Romans 2 cont'd
People who live in sin without being exposed to God's written law given through Moses, will be condemned without reference to it. However, those who live in sin having been exposed to the Mosaic law will be condemned on the basis of it. Possessing intellectual knowledge about the scriptures will never save anyone. Salvation is only found by personally embracing and submitting to whatever spiritual knowledge God has revealed to us. When Gentiles, who have never heard of the Mosaic law, live by the light of conscience within them, it proves that God has written his moral law on the hearts of all people. They instinctively know when they do right or wrong. God has specifically revealed to me that he has appointed a day when he will judge the secrets of men's hearts through the "grid" of who Jesus Christ is and what he has done. (Imagine some of the surprises we will have.) I assure you that after that day; no one will ever again point their finger at God and accuse him of being unjust!
Comments:
This little section of Romans 2 touches on the common stumbling block in people's minds regarding the spiritual fate of people who have never been exposed to the scriptures or the gospel. Naturally, we deeply question how God can judge someone in such circumstances. Sometimes people who hear the gospel of Jesus Christ pull back from putting their trust in him to become their Lord and Savior. I faced this question head on when I first became a follower of Jesus at age 18 and I have helped others face it along the way as a teacher and pastor. Here are the simple points that I landed on in those early days of my faith that have helped me, and then many others, come to peace on this issue.
1. God is God (not me!) and God is absolutely just and good. Our hearts can be totally trust in these realities and also that when all the facts of human existence are on the table in eternity's light, no one will be able to find one fault with God's ways or evaluations. I won't and neither will you. The anticipation of one day having this fuller light gives me peace to leave eternal judgment in the hands of the only One capable of such a thing.
2. We need to be first of all concerned with, when we are personally exposed to the Person and Work of Jesus, "who do we say that he is?", not "what about all those 'poor souls' who have never heard of Jesus?" I am the first "poor soul" that I can do something about! Coming to terms in my own heart with the compelling evidences that point to Jesus being who he said he was and is also gives me peace. I mustn't allow such a giant question about the possible fate of "people who have never heard" keep me from receiving the freedom from my guilt and shame (that I need so desperately) that is freely offered to me in Christ...and it hasn't.
3. We must make room in our theology for the largeness of God's grace and the mysterious and surprising works of the Holy Spirit in drawing people to faith in Jesus Christ. God's grace doesn't begin to work upon a person when they first hear about the good news of Jesus. It has already begun to work...witnessed by the simple fact that they have been allowed to hear it. Every believer that I have ever encountered can point back to how she/he now can see how the Holy Spirit was at work in their lives before they came to Christ. There are marvelous accounts of how the gospel of Jesus has come to people and whole people groups who didn't seem to have the opportunity to hear about him.
There is a prime example of this in the tenth chapter of the book of Acts where a Roman centurion named Cornelius (a classic pre-Christian) was powerfully encountering the grace of God before he was converted to Jesus. Even his prayers and acts of compassion were being "accepted" and "remembered" by the one true and living God! An amazing story unfolds of how Cornelius and his whole extended family came to faith in Jesus. It was "so outside the box" that it even shocked the apostles of Christ and messed with their theology. Let's be very careful about dictating exactly how God might lead a person to Jesus--some of his ways may surprise and stun us too.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Friday, September 19, 2008
The Romance of Romans-Part 6
Romans Chapter 2
Now before you religious folks congratulate yourselves for not being guilty of what all those other people are, you need to look more deeply at your own lives before you judge them and thereby condemn yourselves. You better be sure that you aren't actually guilty of the same root sins because we know that God will judge us all according to the naked truth. If you are proven to be a hypocrite, how will you escape his judgment? Just because he has blessed you and shown you his rich favor in many ways, don't take these things for granted- it doesn't automatically mean that you're okay. Don't you know that God may be showing you his goodness and patience in order to woo you into repentance. Don't mistake tolerance for approval!
But in fact, you have done this very thing. Because of your hardness of heart and religious pride, you are accruing a "wrath account" that will come due on the "day of wrath" when God's righteous judgment comes down. He will give to every person what is due him. To the believing, who by patiently and persistently doing right, show that they are seeking the things above—glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. But to the unbelieving, who stubbornly refuse to submit to God's truth, but embrace unrighteousness, he will dispense his hot and holy vengeance. Yes, it's true, for Jews first and also for Gentiles. (A past history with and greater knowledge about God implies a greater opportunity to "receive" from him. It also implies a greater accountability to him for not receiving from him- this is the great equalizer!) On that day, God will pour out trouble and torment upon every person who cherishes evil in their hearts. Yet he will pour out glory, honor and peace on those who pursue righteousness. God has made this opportunity for salvation available to all ethnic groups, for there truly is no racism in his heart.
Comments:
The passage doesn't need much commentary as it speaks loudly for itself. After exposing the spiritual darkness of the gentile world in chapter 1, Paul now turns, in his case, to the religious, but self-righteous, Jewish folk--of which ilk he had been a prime example. One thing that stands out to me in this section of Romans is how God sees down into the deep heart of matters and of every person. He is looking into human hearts seeking to find genuinely humble, vulnerable and childlike trust in him, his Son and his Spirit and...nothing else will do. Not careless self-indulgence. Not careful self-righteousness. Both extremes are unacceptable--and down in our own spirits we know the ugliness and distastefulness of both debauchery and religious pride/racism in our world.
What pleases God is a person, of literally any sort, who sincerely and repeatedly turns to him, desires to receive his truth into her/his deep heart, comes to trust alone in who Jesus is and what Jesus has done and responds with heartfelt gratitude and affection. (And all this is later discovered to be inspired by the Holy Spirit himself!) This simple foundation for getting along with God never changes--no matter how spiritually mature we might become. Truly spiritually mature people don't attempt to measure or project their maturity--they're too caught up in the wonder of God's love, kindness, presence and service to others in his name to notice or care.
Now before you religious folks congratulate yourselves for not being guilty of what all those other people are, you need to look more deeply at your own lives before you judge them and thereby condemn yourselves. You better be sure that you aren't actually guilty of the same root sins because we know that God will judge us all according to the naked truth. If you are proven to be a hypocrite, how will you escape his judgment? Just because he has blessed you and shown you his rich favor in many ways, don't take these things for granted- it doesn't automatically mean that you're okay. Don't you know that God may be showing you his goodness and patience in order to woo you into repentance. Don't mistake tolerance for approval!
But in fact, you have done this very thing. Because of your hardness of heart and religious pride, you are accruing a "wrath account" that will come due on the "day of wrath" when God's righteous judgment comes down. He will give to every person what is due him. To the believing, who by patiently and persistently doing right, show that they are seeking the things above—glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. But to the unbelieving, who stubbornly refuse to submit to God's truth, but embrace unrighteousness, he will dispense his hot and holy vengeance. Yes, it's true, for Jews first and also for Gentiles. (A past history with and greater knowledge about God implies a greater opportunity to "receive" from him. It also implies a greater accountability to him for not receiving from him- this is the great equalizer!) On that day, God will pour out trouble and torment upon every person who cherishes evil in their hearts. Yet he will pour out glory, honor and peace on those who pursue righteousness. God has made this opportunity for salvation available to all ethnic groups, for there truly is no racism in his heart.
Comments:
The passage doesn't need much commentary as it speaks loudly for itself. After exposing the spiritual darkness of the gentile world in chapter 1, Paul now turns, in his case, to the religious, but self-righteous, Jewish folk--of which ilk he had been a prime example. One thing that stands out to me in this section of Romans is how God sees down into the deep heart of matters and of every person. He is looking into human hearts seeking to find genuinely humble, vulnerable and childlike trust in him, his Son and his Spirit and...nothing else will do. Not careless self-indulgence. Not careful self-righteousness. Both extremes are unacceptable--and down in our own spirits we know the ugliness and distastefulness of both debauchery and religious pride/racism in our world.
