Monthly Archives: March 2021

A HOPELESS SITUATION

Bible Study, ,

A HOPELESS SITUATION

“What advantage, then, is there in being a Jew, or what value is there in circumcision? Much in every way! First of all, the Jews have been entrusted with the very words of God. What if some were unfaithful? Will their unfaithfulness nullify God’s faithfulness?

Not at all! Let God be true, and every human being a liar. As it is written: “So that you may be proved right when you speak and prevail when you judge.”

But if our unrighteousness brings out God’s righteousness more clearly, what more shall we say? That God is unjust in bringing His wrath on us? (I am using a human argument). Certainly not! If that were so, how could God judge the world?” Romans 3:1-6.

Lest his readers thought that being a Jew was of no value at all, Paul quickly showed them that the problem lay, not with the law or with the righteousness of God but with the unfaithfulness of the people who received God’s word. The Jews were highly favoured and privileged to have God’s word. They had the advantage of being in covenant with God and they had the sign of the covenant to prove it.

The problem lay, not with God but with the people. As he has already made clear, having God’s word and being in covenant with Him was of no benefit to them if they did not show it in their daily lives. After all, was it not God’s purpose that, by living out His instructions to His people, they were to show their Gentile neighbours what He is really like?

But then Paul responded to another hypothetical question. Is God not being unjust by judging people who break His law, when their very sinfulness shows up His righteousness?

What kind of logic is that? Do people really think like this? It would be the same as arguing that criminals should not be punished because what they did shows us just how right the government is to make laws that judge wrongdoers!

“Some might argue, ‘If my falsehood enhances His truthfulness and so increases His glory, why am I still condemned as a sinner?’ Why not say – as some slanderously claim that we say – ‘Let us do evil that good may result.’? Their condemnation is just.” Romans 3:7, 8.

God’s glory is not revealed in contrast to human wickedness but in the justice of His judgment. As Paul rightly argues, how can God judge sin if we sin in order to show up His righteousness? This is a very twisted argument, to say the least. Since much of God’s judgment comes to us through the consequences of our wrongdoing, He does not deliberately create bad consequences because He takes delight in punishing us. Consequences are the natural result of overstepping His boundaries.

No parent would tell his small child, “Don’t play in the street. You will be run over by a car,” because he arranged for a car to hit him. He warns his son because of the real danger of it happening. Similarly, God gives us boundaries within which He knows we are safe, and outside of which there is danger because of the very laws which hold the universe together.

The greatest tragedy of all is that people who rebel against God’s laws do not realise that they are not hurting God. They are hurting themselves and wasting their lives when God has so much for them if they would only heed what He says and live within the safety zone.

So, whether a person is a Gentile who has no knowledge of God’s word but has a conscience which he ignores, or a Jew who has God’s covenant and God’s word but does not obey it, the outcome is the same.

“What shall we conclude then? Do we have any advantage? Not at all! For we have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under the power of sin.” Romans 3:9.

Acknowledgement

THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

OUT IN THE COLD

Bible Study, ,

OUT IN THE COLD

“Circumcision has value if you observe the law, but if you break the law, you have become as though you had not been circumcised. So then, if those who are not circumcised keep the law’s requirements, will they not be regarded as though they were circumcised? The one who is not circumcised physically and yet obeys the law will condemn you who, even though you have the written code and circumcision, are a lawbreaker. A person is not a Jew who is one only outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. No, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly, and circumcision is of the heart by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a person’s praise is not from other people, but from God.” Romans 2:25-29.

Paul took great pains to ensure that his Jewish readers understood the place of the law in their lives. Being a Jew was much more than having the outward and physical sign of the covenant in their bodies. It was an issue of the heart. Paul needed them to understand that they were all lawbreakers, no matter how much they viewed themselves as the privileged covenant people of God.

Like the Pharisees who were Jesus’ persistent opponents, defending their natural birth into the nation of Israel was of no use if they did not back it up with obedience to the terms of God’s covenant. It would be the same as thinking that natural birth in a country would be enough to keep me out of prison even if I committed a crime.

The thinking of the Jews whom Paul addressed then is, unfortunately, the same false teaching that deceives millions of people today. False religions teach people that the way to please their god, or the way to get rid of sin is to subscribe to a certain religion and to do certain things, rituals or rules that relate to the body but cannot change the heart. Eat or do not eat certain foods; wash here or wash this way; offer sacrifices of food or blood; bow so many times, or bow this way etc. What can any of these things do to alter the state of the heart, or remove the guilt of the soul?

The prophet Micah, in the Old Testament, struggled with the same issue.

“With what shall I come before the Lord and bow down before the exalted God? Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of olive oil? Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He had shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” Micah 6:6-8.

What value is there in washing the body, putting the right kinds of food in the mouth or offering sacrifices to an inanimate block of wood or stone? What evidence it there to prove that these rituals have any effect on the guilty conscience? Of what value is circumcision, as a mark of membership if it does not issue in obedience to God, or offering sacrifices if they are an excuse to keep on sinning? All the adherence to religious practices in the world cannot and will not change the heart.

Paul was slowly building his case for the hopelessness of all human beings. Not even the Jews, who had thousands of years of history – God actively involved in their lives, revealing Himself to them, cutting covenant with them, intervening in their lives with many miracles, protecting and providing for them, governing and guiding them – were any better than the Gentiles because they were just as guilty of ungodly behaviour as their uncircumcised neighbours.

Worst of all, although the Jews probably did not even give it a thought, was their arrogant attitude towards the Gentiles whom they despised. It was their very pride in their privileged birth that cut them off from God. “God opposes the proud but shows favour to the humble.” 1 Peter 5:5b. So, instead of living in God’s favour, they had cut themselves off from Him because of their arrogant attitude.

Acknowledgement

THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

FIRST THE DIAGNOSIS

Bible Study, ,

FIRST THE DIAGNOSIS

“Now you, if you call yourself a Jew; if you rely on the law and boast in God; if you know His will and approve of what is superior because you are instructed by the law; if you are convinced that you are a guide for the blind, a light for those who are in the dark, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of little children, because you have in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth – you, then who teach others, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal? You who say people should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who boast in the law, do you dishonour God by breaking the law? As it is written: “God’s nature is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.” Romans 2:17-24.

Ouch! This is quite an indictment; and a perennial problem!  James had to address the same issue in his letter.

“Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.” James 1:22.

But as it was then, so it is still true now.

Both Jew and Gentile were guilty before God for ignoring God’s holy standards.

Paul has already concluded that the Gentiles were guilty before God. Because of their indulgence in debauched behaviour, they chose to disregard God and make their own gods who would indulge their behaviour because they were just like their creators. The problem with the Gentiles was their lust after the flesh.

On the other hand, the problem relating to the Jews was a problem of self-deception spawned by pride. “You have to understand the difference between having the law and obeying the law,” Paul told them. “Being the proud recipients of God’s standards is not enough if you don’t obey them.” The law he was talking about, for the Jew was both the moral and the ceremonial law. The moral law was the expression of God’s character. The ceremonial law was intended to flesh out the moral law in their everyday lives and to develop a culture of understanding to prepare them for the coming of the Messiah.

The Jews despised the Gentiles because they were not part of God’s covenant people. They had not been rescued from Egypt by God’s mighty power and they did not receive God’s law. As far as the Jews were concerned, Gentiles were the scum of the earth and, like lepers, tax collectors and prostitutes, they were classified as untouchable “sinners”.

To the Jew, what Paul had to say was shocking. They, the Jews, were just as guilty before God as the Gentiles because, though they boasted about having God’s law, they did not obey it. In fact, some of the Gentiles were better than they because, without even having God’s law, they obeyed it because it was written into their consciences. No person on earth can be excused because he does not know right from wrong. Even if people don’t know the finer details of the law, everyone knows that it is wrong to lie, kill, steal, and commit adultery. They have a conscience which is aroused when they do these things.

Paul is not advocating that either Jew or Gentile can keep God’s law so perfectly that they will be found not guilty when God judges. Even if people are able to keep the letter of the law, what about what goes on in the heart? Jesus made it clear that actions begin with thoughts; behaviour is the end result of what had already gone on in the heart.

Where is this leading? It was not Paul’s intention to make people feel bad and then leave them there. He was painting a dark picture of humanity to prepare them for something really big that God has done to solve the problem. Every category of people in his day had to understand how hopeless their case was outside of God. He dealt with each group separately to show them the nature of their guilt.

Gentiles – idol worshippers; guilty because they refused to acknowledge God and went about setting up their own religion and following their own rules which led them eventually to reverse all God’s moral standards. Jews – equally guilty because they did not obey the laws that God had given them for righteous living. On top of that, they were proud and arrogant about their covenant relationship with God which did not actually benefit them because it was only on paper and not in their lives.

And the end result? Helpless and hopeless without God’s intervention!

The people of today are no different. We may not do what the Gentiles or the Jews did then, but our hearts are the same. The world is full of religions invented by people who refuse to acknowledge God and have created gods of their own who are to their liking so that they can continue their lifestyle without being accountable to the Creator. The tragedy is that they become just like the thing they worship.

But before we can apply the remedy, we must know the problem…

Acknowledgement

THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

GUILTY AS CHARGED

Bible Study, ,

GUILTY AS CHARGED

“All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law. For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous. (Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law. They show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts sometimes accusing them and at other times even defending them). This will take place when God judges people’s secrets through Jesus Christ, as my gospel declares.” Romans 2:12-16.

What is this “law” Paul kept talking about? Did he mean that things like not eating unclean foods or not wearing clothes made of mixed fibres would be the standard by which we will be judged? What about all the rigmarole of animal sacrifices, or for how many years we must plant our fields and for how many years we must leave them fallow? All of these things and many more were included in the law.

Is the law he referred to only the Ten Commandments? If the Jews keep all ten commandments, will they be safe from God’s judgment? What about those he called “the Gentiles”, all the people who were not part of God’s covenant people and who did not know the Ten Commandments? How will they be judged? How can God be just if they are ignorant of His standards?

Although the translators used the word “law” to translate “torah”, torah actually means “teaching” and God’s teaching reflects His nature. When God gave His people His torah, He was introducing Himself to them and the telling them what He is like. To the Jews, He gave His teaching and the rest of the world who did not have His teaching, had the law of God written on their conscience as does every human being.

So, Paul made it clear that everyone has a standard by which he will be judged. God has not given us the right to set up our own standards because He is our Creator and we are accountable to Him. The standard for the Jews is the law of God written in stone and expanded in His covenant given to them at Mount Sinai. The standard for the Gentiles who do not have the written word, is the law of conscience written on their hearts.  Just as Paul said in Romans 1, people are without excuse.

Since God is absolutely just, He will judge everyone by His own nature, whether His standards are written on stone, in a book, or on the heart. God’s nature has been fully revealed to us in His Son. Jesus came from the Father in human form to show us the Father.

“In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, and through whom also He made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being, sustaining all things by His powerful word.” Hebrews 1:1-3.

The problem is that, whether we are Jew or Gentile, when we look at Jesus, we realise how impossible it is to live up to God’s standard. Even if it were possible to keep the letter of God’s law perfectly from now on, we are guilty because we have already broken His law, and we have not understood or kept the spirit of the law which is the inward attitude of the heart.

Why is Paul telling his readers these things? Just to make them feel bad? I don’t think so. What would be the point of that? His intention was to show them that there is not one human being who can perfectly reach God’s standard; all are guilty; all are condemned and there is no hope for them if they think they can measure up to God’s demands by their own efforts.

Religion tries to tell us that we can, but God shows us that we can’t. We will have to look elsewhere if we are to have any hope of escaping God’s wrath and experiencing eternal life.

Acknowledgement

THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide

FAITHFUL AND FAIR

Bible Study, ,

FAITHFUL AND FAIR

“God will repay each person according to what he has done.” To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honour and immortality, He will give eternal life. But for those who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger. There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil; first for the Jew, then for the Gentile; but glory, honour and peace for everyone who does good; first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For God does not show favouritism.” Romans 2:6-11.

Isn’t it amazing? God is so fair that He allows us to choose the outcome of our lives! But, unlike the devil, He tells us all the options and doesn’t hide the small print. He lays it all out for us and then allows us to make an informed choice.

So why do so many people ignore His warnings, reject His offer of a new start on the right way, and end up where they didn’t want to go? There are some very powerful forces at work to keep us from believing God and being the beneficiaries of His mercy and grace.

The first is the same deception that led the first pair to defy God. Satan suggested that God is unreliable and unfair. He sowed doubt into their minds about His integrity. According to the devil, God either did not say what He meant or He did not mean what He said. In spite of all the warnings in Scripture, many people still refuse to believe that God means what He says. In their foolishness, they brush Him aside with the age-old argument, “It won’t happen to me.”

Long ago, God said through Asaph, the psalmist, “You hate my instruction and cast my words behind you…When you did these things and I kept silent, you thought I was exactly like you.” Psalm 50:17; 21. People are still like that today. They think that, because nothing bad has happened to them, God either does not see or does not care about what they are doing. But they have forgotten that there is a day of reckoning coming.

The second force at work to keep us from God’s grace is the evil nature within us. Not only do we not believe Him; we don’t want to believe Him because we enjoy our sin too much. Satan does not have to do much deceiving and much persuading because we are willing allies to his deception. It suits us to believe him because we have no inclination towards God and His ways.

“This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light and will not come into the light for fear their deeds will be exposed.” John 3:19, 20.

However, in contrast to the dark side, there is a bright side. Paul said that there is a reward coming for those who persevere in doing good. Perseverance is the key. In the same way as punishment doesn’t come immediately, so rewards are being kept for the day when Jesus returns. It would be easy to lose heart and give up if we were not convinced that God is faithful and fair. We can count on the fact that He means exactly what He says.

“Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labour in the Lord is not in vain.” 1 Corinthians 15:58.

This is what the Bible calls “the fear of the Lord”. To fear God is to revere and honour Him, and to act on what He has said because He is utterly faithful; firm and immovable on what He has spoken. We can depend on His reliability because He can never contradict Himself.

It costs discipline and stickablilty to keep on doing the right thing, like the salmon swimming against the current to get to their spawning ground. Like them, we have a reward coming at the end of the journey and it is worth the trouble to keep the end in view. Those who live for the moment have their reward – the momentary “pleasure” which will turn around and bite them in the end. Those who live for the end result, glory, honour and peace, will have to wait for it, but the outcome will be forever and is fully assured.

Acknowledgement

THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.