Today’s reading is Romans 3:1-4:25.

Today’s reading is a great comfort to me. Especially Romans 4:20-21:

“No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised.”

In this context, Abraham was trusting that God would bring about his promise through Isaac, even if he sacrificed Isaac on the altar. Because of that, Abraham surrendered his life to God even to the point of being willing to sacrifice his own son if God asked. What great faith.

I need to grow in this faith as well. Later in this book, we’ll read God’s promise to us: “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the first born among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified” (Romans 8:28-30).

Here is God’s promise to me. If I love Him, He will conform me to the image of His Son. I struggle daily with all kinds of problems, temptations, and sins. Sometimes it causes me to want to throw my hands in the air and say, “Forget it. Why even keep trying? I’ll never make it.” But God has promised me that I will. God is working within me to accomplish growth and conformation. I may have botched things today, but God is working on me and will get me there if I simply keep loving Him. God isn’t crossing His fingers behind His back. He’s making a promise and He will keep it.

So the question is am I convinced God will do what He has promised? Am I so convinced that I’ll completely surrender my life to Him in faith, just doing what He asks me to do? That is what I need to work on today.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

P.S. What struck you in today’s reading?

“For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified” (Romans 2:13, ESV).

I recognize Paul is discoursing about the Old Law, but the principle applies across the board. In the context, he was saying that just because the Jews had heard the Law each Sabbath didn’t mean they were right with God. They actually had to obey it.

However, as we consider how the principle in this text applies to us right now in 2008, we need to understand that just listening to someone preach, even if they are preaching the truth, doesn’t cut the mustard. We actually have to live this stuff.

I’ve seen two kinds of people violate this principle in my years of preaching. There are those who love to come hear about God’s grace. They love to come hear that God loves them and Jesus died for them. They love to confess how awful and rotten they are and then rely on the blood of Jesus to simply cleanse them because salvation is by grace alone. But they missed the boat. It is not merely hearers of God’s word that have life, it is the doers.

But there is another kind of listener who violates this principle. This guy is at the opposite end of the spectrum. He doesn’t like to hear about God’s grace. He likes to hear hellfire and brimstone. He likes to hear about how bad he is. He likes to have mounds of guilt thrown on top of him. He likes to be beaten up with Bible. He thumps the preacher on the back and says, “You stomped all over my toes, Preacher.” Somehow, because he hears these hard messages all the time and agrees with them, he thinks it is okay if he doesn’t actually do what they say. As if it were some kind of baptism by fire, he loves to listen to hard preaching, he just won’t live it. He has also missed the boat. It is not merely the hearers of God’s word preached hard that have life, it is the doers.

James commented on this as well. I will end with his words.

“Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like. But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing” (James 1:23-25, ESV).

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC