Time is almost up! That statement may bring a sense of dread or feelings of anxiousness. It may also bring a sense of hope. What is the difference? Perspective.
My first overseas assignment in the Army was to a one-year unaccompanied tour in the Republic of Korea (South Korea). We were given a “short-timer’s calendar on the first day of in-processing. It was a map (Think Candy Land or Chutes-and-Ladders) containing 365 squares and we were encouraged to check off the days until we redeployed to the US. As one neared the end of the line of squares, the anticipation of reunion with loved ones increased to a fevered pitch.
The same anticipated reunion carried with it a far different sense of anticipation on report card day when I was a boy in school. I always got low marks on classroom conduct. It seems I was a talker. Go figure! Watching the clock tick off the minutes until my dad came home…was dreadful. There would be an accounting for my conduct, and it would not be pretty.
Both incidents involve being reunited with family after time away. So, what is the difference? Anticipation is informed by perspective and perspective is shaped by what I did with the minutes leading up to the reunion.
I imagine it is that way with other disciples as they consider their reunion with Jesus. How they view that day is directly informed by what they did on this day and the day before. The Psalmist gives us insight on how to gain a perspective of longing and excitement as we anticipate our reunion with Christ.
12So teach us to number our days, That we may present to You a heart of wisdom.
Psalm 90:12, NASB95
First, he asks God to “so teach.” In Hebrew, this is not just a “transfer of information” type of teaching. It speaks of helping us to understand correctly how to make our days count.
Second, he prays for God to instruct on how to “number our days.” The word here speaks of reckoning…which is an accounting term. Think soberly about the accounting of the days ahead so that we will have the right perspective. When I was a younger man in my twenties, I was pretty much convinced of my near immortality. As I’ve aged, I recognize not only that I am not immortal, but that the day of my departure is much closer than ever before.
Third, he prays that the fruit of God’s right-teaching about the reckoning of days will result in presenting God with the fruit of one who has lived wisely.
Have you considered what it might look like to stand before Jesus. Pastor JD Greear recently said in a sermon that there will be two questions that are asked of every person who stands before God: What did you do with God’s Son? And, how did you manage the “stuff” entrusted to you? We often think of stewardship in terms of money. It is that, but it is much more. What did you do with your most precious commodity entrusted to you…the gift of time? Did you leverage it well for the glory of God…or twitter it away on less significant interests?
Teach us Lord to number our days so that we will prove to have been wise in how we managed them for your glory. Amen.
Frank Robinson. That’s who first said, “Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.” Actually, the quote by the Hall of Fame player, coach, manager, and recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom (2005) in its entirety which appeared in Time Magazine (July 31, 1973) said, “Close don’t count in baseball. Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.”
Close can be but is not always close enough. Take, for instance, this encounter of a religious leader and Jesus.
18A ruler questioned Him, saying, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 19And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone. 20“You know the commandments, ‘Do not commit adultery, Do not murder, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honor your father and mother.’ ” 21And he said, “All these things I have kept from my youth.” 22When Jesus heard this, He said to him, “One thing you still lack; sell all that you possess and distribute it to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” antis
Luke 18:18-22, NASB95
As resumes go, this guy had some high points. Since his coming under the Law (think age-of-accountability…or bar-mitzva), the leader had kept the Mosaic law perfectly. That’s quite a statement! Yet, Jesus still pointed to something that was missing. He tells the man to divest himself of worldly possessions and become a follower. Jesus is not advocating a vow of poverty. He is chipping away at what this man relied on for righteousness with God…apart from surrendering to the Messiah.
This man would point to his achievements, his background, and his affiliations as accomplishments. Jesus treated them as obstacles. Not that the Law was a stumbling block. We know that the Law is good…unless we trust in it to make us righteous before God. The same is true with security. Sometimes we can trust more in our retirement account for the future, than the God who holds the future. We can trust more in our training than in our calling. We can trust more in our success than in the Savior. That’s the point. We NEED/REQUIRE someone to save us. We cannot save ourselves. No matter how perfect we think we are. No matter our training or background. No matter what our genealogical record is. To be righteous before God, we must be rescued by God.
Does God rescue everyone? Of course not. In fact, when we read the rest of this story (Luke 18:23-30), Jesus indicates that this man was not a believer because of the difficulty of surrender. The Gospel writer records that the man left Jesus’ presence filled with sorrow BECAUSE of his vast wealth. He wanted to bring one thing with him into the presence of God. Just one. But God requires that we come to Him empty-handed. The opening verse of the beloved hymn, “Just as I am,” captures this perfectly: “Just as I am, without one plea. But, that Thy blood was shed for me…” (Charlotte Elliott, 1835).
Since there are no perfect Christians, who then can be saved? Jesus said that salvation is impossible with man’s efforts but achieved perfectly by God’s grace (Luke 18:27). Who then does God save and how can we be assured of it? The Bible says that Salvation is a gift by God’s grace and experienced as we exercise faith in Him (Ephesians 2:8-9). So, assurance is tied to the demonstration of faith. That’s as true for us as it was for the religious leader. If there is any command that we refuse, we cannot be fully assured of our right-standing before God. (That’s why the ruler came to Jesus even though he had such a strong religious resume). Something was missing and he hoped to obtain it.
Recently I was asked about the importance of baptism. While baptism is not a requirement to be saved, it is certainly a command for those who are saved and evidence of one’s faith in Christ as Lord. All believers are commanded to be baptized as a confession of their faith. Baptism is the biblically required confession of faith. It is not a second level of grace or the product of an extended discipleship journey. It may be difficult to submit to, but that doesn’t make it irrelevant or unachievable.
Baptism is an act of obedience. It is either ON or OFF. No one gets kinda baptized. You either are, or you’re not. I have watched friends wade out into some of the snakiest watering holes in South Asia or step down into murky springs behind fortress-like walls to be baptized. These candidates came, at times, from hours-long journeys to confess faith in Jesus! And they do so in the predominantly Hindu culture where it can be a capital offense to “convert” someone from Hinduism to Christianity. They risk their lives and their family’s lives and the lives of their church family to confess Christ. Why? Because Jesus commanded believer’s baptism as a profession of faith in Him. Jesus Himself submitted to John’s baptism (over and against John’s initial protest…which is another sermon entirely). Baptism is important and I maintain that the Bible teaches, and experience affirms, that apart from it, something is lacking. Something is amiss. Like with the religious ruler to whom Jesus speaks, “One thing you lack,” the peace with God that He desires and provides is elusive until we yield completely to the Master’s commands.
One last observation on this gospel story. Jesus let the man walk away. He did not compromise on His instruction. He did not accept the premise that the man was close to the Kingdom and that close was close enough for now while the man grew in the faith necessary to follow Jesus. He permitted the man to walk away, sorrowfully. That sorrow was twofold. Jesus was sorrowful, desiring the man’s repentance (See Matthew 23:37, Luke 13:34). I imagine that the religious leader spent many sleepless nights thinking about how close he was to the peace of assurance of eternal life. I imagine that Jesus’ instructions played on a loop in his mind and heart. In fact, I have enough experience with this kind of surrender that I can say without any doubt…the conviction of needed surrender remained until the man either hardened his heart against it or surrendered his will to it. God is too loving to leave us “close.” Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.
So how do we, as believers, view and deal with a person’s, in this case the ruler’s, unwillingness to surrender? This may be the most significant point of all. We love the ruler and continue to press for surrender. We continue to pray for God to grant repentance. We labor under the burden of concern for as long as there is a burden. We express the same sorrowful desire Jesus exhibited when crying out that He longed to gather Israel to Himself, but they were unwilling. We never give up on the rulers we know, and we never surrender the steadfast assurance of God’s Word. That’s true for the man who refuses baptism. That’s true for the woman who refuses to relinquish a stronghold. Whether this person is a genuine believer or not is above my paygrade; however, my loving, kind, encouraging, and exhortative call to obedient submission is the centerpiece of my mission as a pastor, but more significantly as a Christ-follower. After all, close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.
1Brethren, my heart’s desire and my prayer to God for them is for their salvation.
2For I testify about them that they have a zeal for God, but not in accordance with knowledge.
3For not knowing about God’s righteousness and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God.
4For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.
Romans 10:1-4, NASB95
I once worked for a guy who was the consummate motivator. He was a football player and an aspiring football coach. Circumstances to him were less important than attitude. I never saw him without a smile on his face. He was always motivating. I imagine that if he were my son’s little league coach, the score could be 100 to 0 with two minutes to play and he would passionately tell the team that there was still a chance for victory. He had zeal!
Paul said the same thing of the Jews, His kinsmen according to the flesh…his fellow countrymen. They were passionate about the Law but saw the Law as the means by which we achieve righteousness. This is in direct conflict with the gospel. If my beliefs or your beliefs require us to do anything to earn our salvation, then our faith is no longer in the good news (Gospel) because there is nothing we can do that earns our righteousness. In fact, as verse four states, Christ is the end of the law for righteousness…to all who believe.
That means that earnestness will not make us right with God. Transparency will not make us right with God. Authenticity will not make us right with God. Good deeds that we do will not make us right with God. Only Christ can make us right with God because only Christ is the end of the law for righteousness.
This is good news…and bad. It is good news because it levels the ground around the cross. You are not behind. You are not ahead. You are precisely equal with every other human being from Adam to the Apostle Peter, John to Jude, and from Malachi to Matthew. No one is excluded at all. The bad news is…we struggle to believe that we are bad enough to need a Savior. We think that in the pecking order of sin, surely, we are more righteous than Hitler, or Osama Bin Laden, or Chris Aiken. Surely! But we are not. In fact, the more we understand God and His gracious plan of redemption, the more humbled we become. We are slow to try to compare ourselves with others, and we certainly don’t elevate ourselves to a place of judging others in a manner that conflicts with the Word of God. If God says “forgive” …we don’t reply, “Yea, but…”.
In many ways, it seemed that Paul was so grieved because his countrymen felt they had an inside line, an advantage, a Fast Pass to get through the Pearly Gates and he argues that what should have been an advantage (the Covenant and the Law), because they had misused it, actually became to be an obstacle to overcome.
The same could be said for religious people today. Your neighbors perhaps. Maybe even you. Stop giving your resume to the Lord. Stop relying on “standing” from your good works. Instead, fall down before Jesus, surrender to His reign in your life, and find that which truly satisfies…the righteousness that only Christ can provide.
1God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble. 2Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change And though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea; 3Though its waters roar and foam, Though the mountains quake at its swelling pride. Selah.
Psalm 46:1-3, NASB95
How “real” is the Lord? That is a fundamental question for all of us. For many, God is a good luck charm: largely irrelevant to their day-to-day consideration but seemingly on call to be used to combat terrible consequences. For others, God is a retirement plan: Something you plan for but once you have it, you can rest easy and wait until later in life when it begins to payout. But God never reveals Himself as the “in case of emergency” contingency plan or the golden years’ support system. He reveals Himself and demands recognition as our present tense help.
Psalm 46 is one of those psalms that some Christians view in ways it was never intended. Verse 10 has graced many T-shirts and coffee mugs through the years. “Be still and know that I am God.” What is often left off is the purpose of God’s presence and our confidence— “I will be exalted among the nations and in all the earth.” Our confidence is in God’s victory, His glory, and His exaltation. We do not need to concern ourselves with the responsibility of conjuring up the glory of God. His glory and His purpose do not ultimately depend on us…but on the God who works in us! That does not mean that we are passive or apathetic. It simply means we are confident in the conclusion.
That confidence is at the heart of the verses above. Notice that God IS our refuge and strength. He is a “present tense” God for “present tense” obstacles.
God is OUR refuge and strength. God is not the protector of all people. He is not the “safe place” for every person. Any confidence that brings comfort comes first from the covenant—God’s covenant promises toward us.
As certain as God IS, so apparently are our troubles. Troubles are part of life. This flies in the face of those who claim that a faithful life for God prevents difficulties. Jesus Himself said that troubles were the reality for all His people in this life (See John 16:33).
How can we rest in the help God promises and find any sense of peace in it? That’s the point inferred in our text. Not even nature is a source of concern for us because God is master over nature. You only have to live through a natural disaster to realize how overwhelming they can be. I have had a couple of events involving floods and can tell you that when waters rage, there is no resisting. I have had friends who have ridden out hurricanes or earthquakes and spoken of the terrible fright they endured. Obviously, these experiences have been on the tame side. None of them have been F-5 Tornadoes, Cat 5 Hurricanes, or Mt. Vesuvius-like eruptions. Yet each of these are under the absolute authority and care of God. And He has always reigned over them. Or might I mention the global flood of Noah’s day or the swallowing of the people Korah (See Numbers 16:31-33). God has caused the sun to stand still in the sky, held back the seas, and controlled the storms. If He can do these things, He is sovereign over our troubles. He is sufficient for our protection and peace. He is imminently helpful when we are at our end.
