DAY 220

TWO PSALMS

Psalm 72 & 73 and Romans 9:1-15

I thought we would take a day off from Romans, tomorrow we will spend some time looking at chapter nine. Today we have two Psalms before us, starting with Psalm 73 first.

Psalm 73 is a Psalm of “Asaph.” Who is that you might ask? Well we are not completely sure, but we have a pretty good idea. There are twelve psalms attributed to him (psalms 50, 73-83) and three Asaph’s in the Bible. One of them is associated with the Temple singers and it would seem that this is the author. It is a Psalm with a familiar theme: the prosperity of the wicked in contrast to their destiny, and the way of the righteous. Nowadays we have trouble calling people wicked. In days gone by it was easy to view people such as Hitler as wicked. Who are these prosperous wicked people? Do we dare name them, we who are not to judge?

You might suggest those so motivated by greed that they pushed the economy into one of its worst collapses ever. Or perhaps you think of those who prey on the helpless and innocent. We could build the list, but at the root of it we could sum this list up as those who oppose the way of God. Right living, moral living, is living that can only be accomplished through the work of God in our lives. Psalm 72 understands this complete reliance on God.

And if there is ever a human who will need such guidance it is a king. Psalm 72 is a royal Psalm thought to be written on the occasion of Solomon ascending the throne. “Give the king your justice O God” begins our Psalm; it is a psalm that asks for justice/righteousness, peace, power, compassion, and prosperity. Like other royal psalms, this one is also Messianic where while it refers to an Old Testament king, it has its ultimate fulfillment in the Ideal King…Jesus Christ.

The remarkable aspect of this psalm his how it applies to us. Jesus fulfills this psalm. He is the righteous powerful king of peace and compassion. He, in the face of the wicked, overcomes. He is our king!

DAY 219

INSEPARABLE

Psalm 70 & 71 and Romans 8

My blog posting is a “wee bit late” this morning. Yesterday I was helping one of my sons paint his house and I rolled in late. Beyond the fatigue I have been pondering Romans 8; how do I distill it down to a mere few hundred words, while at the same time unpack it enough to help? Romans is so full, that as anyone begins to explore it, it naturally expands. I have five broad thoughts regarding chapter eight.

Turing the Corner: The first I shared yesterday…”there is therefore” communicates that Paul is turning a corner. The first seven chapters presented in stark language our need for God, and for God’s saving action…we, whether it is by Law or something else, cannot live (now or in eternity) without God. Just as the first seven chapters required some “climbing,” so too will this chapter and the ones beyond. I find that people are often shocked, even turned off, but the first seven chapters, but don’t take the time to see the absolute joy, peace, and more that are in the remainder of the Letter.

No Condemnation: I made my first point yesterday, “there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” “No condemnation” – just a strong as language such as “all have fallen short” (cf. 3:23) – this language of the complete security of God’s Love found in Jesus Christ is announced – and as I have used the Himalaya metaphor to start our discussion on this Letter, it should be announced from the mountaintops. This declaration is absolute.

The Spirit & Our Family: A close read of this chapter reveals the overwhelming presence of the Holy Spirit. In verses 14-17 we are referred to four times as either “children” or “sons & daughters” all through the Spirit. The Spirit leads us to holiness, replaces our fear with freedom, prompts us to call God “Father” and announces our inheritance. So strong is the Holy Spirit’s work in this regard that verse 16 proclaims that it is the Holy Spirit that “testifies” that we are God’s children.

All Creation: If verses 14-17 proclaim our present situation, then verses 18-27 point us to the future with the Spirit deeply intertwined in Paul’s thought. “I consider the sufferings of this present time…” begins his stream of dialog. Intertwined in it are two ideas. The first is that it is not just humanity that is waiting for God, but rather “all creation groans.” The birds and fish, the water and earth, all of it is waiting for God…God is redeeming all of his good creation through the work of Christ. The second thought is the use of two words together…suffering and glory.

Suffering and God: I do not believe Paul is “glorifying suffering,” rather he is pointing to his confidence in God. The God who has “adopted us” will not leave us hopeless and hapless in pointless suffering. No God is present through His Spirit. The Spirit leads us in our prayers even when we are weak, and even intercedes for us. We can be so confident in God’s love that we can stand on an amazing promise: “We know that for those who love God, all things work for good for those who are called according to his purpose.” Think about your suffering, and the suffering in the world. God’s Word is not glorifying it. God’s Word is not saying that “God caused it to make you stronger.” God’s Word is saying 1-that suffering happens, 2-that it is mysteriously linked to God’s glory, and 3-that both the good and the bad, the joy and the suffering, “ALL THINGS” will be used by God for good.

