Romans 5:12-21
Frequently when a baby is born, friends and family will look to see who the child resembles. People will notice that the child has their father’s eyes, their mother’s hair color, and grandma’s dimples. As they grow older other traits may become evident, such as their mother’s good study habits, their father’s swift running ability, and also some negative ones, as well, such as his quick temper. As we look into our Scripture passage from Paul’s letter to the church in Rome, we read of something else we have inherited, this time from our first parent, Adam.
Just as we inherit many physical traits from our parents, we all have inherited our sin nature from our first father, Adam. No one has to teach a young child to do something disobedient, as it comes naturally to them. We also inherited death through our descent from Adam. Every human will one day physically die. When Adam and Eve sinned, their relationship with God was severed, and they died spiritually. As children of Adam, we are also born spiritually dead, alienated and separated from God (vs. 12 - 14). Every one of our sins each day confirms our connection with Adam. We are just like him, prone to rebel against God.
Because we are all descended from Adam, we are all born sinners, and are all separated from God. A sacrifice to atone for the sin was needed to restore the relationship between God and man. Without that sacrifice, the result of our sins is eternal death. God required a perfect sacrifice to pay for sin. That sacrifice would have to come from someone who had no sin of their own, else they would need to be making a sacrifice to atone for their own sins, and would not be able to atone for others. Any person born from a human mother and father would be born with a sinful flesh nature inherited from Adam, and would not be a fit, perfect sacrifice. Jesus Christ did not have a human father, thus no sin nature. He could be that sacrifice.
We are all slaves to sin through our descent from Adam. Keeping God’s Law doesn’t bring salvation, and breaking that Law did not bring death, as there was death long before the Law was given. Death is the result of Adam’s sin. The Law was given to help people see their sinfulness, to show the seriousness of their offenses, and to draw them to God for mercy. As people sinned more, God’s grace became more abundant (vs. 20).
No one could possibly ever qualify to pay the price of salvation. Jesus is the only one who could pay that price, and He gives it freely to those who come to Him. It is impossible without Jesus to live in a way that pleases God. We have all inherited Adam’s guilt, his sinful nature, and God’s punishment. However, because of Jesus, we can trade judgment for forgiveness, and our sins for Jesus’ righteousness (vs. 15 - 19). If we accept Him as our Savior, we become a member of God’s family, and inherit eternal life. If we do not accept Jesus as our Savior, we will inherit death in hell through Adam.
One man, Adam’s sin affected the whole human race. In the same way, one Man, Jesus’ righteousness would also bless all mankind. However, Jesus’ one act of redemption was immeasurably greater than Adam’s one act of sin. Jesus’ actions bring life to all who accept Him. When we accept Him, we become part of His family, and then inherit His qualities. The more we live for Jesus, the more we become like Him, looking more like Him and less like Adam.
I am thankful that I am a part of the second “many” of verse 15 when I accepted Jesus as my Savior. Because of that, God’s love transferred me into the territory of His marvelous, infinite, matchless grace. God is in the business of grace, forgiveness, and restoration (vs 21). We need to recognize our sin for what it is, and come to Him in faith and repentance.
Psalm 51
Every so often we hear of someone who has fallen into some misconduct. If the person is prominent, it can create a major scandal. This can bring about the fall of the person, particularly if they are a religious or political figure. We can all name some politicians or big-name pastors whose careers were destroyed because of an indiscretion that came to light. As we look at our Psalm for this week, we are reminded of another prominent person who fell into sin, King David. His sin could easily have put his throne in danger, and it definitely caused irreparable damage to his family.
In II Samuel chapters 11 and 12 we read the familiar account of David’s adultery with Bathsheba, and subsequent order to have her husband Uriah killed in battle. When David should have been with his troops in battle, instead he was home at his palace, lounging around on a patio on the roof. From there he watched a neighbor woman bathing. Instead of fleeing the temptation to sin that Satan threw in his path, he lingered on, allowing his lust to flare into a fevered pitch, and committed adultery with this married woman. When he found she was pregnant, David first tried to get Uriah to think the child was his. When that didn’t work, David arranged to have him killed in battle. For at least a year David went on with his life, as if nothing had happened.
How could someone who was a believer and follower of Yahweh, who had been so close to Him, fall so deeply into sin? David had trusted the Lord through so many dangers and trials, and composed so many psalms and hymns of praise. What happened to David could easily happen to us, as well. David tried to cover up his sin. He lied, both to others, to himself, and also to God. However, God has warned us in His Word that our sins will catch up with us, and will find us out (Numbers 32:23). During this time, David refused to confess and repent of this sin of adultery and murder. The guilt may have been gnawing on his mind and conscience, but he pushed it aside.
