faith alone

The Subtle Snare of Self-Made Religion

/ kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

16 Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. 17 These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. 18 Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind, 19 and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God.

20 If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations— 21 “Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” 22 (referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings? 23 These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh. – Colossians 2:16-23 ESV

Far too often, well-meaning but misguided individuals attempt to turn faith in Christ into a lengthy list of dos and don’ts intended to regulate behavior. They take James’ simple premise that a faith without works is a dead faith (James 2:17) and twist it into a legalistic and guilt-inducing set of rules and regulations designed to measure righteousness. Unable or unwilling to accept that a believer’s right standing with God is based on grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone, these purveyors of self-righteousness attempt to earn favor with God through rituals, rites, and fervent religious rule-keeping.

Entire denominations have been formed based on doctrines that teach that righteousness must be achieved the old-fashioned way: through hard work and merit. Essentially, their teaching is based on the old maxim, “there’s no such thing as a free lunch.” Some seem to have founded their works-based concept of salvation on the often quoted but unbiblical statement, “God helps those who help themselves.”

Humanity’s pervasive pride problem lies at the core of this brand of false teaching and has been around since the fall. Ever since Adam and Eve ate the fruit of the forbidden tree, mankind has been attempting to assuage its guilt and amend its broken relationship with God through human effort. Over the centuries, countless religions have sprung up, each promoting its own unique set of rules and rituals for keeping its particular deity pleased and in a generous mood. While diverse in their doctrines and dogma, each of these religions shares one thing in common: a works-based form of righteousness. The adherents to these religions live under the repressive pressure of a performance-based system that demands constant and unwavering compliance to a set of rigid and unrelenting standards.

Paul and his fellow apostles had to constantly deal with the problem of legalism infiltrating the churches they helped to found. It was only natural for those who converted to Christianity from pagan religions to carry the baggage of their former faith system into their relationship with Christ. They were used to practicing a religion based on rule-keeping and rife with prohibitions of all kinds. So, they were attracted to any form of teaching that gave them a list of rules to follow and activities to avoid. This propensity made them particularly susceptible to the teachings of a group that later became known as the Judaizers.

The word Judaizer first appeared in Paul’s letter to the believers in Galatia, where Paul describes an encounter with one of his fellow apostles. Peter had been visiting Paul and the church in Antioch, where he freely associated with the predominantly Gentile congregation. Everything was going well until a group of Jewish believers from the church in Jerusalem showed up.

Paul states that “when they came he [Peter] drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party” (Galatians 2:12 ESV). His reference to “the circumcision party” was meant to explain that these were Jews who believed that all Gentiles had to convert to Judaism and practice all the rites and rules associated with it before they could be fully saved.  In their minds, salvation was reserved for God’s chosen people, the Jews. One of the primary ordinances they demanded the Gentile men to obey was that of circumcision.

The presence of these Jewish Christians from Jerusalem caused Peter to avoid the Gentile converts because they were uncircumcised and, therefore, ceremonially unclean. These Jewish believers were demanding that all converts to Christianity submit to the requirements of the Mosaic Law. Essentially, they were teaching that the Gentiles were not truly saved because they were living in violation of the law. But Paul, a Jew and a former Pharisee, would have none of it.

…when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, “If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?” – Galatians 2:14 ESV

The Greek word translated as “to live like Jews” is ioudaikōs, meaning “after the manner of the Jews.” Paul was appalled that Peter was demanding that Gentile Christians be required to “Judaize” or live according to Jewish commands and customs. The doctrine of the Judaizers was a mixture of grace (through Christ) and works (through the keeping of the Law). The Jews who had shown up in Antioch were teaching, “unless you are circumcised as required by the law of Moses, you cannot be saved.” (Acts 15:1 NLT).

Paul’s confrontation with Peter and the Judaizers forced Paul to make a trip to visit the leaders of the church in Jerusalem. Once there, Paul and his co-worker, Barnabas, debated the teaching of the Judaizers with James and the other apostles of Jesus. Paul pulled no punches in confronting this dangerous heresy.

“Brothers, you all know that God chose me from among you some time ago to preach to the Gentiles so that they could hear the Good News and believe. God knows people’s hearts, and he confirmed that he accepts Gentiles by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as he did to us. He made no distinction between us and them, for he cleansed their hearts through faith. So why are you now challenging God by burdening the Gentile believers with a yoke that neither we nor our ancestors were able to bear? We believe that we are all saved the same way, by the undeserved grace of the Lord Jesus.” – Acts 15:7-11 NLT

According to verse 16 of Colossians 2, this was the same teaching that had infiltrated the church in Colossae. Paul lists a variety of topics that have a decidedly Jewish feel to them: Teachings about the consumption of food and drink, rules concerning feasts and new moon celebrations, and the keeping of the Sabbath.

Someone had obviously been teaching the Gentile members of the local congregation that there was more to their newfound faith than simply belief in Jesus. They were being told that they would have to alter their behavior and accommodate a litany of prescribed religious rules and rituals. But Paul strongly refuted the idea of adding anything to their faith in Christ alone.

…these rules are only shadows of the reality yet to come. And Christ himself is that reality. – Colossians 2:17 NLT

As a Jew, Paul knew that God had designed these things to serve a vital but temporary purpose. Paul assured the believers in Galatia that the law had been given by God but that it had fulfilled its primary purpose. Now that Jesus had come, adherence to the law was no longer required to pursue a right standing with God.

Before the way of faith in Christ was available to us, we were placed under guard by the law. We were kept in protective custody, so to speak, until the way of faith was revealed.

Let me put it another way. The law was our guardian until Christ came; it protected us until we could be made right with God through faith. And now that the way of faith has come, we no longer need the law as our guardian. – Galatians 3:23-25 NLT

Paul wanted the believers in Colossae to understand that they were not subject to anyone’s teaching regarding additional requirements or rules concerning salvation.

Don’t let anyone condemn you by insisting on pious self-denial or the worship of angels, saying they have had visions about these things. – Colossians 2:18 NLT

Their right standing with God was not based on what they did or didn’t do; it was based on the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ. Upon placing their faith in Christ, they had been imputed His righteousness. What was true for Paul was also true for them.

I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith. – Philippians 3:9 NLT

Paul was a staunch defender of the faith who was willing to hold accountable all those who taught a different gospel or a different Jesus. He declared that those who attempted to mislead the believers in Colossae were “puffed up without reason” (Colossians 2:18 ESV). He accused them of allowing their “sensuous” minds to determine their theology. These men were obsessed with the physical rather than the spiritual, which led Paul to assert, “They are not connected to Christ, the head of the body” (Colossians 2:19 NLT).

Their errant teaching separated them from Christ and His church, and their false doctrines concerning salvation made them enemies of the gospel. Their false teaching was doing more harm than good and was diminishing the unity of the body that Christ’s death made possible.

Paul reminded his brothers and sisters in Christ, “You have died with Christ, and he has set you free from the spiritual powers of this world. So why do you keep on following the rules of the world?” (Colossians 2:20 NLT). They were becoming distracted by rules that declared, “Don’t handle! Don’t taste! Don’t touch!” (Colossians 2:21 NLT). But these kinds of prohibitions were man-made and destined to fail. Laws can regulate human behavior but are incapable of changing the heart.

These rules may seem wise because they require strong devotion, pious self-denial, and severe bodily discipline. But they provide no help in conquering a person’s evil desires. – Colossians 2:23 NLT

For Paul, the law was never about behavior modification. He revealed its true purpose to the believers in Galatia.

Why, then, was the law given? It was given alongside the promise to show people their sins. But the law was designed to last only until the coming of the child who was promised. – Galatians 3:19 NLT

Paul also pointed out that the law was never meant to provide salvation. It simply declared the kind of righteousness God required and revealed mankind’s incapacity to live up to God’s holy standards. Paul makes it painfully clear that rule-keeping was never intended to bring salvation.

