{"id":40259,"date":"2021-12-02T10:12:35","date_gmt":"2021-12-02T16:12:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/?p=40259"},"modified":"2022-12-08T14:00:48","modified_gmt":"2022-12-08T20:00:48","slug":"putting-on-the-lord-jesus-christ","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/putting-on-the-lord-jesus-christ\/","title":{"rendered":"Putting on the Lord Jesus Christ"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

by Matthew W. Bassford<\/p>\n

As you work your way through Romans, hopefully, the extraordinary quality of the epistle becomes obvious. The Book of Romans has changed the course of human history, and with good reason. The substance of Paul’s argument is astonishing in its scope, and the skill with which he argues is no less impressive. He pulls out all the stops in presenting his case as persuasively as possible.<\/p>\n

Some of the devices he employs are obvious, but others are quite subtle. Consider, for instance, the lead-in to the discussion of conscience in Romans 14. In that chapter, Paul urges the Christians in Rome not to judge or have contempt for brothers who differ in conscience.<\/p>\n

Much of the preface in Romans 13 is straightforward. Romans 13:8-10 tells us to love one another. Romans 13:11-12 calls us to put on the armor of light because of the brevity of human existence. Romans 13:14 exhorts us to put on Christ and make no provision for the flesh.<\/p>\n

All of this is good sound preaching, as the saying goes. We like to be told things like this. Sermons using these Scriptures inspire us and have us walking out of the church building humming “Onward, Christian Soldiers” to ourselves. It doesn’t seem to have much to do with walking wide around the conscience of others, though.<\/p>\n

The trap is in Romans 13:13. There, Paul supplies us with a list of three pairs that are part of the works of darkness, the works in which we are not supposed to walk. The first two pairs are more of the same. We are not to walk in orgies and drunkenness. That sounds like a good idea to me! Likewise, we are not to walk in sexual immorality and sensuality. This may step on the toes of some Christians, but it probably doesn’t for most who are in the auditorium Sunday morning.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Photo by Afif Kusuma on Unsplash<\/p><\/div>\n

The third pair, though, is “not in quarreling and jealousy<\/em>.” All of a sudden, “Onward, Christian Soldiers” kind of skips a beat, doesn’t it? Jealousy. Hmm. It’s awfully easy to find ourselves enviously regarding someone else’s attractiveness, prosperity, or position. Or good health, for that matter.<\/p>\n

Quarreling is even worse. Brethren have been known to quarrel these days, sometimes, just a little bit. Perhaps we ourselves have exchanged a heated word or two with another Christian about. . . COVID, just to pick an example out of the air. Perhaps we have formed into factions with other like-minded brethren so that we can complain to them about the ungodly behavior of the other side. Perhaps we have Vaguebooked about how ungodly they are. Perhaps we have disturbed the peace of our congregation or even caused a church split.<\/p>\n

The Holy Spirit says that’s walking in darkness. The Holy Spirit says that’s making provision for the flesh and its lusts. In fact, the Holy Spirit says that’s on the same level as participating in an orgy.<\/p>\n

If that’s where we find ourselves, we need to put some onward in our Christian soldiers. We need to rush into battle, not against those who disagree with us, but against the devil who has entrenched his self-righteousness, judgmentalism, and contempt in our hearts. Our sin may be sweet in the mouth, but it will be bitter in the stomach.<\/p>\n

How can we win this desperate fight? Paul is so glad you asked.<\/p>\n

Welcome to Romans 14.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Matthew W. Bassford As you work your way through Romans, hopefully, the extraordinary quality of the epistle becomes obvious. The Book of Romans has changed the course of human history, and with good reason. The substance of Paul’s argument is astonishing in its scope, and the skill with which he argues is no less…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[1067,794,875,120,231],"class_list":["post-40259","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-contempt","tag-criticism","tag-jealousy","tag-romans","tag-strife"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":37754,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/masks-vaccines-and-the-bible\/","url_meta":{"origin":40259,"position":0},"title":"Masks, Vaccines, and the Bible","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 9, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Matthew W. Bassford The following restates the biblical principles that should govern our speech and behavior when it comes to masks, vaccines, and discussion of the same. In areas where we are given liberty by man and God, we must respect the liberty of others. We must not judge\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/masks-300x200.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":52164,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-is-romans-513-17-in-parenthesis\/","url_meta":{"origin":40259,"position":1},"title":"Why is Romans 5:13-17 in parenthesis?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 17, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Hi, Your article Are Non-Christians Subject to the Laws of God? seems to prove the point, with one possible problem. It relies heavily on Romans 5:13-16, which is in parentheses (KJV and NKJV) which several authorities say indicates it was probably inserted by translators. Is this true? If so,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":39649,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/my-conscience\/","url_meta":{"origin":40259,"position":2},"title":"My Conscience","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 21, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: I Corinthians 4:1-5 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Defining your conscience \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A part of every human is an awareness of what he should do in various situations \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Your conscience does not determine what is right or wrong \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0That is what judgment is for. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a02.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Righteous judgment is done by God\u2019s\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":57768,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/keeping-a-pure-conscience\/","url_meta":{"origin":40259,"position":3},"title":"Keeping a Pure Conscience","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"January 9, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"by Sean P. Cavender While standing trial before Felix, the apostle Paul stated that he had strived to live with a pure conscience before God and men (Acts 24:16). This should be the goal of each and every child of God--living life with a pure conscience (I Timothy 1:5,19). The\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":62050,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-conscience-as-a-guide\/","url_meta":{"origin":40259,"position":4},"title":"The Conscience as a Guide","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 27, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Acts 22:22-23:5 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Teaching the difference between right and wrong \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Young children have no knowledge of good and evil - Deuteronomy 1:39 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0As a result, they are not very concerned with matters of right and wrong. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a02.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Mom and Dad handle those issues and let you\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sermon"","block_context":{"text":"Sermon","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/sermon\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":51015,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/on-stumbling-blocks-and-offenses\/","url_meta":{"origin":40259,"position":5},"title":"On Stumbling Blocks and Offenses","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 24, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"by Doy Moyer via\u00a0On Stumbling Blocks and Offenses\u00a0at Moyer Press and\u00a0Manipulating Offenses and People\u00a0at Moyer Press When Paul made his arguments in Romans 14, he spoke of never putting \"a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother\" (Romans 14:13). This is one of the most significant ways\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40259","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40259"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40259\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40259"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40259"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40259"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}