But we must NOW be His and treat Him with the honor and reverent obedience He commands.
Have you ever reflected on how our view of sin differs from God’s? We develop shades and grades of sin. At times we can wink at sin. We accept it, not only in the culture but in ourselves. We proclaim it in such a way that, at times, we may be “low-key” minimizing sin’s damnable presence in our lives. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23),” we preach! Since everyone has done it, it can’t be that big of a deal…right?
23For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 6:23, NASB95
One of the “tools” of my devotional time that I took off the shelf this year is The Valley of Vision. It is a collection of Puritan Prayers and Devotions. I am not a Puritan. Puritans did not have the market cornered on devotion and prayer to God. Still, the deep contemplative heart of these prayers give insight to a way of thinking of God that is helpful for those desiring to walk more closely. Notice this excerpt, which I have updated in several places to modernize the language.
Deliver me from the natural darkness of my own mind, from the corruptions of my heart, from the temptations to which I am exposed, from the daily snares that attend me. I am in constant danger while I am in this life; let [your] watchful eye be upon me for my [defense]… Until I finish my course with joy may I pursue it with diligence, in every part display the resources of the Christian, and adorn the doctrine of thee my God in all things.
The Valley of Vision, 25.
The substance of the prayer reflected an awe of God and His sovereign right and rule in the world; a dependence on God to guard against sin, and a desire that one’s life be a perfect reflection of the God who lovingly and loyally reigns.
Of particular interest to me was the mindset of fear that man might fall in some way into sin against God. Let that settle for a moment and then ask yourself, “Do I fear sinning against God?”
Notice some “select passages about sin and how it is to be dealt with:
31“I will fix your boundary from the Red Sea to the sea of the Philistines, and from the wilderness to the River Euphrates; for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand, and you will drive them out before you. 32“You shall make no covenant with them or with their gods. 33“They shall not live in your land, because they will make you sin against Me; for if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you.”
Exodus 23:31–33 (NASB95)
God said to eradicate the presence of temptation to sin from our midst!
17“But you shall utterly destroy them, the Hittite and the Amorite, the Canaanite and the Perizzite, the Hivite and the Jebusite, as the Lord your God has commanded you, 18so that they may not teach you to do according to all their detestable things which they have done for their gods, so that you would sin against the Lord your God. To even hang out with Hittites or Jebusites may open us to their teaching about acceptable actions to their gods.
Deuteronomy 20:17–18 (NASB95)
11Your word I have treasured in my heart, That I may not sin against You.
Psalm 119:11 (NASB95)
Treasure the Word of God so that it will give the foundation to keep us from any sin!
28“Truly I say to you, all sins shall be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they utter; 29but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin”—
Mark 3:28–29 (NASB95)
Beware of sin, especially such that you might not be forgivable!
4You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin;
Hebrews 12:4 (NASB95)
Fight against sinning, even to the point of shedding blood!
God does not wink at sin or simply wash over our failures. He never diminishes His view of it. To redeem us from its consequences, He sent His most valuable agent, His own and only Son to die in our place as settlement for the judgment against our sin! God hates sin! He has reserved His wrath for it…
If God should so hate sin, should we not also? Should we not immediately join with the Puritans and fear even allowing the minutest of sins (from man’s perspective) to ever be named about us?
Sin is deadly. One last story: On my first overseas mission trip, I went to South Africa. There I was introduced to one of the deadliest species of snakes on the planet. After hearing all of the legends about this snake, honestly, it was a little difficult to sleep soundly just at the mere consideration that this snake had made its way into my presence. Fear. I don’t imagine that even having a vial of antivenom in my pocket would have given me the boldness to not be ever mindful of its presence. Sin is more deadly. We should treat it likewise.
