Stott: the Spirit in discipleship

Friday, January 12, 2018
    Feast of Aelred of Hexham, Abbot of Rievaulx, 1167
    Commemoration of Benedict Biscop, Abbot of Wearmouth, Scholar, 689
Meditation:
    For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:
    —Romans 8:3 (KJV)
Quotation:
    [Of Romans 8:3]
    The essential contrast which Paul paints is between the weakness of the law and the power of the Spirit. For over against indwelling sin, which is the reason the law is unable to help us in our moral struggle (Rom. 7:17, 20), Paul now sets the indwelling Spirit, who is both our liberator now from ‘the law of sin and death’ (Rom. 8:2) and the guarantee of resurrection and eternal glory in the end (Rom. 8:11, 17, 23). Thus the Christian life is essentially life in the Spirit, that is to say, a life which is animated, sustained, directed and enriched by the Holy Spirit. Without the Holy Spirit true Christian discipleship would be inconceivable, indeed impossible.
    ... John R. W. Stott (1921-2011), Romans: God’s Good News for the World, Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 1994, p. 216 (see the book)
    See also Rom. 8:3; Luke 4:14; Acts 1:8; 10:37-38; Rom. 7:17,20; 8:2,11,17,23
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, Your Spirit alone directs me to the good that You have planned. CQOD    Blog    email    RSS
    search    script    mobile
sub    fb    twt    Jonah    Ruth