All We Need Is Faith

Readings:
Nehemiah 11
Romans 10:1-10

Focus:
Romans 10:9: "If the confession 'Jesus is Lord' is on your lips, and the faith that God raised him from the dead is in your heart, you will find salvation."

This is a pretty simple summary of the whole gospel! It is the main point of the book of Romans. All we need is faith that Jesus Christ is Lord (Leader and Ruler), and that he was raised from the dead. It is quite appropriate to think about so soon after Easter.

If it seems like we're hitting this point again and again, it's because the book of Romans hits this point again and again.

Following rules doesn't free us. Faith does. That's all we need.

Available for All

Readings:
Nehemiah 10
Romans 9:17-33

Focus:
Romans 9:24: "We are those objects of mercy, whom he has called from among Jews and Gentiles alike."

The theology in these next chapters of Romans is complex and has to deal with predestination and with the relationship between Jews and Gentiles and God's purpose for people of all races. It needs whole sermons and books to deal with it!

But for the purposes of these meditations, we can concentrate on some salient points. And one of them is in verse 24. That point is that God loves people from all races, and he chooses people from among all kinds of people to be those who will respond to him and be his followers.

Although at first the earliest Christians believed that Jesus had come only for the benefit of the Jews, they soon saw that he had come for the benefit of everyone else (the Gentiles) as well. And still his love is available for everyone who will respond.

God's Mercy

Readings:
Nehemiah 9
Romans 9:1-16

Focus:
Romans 9:16: "Thus it does not depend on human will or effort, but on God's mercy."

God chooses us before we are even born. It is a matter of his love and mercy, and not a matter of what we do or don't do.

What we do and don't do, of course, makes a difference in how our lives and other people's lives turn out. We can cause all kinds of hurt and pain. So it is important to live our lives in obedience to what God wants.

But ultimately, God's choice to love us depends on him, not on us. It does not depend on human will or effort, but on God's mercy.

Nothing Can Separate Us from the Love Of Christ

Readings:
Nehemiah 8
Romans 8:35-39

Focus:
Romans 8:38-39: "For I am convinced that there is nothing in death or life, in the realm of spirits or superhuman powers, in the world as it is or the world as it shall be, in the forces of the universe, in heights or depths--nothing in all creation that can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord."

My very favorite passage in the Bible is Romans 8:31-39, and these last verses of the chapter, 35-39, are my favorite of all. It is the most wonderful thing to remember! What can separate us from the love of Christ? Not a thing! There is no persecution, no hardship, no danger, no superhuman power, no force of the universe, no affliction, nothing at all that can separate us from God's love.

God loves us through all of this, and he is strong and able to overcome it all. With God on our side, no one can effectively be against us, and his love can never be separated from us. This is the best news ever.

Who Is Against Us?

Readings:
Nehemiah 7:39-73
Romans 8:31-34

Focus:
Romans 8:31b: "If God is on our side, who is against us?"

This is my second most favorite verse in the Bible. Paul has just laid it all out for us. God loves us so much that he wants us to live with him eternally. For that reason he has come himself, as Jesus Christ, to take the punishment for our sins, instead of us. Although we are guilty, he has acquitted us.

As Paul says, speaking in terms of eternity, who will bring a charge against us if God has acquitted us? Our future is secure; there is no one who can condemn us. God is greater than any who might try.

What a hope to hang onto in the midst of troubles! In this life we may know sorrow, oppression, and conflict, but ultimately, if God is on our side, who is against us? We have God's love and strength to see us through, and he is there, bright and shining, at the end.

In All Things God Works for Our Good

Readings:
Nehemiah 7:1-38
Romans 8:26-30

Focus:
Romans 8:28: "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose."

Romans 8 is such a great chapter of the Bible! There are many strengthening and comforting verses in it, and verse 28 is indeed one of the great ones. Whatever the circumstances, no matter what bad thing might happen, whatever we do to mess things up, God will use all these bad things and turn them into good for those who love him. We may have to suffer because of what we or others do, but he will work it out in the end. That's a great hope to have.

And in just this small paragraph there are other things to remember, too: verses 26-27 tells us that even when we don't know what we should pray about, the Holy Spirit prays for us, and God knows what we really want and need. Further, in verse 29 we see that God knew us before we even came into being. What love that is! He knew us and loved us from before we were born.

