Pursue God by Faith - Romans 9-11

 Romans 9:30-33 (ESV)

Israel's Unbelief

30 What shall we say, then? That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is, a righteousness that is by faith; 31 but that Israel who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness did not succeed in reaching that law. 32 Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over the stumbling stone, 33 as it is written,

“Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense;

and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”

Pursue God by Faith 

The above passage is taken from the middle of Paul’s discussion on justification by faith and not by works.  We miss some good teaching by simply detaching the above out of the context of the rest.   However, this quick summary of what he is trying to tell the Roman Christians can give us some great strength and guide our daily behaviors.  The nation of Israel was presented with a formal system on how to approach God.   It had all types of rules and regulations.   God spent about two chapters telling us how He made the world, but entire books on how to approach Him.   Approaching God is a big deal.  Accessing God and His grace and forgiveness is a big deal.  Yet, most of the world would like to study butterflies and rainbows more than how their sin keeps them from God.  

The above passage simply tells us Israel’s mistake and warns us to not repeat their failure.    They approached God, rather than by faith, on the basis of this own works.  They thought they could earn God’s unmerited favor, when in reality it was God giving them His grace, totally underserved.   The system God created was created to teach them how to approach God: Through faith in a sacrifice.  Later we would learn that Christ is that sacrifice and we still approach God by faith in Christ’s sacrifice.   We don’t approach God by works.  Note what Paul said in the previous chapter about this:

Romans 9:16 (ESV)

16 So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.

It is not our will or exertion that justifies us. It is by faith.  God wants us to pursue Him and engage in relationship with Him.  But, He wants us to do so with His way of approach, by faith.  Works indeed matter as we will read more about in chapter twelve.  But, the works we do only show evidence of the faith we have.  

God Must Reveal Himself! Matthew 11-13

 Matthew 11:25-27 (ESV)

25 At that time Jesus declared, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; 26 yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. 27 All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.

God Must Reveal Himself 

Before we look at the above verses, note what Jesus will say a little later in Mathew:

Matthew 13:14-15 (ESV)

14 Indeed, in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says:

“‘“You will indeed hear but never understand,

and you will indeed see but never perceive.”

15 For this people's heart has grown dull,

and with their ears they can barely hear,

and their eyes they have closed,

lest they should see with their eyes

and hear with their ears

and understand with their heart

and turn, and I would heal them.’

Let’s see, also, the writer of Hebrews words:

Hebrews 8:10 (ESV)

10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel

after those days, declares the Lord:

I will put my laws into their minds,

and write them on their hearts,

and I will be their God,

and they shall be my people.

There are people who will hear the Gospel of Christ, scoff and go on their way.  There will be people who hear the Gospel and allow it to give them some interest in their life and then they will fade away.  It is God who must reveal and sustain His word in our lives.  This is the entire point of Matthew 13, where Jesus tells the parable of the sower and the seed.   God must reveal Himself to us before we will follow Him.   He has hidden Himself from those He wishes and revealed Himself to those He chooses.   

God LEVELS the Path!! Be Level Headed!! - Isaiah 23-28

 Isaiah 26:7 (ESV)

7 The path of the righteous is level;

you make level the way of the righteous.

God LEVELS the Path! Be Level Headed!!

In the above verse we are pulling a thought out of the middle of Isiah’s prophesy about destruction on the wicked nations and blessing on the remnant that He will ultimate save through that destruction.   The prophet has just said the following:

Isaiah 26:3-4 (ESV)

3 You keep him in perfect peace

whose mind is stayed on you,

because he trusts in you.

4 Trust in the LORD forever,

for the LORD GOD is an everlasting rock.

He is telling the righteous, that in the midst of the upheaval of the life around them, to keep their “minds” focused on Him.   He goes on to write (and note the word picture he uses):

Isaiah 26:5-6 (ESV)

5 For he has humbled

the inhabitants of the height,

the lofty city.

He lays it low, lays it low to the ground,

casts it to the dust.

6 The foot tramples it,

the feet of the poor,

the steps of the needy.”

Isaiah is making a point that God “lays low,” even to the “ground” the proud and lofty.   He then makes the reference the the “poor and needy” (those who were persecuted by the “proud and lofty”) will “trample” over those who are now cast to the dust of the ground.   Those are the words the prophet writes just prior to the verse I that caught my attention:

V. 7 - The path of the righteous is level;

you make level the way of the righteous.

