Archived Daily Manna | Rejoice Fellowship | A mission to release people to rejoice in the world.

Message: The “them” about whom Paul is speaking is those Jews who have not accepted Christ, their own Messiah. They seek the righteousness of God diligently, but without knowledge. They thought they had knowledge. Jerusalem was the center of Jewish learning; the scribes, who were the rabbis or professors of the Jews, had picked apart and combed through the Talmud (Pentateuch) with a microscope, and they had formulated the most abstruse and esoteric interpretations. The same could be said for non-Christians, then and now. Greek philosophers were full of learning, but they could not have true knowledge; because no matter how much genius is applied to understanding, if you begin with a false precept, you will never arrive at truth. And the minute Christ's ministry began — arguably, the moment when the Spirit entered him, at his baptism by John — the fundamental truth of God's relationship with humanity changed. Unless one knows the precept that Christ was God, one can never find truth. The first half of Romans has some very hard edges to it. There will be a time of death and there will be a day of judgment; and much of what seems easy to sweep under the carpet, today, will become the source of extreme regret. And the source of Paul's regret is people who try to be righteous without first finding Christ and receiving the Holy Spirit. If you decided to do something you knew nothing about, what is the first thing you would do? If you are wise, you would read the best book on the subject, or at least ask someone who knows. To build a house, you must first lay the foundation correctly; to build a corporation, you must first file proper articles of incorporation; if you want to grow an orange grove, you must first graft the seedlings correctly. If you do not, no matter how much zeal and energy and good intentions you may have, you will one day have a moment of terrible realization, that all you have done is for naught. The Jews were not ignorant of the importance of first principles, in theory. Consider the first lesson of Proverbs: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.” (Proverbs 1:1-7). But their minds are closed to the coming of God's only son, despite the repeated promises of their own prophets, from Moses to Malachi. And this is the one truth we must know: That Jesus of Nazareth was the Christ, the Messiah. Christ is, in one sense, the end of God's road to salvation, His final act to save humanity. One who truly fears the Lord will find Christ, and the act of salvation is accomplished. In another sense, though, finding Christ is a second starting point for our journey on earth; when we change our road, when we die and are born again in the Spirit, we begin to lead a second life. Seeking to do good and find God's righteousness without first finding Christ is as futile and ultimately disappointing as building a house without a proper foundation. Failure is inevitable. We start with Christ, so that we may live under grace, filled with His Holy Spirit; because to follow the law, to live a life of goodness and charitable works without Christ, is futile. But to live with him and in him, our success is assured.