God knew us from before we came into being. He knows intimately what we want and need. And in every circumstance, no matter what happens, he is working to turn it ultimately from bad to good. Truly, who would not want to belong to him?

The Glory in Store for Us

Readings:
Nehemiah 6
Romans 8:18-25

Focus:
Romans 8:18: "For I reckon that the sufferings we now endure bear no comparison with the glory, as yet unrevealed, which is in store for us."

The great thing about belonging to God is knowing that we are on the side that will ultimately win. I am not saying this in the sense that there is a competition, but in the sense that God will overcome evil and, in the end, all will be well.

It is true that God helps us with many problems in life, and in many ways we are able to have things turn out right because of our relationship with him. But often this is not the case. Often we end up with some illness, or oppression, or devastating circumstances, or disappointments, and these things do not get better. We still have joy in our relationship with God, but in our circumstances we have trouble.

Yet in the midst of this trouble we can know that we are headed for a glory, as yet unrevealed, that is in store for us. This, along with our relationship with God, sustains us through the hard times. It more than got me through cancer; it lifted me up higher than I had been before.

I know a man who is going to die very soon, too young, from cancer. Through his illness the faith of his family has been looking forward to the glory that God has in store for them. They are devastated by the pain and loss they are enduring, but they firmly trust in their future hope and know that God holds this securely for them. For, like all Christians, they reckon that the sufferings they now endure bear no comparison with the glory, as yet unrevealed, which is in store for them all.

Abba! Father!

Readings:
Nehemiah 5
Romans 8:12-17

Focus:
Romans 8:15: "The Spirit you have received is not a spirit of slavery, leading you back into a life of fear, but a Spirit of adoption, enabling us to cry 'Abba! Father!'"

God gives us his Holy Spirit to dwell within us when we give our lives to him. And that means that we are more than just his followers. It means that he has adopted us as his children, his heirs.

This entitles us to call him "Father", or even "Daddy", as "Abba" has been translated. We are on an intimate footing with him. He loves us that much.

The old King James-style language of prayers and hymns that includes "thou" and "thee" for addressing God is an example of this. In older English, there were two forms of "you", one for use in formal situations, and the other for use in informal or intimate situations. "Thou" was actually the informal, intimate form of "you", similar to French "tu" or German "du". So in an earlier time, English speakers knew that they could call God with a family-style form of "you", just as, say, French speakers do now. God is that close to those who love him. He is our father.

The Spiritual Outlook

Readings:
Nehemiah 4
Romans 8:5-11

Focus:
Romans 8:5-6: "Those who live on the level of the old nature have their outlook formed by it, and that spells death; but those who live on the level of the spirit have the spiritual outlook, and that is life and peace."

Giving our lives to Christ does more than just assure us of salvation. It transforms our very outlook on life. The closer we get to God, and the more intimate our relationship with him, then the more differently we see things.

And this new outlook leads to life and peace, and also to joy and contentment. True happiness and satisfaction come from a life lived in relationship with God. I know this because I have experienced it. I would not trade it for any other kind of life, no matter the thrills or pleasures or riches that might come with it.

Those who live on the level of the spirit have the spiritual outlook, and that is life and peace. Hallelujah to the resurrected Lord who gives this to us!

Easter

I Corinthians 15:16-20

"If the dead are not raised, it follows that Christ was not raised; and if Christ was not raised, your faith has nothing to it and you are still in your old state of sin. It follows also that those who have died within Christ's fellowship are utterly lost. If it is for this life only that Christ has given us hope, we of all people are most to be pitied. But the truth is, Christ was raised to life--the firstfruits of the harvest of the dead."


Lives once again our glorious King!
Where now, O Death, thy vaunted sting?
For He Who died, our souls to save,
Hath triumphed o'er the boasting grave.

Jesus is risen from the tomb,
And heavenly light doth now illume
The darksome place where late he lay,
And death hath known defeat this day.


Alleluia!
He is risen!
He is risen indeed!

Beneath the Cross of Jesus

Beneath the cross of Jesus
I fain would take my stand,
The shadow of a mighty rock
Within a weary land;
A home within the wilderness,
A rest upon the way,
From the burning of the noontide heat,
And the burden of the day.

There lies beneath its shadow
But on the further side
The darkness of an awful grave
That gapes both deep and wide
And there between us stands the cross
Two arms outstretched to save
A watchman set to guard the way
From that eternal grave.

Upon the cross of Jesus
Mine eye at times can see
The very dying form of One
Who suffered there for me:
And from my stricken heart with tears
Two wonders I confess--
The wonders of redeeming love
And my unworthiness.

I take, O cross, thy shadow
For my abiding place;
I ask no other sunshine than
The sunshine of His face;
Content to let the world go by,
To know no gain nor loss,
My sinful self my only shame,
My glory all the cross.

Elizabeth C. Clephane, 1868 (1830-1869);

Passion Week

There is a moment in the St. John Passion by Bach when, after Christ has been arrested and Peter has denied three times that he even knows Christ, the Evangelist (narrator) says that Peter went out and wept bitterly. This is sung in a hauntingly beautiful tenor voice, with a long, slow melody on the German word for "wept".

Who does not know the same kind of wretched despair that Peter felt at that time? We do things wrong. We fail again and again. We resolve to do better, and yet we find ourselves repeating our mistakes. Well we know what this music expresses. If not literally, then figuratively, we weep and weep and weep. We are trapped in our human failings. Even Peter, who has just been with the living Christ, repudiates him. How can we ever do better?

Miserable sinners that we are, who can rescue us from this body of death, from this pattern of repeated failure?

But there is one who can. It is for this that God became man in Jesus, came to earth, and took upon himself the punishment for all our failings, endured the denials, the mocking, the pain, the weight of all of everyone's sin. Who can rescue us from this body of death? Who but God? Thanks be to him through Jesus Christ our Lord! May we never take this lightly!

(Romans 7:24-25a)

(from my other blog)

No Condemnation

Readings:
Nehemiah 3
Romans 8:1-4

Focus:
Romans 8:1: "It follows that there is now no condemnation for those who are united with Christ Jesus."

This is one of my favorite verses in the Bible. Just think about it. What a wonderful thing to read! No matter what we've done or failed to do, if we are united with Jesus Christ, then we are not condemned!

Of course in order to be united with Christ, we must be sorry for our past wrongs, and be resolved to do better. But there is no condemnation. We are free! Our future is filled with hope. And we have the Son of God, with all his power, to deal with sin on our behalf and help us as we continue.

There is now no condemnation for those who are united with Christ Jesus. Thanks be to God!

Who Is There To Rescue Us?

Readings:
Nehemiah 2
Romans 7:15-25

Focus:
Romans 7:21: "I discover this principle, then: that when I want to do right, only wrong is within my reach."
Romans 7:24-25a: "Wretched creature that I am, who is there to rescue me from this state of death? Who but God?"

The situation described by the verses just quoted is so familiar to me. No matter what I resolve, I find, time and again, that I end up doing what I don't want to do. I say something unkind, or I do something selfish, or I fail to do something that I ought to have done, that would have been helpful or responsible.

After each such situation, I feel disappointed in myself and wonder how I can ever succeed in doing good. Like Paul, I say to myself, "Wretched creature that I am! How can I ever change? Who can rescue me from this vicious cycle?"

Thanks be to God that he is able to rescue us from this state of death! Thanks be to him through Jesus christ our Lord!

What We Do Is Not What We Want To Do

Readings:
Nehemiah 1
Romans 7:7-15

Focus:
Romans 7:15: "I do not even acknowledge my own actions as mine, for what I do is not what I want to do, but what I detest."

As Paul continues to write about the difference between being saved by perfect obedience to law (which is impossible), and being saved by God's free gift of grace, he discusses the paradox that knowing the law also makes us know what sin is, and sin uses the law to seduce us to sin more. What a typical thing for evil to do--use something good to entice us away from the true good.

And Paul then shows how enslaved to sin we are when we are without God. We are helpless. We know what is right to do, but we cannot do it. We continue to do what is wrong. Even if we don't do terrible things, we still do little wrong things. What we do is not what we want to do, but what we detest.

We need someone more powerful than us to save us from this. And that's why God provided Jesus.

Released from the Law

Readings:
Ezra 10
Romans 7:1-6

Focus:
Romans 7:6: "But now, having died to that which held us bound, we are released from the law, to serve God in a new way, the way of the spirit in contrast to the old way of a written code."

Paul uses the example of someone who is married. As long as both spouses are alive, they are bound to each other. But once one has died, the remaining spouse is freed from being legally bound and may marry another.

In the same way, Paul says, when we give our lives to Christ, and are identified with him in his death, then we are released from having to try to earn salvation through obedience to law. Instead, we can have the freedom of receiving salvation as a free gift of grace.

Throughout the book of Romans, Paul makes this point over and over. It is a point worth making. We do not earn our salvation by being good. Jesus Christ gives it to us when we acknowledge the fact that he took our punishment instead of us. It's fantastic! We are released from the law and made free to serve God in a new way, the way of the Spirit.

The Wages of Death or the Gift of Life

Readings:
Ezra 9
Romans 6:20-23

Focus:
Romans 6:22: "But now, freed from the commands of sin and bound to the service of God, you have gains that lead to holiness, and the end is eternal life."

When we are caught up in living life for ourselves, we are actually under bondage. We are under the bondage of sin. It may not feel bad; it may even feel good. We may enjoy it. But nonetheless we are slaves to sin, and this only leads to one end. As Paul says, sin pays a wage: death.

But after we give our lives to God, our bondage to sin is ended. And instead of receiving the wages that sin pays, we receive a free gift from God: eternal life. How much better to get the gift of life instead of the wages of death!

Slaves of Some Master

Readings:
Ezra 8
Romans 6:15-19

Focus:
Romans 6:16: "You know well enough that if you bind yourselves to obey a master, you are slaves of the master you obey; and this is true whether the master is sin and the outcome death, or obedience and the outcome righteousness."

Everyone serves some master, whether they realize it or not. Everyone is a slave to something. Until we give our lives to God, we are slaves to sin.

Maybe we never commit any outrageous sins such as embezzling or cheating or stealing. Nevertheless we are still slaves to sin; we are unkind or selfish or thoughtless. But once we give our lives to God, we are freed from that slavery. Then we get a new master, and that master is goodness.

What a difference! We may still sin, but we will no longer be lost in sin; we will be able to pick ourselves up with God's forgiveness and try again. Goodness is a much better master than sin.

Putting Ourselves at the Disposal of God

Readings:
Ezra 7
Romans 6:12-14

Focus:
Romans 6:13b: "Put yourselves instead at the disposal of God; think of yourselves as raised from death to life, and yield your bodies to God as implements for doing right."

Once we have given our lives to Christ, we have become identified with him. We have died to sin and entered upon a new life. Because of this, we no longer want to be slaves to sin.

And not only this: we must not sin any more. We must do everything we can to avoid sinning. This includes all kinds of sin, the obvious kinds, such as murder and theft and sexual sin, but also the little kinds, such as irritability and unkindness and putting ourselves first. As it says in verse 12, "sin must no longer reign" in us. We belong to God. We must not act in a way to betray this relationship.

I sometimes think of it this way. I can either help the world be better, or more evil. When I do wrong things, even little wrong things such as saying something selfish, I have just contributed to making the world more evil. I must not do this! I must put myself instead at the disposal of God and do right.

Dead to Sin and Alive to God

Readings:
Ezra 6
Romans 6:7-11

Focus:
Romans 6:11: "In the same way you must also regard yourselves as dead to sin and alive to God, in union with Christ Jesus."

When we have given our lives to Christ, we have become identified with him in his death and resurrection. Because we are identified with him, then it is as if our old nature had been crucified, in order that it should no longer be a slave to sin.

Because that's what life is like for us without Christ. Without him, we are slaves to sin. Even when we have given ourselves to him, it is hard enough not to sin. We fall down again and again, and need to ask for forgiveness.

But because of our identification with Christ, we are given the grace to experience the power of the resurrection in our lives now. We have the confidence that we will ultimately overcome our shortcomings and, at the end of our lives, live eternally with God. God's power cannot fail. We are alive to God, in union with Christ Jesus.