Romans 8:1-4

A few friends on Twitter and I have decided to memorize Romans 8 in its entirety over the next x number of weeks. Here is the first chunk (I'm not peeking, I promise!):

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death, for God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh in order that the righteousness requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.
- Romans 8:1-4 (ESV)

Hover over that link and make sure I memorized it correctly!

I was first seriously turned on to the idea of Bible memorization by this sermon preached by John Piper. I imagine I listened to that sermon for the first time at some point in 2009. It took a good hold of me and began my journey into Bible memorization.

The chief motivations I have had for Bible memorization are the following passages: John 15:1-7 and Psalm 119:9-11. I especially like Psalm 119:9-11 because of its ridiculous relevancy to my life and extremely straightforward point.

Do you want to fight sin? Do you want to not sin against God? Are you a young man? Do you desire to have a pure heart, a pure mind? Pure thoughts? Let me offer the biblical address to your questions:

[9] How can a young man keep his way pure?
        By guarding it according to your word.
[10] With my whole heart I seek you;
        let me not wander from your commandments!
[11] I have stored up your word in my heart,
        that I might not sin against you.
 (Psalm 119:9-11)

 Let me offer you this stream of thoughts that went through my head when I read this verse:

• I am a young man.
• I want to keep my life pure, because I sure know that I am impure in many things.
• Hmm, how can I do this? [Reads verse] Ooooohhhhh....
• Ok, looks like I need to start packing away the Bible into my heart.

Now let me offer one brief thought (and this entire post is totally stream-of-consciousness style, so forgive me): memorizing Scripture won't strictly keep you from sin. Why do I say this? Because Satan memorized Scripture. (And he probably knows way more of it than we ever will!) Therefore, just because someone - even if they are a devil! - memorizes the words of the Bible, they will not become more holy in thought and deed.

There's the rub it seems. Even if you memorize the Bible, you are not necessarily going to sin less, become more sanctified, etc. The Pharisees and Satan memorized gobs of Scripture. And yet, this verse clearly says something about not sinning and storing up God's word in your heart.

Let me offer a few brief thoughts for you to consider regarding this seeming paradox of memorization and sanctification.

•  To grow in holiness, one must guard their their path, their way, their life (thoughts, actions, decisions) according to and with the word of God. The only offensive spiritual weapon we see described in Ephesians 6 is the "sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God". Be as a soldier scouting through a forest, ready to attack and kill sin at the sound of the slightest rustle of the forest. Guard your life by reciting the promises, warnings, and admonitions of the Bible throughout the day as you memorize.
• Let your efforts towards holiness be whole-hearted. When discouraged, flee to the promises given us by our Lord. Know that he will never leave us or forsake us. Know that God is 100% for us. Know that "He who spared not his own son, but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?" (Romans 8:32).Chase God and seek him wholeheartedly. Intently think about your life and your path and seek to stay on the way that leads to life, but it is the same path that so few find.
• Store up the Bible in your heart, not just your mind. Merely storing and reciting words from the Bible will do nothing for you if they do not affect your heart and find their way deep into your soul. Let the words of God be as scalpels and surgical tools that are cutting away sin from a failing heart. Open your self to divine surgery.

Christian Maturity

Don't forget that you're justified not by how well you follow, but you're justified by Christ alone. Don't forget it. Don't forget you can't earn this. A mark of Christian maturity is when you stumble and fall you run to God and it results in more worship. A sign of immaturity is that when you stumble and fall is you run from God, try to fix yourself up, and run back to him.

 I came across that chunk of preaching while listening to Matt Chandler via The Village Church's podcast. (It is around the 32:00 mark in the 11th part of the Colossians series.) According to this, which I think is accurate and a good indicator of Christian maturity, I am pretty immature. I (and might I add, we) tend to be very prone to this weird legalistic kinda thing that confronts me when I sin and drives me away from God in guilt and shame in a manner that is simply not biblical. I don't intend to discuss godly and ungodly guilt here, but let me just say that I see so many Christians (myself being the prime example) who are so prone to a forgetful, powerful, ignorant shame that deems ourselves to be beyond God's love and fellowship, even if we somehow reckon in our minds that we have his forgiveness (once again, I skirt another huge issue, but it will have to wait).

My point, and I think one of the main things I am learning right now is how to biblically deal with my sin. I am learning to wrestle with the thought that I am a sinner. I have a nature that is fundamentally corrupted and does not want to love God. Yes, sanctification is indeed taking place in my life and Christ is transforming my life and mind, but I still am essentially broken right now. I am a sinner, justified before the Father by the Son's sacrifice, and am being sanctified by his Spirit. I must not live and think in a way that neglects this first truth. I am a sinner.