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But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness Gal 5:22 |
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Dear
Friend,
If you do not already have a habit of gathering daily manna the first thing in the morning (we can look at the example given to us in Exodus 16 and find the pattern for collecting daily manna), make it a habit. Establish your life and your schedule to allow you the necessary time to do your daily collection first thing every morning to give you the strength to make it through the day. And remember that today’s manna will not be sufficient for tomorrow; tomorrow’s manna must be collected tomorrow morning. Friday, August 31, 2018
Today's Passage : Today's Passage:Subjecta:God’s Righteousness Upheld Bible Verse:Romans 3:1-8 "Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision? Much in every way. To begin with, the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God. What if some were unfaithful? Does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God? By no means! Let God be true though every one were a liar, as it is written, “That you may be justified in your words, and prevail when you are judged.” But if our unrighteousness serves to show the righteousness of God, what shall we say? That God is unrighteous to inflict wrath on us? (I speak in a human way.) By no means! For then how could God judge the world? But if through my lie God's truth abounds to his glory, why am I still being condemned as a sinner? And why not do evil that good may come?—as some people slanderously charge us with saying. Their condemnation is just. " Message:
Paul can be nearly incomprehensible without close study. We do not need elaboration of what he says here, so much as simply grasping what he is saying!
Having spent an entire chapter scolding the Jews for hypocrisy, Paul takes care to give them credit and to honor the Old Testament. He first simply acknowledges their special status as God’s chosen people. The prophets were Jewish. The Jews were given the words of God, so this is one thing to their credit. And if they are hypocrites, a hypocrite—who speaks truth but acts evil—is better than someone who both speak and acts evil!
Then he poses a question. Since the Jews had a “covenant” — which is to say, a contract — that they would be faithful to the law and God would be faithful to them, have their many acts of faithlessness breached the contract? Will God, like the Jews, no longer honor His obligation of faithfulness to them? The answer is no. (Although Paul does not say it plainly here, there is irrefutable proof of God’s continued faithfulness to the Jews: Christ, the Jewish Messiah He promised to send.)
There was, apparently, some line of “reason” being discussed among the Jews, that God set us up to fail. He wanted to show his wrath; and sinners were doing Him some sort of odd favor by sinning, because the punishment demonstrated his power. This absurd logic resulted in an even more absurd contention: sin is good, because punishment for sin shows the truth of God’s law, and forgiveness of sin shows his mercy. It gives God a chance to forgive us and show how wonderful he is.
So why condemn sin, if the result is the glorification of God via His forgiveness? Why not “do evil that good may come”? And how could God judge the Jews, if their disobedience illustrated His glory?
The answer, of course, lies in a simple statement, which Paul will expound in the rest of Chapter 3: God is pure good. People — not so much. We are made in God’s image, but our free will leads us astray. Religion in general, and the history of the Jews in particular, is based on God’s efforts to teach us goodness, both in our minds and our hearts.
Meditation : . Prayer : Now all glory to you, mighty God, who is able to keep me from falling away and will bring me with great joy into your glorious presence without a single fault. All glory to you who alone are God, our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord. All glory, majesty, power, and authority are yours before all time, and in the present, and beyond all time,....Amen |
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