WAY TO WRECK A GIFT

For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith. For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void.  Romans 4:13-14

Talk about a gift.  Because of Abraham’s faith, God justified him and then made a covenant promise to him.  He would be the father of many nations and through his seed the earth would be blessed.  This promise was not made because Abraham had done anything to deserve it.  It was a gift with no strings.

Many today are trying to earn their way to heaven.  They believe they can generate enough moral goodness to get in God’s good graces.  If their good outweighs their bad, perhaps God will save them from the fires of hell.  The story of Abraham, and Paul’s review of his story in Romans, strongly reminds us of the error of this kind of belief.  It’s ludicrous (and arrogant) to believe that I can do anything good enough to appease the wrath of a holy God. I am sinful, by birth, by nature.  Any good that I do does not wash away guilt.  Only the blood of the atoning Savior can do that – and that blood offering is a gift.  No strings attached other than fully casting my hope upon Him.

I got to thinking this morning about how I can easily wreck a gift.  Continue reading “Way To Wreck A Gift” →

MY SPIRITUAL FATHER

The purpose was to make him the father of all who believe without being circumcised, so that righteousness would be counted to them as well, and to make him the father of the circumcised who are not merely circumcised but who also walk in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised. Romans 4:11-12

            If our father were a distinguished man, well-known and well-loved, we would tell everyone about him.  Like the kid in grade school who brags to his friends, “My daddy is stronger than your daddy,” we would probably brag about who we were related to. 

            I don’t know how you feel about your family tree.  Perhaps your line of descendants is the cause of much embarrassment.  Continue reading “My Spiritual Father” →

SACRAMENTS AND SALVATION

He received the sign of circumcision as a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised.  Romans 4:11

            Have you ever noticed that pride is insidious?  Take someone who is insecure.  What looks like weakness of character is really pride in disguise.  Someone declares themselves to be unacceptable and outside of God’s declaration of love.  Take someone who can’t forgive themselves for something they’ve done.  Even that can be rooted in pride.  God says that His blood washes away all sin yet, with veiled arrogance, they believe they are the exception and refuse His grace. Continue reading “Sacraments And Salvation” →

LET THEM TALK!

A lineup of O.T. characters speak up.

Many of you wrote yesterday about Abraham.  Like me, you were astounded that God had preached about Jesus to Abraham, and that even Jesus admitted that Abraham knew Him.  Is he the only Old Testament character who knew of Jesus?  James Boice, a down to earth scholar, pieces together scriptures and uses some poetic license to help us understand their testimonies regarding a Savior they’d never seen, but One who justified them by faith.  I hope you are as moved as I am by this piece and the history of our salvation.

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Abraham is the focus of Paul’s attention in this section of Romans. But it is worth saying that the same point can be made about any of the other Old Testament believers. They would all have explained the hope of their salvation in the same terms.

Let’s ask a number of them what they “discovered in this matter” (cf. Rom. 4:1).

Here is Adam. Let’s start with him. “Adam, you were the first man, and we should assume from this that what you believed in regard to salvation is of value for us. What did you believe in this matter? Did you believe that you could be saved by your works? Or did you have an anticipation of the coming of Jesus Christ and ground your faith in him?” Continue reading “Let Them Talk!” →

ABRAHAM AND JESUS

What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh?  For if Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about, but not before God.  For what does the scripture say?  “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.”  Romans 4:1-3

            Paul’s teaching rubbed against the grain of religious Jews so he spent three chapters in the beginning of Romans showing that justification is only through faith in Christ, not of works.  As the Jews heard Paul speak, they probably thought of Abraham and raised one of the same questions we hear today.  “How could Abraham be justified (through Christ) if the death of Christ had not happened yet?”  Continue reading “Abraham and Jesus” →

TOLERANT OR RIGID?

Is God the God of Jews only?  Is God not the God of Gentiles also?  Yes – since God is one who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith.  Romans 3:29-30

            The Jews believed that God was only their God.  That made them moral elitists, believing themselves to be better than anyone outside their race. 

            The Gentiles believed that there were many gods.  That made them tolerant, encouraging indulgences in all kinds of depravity.   Their many gods permitted wickedness and Greece was a cesspool.   Continue reading “Tolerant Or Rigid?” →

BOASTING

Then what becomes of our boasting?  It is excluded.  Romans 3:27

            If Jesus took all the wrath that I deserved upon Himself, then what is there for me to boast about?  Only that “I am a sinner and Christ is a great Savior.”  (John Newton)  I have nothing in myself to make God happy enough with me to earn a place in heaven.  Lest I’m inclined to wallow in worthlessness, God turns around and offers love and redemption in the form of Jesus.  My horrible condition is eclipsed by undeserved favor.  I’m invited to live in joy rather than self-loathing.  The One who has every reason to despise me doesn’t.  This is the good news of the Gospel.

            Yet in spite of this, pride still nips at my heels.  It is the most dangerous of all vices.  C.S. Lewis described it this way.  Continue reading “Boasting” →

­­PERMISSIVE MIS-PERCEPTIONS

‘Propitiation’ was to show God’s righteousness, because in his forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time.  Romans 3:25-26

            I’ve been pretty worked up emotionally since writing yesterday.  I realized that I didn’t really grasp, nor convey, the weight of this verse.  So, I’m writing again on the same thing. 

            I think I’ve treated my sin, and God’s holiness, casually.  It’s as if I was adopted into a family with an overly permissive father.  As a new member of the family, I was told that, while he’d rather his children obey, when we sin, he’ll always forgive us.  Forgiveness was cheap.  Sinning was easy.  The holiness of the father was immaterial and not to be taken too seriously.  He was really a pushover and his longsuffering nature gave the illusion that forgiveness didn’t cost him all that much.  With a wave of his hand he cleared sin’s debt.    Continue reading “Permissive Misperception” →