30What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, attained righteousness, even the righteousness which is by faith; 31but Israel, pursuing a law of righteousness, did not arrive at that law. 32Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as though it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone, 33just as it is written, “Behold, I lay in Zion a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense, And he who believes in Himwill not be disappointed.”
Romans 9:30-33, NASB95
What a powerful and troubling statement in Verse 33. Jesus, God’s appointed Messiah and His only Son, was a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense. Paul cites the prophet Isaiah from Isaiah 8:14. Notice:
13“It is the Lord of hosts whom you should regard as holy. And He shall be your fear, And He shall be your dread. 14“Then He shall become a sanctuary; But to both the houses of Israel, a stone to strike and a rock to stumble over, And a snare and a trap for the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 15“Many will stumble over them, Then they will fall and be broken; They will even be snared and caught.”
Isaiah 8:13-15, NASB95
How can faith be a stumbling block? Simply put: We want to be righteous apart from a Savior. We want to earn it, to deserve it, to have contributed to our own right-standing. To say that we MUST have a Savior is to declare that we are completely unworthy of God on our own. As the old hymn writer, Charlotte Elliott composed in her hymn, Just as I am in 1835, on the posture of the sinner coming to God for salvation:
Just as I am, without one plea
But that thy blood, was shed for me
And that thou bidd’st me come to thee
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.
You need a Savior. You are completely unsavory to God. You are not cute in your disobedience. You are not a little lovely. You are a wretch! Your very best efforts on your very best day is like a soiled bandage worthy only of being discarded.
Yet, while you were as unlovely as you could possibly conjure up, God saw you through a different lens. Not in response to your attributes but in resolve to His own activity. He made whole and perfect ever person who would yield to and trust in Jesus’ death as payment for their own sins. God sees perfection all over you if you have believed in Jesus. Why? Because Jesus covered you. He placed His robe of perfection over your soiled life and satisfied in the eyes of God all that was wrong with you, making you right and perfect in every way. There is no other way to have access to this kind of righteousness, and, for those who have it, there is no greater gift we can receive.
When was it that you were most aware of the nearness of God? Was it at the place of celebration…when you just landed that new client or when you sank the “hole in one that had eluded you all your life? Was it when you received all good feedback during your physical examination? Or, perhaps, was it in the valley of life? In the throes of trying, testing, and troubling times?
Psalm 42 is a beloved and rich text. However, I wonder if we find ourselves reading it like “busy Americans,” grabbing a “bumper sticker” phrase and moving on.
As the deer pants for the water brooks, So my soul pants for You, O God.
What a great statement…” God, I long for you in the same way that a deer longs for water.” Granted, the daily concerns of a deer in the wild are considerably different than our own. Something to eat, something to drink, and a place to rest top the list of average daily concerns. Of course, avoiding predators, including those in “blaze orange” sitting quietly in a stand overlooking an opening with scattered corn on the ground, is always in season. So, what makes a deer pant for water…and what is causing David to long for God…His person and presence, not merely His provision, in the same way?
It’s trouble. The deer doesn’t long for water while standing beside the lake. The deer doesn’t even consider tomorrow’s meal while standing in a field of suitable food. It is in the arid realities of trouble that we sense our need for good and long for His presence the most. Notice with me:
2My soul thirsts for God, for the living God; When shall I come and appear before God?
3My tears have been my food day and night, While they say to me all day long, “Where is your God?”
Psalm 42:2-3, NASB95
O my God, my soul is in despair within me…
Psalm 42:6, NASB95
9I will say to God my rock, “Why have You forgotten me? Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?”
10As a shattering of my bones, my adversaries revile me, While they say to me all day long, “Where is your God?”
11Why are you in despair, O my soul? And why have you become disturbed within me?
Psalm 42:9-11, NASB95
In the despair of tears, in the crushing weight of struggles and oppression, and in the crosshairs of discouraging accusations…that the Psalmist, David, cries out to God.
Now David is no stranger to God. He is no twice-a-month church attendee who answers every question in his small group with “Jesus, God, and the Bible.” Yet, the weightiness of his troubles drives him to the very doorstep of the throne room with a longing cry for God’s attention.