What pleases God is a person, of literally any sort, who sincerely and repeatedly turns to him, desires to receive his truth into her/his deep heart, comes to trust alone in who Jesus is and what Jesus has done and responds with heartfelt gratitude and affection. (And all this is later discovered to be inspired by the Holy Spirit himself!) This simple foundation for getting along with God never changes--no matter how spiritually mature we might become. Truly spiritually mature people don't attempt to measure or project their maturity--they're too caught up in the wonder of God's love, kindness, presence and service to others in his name to notice or care.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
The Romance of Romans-Part 5
Romans Chapter 1 cont'd
Because of their idolatry, God let the nations go their own way to pursue the unclean desires of their own hearts and even abuse his purposes for their own bodies. They sold out the truth to buy the original lie- to deify the creation and thus defy the Creator who is to be eternally worshiped. That's really the bottom line. So God backed off and they plunged headlong into sexual perversion: women's natural attraction for men became twisted and they turned to lesbianism. Men also turned away from heterosexuality and burned with lust for other men. They embraced unnatural sex and, as a consequence, seriously damaged their own souls and bodies.
Because they rejected the knowledge of God they once had, he allowed their consciences to become callused and they indulged themselves in evil things without remorse. Their lives were characterized by all kinds of unrighteousness: illicit sex, wicked ways, covetousness, malice, extreme envy, murder, contentiousness, character assassination, gossip, betrayal, hatred of God, vengeance, pride, arrogance, evil innovations, disobedience to parents, ignorance, promise breaking, lack of healthy affections, stubbornness, and absence of mercy. Although they know God's justice requires a spiritual death sentence for these offenses, they themselves not only do them, but also idolize others who do.
Comments:
Whatever has happened to sin? For Paul, it was obviously alive and thriving at every turn in this world and he didn't pull any punches in this passage. In reality...not much has changed since Paul's day. But it's hard for people in our culture to look with such brutal honesty into the tragic condition of humanity and human relations removed from friendship with God. We prefer to re-designate such attitudes and behaviors with much nicer tags that minimize and even justify them. Paul's above list of sins is painful to read as it goes on and on like a downward spiral into an abyss of human brokenness and dysfunction...isn't it? (I really don't enjoy meditating on this passage.) We tend to get used to sin in our world (and in our own lives) and begin to think it is normal rather than an alien invasion into God's good creation that has pulled us down into sub-normality. But God has never "gotten used to" sin...though he is certainly not shocked or intimidated by it. Paul's purpose in exposing the darkness and sickness of humanity has a redemptive focus--he is not just being mean or wrongly judgmental. Actually, his heart was full of great love and compassion for all the people in every culture he ever encountered.
This ending of chapter 1 is focused on the universal spiritual plight of the whole pagan world. But Paul is setting his readers up for a miraculous offer of a most marvelous light and remedy in the Person of Jesus of Nazareth. We apparently won't be willing to take the medicine until we are convinced of our disease. Yet, before he begins to ingeniously unveil God's surprise of a free gift of salvation and a new beginning, he must turn his attention to sins of another genre--the sins of "God's own people"--the sins of religion gone bad.
Because of their idolatry, God let the nations go their own way to pursue the unclean desires of their own hearts and even abuse his purposes for their own bodies. They sold out the truth to buy the original lie- to deify the creation and thus defy the Creator who is to be eternally worshiped. That's really the bottom line. So God backed off and they plunged headlong into sexual perversion: women's natural attraction for men became twisted and they turned to lesbianism. Men also turned away from heterosexuality and burned with lust for other men. They embraced unnatural sex and, as a consequence, seriously damaged their own souls and bodies.
Because they rejected the knowledge of God they once had, he allowed their consciences to become callused and they indulged themselves in evil things without remorse. Their lives were characterized by all kinds of unrighteousness: illicit sex, wicked ways, covetousness, malice, extreme envy, murder, contentiousness, character assassination, gossip, betrayal, hatred of God, vengeance, pride, arrogance, evil innovations, disobedience to parents, ignorance, promise breaking, lack of healthy affections, stubbornness, and absence of mercy. Although they know God's justice requires a spiritual death sentence for these offenses, they themselves not only do them, but also idolize others who do.
Comments:
Whatever has happened to sin? For Paul, it was obviously alive and thriving at every turn in this world and he didn't pull any punches in this passage. In reality...not much has changed since Paul's day. But it's hard for people in our culture to look with such brutal honesty into the tragic condition of humanity and human relations removed from friendship with God. We prefer to re-designate such attitudes and behaviors with much nicer tags that minimize and even justify them. Paul's above list of sins is painful to read as it goes on and on like a downward spiral into an abyss of human brokenness and dysfunction...isn't it? (I really don't enjoy meditating on this passage.) We tend to get used to sin in our world (and in our own lives) and begin to think it is normal rather than an alien invasion into God's good creation that has pulled us down into sub-normality. But God has never "gotten used to" sin...though he is certainly not shocked or intimidated by it. Paul's purpose in exposing the darkness and sickness of humanity has a redemptive focus--he is not just being mean or wrongly judgmental. Actually, his heart was full of great love and compassion for all the people in every culture he ever encountered.
This ending of chapter 1 is focused on the universal spiritual plight of the whole pagan world. But Paul is setting his readers up for a miraculous offer of a most marvelous light and remedy in the Person of Jesus of Nazareth. We apparently won't be willing to take the medicine until we are convinced of our disease. Yet, before he begins to ingeniously unveil God's surprise of a free gift of salvation and a new beginning, he must turn his attention to sins of another genre--the sins of "God's own people"--the sins of religion gone bad.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
The Romance of Romans-Part 4
Chapter 1--cont'd
This may sound strange, but the good new begins with some bad news! God's awesome anger is also revealed from heaven. He is adamantly against all the ungodliness and unrighteousness of people, who suppress the truth because they love sin more than truth. You see; God has partially revealed himself to every person through both their own conscience and creation itself. His invisible presence and moral attributes have been easily discernible from the beginning of time. The fingerprints of his divinity and eternal power have clearly branded all he has made. Therefore people are without excuse for their unbelief in him. All throughout world history, although people knew God was there, they didn't honor his Divinity, neither were they thankful to him. Rather, they invented their own man-centered religions and philosophies of life thereby snuffing out the light of spiritual knowledge in their hearts. They claimed to be getting wiser, but they were actually becoming more foolish. They "remade" the invisible God, who is glorious and incorruptible, into gods of their own imagination- idols made in the likeness of human beings, birds, beasts and even bugs.
Comments:
The script of the "meta-narrative" of human history that we have typically been taught is more like how a "sophisticated and refined" belief in one God (monotheism) grew up over many centuries out of the context of a superstitious belief in many gods (polytheism). I remember being quite shocked as a young believer in Christ as I first read the apostle Paul's overview of humanity's story. It's more like "devolution" than "evolution"...on the spiritual side of things at least.
Several things stand out to me that challenged my presuppositions...and still challenge my soul because I would really like to believe better things about us as a species. But then I simply read again stories from world history, not to mention the daily news from around the globe, and I can't deny or contradict what Paul elaborates upon concerning the spiritual condition of human race.
First, is how connected we all are to one another in our cultural and family contexts. We like to think more individualistically about our lives and we underestimate how entwined, on many levels, we are to our ancestry--for good of ill. Certainly, the scriptures tell us that God sees and evaluates us on an individual basis, but we are greatly influenced spiritually by our cultural settings.
Second, is the fact that God has granted to every person who has ever lived a "general revelation" of the reality of his existence. This general or "natural knowledge" of God is graciously given to inspire us to seek more "specific revelation" of who this is who has made us and displayed his power throughout all creation. We instinctively know that "creation" implies a "Creator" and it takes a deliberate effort on our part to push this knowledge away from our consciousness. The ancient "pre-Christian" philosophers (they did pretty well in many cases) understood and affirmed this and it wasn't until DesCartes (1596-1650...ironically, a religious man himself) that more modern philosophy emerged and pressured us to doubt everything we instinctively know before we can rebuild our base of knowledge.
Third, is how dishonor and ingratitude toward "the God who is there" is the genesis of our spiritual death that then bleeds over into our whole lives and relationships. When we become so sick of being and living "disconnected" from our Creator and Heavenly Father, a great way to find our way home is to stop in our tracks and tell him again from the depths of our hearts that we believe he is there and that he is powerful and good and simply ask him to reveal to us more of who he is, what he has done and what he is doing. And...as we will discover as Romans continues...we should ponder (and come to terms with) the Person and Work of Jesus his Son.