If the law could give us new life, we could be made right with God by obeying it. But the Scriptures declare that we are all prisoners of sin, so we receive God’s promise of freedom only by believing in Jesus Christ. – Galatians 3:21-22 NLT

Self-denial and forced compliance with a list of moral codes may promote a semblance of sanctification, but it can never change the heart.

Jesus had addressed this issue with His disciples. When answering a question about which foods defile the body, Jesus responded, “Anything you eat passes through the stomach and then goes into the sewer. But the words you speak come from the heart—that’s what defiles you. For from the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, all sexual immorality, theft, lying, and slander. These are what defile you. Eating with unwashed hands will never defile you” (Matthew 15:17-20 NLT).

Jesus came to bring about heart transformation, not behavior modification. Yes, He expects our behavior to change, but that change must come from the inside out. Only a transformed heart can produce a changed life. So, Paul warned the Galatians that a law-based and flesh-focused religion would produce the wrong kind of fruit. Only a heart submissive to the leading of the Holy Spirit can produce life-altering, behavior-modifying fruit that made the law unnecessary.

The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions. But when you are directed by the Spirit, you are not under obligation to the law of Moses. – Galatians 5:17-18 NLT

Adherence to a list of rules, rites, and religious rituals might make us feel more spiritual, but they are powerless to transform the human heart. Man’s penchant for pursuing holiness through self-effort is an ongoing problem and one that Jesus confronted the Pharisees about. He described these self-righteous Jewish religious leaders in unflattering terms, calling them “hypocrites” and declaring, “you are like whitewashed tombs—beautiful on the outside but filled on the inside with dead people’s bones and all sorts of impurity. Outwardly you look like righteous people, but inwardly your hearts are filled with hypocrisy and lawlessness” (Matthew 23:27-28 NLT).

Having refused to recognize Jesus as their Messiah and Savior, their hearts remained unchanged despite their vain attempts to purify their actions. Man-made religions and self-help holiness never work. Salvation is a gift from God that is based on faith alone in Christ alone and nothing else.

Father, we like rules and get a perverse sense of self-satisfaction in being able to measure our holiness based on our performance. But You look at the heart and You determine our righteousness based on our reliance upon the death, burial, and resurrection of Your Son. It is our reliance upon Him that makes possible our relationship with You. We stand in Your presence, not because of anything we have done, but because of what Jesus has done for us. Never let us forget that life-changing and freedom-producing truth. Amen

English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Free For All

/ kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

5 For Moses writes about the righteousness that is based on the law, that the person who does the commandments shall live by them. 6 But the righteousness based on faith says, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’” (that is, to bring Christ down) 7 “or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). 8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); 9 because, 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. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. 11 For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. 13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” – Romans 10:5-13 ESV

In addressing the issue of how sinful man is justified or made right with God, Paul continues to contrast the difference between man-produced righteousness and righteousness based on faith. Because he was addressing some in the church in Rome who were Jewish believers, he draws on many Old Testament references to prove his point. In verse 5, he references the book of Leviticus, where Moses records the following words from God:

“I am the Lord your God. You shall not do as they do in the land of Egypt, where you lived, and you shall not do as they do in the land of Canaan, to which I am bringing you. You shall not walk in their statutes. You shall follow my rules and keep my statutes and walk in them. I am the Lord your God. You shall therefore keep my statutes and my rules; if a person does them, he shall live by them: I am the Lord.” – Leviticus 18:2-5 ESV

In his letter to the Galatian church, Paul clarified the meaning behind this passage.

For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.” Now it is evident that no one is justified before God by the law, for “The righteous shall live by faith.” But the law is not of faith, rather “The one who does them shall live by them.” – Galatians 3:10-12 ESV

When God spoke of living by them (the laws), He was not simply talking about life, but about right standing before God, or righteousness. Keeping God’s law completely was required for anyone to be justified or viewed as sinless before God. But God made it clear that if anyone wanted to be justified before Him according to the law, they would have to obey every single requirement. And Paul confirmed this by warning that failure to comply with all the law brought a curse, quoting from another Old Testament passage.

“Cursed is anyone who does not affirm and obey the terms of these instructions.” – Deuteronomy 27:26 NLT

But Paul also provides the good news regarding this curse.

But Christ has rescued us from the curse pronounced by the law. When he was hung on the cross, he took upon himself the curse for our wrongdoing. – Galatians 3:13 NLT

Attempting to earn your way into God’s good graces through the stringent keeping of His law was a dead-end street that led nowhere. But God sent His Son to pay for man’s sins with His death on the cross.

Paul stresses that man’s salvation is to be based on faith in Christ, not on self-effort. It is not what man does that saves him, but belief in what Christ has done on his behalf. Paul summed up his belief with the following statement:

…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. – Romans 10:9 ESV

Nothing more was required for men to be saved. Again, using Old Testament Scriptures to prove his point, Paul quotes and paraphrases Deuteronomy 30:11-14.

“Don’t say in your heart, ‘Who will go up to heaven?’ (to bring Christ down to earth). And don’t say, ‘Who will go down to the place of the dead?’ (to bring Christ back to life again).” – Romans 10:6-7 NLT

In other words, nobody has to earn their way into God’s presence and invite Jesus to come down. He came of his own volition and in compliance with the will of His Heavenly Father. He descended from heaven because no one could work their way there. And, secondly, nobody has to try to bring the crucified Christ back to life because He has already risen and sits at the right hand of the Father in heaven. Paul’s point is that human effort is unnecessary for salvation; it is based solely on belief.

For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved. – Romans 10:10 NLT

And Paul stresses that this believing faith is open to all.

Jew and Gentile are the same in this respect. They have the same Lord, who gives generously to all who call on him. For “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” – Romans 10:12-13 NLT

To call on the name of the Lord is to place your hope in Him rather than yourself. It is to recognize that your name or character is not enough to save you. Calling on the name of the Lord is an act of submission and dependence; it is an admission of need and a cry of help because we cannot save ourselves.

In Solomon’s prayer of dedication for the newly constructed Temple, he said, “If your people Israel are defeated by their enemies because they have sinned against you, and if they turn to you and acknowledge your name and pray to you here in this Temple,  then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel and return them to this land you gave their ancestors” (1 Kings 8:33-34 NLT).

Solomon stresses the need for repentance, a turning away from their sin and a returning to the Lord. Acknowledging His name was the same as acknowledging His holiness and righteousness. It was to admit that His power alone can save. It is our word of faith, our confession of Jesus Christ as our Savior, that brings about our justification or right standing before God. When we turn from trusting in ourselves and place all our hope in Him, He rescues and redeems us.

Father, we seemed to be wired to work our way into Your good graces. We are used to doing everything in our own strength and enjoy getting credit for our hard work. But when it comes to salvation, we are helpless and hopeless. We can’t work our way into Your favor. As Isaiah said, “We are all infected and impure with sin. When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags” (Isaiah 64:6 NLT). And Paul echoed those wods when he wrote, “Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it” (Ephesians 2;9 NLT). Your plan for our redemption and restoration was never based on our ability to live up to Your righteous standards. Even Your law, through righteous and holy, was intended to show man His sinfulness and need for a Savior. “For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are” (Romans 3:20 NLT).

Our inability to earn our way back into Your favor left us condemned and unclean before You. We deserved the penalty of death, but You provided a way for us to receive forgiveness and the gift of eternal life by sending Your Son as our sin substitute, and as the prophet Joel said, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Joel 2:32 NLT). No more curse or condemnation. No more fear of death or threat of eternal separation from You. And all it requires is faith. Amen

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.22

The Proper Path to Righteousness

/ kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

1 Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved. 2 For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. 3 For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. 4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. – Romans 10:1-4 ESV

Paul had a deep love for his Hebrew brothers and sisters and longed for them to come to a saving knowledge of Jesus as their Messiah, just as he had. He prayed for them regularly and shared the good news of Jesus Christ with them at every opportunity, sometimes subjecting himself to their wrath for doing so. Paul knew they were zealous for the things of God, just as he had been, but were operating out of ignorance. They were still operating under the well-intentioned but misguided idea that they could somehow be justified or made right with God by keeping the Mosaic Law. As Paul wrote, because they were ignorant of God’s “brand” of righteousness, made available through faith in Christ alone, they sought to achieve righteousness on their own. And

Paul recognized the folly of their ways because he had spent a good portion of his life pursuing the same unachievable goal. In his letter to the church in Philippi, Paul shared his personal testimony. At one time, he, too, had been a well-intentioned zealot for God.

I was circumcised when I was eight days old. I am a pure-blooded citizen of Israel and a member of the tribe of Benjamin—a real Hebrew if there ever was one! I was a member of the Pharisees, who demand the strictest obedience to the Jewish law. I was so zealous that I harshly persecuted the church. And as for righteousness, I obeyed the law without fault. – Philippians 3:5-6 NLT

There had been a point in Paul’s life when he believed that his righteous standing before God was based on his own effort. Even his persecution of Christians was done out of his deep desire to please God. He had viewed the followers of Christ as a threat to Judaism and did everything in his power to eliminate them by chasing them down and throwing them in prison. He was a fervent law-keeper and God-pleaser. But he operated out of ignorance.

It was only after coming to know Christ that his eyes were opened, both literally and spiritually, to the kind of righteousness God was looking for, a righteousness provided by Christ’s death and not through man’s self-effort. This led Paul to describe to the Philippians believers how his encounter with Jesus had radically changed his life and perspective.

I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith. I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death, so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead! – Philippians 3:7-11 NLT

The key to his change in perspective is found in his statement: “I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ” (Philippians 3:9 NLT). That has been the thesis of Paul’s letter to the believers in Rome.

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.” – Romans 1:16-17 ESV

Paul wanted his fellow Jews to learn what he had learned, that the death of Jesus brought an end to the law. There are two basic reasons that God gave the Mosaic law. The first was to make His righteous standards and holy character known. It was to provide the people of Israel with an objective, non-debatable code of conduct acceptable to a holy God. As a result of trying to keep this exacting list of behavioral mandates, the people would come to realize that their best efforts could never measure up to God’s perfect standard.

“Why, then, was the law given?” Paul asked the believers in Galatia. “It was given alongside the promise to show people their sins” (Galatians 3:19 NLT). God had never intended or expected anyone to be made righteous through keeping the law.

The second purpose of the law was to provide the people of Israel with a standard of living that would set them apart from the surrounding nations. The law contained moral, religious, and civil codes that reflected the wisdom of God and would bless their lives if and when they obeyed them. Moses explained to the people of Israel how their adherence to God’s laws would reflect the wisdom of God to their pagan neighbors.

“Look, I now teach you these decrees and regulations just as the Lord my God commanded me, so that you may obey them in the land you are about to enter and occupy. Obey them completely, and you will display your wisdom and intelligence among the surrounding nations. When they hear all these decrees, they will exclaim, ‘How wise and prudent are the people of this great nation!’ For what great nation has a god as near to them as the Lord our God is near to us whenever we call on him? And what great nation has decrees and regulations as righteous and fair as this body of instructions that I am giving you today?” – Deuteronomy 4:5-8 NLT

Yet, the people of Israel never achieved this goal because they failed to obey God’s law. They were incapable of living up to God’s righteous standards and ended up living like the surrounding nations that didn’t know God or His law.

But when Christ came, He did what no other man had ever done: He kept God’s law perfectly and completely. It was His perfect obedience that made Him the unblemished and acceptable sacrifice. But with His death, burial, and resurrection, the role of the law changed dramatically. Paul explained to the believers in Galatia how Christ’s death altered the role of the law.

Before the way of faith in Christ was available to us, we were placed under guard by the law. We were kept in protective custody, so to speak, until the way of faith was revealed. Let me put it another way. The law was our guardian until Christ came; it protected us until we could be made right with God through faith. And now that the way of faith has come, we no longer need the law as our guardian. – Galatians 3:23-25 NLT

The kind of righteousness that justifies and makes one right with God is based on faith in Christ as Savior. It has nothing to do with self-effort. It is a gift, totally unearned and undeserved. It is based on God’s mercy, not our merit, and it was provided for us by Christ. Like Abraham, all we bring to the table is our belief.

Abraham believed God, and it was counted as righteousness. – Romans 4:3 ESV

When we believe in Christ as God’s sole source of man’s salvation, that belief results in our righteousness and a right relationship with God. This was the message Paul believed and promoted throughout the years of his ministry, so that all believers might understand and enjoy the full measure of God’s amazing grace.

God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. – Ephesians 2:8-9 NLT

…he saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit. – Titus 3:5 NLT

For God saved us and called us to live a holy life. He did this, not because we deserved it, but because that was his plan from before the beginning of time—to show us his grace through Christ Jesus. – 2 Timothy 1:9 NLT

When people work, their wages are not a gift, but something they have earned. But people are counted as righteous, not because of their work, but because of their faith in God who forgives sinners. – Romans 4:4-5 NLT

Father, You saved me and I had nothing to do with it. Yes, I placed my faith in the saving work of Jesus, but even that act was a work of the Holy Spirit, not me. He opened my eyes to see the glory of the gift You had given and regerated my lifeless, sin-damaged heart to accept in love and gratitude the offer of salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. I have nothing to boast about. My faith was not a work of the flesh. It was not something I conjured up or produced in my own strength. Paul makes this life-altering transformation clear when he write, “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved” (Ephesians 2:4-5 ESV).

You did it all, and there is nothing for which we can take credit. But we can rejoice in the knowledge that Your grace is sufficient and Your transformation of our lives will be full and complete, resulting in our future glorification. And it will all be accomplished by Your love, not our adherence to a list of laws or religious regulations. Thank You! Amen

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.22

The Solid Rock of Salvation

/ kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

30 What shall we say, then? That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is, a righteousness that is by faith; 31 but that Israel who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness did not succeed in reaching that law. 32 Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over the stumbling stone, 33 as it is written,

“Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense;
    and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”  – Romans 9:30-33 ESV

Righteousness can only be attained by faith. That has been and continues to be the crux of Paul’s argument in these verses. Paul’s Jewish brothers and sisters were having a difficult time letting go of their strong belief that getting right with God was based on their Hebrew ancestry and their ability to keep the Law given to them by God through Moses. But Paul presents a completely different set of facts.

He insists that the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have actually received it by faith. They did not know the Mosaic Law and wasted no time trying to keep it, and yet, they had been made right with God by placing their faith in His Son as their sin substitute. In contrast, the Jews, who were busy seeking righteousness through adherence to the law, never attained that righteousness. Why? Because they could not live up to God’s exacting standards, and He never expected them to.

The law was given to reveal their sin and expose their helplessness. It had been intended to wake them up to their need for a Savior. They could not make themselves right with God, so He sent someone who could do it for them: Jesus Christ, the Messiah. But they had to believe and repent. All along, they had been placing their faith in their own capacity to keep the law. When Jesus came onto the scene, He told them to repent or turn away from their false views of sin, God, and salvation, and accept Him as their Savior. However, as Paul states, “they stumbled over the stumbling stone” (Romans 9:32 ESV).

Paul was quoting from Isaiah 8, where God warns the northern kingdom of Israel of the coming invasion by the Assyrians. The people of Israel had a long history of unfaithfulness to God. They worshiped their man-made idols in temples they had erected in Dan and Bethel. But God was fed up and was bringing punishment on them in the form of the Assyrian army. But Isaiah warned them, “The Lord has given me a strong warning not to think like everyone else does” (Isaiah 8:11 NLT). He told them to stop fearing the Assyrians and to start fearing God, showing Him the reverence and respect He deserves.

“Make the Lord of Heaven’s Armies holy in your life. He is the one you should fear. He is the one who should make you tremble. He will keep you safe. ” – Isaiah 8:13-14a NLT

They needed to see God as their only hope of salvation, not some foreign ally or themselves. But Isaiah went on to give them the bad news.

“…to Israel and Judah he will be a stone that makes people stumble, a rock that makes them fall.” – Isaiah 8:14b NLT

The God of Israel and Judah had seen enough and was prepared to pour out judgment against His ungrateful and unrepentant people. As the day of Israel’s destruction drew closer, the equally rebellious residents of the southern kingdom of Judah remained stubbornly resistant to Isaiah’s calls to repent, forcing him to deliver a stern warning from the Lord.

Therefore, listen to this message from the Lord,
    you scoffing rulers in Jerusalem.
You boast, “We have struck a bargain to cheat death
    and have made a deal to dodge the grave.
The coming destruction can never touch us,
    for we have built a strong refuge made of lies and deception.” – Isaiah 28:14-15 NLT

“I will cancel the bargain you made to cheat death,
    and I will overturn your deal to dodge the grave.
When the terrible enemy sweeps through,
    you will be trampled into the ground.” – Isaiah 28:18 NLT

They were putting their faith and hope in something other than God, but He warned them:

Therefore, this is what the Sovereign Lord says:
“Look! I am placing a foundation stone in Jerusalem,
    a firm and tested stone.
It is a precious cornerstone that is safe to build on.
    Whoever believes need never be shaken.
I will test you with the measuring line of justice
    and the plumb line of righteousness.” – Isaiah 28:16-17 NLT

Like their ancestors before them, the Jews of Paul’s day were stumbling over the stumbling stone. Rather than seeing Jesus as a precious cornerstone, they were seeing Him as a rock of offense. They could not accept the fact that righteousness was based on faith, not works. They refused to believe that faith in Jesus was God’s intended path to righteousness. As a result, what the psalmist predicted became a reality.

The stone that the builders rejected
    has now become the cornerstone.
This is the Lord’s doing,
    and it is wonderful to see. – Psalm 118:22-23 NLT

Centuries later, outside the walls of Jerusalem, the Son of God would be put to death as payment for the sins of mankind. He would become the sacrifice to satisfy the just demands of a holy God, and whoever believed in Him would not be put to shame.

It is that promise that caused Paul’s Jewish brothers and sisters to stumble, and it still presents a problem for both Jews and Gentiles today. The whole concept of sin and the need for a Savior comes across as ridiculous to most who hear it. It sounds far-fetched or too good to be true, which is why it requires faith.

Yet, when we believe that salvation is the Lord’s doing, it is wonderful to see, even though it makes no sense and seems illogical and unreasonable. Over the centuries, the message of salvation through faith in Christ has caused many to stumble. But there have been countless millions who have placed their faith in the saving work of Jesus Christ and enjoyed salvation from sin and death and a restored relationship with the God of the universe.

This is the Lord’s doing, and it is wonderful to see. Jesus Christ, the stumbling stone and the rock of offense, has become the chief cornerstone on which our faith rests.

My hope is built on nothing less
than Jesus’ blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
but wholly lean on Jesus’ name.

On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand:
all other ground is sinking sand;
all other ground is sinking sand.

–  Edward Mote, “My Hope Is Built On Nothing Less,” Worship and Rejoice (2003)

Father, as You well know, the problem with sin is that it refuses to acknowledge its own existence. The enemy promotes sin as acceptable and even preferable to a life lived in obedience to Your will. His temptation of Eve in the garden began with the innocent-sounding question: “Did God really say you must not eat the fruit from any of the trees in the garden?” (Genesis 3:1 NLT). He tempted her to doubt Your word and to fulfill the desires of her heart. He appealed to her sense of autonomy and portrayed sin as the stepping stone to self-fulfillment. Yet, You had a much better plan for she and Adam. Your will for them was perfect, but it required obedience and submission. And with one bite of the forbidden fruit, they altered the course of their lives and that of humanity — for eternity. Yet, You weren’t surprised by their actions or forced to come up with a Plan B. Your decision to send Your Son had been made long before You created the universe or formed the first two humans (Ephesians 1:3-5). You gave the first couple one law to obey and they failed, and we have been following their lead for generations. But You sent the “stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense” to save us from ourselves, and “anyone who trusts in him will never be disgraced.” You provided a way where there was no way. You made redemption and restoration possible for the unrepentant and unrighteous, and that included me. Amen

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.22

Willing To Die That Some Might Live

/ kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

1 I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit— 2 that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. 3 For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh. 4 They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the law, the worship, and the promises. 5 To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen. – Romans 9:1-5 ESV

Paul was a proud, card-carrying Jew. His Damascus road experience had introduced him to his Messiah and justified him before God, but it had not eliminated or altered his ethnicity in any way. His identity as a descendant of Abraham remained unaltered, and his Hebrew heritage remained intact. In fact, Paul was proud of his background. He once described himself as having been “circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee” (Philippians 3:5 ESV).

After his Damascus Road encounter with the resurrected Jesus, Paul received a commission to take the gospel to the Gentiles. But Paul never abandoned his desire to share the good news about the Messiah with his fellow Jews. The book of Acts records that, virtually every place Paul traveled on his missionary journeys, the first place he went was to the local synagogue.

Paul and Barnabas traveled inland to Antioch of Pisidia. On the Sabbath they went to the synagogue for the services. – Acts 13:14 NLT

The same thing happened in Iconium. Paul and Barnabas went to the Jewish synagogue and preached with such power that a great number of both Jews and Greeks became believers. – Acts 14:1 NLT

While Paul’s assignment from God was to take the gospel to the Gentiles, he never lost his desire to see his fellow Jews come to faith.

Paul and Silas then traveled through the towns of Amphipolis and Apollonia and came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue. As was Paul’s custom, he went to the synagogue service, and for three Sabbaths in a row he used the Scriptures to reason with the people. He explained the prophecies and proved that the Messiah must suffer and rise from the dead. He said, “This Jesus I’m telling you about is the Messiah.” – Acts 17:1-3 NLT

As a former Pharisee, Paul was highly knowledgeable of the Hebrew Scriptures and understood that the Jews were God’s chosen people. That’s why he wrote, “They are the people of Israel, chosen to be God’s adopted children. God revealed his glory to them. He made covenants with them and gave them his law. He gave them the privilege of worshiping him and receiving his wonderful promises. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are their ancestors, and Christ himself was an Israelite as far as his human nature is concerned” (Romans 9:4-5 NLT).

The Jewish nation was the divinely ordained conduit through which God’s grace and mercy were to flow to all mankind. God had sovereignly orchestrated that His Son was born into a Jewish household. Jesus was a Jew, but not only that, He was the fulfillment of God’s long-awaited promise for a Messiah or deliverer.

Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. – Isaiah 7:14 ESV

And Jesus was the fulfillment of the promises made to Abraham, the father of the Jewish nation.

Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to many, but referring to one, “And to your offspring,” who is Christ. – Galatians 3:16 ESV

Paul knew that the church in Rome was likely comprised of a blend of both Jews and Gentiles, and it would be easy for the Jews to be seen in a negative light. After all, they had rejected the Messiah and were complicit in His death. Peter made that fact painfully clear when he addressed the Jews in his sermon on the day of Pentecost.

“The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified his servant Jesus, whom you delivered over and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release him. But you denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses.” – Acts 3:13-15 ESV

But despite his harsh accusation, Peter was quick to offer them an opportunity to repent of their sin and accept Jesus as their Messiah.

“I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer, he thus fulfilled. Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus.” – Acts 3:17-20 ESV

Both Peter and Paul longed to see their fellow Jews accept Jesus as their Savior. Paul has already stated in this letter that all men stand before God as guilty of sin and worthy of death. But he also made it clear that Jesus died so that all men, both Jews and Gentiles, might come to a saving knowledge of Jesus as their God-appointed deliverer.

Paul felt so strongly about his desire for the Jews to be saved that he was willing to be damned or cut off from Christ if it meant that his fellow Jews might come to faith.

I would be willing to be forever cursed—cut off from Christ!—if that would save them.  – Romans 9:3 NLT

The Greek word Paul used was anathema, and it refers to “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” (Outline of Biblical Usage). In a sense, Paul was saying that he was willing to give up his salvation if it meant that more of his Jewish brothers and sisters would come to faith in Christ. Of course, Paul knew that sacrificing his salvation could not redeem anyone, but his statement expresses his deep longing for them to come to a saving knowledge of Jesus as their Messiah.

Despite the Jewish nation’s initial rejection of Jesus, there were many who had come to believe in Him, and their path to salvation was the same as everyone else’s. They had to come to Christ by faith alone; their Jewish heritage could not save them. When it came to God’s assessment of their sinfulness, their coveted position as Abraham’s descendants could not earn them special favor with God.

Remember, Paul started out this letter with his thesis that the gospel “is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek” (Romans 1:16 ESV).

One of the hardest things for a Jew to do was to let go of his pride and trust in his own self-righteousness and accept the free gift of God’s grace offered through His Son’s death on the cross. Paul knew this firsthand, which led him to quote the words of God found in the book of Exodus.

For God said to Moses,

“I will show mercy to anyone I choose,
    and I will show compassion to anyone I choose.”

So it is God who decides to show mercy. We can neither choose it nor work for it. – Romans 9:15-16 NLT

Paul longed for Jews to come to faith in Christ; he deeply desired their salvation. But he knew that there was only one way for them to be saved, and he made that way known to Timothy, his son in the faith.

…there is only one God and one Mediator who can reconcile God and humanity—the man Christ Jesus. He gave his life to purchase freedom for everyone. This is the message God gave to the world at just the right time. – 1 Timothy 2:5-6 NLT

Paul believed this message so strongly that he was willing to die that others might live, including his own people. He took his assignment as the apostle to the Gentiles seriously, but he never gave up his quest to reach his fellow Jews with the good news of the gospel.

To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. – 1 Corinthians 9:20-22 ESV

Father, Paul’s passion is both inspiring and convicting. He was so willing to share the gospel with his fellow Jews that he endured rejection, ridicule, and even the threat of death every time he entered a synagogue. His efforts to share Christ with his Jewish brothers and sisters were usually far from successful. He was repeatedly chased out of town and, on one occassion, even stoned and left for dead. But he kept on sharing. He persistenly and faithfully kept on calling his fellow Israelites to believe the wonderful news that their Messiah had come and His name was Jesus. I long to have that same kind of passion. As a Gentile, I have experienced the joy of being saved and sanctified by placing my faith in Christ, but I don’t share Paul’s passion and persistence to proclaim that good news to others. Light a fire within me that I too could say, “I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some.”  Amen

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.22

Grace Is Getting What You Don’t Deserve

/ kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

1 What then shall we say was gained by Abraham, our forefather according to the flesh? 2 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. 3 For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” 4 Now to the one who works, his wages are not counted as a gift but as his due. 5 And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness, 6 just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works:

7 “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven,
    and whose sins are covered;
8 blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.” – Romans 4:1-8 ESV

God does not owe us anything. Our well-intentioned acts of self-produced righteousness do not score brownie points with God or put Him in our debt. Paul has made it perfectly clear that God’s declaration of our righteousness is based solely on faith in His gospel concerning His Son.

No man or woman can earn or merit favor from God. And yet, because of their sin and the death penalty it carries, they find themselves desperately needing to make things right with God. That explains man’s ongoing attempt to serve and satisfy the god of his choosing. Man is always attempting to gratify whatever god he has chosen to worship by sacrificing his time, talents, and treasures to that god. It could be the god of religion or recreation.

Every day, countless men and women sacrifice themselves to the gods of entertainment, work, pleasure, popularity, wealth, beauty, and power. They give everything they have to get whatever it is they are expecting their “god” to deliver. But there is only one God, and all stand before Him in the same condition. Despite their best efforts, they have failed to meet His righteous standards and have fallen short of the glory He demands. It doesn’t matter how religious or morally-minded you are. It doesn’t matter if you worship the right God or the wrong god. It matters if you worship the right God in the right way, and Paul says that way is by faith.

In his gospel, John describes the redemptive plan accessible only through faith in Jesus.

The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. – John 1:9-13 ESV

When Jesus came, most Gentiles didn’t recognize or accept Him, and even though He was a Jew and fulfilled all the prophecies concerning their coming Messiah, the Jews rejected Him. In doing so, they rejected the gospel of God, “the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek” (Romans 1:16 ESV).

Paul has already shown that it was not enough to be a Jew. Their privileged position as God’s chosen people gave them access to God’s law and insight into His holy standards, but it did not equip them to live up to those standards. Despite their standing as God’s treasured possession, they were just as guilty as the Gentiles, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23 ESV).

Knowing that any Jews in his audience would automatically appeal to their unique status as descendants of Abraham and attempt to use the patriarch as an example of works-based righteousness, Paul cuts the legs out from under their argument. He states, “if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God” (Romans 4:2 ESV).

Abraham could have bragged about his righteous accomplishments before men, but not before God. His most fervent attempts at righteousness would have scored him no points with God. But Paul, quoting from the Old Testament book of Genesis, writes, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness” (Romans 4:3, Genesis 16:6 ESV).

God reminds any Jews reading his letter that God had promised to make of Abraham a mighty nation, and yet, Abraham was old, and his wife was barren. Both Abraham and Sarah began to question God’s promise. How could Abraham father a mighty nation if he couldn’t have a son? Already advanced in years and with a barren wife, Abraham assumed his heir would have to be one of his household servants. But God told Abraham, “No, your servant will not be your heir, for you will have a son of your own who will be your heir.” Then the Lord took Abram outside and said to him, “Look up into the sky and count the stars if you can. That’s how many descendants you will have!” (Genesis 15:4-5 NLT).

After this divine disclosure, God repeated His original promise to Abraham, and the Genesis account records, “he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness” (Genesis 15:6 ESV).

It was Abraham’s faith in God’s promise that led to God’s declaration of his righteous standing before Him; it had nothing to do with Abraham’s works or efforts. In fact, Paul insists that when someone does labor, they deserve their wages as payment. Their wages are not a gift; they were earned. Then Paul points out the difference works worthy of remuneration and the gift of righteousness.

But people are counted as righteous, not because of their work, but because of their faith in God who forgives sinners. – Romans 4:5 NLT

Again, Paul turns to the Hebrew Scriptures to prove his point. Quoting Psalm 32:1-2, he writes, “Oh, what joy for those whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sins are put out of sight. Yes, what joy for those whose record the Lord has cleared of sin” (Romans 4:7-8 NLT).