God will take the suffering and use it. He does not willy-nilly cause it, but when it comes He has the power to use it for good. Romans 8:28 is a verse to memorize. I have prayed it often as bad things, really bad and hard things, have come upon me and come upon those whom I love. “Lord take this and use it for good” is what I often pray. How can we be sure? This God is the God of hesed, the God of everlasting love. He does not leave you when you are suffering. He is the God who through the suffering of the Cross brought redemption to the world and glory to the Son. There are some things I can look back on and see how God has used them for good, and there are some that “His Good” has yet to be revealed.

Hold onto Romans 8, ponder it, chew on it, plant it deeply inside your heart, for when you do, then you will know and indeed be sure: For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

You are inseparable from God.

DAY 218

THEREFORE

Psalm 68 & 69 and Romans 8:1-21

“Therefore” begins our eighth chapter, it is a “therefore” that is aimed at all that has been written before, all seven chapters. All that we have written culminates in “There is therefore no condemnation now for those who are in Christ Jesus.” If yesterday we were pondering whether or not we were “wretched,” then today we reach the zenith of all Paul has been driving at…full acceptance by God for those who are in Christ.

Paul has been focused on sin and law. In fact in chapter seven he refers to the law and its synonyms 31 times, and the Spirit only once. Whereas in chapter eight, in the first twenty-seven verses he refers the Spirit 19 times. The point is clear, the law is weak and there is power in the Spirit.

Yet, as we read about the Spirit we see him making the same point…that being our security in Christ. Today’s blog is a short entry. If you think Paul has been a bit heavy, well he has. Today however, let me suggest you just bask in the “therefore” and enjoy life in the Spirit…we’ll unpack chapter 8 a bit more tomorrow.

DAY 217

YOUR SELF IMAGE – THAT IS PERSONAL

Psalm 66 & 67 and Romans 7

Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?

This is getting personal. If Paul, who has been laying out the beauty of this relationship with God, that all flows from God’s Grace, writes the above statement about himself, then does it get you in your mind to ask, “Am I a wretch?” In our day and age we don’t like this language. We want our kids to have a positive self-image. Much of this emphasis is reportedly in reaction to the Church which was always telling people they were sinners and that they needed to be holy. The Church produced dour people full of self-doubt…at least that is the view.

The reaction has been to stop talking about sin. There are some places which are re-writing certain lines of Old Hymns, for example in John Newton’s famous hymn Amazing Grace, the line which he wrote as, “Amazing Grace how sweet the sound, that save a wretch like me” was re-written to that saved and set me free.

No doubt we in the Church have earned this label, at least to some degree. The solution is not to pretend sin does not exist. The solution is what Paul is driving at…realize we are covered and live thankfully and joyfully for God – that is in fact how chapter seven ends! Let’s circle back just a bit and look at this passage.

First of all you might recall that in chapter 6 Paul was responding to his critics with regard to their accusation that he is preaching that people should sin more so that grace will increase. He has dealt with this charge, but in some way, so typical of Paul, he won’t let go of this charge. In verses 1-6 he again points out that the Law has no binding authority. Then in verses 7-25 he does two things: he esteems the Law and he emphasizes how serious he is with regard to living a holy life, and it is the Law that guides him – not for salvation, but for right-living.

Paul in this section again deals with the “three people” mentioned a day or so ago: The legalist – who demands that it is the Law that must be completely kept in order to be right with God. Then there is the person who says we are completely free to do whatever we want – the technical name is antinomianism. (Nomos is the Greek word for the law and they are “anti-law”.) Finally there is the third person – the law-fulfilling free people. These are people who love the Law, not because it saves, but because it leads to a life that both pleases God and leads to peace for those who live it. 

Paul knows this, but in dramatic language he shares with us that he knows the internal struggle: 15 For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. 16 Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. 17 So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. 18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.  20 Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. 21 So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. 22 For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, 23 but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. 24 Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.

This is dramatic. Paul has answered those who think his view of grace gives license to do whatever they want, and he shows that while the Law is not helpful for salvation, it does instruct us in our lives as we seek to live for God.

I am not sure how you view this chapter with regards to your self-image. If you are struggling with the idea of wretched, let me offer a few thoughts. First, remember that Paul is responding to two very specific issues that flow from his view of salvation by grace, that being “what then of the Law,” and “how much freedom does this grace really yield.” In responding to these issues he is a bit like a “dog with a bone” - he just won’t let go. But Paul would also point out that you and I are made in the image of God, and in fact by Jesus’ redemptive work on the Cross, we are by God’s grace free to live into the image…how is that for self esteem.

DAY 216

ISN’T THIS GETTING JUST A LITTLE TOO RELIGIOUS, YEAH BUT

Psalm 63, 64 & 65 and Romans 6

Isn’t this all getting just a little too religious? What I mean by that is all this intellectual wrangling with Romans! It can feel that way, so let’s start with the Psalms. The Psalms each begin with three beautiful verses: “O God, you are my God; eagerly I seek you…” 63:1. “Hear my voice, O God, when I complain…” 64:1. “You are to be praised…” 65:1. This language is personal and relational. The Psalmist is seeking God, wants God to hear their complaint, and they offer praise to God.

