God Running is a place for anyone who wants to (or even anyone who wants to want to) love Jesus more deeply, follow Jesus more closely, and love people the way Jesus wants us to.

Romans Chapter 6

Dead to Sin, Alive to God

What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.

Slaves to Righteousness

What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness. I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations. For just as you once presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness leading to sanctification.

For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. But what fruit were you getting at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Pascal’s Fire

My son Gabe gave me an amazing book comprised of notes from the brilliant mathematician and philosopher Blaise Pascal. It’s called Pascal’s Pensées. Not long ago I finished reading it, and in that book I learned about a note Pascal had sewn inside his jacket. And it said this:

GOD of Abraham, GOD of Isaac, GOD of Jacob
not of the philosophers and of the learned.
Certitude. Certitude. Feeling. Joy. Peace.
GOD of Jesus Christ.
My God and your God.
Your GOD will be my God.
Forgetfulness of the world and of everything, except GOD.
He is only found by the ways taught in the Gospel.
Grandeur of the human soul.
Righteous Father, the world has not known you, but I have known you.
Joy, joy, joy, tears of joy.
I have departed from him:
They have forsaken me, the fount of living water.
My God, will you leave me?
Let me not be separated from him forever.
This is eternal life, that they know you, the one true God, and the one that you sent, Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ.
I left him; I fled him, renounced, crucified.
Let me never be separated from him.
He is only kept securely by the ways taught in the Gospel:
Renunciation, total and sweet.
Complete submission to Jesus Christ and to my director.
Eternally in joy for a day’s exercise on the earth.
May I not forget your words. Amen.

After reading Pensées, I was blown away, and inspired, and enlightened, and amazed. Pascal believed philosophy wasn’t something to be thought about. Pascal believed philosophy was something to be lived.

I especially appreciate a couple of lines from his note quoted above, he writes:

“Renunciation, total and sweet. Complete submission to Jesus Christ and to my director.”

So Pascal believed we’re supposed to die. We’re supposed to die to self.

And that’s exactly what Paul is talking about in Romans chapter 6.

We’re Supposed to Die

In light of Romans chapter 6, and in light of “the free gift of God” which “is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord,” what shall we say then?

In our culture today, if someone has a desire, it’s usually encouraged and even celebrated if that person acts on that desire. And we’re not supposed to say no to someone else’s desire. In fact, one of the few things we can say no to–is saying no to someone else’s desire. But if a desire is sinful, by saying yes to our desires, we become slaves to sin. And as Paul writes in Romans 6, that’s the path of disobedience and that path leads to eternal death.

But, if we die to our own desires, and we obey God and Jesus, we’re on the path of obedience, which leads to life: eternal life in Christ.

It’s Descartes’s Fault

Today there’s a reluctance to die to self in the way Paul describes, and I say, our reluctance to die to self is Descartes’s fault–I say that tongue in cheek but there’s definitely a lot of truth in that statement. Our resistance to dying to self is at least in some part a result of the influence of René Descartes. Descartes (pronounced: day-cart) was a contemporary of Pascal. Descartes was also a brilliant mathematician. And he was also a philosopher. Descartes was a philosopher who locked himself in a room determined to doubt all his thoughts about what is true, and to begin building truth in his mind from scratch, beginning with what’s most easily proven.

From this thought experiment came perhaps the most famous philosophical statement ever made: “I think therefore I am.” This was the very first truth Descartes came upon during his experiment.

The Problem of Self-Contradiction

Interestingly though, Descartes insisted that everything must be doubted and deconstructed–except for one thing. The one thing that must never be doubted and deconstructed is the idea that all things should be doubted and deconstructed. That was the one idea that was off limits. I heard Peter Kreeft say it this way, speaking of Descartes, Kreeft said: “To say that all thoughts are false is self contradictory. Because if all thoughts are false, then that thought–that all thoughts are false–is also false.”

The Problem of an Absence of Love and Support

And what kinds of fruit are born from Descartes’s approach? Reading about Descartes’s approach and its affect on our culture brought to mind a debate I attended some years ago. The debate was facilitated by Justin Brierley and the two interlocuters were Sean McDowell and an atheist whose name escapes me at the moment. At the end of the debate both Sean and his atheist opponent were asked what their respective groups could learn from each other. Sean answered, Christians could learn from the atheist community not to shy away from the hard questions of life. I thought that was a terrific insight.

But I found the atheist’s answer to be not only open and honest but also especially compelling. The atheist said, atheist’s could learn from the Christian community how to love and support one another. “We’re not very good at that,” he said.

“By this all people will know that you are my disciples,” Jesus said, “if you have love for one another.” (John 13:35)

What that atheist courageously admitted happens to fit perfectly with my own observations. Over and over I’ve heard and seen the love of Christ demonstrated from Christians. Over and over I’ve heard and seen people’s lives transformed from darkness and destruction to love and light and life. Jesus Christ and his true followers resurrect people, figuratively and eternally.

Among my atheist friends I don’t hear or see this transformative phenomenon. I don’t hear of people who are living a dark and destructive lifestyle, say a person addicted to alcohol or drugs for example. I don’t hear about how they were ensnared in such a sin, but then they began to doubt and deconstruct. And their life was transformed! They were freed from their addiction. I’m sure those stories are out there somewhere but generally I don’t see them. I think that’s because generally they don’t happen. If anything I see the opposite.

Ayaan Hirsi Ali is an example of what I’m talking about here. She was a famous atheist, often called the fifth horseman, (or the fifth horsewoman), of atheism alongside the four horseman of atheism: Dawkins, Hitchens, Harris, and Dennett. I use the past tense “was” because Ayaan recently became a Christian. In an interview with Alex O’Connor she talks about how her spirit was in a profoundly dark place, and how, as a materialist, she struggled to find meaning in life. And then she became a Christian, and her life was transformed. Now she’s experiencing the love and light and life of Christ. If you’re interested you can watch the interview here: Why I Converted to Christianity (Video)–Ayaan Hirsi Ali.

Another example is a friend of mine named Bob Bredemeier. We both volunteer for a ministry called The Jesus Table. It’s a place where we serve people dinner, restaurant style, for free. And we also fill two even greater needs which are a listening ear and community. We serve a lot of people from the streets at The Jesus Table. When Bob was a freshman at the University of Oregon he describes his education this way: “In my introduction of literature class, a number of the short stories and novels we read were written by authors who espoused existentialism and atheism. The message was constantly driven home that human beings are just accidents of nature, without any purpose. And that our existence was some sort of cosmic joke. We’re actors on a stage with nobody watching.

“We can only attempt to fool ourselves by pretending that there is meaning to life and trying to carve out our own significance, although there really is none. Francis Schaeffer refers to this as ‘mysticism with no one there.'”

Like Ayaan Hirsi Ali, my friend Bob has shared with me what a dark place he was in while he was being influenced by the assigned authors in his literature class at the U of O. But then he came to Christ. I love seeing Bob because he exudes joy and the deep love of Jesus. His life was transformed. If you’re interested you can learn more about Bob’s story here: A Seeker of Truth.

The Problem of Trust and Relationships

Something else I’ve noticed about my friends who take this approach is that it’s hard on relationships. Descartes goes into his room and his starting point isn’t simply to doubt every thing. He also doubts every one. His beginning point is to have no trust in any information and to have no trust in any person. An older wiser friend must not be trusted. Thomas Aquinas must not be trusted. Your neighbor must not be trusted. No one is to be trusted. Everyone is to be doubted, except for the individual.

In my experience, my friends who approach life this way tend to struggle with trusting the people around them. And trust is central to healthy relationships. Distrust is an enemy of intimacy. Distrust compromises relationships at best, and destroys relationships at worst.

