Archives For sermons

Psalm 40

April 15, 2011

Sermon delivered Sunday 3 April 2011 at Roslyn Baptist Church

Window in church and monastery dedicated to Saints Vincent and Anastasius, built in 626. Italy, Rome.Psalm 40 can be viewed as a multi-layered masterpiece or a stained glass window in which each layer is a work of art in itself but together they carry far greater meaning. In this psalm I see two layers of truth overlaid with a layer of human frailty.

The first layer is the words of David, his situation, his thanksgiving and his prayer.  Yet there are elements in the psalm which don’t really fit if all we consider is the man, David son of Jesse. Even as David king of Israel, verse 7 is a bit odd:

Then I said, “Behold, I have come; in the scroll of the book it is written of me:
(Psalm 40:7 ESV)

The next layer of the psalm is prophecy, speaking of Christ the son of David. In the case of Jesus, it is clear that he knew himself to be the One spoken of in scripture (Luke 4:17-21, Luke 24:44-45). The New Testament confirms that Christ is the subject of this psalm in  Hebrews 10:5-10.

Then we reach a layer of ordinary Christians such as you and I, trusting in Christ and seeing our own experiences reflected in the words of David. This is how I come to Psalm 40, from the muck of the world, a sinner myself, attempting to live a sanctified life. I am surrounded by  sinners – some of whom would like to push me back down into the mire. Although we tend to approach the psalm from the perspective of how it relates to where we are at today, we need to see the other two layers in order for it to speak meaningfully.

David’s situation

Nobody knows what historical situation David was in when he wrote Psalm 40. Keep in mind that not every event of his life is documented in the Bible – it is unwise to force each Davidic psalm into a specific biblical situation. However, there are some historical events which do appear to have some influence:

  • David would have been well aware of the events of 1 Samuel 13 and 1 Samuel 15, along with Samuel’s comment which is recorded in 1 Samuel 15:22-23.
  • He surely also had ingrained in his heart the words of  Deuteronomy 17:18-19.
  • David must have also known of God’s word to Samuel when he was annointed king (1 Samuel 16:7).
  • Then there is Samuel’s words to Saul (1 Samuel 13:14)
  • The ‘new song’ of  Psalm 40:3 echoes the new song of Moses after crossing the Red Sea (Exodus 15:1-2).

Outward obedience  covering inward rebellion is rejected by David, he delights to do God’s will and joyfully tells of God’s deliverance from troubles. He is confident of God’s mercy toward him.

But David is only a man, a sinful man. He may love to obey God but does not always have the ability to follow through. As one who delights in the law of God and walking in obedience he is acutely aware of how he fails to do so. David names sin for the evil it is, recognizing that his sins pile up beyond number.

While he is crushed by the burden of sin, David’s enemies plot his fall. He knows God is merciful but asks Him to judge his enemies.

As the psalm began- with expectant waiting – so too it finishes. Confident in God’s deliverance, waiting yet for it to arrive.

Jesus in Psalm 40

Viewing this as a song of David  about expectantly trusting in God for deliverance is richly rewarding. However, we cannot ignore the dissonance of verses 6-8 in the mouth of David, especially verse 7:

Then I said, “Behold, I have come;
in the scroll of the book it is written of me:
I delight to do your will, O my God;
your law is within my heart.”
(Psalm 40:7-8 ESV)

If we scroll forward through the Old Testament we see clearly that:

  • God was not at all impressed with the sacrifices and offerings of the Israelites coming from hearts that were distant from Him (Isaiah 1:13 and Isaiah 1:16-17).
  • A new covenant is coming in which God will remove the stony hearts and replace them with hearts inclined to do His will (Ezekiel 11:19-20).
  • God would do this through His Servant who opened his ear to God and was obedient, giving his back to those who strike and not hiding his face from disgrace and spitting.

From our vantage point we can see that Jesus fits the picture of one who was predicted in the scriptures, delighted to do God’s will (John 4:34) and achieved in full what animal sacrifices could only symbolize – the cleansing of sin and guilt from human hearts.

And then we have the glory of Hebrews 10, where we have it made plain that the blood of bulls and goats can never take away sins, they were a graphic reminder of God’s holiness and human sinfulness but to actually take away sin a better sacrifice is necessary (Hebrews 10:1-4). It then explicitly quotes verses 6-8 of Psalm 40 as being fulfilled in Jesus.

So we can certainly read Psalm 40 as applying to Jesus and obviously he is the perfection of what David spoke. He waited with perfect patience, as a man he needed God to bend down to hear his cry, as we do. Christ’s pit of destruction was infinitely more horrifying than David’s, yet he is now seated at the right hand of God. Saying that many will see and fear and put their trust in God as a result of the deliverance of Jesus from the pit seems something of an understatement.