This may sound strange, but the good new begins with some bad news! God's awesome anger is also revealed from heaven. He is adamantly against all the ungodliness and unrighteousness of people, who suppress the truth because they love sin more than truth. You see; God has partially revealed himself to every person through both their own conscience and creation itself. His invisible presence and moral attributes have been easily discernible from the beginning of time. The fingerprints of his divinity and eternal power have clearly branded all he has made. Therefore people are without excuse for their unbelief in him. All throughout world history, although people knew God was there, they didn't honor his Divinity, neither were they thankful to him. Rather, they invented their own man-centered religions and philosophies of life thereby snuffing out the light of spiritual knowledge in their hearts. They claimed to be getting wiser, but they were actually becoming more foolish. They "remade" the invisible God, who is glorious and incorruptible, into gods of their own imagination- idols made in the likeness of human beings, birds, beasts and even bugs.
Comments:
The script of the "meta-narrative" of human history that we have typically been taught is more like how a "sophisticated and refined" belief in one God (monotheism) grew up over many centuries out of the context of a superstitious belief in many gods (polytheism). I remember being quite shocked as a young believer in Christ as I first read the apostle Paul's overview of humanity's story. It's more like "devolution" than "evolution"...on the spiritual side of things at least.
Several things stand out to me that challenged my presuppositions...and still challenge my soul because I would really like to believe better things about us as a species. But then I simply read again stories from world history, not to mention the daily news from around the globe, and I can't deny or contradict what Paul elaborates upon concerning the spiritual condition of human race.
First, is how connected we all are to one another in our cultural and family contexts. We like to think more individualistically about our lives and we underestimate how entwined, on many levels, we are to our ancestry--for good of ill. Certainly, the scriptures tell us that God sees and evaluates us on an individual basis, but we are greatly influenced spiritually by our cultural settings.
Second, is the fact that God has granted to every person who has ever lived a "general revelation" of the reality of his existence. This general or "natural knowledge" of God is graciously given to inspire us to seek more "specific revelation" of who this is who has made us and displayed his power throughout all creation. We instinctively know that "creation" implies a "Creator" and it takes a deliberate effort on our part to push this knowledge away from our consciousness. The ancient "pre-Christian" philosophers (they did pretty well in many cases) understood and affirmed this and it wasn't until DesCartes (1596-1650...ironically, a religious man himself) that more modern philosophy emerged and pressured us to doubt everything we instinctively know before we can rebuild our base of knowledge.
Third, is how dishonor and ingratitude toward "the God who is there" is the genesis of our spiritual death that then bleeds over into our whole lives and relationships. When we become so sick of being and living "disconnected" from our Creator and Heavenly Father, a great way to find our way home is to stop in our tracks and tell him again from the depths of our hearts that we believe he is there and that he is powerful and good and simply ask him to reveal to us more of who he is, what he has done and what he is doing. And...as we will discover as Romans continues...we should ponder (and come to terms with) the Person and Work of Jesus his Son.
Monday, September 15, 2008
The Romance of Romans-Part 3
Chapter 1 cont'd:
For I am not ashamed of the good news of Christ. It is the very power of God that imparts salvation to every person who believes it; to the Jews first and also to the Gentiles. (A past history with and greater knowledge about God implies a greater opportunity to receive from him.) Through this message God's own righteousness is revealed from heaven and imparted to people, from start to finish, on the basis of faith.
Comments:
Something very radical (lit: "to the roots") occurred through the coming of God's Son, Jesus, to this world. It was an event unlike any previous act of God in the whole of human history. It was the event by which God himself came "in person" to the planet. God actually did what many people have half-heartedly complained about..."If God wants us to believe in and follow him, why doesn't he just appear to us and tell us in person?"
But what if a holy, just and loving God (as the Scriptures reveal him to be) really did visit us in person to invite us back into a mutual and genuine love relationship with him and set things in motion for all the evils of this world to be resolved? How would that story go...given the voluntary nature of love and the fact that evil is not simply "out there", but "in me" as well? Come to think of it...it would seem to go very much like the gospel of Jesus. God foretells of his intentions in many ways over many years in preparation, intervenes and becomes like one of us, lives a perfect life, reveals his wisdom, love and power, lays down his life to absorb and absolve our personal guilt and shame, deals out a mortal wound to all evil, overcomes Satan and death and delays his final justice for this world's evils to offer his creation, over a long period of time, the opportunity to choose to love him back before those who have chosen and cherished evil have to face the consequences. And also...to set up a way of doing all of this so that those who choose his love are not able to take credit for their choice thus falling into pride or gloating?
Finally...why might Paul, or anyone else, even be tempted to "be ashamed" of this Story? Maybe because such a radical act on God's part would necessarily expose and shake down the fragile internal and external arrangements that we personally and whole cultures (religious and otherwise) have historically made for ourselves in an attempt to "survive", "succeed" and "feel okay" about ourselves. Sounds like it could involve the rising of some conflict on all fronts for anyone truly bearing such a message...because God himself has come on the scene and isn't necessarily buying all our human wisdom or self-righteous religions--not to mention our excessive self-indulgences. High drama and passionate spiritual romance truly await us as Romans unfolds.
For I am not ashamed of the good news of Christ. It is the very power of God that imparts salvation to every person who believes it; to the Jews first and also to the Gentiles. (A past history with and greater knowledge about God implies a greater opportunity to receive from him.) Through this message God's own righteousness is revealed from heaven and imparted to people, from start to finish, on the basis of faith.
Comments:
Something very radical (lit: "to the roots") occurred through the coming of God's Son, Jesus, to this world. It was an event unlike any previous act of God in the whole of human history. It was the event by which God himself came "in person" to the planet. God actually did what many people have half-heartedly complained about..."If God wants us to believe in and follow him, why doesn't he just appear to us and tell us in person?"
But what if a holy, just and loving God (as the Scriptures reveal him to be) really did visit us in person to invite us back into a mutual and genuine love relationship with him and set things in motion for all the evils of this world to be resolved? How would that story go...given the voluntary nature of love and the fact that evil is not simply "out there", but "in me" as well? Come to think of it...it would seem to go very much like the gospel of Jesus. God foretells of his intentions in many ways over many years in preparation, intervenes and becomes like one of us, lives a perfect life, reveals his wisdom, love and power, lays down his life to absorb and absolve our personal guilt and shame, deals out a mortal wound to all evil, overcomes Satan and death and delays his final justice for this world's evils to offer his creation, over a long period of time, the opportunity to choose to love him back before those who have chosen and cherished evil have to face the consequences. And also...to set up a way of doing all of this so that those who choose his love are not able to take credit for their choice thus falling into pride or gloating?
Finally...why might Paul, or anyone else, even be tempted to "be ashamed" of this Story? Maybe because such a radical act on God's part would necessarily expose and shake down the fragile internal and external arrangements that we personally and whole cultures (religious and otherwise) have historically made for ourselves in an attempt to "survive", "succeed" and "feel okay" about ourselves. Sounds like it could involve the rising of some conflict on all fronts for anyone truly bearing such a message...because God himself has come on the scene and isn't necessarily buying all our human wisdom or self-righteous religions--not to mention our excessive self-indulgences. High drama and passionate spiritual romance truly await us as Romans unfolds.
Sunday, September 14, 2008
The Romance of Romans-Part 2
Chapter 1 cont'd:
I want to first thank God through Jesus for all of you because your faith in Christ has become known throughout the whole world. Before God whom I serve with all my heart in spreading this good news, I'm not exaggerating when I say that I pray for you constantly. My hope and prayer are that God may finally allow me the joy of coming to visit you. I long to meet you and impart to you the spiritual gift that God has given me to firmly establish believers in Christ. Beyond this, I want us to experience the encouragement that comes through a mutual exchange of faith- we both have something to give each other.
I want you to know that I have many times planned to visit you that I might have the privilege of winning some Romans to Jesus, as I have had in other places. However, it wasn't God's time. I have a sense of obligation to win all kinds of people to Christ; both the educated and the uneducated. So, I am very excited to preach the good news in the "melting pot" of Rome, if God wills.
Comments:
What stands out to me in this section of Romans 1 is Paul's reference to the mutual exchange of God's grace that he anticipated would take place when he would have the opportunity to meet the believers in Rome. I have had the honor of meeting believers from many nations and cultures through the years. An amazing phenomenon has always accompanied these opportunities--you immediately feel the "family connection" with these people that you've never met before. It is a powerful experience that lends a lot of credibility to the reality of the gospel of Jesus. You see the love of God in their eyes; in their smiles and feel it through their hugs and prayers of thanksgiving. You immediately feel "at home" when the music plays and eyes become wet with tears as you worship together the very same Father and Son in the power of the same Spirit even though you may be in very unfamiliar cultural settings. Even when you don't understand the language in which the songs are being sung, you are able to immediately worship in spirit and truth. When you then "break bread" together (even though the "bread" can taste very different!) the love of Jesus is present in undeniable ways.
I think that this experience really helped my 5 children (now all young adults who follow Jesus from their own hearts) to be confirmed in the reality of God's love in Christ as they were sorting through the deep question of whether the gospel they were taught as kids was an invention of their parents and their local church or really true. When they met these "strangers" who had been reading the same Book and, often and amazingly, even singing the sames tunes, it helped them to realize that this Jesus is relevant to people and cultures of all kinds and it stabilized them as their faith was challenged along the way by people and institutions in our local community.
I want to first thank God through Jesus for all of you because your faith in Christ has become known throughout the whole world. Before God whom I serve with all my heart in spreading this good news, I'm not exaggerating when I say that I pray for you constantly. My hope and prayer are that God may finally allow me the joy of coming to visit you. I long to meet you and impart to you the spiritual gift that God has given me to firmly establish believers in Christ. Beyond this, I want us to experience the encouragement that comes through a mutual exchange of faith- we both have something to give each other.
I want you to know that I have many times planned to visit you that I might have the privilege of winning some Romans to Jesus, as I have had in other places. However, it wasn't God's time. I have a sense of obligation to win all kinds of people to Christ; both the educated and the uneducated. So, I am very excited to preach the good news in the "melting pot" of Rome, if God wills.
Comments:
What stands out to me in this section of Romans 1 is Paul's reference to the mutual exchange of God's grace that he anticipated would take place when he would have the opportunity to meet the believers in Rome. I have had the honor of meeting believers from many nations and cultures through the years. An amazing phenomenon has always accompanied these opportunities--you immediately feel the "family connection" with these people that you've never met before. It is a powerful experience that lends a lot of credibility to the reality of the gospel of Jesus. You see the love of God in their eyes; in their smiles and feel it through their hugs and prayers of thanksgiving. You immediately feel "at home" when the music plays and eyes become wet with tears as you worship together the very same Father and Son in the power of the same Spirit even though you may be in very unfamiliar cultural settings. Even when you don't understand the language in which the songs are being sung, you are able to immediately worship in spirit and truth. When you then "break bread" together (even though the "bread" can taste very different!) the love of Jesus is present in undeniable ways.
I think that this experience really helped my 5 children (now all young adults who follow Jesus from their own hearts) to be confirmed in the reality of God's love in Christ as they were sorting through the deep question of whether the gospel they were taught as kids was an invention of their parents and their local church or really true. When they met these "strangers" who had been reading the same Book and, often and amazingly, even singing the sames tunes, it helped them to realize that this Jesus is relevant to people and cultures of all kinds and it stabilized them as their faith was challenged along the way by people and institutions in our local community.
Saturday, September 13, 2008
The Romance of Romans-Part 1
As I continue to blog, in general, about God's Big "God Story" I want to take a bit of a turn. Some years ago, as a part of my devotional times, I attempted to put the book of Romans into more modern idioms and words that I believe express what Paul was getting at. I've called it an "interpretative paraphrase". I'm sure that many of the ways that I rephrase what our English translations say are not perfect. The exercise is akin to what preachers do when they take a passage and attempt to teach the meaning of God's word to their listeners. No preachers do this without some inaccuracies along the way--sometimes rather major inaccuracies. So...believers need to do their own study and research of Bible books and sift through what teachers teach. And...this is not just a personal matter. I believe that one of the most important spiritual disciplines of the community of God's people has always been to "wrestle together", in a spirit of love for God and one another, with the Scriptures and their meaning. I am still seeking the face of God about and searching out what the book of Romans really teaches.