So how does this personal talk all line up with Romans? It lines up because Roman’s is about the Gospel. The simple message of the Gospel, which is, at just the right time God sent His Son, born of a virgin, to live among us, to teach us, to show us the way to God the Father. He died, in fact was crucified by us, but overcame the worst of evil and rose from the dead, ascended back the Father, and then the Holy Spirit was available to be released into the hearts of those who “seek God.” That is a very personal and relational message.

Paul’s point is simple…that having faith in this Gospel lets those of us who are “seeking God” to be found by Him. He will hear us; even our complaints. His love for us shown throughout time, but fully in Jesus, will lead us to praise Him.

That is Paul’s message…just have faith in Jesus.

And then it begins, the “yeah buts’.” You know what I am talking about, the “yeah buts’” that start when something, which seems straightforward, challenges others.

Think about where we have been – chapter one of Romans deals with the “yeah but we are not sure there is a God, and some of us just do what we want and others  of us want to point out all that is wrong – we want to judge.” Chapter two deals with the “yeah but aren’t we really good people, we don’t need a “savior” do we?” Chapter three deals with the very specific “yeah but from the Jewish people, they are saying, “We have a special deal with God, we don’t need this “free grace from Jesus” we have the Law.””

This list is going on and on, and Paul is remarkable resilient and in some ways patient. It does sound overly religious, but let me just say that “religion is a system made by humans to “climb up” to God.” The Gospel describes a relationship, a relationship with a God who has “climbed down” to be with us, His creatures. All the wrangling Paul is doing is to demonstrate that this relationship comes not from our “good works” or “heritage” but from “God” and that is a free gift of Grace! Paul is in fact dismantling a religion to let a relationship find its way to us.

Paul quite frankly has been painting an idyllic picture of the people of God. They are standing in grace and rejoicing in glory. Having formerly belonged to Adam, the author of sin and death, they now belong to Christ, the author of salvation and life. At one season in history the Law was added to the people of Israel to intensify the point that humans fall short and indeed as the law showed “sin to increase,” grace increased all the more. It is a splendid vision of God’s grace. I say Amen, others say…yeah but.

The “yeah but” we are dealing with today is, “yeah it sounds all good, but Christians still sin.” Paul as he has concentrated on showing just how secure we are simply through faith, has jumped from accepting God through Jesus all the way to us being “perfect in Christ.” He has skipped what we might call “becoming disciples” or “growing/maturing in faith.” And his critics, those carrying the “yeah but” signs have jumped on it!

As early as Chapter 3 verse 8 we read: “And why not do evil that good may come? – as some people slanderously charge us with saying. Their condemnation is just.

If people are hearing, “God’s grace is free – woo-hoo let’s party” then Paul agrees they have missed the message. In chapter six, both verse 1 and verse 15 he asks “are we to continue to sin that grace may abound?” and “What then? Are we to sin because we are not under the law but under grace?” His answer to both questions is the same “By no means!”

God’s grace not only forgives sins, but delivers us from sinning. In verses 1-14 he shows how we are united with Christ and then in verses 15-23 he shows us that we become slaves to living right lives. Each of these sections could lead me to write pages and pages, but I just want to highlight one point.

People who follow Jesus struggle with the reality that we still sin. We read the phrase we have died to sin and we misunderstand it. We think that because we are still sinning that we mustn’t have “really become Christians.” That is pushing the “death metaphor” too far. The point is that there is a radical discontinuity between our old selves and our new selves. The use of the word “death” is to highlight this discontinuity and in fact it is why we are disturbed that we still sin!

We are now living in a “relationship with God” and yes we are not perfect, but…and here is the one last point I will make…death in the Bible has everything to do with it being the result of sin…you die and are eternally separated from God because you sinned. BUT we have been buried with Jesus in his death and raised to new life in him…the wages of our sin, death, has been paid…that what it means in this context. It does not mean we have somehow become perfect…it means the prices is paid, so let’s live for God!

I will leave it at this point. These chapters are like onions, we could just keep peeling the layers back, but today I pray you have seen that Paul is not interested in giving us some “human-made religion” rather he is disarming religion in order that we might plant ourselves in a relationship…and there are no “yeah buts’” about it!

Day 215 Consider Anew

DAY 215

CONSIDER ANEW

Psalm 60, 61 & 62 and Romans 5

Today is another one of those days in Romans where Paul both gives us a key milepost, but then also goes much deeper.

