Tag Archives: accountable

Helpless – But God!

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HELPLESS – BUT GOD!

“Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world be held accountable to God. Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin.

But now, apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known to which the law and the prophets testify.” Romans 3:19-21.

Doomed! We are all doomed. Paul’s conclusion is both terrifyingly condemning…

Everyone is guilty before God. There is no one privileged enough to escape His judgment and no one righteous enough to evade His scrutiny. No one on the planet, past, present or future, can perfectly measure up to His requirements. God’s holy nature is revealed in His Law. It is inflexible. It is objective. That’s what He demands and anything less is punishable by death.

…and gloriously liberating! So what can we do? The answer is, “Nothing!” We can do nothing and we need to do nothing. Why? God has already done everything; everything necessary to give us hope.

“This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” Romans 3:22-24.

No one can stand before God in his naked state. Sin has stained and polluted every person, regardless of what he has tried to do to gain acceptance with God. His spirit is dead and that is as final as physical death – unless God intervenes…and He has. Sin killed us, not only because we have all sinned but also because we all have a natural bent towards sin which cannot be cured by trying to obey rules. The law sets the standard but it cannot enable us to keep it. All it can do is reveal our guilt.

Why do people who know God’s law, be it in written form or in their conscience, still think that they can do something to satisfy God’s righteousness by trying to obey rules? Even some of those who claim to be believers in Jesus still try to satisfy God’s holy standards by working hard to please Him. How much better to admit defeat and accept God’s solution!

Imagine your small son, whom you have instructed not to help himself to cookies from the cookie jar, standing in front of you with a cookie in each hand. He has been caught red-handed. He is guilty and he cannot escape. You warned him that he would be spanked and sent to his room for the whole day if he disobeyed you. Now you must keep your word, even if he is sorry and promises never to do it again.

His older brother steps in. He adores his little brother and feels sorry for him. “I’ll take his punishment,” he tells you. Because he has never been guilty of transgressing your rule, you accept his offer. Little brother goes free while older brother receives the spanking and spends the day in isolation in his bedroom.

You have been perfectly just in punishing disobedience and at the same time merciful to the little boy who transgressed your law, because of his older brother’s compassion. That is exactly what God has done, but on a much higher level.

“God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of His blood – to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness because, in His forbearance He has left sins unpunished – He did this to demonstrate Hs righteousness as the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.” Romans 3:25, 26.

All we have to do is to accept His gift by believing what He says. It’s as simple as that. Was Jesus without sin? Most definitely yes! Did He die as a law breaker? Again, yes! He was executed as a blasphemer and as one who committed treason against Rome. Was He guilty as accused? No! What He said was true. He is the Son of God and King of the Jews.

How do we know He was telling the truth? God raised Him from the dead. Death is the punishment for sin, but death could not hold Him in its grip. After three days He walked out of the tomb. He is alive; and He sent His Spirit to live in the heart of every believer so that we are enabled to live the life He wants us to live. All this happens when we put our confidence in Him!

Acknowledgement

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Without Excuse

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WITHOUT EXCUSE

“‘The God who made the world and everything in it, this Master of sky and land, doesn’t live in custom-made shrines or need the human race to run errands for Him, as if He couldn’t take care of Himself. He makes the creatures; the creatures don’t make Him. Starting from scratch, He made the entire human race and made the earth hospitable, with plenty of time and space for living so we could seek after God, and not just grope around in the dark but actually find Him. He doesn’t play hide-and-seek with us. He’s not remote; He’s near. We live and move in Him, can’t get away from Him! One of your poets said it well: ‘We’re the God-created.’ Well, if we’re the God-created, it doesn’t make a lot of sense to think we can hire a sculptor to chisel a god out of stone for us, does it?”‘ Acts 17:24-29 (The Message).

Spot on again, Paul!

Paul was speaking to people who thought they were “intellectuals”, intelligent people who majored on thinking logically. Unfortunately, their logic did not take them any higher than human wisdom. They were unable, through their own reason, to figure out the existence of an unseen God who is Creator of everything. Yet Paul said, under inspiration of the Holy Spirit, that this is possible.

“For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities — His eternal power and divine nature — have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse.” Romans 1:20 (NIV).

How is it possible, for instance, that intelligent, logical-thinking, modern scientists, using all the sophisticated equipment they have to examine created things in minutest detail, can come up with the “conviction” that it all just “happened”? Could it be that the issue is not one of the mind but of the will? Is it basic dishonesty that refuses to “see” the work of the Creator, even though it can be clearly seen by the untrained eye?

Even David, a young shepherd, with neither microscope nor telescope, could say:
“The heavens declare the glory of God; The skies proclaim the work of His hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; Night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language Where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, Their words to the ends of the world.” Psalm 19:1-4 (NIV).