It is in this context that I am offering the body of my little booklet, The Romance of Romans, and some commentary along the way. After reading my paraphrase, many of my friends encouraged me to make this into a booklet and publish it. So I did. Now, I will offer in parts on my various blogsites. www.michael-radius.blogspot.com, http://groups.google.com/group/friends-of-radius; www.myspace.com/radiuspage; http://www.facebook.com/people/Michael_Sullivant/516978475
The Romance of Romans:
The Passionate Pursuit of God that Flows from Genuine Faith
An Interpretative Paraphrase of Paul's Letter to the Romans
Chapter 1
This is a letter from Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be a divine ambassador I was apprehended for the express purpose of spreading the good news of God that was spoken of in times past by the prophets in the holy scriptures. This message centers around his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who, in his humanity, was the Son of David. He was also proven to be "the Son of God" when he was raised from the dead through the power of the Holy Spirit. Through the same Spirit I have received this ambassadorial commission to introduce many people from many nations, for the honor of Christ, into the passionate pursuit of God that flows from genuine faith. You are a part of this great company who have been chosen by Jesus himself. Yes, I write this to all the believers in Rome who are loved by God and called to be his holy ones: Grace and peace be yours from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Comments: There are many believers in our day longing to tap the power that comes through prophecy. In my view, this has resulted in both healthy and unhealthy things. One way that our eagerness for "the prophetic" can be properly informed is to embrace a clear and foundational priority that gives proper shape to any other forms of genuine prophecy. This is...the passionate understanding that communicating the gospel of Jesus itself is the most "prophetic" message that could ever be spoken out of the lips of Christ followers. This Great News revolves around the availability of a new quality and kind of righteousness to all the peoples of the earth. Through Christ, God's own righteousness is offered as a free gift to all who would open their hearts to Him to humbly and gratefully receive it. And also...that this righteousness involves the reality and promise that he has and will, in his time and manner, turn the whole of his good creation, that has been dramatically and tragically invaded by evil, "right side up" through who Jesus is and what Jesus has done.
The gospel is rooted deeply in the prophetic scriptures and promises of the Old Testament, although it was significantly shrouded until the events actually came to pass in human history and the Holy Spirit provided the "20-20" hindsight.
This Divinely prophetic message is what fueled Paul's (and the whole Church's) "apostleship" into the cultures of this world by the power of the Spirit for the honor of Jesus Christ.
It is in this context that I am offering the body of my little booklet, The Romance of Romans, and some commentary along the way. After reading my paraphrase, many of my friends encouraged me to make this into a booklet and publish it. So I did. Now, I will offer in parts on my various blogsites. www.michael-radius.blogspot.com, http://groups.google.com/group/friends-of-radius; www.myspace.com/radiuspage; http://www.facebook.com/people/Michael_Sullivant/516978475
The Romance of Romans:
The Passionate Pursuit of God that Flows from Genuine Faith
An Interpretative Paraphrase of Paul's Letter to the Romans
Chapter 1
This is a letter from Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be a divine ambassador I was apprehended for the express purpose of spreading the good news of God that was spoken of in times past by the prophets in the holy scriptures. This message centers around his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who, in his humanity, was the Son of David. He was also proven to be "the Son of God" when he was raised from the dead through the power of the Holy Spirit. Through the same Spirit I have received this ambassadorial commission to introduce many people from many nations, for the honor of Christ, into the passionate pursuit of God that flows from genuine faith. You are a part of this great company who have been chosen by Jesus himself. Yes, I write this to all the believers in Rome who are loved by God and called to be his holy ones: Grace and peace be yours from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Comments: There are many believers in our day longing to tap the power that comes through prophecy. In my view, this has resulted in both healthy and unhealthy things. One way that our eagerness for "the prophetic" can be properly informed is to embrace a clear and foundational priority that gives proper shape to any other forms of genuine prophecy. This is...the passionate understanding that communicating the gospel of Jesus itself is the most "prophetic" message that could ever be spoken out of the lips of Christ followers. This Great News revolves around the availability of a new quality and kind of righteousness to all the peoples of the earth. Through Christ, God's own righteousness is offered as a free gift to all who would open their hearts to Him to humbly and gratefully receive it. And also...that this righteousness involves the reality and promise that he has and will, in his time and manner, turn the whole of his good creation, that has been dramatically and tragically invaded by evil, "right side up" through who Jesus is and what Jesus has done.
The gospel is rooted deeply in the prophetic scriptures and promises of the Old Testament, although it was significantly shrouded until the events actually came to pass in human history and the Holy Spirit provided the "20-20" hindsight.
This Divinely prophetic message is what fueled Paul's (and the whole Church's) "apostleship" into the cultures of this world by the power of the Spirit for the honor of Jesus Christ.
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