Let’s start with the “milepost” – so far Paul has gone to great lengths to establish each of these few points:

1.      Day 1 of Romans: Everyone should know there is a God…all are without excuse.

2.      Day 2 of Romans: Everyone falls short of being able all by themselves to “be right before God” or in other words no one is perfect…we all fall short.

3.      Day 3 of Romans: When Paul says everyone, he means it, and deals with both Jews and Gentiles…and introduces that it is faith not works which puts us right with God.

4.      Day 4 of Romans: He continues to drive home the point of faith by using both Abraham and David as examples of how God has always been about faith.

Paul has accomplished each of these mileposts with very dense text, laying out point and counterpoint to demonstrate that the summary statements he is making are absolutely defendable and consistent with the Scripture.

So what is today’s milepost? Let’s look at verse one of chapter 5 – we have peace with God. God is not angry with us, we simply need to put our faith not in ourselves, but God. For while we were still sinners, Christ died for us: God is the “prime mover” in our relationship. If we can grasp how God who is beyond description, in the face of our constant rejection of him, died for us, then we will be overwhelmed by His love…not even suffering will dissuade us!

That is the big picture point…and the question that flows from it is, “Are you at that level of relationship with God?” Has the depth of His love penetrated your heart so deeply that you can say “not even suffering will dampen my love for God?”

Does Paul take us deeper into this point? Of course he does. He does so by taking us all the way back to Adam to show God’s complete faithfulness to us!

In verses 12 – 21 we have what may seem a rather confusing point about Adam and Christ. So let’s go a bit deeper. Remember Paul is writing this treatise in a way that no argument can undo what he is asserting. So yesterday he talked about Abraham and David. What if someone were to say “what about Adam and all the people between him and Moses?” Furthermore “all your talk about the law, what about all the people who sinned after Abraham and before the Law?”

Paul begins in verse 12 with “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned-- 13 for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. 14 Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come. The point here is that breaking the law is a big deal, but, death reigned from Adam forward because of Adam’s disobedience; the absence of the law did not lead to the absence of death.

Then in verses 15, 16 and 17 Paul makes a big point. God’s grace, forgiveness, goodness, etc. are all GREATER. These are not two equally balanced forces – God is greater! Having established that point, Paul returns to Adam in verse 18 to demonstrate that God has accomplished this feat.

Another detail…and it can confuse us…it that Paul is often incorporating into his writing how the Law factors into his argument. This is where it can get tough for us, but Paul is writing to both Jews and Gentiles. He did so in verse 13 and he does it again in verse 20. So a Jewish person might suggest that the giving of the Law started a new point in time for humanity. Paul is saying that the Law merely intensified the human situation…he is dealing how some Jews would see the Law as salvation…but for Paul that would mean it would be about “humans doing good works” vice “having faith in what God has already done.”

All these details serve to drive home the depth of God’s love for us. It can be a bit intellectual, but the goal is not to be smarter, but to be more deeply connected to God through Jesus Christ…pause for a moment and consider anew that Christ died for you, all for love!

DAY 214

THREE KINDS OF PEOPLE

Psalm 57, 58 & 59 and Romans 4

I was very much aware of the length of my post yesterday, sorry it was so long, but I felt it necessary to pull together the first three chapters. Today is shorter. In chapter four Paul demonstrates through both Abraham and David that God throughout the ages has counted people “righteous” because of their faith and not their works. Let me try and drive that point home. I recently read there are three kinds of people:

1.      Those who do not believe in God and you may or may not find them in church.

2.      Those who are in Church and believe they have a right relationship with Him because they have faith in Him through His Son Jesus Christ.

3.      Those who are in Church and believe they have a right relationship with God because they are doing pretty well, they haven’t murdered anyone, they are coming to Church, and they are trying hard…in all they are pretty good people.

The point of chapters one through three is that it is God’s grace and favor towards us…and furthermore we “are not good enough.” Paul’s point today is simply that this is not something new from God…He has been behaving this way through the ages. And if you look at the language you will note that our faith actually has a double effect: there is the negative canceling or covering of the sin…and the positive crediting of righteousness. Not only are we forgiven…we are not left in some neutral position…we are put in a positive one.

There are two bits that I want to unpack, the first is verse 15…”the law brings wrath…” How does that happen? Quite simply the law makes demands, we cannot keep them and so we transgress, and the transgression incurs wrath. This compares to God’s grace which makes promises that when we believe we are blessed with being right with God (verses 16).

The second bit has to do with what Abraham did when the promise was not immediately fulfilled: He hoped against hope. In other words, he did not give up on God. We should not give up either. Abraham waited 25 years before Isaac was born.

To close today’s blog we see that the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and David is the God who raised Jesus from the dead, I pray you will hang in there, even in those tough times like Abraham did…That is why his faith was "counted to him as righteousness." But the words "it was counted to him" were not written for his sake alone, but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification. I pray you will, of the three kinds of people, the one who has faith in Jesus.