God waited patiently for David, and finally sent His servant, the prophet/preacher Nathan to him, to confront him with his sin. This took a lot of courage, but Nathan was a fearless man of God, and boldly faced the king with his sin. David recognized how horrendous his sin was against God. He blamed no one but himself, and begged God for forgiveness. David knew that, not only was his sin against Bathsheba and her husband, and against his own family, but it was also against God (vs. 4). All sins are ultimately against God, are rebellion against Him, and require His forgiveness first and foremost. Psalm 51 is David’s cry of repentance and confession. Repentance requires confession. It is not complete without honesty. We must take full responsibility for our sins. Religious ritual without genuine repentance is useless (vs. 16). God wants a right heart attitude. If our heart is not right with God, our outward actions will not please Him (vs. 17).
After someone has committed very serious sin, even something particularly heinous, they might feel that they are beyond God’s forgiveness. Others may feel the same way about that person, as well. They may feel that such a person has crossed the imaginary line of forgiveness, either forgiveness from other people or from God. Psalm 51 shows that there is no sin too great that cannot be forgiven. God will never turn away or reject true repentance, a broken spirit, or a contrite heart (vs. 17). Though God forgives us, He does not always erase the natural consequences of our sins. A person who commits murder will still have to pay the consequences of prison time. Gambling away one’s money may find the person homeless. David’s life and family were never the same due to this sin.
There is also the question about whether, after falling into serious, major sin, a believer can lose their salvation. Once we are truly saved, we can never lose our salvation. Jesus gives His sheep eternal life, and He has promised in His Word that no one can snatch them out of His hand (John 10:28-29). As the Apostle Paul teaches, if we have committed our salvation into Jesus’ hands, we can rest assured that He is able to keep that secure until the end (II Timothy 1:12). However, we can lose the joy of our salvation through our sin (vs. 12). Confessing our sins and relying on the Holy Spirit, we can return to peace with God.
By staying in a close relationship with the Lord through daily prayer, reading the Bible, and fellowship with other believers, we can try to avoid falling into serious, troubling sin. However, if we do, we need to repent and confess that sin as soon as possible, knowing that the Lord will forgive.
Genesis 3:1-7
We all face decisions every day. Many of those decisions aren’t all that important, such as what we will wear, or whether to listen to this or that radio station as we’re driving to the store. Other decisions we face are vitally critical, and will affect us for the rest of our lives, even affecting our descendants after us. For that reason, those decisions need to be carefully thought through before we decide what we’re going to do. We need to make sure we have good and reliable information before we decide, and know that our source is trustworthy. In our Scripture passage today, a very familiar one from the Book of Genesis, we see a decision that was made that affected not only the people that made it, but all mankind from then on. A free decision to listen to and follow the wrong words, the wrong way.
We all know the familiar account of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. It was a paradise given by God to the couple to live in and tend. They had everything they could possibly want or ever need. There was only one restriction - they were not to eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil (Genesis 2:16-17). God used that tree to test Adam and Eve’s loyalty and trust. He gave Adam and Eve a warning, that if they were to eat from that tree they would die. God wanted them to obey, but He gave them freedom to choose. With that tree and its fruit they could decide to obey and gain God’s blessings and rewards, or they could decide to disobey and reap the consequences.
As our passage opens, Satan had come on the scene in the guise of a serpent. When he steps into our life, Satan doesn’t usually announce who he is, telling us exactly what he is up to. He is very cunning, wily, scheming, and manipulative. And most importantly, as the Scripture says, he is a liar and murderer from the beginning (John 8:44). That day in the Garden, the serpent began a conversation with Eve. The first thing he did was to question God’s command, getting Eve to doubt God’s love and care for her (vs. 1). He implied that God was stingy, strict, and selfish. He caused her to forget God’s blessings. He lured Eve to focus on the one thing that she didn’t have, rather than all of the things she did have. Satan suggested to her that obedience to God’s Word is not necessary. Satan even told Eve that God’s Word was not true, that it was a lie (vs. 3). These are the same ways that he tries to tempt us into sin, as well.
Temptation is about whether we trust God’s intentions for us or not. Satan tried to raise doubts. He lured Eve to crave physical gratification. He lured her to try and acquire it at any cost. Eve looked at the tree with flesh-focused eyes. The forbidden fruit appealed to her in three ways. It was good for food, nice to look at, and desirable to make her wise. Those were normal, good desires. However, Satan took those desires and corrupted them. Eve lusted after the fruit and became controlled by desire to have it.
God warned Adam and Eve that when they ate the fruit of that tree they would die. When the couple ate, they didn’t immediately physically die, though that did come later. Instead, immediately afterwards their spiritual connection was severed. Their hearts were hardened. They stopped trusting God. Their fellowship with Him died. God’s presence brought panic, not peace. Fellowship with God ceased, and separation began. Sin broke Adam and Eve’s relationship with God. They no longer walked with Him, but instead they hid themselves.
Satan also feeds us with the lie that obeying God takes away our freedom. True freedom comes from obedience, and knowing what not to do. The restrictions are given for our well-being, just as a good parent won’t let their child play with fire or out in the middle of traffic. Obedience is necessary, and will bring God’s blessings.
We need to be alert for the temptations of Satan. Animals are always vigilant and watchful for any signs of danger approaching. Adam and Eve should have been alert to the traps of Satan. We need to be just as alert and vigilant (I Corinthians 16:13, I Peter 5:8-9). Let us be sure that we follow and obey the One who loved us enough to die for our salvation.
Matthew 6:1-6, 16-21
Do you know anyone whose favorite pastime seems to be polishing their own halo? I can think of one or two such religious hypocrites that I’ve known in my lifetime. Jesus ran across plenty of these people during His ministry, and in our passage today He addresses the issue of religious hypocrisy, and how we should counter that in our lives. Let’s take a look at our Savior’s words.
The type of hypocrites that Jesus was addressing here in His Sermon on the Mount, recorded in Matthew’s Gospel, are those people who do good deeds for appearances only. Their actions may be good, but their motives are empty. Some people like to appear “holy” to get attention. They desire that other people think they are especially devout and pious, and try to show this by drawing attention to their giving, their prayers, and fasting. God sees through that self-righteousness. If we pray only where others see and hear us, our audience is not God, but only to be seen and praised by people.
As Jesus teaches, these people perform their pious acts out of greatly desiring the approval and praise of other people, not out of sincere devotion to God. Jesus said that their reward will only be that people saw them, nothing more. The empty acts they perform will be their only reward. God does not reward hypocrisy or self-righteousness. God will reward those who are sincere in their faith. We should not boast or advertise our good deeds or acts of piety. God’s reward is the only one that matters.
Jesus is teaching in verses 1 - 6 of this Scripture passage that our motives for giving to God and others, for helping them, for praying and fasting, should be pure motives. None of these should be done just to gain the applause of others. Don’t give with the hope and desire to be praised. Jesus says our good deeds should be done quietly or in secret, with no thought of any reward. Acts of generosity, prayer, and fasting should not be self-centered, but God-centered. They should not be done to make ourselves look good, but rather so that God looks good. God doesn’t give rewards to those who seek them.
Fasting is going without food in order to spend time in more concentrated prayer. People fast when they pray (Ezra 8:21-23), when they repent of sin (Nehemiah 1:4-7), when they ask for God’s blessing (Acts 13:2-3), and as an act of worship (Luke 2:36-38). Fasting is not dieting. It is not trying to earn any rewards from God. Fasting doesn’t serve to change God’s mind, to speed up His answer, or manipulate His will. It helps us focus our attention on God alone, in order to hear Him clearly. Fasting should be done to honor God and help us focus as we enter His presence.
Jesus is not condemning fasting in verses 16 - 18, only condemning hypocrisy. Are we fasting in order to get public praise and pats on the back? Are we doing it to impress others with our supposed holiness? Fasting should be done quietly and sincerely. It should be private between one’s self and God. He will give us any reward we might receive.
As our Scripture passage winds up, Jesus teaches us about where we should be storing up treasures (vs. 19 - 21). Just like the empty praise we receive if we do our good deeds for men, if our treasures are only earthly things, they will quickly crumble and fade away to nothing. We need to store our treasures in heaven because this life is but a breath. Storing up treasure in heaven is done by all of our acts of obedience to God. Believers should loosen their grip on earthly things. We should have the same perspective that King David had about everything he owned. He knew that everything he had came from God (I Chronicles 29:14).
Acts of giving, prayer, and fasting are to be worship given to God, not displays of self-righteousness to gain admiration from others. To do acts of piety for the wrong reason will not receive God’s blessings. The reason for which we act is critical.
Philippians 3:7-14
It is only natural for one to be well-pleased or proud of the accomplishments they have achieved in their life. When we write up a resume for ourselves, we are careful to put in all of our past achievements. The more great or noteworthy things we can list, the better we look to others, particularly future employers or those we seek to impress. There were things in the life of the Apostle Paul that he could rightfully be proud of, and some things that he was ashamed of, as well. Rather than get all puffed up with pride, or on the other hand, hang his head in shame and give up, let’s look into today’s Scripture and see how Paul looked at his past.
If Paul had wanted to, he could have been very proud of his spiritual credentials, his “Jewish resume”. He had been a very observant Pharisee, following the Law to the letter. Paul had also been educated at the best school under Gamaliel, the greatest Jewish teacher of the day. All of Paul’s religious credentials, all of his achievements that he had at one time thought was a profit, were actually worthless. He now knew that all of this was nothing, was a loss, since coming to know Jesus (vs. 7-8). When he thought of all that he had accomplished in his life, he counted it all “a loss” when compared with the greatness of knowing Jesus. A person’s relationship with Jesus is more important than anything else. Knowing Jesus, as Paul was referring to here, is not just an intellectual knowledge of Him, but to know Him personally through salvation, a shared life with Christ.
Paul had come to know that all of the religious and holy deeds that he had performed while a Pharisee did not amount to anything, nor make him right with God. Nothing we do, no matter how good or holy the deeds are, will ever make us right with God. Our righteousness comes only from Jesus (vs. 9). Paul’s own righteousness was the proud self-righteousness of external religious rituals and good works. That is produced by the flesh, and cannot save us from sin. Faith in Christ is depending on and trusting Jesus. When we have accepted Jesus as our Savior, we die to sin and His crucifixion puts to death our old sinful nature. Jesus’ resurrection gives us the power to live for Him, morally renewed and regenerated lives (vs. 10-11). When we apply His crucifixion to our life, we can know the victory of His resurrection.
There was one single-minded goal that Paul had in his life, and that was to know Christ more, to be more like Him, and to be all Jesus had in mind for his life (vs. 12-14). Paul pursued this goal like an athlete preparing to win the gold medal, laying aside everything that would distract him. Several times throughout his various epistles, the Apostle Paul compared the Christian life to running a race. He pressed on like a runner trying to achieve the goal, which to him was to be more like Jesus.
There were things in Paul’s past that he was ashamed of and felt bad over, particularly his hunting down and persecuting Christians. However, Paul knew that God had forgiven him for it all, and he was not going to let past guilt stand in the way (vs. 13). He let it go, and looked forward to what God would help him do. We should never dwell on the past, either celebrating our spiritual victories, or mourning our defeats. We must press on forward with Jesus.
Christ has guaranteed our position with God through faith alone, not by anything good or spectacular we have done. As we grow in our knowledge of Jesus, we see how insignificant our worldly treasures and achievements are. Never let past achievements get in the way from completely relying on faith and trust in Jesus alone. Paul gave up everything, having a family, old friendships, and often his freedom, in order to know Jesus. What are we willing to give up in order to know Him better?
Psalm 103
This week’s psalm, as we get ready to enter the season of Lent, is Psalm 103, one of my favorite psalms. This psalm, written by King David, calls us to praise and bless the Lord, listing many reasons for which to do so. During the period of Lent, when many believers seek to develop a closer, deeper, and more intimate relationship with the Lord, it is good to meditate on the many reasons we have to praise the Lord. Let’s look into this psalm, and bless and praise the Lord along with David.
Scriptures say that we were created for a purpose, and that is to praise God and to glorify Him (Isaiah 43:7). We should be mindful of all of God’s benefits, everything He has done for us and given us (vs. 2). As we read the opening verses of our psalm, we see many things that came to David’s mind as he penned this song of praise. A few of the blessings that he praised God for were His forgiveness of sins, healing of illnesses, redemption, blessings of loving kindness and mercy, food, His righteousness and justice (vs. 3-6). We should remember to praise God for His character, and His works in our lives, both past, present and future.
David had many reasons to praise the Lord. God had protected him from the murderous attacks from King Saul, and had raised him up from being a shepherd all the way to being king over Israel. Most of all, though, David praised the Lord for his forgiveness of sins. Though David was a believer, one who loved the Lord deeply, and was even called a man after God’s own heart (Acts 13:22), there were several times when he fell into sin, some rather serious sin. He needed God’s forgiveness, and he was most thankful for that blessing.
David acknowledged when he sinned, and he came to the Lord, asking Him for His forgiveness. He knew that the Lord was merciful, and did not punish us as we deserve (vs. 8-14). God is patient and merciful, and He does not punish us as we deserve. However that does not give us a free pass to act any way we wish, and feel there are no consequences. He still disciplines His children (Hebrews 12:6).
Another reason we can praise the Lord is that He not only forgives us of our sins when we come to Him confessing them, He also takes those sins completely away from us, not holding them to our account (vs. 12). God forgets them. When we think of forgetting, we might think of forgetfulness as a flaw. With God and our sins, that is a good thing. People like to hold our sins and mistakes over us. They never forget them. However, God does. They are as far removed from us as the east from the west, which never meet. He casts them to the bottom of the sea (Micah 7:19). When God looks at believers, He doesn’t see their sins, He sees Jesus (Galatians 3:27).
Some people have a very difficult time forgiving themselves of sins they have committed. They have come to Jesus, asking for His forgiveness, which He gives, yet they cannot forgive themselves. If we refuse to forgive ourselves, are we saying that Christ’s sacrifice on the Cross for our sins was insufficient? Is our standard of righteousness higher than God’s? Both Peter and Paul forgave themselves, Peter for denying Jesus, and Paul for persecuting Christians. They regretted their actions, but accepted Jesus’ forgiveness. By not forgiving ourselves, we are focusing on ourselves, not on God, and by making our feelings superior to God’s Word. We need to trust in God, not on our feelings.
God is a Father to believers, and like a good father, He takes into consideration His child’s immaturity and weaknesses (vs. 13-14). God doesn’t give them more than they can handle. When God examines our lives, He remembers our human condition. As we reflect on this psalm, we need to remember all that God has done for us. We should fear Him, obey His commands (vs. 17-18), and do His will (vs. 21).
Isaiah 58:1-12
This week marks the beginning of Lent in many Christian denominations, with Ash Wednesday midweek. Lent is a period of approximately 6 weeks, or 40 days, prior to Holy Week, leading up to the festival of Easter. It has been a time for many Christians to develop a deeper relationship with God through spiritual discipline. Lent has been a traditional time to give up certain pleasures, and also to fast or partial fast, such as giving up sweets. In our Scripture passage today, the prophet Isaiah addresses the custom of fasting, looking more deeply into why some people fast, and what exactly God is looking for.
Throughout his ministry, the prophet Isaiah, and other prophets as well, preached to the people, calling them on their hypocrisy. The people loved to appear religious and pious to others, going through religious rituals, yet their hearts were far from God. They had no real relationship with Him. As Isaiah pointed out, their fasting was only half-hearted, without genuine prayer to God (vs. 3-7). It was only an outward ritual, without any real repentance over sin, or real humility.
If we decide we will fast or other religious observance during Lent, what are our reasons? Isaiah wanted the people to take a good look at themselves, and question their motives. Some people seem to be religious, but are only going through the motions. Their holiness is merely pretense. When they fast, they want the applause of men for their piety. They want God to pile up rewards for them for their religious observances.
Jesus spoke out against this kind of hypocrisy, addressing the Pharisees, and also ourselves, as well. He pointed out that when fasting, we shouldn’t be letting the whole world know in order to get their approval and commendations for our religious piety. Rather our religious practices, such as fasting, should be for God, not man (Matthew 6:16-18). We should not fast and pray to prove we are godly. Instead we should do these in order to grow closer to God.
True worship is much more than religious ritual. God, speaking through His prophet Isaiah, condemned the people for going through their religious rituals, yet having strife and anger with their brothers (vs. 4). They would act pious, yet treat their fellow man cruelly. They oppressed the worker and let the poor, the widows, and the orphans go hungry. All of our fasting, church attendance, and singing in the choir means nothing to God if it lacks sincerity, if we don't reach out to others with kindness, charity, justice, and generosity. God told His people that their fasting should also bring others a release from oppression, it should include feeding the hungry, and helping those in need (vs 6-7). Without showing concern for others we are missing a true relationship with God. How can one act pious, yet be unforgiving or committing sin? Even more important is compassion for the poor, the helpless and oppressed.
When we are obedient to God, He promises to be our rear-guard (vs. 8). He will not only protect us from attacks on our front, He will stand behind us, protecting us from those who try to sneak up from the rear. This is reminiscent of God protecting the Israelites when they crossed the Red Sea, and He protected them from the oncoming Egyptians (Exodus 14:19).
God promises us that when we follow Him, He will guide us continually (vs. 11). He promises that it will be Him, not another person or an angel, but God, Himself. The Lord said that He will never leave us or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). He guides us continually, not just part of the time.
As we enter into the season of Lent later this week, let’s bring the Lord the type of worship that will truly honor Him, where our acts of fasting and prayer are accompanied by treating our brothers and sisters with love and kindness. Then we can truly know that the Lord will be with us, protecting us on every side.
