I did it my way!

“For they don’t understand God’s way of making people right with himself. Instead, they are clinging to their own way of getting right with God by trying to keep the law. They won’t go along with God’s way.“ – Vs 3 NLT

This chapter is a continuation of Paul’s thoughts in chapter 9. He expresses his sincere desire that his Jewish brothers and sisters would come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ: “…my heart’s desire and prayer to God on behalf of my fellow Israelites is for their salvation” (Vs 1 NET). He says, “I readily admit that the Jews are impressively energetic regarding God – but they are doing everything exactly backwards” (Vs 2 MSG). They were attempting to achieve righteousness on their own efforts by striving to keep the Law. They had good intentions, but were headed down the wrong path. They had the right objective: pleasing God, but they would never reach their end desire. Back in chapter 8 Paul reminds us that “those who are in the flesh cannot please God” (Romans 8:8 NASB). In Hebrews 11:6 we read, “Now without faith it is impossible to please him” (NET). Paul makes it clear in verse 4: “For Christ has accomplished the whole purpose of the law. All who believe in him are made right with God” (Romans 10:4 NLT).

But isn’t it amazing how many today are still trying to get right with God through their own futile efforts? And that number includes many of us as believers. We have been saved by faith, but for some reason we keep trying to please God with our enthusiasm and self-effort. Like the Jews, we are “impressively energetic regarding God.” We are busy serving Him, giving to Him, going to Bible studies to learn more about Him, attempting to pray to Him, even telling others about Him. But all our “zeal is not based on knowledge” (Vs 2). It’s not in line with the truth. All the things we are doing are good, but we are doing them for the wrong reason. We think that our efforts are somehow going to make God happier with us. The reverse is also true. We think that if we DON’T do them, God will be displeased with us. But what does the writer of Hebrews say? “Without faith it is impossible to please him.” Faith that Jesus has done all that needs to be done to secure our righteous standing before God. We can’t add anything else to the equation. We can’t please God any more than He already is. When we do those kinds of acts in our own strength, we are reminded by the prophet Isaiah: “We are all infected and impure with sin. When we proudly display our righteous deeds, we find they are but filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6 NLT). But when we do them out of faith, knowing that they add nothing to our standing before God, then they become an extension of our faith. We do them because we love Him, not in some misguided effort to earn brownie points with Him.

God made the formula for righteousness pretty simple: “For if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Vs 9 NLT). That’s it. Nothing more, nothing less. No added works. No need for any good deeds on our part. Just believe. You can’t replace it with good intentions, hard work, holy sweat equity, or anything else. It is all based on belief in the work of Jesus Christ on the cross. We can only do it God’s way.

Father, thank You that you gave me another way other than my way. It would never have worked. But because of what Jesus Christ did on the cross, I sit here this morning as righteous and holy in Your sight. I am Your Son. I am a fellow heir with Christ. I have an inheritance in heaven that no one can take away from me and that I can’t blow on the stock market. My standing is secure. And all it took was simple belief. How amazing is that? You are a great God and worthy of anything I can do for you in an attempt to show my gratitude for all You have done for me. Thank You! Amen

Ken Miller
Grow Pastor & Minister to Men
kenm@christchapelbc.org

No love lost for the lost

“…for my people, my Jewish brothers and sisters. I would be willing to be forever cursed – cut off from Christ! – if that would save them.” – Vs 29 NLT

While most of this chapter is about the good news that God made the gift of salvation available to all men who would accept it, the thing that grabbed my attention more than anything else was the opening statement by Paul. He expresses His sorrow and unceasing grief over the fact that His Jewish brothers and sisters had rejected the very One for whom they had been waiting for generations: Jesus Christ. He was there long-awaited Messiah, yet they had refused to accept Him. Instead they arrested Him, and demanded His execution.

But Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles, loved His own people so much that he said, “If there were any way I could be cursed by the Messiah so they could be blessed by him, I’d do it in a minute. They’re my family” (Vs 3 MSG). Do you hear what he is saying? He says he would prefer to be accursed. That Greek word is anathema and it means, “a thing devoted to God without hope of being redeemed, and if an animal, to be slain; therefore a person or thing doomed to destruction.” For something or someone to be deemed anathema entailed them being cut off or forever separated. Paul is willing to be cut off from Christ and God the Father if only His fellow Israelites could experience the blessings of salvation. Now you can see why on every missionary journey Paul went on, the first place he went when he arrived in a town was the synagogue. He may have been the apostle to the Gentiles, but he was not going to overlook the Jews. And practically every time he went to the synagogues, it ended up in him being stoned, threatened, beaten, or chased out of town. But he kept going back.

Paul had a love for the lost sheep of Israel. But what about us? More often than not, we find the lost a roadblock to the cause of Christ. We view them as stubborn and deserving of what they get. We walk past them every day and don’t even think about their eternal state, let alone have the thought cross our minds that we would be wiling to give up our eternal security for theirs. How could Paul think that way? Well, it pretty much sums up the way Jesus Himself thought. He was willing to give up His eternal security to come to earth, take on human flesh, die a sinner’s death, and be separated from God the Father, just so we could be saved. Paul is thinking like Christ. Which is what he calls us all to in his letter to the Philippians:

“…do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” – Philippians 2:4-8

Have this attitude. Think like this. Let this be your outlook. And that’s exactly what Paul did. he practiced what he preached. He loved the lost. He gave his life to see that they wouldn’t remain lost. Paul gave them every opportunity to accept the free gift of eternal life in Jesus Christ. He suffered so that they might not have to. And he was wiling to suffer for eternity if it meant that the Jews could be blessed. That’s amazing and humbling.

Father, give me a love for the lost like Paul. Don’t allow me to walk by, drive by, sit by, and even live by those who are lost without sharing the same sorrow and grief that Paul did for the Jews. Forgive me for seeing lost humanity as a road block to righteousness rather than an opportunity for Your glory to be revealed. Help me see them as You do and as Paul did. Help me to have the same attitude that Jesus did. Amen

Ken Miller
Grow Pastor & Minister to Men
kenm@christchapelbc.org