asked that in a while, but it'll be great. Tell people that, hey, I appreciate the Bible guys. Out Let people know. Well, it's not just helping us, it's helping them. Well, we're trying to get the word out. Yeah for sure. But but yeah, if you like an episode, if it speaks to your heart, then just share. It will be great. Hey, today we actually have before we dive into the scripture in Roman chapter seven and eight. It's not six seven seven. Eight seven eight oh yeah. Yeah. However, we are going to do a segment called stump the pastor yes. I like these, Yeah, this is fun. Scott g Yeah, can I read this please? Hi, Scott, Scott says this, Hey. Bibble, guys. I've always wondered about Jesus's name. His original Hebrew name was Yeshua or Yeshua, which means Yahweh saves or you're Shua right, yeah, depending on how you want to pronounce it. Over time we started saying Jesus instead. But since names and their meetings are so important to God throughout scripture, does it matter which name we use? Is it just a translation thing or is there something deeper behind it? I love that question. That's good. It's really good thinking, Scott. It's great thinking. Yeah, great. And so you know, so Yahweh is the name of God. And when you combine that with the verb in Hebrew, which means saves or rescues, you put those together, that's where you get Yeshua, right, which is which is Yahweh saves, which is God saves. Which is the exact same name that we translate Joshua. Yes, that's correct today. So Joshua in the Old Testament would have had the same name as Jesus. Yeah. And so when when the Angel appeared to marry and said you're going to have a son, and you are to call him. She would he would have said this word, right, he would have said Yeshua. And he would have said because he is going to save people from their sins. So he literally gave the explanation behind the meaning of the name. So all of that was in Hebrew. Yeah, very cool. So Scott's question is great, then shouldn't we isn't that the name we should be using? Correct? Right? I think if we were in So it's interesting. The idea of praying in Jesus's name comes from the Gospels. Jesus said, we ask anything in my name, I'll do it for you. Bible says there's no other name utter haven given among men whereby we must be saved. There's multiple that his name is name above every name, and his name every name will bow every time, will confess that Jesus's lord. So the name of Jesus is incredibly powerful and there's nothing God says, nothing higher than Jesus name. So it seems like a big deal. And so Scott's thinking, right, should we just only be using Yeshuah? Here's what I would say. Certainly, Mary and Joseph called him yashuwa, yeah right, because they would have in the house, they would have spoken Hebrew. Yes, very likely. I can't guarantee that, but it's likely. Aramaic was really the language of the people in Galilee at the time, but it was likely that they spoke in the synagogues. Jesus was probably called Yeshua. The issue was saying we should only pray Yeshua and not Jesus is because the verse that we get it that we should pray in jesus name was written in Greek, not in Hebrew, so it didn't even use Jesus. It used that. They didn't Greeks couldn't use the s h sound. There was no letter that gave us right, so they spelled that I E s o U s. Oh, yeah right there, you looked it up. I E s O U. S which is pronounced yeah right. So that's Jesus's name in Greek. In Greek, that's the way that Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John would have written it. That's how That's how Paul would have written it. Peter, that's how he would have written it. James, that's how he would have writen a. Jude would have written it. That way the author of Hebrews would have written with that only those letters. Those lettership. It's actually in Latin, which you know, the the Romans began replacing Greek right after Jesus, rate after Paul's life and John's life, they began replacing Greek with Latin. Latin was I E. S O S. They took out the U, so it wasn't Zeus's sous right, but it was basically Jesus. It's how they would have said it in Latin Jesus, which is funny. And it's important to probably understand that Greek was the language that was used in commerce. Yes, Greek was the language that unified everybody. Everybody in the market would have spoken Greek. Yes, because Joseph as a as A, as a carpenter would have spoken Greek. It's actually one of the reasons why the Roman Empire was able to move further and faster than any other empire up to that point, because of the Rhodes, but also because Greek unified everybody, and there was for the first time. It was because of Alexander the Great. They didn't come in to try to change. Alexander had expanded his kingdom so far everybody could do business and government in Greek. So the Romans didn't try to change it. They just went, okay, we're gonna learn Greek too, right. And so so it was it was the first time that the world was united, which by the way, is a sermon altogether, because you know, it says that Jesus came at the perfect time for such a time as that, not for such a time as this, when the when the perfect time it comes, right, when the fullness of time it come. It was in the world was ripe for Jesus. And in Greek, I think was a part of that equation. For the first time the gospel could be spread in any language that everybody can understand anyway, go ahead on. So so the the idea of praying in Jesus' name was written down in Greek I E s O U S. It changed for the the The Romans didn't use the SEUs sound, so it would have been more of a Sus sound, and so they because it just isn't in how they spoke, so they I S O S or I E s O S. Eventually in Italian it's Jesu. In Spanish it became Jesus. Over in Asia. In many places in Southeast Asia, it's Jesu or Jesu, right, it's how they say it. Here's the thing, because a relationship with God is in the heart, right, and it's through Christ. I don't know that God is expecting us to worship him in a dead language because that version of Hebrew is dead. That is, it's not even the vision of Hebrew that they speak today in Jerusalem. Right, Although they would say Jesus in Yeshua in Jerusalem. That's that's how they would say his name. So if you're in Jerusalem, you should say Yushua. But God doesn't expect us to worship him in a dead language, in a dead culture. He expects me to worship Him in my culture and in my language, my heart language. There's a difference between speaking a foreign language and hearing the Gospel in my heart language, right, And so it's a heart thing. And uhh. The fact that the original writings about praying in Jesus name weren't in Hebrew gives us an indication we don't need to pray in Hebrew. So is there a verse in the Bible that says you have to pray in Yeshua's name? No, no, Well that that verse doesn't even exist because it would have been an I E s o u s name right. Yesus, yes, which translates into Jesus. That's right. Yeah. So so should we say in Ea Seus's name? Uh No, No, I don't think so, because that doesn't mean anything to us, right, it's it's it's not it's not a heart language thing. The way we would say e a SEUs is Jesus, the way that a Southeast Asian would say it is Jesu, the way that a Spanish person would say it is Jesus. Right. Which, by the way, I had a friend who his company gave him a new work coat and you can put your name on it, and so he put Jesus Saves on the name tag. And he said, this guy kept looking at him, look at him, look at him for like a week. Finally came up to him and says, hey, who is Heyesu sabiz and why are you wearing his coat? He could not figure out he couldnt jess. Right because because he wasn't reading in English, he was reading it in Spanish. Who is Heyesu sabas and Jesus Saves? So h use the language of your heart to communicate to God. And then just know this, you're not going to get in trouble. This is my final note on this. Uh. The Book of Romans tells us that the Holy Spirit prays for us, intercedes for us at the throne of God with groanings that cannot be uttered. He's literally translating what you're saying to God in a language we can't even comprehend, correct, right, So that means you can't mess it up. If I had when I was teaching and my friend Bill how to how to share the gospel. We were down in Cuba and he had a translator and he was all nervous, and I'm like, Bill, just tell people. Everybody's a sinner. God loves sinners. Jesus paid the price for sinners, and if we by faith calling Jesus, he'll save us, right, Okay, Okay. So he's memorized those things he's memory he's trying to memorize the verses. He keeps stumbling through it. He was in his late fifties at the time, so he was kind of struggling memorizing a thing. So I went to his translator privately and I'm like, hey, Bill's still trying to learn how to use or share the gospel. Uh, just say whatever needs to be said. That's so funny, right, and and Bill will come. I go. We let another guy to Jesus today. I'm like, great, and I'd look at his his translator's translator be like you know, but Bill just kept getting better and better and better sharing the gospel. But his translator wasn't gonna let him grew up. So if you understand the Holy Spirit, that's his job is to pray, take our prayers to God in groanings that we can't utter. The Holy Spirit is translating for us. He's not gonna let us mess upright, And so yeah. Yeah, and there's no and there's no uh indication in scripture at all that says that you must use the original Hebrew language name. And if we were, if we were to interpret it that way, then it would it would it would be us learning Hebrew and speaking Hebrew. Probably that's right, most likely, that's right. Well, Hey, we went a long time on that one, But that's a great question, Scott, And good job, buddysions. Yeah, good, good thoughts on that one. Well, hey, we are in a really powerful passage. And uh, I think I mentioned earlier this week that my brother passed away unexpectedly and I'm doing his funeral and next week, and uh, I'm going to speak from this passage. So it's kind of a neat, so kind of a neat. So you would say this passage is powerful. Yeah, very powerful. It's very not dissimilar to the segment that we just did about the powerful name of God. Powerful name. O. There you go, Wow, speaking of powerful things, this is a powerful passage. Hey, that was actually a legitimate transition right there. So Romans chapter seven, we're going to the verse we're highlighting is Romans chapter eight, verse one. But I'm going to pick up in Romans chapter seven because you got a member of in when the Bible is being written, there were no verses in chapters, right, it was just big ideas. So they wrote whole passages. Are are you sharing the officiating of your brother's sharing with somebody else? It's just all you. It's just me. It's gonna be a tough one. It's gonna be a tough one. But yep. So Paul is writing here and he's talking about God gave us the law and it was a good thing and not a bad thing, but it just wasn't sufficient. So I'm a sinner. I keep breaking the law. So my temptations say the law is bad. He said, no, the law is good. It's just the problem is the law can't save me because I'm a sinner, and it just proves to me. So the things I want to do I don't do. The things I don't want to do I do. So he picks it up here in verse fourteen says, So the trouble is not with the law, for it's spiritual and good. The troubles with me, for I'm all too human, a slave to sin. I don't really understand myself, for I want to do what's right, but I don't do it. Instead I do what I hate. But if I know that what I am doing is wrong, and this shows that I agree that the law is good. So the law is just our teacher right. So I'm not the one doing wrong. It's sin living in me that does it. And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I can't. I want to do what is good, but I don't. I don't want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway. But if I do what I don't want to do, I'm not really the one doing wrong. It is sin living in me that does it. I've discovered this principle of life that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. I love God's law with all my heart. But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind, and this power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. Oh what a miserable person I am. Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? Thank God? The answer is in Jesus Christ, our Lord. See so you see how it is in my mind. I really want to obey God's law, but because of my sinful nature, I'm a slave to sin. That's terrible. That's where you end. That's terrible. But Romans eight, verse one says, so now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Jesus Christ. And because you belong to him, the power of the life giving spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death. The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own son in a body like the bodies we sinners have, and in that body, God declared an end to sins control over us by giving his son as a sacrifice for our sins. And he did this so that the just requirement of the law would be fully satisfied for us who no longer follow our sinful nature but instead follow the spirit. I mean, we can just go on. This is some exciting stuff here about the mechanisms of salvation and what God did. But the point today is there's no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. Yeah, and I know we're not going to read it, but Romans Ah the end of that chapter when it talks about nothing can separatis from God. Ah, yeah, yeah, that's one of my favorites. Yep. So for I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God's love, neither death nor life, angels or demons. Our fears for today are worries about tomorrow. Not even the powers of hell can separate us from God's love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below. Indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus the Lord. What a powerful passage. So you get one chapter that if you ended in chapter seven, you're like, what a miserable He literally says, what a miserable person I am? I feel like I'm dominated by sin? What the heck? And then he goes, but hey, there's good news. There's no condemnation for those who are in Christ. Jesus He's the only rescue me. And at the end is saying nothing can separate me from God's love. Then if that's the case that Jesus rescued me from it, nothing can separate me from it. Well, he does give a little bit of hope. At the end of seven, he says, thank God, the answer is in Jesus, Christ our Lord. So because he says, who's going to free me from this miserable existence of sin and death? He say, thank God, it's Jesus, right, And then yeah, you're right. All Chapter eight then just lays out what Jesus has done for us, and so. Yeah, well, these two sentences twenty four and twenty five, Oh, what a miserable person I am? Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death. That's one yep. The very next verse is thank God. The answer is in Christ, Jesus our Lord. So this is the dichotomy I think that so many people live in. The paradox that so many Christians live in is every day I'm in my flesh because I'm waiting for that day when God totally redeems me. Right, So I've been redeemed, and I'm being redeemed at the same time. I've been sanctified and I'm being sanctified at the same time. I've been redeemed. Means that God bought me and at the same time He will ultimately restore and redeem me in heaven. It's the same thing with being sanctified. God has set me apart for his use and at the same time he's making me cleaner and cleaner so he can use me. Right, and both are true. It's happening. It's already happened to God's eyes because he's not stuck in time, so it's already resolved and he's resolving it. And so you and I because we're living in time where it's already established. God's already forgiven your sins. God's already saved you. God has already set you aside for his use. And at the same time, he's cleaning you up, he's making you new. Even though you will be new, you are new, you will be new. He's making you new. All those things are happening at the same time for us, but we're living it out in time, and it can be very frustrating, because why did I tell that lie yesterday? Or why did I have that lustful thought yesterday? I want to serve God? Why do God? I want to serve you? This passage in the King James, this says the spirit truly is willing, but the flesh is weak, right right, right, And he said, man, I want to do the right things. I don't do him. What the heck? What's going on? And then he goes and so he said, if I only focus on my behaviors, so my sin is an event, it's not my identity, it's not who I am. Does that make sense? And a lot of times the devil wants you to begin believing that your sin is your identity. You are an addict, you are a liar, you are a lustful person, you are angry. Oh well, I just have a bad temper, right, And he wants us to believe these events are our identity. And what he's trying to say is, if I find my identity and the things I do, what a miserable person I am because I can never do the right thing. I do it sometimes, but not all the time. He said, But thank God, my identity is in Christ Jesus, and so there's no condemnation in Jesus. Yeah. And I love how he draws the distinction and says, so God did with the law could not do right. Yeah, because again the law is good, right God, God gave us six hundred and thirteen precepts. Right, and so it wasn't just the thing commandments. There's a lot of them. Yeah, don't kill people is a good thing. It's a spiritual thing. Yes, don't lie, that's a good thing. It's a spiritual thing. So yeah, there were two hundred and forty eight thou shots, three hundred and sixty five thou shot notts, six hundred and thirteen altogether. And