By the way, that is the prescribed response. When trouble arises, God calls us to run to Him! How does he do so? After all, there must be some direction more than the boasting of a religious platitude…
David rehearses to himself the times when God met him. While worshipping in the assembly of the saints (Ps 42:4). David remembers the evidence of God’s fulfilled promises and the vastness of His glory (Ps 42:6). David preaches to his own soul the truth of God’s character (Ps 42:5b, 8, 11b).
David sees the Lord as His rock…the solid and immovable foundation on which to stand and to which he is to tether his life. He sees God in this way because of His experience, but he realizes it afresh in his troubles (Ps 42:9a).
We often want to avoid troubles…but they are such precious instruments that take us to the place of despair that we would not choose for ourselves. It is in that place that we find the delight of the Divine, the peace of God’s presence, and the hope of His healing.
CH Spurgeon said, “I have learned to kiss the waves that throw me up against the Rock of Ages.” May we do likewise as we learn to thank God for the triumph that comes through the troubling times of life.
This morning, I read from a great collection of Puritan prayers called The Valley of Vision. This statement resonated in my heart…
Help me to be in reality before thee, as in appearance I am before men, to be religious before I profess religion, to leave the world before I enter the church…
The Valley of Vision, 21
Some years back, a popular saying among some in “church circles” was, “It is not about religion, but a relationship.” While coming from a place of good motives, I think this particular “bumper sticker” statement is unhelpful. More to come on that and a few other unhelpful statements in a coming article.
According to Webster:
Religion: a personal set or institutionalized system of religious attitudes, beliefs, and practices; the service and worship of God…
Religious: relating to or manifesting faithful devotion to an acknowledged ultimate reality or deity. Merriam-Webster.
Now let’s modify the prayer slightly with these considerations in mind:
Help me to be the same before you as I appear before men, to be devoted to you before I profess to others to be your follower…
I cannot think of anyone who would resist the sentiment of this prayer. After all, it speaks of being consistent rather than duplicitous; being devoted rather than merely adhering to a defined code of conduct; working from our faith rather than working for it (See Phil 2:12 for more on this).
Now, in a way that only the Lord can and for His own purposes…notice how Paul addressed this in my reading from Romans 9.
30What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, attained righteousness, even the righteousness which is by faith; 31but Israel, pursuing a law of righteousness, did not arrive at that law. 32Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as though it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone, 33just as it is written, “Behold, I lay in Zion a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense, And he who believes in Him will not bedisappointed.”
Romans 9:30–33, NASB95
Paul said to the church in Rome that outsiders (Gentiles) attained their righteousness by faith, whereas insiders (Israel) sought to fulfill the requirements of the Law to attain righteousness. One (Israel) sought to serve God for their faith, whereas the other (Gentiles) served God from a position of acceptability by faith through Jesus Christ. Israel made their “Messiah” the proper conduct of life, while the believers trusted a Messiah and then lived in a manner that reflected Him as they followed. Do you recognize the difference?
No matter how hard you work toward righteousness, you will never obtain it. However, when you run to Jesus, recognize Him as your only valid hope of right standing before God, and live your life accordingly, you experience righteousness by faith.
The choice is not merely an exercise in semantics. It is faith. Will you trust Jesus to give you what you could not work for, or will you work for what you cannot attain apart from Jesus?
In this section of Romans, Paul gives an analogy of marital faithfulness to clarify our relationship to the Law as believers who are saved by grace. He says unequivocally that the Law is dead, and we are now irrevocably joined to the covenant of grace. He further states that this new life of grace is the only way we may bear fruit for God.
4Therefore, my brethren, you also were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ, so that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God.
Romans 7:4, NASB95
Of course, he sets up the argument by discussing the Law and its teaching on adultery.
1Or do you not know, brethren (for I am speaking to those who know the law), that the law has jurisdiction over a person as long as he lives? 2For the married woman is bound by law to her husband while he is living; but if her husband dies, she is released from the law concerning the husband. 3So then, if while her husband is living, she is joined to another man, she shall be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from the law, so that she is not an adulteress though she is joined to another man.
Romans 7:1-3, NASB95
These four verses illuminate the fact that if we are to marry grace, the Law must be dead to us. What is the relationship to the Law? In the Old Testament Law, God’s people were chosen by Him and called by His name. He entered a covenant with them where, as a condition of the covenant, their blessing demanded their obedience to God’s commands. While mine is an imperfect analogy, think of this covenant like your employment agreement. You are given a job and as a result, you must fulfill certain expectations. If you do not fulfill your responsibilities, your employer may not fulfill his.