The Problem of Self Indulgence

Unfortunately, Descartes’s way of doubting and deconstructing everything has had an influence on many modern philosophers and on our culture in general. “What can we really know?” is a question that lurks below our society in a kind of undercurrent of deconstruction. Doubt everything. Deconstruct, deconstruct, deconstruct.

Naturally, we’re much more inclined to doubt and deconstruct the hard things in life, even when the hard things are good and just and wise. It’s also convenient to avoid doubt and deconstruction of what aligns with our own desires, impulses, and lusts. It’s a marvelous approach for anyone who desires to indulge themselves. Each person can create their own morals and values, based on their own individual inclinations.

As Ashley Null wrote in his biography on Thomas Cranmer:

“What the heart loves, the will chooses, and the mind justifies.”

It’s human nature to operate that way, and in that order.

With all this in mind, it’s easy to see how this type of deconstruction has led some to scientism and a rejection of Jesus Christ.

The Self Reigns Supreme

Finally, there’s the problem with how Descartes makes himself his own arbiter of truth. Jesus could not possibly be trusted to share the truth. Saint Augustine absolutely must not be trusted to share the truth. “Their insights and perceptions couldn’t possibly be superior to mine,” Descartes would say.

The emphasis is on the individual. At the center of Descartes’s approach is:

The self.

Only the deconstructionist approach can be trusted. Only the individual’s own thinking can be trusted.

The individual, in this philosophy, is exalted. The individual is primary. The individual is the ultimate.

This is the opposite of what Jesus taught, and is the opposite of how Jesus lived.

“Take up your cross and follow me,”

Jesus said.

And in the Garden, Jesus said,

“…not my will, but Yours, be done.”

Jesus put God as his ultimate. Jesus died to himself and surrendered to God’s will.

And when it comes to dying, Paul teaches the same in Romans 6.

Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

For one who has died has been set free from sin. (Romans 6:3-4, 7)

“Renunciation, total and sweet.
“Complete submission to Jesus Christ.”

Die to self.

Notes:

Blaise Pascal, Pensées, (originally written in 1658), 1995, Penguin Classics, p. 128

Descartes’s Meditations: Doubt Everything, Philosophy as a Way of Life, University of Notre Dame, 2025

These Two Thinkers Made Your World (Video)–Descartes and Pascal, Glen Scrivener (Speak Life)

Can We Ever REALLY Be Sure God Exists? w/ Dr. Peter Kreeft (Video), Matt Fradd

Available on Amazon, Google Play Books, and Audible!

Love Like Jesus: How Jesus Loved People (and how you can love like Jesus)

Love Like Jesus begins with the story of how after a life of regular church attendance and Bible study, Bennett was challenged by a pastor to study Jesus. That led to an obsessive seven year deep dive. After pouring over Jesus’ every interaction with another human being, he realized he was doing a much better job of studying Jesus’ words than he was following Jesus’ words and example. The honest and fearless revelations of Bennett’s own moral failures affirm he wrote this book for himself as much as for others. Love Like Jesus examines a variety of stories, examples, and research, including:

• Specific examples of how Jesus communicated God’s love to others.
• How Jesus demonstrated all five of Gary Chapman’s love languages (and how you can too).
• The story of how Billy Graham extended Christ’s extraordinary love and grace toward a man who misrepresented Jesus to millions.
• How to respond to critics the way Jesus did.
• How to love unlovable people the way Jesus did.
• How to survive a life of loving like Jesus (or how not to become a Christian doormat).
• How Jesus didn’t love everyone the same (and why you shouldn’t either).
• How Jesus guarded his heart by taking care of himself–he even napped–and why you should do the same.
• How Jesus loved his betrayer Judas, even to the very end.

With genuine unfiltered honesty, Love Like Jesus, shows you how to live a life according to God’s definition of success: A life of loving God well, and loving the people around you well too.

A life of loving like Jesus. (Kindle, hardcover, and paperback now available on Amazon, the ebook is now available on Google Play Books, and the audiobook is available on Audible.)