Flesh and Spirit

In this message we take a look at the four main characters of Romans 7: The Law, Sin, Humans, and Jesus. How the four interact have a lot to say about salvation and resurrection.

What if Adam and Eve Never Sinned?

In Romans 5, Paul contrasts the old sinful humanity of Adam with the new resurrected humanity of Jesus. In this message we imagine other worlds where humanity never sinned and then face our actual reality, which ends up being both stranger than fiction and immensely beautiful.

What Suffering Produces

We in the West tend to look at suffering and persecution as a negative thing, but people like Paul see it as a positive. For in our suffering is the cross, which is the crux of Jesus, who is the crux of everything.

Abraham: The Original Gentile

When Paul tries to convince the Romans that the Gentiles can be brought into the covenant family of God without first being circumcised or being subjected to the law, he uses Abraham as his example why. By Paul's reasoning, Abraham was the original Gentile that God brought into the covenant and God considered him righteous not for his works or his circumcision or his following of the law (Abraham didn't yet know about such things), but for his faith. Therefore, faith is the definition of salvation for Paul and Abraham is the earliest example of proof. Though the law is good and upheld by the Christian (for it has not been abolished), obedience of the law is now found in the obedience of the law's ultimate interpreter, Jesus Christ, who has become the fulfillment of the law.

Therefore, we are saved by the same formula that God's people have always been saved by throughout history: God's grace given to sinners on behalf of their faith/faithfulness/belief/commitment/believing loyalty/allegiance to God. What has changed in this formula in the New Testament, however, is the crux upon which all of our faith now hangs: King Jesus Himself, who is the fulfillment of the original covenant made to Abraham, the forgiveness of sins, and the one who has paved the way for us to enter into the resurrection life of the new heavens and new earth, where we will live with new resurrected immortal bodies. We have been given evidence of all of this through the downpayment of the Holy Spirit, through which full resurrection will one day come, and has also already begun now inside of us. We can only receive these promises by our faithful allegiance to Jesus, for to be faithful to Jesus, is to be faithful to God—for Jesus is God-in-flesh.

The Law of Christ

Romans 3 is a monumental verse in the Bible that shifts the way we understand the law under the New Covenant. In this message Jamin takes a look at how the law was distributed in the Old Testament and what the law becomes in the New Testament.

Paul's Theological Adjustment

In ancient times, religion and state were the same thing. Therefore, you can imagine how difficult it was for the Jews to understand their theology when (A) some started to believe that Jesus was the Messiah, (B) the Messiah wanted non-Jewish people to join their religion/state, and (C) those non-Jewish people didn't practice any of the boundary markers that the Jews had always practiced (ie. obedience to the law, circumcision, etc).

In the Book of Romans, Paul strives to help his Jewish brothers and sisters understand the theological impact Jesus has had on their religion/state so that they can welcome their non-Jewish neighbors in. And that's what we hit on in the first half of Romans 3

A Church Like Nintendo

In Romans 2, Paul calls attention to how God-followers have always said one thing and done another, and for that reason the world has made fun of God. How have we been bad witnesses to the character of God today? How did we witness to Jesus throughout the pandemic? In a lot of negative ways to be sure, giving people reason to make fun of God and doubt the church as an organization. It nearly seems like most people have given up on the church at this point.

But perhaps we can learn something about the church, discipleship, and witness from organizations like Nintendo.

Good Works Are Required

Romans has been used over the years to diminish evangelism to nothing more than "thinking" a certain way to be on the right side of judgment. But Jesus required good works of his followers if they were to be on the right side of judgment. In this message, Jamin looks to harmonize both sides of the Bible, recognizing that even the book of Romans expects good works if we are to be on the right side of judgment. If this true, then what is really needed is a better definition of what "salvation by faith" means, which we will get more into in the coming weeks.

This Message is Not Ready Yet

After hours of working on his message, Jamin still wasn’t ready to preach it. Not only can the theology of Romans be a bit confusing, but it’s also deeply personal to Jamin’s own story. So in this short speech, Jamin asks for more time so that he can preach this message more effectively and reminds us that church is not all about preaching.

The Songs of Tolkien and Romans

In the Silmarillion, Tolkien pictures God singing a song and Satan trying to improve on it until he's ultimately offering a different song. Paul sees something similar in the song of order being sung in Eden and the song that humanity has sang instead via Sin. We talk more about that in today's episode as we continue through Romans.

Dikaiosyne

Paul uses the Greek word "Dikaiosyne" which Bible translations often translate as "Righteousness." But N.T. Wright suggests the phrase "covenant justice" may make more sense given Paul's context. Jamin explains why he agrees when it comes to Paul's gospel of which he is not ashamed.

Paul's Opening Words to the Romans

There's a lot to be said in Paul's opening words in his letter to the Romans. In this episode, we just read the first few verses and take questions.

Reading Romans

The letter of Romans is just that: A letter. And so to understand it correctly we must read it as we would a letter. And so, in our first service preaching on Romans, we come together and read straight through Paul's work so that we might hear it all within context. In this particular reading, we use N.T. Wright's "Kingdom" translation.

The Resurrection Life of Pentecost

The Holy Spirit made life, continues to make life, and will make life again—and that's part of the celebration of Pentecost Sunday.

Bible Women in Ministry

This Mother's Day, Jamin gives various glimpses into the Bible, illustrating its egalitarian view of women and men in ministry, ruling the world together with the same call and image.

The Misuse of the Bible to Endorse Racism

Mark Edwards, history professor at Spring Arbor University brings a powerful message to 1208 as he preaches on the historical misuse of the Bible to endorse things like slavery and racism. Check it out in this special message.

And yes—those were gunshots close by our outdoor service. Everyone is okay. We reported everything that we saw to the local police and they have been investigating for the last few hours. Sometimes when this kind of stuff happens churches and congregants leave their communities, but this is exactly why we live and preach here. The gospel is much needed in our community and we will continue to share it with them.

The Not So Great Disciples

Sometimes the disciples just don't get it. In this case, they are still fighting about which one of them is the greatest when Jesus' whole point is to be humble. Jamin talks about pride and humility in today's message.

Jesus Prays for Peter

According to Luke's gospel, If it wasn't for Jesus praying for Peter, we might have had a very different ending to Peter's denial of Christ.

Jesus Loves Our Oppressors Too

We're all aware that Jesus ate with sinners, but sometimes we don't realize the kinds of things those sinners have done or why it would have stood out that he ate with them. Tax collectors, for example, we're quite oppressive. Let's take a look at the story of Zacchaeus and see how it might relate to today.

All Things Resurrection

He is risen indeed! Jamin jumps into all things resurrection this Easter and then we baptize two 1208ers and watch the seeds of resurrection begin right in front of us!