Our forgiveness from God is a gift, unearned and undeserved. Our salvation is made possible by His Son’s death, not by our good works. As Paul makes clear in Chapter Six, the only thing God owes man is death.

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. – Romans 6:23 NLT

Our sins have earned us nothing but God’s wrath, and yet He chose to provide a way of escape, a solution to our sin problem. He sent His Son to pay the penalty for our sins and, in so doing, Jesus satisfied the wrath of God. When anyone places their faith in God’s sole provision for salvation, the death and resurrection of His Son, they receive the gift of His righteousness. Their disobedience is forgiven, their sins are put out of sight, and their record of rebellion against God is cleared once and for all.

For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son. So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God. – Romans 5:10-11 NLT

Father, what an incredible thought that we are now Your friends. Because of Jesus, we are no longer Your enemies, condemned by our sinfulness and incapable of doing anything to win back Your favor. Instead, we have placed our faith in Your Son’s death on our behalf and received the marvelous gift of salvation and restoration. We who were at one time deserving of death have been forgiven and offered the gift of eternal life. You owed us nothing but have given us everything. We deserved justice and judgment but received love, mercy, and grace instead. My prayer is the same as that of Paul. That we may have the power to understand, as all Your people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep Your love is. And that we may experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then we will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from You (Ephesians 3:18-19 NLT). Amen

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.22

The Only Way That Matters

/ kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

27 Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith. 28 For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law. 29 Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, 30 since God is one—who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. 31 Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law. – Romans 3:27-31 ESV

When it comes to righteousness or obtaining a right standing before God, does anyone have grounds on which to boast? Is it possible for a Jew to claim righteousness because of his adherence to the law? If it were, Paul asserts, then Christ died in vain. If righteousness is available through self-effort or by keeping the law, then the Gentiles are hopeless, because God did not give them His law. But Paul asks, “Is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also?” (Romans 3:29 ESV). Then he answers his own question. “Yes, of Gentiles also, since God is one…” (Romans 3:30 ESV).

There are not two plans of salvation – one for the Jews and one for the Gentiles. God did not set up two means of attaining righteousness – one through good works and the other through faith. God “will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith” (Romans 3:30 ESV). In this last sentence, Paul uses two different prepositions: by and through. One is the Greek word ek, and the other is dia, and they both mean essentially the same thing: “by” means “of.”

Most likely, Paul used two different prepositions when speaking of Jews and Gentiles to illustrate that God chose to deal with each in two distinct ways. To the Jews, He gave the law. But it was to show them His holy expectations and their inability to meet them. The Gentiles did not receive the law; they were essentially outsiders. In writing to the Gentile believers in Ephesus, Paul reminded them of their former lives as outcasts.

Don’t forget that you Gentiles used to be outsiders. You were called ‘uncircumcised heathens’ by the Jews, who were proud of their circumcision, even though it affected only their bodies and not their hearts. In those days you were living apart from Christ. You were excluded from citizenship among the people of Israel, and you did not know the covenant promises God had made to them. You lived in this world without God and without hope. – Ephesians 2:11-12 NLT

Then he gave them the good news.

But now you have been united with Christ Jesus. Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to him through the blood of Christ. – Ephesians 2:13 NLT

They had drawn near to God because they had been made right with Him, through the blood of Christ and faith. Both Jews and Gentiles are made right with God by and through faith. What looked like two different paths was essentially one and the same. The gospel of God (His plan for man’s salvation) was always going to go through Jesus. That is why Paul can so confidently and emphatically state, “For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law” (Romans 3:28 ESV). He doesn’t say, “in conjunction with” or “alongside” works of the law. In other words, justification stands based solely on faith, and that faith must be placed in a single source: God’s offer of salvation made possible through the death of His own Son.

In his letter to the believers in Corinth, Paul provides a synopsis of the gospel, the good news in which they had placed their faith.

I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me. Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said. He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said. He was seen by Peter and then by the Twelve. – 1 Corinthians 15:3-5 NLT

He came, died, was buried, rose again, and appeared. And Paul says, “so we preach and so you believed” (1 Corinthians 15:11 ESV).

It is belief in God’s gospel that brings about our justification. We are made right with God through faith in His redemptive plan, not our own futile efforts to live a righteous life.

God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. – 2 Corinthians 5:21 NIV

It is our belief in that reality that makes us right with God. In the next chapter of Romans, Paul states, “He was handed over to die because of our sins, and he was raised to life to make us right [justified] with God” (Romans 4:25 NLT). That is what we must believe. It is in that truth we must place our faith. 

So does faith eliminate and invalidate the law? Not in the least. Paul claims that when we are justified by faith, we actually uphold the law. Paul uses the Greek word histēmi’, which means “to uphold or sustain the authority or force of anything” (Outline of Biblical Usage). Our ability to keep the law is made possible through our faith in the redemptive work of Christ. Our capacity to live righteously or rightly is given to us by God through our faith in Christ. Paul summarizes our new relationship with the law in a later chapter.

For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. – Romans 8:2-4 ESV

Through His gospel, God has made it possible for men to live in harmony with Him by placing the desire to keep His commands in their hearts. No longer do we serve Him in the flesh or through our human effort. And that is good news because “Those who are in the flesh cannot please God” (Romans 8:8 ESV).

Because of God’s grace-based, love-motivated gospel, we live by faith in Christ and according to the power of the Holy Spirit. As Paul emphatically states in Chapter 8, this gospel of redemption is truly good news.

If Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. – Romans 8:10 ESV

Father, Paul’s seeming obsession with this topic makes sense. If we get this wrong, it’s not just a matter of semantics or a doctrinal error, it has eternal ramifications. Any slight alteration to the gospel is not only wrong, it’s potentially deadly. Yet, we continue to chase after gospel alternatives that allow us to pursue righteousness on our own and according to our agenda. We humans inherently love rules, but we have a tendency to cherry pick the rules we want to keep. Even worse, we brazenly create our own lists of dos and dont’s and measure our righteousness by self-determined standards designed to make us look good. But You have a much higher standard, one that is impossible for us to keep. Even though You were aware of man’s incapacity to live up to Your moral code, You didn’t dumb it down or compromise Your standards. Instead, You sent Your Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body You declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Jesus as a sacrifice for our sins (Romans 8:3-4). That had always been Your plan and it is the only one that will work. No other gospel or plan of redemption exists that can restore sinful men to a right relationship with You. Thank You for Jesus. Thank You for the good news of salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. Amen

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.22

Self-Righteousness Is Self-Delusional

/ kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

9 What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, 10 as it is written:

“None is righteous, no, not one;
11 no one understands;
    no one seeks for God.
12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;
    no one does good,
    not even one.”
13 “Their throat is an open grave;
    they use their tongues to deceive.”
“The venom of asps is under their lips.”
14 “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.”
15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood;
16     in their paths are ruin and misery,
17 and the way of peace they have not known.”
18     “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” – Romans 3:9-18 ESV

Paul has just said that the Jews do have an advantage, because they “were entrusted with the oracles of God” (Romans 3:2 ESV). They had been given the seal of circumcision as a sign of the covenant that God had made with them. They were His chosen people whom He had promised to bless them and, through them, bless all the nations of the earth. He had led them, protected them, given them their own land, provided them with His law, privileged them with His presence, and instituted a sacrificial system that provided them with atonement for their sins. So, they did have a distinct advantage.

Yet, Paul begins verse nine with a question: “What then? Are we Jews any better off?” And then he answers his own question: “No, not at all.”

Though the Jews had an advantage, that did not mean they availed themselves of it. Some, like Abraham, recognized that their righteousness was determined by faith and not by works, and they trusted in God’s promises. Better yet, they trusted in God. Martin Luther writes, “Abraham did not believe God in order that he might become the father of many nations, but he believed God as the One who is true and faithful” (Martin Luther, Commentary on Romans).