The word for “level” in the verse is used twice.  Once n the first line and once in the second.  The first one is the Hebrew word, mêšâr.  It means “smoothly.”   The path of the righteous is “smooth.”   But the second world translated “level” is the Hebrew word, p̱âlas.  It means to “make flat,” as in a road.   Are you seeing the word picture the prophet is creating?   He is saying that the mind that is stayed on God’s plan (does not create false narratives in his head) will be “smooth” and made “flat.”  It will be made “level.”   Solomon uses, p̱âlas, many times and it is mostly translated to our English word, “ponder.”   When we “ponder” something in our heads and align it with God’s plans, based upon His Word, we “level” our head.  We have all heard the phrase, “Be level headed.”  That is the picture we have here.  Those who’s mind is stayed on God, God will make level headed.   We need not worry about those around us, that are not walking in the way of God. God will take care of that.  God, in perfect love and righteousness, will reduce them to powder and place them on the road for the poor in Spirit and the needy of heart. He will then make our minds level (smooth and flat) and give us supernatural peace, as we focus our minds on those truths.   Amazing!!   Be level headed today.  Not because you have such great control of your mind. But, because God is making the path of the righteous level (smooth) and He will level (flatten) both the way before us and the mindset within us, by believing that truth!! 

The Passionate Evangelical - Job 11

 Job 11:1,18-20 (ESV)

1 Then Zophar the Naamathite answered and said:

18 And you will feel secure, because there is hope;

you will look around and take your rest in security.

19 You will lie down, and none will make you afraid;

many will court your favor.

20 But the eyes of the wicked will fail;

all way of escape will be lost to them,

and their hope is to breathe their last.”

The Passionate Evangelical 

Zophar is quite the theologian.   He has come, with his two friends, to “comfort” Job during Job’s catastrophic circumstances.   Job has lost property, a massive list of employees, anything that had material wealth to him, his seven children and has been struck with a diseases of his skin that causes him to sit in ashes and dust all day scrapping scabs off with broken pieces of pottery.   What Job needs is medical triage.   We he got from the “comfort” of his three friends was a trial.   Job was the defendant.   Zophar is the last of Job’s three friends to speak.  He is both the most passionate and the most blunt.   

In the above “comforting” words Zophar gives to Job, we read some good theology.   Zophar has just told Job to “prepare” his heart by repentance: 

Job 11:13-14 (ESV)

13 “If you prepare your heart,

you will stretch out your hands toward him.

14 If iniquity is in your hand, put it far away,

and let not injustice dwell in your tents.

Zophar has one explanation for Job’s situation: Sin in the heart.  He has absolutely no room in his theology for “innocent suffering.”  We do know that Job has a sin nature, like all men.  But, it is just simply lazy theology that wants to blame and shame Job for his situation.  And, Zophar does want to shame him:

Job 11:3 (ESV)

3 Should your babble silence men,

and when you mock, shall no one shame you?

Zophar looks like the modern version of the passionate evangelical that sees all problems simply in the personal sin bucket.   They have so much theology they can stand upon.  However, we know from chapters one and two of the book that this is NOT the case with Job.  God declared Job “righteous.”   He did this twice!!   There is a valuable lesson here.  We need to be careful that our theological interpretation matches our practical application.   Yes, sin in the world causes pain, suffering and heartache.   But, Job was not the catalyst of the suffering.   Zophar is right, that as we put away sin we can have more and more security in our lives.  But, we live in a sinful world.  God will correct Job’s three friends at the end of the book.  Not necessarily for their theology but for their application and condemnation of Job.   We need to be very careful to not judge everyone through the lens of “you sinned, therefore you suffer.’ 

The Nature of Man - Psalms 12-14

 Psalms 14:2-3 (ESV)

2 The LORD looks down from heaven on the children of man,

to see if there are any who understand,

who seek after God.

3 They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt;

there is none who does good,

not even one.

The Nature of Man

If we were to ask the man-on-the-street about the nature of mankind, the majority might say that man is basically good.  They might believe that man is good but has bad surroundings or bad opportunities and that, in turn, makes or forces him/her make poor decisions.  The majority of people would say man begins on a good path or lane for life but the world around him/her forces them into a bad path/lane of life.   Most would not say that man is born on or into a bad path or lane.    We simply don’t want to admit that man is corrupt or defective or lacks basic goodness.  Most people believe that mankind is basically good.   When men and women look at men and women they see goodness.

That thought is dramatically different than what God says to us.  In the above passage we have God’s opinion of the man/woman-on-the-street.   God looks down from heaven and sees that man is corrupt and has no goodness in his/her heart.   He states that they have become “corrupt.”   He states that in His all-seeing powers that “there is none who does good, not even one.” This is not how mankind thinks of himself or herself.  

Here is the essence of the need for the Gospel and why people simply don’t flood God’s grace asking for forgiveness.   They don’t believe they need it!  If a new store opens in your community and it sells a product no one wants, that store will not be around anymore.   If someone does not believe they need the product, they will not buy it.   Marketing is about telling people they can’t live without the product.  If that thought is true we would have long lines to buy the stores product.   The problem with the Church is that we don’t tell people they need the Gospel because they are corrupt and have no good in them.  We just don’t want to say it.  This psalm starts out with this verse:

Psalms 14:1 (ESV)

1 The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”

They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds;

there is none who does good.

They say there is “no God” because they don’t need a God if they are right in their own eyes.   The Gospel begins with the point that man needs God because man is corrupt.  Fail to communicate that and we fail to show a need for Christ.   

Persistent in Prayer - Genesis 16-19

 Genesis 19:15-22 (ESV)

15 As morning dawned, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Up! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be swept away in the punishment of the city.” 16 But he lingered. So the men seized him and his wife and his two daughters by the hand, the LORD being merciful to him, and they brought him out and set him outside the city. 17 And as they brought them out, one said, “Escape for your life. Do not look back or stop anywhere in the valley. Escape to the hills, lest you be swept away.” 18 And Lot said to them, “Oh, no, my lords. 19 Behold, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have shown me great kindness in saving my life. But I cannot escape to the hills, lest the disaster overtake me and I die. 20 Behold, this city is near enough to flee to, and it is a little one. Let me escape there—is it not a little one?—and my life will be saved!” 21 He said to him, “Behold, I grant you this favor also, that I will not overthrow the city of which you have spoken. 22 Escape there quickly, for I can do nothing till you arrive there.” Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.

Persistence in Prayer

The above story illustrates for us the need to be persistent in prayer.   In this prayer of Abraham, we see him asking God to intervene in regard to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah.   God had told Abraham that he was going to destroy S&G.  But, Abraham’s nephew, Lot, lived their.   Abraham pleaded with God to at least save the righteous.   Abraham whittles God down to save the city if at least there were ten righteous people in the city.    As we read the rest of the chapter we discover that only Lot, his wife, and his two daughters were saved.   Abraham doesn’t stay persistent in his prayer by asking God if He would spare the city if “four” people were found to be righteous.   However, note that God does save these four.  God went to the heart of Abraham’s prayer.  He did not save the city, but He saved Lot, his wife and daughters.  

Genesis 19:29 (ESV)

29 So it was that, when God destroyed the cities of the valley, God remembered Abraham and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow when he overthrew the cities in which Lot had lived.

God will answer our prayers.  He wants us to be persistent.   Notice what Jesus said about fervent and persistent prayer.  In Luke 11 we are told about a persistent man who went to a friend in the middle of the night to ask for bread for his family.  The conclusion Jesus stated was:

Luke 11:9-10 (ESV)

9 And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.

God wants us to be persistent.   Jesus said:

Matthew 7:9-11 (ESV)

9 Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? 11 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!

Serve in the New Way of the Spirit - Romans 7-8

 Romans 7:5-6 (ESV)

5 For while we were living in the flesh, our sinful passions, aroused by the law, were at work in our members to bear fruit for death. 6 But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code. 

Serve in the New Way of the Spirit 

To fully appreciate Paul’s argument in this section of Romans, we have to go back to what he wrote in the previous chapter.  Remember, in the original letter there were no chapter headings.  It was just one continuous argument.  Here is what he stated in the previous chapter:

Romans 6:12-14 (ESV)

12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. 13 Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. 14 For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.

Paul is telling us that our “members” (seeing, hearing, lust, desires, speech, etc.) are servants in our body.   When we are in unbelief those members submit themselves to the rule of sin.  When we live in faith, we submit those members to righteousness and they obey the law of righteousness.   But, as we walk in the Spirit (chapter seven) we are released from the law of sin and can bear fruit, via the Spirit, for righteousness.   There are two fruits we can produce.  We can produce fruit unto death (it is fruit that "fulfills" the law what we are now dead to!!!  See Matthew 5:12).   Or we can produce fruit, by the Spirit, that produces righteousness.   (See also Matthew 7:15-20 about the good tree bearing fruit vs. the bad tree that doesn't bear fruit. See also Matthew 12:33; 13:23.   See also Colossians 1:9-10)

If” we go back to living in the flesh and by our own strength we are living under law ... which will arouse our sinful passions.  If we walk in the Spirit, the Spirit of God produces fruit for righteousness ... righteous acts.   Walking in the Spirit is done by faith.  Christ gave us the Spirit of God, Who guides us and empowers us.   Note what he is about to write:

Romans 8:12-16 (ESV)

12 So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. 13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” 16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,

When we serve in the flesh we produces fruit for unrighteousness.  When we serve in the Spirit through faith we produce fruit for righteousness.   Not really that complex.  A life of faith trust the Spirit to do the work.  A life of the flesh trust our own ability to do the work.