by George Runyan | Aug 6, 2014 | Devotional, George Runyan
Romans 7:22 – I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man.
When the Scriptures speak of the “inner man,” they are referring to the human spirit which has been regenerated by the power of the Holy Spirit. Before the new birth, our human spirit was dead in its knowledge and relationship to God. It is simply our natural life which had its beginning in Adam. He lost his standing before God when he chose sin and death over obedience and life (Genesis 2-3).
When one is “born again,” their human spirit is regenerated by the Holy Spirit. “But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds in righteousness, but according to His mercy by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life” (Titus 3:4-7). We know by the Scriptures and through life experience that the soul of man is not born again of the Spirit. The soul is changed as one allows their spirit to take control and help change the thoughts of the mind. That is why Paul says, “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 2:5 KJV).
The inner man must be renewed “day by day.” READ MORE – CLICK TITLE ABOVE
by George Runyan | Aug 5, 2014 | Devotional, George Runyan
John 3:3 – Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.
This is one of the most familiar Scriptures. During his 1976 presidential campaign President Carter made it a popular saying when he declared that he was born again and served as a Baptist Sunday school teacher. The phrase originated with Jesus when he was speaking to Nicodemus, a Jewish teacher. Nicodemus understood that Jesus must be from God. Because of the signs Jesus was performing such as healing and miracles. Nicodemus was trying to figure Jesus out through his intellect. Jesus gave Nicodemus a new paradigm to consider. Even though Nicodemus saw the signs, he had not truly seen the kingdom of God.
The kingdom of God in not an intellectual experience, it is a “spiritual birth.” Many today are still trying to get to God through their intellect, but that is impossible to do. READ MORE – CLICK TITLE ABOVE
by George Runyan | Aug 4, 2014 | Devotional, George Runyan
2 Corinthians 1:10 – God delivered us from so great a peril of death, and will deliver us, He on whom we have set our hope. And He will yet deliver us.
As Paul writes to the church in Corinth, he is describing the comfort he knows even in times of affliction. The kind of affliction he is speaking of was “beyond his strength” (2 Corinthians 1:8). Paul says, “We had the sentence of death within ourselves so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead” (2 Corinthians 1:9). In verse 10, Paul reveals the threefold order of God’s salvation. First, God delivered us from “so great a death.” The great death is what the Scriptures call the “second death” (Revelation 20:6). We were dead in our “trespasses and sins” (Ephesians 2:1). Through the blood of Christ, our sins have been forgiven and washed away, according to the riches of His grace which He lavished on us (Ephesians 1:7-8). Salvation begins in our spirit and is renewed and made alive in Christ daily. READ MORE – CLICK TITLE ABOVE
by George Runyan | Aug 3, 2014 | Devotional, George Runyan
Hebrews 11:40 – God had provided something better for us, so that apart from us they would not be made perfect.
What an amazing statement the writer of Hebrews makes as he sums up this chapter! This chapter is known as “The honor roll of the faithful.” None of those listed in the honor roll of the faithful experienced the full purpose of God. His full purpose could only be experienced in Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit. The faithful of the Old Testament were those waiting in upper Sheol for the Son of God to come and release them to the promise of perfection. The “better” spoken of in this verse is the Lord Jesus Christ, who we receive through the Spirit.
The Spirit of God spoke of Christ throughout the Old Testament. The Spirit created the Holy One in the womb of Mary. The Holy Spirit revealed the Father through the earthly ministry of our Lord. The Holy Spirit empowered Jesus to suffer and die for our sins. It was the Holy Spirit who raised Jesus from the grave. Along with Jesus, many Old Testament saints arose from the dead and testified to many in Jerusalem (Matthew 27:52-53). READ MORE – CLICK TITLE ABOVE
by George Runyan | Aug 2, 2014 | Devotional, George Runyan
Psalm 16:10 – You will not abandon my soul to Sheol, nor will You allow Your Holy One to undergo decay.
The Psalmist David writes prophetically concerning Christ in Psalm 16. In Jesus’ sufferings and death we can clearly see the triune nature of man. When hanging on the cross, Jesus cried out to His Father saying, “Father into Your hands I commit My spirit” (Luke 23:46). Just as Jesus is about to draw His last breath, He commits His spirit to God. Next, David’s prophetic words come to pass as His body is removed from the cross and laid in the tomb and Jesus’ soul descends into hell. The Hebrew word for hell is Sheol. There were two parts to Sheol, upper and lower. Both parts were described in Jesus’ story of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31).
As Jesus’ soul descended into Sheol, He first preached the gospel to those who died during the Flood. He then took the keys of death and hell from Satan. Lastly, as Jesus arose, overcoming death and hell, He brought with Him all the dead that waited in upper Sheol, waiting for His Day. His whole spirit, soul, and body were united on the third day. When He revealed Himself to His apostles after His resurrection, they were afraid, thinking it was a spirit that had come into the room. Listen to what Jesus says to them, “See My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself; touch Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have” (Luke 24:39). READ MORE – CLICK TITLE ABOVE