These Athenians at least began with the possibility that a God existed of whom they were vaguely aware, although they knew nothing about Him. They acknowledged Him with a shrine that was placed among all the other shrines, putting Him on a par with their man-made gods. It was up to Paul to set the record straight, which he did in a masterful way without attacking their error or putting them down for their foolishness.

Paul’s modus operandi was to fill in the gaps in their understanding. He exploited their honest mistake by taking them from where they were to where they could be if they moved from logic to faith, from reason to revelation. The God they ignorantly acknowledged was unseen but real, not confined to a shrine but as near to them as their breath. They did not create Him; He created them. That meant that they were subject to Him, not Him at their beck and call. Even their own poets had somehow hit on the truth: ‘We are His offspring.’

Unfortunately, right there is the parting of the ways. Those who refuse to give up their right to be right, deny the truth that God is Creator and that, therefore, the creature is accountable to Him. But that doesn’t change the truth. That makes the stubborn creature doubly accountable — for lying about God and for refusing to submit to Him.

So where do we stand? It all depends on how honest we are. We can side with the scientists who refuse to say, ‘God is Creator,’ or we can side with David who looked up at the night sky and marvelled at the intricate design of the God he had come to know and worship as his Shepherd.

Who Is In Charge?

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WHO IS IN CHARGE?

“The religious leaders renewed their threats, but then released them. They couldn’t come up with a charge that would stick, that would keep them in jail. The people wouldn’t have stood for it — they were all praising God over what had happened. The man who had been miraculously healed was over forty years old.

“As soon as Peter and John were let go, they went to their friends and told them what the high priests and religious leaders had said. Hearing the report, they lifted their voices in a wonderful harmony in prayer:…” Acts 4:21-24a (The Message)

This was the acid test for the apostles. How would they respond to this new development? They were enjoying the favour of all the citizens of Jerusalem, believers and unbelievers alike. Now the Sanhedrin was taking them on, just as they had taken on their Master.

As followers of Jesus, they had watched and listened to His response to the irrational rage of the Jewish religious hierarchy. Even when they arrested, tortured and killed Him, He neither resisted nor bad-mouthed them. He was representative of another kingdom which overrode the worldly kingdom they represented.

Peter and John politely listened to the rantings of the religious rulers but made it clear that they had no intention of obeying them. They had a higher authority to which they were accountable and He was backing their obedience by replicating through them what He had done through Jesus.

There was a strong bond between the believers that was not only a unity of faith but also a bond strengthened by sharing their resources and doing life together. When they were in trouble, they had one another’s support in love and prayer. Peter and John went straight back to their ‘family’ to report what had happened and, no doubt, to discuss their response.

Their first recourse was to God. This is a reflection not only of how well they had learned their lessons from following Jesus but also how powerfully the Holy Spirit was leading and transforming them. The old Peter would have reacted as he did in the garden when the soldiers grabbed Jesus. He lashed out with his sword and slashed off Malchus’ ear. That was his natural human instinct, but not any more. The old Peter had been replaced by a new model, an imitator of Jesus.

They had learned from their Master that the kingdom of God, not their earthly circumstances, was central in their lives. Whatever was happening to them was serving God’s purposes in bringing “up there, down here”. That’s how Jesus viewed life. He was never fazed by the imperfections He encountered. They always served a higher purpose — an opportunity for God to put His glory on display.

As leaders of the infant church, it was their opportunity to show their people how to deal with those who stood against them. Retaliate? No! Revenge? No! Resist? No! Stand? Yes. They had their mandate from Jesus. They were to be His witnesses to the world. As they stood firm in their commitment to obey Him, every obstacle would give way through His power in them.

That is the essence of ‘spiritual warfare’ — obedience to the Master in the confidence that His kingdom overrides the kingdom of darkness and will give way because Jesus is Lord.

God Knew

Christian Life, , ,

GOD KNEW

“‘And now friends, I know you had no idea what you were doing when you killed Jesus, and neither did your leaders. But God who, through the preaching of all the prophets had said all along that His Messiah would be killed, knew exactly what you were doing and used it to fulfil His plans.'” Acts 3:17-18 (The Message).

It’s a mystery – this thing called the sovereignty of God! He did not create human beings to be puppets and yet, through our choices and even our failures, He works out His purposes in human lives and human history — and He holds us accountable for what we do.

When we take a step back and consider the life of Jesus as a whole, it becomes clear that He was not a victim of religious hatred or prejudice, nor was He a martyr for some cause He was championing. His life and His death were purposeful.

How many times did He have the opportunity to avoid the cross had He just kept His mouth shut instead of speaking out against the religious leaders to arouse their rage and hatred? It was almost as though He were deliberately out to get Himself killed — and He was. Yet His intention was not primarily to provoke them to murder but to expose their hearts.

He was never afraid or reticent to speak the truth if there was a chance that people would see themselves as God saw them and turn to Him for mercy and forgiveness. The fact that it had the opposite effect on the Pharisees was an exposure of what was really in them.

All of this played into God’s hands and contributed to His grand plan to offer His Son up as an atoning sacrifice for the sin of the whole world. Men had to kill Jesus. We had to kill Him to silence His exposure of our hearts and to confirm our guilt before God. We thought that, by killing Jesus we could get God off our backs once and for all but instead, He came back from the dead and now graciously offer us forgiveness and a place in His family and in His kingdom we don’t deserve.

This sounds great when we are talking about God’s great redemption plan, but what about our puny lives? How do we fit into the bigger picture? How do our ignorant blunders and even our deliberate rebellion serve His purposes? I can’t answer that question. No one this side of eternity can.

But have you noticed how God takes broken, messed-up people who receive His mercy and start all over again and, through them, rescues other broken and messed-up lives and then, through them, He uses other broken and messed-up people and…? How is that for God’s sovereignty!

It’s not a good thing to rebel against God, throw over His laws and spit in His face. It doesn’t faze Him but it certainly ruins us. When we have finished running, hiding and trying to evade Him, He will get us anyway. Why not turn and run to Him? That’s what he wants more than anything else for you.

David tried to run from God but it didn’t work. “Where can I go from your Spirit?” he asked. “Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to heaven you are there, If I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me; your right hand will hold me fast.” Psalm 139:7-10 (NIV).

No matter how guilty we are, God invites us to turn to Him. He intentionally had Jesus killed, using man’s hatred for Him to sacrifice His life for us so that we can return to Him, all our rebellious disobedience spent, and find acceptance, forgiveness and a safe place in His home.

Passing the Buck

Christian Life, , ,

PASSING THE BUCK

“But they were vehement.’ He is stirring up unrest among the people with His teaching, disturbing the peace everywhere, starting in Galilee and now all through Judea. He is a dangerous man, endangering the peace.’

“When Pilate heard that, he asked, ‘So, He’s a Galilean?’ Realising that He properly came under Herod’s jurisdiction, he passed the buck to Herod, who just happened to be in Jerusalem for a few days.” Luke 23:5-7 (The Message).

How convenient for Pilate! Herod was responsible for governing Galilee. Jesus was a Galilean. Herod “happened” to be in town. Pilate must have heaved a sigh of relief. Jesus was a “hot potato” and he did not want to handle Him. Was it “Providence” that organised the circumstances to let him off the hook?

How does one go about finding reliable witnesses in a crowd of volatile people who were so stirred up by their religious leaders that any tiny spark could set the whole mob on fire?

Their accusations against Jesus were touching raw spots in Pilate’s mind. His role in Judea was to keep the peace by enforcing Rome’s domination. The Roman overlords, represented by the military, did whatever was necessary to suppress rebellion by oppressing the people. The gospels give hints of Roman cruelty even at the instigation of Pilate. On one occasion he ordered the murder of worshippers in the temple. Any sign of insurrection was ruthlessly crushed. Jewish blood flowed for very little reason and yet, Pilate was reluctant to deal with Jesus.

What was it about the man that caused him to hesitate to pronounce Him guilty and pass the death sentence to appease the Jewish leaders? One more dead Jew would be one less troublemaker for him. But somehow he couldn’t do it because of the man!

He had never had a prisoner like Jesus. Every time he looked at Him, he felt guilt overwhelming him. The man’s eyes bored into him like a laser beam, exposing the deepest secrets of his heart, and yet he felt, not condemned but loved. How was it possible for a “rabble-rouser” to arouse such mixed emotions in him? He was drawn and repelled at the same time. He wanted to love Him in return but he was supposed to be indifferent, just there to do a job.

It was a relief to have Herod in Jerusalem as a back-up. Let him handle Jesus. After all, He was his responsibility because He was a Galilean. And so Pilate hoped that his brief encounter with this man would end and be forgotten.

Would Pilate be able to shake Jesus off that easily? He did not know that he had been brought face-to-face with the man who would one day be his judge. Destiny had caused their paths to cross for one brief moment but, unknown to him; it was a dress rehearsal for a much greater encounter in the future. Passing the buck seemed a simple solution to his dilemma but he was to learn that he could not evade his responsibility then, just as he would not evade his accountability on Judgment Day.

That was not only Pilate’s moment. It will be ours as well. “Just as man is destined to die once and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people, and He will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for Him.” Hebrews 9:27-28 (NIV).

To those who have recognised who He is and have willingly given Him the reins, His coming will be the most joyous occasion ever. For those who tried to get rid of Him, there will be the inevitable consequences of their rejection. This is not a threat to garner supporters. This is the sober truth that warns of the outcome of cutting ties with our Creator and trying to establish our own rebellious rule.

We have to learn, like Pilate, that we cannot pass the buck. Accountability is inevitable. There is no such thing as all religions worshipping the same God; all roads do not lead to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. There cannot be more than one Lord, and God has declared the Jesus is Lord and to Him every knee will bow!