Abraham believed in God’s faithfulness even though he lived as a nomad, never owning a home in the very land God had promised as his inheritance. Abraham died long before his descendants became a mighty nation. And yet, he believed. He trusted in the faithfulness of God. Quoting St. Augustine, Martin Luther writes, “God is glorified through faith, hope, and love. According to a common saying, God is directly insulted by three sins: unbelief, despair, and hatred” (Martin Luther, Commentary on Romans).

Failing to believe in God was an ongoing issue for the Israelites that manifested itself in idolatry, disobedience, stubbornness, immorality, selfishness, and the constant urge to achieve righteousness through self-effort.

So Paul says even the Jews were no better off than the Gentiles. All are under sin. Then, to support his statement, Paul turns to the Old Testament Scriptures. Verses 10-18 are drawn from the Psalms and the writings of the prophets Jeremiah and Isaiah. Acting as a prosecuting attorney, Paul brings glaring evidence to bear against all who might try to defend their self-produced righteousness before God.

Every man and woman stands guilty and condemned. None is righteous or understands the truth about God’s holiness and His determination that righteousness is through faith alone. There is no one who seeks God. Instead, they seek their own will and pleasure. They gladly accept whatever they can get from God, but they have no desire for a relationship with Him.

Paul uses the Scriptures to paint a bleak picture of man’s condition. But he is attempting to present the glory of the gospel as “the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it, the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith” (Romans 1:16-17 ESV). Paul’s thesis statement for his letter is “the righteous shall live by faith” (Romans 1:18 ESV). So he goes out of his way to prove that, without faith, no one is righteous, and that includes his own people, the Jews.

When John the Baptist began his ministry, he had a singular message

“Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” – Matthew 3:2 ESV

Later, after John was arrested by Herod, Jesus picked up that same message.

From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” – Matthew 4:17 ESV

When we read the word “repent,” we tend to think of someone turning away from sin, and while that is an accurate reading of the word, it is far from complete. To repent means “to change one’s mind.” So when John and Jesus called the people of Israel to repentance, they were telling them to change their minds. But about what? Sin? No, sin was the outcome of something else. They needed to change their minds about God and the means of achieving a righteous standing before Him. They still believed that righteousness was based on works, had long ago stopped believing in God’s faithfulness, and had begun believing in the myth of their own capacity to please Him.

They thought they could earn God’s favor by trying to keep His law. But Jesus told them to repent by changing their minds. He was calling them to believe in Him. All they believed about God and righteousness was wrong, and therefore, their view of their own sinfulness was mistaken. Because of their “good works,” they saw themselves as righteous and without sin.

But Paul was not going to let anyone stand on the lie of self-righteousness. So he proved man’s guilt with the words of God.

“There is none who does good, not even one.” – Psalm 14:3 ESV

Self-righteousness is self-delusional. The belief in one’s own sinlessness is ridiculous. John wrote, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1:8 ESV). Self-deceit may make us feel better about ourselves, but it does not make us righteous before God. Faith in ourselves is not the kind of faith God is looking for.

Father, man is obsessed with his own self-righteousness. I guess we take a certain amount of personal pride in our capacity to do the right thing. But, according to You, even our best deeds done with the best of intentions are nothing but filthy rags. They are worthless and incapable of earning Your favor or forgiveness. Yet, even as believers, we continue to believe the lie that our filthy rags aren’t really filthy. In fact, we convince ourselves that our attempts at righteousness are more than good enough for You. Yet, Paul reminds us that no can stand before You as acceptable on their own merits. It is, and always has been, based on grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. We can add nothing to the gospel formula. It Jesus plus nothing. I am reminded of the words of the old hymn Rock of Ages.

Not the labors of my hands
can fulfill thy law’s demands;
could my zeal no respite know,
could my tears forever flow,
all for sin could not atone;
thou must save, and thou alone.

Nothing in my hand I bring,
simply to the cross I cling;
naked, come to thee for dress;
helpless, look to thee for grace;
foul, I to the fountain fly;
wash me, Savior, or I die.

 Amen

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.22

Unashamed and Unapologetic

/ kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.” – Romans 1:16-17 ESV

Paul was eager to preach the gospel to the people in Rome. That is why he wanted to make the long, arduous journey there. He was grateful to God for those who had already become followers of Jesus and commended them for their faith. But he knew there were many more who had not yet heard the good news regarding God’s gift of salvation through His Son, and Paul was anything but ashamed of that message. He proclaimed it anywhere and everywhere he could to anyone who would listen, whether they were Jews, Greeks, or even barbarians, because he knew that the gospel had the power to change lives. It was the only way for sinful men to be made right with a holy God.

For Paul, the gospel, the message regarding God’s sending of His Son in the form of a man to live a sinless life and die a substitutionary death on the cross as payment for the sins of men, was powerful and life-changing; he knew from personal experience. He had been radically changed by his side-of-the-road encounter with the resurrected Christ, and that same power was available to anyone who would believe in Jesus Christ as their Savior. In other words, they had to give up trying to earn a right standing with God in their own strength or according to their own merit.

Paul was unashamed of the gospel because he knew it worked and that it was of God. In fact, it had been God’s plan from the very beginning. His sending Jesus to earth was not a contingency plan He was forced to devise in response to man’s inability to keep the Law. He had planned all along to send a Savior, and it had to be His very own Son so that He could meet the stringent requirements of a sinless sacrifice. Peter tells us, “God chose him as your ransom long before the world began, but he has now revealed him to you in these last days” (1 Peter 1:20 NLT).

Paul goes as far as to say, “Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes” (Ephesians 1:4 NLT). The gospel is not only God’s Plan A, but it is also the very power of God that leads to man’s salvation. Paul makes that point clear when he writes, “For in it (the gospel) the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith” (Romans 1:17 ESV).

Because of Jesus’ sacrificial death on the cross, man has access to a form of righteousness he could have never achieved on his own. The law could only reveal God’s holy standard, but it couldn’t help man achieve or live up to it. Jesus told His followers, “But I warn you – unless your righteousness is better than the righteousness of the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven!” (Matthew 5:20 NLT). As shocking as this statement must have been to those who heard it, Jesus was simply telling them that the righteousness God required could never be self-produced; it would have to be the result of God’s power, as revealed in the gospel.

Man’s salvation is based solely on faith; it begins and ends with faith. It is our initial faith in Christ that leads to our growing faith in the power of the gospel to not only save us, but transform us into His image. The righteous, Paul says, live by faith. Our righteousness is based on faith.

Later in this letter, Paul states, “We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are” (Romans 3:22 NLT). He reiterates this same thought in his letter to the church in Corinth.

For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ. – 2 Corinthians 5:21 NLT

The gospel, the good news regarding salvation in Christ, reveals the righteousness of God, the very means by which sinful men and women can be justified or made right with Him. It is through the death of God’s Son, and it is confirmed by God’s power that raised Him from the dead. It would not have been enough for the death of Jesus to pay for our sins and leave us in a sinless state. Sinlessness is not the same as righteousness. Once our sins had been paid for and forgiven, we still needed to be declared righteous. But in order to do this, God had to impute or transfer to our account the righteousness of Christ. So our spiritual account went from a negative balance to zero, but then God added to our account the invaluable righteousness of Christ.

The reason so many of us find ourselves “ashamed” of the gospel is that it sounds so far-fetched, even to us. After all, the idea of God sending His own Son to take on human flesh, live a sinless life, and die as our sacrifice on a cross doesn’t exactly come across as logical or sensible. That message can be offensive to those with whom we share it. Telling someone that they are sinners, completely unrighteous, and incapable of pleasing God in any way can be a bit off-putting to say the least. But Paul was unashamed of the gospel because he knew it was the only way. It was the power of God made practical and personal, providing mankind with a fail-proof means by which they could be restored to a right relationship with Him. The righteous, those who have been made right with God through Christ, were saved by faith and live their lives based on faith, in the power of God.

