2002-01-01
Good Morning Dear Ones,
God leads me to continue discussing our covenant commitments by reviewing some important truths that will help us to understand how important they are when making day to day decisions on how we should live. GA 3: 8-11 reveals why faith is such an important element in taking advantage of the opportunity for eternal life that God has extended out of His grace to all those who believe in Him. “The Scripture [GN 12:3] says that God would put the Gentiles right with Himself through faith. And so the Scripture [GN 12: 3] announced the Good News to Abraham. Abraham believed and was blessed; so all who believe are blessed as he was. Those who depend on obeying the Law live under a curse. For the Scripture [DT 27: 26] says, ‘Whoever does not always obey everything that is written in the book of the Law is under God’s curse!’ Now, it is clear that no one is put right with God by means of the Law, because the Scripture [HB 2: 4] says, ‘Only the person who is put right with God through faith shall live.’” Now that this has been said, let’s take a second look at GN 12: 3. “I will bless those who bless you, but I will curse those who curse you. And through you [Abraham, his descendants, and in-grafted Gentile believers], I will bless the nations.”
We need to examine the issues these passages raise. The first issue is justification; that’s the act of becoming acceptable to God because a person repented from his sins and had real faith in Him. That is when God’s righteousness is imputed to one’s account. Let me make the distinction here between righteousness and self-righteousness. The former is a great blessing which brings us into conformity with God’s values and causes us to want to emulate Him. The latter is a man-made, often prejudicial, attitude that leads to judgmental and often unacceptable behavior. This is when the self-righteous person ranks himself above others and refuses to mirror the model of loving that Christ gives us. The second issue is the real purpose of the Law and what really leads to salvation. RO 7: 7 tells us that the Law is designed to let us know what is acceptable and what is not acceptable in God’s eyes. Having this knowledge is necessary to allowing us to know the choices we have to make using our free agency and to assessing the consequences of those choices. Nowhere in this verse is anything said about the Law bringing salvation. That, Dear Ones, as you probably know by now, comes through faith in Christ after repentance. FAITH + NOTHING = SALVATION. Please don’t be tired of hearing me use Les Feldick’s equation, because it is the single most central idea to our faith and of vital importance to each of us. The Law itself has been referred to as a “curse” in connection with what happened after the Ten Commandments were given to Moses. Legalistic Jewish rabbis and leaders began putting the human spin on things in the writing of the Talmud, the book of Jewish laws and commentary. Ten commandments ballooned up to 613 commandments. Only Christ Himself was perfect enough to keep them all. Thus, the laws were referred to as a “curse.” This is expressed in GA 3: 13, “But by becoming a curse for us Christ has redeemed us from the curse that the Law brings; for the Scripture [DT 21: 23] says, ‘Anyone who is hanged on a tree is under God’s curse.’”
The third issue has to do with what the word, “nations,” means as used in GN 12: 3 and IS 49: 6 [the Jews are to be a “light to the nations”], and referred to in GA 3: 8-9. Understanding this principle goes all the way back to the original reason that God called Abraham out of Mesopotamia in the first place. He wanted to bring a person with a heart capable of obedient trust and faith in Him to the place He designated to establish a nation of people willing to worship and obey Him as their One and only God. This would set these people apart as His children who would put Jehovah at the center of their lives. Of course, we know that Abraham and his descendants through Isaac, the son of the promise, are the Jews. It’s a shame that God has had so many disappointments from so many of these descendants disobeying His commands, but He has never given up on them. But remember, GN 12: 3 and the others spoke of “blessing the nations.” The Jews aren’t to bless themselves. Instead, they are to bless those nations who are not yet covenant people, believers in Jehovah; in other words, Gentiles. They are to take the Gospel of faith to the Gentiles. Once Paul’s ministry came on the scene, that is exactly what has begun to happen. Former pagans began coming to faith. There were even some Gentiles like Rehab, Ruth, and the citizens of Nineveh in Jonah’s time, who came to faith even before Paul’s ministry. The responsibility of Jews, particularly ones like myself who have already come to faith in Christ and begun enjoying the blessings of doing so, is to take the Good News and spread it using the talents God gave them. You all know that God has never given up on the Jews as evidenced by RO 11: 25, which tells us that a secret truth is revealed that the stubbornness of the Jews is temporary and that when all the Gentiles have come to faith that God has chosen, the veil will be lifted from their eyes. As we review these issues in our minds, take great comfort in knowing that our Abba is there for us eager to bless, guide, protect, and provide for those who love, honor, and obey Him. We are His covenant people.
PRAYER: O Lord, it is clear that You want us to understand that You have given us the Law so that we would know what is acceptable and what is not to You. It is important that we recognize that putting a human spin on the original Ten Commandments has caused the problem of establishing a system that no one but Your Son could obey perfectly. It has led to ritualistic legalism in the practice of traditional Judaism that You never intended. However, in Your enormous compassion for us, You have called us to faith and sacrificed Your only Son on the cross for us, so that we could be saved. When we repented and came to that faith, we were justified. That was only the first of many blessings that You shower upon us. Out of that faith that You gave us, You opened the way to salvation through Your grace and gave us the gift of Your Spirit to dwell within us. Your love for Your people is so deep that despite so many traditional Jews being disobedient, You have not given up on Your people. Each person who comes to faith enjoys all these blessings and takes on the responsibility to answering Your call to spread the Gospel to those who have not yet come to faith. We acknowledge and accept that responsibility with joy and humility. We dedicate ourselves to pushing self-righteousness out of our lives and always acting with the love that Christ has commanded us to have. You deserve nothing less that our worship, adoration, loyalty, trust, obedience, glory, honor, praise, and thanks. We offer these to You today and always in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Tomorrow, I am led to review the issues that reveal the transition from the old covenant to the Covenant of Grace. This review will crystallize our understanding of all the covenant principles discussed so far and prepare us for God’s teaching on the oneness of the covenant relationship to follow. I have always felt that the Scriptures are God’s love letter to us and still do, even more now than before. Young people have a hard time understanding how a spiritual contract like the Covenant of Grace or a marriage can be such a saving grace in our lives. That is because we are called upon to take on responsibilities that are often difficult and challenging to us. What we must all realize is that these are life-giving responsibilities and come along with enormous blessings, blessings accompanied with the love and approval of Jehovah Himself. This is the food of life, food which our loving Abba wants all of us to eat. Peter and I send you our love too.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn