Romans Chapter 4 cont'd
David also affirmed that God's righteousness isn't given according to "earning it” when he declared, "How blessed are those whose transgressions are forgiven and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the person whose sins the Lord does not count against him. "
Now think about it. Is this "blessedness" only given to circumcised Jews, or is it also available to uncircumcised Gentiles? Remember, we agreed that Abraham's faith was the basis of his righteousness. Was he circumcised or uncircumcised when this was said about him? He himself was an uncircumcised Gentile when God said this to him! Only after this was he circumcised, which was only an outward sign of the righteousness that God had already bestowed on him because of his belief. This made Abraham the father of all who believe God, even uncircumcised Gentiles. So then, God's righteousness is available to them as well. And he is obviously the father of the Jews, if indeed they walk in the same kind of faith Abraham displayed while he was still an uncircumcised Gentile. For God's awesome promise that Abraham would be the father of many nations was not given to him and his descendants on the basis of religious performance, but because of the right relationship with God he enjoyed on the basis of believing God. If this promise is based on "earning it", then faith is nullified and God "owes" salvation to people.
But trying to live up to the Mosaic code actually produces greater offense and guilt in people, for where there is no clear standard, there is no clear violation.
Comments:
Up to this point, Paul has been laboring in Romans to reveal how the gospel of Jesus is a great leveler for people of all races and religious backgrounds. Our human nature tends toward trying to earn God's love and acceptance based on our moral performance--this inclination comes so easy to us. There is a certain basic "fairness" about this view of religion in our minds and hearts because we instinctively know that God is holy and He would certainly want us to behave better if we are to approach Him and have a relationship with Him. It also of gets drilled into us, at least in our culture, through our family, education, athletic and business systems. Bad performance brings punitive measures from the authorities over us and good behavior is typically smiled upon and rewarded.
Probably the closest thing on the human level to the kind of love that God has for us is the love of a healthy parent (or maybe especially, a grandparent!). Beneath the pressure a good parent may put upon a child to perform better, is an undeserved love from the very beginning of the child's life that comes from simply "being family". Ultimately, parents' love for a child can tolerate a lot of misbehavior and poor performance on the part of their daughter/son without breaking the bond of affection. Some parents certainly communicate and display this unearned love better than others and some, in their fear that their child might take a wrong advantage of this love, hardly express it at all.
But in Romans, we are talking about the relationship of a perfectly moral and all-powerful Being to human beings who are imperfect and lacking much in power. Although better behavior is commendable and ultimately an important issue (Romans 6-8 address this matter thoroughly), it is not the fundamental basis of our establishing a life-giving relationship with God. And that is actually the main point so far...we (whether Jew or gentile) can't establish a friendship with God by our own efforts. No one is good enough or holy enough within himself/herself to pull this off. All of us need God to reach down to us to initiate a relationship, it one is to be had at all. This is what the gospel of Jesus Christ is all about...this is what the Heavenly Father has done for us in Christ. And...this quality of Divine love is in line with what He modeled to us in the life-stories of Abraham and David (and others) recorded in the Hebrew Scriptures. Salvation by grace through faith is at the roots of the faith of all who have ever truly been God's friends. And now because of Jesus (who he is and what he has done) the opportunity for people of all nations to "know God" has exploded across our planet by simple agreement with the simply profound news.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
The Romance of Romans-Part 13
Romans Chapter 4
How was Abraham, our father according to human ancestry, made right with God? If he were justified by his religious performance then he would have had something to boast about- even though God would have seen right through it. For the scripture makes it clear: "Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness." If someone works, then his reward is not a free gift, but something he's owed for his labor. But to the one who realizes he can't earn salvation, but simply stops trying to and just trusts in the One who saves the sinful, his belief is counted to him as righteousness.
Comments:
Father Abraham...esteemed by all...was not Jewish. The Jews, as a people group, did not exist in his day. We easily overlook this simple point. He was from a culture that had devolved into polytheism and idol worship along with the other cultures of his world and time. But the Living God..."I Am that I Am"...the Omnipotent Creator of all things...intervened miraculously in his life, spoke to him and transformed him into His friend. Abraham's life and journey was shaped by God's calling him away from his land and it's culture and religion and the earth has never been the same...even though Abraham, in his earthly life, saw very few of the outcomes of the promises God made to him. He certainly sees them now. There is a great and profound continuity between this visible realm and the one we don't see with our physical eyes!
As the apostle Paul continues to unfold the essential elements of the Big God-Story of gospel of Jesus Christ in the book of Romans...he reminds us of the history of God's interventions with humanity. Before he discusses the place and purpose of the Law of Moses in God's economy, he goes back before the time of Moses to reinforce the fact that God's salvation methodology is rooted in a non-Jew "believing (i.e. trusting and responding with the deep heart) God" rather than in ritual, law-keeping and/or being born into the "right" ethnic or social group. Can God save a non-Jew? We had all better hope so...including Jewish people...for they would not exist as a people unless He could and did.
So...for God to suddenly open the way for gentiles to be "grafted in" to His covenant family, through the Messiah Jesus, is not an out of character thing for Him to do--no, not at all. In fact, it is a logical (and prophetically oft-foretold by the Jewish prophets) extension of His eternal purposes in His dealings with humanity as a whole well-grounded in His covenant with Father Abraham. This radical development in the unfolding Story of God's salvation in the earth was something that actually was, and should have been, expected by all who took the ancient prophecy of Scripture to heart.
How was Abraham, our father according to human ancestry, made right with God? If he were justified by his religious performance then he would have had something to boast about- even though God would have seen right through it. For the scripture makes it clear: "Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness." If someone works, then his reward is not a free gift, but something he's owed for his labor. But to the one who realizes he can't earn salvation, but simply stops trying to and just trusts in the One who saves the sinful, his belief is counted to him as righteousness.
Comments:
Father Abraham...esteemed by all...was not Jewish. The Jews, as a people group, did not exist in his day. We easily overlook this simple point. He was from a culture that had devolved into polytheism and idol worship along with the other cultures of his world and time. But the Living God..."I Am that I Am"...the Omnipotent Creator of all things...intervened miraculously in his life, spoke to him and transformed him into His friend. Abraham's life and journey was shaped by God's calling him away from his land and it's culture and religion and the earth has never been the same...even though Abraham, in his earthly life, saw very few of the outcomes of the promises God made to him. He certainly sees them now. There is a great and profound continuity between this visible realm and the one we don't see with our physical eyes!
As the apostle Paul continues to unfold the essential elements of the Big God-Story of gospel of Jesus Christ in the book of Romans...he reminds us of the history of God's interventions with humanity. Before he discusses the place and purpose of the Law of Moses in God's economy, he goes back before the time of Moses to reinforce the fact that God's salvation methodology is rooted in a non-Jew "believing (i.e. trusting and responding with the deep heart) God" rather than in ritual, law-keeping and/or being born into the "right" ethnic or social group. Can God save a non-Jew? We had all better hope so...including Jewish people...for they would not exist as a people unless He could and did.
So...for God to suddenly open the way for gentiles to be "grafted in" to His covenant family, through the Messiah Jesus, is not an out of character thing for Him to do--no, not at all. In fact, it is a logical (and prophetically oft-foretold by the Jewish prophets) extension of His eternal purposes in His dealings with humanity as a whole well-grounded in His covenant with Father Abraham. This radical development in the unfolding Story of God's salvation in the earth was something that actually was, and should have been, expected by all who took the ancient prophecy of Scripture to heart.
Monday, October 13, 2008
The Romance of Romans-Part 12
Romans Chapter 3 cont'd.
However, a new day has dawned and the righteousness of God is revealed that transcends the Mosaic legal system. The scriptures themselves, written by Moses and the prophets, point us to this very truth. Now this divine righteousness is available to all people who really believe in the Messiah, Jesus, and put their trust in who he is and what he has done for them. For there is no real difference between people- all have sinned and fall far short of God's standard of perfection. Justification (God reconciling us to himself) is a free gift of God's grace purchased by Jesus Christ; whom God has clearly presented as the only righteous one and therefore, the only worthy blood sacrifice for the sins of all people of all times, which God has patiently endured. Sacrificing his own Son was the only possible way that God could impart his righteousness to people and still be true to both his justice and his mercy.
God's ingenious salvation strategy undermines all the arrogant self-righteousness of religious people because it is not based on the principle of trying, but trusting. We therefore conclude that people are made right with God, not on the basis of religious works, but on the basis of putting their confidence in Jesus the Messiah. God isn't only the God of the Jews, but also of the Gentiles. And if he is the same and only true God for all, then he must save all by the same means- believing.
So do we nullify the value of the Mosaic law because of this? No way! In fact, its very focus is confirmed.
Comments:
Imagine that the whole human race had been living perpetually in the nighttime. There would be nights that were darker than others and when the full moon would shine on a clear night, people would think how bright it was outside. The moon would be esteemed as the brightest source of natural light in the world. Then imagine that a time came in the course of history when something unprecedented occurred. One "day", while people were minding their own business, on the edge of the horizon a powerful and brilliant glow appeared. Everyone's attention would be drawn to the eastern sky. And...over several minutes it intensified until suddenly the people of the earth witnessed, for the first time in their long history, a piercing ray of the sun. They would probably assume that the end of the world was at hand. Then a brilliant and massive disk of light that emitted a penetrating warmth rose into the heavens. As it rose, it became even too bright to gaze upon and its radiant heat intensified. The "days" of the past, were now paling in comparison to this "DAY" that had suddenly dawned upon the earth. The moon, still visible in the sky, was fading from sight. Over time, as the people learned more about this amazing sun and its rhythms, they realized that the moon was just a dead stone and it's only light was a reflection of the great and powerful light of the sun.
This is the word picture that comes to my mind as I think about the Big God Story of the Scriptures and ponder the history of God's dealings with humanity in the Old Testament in light of what He did in Christ by inaugurating the New Covenant in his blood. All that God did in human history pointed forward to the appearance on earth's stage of Jesus of Nazareth--the Christ. The Old Covenant was written on dead stones that did not change the stony human heart within the soul of God's fallen image bearers. It's light only reflected the Light of the One to come. But the New Covenant was based in a Person who is a the source of true light that is too brilliant to gaze into. He provides a warmth that goes deep into all of human life and existence. He made a way for God's own nature and righteousness to be "birthed" into the soul of a person that changes the very chemistry of her/his nature. He lovingly chose to do this on the basis of his own goodness, justice and grace rather than the insufficient religious performance of any broken human being. Those who would receive this grand miracle would not be qualified by their race, religious background, level of education or social status. All that the heavenly Father would require them to do is trust the One He sent and agree in the depth of their hearts that he is the only begotten Son of God who has been given to be the Savior of the world.
And...far from being anti-Jewish...for people of every race and nation to be invited to "receive" Jesus as the promised Messiah...the Father's free gift to all humanity...is the fulfillment of what the Hebrew prophets heard from God, anticipated and foretold. God's promise to Abraham that he would be the father of many nations and a blessing to every family on the earth finds its consummation in all that Jesus was and is about.
However, a new day has dawned and the righteousness of God is revealed that transcends the Mosaic legal system. The scriptures themselves, written by Moses and the prophets, point us to this very truth. Now this divine righteousness is available to all people who really believe in the Messiah, Jesus, and put their trust in who he is and what he has done for them. For there is no real difference between people- all have sinned and fall far short of God's standard of perfection. Justification (God reconciling us to himself) is a free gift of God's grace purchased by Jesus Christ; whom God has clearly presented as the only righteous one and therefore, the only worthy blood sacrifice for the sins of all people of all times, which God has patiently endured. Sacrificing his own Son was the only possible way that God could impart his righteousness to people and still be true to both his justice and his mercy.
God's ingenious salvation strategy undermines all the arrogant self-righteousness of religious people because it is not based on the principle of trying, but trusting. We therefore conclude that people are made right with God, not on the basis of religious works, but on the basis of putting their confidence in Jesus the Messiah. God isn't only the God of the Jews, but also of the Gentiles. And if he is the same and only true God for all, then he must save all by the same means- believing.
So do we nullify the value of the Mosaic law because of this? No way! In fact, its very focus is confirmed.
Comments:
Imagine that the whole human race had been living perpetually in the nighttime. There would be nights that were darker than others and when the full moon would shine on a clear night, people would think how bright it was outside. The moon would be esteemed as the brightest source of natural light in the world. Then imagine that a time came in the course of history when something unprecedented occurred. One "day", while people were minding their own business, on the edge of the horizon a powerful and brilliant glow appeared. Everyone's attention would be drawn to the eastern sky. And...over several minutes it intensified until suddenly the people of the earth witnessed, for the first time in their long history, a piercing ray of the sun. They would probably assume that the end of the world was at hand. Then a brilliant and massive disk of light that emitted a penetrating warmth rose into the heavens. As it rose, it became even too bright to gaze upon and its radiant heat intensified. The "days" of the past, were now paling in comparison to this "DAY" that had suddenly dawned upon the earth. The moon, still visible in the sky, was fading from sight. Over time, as the people learned more about this amazing sun and its rhythms, they realized that the moon was just a dead stone and it's only light was a reflection of the great and powerful light of the sun.
This is the word picture that comes to my mind as I think about the Big God Story of the Scriptures and ponder the history of God's dealings with humanity in the Old Testament in light of what He did in Christ by inaugurating the New Covenant in his blood. All that God did in human history pointed forward to the appearance on earth's stage of Jesus of Nazareth--the Christ. The Old Covenant was written on dead stones that did not change the stony human heart within the soul of God's fallen image bearers. It's light only reflected the Light of the One to come. But the New Covenant was based in a Person who is a the source of true light that is too brilliant to gaze into. He provides a warmth that goes deep into all of human life and existence. He made a way for God's own nature and righteousness to be "birthed" into the soul of a person that changes the very chemistry of her/his nature. He lovingly chose to do this on the basis of his own goodness, justice and grace rather than the insufficient religious performance of any broken human being. Those who would receive this grand miracle would not be qualified by their race, religious background, level of education or social status. All that the heavenly Father would require them to do is trust the One He sent and agree in the depth of their hearts that he is the only begotten Son of God who has been given to be the Savior of the world.
And...far from being anti-Jewish...for people of every race and nation to be invited to "receive" Jesus as the promised Messiah...the Father's free gift to all humanity...is the fulfillment of what the Hebrew prophets heard from God, anticipated and foretold. God's promise to Abraham that he would be the father of many nations and a blessing to every family on the earth finds its consummation in all that Jesus was and is about.
Monday, October 6, 2008
The Romance of Romans-Part 11
Romans Chapter 3 cont'd
So are we Jews superior to the Gentiles? Again I say, "No way!" I have just made it clear that Jews and Gentiles are both “in the same boat"--in bondage to sin and in need of salvation. The scripture confirms this in the Psalms, "No one is righteous in himself, absolutely no one. No one possesses intrinsic spiritual understanding or intrinsic desire and power to seek after God. Everyone has gone his own way, and embraced vanity. No one is innately good; absolutely no one! Death and decay are within them; their words are manipulative and deceitful, like the poisonous venom of serpents. Their speech is full of cursing and bitterness. They are 'quick to the kill'. They leave destruction and misery in their wake and they are ignorant about healthy relationships. Nothing is sacred to them and they don't know the proper fear of God."
Now this wasn't just written about all those Gentile folks out there. It was specifically written about Jews, for it was written in the Jewish scriptures! So every person on the earth, Jew or Gentile, needs to just shut their mouths and acknowledge their guilt before God. Therefore, no one is made righteous in God's sight on the basis of trying to obey the Mosaic law, for it was primarily given to expose sin.
Comments:
These are Paul's final paragraphs that wrap up the point that he began to make in the second part of chapter 1. Righteousness is not intrinsic to human nature as we are born into this world. The fall of our first parents has affected our basic nature. Gentile "flesh" and Jewish "flesh" are still human "flesh" and it all falls greatly short of the holiness of God. We have all sinned, not only against God's standard of perfection, but, at times, against our own better judgment. Some of us display more sinful attitudes and actions than others of us and some of us display more of what is "good" in humanity than others...but still...we have all "missed the mark" in plenty of ways. And...we all know it is true when we are honest with ourselves. Our God-given conscience informs us so.
Because our sinful nature and tendencies are so common, we often try to find ways to explain them away, suppress them, whitewash them with religion, minimize them, redefine them or mask them. We imagine, "If everyone is imperfect...it mustn't be a big deal to God anyway. He ought to be used to it by now!" But then the great gospel of Jesus come along and challenges us to face the reality of our fallen-ness. And...the Holy Spirit gently and firmly puts his finger on our own personal sinfulness and allows the guilt and shame to surface so that our true condition can be squarely faced and not denied. I need forgiveness for my many failures. I need a Savior...for I cannot save myself or change my own nature.
Then the Holy Spirit goes on to convince me that a Savior is there for me...if I will only have the courage and gut-level honesty to turn and face him. Who is it? Yes, it's Jesus Christ after all. Of course it's him. I suspected that he was the real deal the first time I heard of him. The One whose name is on the lips of so many...even if it is used as a cuss word. (Even the naughty cannot keep him off of their minds!) He died for us, he is risen, he is Lord of all, his influence is all around us and even moving upon our souls. But will I melt...or carry on in my hardness...suppressing what I know must be true? Oh God...help me to melt over and over again.
So are we Jews superior to the Gentiles? Again I say, "No way!" I have just made it clear that Jews and Gentiles are both “in the same boat"--in bondage to sin and in need of salvation. The scripture confirms this in the Psalms, "No one is righteous in himself, absolutely no one. No one possesses intrinsic spiritual understanding or intrinsic desire and power to seek after God. Everyone has gone his own way, and embraced vanity. No one is innately good; absolutely no one! Death and decay are within them; their words are manipulative and deceitful, like the poisonous venom of serpents. Their speech is full of cursing and bitterness. They are 'quick to the kill'. They leave destruction and misery in their wake and they are ignorant about healthy relationships. Nothing is sacred to them and they don't know the proper fear of God."
Now this wasn't just written about all those Gentile folks out there. It was specifically written about Jews, for it was written in the Jewish scriptures! So every person on the earth, Jew or Gentile, needs to just shut their mouths and acknowledge their guilt before God. Therefore, no one is made righteous in God's sight on the basis of trying to obey the Mosaic law, for it was primarily given to expose sin.
Comments:
These are Paul's final paragraphs that wrap up the point that he began to make in the second part of chapter 1. Righteousness is not intrinsic to human nature as we are born into this world. The fall of our first parents has affected our basic nature. Gentile "flesh" and Jewish "flesh" are still human "flesh" and it all falls greatly short of the holiness of God. We have all sinned, not only against God's standard of perfection, but, at times, against our own better judgment. Some of us display more sinful attitudes and actions than others of us and some of us display more of what is "good" in humanity than others...but still...we have all "missed the mark" in plenty of ways. And...we all know it is true when we are honest with ourselves. Our God-given conscience informs us so.
Because our sinful nature and tendencies are so common, we often try to find ways to explain them away, suppress them, whitewash them with religion, minimize them, redefine them or mask them. We imagine, "If everyone is imperfect...it mustn't be a big deal to God anyway. He ought to be used to it by now!" But then the great gospel of Jesus come along and challenges us to face the reality of our fallen-ness. And...the Holy Spirit gently and firmly puts his finger on our own personal sinfulness and allows the guilt and shame to surface so that our true condition can be squarely faced and not denied. I need forgiveness for my many failures. I need a Savior...for I cannot save myself or change my own nature.
Then the Holy Spirit goes on to convince me that a Savior is there for me...if I will only have the courage and gut-level honesty to turn and face him. Who is it? Yes, it's Jesus Christ after all. Of course it's him. I suspected that he was the real deal the first time I heard of him. The One whose name is on the lips of so many...even if it is used as a cuss word. (Even the naughty cannot keep him off of their minds!) He died for us, he is risen, he is Lord of all, his influence is all around us and even moving upon our souls. But will I melt...or carry on in my hardness...suppressing what I know must be true? Oh God...help me to melt over and over again.
Sunday, October 5, 2008
The Romance of Romans-Part 10
Romans Chapter 3 cont'd
I will continue to anticipate arguments based on mere human reasoning. "If our being wrong magnifies the fact that God is right, he shouldn't have any complaints and he's unjust for judging us for our wrongs." Wrong again! God is bound by his nature to approve all that is right and to condemn all that is wrong. You might respond, "If God's truth is seen more clearly by its contrast to my falsehood and he receives more honor because of it, how can he be just if he still condemns me for being sinful?" Some have taken this reasoning to such an extreme that they recommend (and have actually claimed that we have taught!), "Let's do more and more evil, so that greater good may result." This kind of thinking is truly damnable and not even worth a rebuttal!
Comments:
Paul is beginning to ramp up in anticipation of revealing the Divine Logic (a word connected to "Logos") of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Before he does, he gets a couple more common objections of people who are skeptical of the gospel out of the way.
The first one is about a flippant attitude that some have about God's amazing ability to capitalize on the tragic presence of evil in the world (and in human hearts!) to show forth His own holiness and justice (and later...mercy) by contrast. But instead of being stunned and humbled by this Divine attribute, some people, in essence, react to the gospel by saying, "Oh...we're actually doing God a 'favor' by being the 'flawed object' of this contrast. So...if He holds us accountable for our sins, He is unjust. If He is unjust, then He is not worthy of our worship and service. Hey Paul...we gotcha...you're preaching foolish nonsense. And...if what you're saying is really true, sin isn't such a big deal anyway. So what's all your urgency about."
The second one takes this reaction to the gospel message a step further. This argument says, "So Paul, what you're actually then saying is that we might as well sin as much as we can. If God can 'use' our sin to bring glory to Himself, then let's give Him some more material to work with. Cool. Ha...now we really gotcha!" This is obviously not what Paul is saying. Just take a step back and rehearse the horrors of sin in our world and in world history...and in our personal lives and relationships and reread chapter 1.
Still...there is an important irony here for us who follow Jesus and share the good news of his grace. If some people do not react to our message of God's grace in Christ in a similar way and accuse us saying these kinds of things, we probably aren't preaching what Paul did! God's grace is so free and freeing...so unintimidated by the presence of evil and sin...so capable of overcoming and negating the tragedy of our fallen existence...so filled with a Beauty that totally eclipses all the ugliness of evil...that a superficial and flippant reaction to hearing about the good news often causes people conclude that sin and evil really aren't much a problem after all...if what we're saying it true. Proper preaching the the gospel has always made believers vulnerable to these accusations that twist it's inscrutable Logic into such foolishness.
God's actual attitude toward sin and evil is revealed in the gospels as we see him come humbly into our world in Jesus to live right in the midst of the sinful age for love's sake. We see him seeking and loving and forgiving and healing and and resurrecting the lost, the unloved, the sinful, the sick and the deceased. We see Jesus pressing beyond the sin and evil in people to see and call forth who they were really called to be...doing all that he did to free their hearts to embrace the Dawn of new creation that was rising upon the Dusk of the old creation to trump it's darkness with a brilliant light. God loves the sinner--his "fallen image bearers".
Yet we also see the mood change in the gospels to that of a heavy sobriety...a time of temptation, agony, betrayal, scattering, mockery, and terrible injustice...as Jesus, at the end of three and a half years of compassion-filled ministry turns his face like flint to go to Jerusalem to deal with the root problem of humanity. And this he ultimately did by taking upon himself the guilt and shame of all humanity--past, present and future--so that he could then take it away and triumph over it through his sacrificial death on the cross and then finally through his blessed resurrection. God hates sin--the disease that has held captive his "fallen image bearers". So...sin is a terrible problem and nothing to be flip about. But God....
I will continue to anticipate arguments based on mere human reasoning. "If our being wrong magnifies the fact that God is right, he shouldn't have any complaints and he's unjust for judging us for our wrongs." Wrong again! God is bound by his nature to approve all that is right and to condemn all that is wrong. You might respond, "If God's truth is seen more clearly by its contrast to my falsehood and he receives more honor because of it, how can he be just if he still condemns me for being sinful?" Some have taken this reasoning to such an extreme that they recommend (and have actually claimed that we have taught!), "Let's do more and more evil, so that greater good may result." This kind of thinking is truly damnable and not even worth a rebuttal!
Comments:
Paul is beginning to ramp up in anticipation of revealing the Divine Logic (a word connected to "Logos") of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Before he does, he gets a couple more common objections of people who are skeptical of the gospel out of the way.
The first one is about a flippant attitude that some have about God's amazing ability to capitalize on the tragic presence of evil in the world (and in human hearts!) to show forth His own holiness and justice (and later...mercy) by contrast. But instead of being stunned and humbled by this Divine attribute, some people, in essence, react to the gospel by saying, "Oh...we're actually doing God a 'favor' by being the 'flawed object' of this contrast. So...if He holds us accountable for our sins, He is unjust. If He is unjust, then He is not worthy of our worship and service. Hey Paul...we gotcha...you're preaching foolish nonsense. And...if what you're saying is really true, sin isn't such a big deal anyway. So what's all your urgency about."
The second one takes this reaction to the gospel message a step further. This argument says, "So Paul, what you're actually then saying is that we might as well sin as much as we can. If God can 'use' our sin to bring glory to Himself, then let's give Him some more material to work with. Cool. Ha...now we really gotcha!" This is obviously not what Paul is saying. Just take a step back and rehearse the horrors of sin in our world and in world history...and in our personal lives and relationships and reread chapter 1.
Still...there is an important irony here for us who follow Jesus and share the good news of his grace. If some people do not react to our message of God's grace in Christ in a similar way and accuse us saying these kinds of things, we probably aren't preaching what Paul did! God's grace is so free and freeing...so unintimidated by the presence of evil and sin...so capable of overcoming and negating the tragedy of our fallen existence...so filled with a Beauty that totally eclipses all the ugliness of evil...that a superficial and flippant reaction to hearing about the good news often causes people conclude that sin and evil really aren't much a problem after all...if what we're saying it true. Proper preaching the the gospel has always made believers vulnerable to these accusations that twist it's inscrutable Logic into such foolishness.
God's actual attitude toward sin and evil is revealed in the gospels as we see him come humbly into our world in Jesus to live right in the midst of the sinful age for love's sake. We see him seeking and loving and forgiving and healing and and resurrecting the lost, the unloved, the sinful, the sick and the deceased. We see Jesus pressing beyond the sin and evil in people to see and call forth who they were really called to be...doing all that he did to free their hearts to embrace the Dawn of new creation that was rising upon the Dusk of the old creation to trump it's darkness with a brilliant light. God loves the sinner--his "fallen image bearers".
Yet we also see the mood change in the gospels to that of a heavy sobriety...a time of temptation, agony, betrayal, scattering, mockery, and terrible injustice...as Jesus, at the end of three and a half years of compassion-filled ministry turns his face like flint to go to Jerusalem to deal with the root problem of humanity. And this he ultimately did by taking upon himself the guilt and shame of all humanity--past, present and future--so that he could then take it away and triumph over it through his sacrificial death on the cross and then finally through his blessed resurrection. God hates sin--the disease that has held captive his "fallen image bearers". So...sin is a terrible problem and nothing to be flip about. But God....
Saturday, October 4, 2008
The Romance of Romans-Part 9
Romans Chapter 3
Now I know that you're tempted to think: "If what he's saying is true, then there has been no meaning to all it has cost the Jews for being God's 'chosen people'. What's the advantage of being a Jew in the first place?" Actually, there are many privileges- especially that God gave them the stewardship over his message to humanity through the prophetic scriptures. So if some Jews have been unfaithful to their divine calling, does this negate the faithfulness of God himself? No way! God is, and will always be, true even if all people were to contradict him. The scripture says of him, "You are always right in all that you say and you always prove your critics wrong."
Comments:
At this point in his letter, Paul has just written many paragraphs graphically detailing the very real and deadly trouble that the souls of people, both Jews and gentiles, are in. The beginning of chapter 3 opens with a literary tool that he will use throughout the rest of the letter. He pens a contrary question that he knows that his previous statements will evoke in the hearts and minds of his readers and then goes on to give a reasonable answer to the argument of the "ghost" doubter.
