Monday, January 18, 2010, 7:59 p.m. – I have this song playing in my head:
Enter In / Jon Mohr, Steve Green, Greg Nelson
Nothing chills the heart of man
Like passing through death’s gate,
Yet to him who enters daily
Death’s a glorious fate.
Dearly beloved, we have gathered here
To be a holy bride,
And daily cross death’s threshold
To the holy life inside.
The conflict still continues
Raging deep within my soul,
The Spirit wars against my flesh
In a struggle for control.
My only hope is full surrender –
So with each borrowed breath,
I inhale the Spirit’s will for me
To die a deeper death.
If mourners should lament,
Then let them weep for those alive,
For only when self-will is killed,
Can my soul survive!
Enter in, enter in,
Surrender to the Spirit’s call
To die and enter in.
Enter in, find peace within,
The holy life awaits you,
Abundant life is waiting for you,
The holy life awaits you,
Enter in, enter in.
Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Hebrews 4:14-5:10:
My Understanding: I prayed for understanding of this song in relation to this passage of scripture, and this is what I believe the Lord is showing me. The death being spoken about in this song is the death to the old life, i.e. the crucified life.
Romans 6:1-14:
Further Understanding: Vv. 11-14 really sum up what this song is saying. When we accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of our lives, we die to sin, i.e. our old self is crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with. Then, vv. 11-14 tell us how this is lived out daily in our lives, which is what the song is about. We are called to be holy as Christ is holy, and so we daily die to the old self; to the flesh, and we don’t let sin reign in our lives. We don’t offer our bodies to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather we offer ourselves daily to God, as those who have been brought from death to life. In other words, our daily lives should behave as though we truly have been brought from death (spiritual) to life in Christ Jesus. Our only hope in this struggle between the flesh and the Spirit is full surrender to our Lord Jesus Christ. So,
Enter in, enter in,
Surrender to the Spirit’s call
To die and enter in.
Enter in, find peace within,
The holy life awaits you,
Abundant life is waiting for you,
The holy life awaits you,
Enter in, enter in.
Then, the passage in Hebrews also encourages us to “enter in.” V. 16 says, “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” What is the time of need this is speaking of? It is speaking about temptation to sin. Jesus was also tempted in every way that we have been or will be tempted, yet he was without sin, which is why, besides the fact that he is God, he was able to be our perfect sacrifice to pay the complete price for our sins so that we could go free. So, he is able to sympathize with our weaknesses and he invites us into his grace and mercy when we are tempted to sin. He is the one who knows how to help us not give in to temptation.
V. 14 encourages us to “hold firmly to the faith we profess.” This is key to living the crucified life. If we truly believe that Jesus died on the cross for our sins so that we could be free of the penalty of sin and the bondage to and control of sin over our lives; if we believe he truly set us free from the power of sin over our lives, then to hold firmly to that faith would mean that we would not allow sin to be our master so that we obeyed its lusts, but rather we would allow God – Father, Son & Holy Spirit – to have the Lordship of our lives.
I like what v. 8 says: “Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him…” Even Jesus had to learn obedience, though he never disobeyed because he never sinned. If we truly want to live holy lives pleasing unto God, we must also learn obedience, and sometimes that does come through suffering. And, sometimes that suffering comes from our own battles between the pull of the flesh and the desire to want to please God when we give into the flesh. And, sometimes suffering comes because we are being obedient and it just helps us to grow even more in our relationship with Jesus Christ and our desire to obey Him with all that we have.
Lastly, v. 8 says that Jesus became the source of eternal salvation to all who OBEY HIM. It doesn’t say that he became the source of eternal salvation for all who acknowledged that he died for their sins or all who go to church, etc., but it is for those who obey him. The book of I John and the book of James, as well as other NT books talk much about the need for us to obey our Lord – that it is essential to our salvation. You see, faith = obedience and faith = repentance. True faith puts action to the profession. It does not mean we will be perfect or that we will never sin. It does mean that we will make it our goal to not sin and we will make it our goal to live a life pleasing unto God and we will live our lives accordingly. And, when we do sin, we will confess it to God, turn from it, turn toward the Lord and keep moving toward the goal of the crucified life, dying daily to the self-life.
Enter In / Jon Mohr, Steve Green, Greg Nelson
Nothing chills the heart of man
Like passing through death’s gate,
Yet to him who enters daily
Death’s a glorious fate.
Dearly beloved, we have gathered here
To be a holy bride,
And daily cross death’s threshold
To the holy life inside.
The conflict still continues
Raging deep within my soul,
The Spirit wars against my flesh
In a struggle for control.
My only hope is full surrender –
So with each borrowed breath,
I inhale the Spirit’s will for me
To die a deeper death.
If mourners should lament,
Then let them weep for those alive,
For only when self-will is killed,
Can my soul survive!
Enter in, enter in,
Surrender to the Spirit’s call
To die and enter in.
Enter in, find peace within,
The holy life awaits you,
Abundant life is waiting for you,
The holy life awaits you,
Enter in, enter in.
Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Hebrews 4:14-5:10:
My Understanding: I prayed for understanding of this song in relation to this passage of scripture, and this is what I believe the Lord is showing me. The death being spoken about in this song is the death to the old life, i.e. the crucified life.
Romans 6:1-14:
Further Understanding: Vv. 11-14 really sum up what this song is saying. When we accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of our lives, we die to sin, i.e. our old self is crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with. Then, vv. 11-14 tell us how this is lived out daily in our lives, which is what the song is about. We are called to be holy as Christ is holy, and so we daily die to the old self; to the flesh, and we don’t let sin reign in our lives. We don’t offer our bodies to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather we offer ourselves daily to God, as those who have been brought from death to life. In other words, our daily lives should behave as though we truly have been brought from death (spiritual) to life in Christ Jesus. Our only hope in this struggle between the flesh and the Spirit is full surrender to our Lord Jesus Christ. So,
Enter in, enter in,
Surrender to the Spirit’s call
To die and enter in.
Enter in, find peace within,
The holy life awaits you,
Abundant life is waiting for you,
The holy life awaits you,
Enter in, enter in.
Then, the passage in Hebrews also encourages us to “enter in.” V. 16 says, “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” What is the time of need this is speaking of? It is speaking about temptation to sin. Jesus was also tempted in every way that we have been or will be tempted, yet he was without sin, which is why, besides the fact that he is God, he was able to be our perfect sacrifice to pay the complete price for our sins so that we could go free. So, he is able to sympathize with our weaknesses and he invites us into his grace and mercy when we are tempted to sin. He is the one who knows how to help us not give in to temptation.
V. 14 encourages us to “hold firmly to the faith we profess.” This is key to living the crucified life. If we truly believe that Jesus died on the cross for our sins so that we could be free of the penalty of sin and the bondage to and control of sin over our lives; if we believe he truly set us free from the power of sin over our lives, then to hold firmly to that faith would mean that we would not allow sin to be our master so that we obeyed its lusts, but rather we would allow God – Father, Son & Holy Spirit – to have the Lordship of our lives.
I like what v. 8 says: “Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him…” Even Jesus had to learn obedience, though he never disobeyed because he never sinned. If we truly want to live holy lives pleasing unto God, we must also learn obedience, and sometimes that does come through suffering. And, sometimes that suffering comes from our own battles between the pull of the flesh and the desire to want to please God when we give into the flesh. And, sometimes suffering comes because we are being obedient and it just helps us to grow even more in our relationship with Jesus Christ and our desire to obey Him with all that we have.
Lastly, v. 8 says that Jesus became the source of eternal salvation to all who OBEY HIM. It doesn’t say that he became the source of eternal salvation for all who acknowledged that he died for their sins or all who go to church, etc., but it is for those who obey him. The book of I John and the book of James, as well as other NT books talk much about the need for us to obey our Lord – that it is essential to our salvation. You see, faith = obedience and faith = repentance. True faith puts action to the profession. It does not mean we will be perfect or that we will never sin. It does mean that we will make it our goal to not sin and we will make it our goal to live a life pleasing unto God and we will live our lives accordingly. And, when we do sin, we will confess it to God, turn from it, turn toward the Lord and keep moving toward the goal of the crucified life, dying daily to the self-life.