Bad News: No Justification through Works. Good News: Justification through faith in Christ

This is the message of Rom 3.21,22. The bad news is that no human being (that pretty much sums up everyone doesn't it?) will be, can be, was ever, justified by the works of the Law. The good news is that God's righteousness has been manifested apart from the Law (yeah!), through faith in Christ Jesus for all who believe. It's that simple. Faith in Christ. He came. He lived. He died for my sins. He rose again. That is the message of the gospel. That is God's righteousness being manifested.

The Contrast Between the Pharisees and Judas

Matthew 27 is a fascinating chapter, it is chock full of characters, good and bad, surrounding the crucifixion of Christ. One could write multiple sermons just on the people surrounding Christ's death on the cross. What struck me this morning was the contrast between Judas, and the Pharisees and elders of the people. The Pharisees, knowing that Christ was innocent, had him killed anyway because they hated him. Judas, on the other hand, after betraying Christ and knowing that he was innocent, killed himself, presumably due to remorse. Through the entire crucifixion story the Jewish leaders show no such remorse, nor even any introspection or hesitation at crucifying an innocent man. They hate him. They want him dead. They accomplish their—make that God's—purpose.

And that is the fascinating fact in all of this. The Jewish leaders, making their own ghastly choices, fully comply with God's preordained plan. How did that happen? The Scriptures don't see the need to explain this conundrum, they are content to simply lay out the facts.

Grace in Genesis

I'm reading through John Sailhamer's excellent book The Meaning of the Pentateuch. His basic theme is that the meaning of the Pentateuch is the same message that Paul gave to the Galatians, salvation is by faith.

I recall that as I think about Genesis 25.23, this morning. Before Jacob and Esau are born, God tells Rebekah that the older will serve the younger. I take a couple of things from this verse, neither of which I thought up myself. The first is that God had already declared that Esau would serve Jacob before the pair were born. Why then did Jacob go through all the lies and deception and suffering in order to make this happen, when he could have simply been patient and allowed it to happen in God's time. David passed this test. Jacob failed. (Got that from this comment in the NET notes: The oracle reveals that all of Jacob’s scheming was unnecessary in the final analysis. He would have become the dominant nation without using deception to steal his brother’s blessing.

The second thing I take from this verse I got from John Sailhamer who wrote the Expositor's Bible Commentary on Genesis. He points out that one of the themes of Genesis is the stronger serving the weaker, or the older serving the younger.

Another important motif is present in this account: “the older will serve the younger” (v.23). As far back as chapter 4, the narrative has portrayed God choosing and approving the younger and the weaker through whom he would accomplish his purpose and bring about his blessing. The offering of Cain, the older brother, was rejected, whereas the offering of the younger brother, Abel, was accepted. The line of Seth, the still younger brother, was the chosen line (4:26-5:8); Isaac was chosen over his older brother Ishmael (17:18-19); Rachel was chosen over her older sister Leah (29:18); Joseph, the younger brother, was chosen over all the rest (37:3); and Judah was chosen over his older brothers (49:8). The intention behind each of these “reversals” was the recurring theme of God’s sovereign plan of grace. The blessing was not a natural right, as a right of the firstborn son would be. Rather, God’s blessing is extended to those who have no other claim to it. They all received what they did not deserve (cf. Mal 1:1-5; Rom 9:10-13).

Just as Sailhamer points out, the intention of the author of Genesis was to subtly point out God's unfolding plan of salvation by grace, not by birthright, position, or natural right. As he says, they all received what they did not deserve.

Flattery Will Get You Nowhere

The Pharisees and Herodians use flattery on Christ in Matt 22.16; they get nowhere. Kent Hughes defines flattery as "saying something to someone's face that you would never say behind their back," just so. While Christ's opponents speak truthfully, they do not believe a word of what they say, it is flattery for the sake of entrapment.

What I find fascinating is that they inadvertently reveal to history Christ's true character. They list four aspects of Christ's character which are all true: You are true. You teach the way of God truthfully. You do not care about people's opinions of you. You are not swayed by appearances. Since Christ is our example of how to live the faith, our aim ought to be to emulate Christ in these four characteristics.

Hit 'Em!