uh, you know, he says they're good, they're good things. But the problem is we cannot obey them, and so therefore. We cannot perfectly obey them perfectly. We can't obey them in any given moment. Theresation taking you, I meant. In my mind, we cannot obey them for salvation. Right, right, we can't do it perfectly. Yeah. So, so the requirement is perfection for heaven, that's right. The requirement for heaven is sinlessness, which means you would have to obey the law completely. And what Paul is saying is Paul saying, listen, not only can I not obey every single part of the law, but I can't even live out today without without without my struggle, right because my human nature and my sinful nature, you know, it has a hold of me. And there's a struggle here and in my in my sinfulness. But thank God, Jesus is the solution to my sinful struggle because when it comes to getting to heaven, when it comes to dealing with sin, when it comes to you know, wrestling with my own you know, what I realize is that there is no condemnation once you're in Christ Jesus. So God did through Jesus what the law could not do. And you know that it actually says in the Bible that the law was given not for the purpose of heaven. It was actually given to show us that we couldn't make it to happen. Right In the Book of Romans, just a couple chapters before this, Yeah, yeah, yeah, I just had a conversation with a police officer who helped our family, and I was thanking him for it, and I said, hey, I know you've you've been around a lot of difficult things, a lot of but I said, man, the way you've treated us, it's just been so great. And he said, you know, it's easy to get jaded in my world, the things I see all the time, and he said, he said, I just my faith is what keeps me centered. He said, it's easy to get corrupt, it's easy to do the wrong things. And he said, but only Jesus keeps me going in the right direction. And it really struck me talking to that guy. And when I'm reading Paul talk, it's kind of same. You got to remember, Paul was a member of the Sanhedrin right, which was the supreme court of Israel, and they had in their hearts and minds a theocracy, so the laws of God were for heaven and society one percent of the time. And he was a supreme court justice on it. So he was obsessed. He had given his whole life to only keeping the law. He was a pharisee, he said, he was a pharisee of the Pharisees. He said, dude, name your favorite Pharisee. Name the best Pharisee. I was a better Pharisee. That's what's right. So, and and you know their heart Their hearts were wrong, but their lifestyles were nearly flawless. They they they measured even down to how long the strings were on their on their philactories, on their on their their garments. They they they tithed on their the the table salt and the cinnamon and the cuman that they had in their They they kept every rule as well as they could. Now, the bunch of frauds. But he was saying, I was an elite Pharisee. Right right, here's a guy who was obsessed with keeping the law. And just like that police officer said, it's easy to get jaded when you're around everybody shooting a move. He's saying, I've spent my entire life trying to keep the law. What a miserable person I am. It's not possible. He's kind of freaking out in this moment. If now he's a Christian at this point, but I think he's putting himself back into his Pharisee view of going there's no way to do this, There is no way to go to heaven if the only way to get there is to be perfect. I've already broken the law. And he's freaking out about this. And it's in that sentence. It's in that context of this guy who's spent his entire life trying to be holy, realizing he's not. How jaded do you get right? How easy would it be just to And this is what Jesus was always correcting the Pharisees about. You make rules for other people you don't keep. That's what Jesus did, right, And now he says, was Matthew chapter six, you're constantly heaping up all these rules, or maybe seven. You make all these rules for everybody else, and you're not even trying to keep them anymore. You get jaded about it. And here's the guy. He's not jaded about trying to keep the law. He's disappointed that he can't. Man, God, I thought that was the way. And this is what happens for a lot of people who spent their entire life in a religion get disillusioned, quit going to church, quit being a part of their religious system, and then the joy of discovering it never was about the rules. It never was about the religious system. It's always only ever been about what Jesus did for you, right, and so now there's no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. There's no judgment for you in Christ Jesus. But you have to make sure that you're in Christ Jesus. So how do you do that? He says, Just two chapters later, if you flip over two chapters, he says, in verse in Rome's ten, verse nine, he said, if you believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, if you confess that Jesus is Lord, meaning Jesus, I want you to be the king. My religious stuff used to be the king, all the stuff that for him, right Paul, For you and me, it was my own willfulness was king. For Paul, he was a Pharisees. Pharisee, it was his religion was king. He said, Jesus, I want you to be king. The law is no longer king of my life. You're the king of my life. You rule because I believe that you did rise from the dead. And then he says in verse thirteen, everyone who calls them the name of the Lord will be saved. And he said right before that, in verse eleven and twelve, he says, there's no Jew orh Greek. This isn't a Jew or gentile thing. This is available that everybody. It's not about the religion, it's about the relationship. Everyone who calls the name of the Lord will be saved. That's the good news. Man. That's a great way to end. Well, that is our time together. And what a great chapter. And hopefully we'll see you tomorrow on the Bible Gosh