The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction! But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God. – 1 Corinthians 1:18 NLT

Father, if we truly believed the message of the gospel, we wouldn’t be so quick to distance ourselves from it or refuse to share it with those who have never heard it. But that’s exactly what we do. Out of the fear of rejection or a failure to believe in the gospel’s transformative power, we remain woefully silent. Yet, Paul faced constant rejection and repeated failures when sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ, yet he remained unashamed and unwilling to keep quiet. He was driven by his firm belief in the gospel’s power to transform lives because he was a living, breathing example of that power. He was deeply convinced of the gospel’s transformative powers because he had witnessed it firsthand. He knew what it was like to experience joy, contentment, peace, and the indwelling power of the Holy Spirit, and he couldn’t help but tell others. I want to live that way. I want to get out of my comfort zone and shout the good news from the rooftops, not out of some sense of obligation, but because I believe it and I want others to know it. Please continue to kindle the flame of passion in my heart so that I might boldly proclaim Paul’s message , “The righteous shall live by faith” (Romans 1:17 ESV). Amen

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

The Gracious Gift of Faith

/ kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

23 Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. 24 So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. 25 But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, 26 for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. 27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise. – Galatians 3:23-29 ESV

There is an interesting thing going on in these verses. Paul is discussing faith and juxtaposing it against any kind of merit-based salvation. He contrasts the faith that is required to believe in Jesus and accept Him as your Savior with the false gospel of a works-based faith being taught by the Judaizers. But if we’re not careful, we could easily turn faith itself into a kind of works that is based on our own human effort. We could easily make salvation all about our faith and wrongfully conclude that it is still about us having to do something to merit salvation. That wrong assumption can lead to some false and very faulty outcomes.

If salvation is dependent upon the degree of our faith, it could result in a dangerous atmosphere of comparison and competition among believers. It is a natural human tendency to compare oneself with others. But when applied to salvation, this can produce a false sense of pride or an unhelpful attitude of unworthiness. When faith becomes the object rather than a means of salvation, we miss the point of God’s grace and mercy.  Comparing the amount or degree of our faith with other Christians is counterproductive and takes the focus off Christ’s fully sufficient sacrifice on our behalf.

Paul wrote, “God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it” (Ephesians 2:8-9 NLT). This applies to our faith as well. Faith is not a self-produced commodity that we bring to the table. We don’t manufacture it and can’t make more of it. Yet, we wrestle with the size of our faith and wonder if it is large enough, strong enough, or sincere enough. But in verse 23, Paul states, “Now before faith came we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed.”

Is Paul talking about the revealing of their faith? He tells them that they were being held prisoner under the law “until the coming faith would be revealed.” Is Paul saying that they were prisoners until they could muster enough faith to believe? Had the ball been in their court all along, and they just didn’t have enough faith?

More and more New Testament scholars have come to the conclusion that the faith Paul is talking about is the faith of Christ, not faith in Christ. When Paul says, “Now before faith came,” he is speaking of the faith of Christ, or better yet, the faithfulness of Christ. It was Christ’s faithfulness to God and His faith in God that qualified Him to be our sinless substitute on the cross. He was completely faithful to the law, and He never wavered in faith or doubted the plan of God for His life. He was obedient to the point of death. His faith in God was so great that He willingly gave His life, knowing that God would raise Him up three days later. It is the faith and faithfulness of Christ that set us free, not our own limited faith.

Look closely at verse 24: “Thus the law had become our guardian until Christ…” Our subjection to the law was in place until Christ came. He is the one who set us free. It is belief or faith in His faithfulness that is the point here. In verse 25, Paul says, “But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian.” Now that Jesus has come and lived a perfect life of faith, faithfully keeping the law of God and obediently following the will of God, He has satisfied the just penalty that God had imposed on mankind.

Jesus has provided a way for us to be made right with God. We can be declared righteous, not based on anything we have done on our own, but simply by having faith in the faithfulness of Christ. We must believe that what He has done has been effective and requires nothing more from us. In verse 26, Paul writes, “For in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God through faith.” While our faith certainly plays a role, it is the object of our faith that must be the focus. It is the faithfulness of Christ that gives our faith its power. Paul seems to be saying that if the Galatian believers put their faith in the wrong thing – like circumcision – it will be ineffective.

What gives our faith its saving power is the faith of Christ, exhibited in His death on the cross. It is not the size, but the object of my faith that matters.

It is not the size, but the object of our faith that matters.

Prior to Christ’s coming, a Jew could put as much faith as he wanted in the hope that obedience to the law could save him, but it would never happen. The Pharisees had faith in the law. They had faith in their own ability to keep the law, but their faith was misplaced. They were making it all about them when Jesus told them that it had to be all about Him.

Our faith must rest in the faith and faithfulness of Christ. It is our belief in what He has done that saves us, not the size or sufficiency of our faith. Yet, this seems to fly in the face of a statement that Jesus made to His disciples after they were unable to cast out a demon from a young boy. The disappointed and disillusioned disciples asked, “Why could we not cast it out?” (Matthew 17:19 ESV), and Jesus replied, “Because of your little faith. For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you” (Matthew 17:20 ESV). 

Is Jesus emphasizing their lack of faith? Is His point that their faith was too small? Matthew uses the Greek word apistia to describe the disciples’ faith. The letter “a” at the beginning of the word can be translated as “no.” The disciples had no faith or, to put it another way, they were wanting in faith. Earlier, Jesus had sent out His disciples with the following order: “Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons” (Matthew 10:8 ESV). But when faced with the challenge of casting out the demon from the possessed boy, they failed. It had nothing to do with the size or quantity of their faith; it was all about their failure to recognize their need for the power that was only available from Jesus.

“The disciples were treating the gift of healing that Jesus had given them as a magical ability that worked regardless of their faith in Him. Now they learned that their power depended on proper response to revelation, namely, dependent confidence in Jesus to work through them to heal. Continual dependence on Jesus rather than simply belief in who He is constitutes strong faith.” – Thomas L. Constable, Notes on Matthew

Faith is not about self-effort, and saving faith is never self-produced. Human faith is a powerless faith. It cannot save because it is contaminated by a fallen, sin-prone nature. Jesus Himself stated, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him” (John 6:44 ESV). Philippians 1:29 reveals that the ability to believe in Jesus has to be granted by God. It is a gracious gift bestowed on sinful men by a merciful, loving God. 

It was He who accomplished that which sets us free from the law. In verse 27, Paul tells us that we have been clothed in Christ. We now wear His righteousness, not our own. It is that fact on which we place our faith. I stand before God clothed in the righteousness of Christ, and do not have to depend on my feeble attempts to manufacture righteousness. Apart from Christ, all my best efforts are as filthy rags in God’s eyes (Isaiah 64:6). But thankfully, I don’t have to place faith in my efforts, but in the faithfulness of Christ alone. And even my faith is a gift from God, producing in me a capacity to see and hear the truth of the gospel and accept the gracious offer of new life through His Son.

Father, never let me mistakenly make all this about my faith. It is not the degree of my faith that counts, but the object of that faith. Don’t let me try and take credit for anything I do because it is all about what Christ has done for me. It is because He was faithful that I can even have faith. He has provided me an object in which to place my faith that can actually deliver the newness of life He made possible. Thank You Father for the gracious gift of faith. Nothing in my hands I bring, Simply to Thy cross I cling – by faith. Amen.

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New Living Translation (NLT) Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.