By Dr. J.M. Strawn and oldhermit
Amplification, Part two
3. The Holy Spirit gives us an amplified understanding of our relation to God, to the universe, and to eternal reality. We are being helped along in this by the Holy Spirit, 26-27.
“In the same way, the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.”
Paul does not qualify the nature of our weakness. This is any weakness, weakness in comprehension, weakness in understanding, weakness in suffering, or weakness in our prayers. What does that mean then for the link between the prayer of faith and the intercession of the Holy Spirit? This means that our prayers are certain to be answered. The Holy Spirit fills the gap in every human frailty and inadequacy, and all of this is done for us in accordance with the will of God, “and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.”
The Holy Spirit's intercession on our behalf amplifies all attempts of human expression and the inability of human language to come before God with our petitions. The limitations of human language are simply not adequate to express the extent of our needs in the midst of our weaknesses. The fact that the Holy Spirit intercedes on our behalf with “groanings too deep for words” should give us confidence in spite of all our frailties that God hears and responds to the prayers of the righteous at the behest of the Holy Spirit.
4. The Holy Spirit also amplifies our understanding of human circumstances and situations. This is where we find the true meaning of our experiences, 28.
“And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”
We learn from the Holy Spirit that God is working in all things for the good of those that love him. I think this verse is so often misrepresented. This verse does not say that all things work together for our good. It says that, “God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God.” There is something we need to understand. Our experiences may not be sent from the Lord, they be sent from the Evil One but, this does not restrict God’s control of the situation. Our benefactor of good is not in the situation, it is in God who controls the situation for our benefit. This does not mean that it is no longer a bad situation, in fact it may even get worse. What it means is that no matter the situation, no matter the severity of the situation, God is doing good for us even in the midst of the situation.
So, how do we define what the good is? How do we find the good in the situation? Are we supposed to look for the good in the situation? This assumes that the “good” is always going to be knowable and comprehendible. It also assumes that the “good” is somehow subjective, that it is always discernable for human interpretation. We need to understand that an amplified comprehension of the situation tells us that “the good” is defined by the Lord, not by us, and not by the situation. This idea certainly turns contemporary situation ethics on its head. So much for any arguments for abortion, euthanasia, and same sex marriage. What is right and good is determined by the Lord and not by me or the situation. Sometimes the good may never even be revealed to us. We may never understand the good that God has wrought for us in a bad situation. In fact, the good itself may even be painful and unpleasant. Is this not the nature of the maturing process? None-the-less, we can be confident that God does “cause all things to work together for good to those who love God.”
5. Amplified comprehension carries us beyond any mere psychological understanding of who we are, 29.
Man is not just the product of a set of supposed random cause to effect natural events that we call the evolutionary process. This is nothing but foolishness. Our presence on this earth and our relationship to the Creator is a matter of the eternal will of God.
a. “For those whom He foreknew,”
This makes us the subject of eternal foreknowledge. We were in the mind of God before time began. This means that time and everything in it exists for the benefit of those whom God foreknew. The language expresses not individuals but a collective.
b. “He also predestined.”
We are embedded in the eternal arrangement of divine fellowship. This is the purpose for our existence in this world. To what then were we predestined?
* Conformity, “To be conformed to the image of his Son.” 29.
* First-born status, “that we might be the firstborn among many brethren.”
c. “He also called.”
This does not say that God only called those whom he foreknew. This is not an exclusionary act. The call is not just some mysterious nebulous feeling or irresistible desire that God imposes on the hearts of a select few. The call is the preaching of the gospel. Everyone who has ever heard the gospel preached has been called. 2Thesselonians 2:14, “It was for this He called you through our gospel, that you may gain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.” The call is not limited to only a select and predetermined few, and not everyone who is called is chosen. Matthew 22:14, “Many are called but few (of those who are called) are chosen.” The invitation from the Lord goes out to all, and all who are willing are encouraged to “come.” Revelation 22:17-19, “The Spirit and the bride say, 'Come!' And let the one who hears say, “Come!” Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life.” This is an open invasion to all. God is actively pursuing the willing. In so doing, he has called those whom he foreknew. In time, here on the earth, and while up to our necks in experiences, both good and bad, God has called us to this hope.
d. “These whom He called, He also justified;”
We stand in accredited righteousness, free from sin. As Paul says in 2Corinthians 5:21, “That we might become the righteousness of God in him.”
e. “These whom He justified, He also glorified.”
We are to be distinguished from those who rejected the amplified comprehension. Those who wish to live according to this world forfeit glorification by God for ephemeral concerns. This certainly does not exclude members of the body. We are certainly not perfect but, the Holy Spirit has amplified our understanding of who we are and what we are about. We now exist, “To be conformed to the image of his Son that we might be the firstborn among many brethren.” Dead or alive, we are part of the eternal family of God and we will remain so even when this creation is assigned to destruction.
6. The Holy Spirit amplifies our understanding of our indomitable position, 31-39.
“What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies; who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written, 'For your sake we are being put to death all day long; we were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.' But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
The answer to Paul’s query is ‘NOTHING!’ Paul then begins to exhaust all possibilities of meaningful opposition against us. Nothing can stand against us. If death cannot defeat us then certainly nothing else stands a chance. If the resurrection of Jesus demonstrated anything, it demonstrated this fact. This does not mean we will not have troubles, or hardships, or famine, or sword, or nakedness, or persecution, or danger. What it means is that if God is working in the midst of these things for our good, then we cannot be overwhelmed by these things, nor can they overwhelm and destroy our relationship with the Lord.
Amplified comprehension about all of these things stands as a wall of protection in the midst of unwanted experiences, and we are assured that these things will come. Having to endure bitter experiences does not mean the Lord has abandoned us. The Lord can use these experiences to shake us till our teeth rattle and never explain why. The why is simply none of our business. Here, Paul quotes Psalms 44:22 where the psalmist says, “For your sake, we face death all day long. We are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” (This was a hard lesson learned by Job as well.) In Psalm 44, we see that God upholds his people one minute, giving them victory over their enemies, and the next moment, he puts his people in harms way and subjects them to rank injustice from those of the world like a bunch of sheep being led to the slaughter, and we find this difficult to reconcile. The key phrase in this passage is “For Your sake.” Amplified comprehension of suffering teaches us that our suffering is not about us, it is about God and his purposes, and we are not required to know why. What we are required to know is that God has not abandoned us in these times and that we can trust the Lord, even when such experiences may claim our lives, or the lives of those we love.
Amplified comprehension promotes conviction and our conviction must outstrip our experiences. Paul says, “I am convinced….” If a man like Paul who suffered so many things in the flesh was able to hold such conviction in his amplified comprehension of suffering, then what excuse can I possibly offer when I allow my meager experiences with suffering to draw me away from the Lord?