In my view, this first question is the most profound and fundamental one of them all. Yet, it is one whose profundity can easily escape us. Let me put it in other words...If a law-keeping and God-honoring Jewish person is not right with God and...in the larger context...if the Jewish people are not "saved" or "safe" by being associated with their historic/national/ethnic faith community and its beliefs, rituals and customs...then God has lied because he has broken his part of the ancient bargain he made with Abraham, Moses, David and the like...since he absolutely promised that he would "save" their children/followers throughout the generations to come. So...God is not "righteous" if what Paul says is true. I believe how Paul addresses this question is the main theme of the book of Romans as it posits a new and different paradigm of how to understand and interpret the metanarrative...the overarching story...of the Bible from Genesis forward. This new and authoritative framework for understanding the "kingdom of God" and the OT prophecies was initiated by Jesus in the Gospels. And...it was the primary reason, humanly speaking, why Jesus and Paul both were executed.
As followers of Jesus in our day, we need to let this sobering philosophical/doctrinal foundation of the first part of Romans sink in to our hearts and minds. It's truly radical and upsets the status quo of our spiritually complacent cultures--religious and otherwise.
Now I know that you're tempted to think: "If what he's saying is true, then there has been no meaning to all it has cost the Jews for being God's 'chosen people'. What's the advantage of being a Jew in the first place?" Actually, there are many privileges- especially that God gave them the stewardship over his message to humanity through the prophetic scriptures. So if some Jews have been unfaithful to their divine calling, does this negate the faithfulness of God himself? No way! God is, and will always be, true even if all people were to contradict him. The scripture says of him, "You are always right in all that you say and you always prove your critics wrong."
Comments:
At this point in his letter, Paul has just written many paragraphs graphically detailing the very real and deadly trouble that the souls of people, both Jews and gentiles, are in. The beginning of chapter 3 opens with a literary tool that he will use throughout the rest of the letter. He pens a contrary question that he knows that his previous statements will evoke in the hearts and minds of his readers and then goes on to give a reasonable answer to the argument of the "ghost" doubter.
In my view, this first question is the most profound and fundamental one of them all. Yet, it is one whose profundity can easily escape us. Let me put it in other words...If a law-keeping and God-honoring Jewish person is not right with God and...in the larger context...if the Jewish people are not "saved" or "safe" by being associated with their historic/national/ethnic faith community and its beliefs, rituals and customs...then God has lied because he has broken his part of the ancient bargain he made with Abraham, Moses, David and the like...since he absolutely promised that he would "save" their children/followers throughout the generations to come. So...God is not "righteous" if what Paul says is true. I believe how Paul addresses this question is the main theme of the book of Romans as it posits a new and different paradigm of how to understand and interpret the metanarrative...the overarching story...of the Bible from Genesis forward. This new and authoritative framework for understanding the "kingdom of God" and the OT prophecies was initiated by Jesus in the Gospels. And...it was the primary reason, humanly speaking, why Jesus and Paul both were executed.
As followers of Jesus in our day, we need to let this sobering philosophical/doctrinal foundation of the first part of Romans sink in to our hearts and minds. It's truly radical and upsets the status quo of our spiritually complacent cultures--religious and otherwise.
Friday, October 3, 2008
The Romance of Romans-Part 8
Romans 2 cont'd
Again I address you religious Jews. You claim that you have spiritual security by your knowledge of the Mosaic code, God is on your side, you know his will and you have a superior philosophy of life based on divine revelation. You are confident that you are the divinely chosen moral governors of the earth- guides to the spiritually blind, a light of truth in the midst of the world's dark deception, instructors to the foolish, teachers of the uninstructed and the ones entrusted with the scriptural blueprints of ultimate knowledge and truth.
You then who presume to instruct others, why don't you listen to your own words? You preach to others to not steal, but you are thieves yourselves. You condemn adultery in others, but you're guilty of it yourselves. You say you hate idolatry, but you put many things ahead of God himself. You claim to honor the commandments of scripture, but you dishonor their Author by violating them. Indeed, the Gentiles ridicule the precious name of the God of Israel because of you Israelites, just as the prophets of old have said.
Being Jewish has its advantages if you're not a religious hypocrite. Yet, if you are playing a religious game, do you think that God sees you as a true Jew? If a Gentile wholeheartedly embraces the truth God has revealed to him, isn't he more "Jewish" in God's sight than you, even though he hasn't embraced Jewish religious rites and customs? Indeed, such non-Jews, ethnically speaking, will end up judging you ethnic Jews who violate your own stated convictions. For true "Jewishness" is not a matter of ethnic origins, outward religious rites, or scriptural knowledge. True Jewish-ness is a matter of the heart- an inner "spiritual circumcision". It has to do with spiritual reality, not religious formality, and it causes a person to become a "God-pleaser" rather than a "man-pleaser".
Comments:
In the "fallen-ness of our weak and independent humanity, it seems that we tend to "flesh out" in two extreme ways. And...I think this is the point that Paul so earnestly makes as we piece the last part of Romans 1 with Romans 2. We tend toward living for the thrill and buzz of pushing beyond the boundaries associated with temporary pleasures and become addicted to those experiences to the point that we sabotage our relationships and revert to mere brutes...or...we see through that ugliness of this way of life and gravitate to a moral religious system/code that enables us to rise above living by such carnal passions. We associate ourselves with a culture that has a reputation of being "connected to God" and seek to overcome being unspiritual. Or...maybe we are simply born into such a culture and our group's accepted way of life is based on this kind of religiously-based "moralism".
The classic problem with the latter condition, however, is that just as the moral character of the pagan cultures devolve over time into more twisted forms, religious/moralistic cultures and their step-children tend to devolve into self-righteousness, judgmentalism, externalism, image projection, cultural and ethnic pride, hatred and the hypocrisy that is encoded in denial. A far cry from being "connected to God" in a genuine and vital way.
This was the general condition of first century Judaism and the apostle pulls no punches as he lays bare the hypocritial moralism that was present within its ranks. I think he is saying, "The flesh is flesh...whatever form it may take...and we human beings must be somehow lifted out of our "fleshliness" because we can't do it for ourselves. History and sociology have proven this fact." He has been writing "hard" to reveal that both the irreligious and the religious are in the same basic boat and in desperate need of a Savior.
This section of Romans 1 and 2 is indeed the "bad side of the good news", but it sets the stage for hearing about the most amazing Divine Surprise the world has ever known...the Gift of Jesus the Christ...to a world that is spiraling down into the mire of humanly energized religion(s) and irreligion.
Again I address you religious Jews. You claim that you have spiritual security by your knowledge of the Mosaic code, God is on your side, you know his will and you have a superior philosophy of life based on divine revelation. You are confident that you are the divinely chosen moral governors of the earth- guides to the spiritually blind, a light of truth in the midst of the world's dark deception, instructors to the foolish, teachers of the uninstructed and the ones entrusted with the scriptural blueprints of ultimate knowledge and truth.
You then who presume to instruct others, why don't you listen to your own words? You preach to others to not steal, but you are thieves yourselves. You condemn adultery in others, but you're guilty of it yourselves. You say you hate idolatry, but you put many things ahead of God himself. You claim to honor the commandments of scripture, but you dishonor their Author by violating them. Indeed, the Gentiles ridicule the precious name of the God of Israel because of you Israelites, just as the prophets of old have said.
Being Jewish has its advantages if you're not a religious hypocrite. Yet, if you are playing a religious game, do you think that God sees you as a true Jew? If a Gentile wholeheartedly embraces the truth God has revealed to him, isn't he more "Jewish" in God's sight than you, even though he hasn't embraced Jewish religious rites and customs? Indeed, such non-Jews, ethnically speaking, will end up judging you ethnic Jews who violate your own stated convictions. For true "Jewishness" is not a matter of ethnic origins, outward religious rites, or scriptural knowledge. True Jewish-ness is a matter of the heart- an inner "spiritual circumcision". It has to do with spiritual reality, not religious formality, and it causes a person to become a "God-pleaser" rather than a "man-pleaser".
Comments:
In the "fallen-ness of our weak and independent humanity, it seems that we tend to "flesh out" in two extreme ways. And...I think this is the point that Paul so earnestly makes as we piece the last part of Romans 1 with Romans 2. We tend toward living for the thrill and buzz of pushing beyond the boundaries associated with temporary pleasures and become addicted to those experiences to the point that we sabotage our relationships and revert to mere brutes...or...we see through that ugliness of this way of life and gravitate to a moral religious system/code that enables us to rise above living by such carnal passions. We associate ourselves with a culture that has a reputation of being "connected to God" and seek to overcome being unspiritual. Or...maybe we are simply born into such a culture and our group's accepted way of life is based on this kind of religiously-based "moralism".
The classic problem with the latter condition, however, is that just as the moral character of the pagan cultures devolve over time into more twisted forms, religious/moralistic cultures and their step-children tend to devolve into self-righteousness, judgmentalism, externalism, image projection, cultural and ethnic pride, hatred and the hypocrisy that is encoded in denial. A far cry from being "connected to God" in a genuine and vital way.
This was the general condition of first century Judaism and the apostle pulls no punches as he lays bare the hypocritial moralism that was present within its ranks. I think he is saying, "The flesh is flesh...whatever form it may take...and we human beings must be somehow lifted out of our "fleshliness" because we can't do it for ourselves. History and sociology have proven this fact." He has been writing "hard" to reveal that both the irreligious and the religious are in the same basic boat and in desperate need of a Savior.
This section of Romans 1 and 2 is indeed the "bad side of the good news", but it sets the stage for hearing about the most amazing Divine Surprise the world has ever known...the Gift of Jesus the Christ...to a world that is spiraling down into the mire of humanly energized religion(s) and irreligion.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)