Ouch! That's all I can say about Christ's interaction with the chief priests and elders in the temple in Matt 21.31-32. What a slap in the face it is to them when Christ says that tax-collectors and prostitutes will enter the kingdom of God before them!?! It would be roughly similar to Christ coming to our church and standing up and saying that Democrats and prostitutes will enter the kingdom of God before the people in the church. We would be outraged! I assume the chief priests and the elders were outraged. So outraged that they never asked themselves if what Christ said was true; never wondered if perhaps their own hearts were not right. The essence of what Christ is saying here is that "you religious leaders (he emphasizes "you" again and again in these verses) think that you are the most religious, the most faithful, but in reality you are furthest from the kingdom of God.

A couple of lessons here for us. First, we always have to be assessing the state of our hearts so that we do not end up in the place that the chief priests ended in. Second, the message of the gospel is always and ever meant to be applied to our own hearts first. If we are sitting in the pew thinking, "I hope that Mr. X is listening to this message," then we've missed the point because always! the gospel applies to us first.

What is of True Value (Hint...Not my Life)

So says Paul in Acts 20.24. What is of true value to Paul (and by extension anyone who is a follower of Christ) is that he finishes the course—δρόμος, which means race, or a figurative expression for race and so means "mission" or "assignment." Paul's mission was of such importance that in comparison his own life was of little value. What was this important mission; this all-consuming assignment? To testify to the gospel of the grace of God. That's it, simple and straightforward. His message was that the good news is that the grace of God has come to all men through Jesus' death on our behalf. For this message he was willing to sacrifice all, even his own life.

Powerful. Are you willing to sacrifice all things? Am I?

Revealed by the Father

In Matthew 16.16,17, this morning. When Peter declares you are the Christ, the son of the Living God. Jesus tells him that this knowledge did not come from men, it was revealed by my Father who is in heaven.

Quite a profound statement here. I take from this that, if we are to reach people with the gospel, the drawing back of the curtain that leaves them in darkness must come from God the Father. We have no power in ourselves for people to understand this because flesh and blood has not revealed this to you. O that we would beseech God the Father to open the eyes of the blind to see the truth!

A Sobering Thought

Thinking about Gen 15.16 this morning. Apparently there comes a time when the iniquity of a nation is complete. At that point, God moves in judgment against that nation. So it was with the Amorites at the time of Joshua. In Genesis 15, the iniquity of the Amorites is not complete. By the time of the Exodus, it is complete.

Where does that leave my own country? I don't know, but we would certainly seem to be filling up the cup of our iniquity as fast as we possibly can, not that a nation that is filled with sin would even recognize God's judgment when it arrived. There are always alternative explanations. This is the nature of the blindness caused by sin. It is a most sobering thought.

Grace Bears Us

In contrast to the Mosaic law which was, as Peter said, A yoke neither we, nor our fathers could bear; Christ's yoke is easy and his burden is light. This is because the construction material of Christ's yoke is grace.

As an anonymous commentator on Matt 12.30 put it so well, We do not bear grace; grace bears us. It is not for us to help grace, but rather grace has been given to aid us.

Which recalls to mind lyrics from one of Derek Webb's songs, Awake My Soul: This grace gives me fear, and this grace draws me near, and all that it asks it provides.

I'd say he got that right.

Touch Christ. Be Healed.

It was profound logic from the unnamed woman in Matt 9.20-22. She had, I suspect, observed Christ's healing power (or alternatively, heard about it) sufficiently to conclude that, if she could just touch him she would be healed of an ailment that had bothered her for 12 years and about which the physicians were powerless to do anything. She touched him. She was healed. She was correct.

What lesson can we take from this woman? I believe it is this: Ultimately, what hope we have, lies in Christ and nothing or no one else. She had tried everything else; everything humanly possible, and had not been healed. One touch of Christ and she is instantly healed. Are you hopeless? Tried everything? Nothing worked? Run to Christ. Touch his garment. You will be saved (which is exactly how Matthew puts it. Saved as in saved, saved). Does this mean that you will be healed from any and every physical ailment? Nope. Certainly doesn't. It might mean that. What it does mean is that you will find what you truly need in Christ. And what is that, you ask? That is a new heart.

Chrysostom: What then is his intention in bringing her forward? First, Jesus puts an end to her fear. He does not want her to remain trapped in dread. He gives no cause for her conscience to be harmed, as if she had stolen the gift. Second, he corrects her assumption that she has no right to be seen. Third, he makes her faith an exhibit to all. He encourages the others to emulate her faith. Fourth, his subduing the fountains of her hemorrhage was another sign of his knowledge of all things. And finally, do you remember the ruler of the synagogue? He was at the point of despair, of utter ruin. Jesus is indirectly admonishing him by what he says to the woman. THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, HOMILY 31.2

Ashamed as We Understand It?

Thinking about Ezra 8.22. I don't think that Ezra was constrained by his pride here, as if to say he was too proud to ask for the king's help. I think he realized the implications. He had told the king that God's hand is for good on all who seek him. If he asked the king for help, the king would think, "it's some God you have Ezra. He's not even strong enough to protect you on your journey back to your homeland?" Ezra is concerned about God's glory here, not about his own pride.

On the other hand, he does use the word "ashamed" so it would be pretty important to really understand his use of that word here. NIDOTTE: ‏שׁוֹּבִ‎ with a subjective sense. With a subjective sense ‏שׁוֹּב ‎may denote the fear of offense against decency or correct conduct. In this sense Ezra was “ashamed” to misuse his position for further requests for protection (Ezra 8:22).

Blessed Be...the King? Nope.

Thinking about how profound Ezra's comment is in Ezra 7.27. Artaxerxes instructs that the temple at Jerusalem be rebuilt, thus clearing the way for the exiles to finish it. Artaxerxes is a great guy! We should thank him. We should say what a great guy he is. We should properly honor him. Ezra does just that: Blessed be...Artaxerxes? Nope. Blessed be the Lord, the God of our fathers, who put such a thing as this into the heart of the king.

Artaxerxes does the work. God gets the glory, because Ezra properly understood how God worked. The outworking of this truth for us is pretty important. Get a scholarship to college? Blessed be the Lord...not the givers of the scholarship. Saved from disaster? Blessed be the Lord...not the one who saves you (although it would be right and good to thank them profusely). What Ezra is saying here is that, behind every act, lurks the Lord moving in the hearts of men. That is a truly profound fact.

Vain Repetition? Bad. Persistence? Good

Thinking about prayer this morning in Matt 6.7. Christ tells his hearers not to use vain repetition (babbling is the Greek word) like the Gentiles do (when they pray to their false gods) mistakenly thinking that they will receive what they want because they use so many words. This is in stark contrast to praying persistently. The first is concerned with quantity. The second is a heart that is concerned.

John Calvin: The grace of God is not obtained by an unmeaning flow of words; but, on the contrary, a devout heart throws out its affections, like arrows, to pierce heaven.

Who Is This Man?

Reading The Beatitudes with new eyes this morning (Matt 5.1-12). Christ turns everything on its head it seems. Those who mourn will be comforted (isn't mourning generally associated with not being comforted because of the loss of a loved one for example?). The meek shall inherit the earth (do I even need to explain why this is topsy-turvey?). Then this: ““Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account” (Matt 5:11–12 ESV).

What struck me about this comment was that here is this itinerant Jewish teacher with no credentials and he is saying that they are blessed if they are persecuted because of him!?! Who is this man? What kind of person says stuff like this? It fits in a long line of outlandish statements that Christ makes about himself. I am the Good Shepherd. I am the Bread of Life. I am the way, the truth, and the life. Again and again Christ knocks us back on our heels and forces us to catch our breath and say, "Either he is who he says he was—The Messiah. The Christ. The Son of God—or he was a megalomaniac with an ego that has not been matched since time began; or he could possibly be crazy."

This is a guy who walked on water. Who fed 5000 (probably more like 10000) people with five loaves of bread and two fish; who healed a man blind from birth; who cast demons out of people on a routine basis; who healed the centurion's servant without ever seeing him. Who do you think he was? Do you think he was a fraud with a big ego? Crazy? God? It seems to me that his actions back up his words. He was—and is—the Son of God.

Look, Desire, Act

Three steps to sin laid out in Gen 3.6. We would like to throw brickbats at Eve because she so easily fell into these steps, but the truth be told, we are just like her. We look. We desire. We act. We fall into sin.

Delitzsch: Doubt, unbelief, and pride were the roots of the sin of our first parents, as they have been of all the sins of their posterity.

The Purpose of Ezra

Thinking about Ezra 1.1, this morning. Ezra is quite clear about what his purpose is in the book that bears his name. He is not setting out to just recount historical events surrounding the return of the exiles from Babylon to Jerusalem, as if, were he not to do so, they would be lost to history. He is writing about God moving, about God fulfilling his promise. Cyrus moved that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled. This is the key point in the book of Ezra (it seems to me), against which we must set every event. Ezra's purpose is to describe how God fulfilled the prophecy that he had made through Jeremiah. Consequently, this is not a historical book per se, it is a book of promise fulfillment.