Under the Law, when you failed to fulfill the covenant expectations, you were to go to the Priest and offer a costly sacrifice, prescribed by God in the Law, as atonement for your sin. As you offered it, you sought the Lord’s mercy and prayed for his acceptance of the sacrifice in your place.
Under the covenant that Jesus ushered in, there was only one sufficient sacrifice—Jesus Himself. He satisfied the sacrificial requirement ONCE for ALL people in His death on the cross (Hebrews 10:12). There is no new sacrifice to bring to God to ask for mercy and offer it as a substitute. In place of sacrifice, we are to confess our sins…fully trusting that God is faithful to His declaration that Jesus’ death is a satisfactory and sufficient sacrifice on our behalf and that by our confession (a Greek word that means to “say the same thing as”) God will forgive our sins and fully cleanse us from our unrighteousness. (See 1 John 1:8-9).
The faithful Christian lives according to this covenant declaration. We, as believers, are not perfect. We are being conformed to the image of Christ (Romans 8:28-30) but that is an ongoing work that God is doing, and we are cooperating in. It will not be completed until we step into the presence of Christ Himself one day.
It is patently unfaithful to seek God’s favor or mercy by any sacrificial act today. We cannot tip the scales in our favor. We cannot stir up God’s benevolence by good works. We cannot prompt Him to suddenly reconsider our judgment because we did something nice.
So how does a faithful believer live? By glorifying God in the freedoms granted to you in the New Covenant and seeking to magnify that glory as you mirror the heart of Christ in extending His hope in the gospel. We are to undertake the gospel enterprise–proclaiming God’s satisfaction of debt in Jesus to every people, everywhere, until Jesus takes us home. This life of grace living is our exclusive hope. We must not cheat on grace by placing any hope in our good deeds…either in our heads or our hands. To the faithful believer, the Law is dead, and Grace is our new bride.
One of the great privileges, the highpoints on my ministry has been the pleasure of encounters with those when they first encounter the Lord. When they respond to His gracious invitation and He lifts the burdens of failure. When the reality of judgment for their rebellion is not lost but they realize that it was taken on by Another, by the Lord who came to seek and save that which is separated from God.
This privilege is not exclusive to ministry; rather it is the desire of God for all who follow Him…that the lost be saved when His people rehearse the gospel time and time again. As much as I love to share Jesus’ story and love seeing people respond to it, at times the passion wanes. Maybe it is that family member or co-worker who has heard the story a hundred times; or, maybe it is that terribly inconvenient circumstance where sharing the gospel is costly.
There are times when I have to repent before the Lord and seek His help to stir up the passion. A passion that is exhibited by the Apostle Paul.
1I am telling the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience testifies with me in the Holy Spirit, 2that I have great sorrow and unceasing grief in my heart. 3For I could wish that I myself were accursed, separated from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh, 4who are Israelites, to whom belongs the adoption as sons, and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the Law and the temple service and the promises, 5whose are the fathers, and from whom is the Christ according to the flesh, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen.
Romans 9:1-5, NASB95
Paul’s passion was for the Israelites to be saved. Remember now, Paul is the Apostle to the Gentiles. Christ set him apart primarily to the nations. [As an aside, I still smile a bit when I remember that Paul had stellar credentials in Judaism and God sent him to the Gentiles, while Peter had limited training in Judaism and God sent him to focus primarily on Jacob’s descendants. I digress.]
Notice Paul’s heart, particularly in verse three where he calls the Holy Spirit to bear witness to the truthfulness of his statement: He would wish himself accursed (i.e. to give up his salvation) if that somehow would lead to the salvation of the Jews. Let that sink in for a moment and reflect on it. Have you ever loved someone so much that you’d wish your life for theirs? Perhaps a family member. Maybe a confidante or a good man. But Paul states this about a people group…the Jewish people…those whose leaders not only rejected Jesus but sought to destroy His followers.
Perhaps, you, like me, need to ask the Lord in faith today to strengthen your passion for your people, your neighbors, and your nation in the same way. Make this the year when you build a bridge left and right of your home and across the street… a bridge for the gospel…whatever the cost.
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