Danny Panter

This is Not Fire and Brimstone

Re:Verse reading–Romans 6 (day six)

I think it is very important to note this is not a “fire and brimstone” text. Paul is not trying to intimidate sinners into being righteous out of fear that they may not “be saved.” (You can go to Hebrews 10:26 for that.) Paul is in fact answering critics who argued that this “faith” business would only lead to more sin, not less. So, Paul is not trying to scare anyone, but is actually writing matter-of-factly about the nature of God’s grace at work in the Christian’s life.

He began his argument in chapter five when he wrote, “how much more shall we be saved by his[Christ’s] life.” He makes the case that in the same way sin and corruption struck like a virus in humanity through Adam, so shall the life of Jesus spread into the life of those who believe in the Gospel by faith. If this is true, Paul believed that the resulting life is one given to more and more righteousness, or fruits of the Spirit. By God’s grace, the Christian is freed for the first time to fight the fight of faith, or to increasingly give themselves to the righteousness of Christ. It is a given reality, not just a possibility.

Fairy Tales

Re:Verse reading–Romans 5:1-11 (day six)

“Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings,…” Romans 5:3

The Brothers Grimm wrote their fairy tales to provide a sense of escapism or present to their readers cautionary tales. Fairy tales are best when they impart some truth; acting as a sweet easy-to-swallow capsule to an otherwise unpleasant reality. And like medicine, you only use it when needed, or when you are eager to be swept away to another world.

The Gospel is nothing like a fairy tale. That’s Paul’s message in the first few verses of Romans 5. The Gospel is not a supplement to life, to be sprinkled here, or applied there as needed, no, the Gospel meets us in all of life, messy bits and all. It is not a sweet notion, or fashionable (or unfashionable) fairy tale, but is a gritty and real antidote to our most desperate brokenness. The Gospel is gritty; it is the clearest lens which to understand all of life, and it changes everything!

Fully Convinced

Re:Verse reading–Romans 4:1-25 (day six)

Abraham’s story is a remarkable one. He was rough around the edges, but when it counted he did some extraordinary things. There is no wonder that God chose him to be the father of nations,…except that is not the story at all. The glorious hero in this story is not Abraham, but God. God sovereignly made a promise to Abraham, to provide him a son, make him a father of nations, ultimately blessing the whole world, and Abraham “fully convinced that God was able to do what He promised,” believed Him. This remarkable story of faith is not about God’s confidence in choosing the right person for the task, but Abraham’s confidence, or faith, in God. It was at that moment, when Abraham was “fully convinced,” before he had obeyed God even once, that God credited his faith as righteousness.

“The righteous will live by faith.” Will you? Will you follow hard after Jesus, not because you are fighting for His approval, but because you believe what he was promised? Let’s believe together, and take great steps of faith!

Cornerstone

Re:Verse reading–Romans 3:21-31 (day six)

The Law declared the righteousness of God by contrast. Up against the Law, the starkness of our own brokenness and idolatry, only ever served to draw attention to the righteousness of God. The Law was both microscope and telescope; bringing into view the fissures left in the wake of our idolatry, as well as bringing into proper view the true immensity of God’s righteousness. It could never bring life or restoration to dead and dying things; it was never meant to. This is why Paul tells us that the Law and Prophets(v. 21) always pointed to the righteousness of Jesus, the very image of the invisible God, and the fulfillment of the Law (Matthew 5:17).

And so we rejoice, not in the doing of the Law, but in Jesus. He is the cornerstone, the glory of God, and our righteousness by grace through faith!

Work

Re:Verse reading–Romans 2:1-29 (day six)

But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God. Romans 2:29

Paul makes it increasingly clear that we are all in trouble. We are idolaters, all of us; and even those of us who look the part, we too have rejected God for the praise of men. He then introduces the type of person that God seeks, one who is concerned more about the affections of their heart, then the one putting on airs. This one doesn’t live for the approval of men, but lives to worship God in all of life. Finally he tells us how such a person takes shape, “by the Spirit.” The Spirit of God does the work of reshaping the human heart through faith in the Gospel. The key to living a life of faith is just that-faith! It is not working harder, or beating yourself up over past sins (penance), it’s not adding another Bible study to your schedule, no, it is none of those things. Live from faith to faith forever resting in God’s approval of you because of the work of His Son! Have faith in the Gospel, and let the Spirit of God do the hard work of reshaping your heart!

Worship

Re:Verse reading–Romans 1:18-32 (day six)

The central theme to our rev:verse text is not primarily the wrath of God, nor is it the sinfulness of man, but rather it is the Glory of God. Proverbs 4:23 says, “Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of life.” The great “unrighteousness” that Paul writes about is the sin of the unguarded heart; we gave our heart to another. We were made in the image of God, designed to behold, enjoy, and find purpose in the Glory of God, and yet we did not. We did not “honor him, or give him thanks.” The results are self-evident, just turn on the news. Once we chose to worship creature over creator, all hell broke lose. The affections of our hearts have “determined the course of [our] lives”

Our hearts need realigning. “Oh, what wretched people we are! Who will free us from lives of sin and death? Thank God the answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord!” Romans 7:24-25

Deep Calls to Deep

Re: Verse reading–Romans 1:1–17 (day six)

On occasion someone will suggest to me that they need to swim away from the shallow shore of the Gospel into deeper theological waters. There is truth to that, of course. Both Paul and the writer of Hebrews write that Christians should move beyond spiritual milk to eating solid fare(Hebrews 5:2,1 Corinthians 3:2), although they seem far more concerned with Christians becoming fully discipled than having superior knowledge. From the beginning, Paul’s letter to the Romans makes it abundantly clear, once you have left the shore for deeper waters, when your toes can no longer touch the bottom, you discover that you haven’t moved beyond the Gospel at all, but are now submerged in its immeasurable depths. There is no part of life that the Gospel does not reach; it is our hermeneutic for all of life, the lens we peer through, the ocean in which we swim.

You don’t graduate from the Gospel, you dive into its depths. Will you join me? I can’t touch the bottom, but the water is just fine.

Salt

Re: Verse reading–2 Corinthians 5:11-21; 1 Peter 3:15-16; Colossians 4:2-6 (day six)

What will you say? Will your words be full of grace? Will they bring life to the listener? Will they encourage, inspire, and illuminate? Will they be preceded with intention and readiness? Will they be thoughtful? And will they make the listener stop and think? Or raise a few eye brows? Or maybe even waken a heart or two? Will they be fresh, different, and hopeful? Will your words make much of Jesus, or much of yourself? Will they draw attention to what He has done? Your words, will they be beautiful? Will they be true? What will you say when they ask of you, “why so hopeful? What’s got into you?”

Will your words be like salt?

A very Good People

Re: Verse reading– Acts 4:32-37; 1 Corinthians 12:12-27; Galatians 6:9-10; Hebrews 10:24-25 (day six)

I was reminded last night of the many blessings in belonging to the FBC family. There is a sweet goodness among us, an eagerness to learn of our great inheritance in Christ. That was very evident last night as over 170 leaders from FBCSA gathered for equipping and training at our first annual Main Event. Jonathan, a dear friend leading one of the many breakout sessions, kept saying to me following the event, “These are good people; I can sense a readiness to join God in what He is doing.” And he is right!

This doesn’t magically happen of course. Our re:verse texts remind us that God is the grand architect of the church-His people. He is fitting us together, all the various parts, that we might encourage one another to “love and good deeds.” That is why we must not neglect gathering together, whether that be in worship, Bible study, or on mission. We are God’s children after all, to neglect those activities, is to deny the very core of our identity in Christ-who we are. So God’s design for us, is that the more we build community (worship, Bible study, and mission) with one another, the more we realize and live out our truest identity in God.

A church like that does not go unnoticed. No, in fact our “light on a hill” becomes brighter and brighter. Let’s shine on!

The Death of Hubris

Re: Verse reading–Ephesians 4:11-16; 1 Thessalonians 5:12-13; Hebrews 13:17-18 (day six)

This is all very humbling, and sobering To think that God has called me to join other faithful men to serve and lead the FBC family. You would think that these texts would have an opposite affect, arrogance, hubris, but this is far from the truth. These words that Paul writes, do a marvelous job of whittling me down to size. They do so by reminding me of the great significance of what I am called to do; that it is no small thing. It is a collosal thing to be listened to, obeyed, or imitated; it puts leadership in proper perspective. Perhaps, this is what Paul intended all along, to thrust men called to lead His church into total dependency. This calling to lead is not one to take for granted, or to take lightly.

Lord help me not to do either, but only ever follow your Son Jesus, as I show others how to do the same.