Romans 3-4 (ESV) by Wordle*

Today’s reading is Romans 3:1-4:25.

“For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression. That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring–not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all” (Romans 4:14-16).

For too long, I have tried to gain the promise of God by adhering to His law. My problem has been I continually fall short. It is not that I don’t like the law or don’t want to follow God’s law. I do. But I have repeatedly fallen. What hope do I have?

Great in every respect. I have hope because I have discovered it is not the adherents of God’s law that receive the promise. In fact, so long as I’m trying to receive the promise by keeping God’s law, I won’t receive it. Rather, I make it void. How great is God!? It is not those who keep the law that receive the promise. It is those who share the faith of Abraham.

Why was Abraham righteous? Not because he kept the law. He lied and tried to get around God’s plan and who knows what else (God knows). He was righteous because he came to believe God and live by that belief. I don’t have to live in fear today because I’ve violated God’s law. I can live in faith today that He sent His Son to wipe my sins away. I can rely on His grace and know that I’m guaranteed His promise. I believe and therefore have access to His grace. I am free today to simply serve God as best I know how, turning to Him when I mess up because He is my gracious and loving Father.

Praise God!

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

PS. What struck you in today’s reading? You can add your input by clicking here.

——————————————-

*Today’s illustration was generated by the creative tool at Wordle.net. You can find all my wordles here.

Today’s reading is Hebrews 1:1-2:18.

“For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted” (Hebrews 2:18).

For the longest time, I thought the help I needed from Jesus was forgiveness after I’ve already sinned. I do need that help, but that is not the help the Hebrew writer talks about. He says Jesus can help me when I am being tempted. I do not have to face the temptation fight alone and then turn to Jesus if I failed. Rather, when I’m in the temptation, I can turn to Jesus.

I can turn to Jesus by getting into His word. I can turn to Jesus through prayer. I can turn to Jesus by getting help from Jesus’ people. I can ask for strength. I can ask to find in Jesus whatever I’m looking for in the proffered temptation. I do not have to wait to receive God’s grace through Jesus after I’ve sinned, I can seek His grace to have the strength to overcome my sins.

I’m not facing temptation alone. I’m facing life with Jesus at my side.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

PS. What struck you in today’s reading?

Today’s reading is 1 Corinthians 14:1-15:58.

“But by the grace  of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me…Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:10, 58).

What great comfort. God has given me His grace and it is not in vain because I am laboring in the Lord. At the same time, I am laboring in the Lord and my labor is not in vain because God has granted me His grace. It works together. God’s grace doesn’t mean I musn’t labor and my labor doesn’t mean I am avoiding God’s grace.

Rather, I have the strength and motivation to labor because I know God is laboring in His grace. God’s grace does me good because it prompts me to labor.

Today, I’ll keep working in the will of the Lord because I know His grace makes my work meaningful. Thank you, God, for that grace.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

PS. What struck you in today’s reading?

Today’s reading is 1 Peter 1:1-2:25.

“…knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot” (1 Peter 1:18-19).

Too often I’ve thought that grace was God’s ability to overlook my sins. But that is not true. God has not overlooked my sins. He hasn’t winked at a single one. Rather, He has stared at them in all His glory and all my horror. He could not help but see them glaring from my heart.  He does not dismiss them; He deals with them. He does not wink at them; He washes them away. He does not pass over them; He pays for them. What is the purchase price for my sins? Not gold. Not silver. Not all the money in the world. The purchase price was Jesus’ blood.

No longer can I dismiss my sins with a wink and a nod toward God’s grace. “Oh well, we’re all human, that’s what God’s grace is for.” God’s grace is not some ethereal force out there wandering around looking for sins to cover up from God’s eyes. God’s grace is the blood of Jesus Christ. Every sin I commit costs Jesus’ life. Every lie, every idle gossip, every look of lust, every cheat on a test, every rebellious notion is only paid for by the blood of Jesus Christ.

How can I turn a blind eye to my sins when God did not? How can I wink at my wrongs when the cost is so great? How can I dismiss my defects when Jesus’ death is the purchase price for them? Today, I’m going to throw myself into Jesus’ hands to grow in Him by His grace so I am not asking the price to be paid again.

Yes, when I fail, I know the price has been paid and I’m eternally grateful. But I will not devalue that price by assuming Jesus paid it so I could sin as much as I wanted.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

PS. What struck you in today’s reading?

Today’s reading is Ephesians 1:1-2:22.

“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:10).

What a thought! I am not my workmanship. I am God’s workmanship. Obviously, I’m making choices in my daily life. This doesn’t mean I’m nothing more than a puppet with God literally pulling the strings. But it does mean I’m not alone. It means I don’t have to direct the way for me to be all that God wants me to be, all that I want me to be.

God has created me in Christ Jesus to walk in His good works. But is His workmanship merely a moment in time switcheroo? Does Paul simply mean when I was baptized into Christ, God did some work but now He is sitting back hoping the switch took? I don’t think so. This verse means God is still working in me. He is providing me with progressive victory over sin and progressive victory in righteousness.

This doesn’t mean I sit on my backside and wait for God to pull the strings. But it does mean I can take comfort today that God is working in me. I am His workmanship and He is the Master Craftsman. He may not always work on my timetable, but He is working.

I think today, I’ll just surrender to God’s way. I’m pretty sure it works. And I’m pretty sure it will work on me.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

PS. What struck you in today’s reading?

PPS. For those who haven’t seen it elsewhere, here is a great video from the Skit Guys about God working on us. Even if you have seen it, you may want to watch it again. Enjoy.

God’s Chisel by the Skit Guys

Here is the link for my e-mail subscribers: http://giveattentiontoreading.com/?p=1620

Today’s reading is Romans 1:1-2:29.

“You who boast in the law dishonor God by breaking the law” (Romans 2:23).

I believe I’ve misread this verse. I usually read it to be an accusation of hypocrisy against the Jews. But I’m not sure that flies. Did Paul really believe all the Jews were hypocrites? They all taught the law but disregarded it? I don’t think he would have seen himself that way. This was not an accusation of hypocrisy, necessarily, though I’m sure that fit some folks. This was just a matter of the way life was. These guys were putting all their hope in the law. The problem was, every single one of them, no matter their intention, no matter their sincerity or hypocrisy had violated the law. What good was hoping in the law or boasting in the law when they had all violated the law.

Now this hits me. What am I doing with the New Law. Certainly I believe there is one. But what good does boasting in Christ’s law do me. I have violated it. To boast that I know it better, that I teach it better, that I keep it better does me little good because I haven’t kept it perfectly. I dishonor God by breaking the very law I want to boast in. What am I to do? That goes back to Romans 1:17. I need to live by faith. That is, instead of putting my hope and boast in my ability to keep Christ’s law. I need to put my hope and boast in Christ, increase my faith in Him and His way and just do what He says.

If I’m not careful, I’ll end up being just like those Jews who boasted in a law they didn’t keep. Instead, I need to boast in Christ today.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

PS. What struck you in today’s reading?

Today’s reading is 2 Corinthians 4:1-5:21.

I was struck by 2 Corinthians 5:18. “All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.” Then 2 Corinthians 5:19 says God entrusted us with “the message of reconciliation.”

To hear some Christians today, you might get confused and think the Bible message is one of condemnation. But that wasn’t Paul’s focus. Paul’s focus was reconciliation. Certainly, the scripture condemns sin and says those who remain impenitently in sin will be condemned, but the message of the Gospel is not about all the sins for which we’ll be condemned. Rather, it is the message of Jesus through whom we can find forgiveness, reconciliation and the strength to overcome our sins.

I want to focus on that today. The message of the Old Covenant was condemnation. The Old Testament condemned everyone under sin (Galatians 3:22). Our message is that of reconciliation with God through Jesus Christ. The fact is most of us know we stand condemned. We need to hear how we can be reconciled.

Jesus is the way for that.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

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

Today’s reading is 2 Corinthians 2:1-3:18.

I know I’ve preached on 2 Corinthians 2:11: “…so that we would not be outwitted by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his designs.” Another translation says “schemes.” Satan is cunning, baffling, wily. He has tricks up his sleeves, ready to make us fall. I’ve preached on this passage and gone all over the Bible finding examples of his trickery. I’ve looked at the fall of Eve in the garden. I’ve examined the temptation of Jesus. I’ve looked at the betrayal by Judas and the denial by Peter. I’ve examined passages that talk about Satan the roaring lion. But I guess I’ve forgotten to look specifically at the context of the verse these lessons were based on. Now don’t get me wrong, I think there was some benefit in those sermons and classes I’ve taught. I don’t think they were wrong or unscriptural. I’m simply saying I missed something.

In those lessons, I usually talk about all the sins Satan tries to get us to commit. Satan will try to tempt us to immorality, idolatry, adultery, theft, hate, and on and on. However, did you notice that the specific problem Paul is addressing is the lack of forgiveness? It seems the immoral man of I Corinthians 5 had repented and the same Corinthians who had been boasting in their acceptance of the sinner were now having the opposite trouble. They weren’t accepting the penitent.

Satan certainly has many schemes to get us to go commit sin ourselves (and this verse applies to those as well). However, in its specific context, Paul is talking about Satan’s scheme to keep us from forgiving others when they sin. What division and trouble that causes for those of us who won’t forgive and for those who aren’t receiving the forgiveness.

I’m reading What’s So Amazing About Grace? by Philip Yancey right now. (Yes, that was an affiliate link. What can I say? 2 Corinthians 2:17 said I shouldn’t peddle God’s word. It doesn’t say anything against peddling Yancey’s word.) He tells the tremendously tragic story of Daisy, Margaret and Michael, a story that truly demonstrates Satan’s schemes of unforgiveness (pp 75-81). Daisy was born in 1898. Her dad was an alcoholic who caused all kinds of turmoil for the family. When Daisy had grown, she had promised she would never speak to her father again. When he later repented and sought forgiveness, she had none for him. Her “ungrace,” as Yancey calls it, had hardened her. She never turned to drink, but she was a driving taskmaster in her own family, perhaps in an attempt to keep her kids from being like her father. “She ruled her own family with a milder form of the tyranny she had grown up with.” Her daughter Margaret once came to her apologizing for something she had done wrong. Daisy’s response was simply, “You can’t possibly be sorry! If you were really sorry, you wouldn’t have done it in the first place.” Margaret determined to be completely unlike her mother. Yet as her children became teenagers she felt like she was losing control. Specifically with her son Michael who seemed to really get under her skin. He seemed a bit of a rebel. She threatened him. She kicked him out of the house for smoking pot. She reported him to a judge. She wrote him out of her will. Nothing got through to Michael, finally one day she said, “I never want to see you again as long as I live.” They’ve been living this out. Michael eventually came out of the rebellion, got married. But the marriage didn’t work. One day when Michael was talking to his friend, Philip Yancey, he said of his ex-wife, “I hope I never see her again as long as I live!” What a chain of sin. What a chain of unforgiveness. Over 100 years of family turmoil that might have been avoided if Daisy could have found the grace to forgive her earthly father the way our heavenly Father forgives us. Right now, there appears to be no end in sight.

Do you see Satan’s designs? His schemes? If he can keep us from forgiving each other, look at what he can accomplish through us. Look at what he can do to our families, our children, our grandchildren.

I fear this passage because I know Satan’s schemes about immorality, drugs, idolatry, covetousness, etc. But sometimes I come up with reasons why I don’t need to forgive someone. Maybe I need to study Satan’s schemes a little more deeply. I don’t want to fall prey to them.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

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

Today’s reading is Romans 5:1-6:23.

What a great reminder I received today:

“Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. 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. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace” (Romans 6:12-14). 

Paul goes on to ask if we should sin because we are under grace and the answer is “By no means.” 

Paul gives a great reminder. I’m under grace now, but that doesn’t mean I can keep submitting myself to sin. Sadly, some become Christians and act as if that means any sins we commit are just wiped clean. They forget the power of sin. Sin destroys and dominates. If we have been set free from sin by Jesus Christ, let us not willingly surrender ourselves to sin again. If we think we can control and enjoy sin now that we are Christians, we are very much mistaken.

Today, instead of presenting my members to sin to obey its lead, I must submit myself to righteousness to obey its command. Since I am under God’s grace, I can actually accomplish this. Apparently, if I’m just under law, presenting myself to righteousness doesn’t work quite as well. However, since I am under grace I can live in such a way that sin won’t have dominion over me. Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ who delivers me from the enslavement to sin that I so willingly walked into throughout my life.

But again, that freedom doesn’t mean sitting on my thumbs and just waiting for God to take my sins away. It means surrendering to His righteousness (that comes by faith in Jesus Christ). That’s what I’ll be working on today–surrendering to Jesus’ righteousness.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC

P.S. What did you get from today’s reading?

Today’s reading is Luke 15:1-16:31.

I am once again reminded of the compassion God has given me and of the compassion I need to have for others.

For a long time, I’ve been enamored with the concept of “tough love.” Basically, what I thought that meant was if someone made their own bed, they had to lie in it. Sure, if someone through no fault of their own had a hard time in some area, emotionally, mentally, physically, financially, spiritually, then I would be there to help them out of their tight spot. That is, of course, the loving thing to do. However, if their trouble was in their own doing, my job was to be like wisdom in Proverbs 1:26, and laugh at their calamity. 

But then here is this story about a father and two brothers. This prodigal made his bed. He demanded his inheritance before the time. He wasted it on profligate living. He destroyed his own life. He comes back to his father. Will the father show tough love? Will he tell the son to pull himself up by the bootstraps and get out of his own mess he so willingly made? Will he accepts the son’s idea of being a servant and working his way out of it? That’s kind of an intermediate idea. “You have to work your way out of it, but I’ll help you get a job.” No. The father does none of these things. The father just shows love. He accepts the son back as his son. He shows mercy and grace.

The older brother, on the other hand, is livid. He’s all for tough love. “This son of yours” he calls the brother. He doesn’t deserve this. But of course not. If he deserved it, it wouldn’t be mercy and grace, would it? “He made his own bed. If he had been more like me, this wouldn’t have happened.”

I get two things out of this. I’m reminded that I am the prodigal. I’m not the son who stayed with the father the whole time (though, I think the older brother was not being honest with himself when he tried to claim he had always done what the father wanted, but that is another post). I’m the son who went into the far country, looking for meaning and fulfillment elsewhere. However, I never found it. Instead, I found things that left me broken and empty. I was eating pods with the pigs. I too came back to the Father with the idea that I could somehow be His servant, earning my keep. Then perhaps someday I could work my way up and deserve His love again…maybe. But, instead of demanding I earn my keep, He brought out the fattened calf and celebrated with me. He put a robe on my back and a ring on my finger and, because of His love, declared me His son. Wow! I needed that.

The second thing is I need to recognize that same thing with others. I’m a returning prodigal who has been shown mercy, grace and love. How can I show anything less to the other returning prodigals? Of course, I should not enable anyone to live in sin or continue with prodigal living. I should not be a codependent rescuer. That would be participating in their sin (Ephesians 5:11). If we keep the phrase “tough love” to mean we stay lovingly detached from those who want to stay in their problems and establish boundaries for our continued aid, then okay. But withholding mercy, grace, and aid from those who penitently seek it is not tough love. It is not love at all. We’ve all made our beds. If our Father forced us to lie in them, where would we be? If we do the same to our fellow returning prodigals, where would they be? 

I am reminded of two things today. I have been shown great mercy. I need to also be merciful.

Keep the faith and keep reading,

ELC