Psalm 40:4 reminds me of the temptation of Jesus be Satan which he resisted perfectly (Luke 4:1-13). The Jesus himself multiplied the wonderful deeds of God and manifested God’s thoughts towards us. He did proclaim God’s deeds and tell of them.

Psalm 40:6 looks different:

In sacrifice and offering you have not delighted,
but you have given me an open ear.
Burnt offering and sin offering
you have not required.
(Psalm 40:6 ESV)

Than in Hebrews 10:15

Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said,
“Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired,
but a body have you prepared for me;
(Hebrews 10:5 ESV)

The quotation in Hebrews is from the Septuagint, the Greek version of the Old Testament. One proposed explanation of this difference is that through ears being opened the whole person is prepared to do the will of God and perhaps this interpretation influenced the  ancient translators.

When we look at  Psalm 40:9-10, the telling of the glad news began with Jesus and continues to this day (and beyond) through his Church. We are part of the great congregation who have been told of God’s steadfast love and faithfulness.

As for you, O LORD, you will not restrain
your mercy from me;
your steadfast love and your faithfulness will
ever preserve me!
For evils have encompassed me
beyond number;
my iniquities have overtaken me,
and I cannot see;
they are more than the hairs of my head;
my heart fails me.
(Psalm 40:11-12 ESV)

In verses 11-12 we encounter statements that do not appear to fully apply to Jesus  – God did withhold mercy from Jesus on the cross, because of this we know that His mercy has not been withheld from us. Jesus had no sin, so he could not say “my iniquities have overtaken me“. However, our sins were totally placed upon him and so on the cross it indeed became his sin, Jesus was killed for sin that he owned and accepted as his own. Yet these were sins I committed (2 Corinthians 5:21, Isaiah 53:6). Jesus has taken full ownership of all my sins and has borne the wrath and fury of God for it.

Be pleased, O LORD, to deliver me!
O LORD, make haste to help me!
(Psalm 40:13 ESV)

As David pleaded with God to hurry and save him, so Jesus on the cross cried out to God and committed his spirit into God’s hands (Luke 23:46).

Let those be put to shame and disappointed altogether
who seek to snatch away my life;
let those be turned back and brought to dishonor
who delight in my hurt!
Let those be appalled because of their shame
who say to me, “Aha, Aha!”
(Psalm 40:14-15 ESV)

The fulfillment of verses 14 and 15 is astonishing: the shame and dishonour of those who condemned and crucified Jesus has been magnified with each generation for the last 2,000 years!

But may all who seek you
rejoice and be glad in you;
may those who love your salvation
say continually, “Great is the LORD!”
As for me, I am poor and needy,
but the Lord takes thought for me.
You are my help and my deliverer;
do not delay, O my God!
(Psalm 40:16-17 ESV)

Jesus became the very way for us to seek God, because of his obedience we do say, “great is the Lord!”

Now read through Psalm 40 yourself, consider yourself and your own situation with the depth of what this psalm contains as the foundation under it.

Other posts related to this topic:

Image of stained glass window: iStockphoto

In Christian thinking , ,
permalink

What makes me do what I do not want to do?

August 24, 2010

Looking at Romans 7:7-25, known by some as the ‘Dr. Seuss passage’.

There is a lot of debate about this passage, regarding the state of the person struggling with sin in verses 14 to 25 – is this a Jew under the law? Any non-Christian? A so-called ‘carnal Christian’ or a true Christian? At the risk of offending someone, my personal view is that these arguments generally miss the point. Paul does not have a flattened view of human nature, it seems that he sees our nature as a complex thing with many interacting influences and nuances which all combine to affect how we think and act. I find it helpful to think of an opal, which has many different colours and planes within it all reflecting light differently to combine and give it beauty.

I am not going to dig into the argument of that issue here, my personal view is that throughout this passage Paul is describing his own experience as a Christian. A significant factor contributing to my view on this is that I know I am born again, but I also know that this passage accurately describes my own struggles, not just in the past but ongoing in my Christian life.

With that clarification of my stance on interpreting this passage, I will now look at what it is telling us. To see this we need a quick recap of his argument so far: in Romans 2:13 Paul states that it is not hearers of the law who will be justified, but those who do the law. He shows that outward cultural conformity alone does not make someone a Jew but rather obedience to the law from the heart, by the Spirit.

So is there any advantage in being Jewish then, if even they do not gain life through the law?

Yes, they inherited the Scriptures. Yet their righteousness does not come from that, righteousness before God comes only by faith.

Does faith in Christ then overthrow the law?

No, faith upholds the law. Faith gives us access to the grace of God, this grace gives us the free gift of righteousness through Jesus Christ. This righteousness in Christ covers all sin.

So does this mean we can sin anyway since grace will cover our sin?

No! We are baptized into Christ’s death and so have died to sin. We should avoid presenting ourselves as slaves to sin, rather we need to present ourselves to God as slaves to righteousness. The wages of sin is death.

Does this mean that the law is sin since it brings death?

No, the law serves to show sin for what it is. Sin lies dormant until we attempt to obey God, then it becomes active and causes us to disobey God’s commands. It is sin that brings death. The law is holy, righteous and good.

So did what is good (the law) bring death?

No, sin brings death, its deceitful working through God’s good commandments shows how evil sin is that it can still bring death even using what is good as its device. Sin uses the weakness in us all to make us do what we don’t want to do. The fact that we hate the sin we commit shows that we agree with God’s judgment of sin as being evil.

Therefore, this section from Romans 7:7-25 is intended to show us that the law is not at fault for our sin, the problem lies within us as sin, we have a sinful nature ready to oppose every commandment of God’s. This is quite noticeable if you look for these two ideas in each verse from 13-25.

  • [13] Did that which is good, then, bring death to me? By no means! It was sin, producing death in me through what is good, in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure.
    • The law is what is good.
    • It is sin that produces death.
  • [14] For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin.
    • The law is spiritual.
    • I am sold under sin.
  • [15] For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.
    • I do not do what I want (obey the law).
    • I do the thing I hate (sin).
  • [16] Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good.
    • I agree with the law, that it is good.
    • I do what I do not want when I sin.
  • [17] So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.
    • Sin dwelling in me is what makes me sin.
  • [18] For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.
    • I desire to do what is right (obey the law).
    • Nothing good dwells in my flesh (only sin, which opposes what is good).
  • [19] For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.
    • The good I want to do is to obey the law.
    • The evil I do not want is the sin I commit.
  • [20] Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.
    • I do what I do not want (I want to obey the law).
    • It is no longer my overall will but sin which causes me to sin.
  • [21] So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand.
    • I want to do right (obey the law).
    • But evil (sin) lies close at hand.
  • [22] For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being,
    • My delight is in the law, not in sin.
  • [23] but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.
    • The law of my mind is the law of God.
    • The law of sin holds me captive to it’s will.
  • [24] Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?
    • Death is due to sin.
  • [25] Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.
    • The law is what I want to serve because it is good.
    • My body sins because I am serving the law of sin.

The main point is obvious, the law is good. The evil I do comes from within me and I have no power in myself to stop sinning.

An important message coming out of this passage is that you are not the sum of your sins. Christ has paid for the offence of your sin against God and in verse 17 we see that as we sin it is a part of us that sins while another part of us hates the very thing we are doing. I can hate my sinful nature and wish it dead without being suicidal — God also hates my sinful nature and has in fact already crucified it in Christ. But even though my body is deceived by sin and dead as a consequence, the Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, dwells in me and will give life to my body also (Romans 8:10-11).

We live in the ‘already, not yet’ between Christ’s first and second comings. We are fully redeemed and cleansed in Christ but we are still awaiting the redemption of our bodies. These bodies we inhabit still bear the curse upon Adam — our bodies will die, they get sick, we are weak, we have desires that are opposed to the law of God.

This warfare between obedience to God and sin has been characteristic of being human right from the very start. In Genesis 3 the serpent deceives Eve and Adam. In Genesis 4:7 God warns Cain that sin is crouching at the door, it desires to master him but Cain must rule over it. The book of Job is about this struggle — Job continues to believe that God is good despite the calamity he suffers. God gives Satan permission to torment Job and in a similar way Jesus permits Satan to sift Peter — weakness wins temporarily and Peter denies Jesus. In Galatians 5:16-18 Paul warns Christians of this ongoing struggle between the flesh and the Spirit. Peter mentions the war in 1 Peter 2:11, James mentions it several times (James 1:13-15 and James 4:1-8) and John speaks of it in 1 John 2:15-16).

Regardless of what theological boffins might argue, we know that the struggle to live obediently to Christ is an inescapable reality of being Christian. The unrelenting nature of this battle can lead us at times to consider giving up, but we have been promised help. God does send His Holy Spirit to help us in our weakness, sin cannot totally master us if we are in Christ and we are forgiven for our sins.

Remember that you are not defined by your sin, neither are you defined by your human or physical weakness. You are defined by your status in Christ. If you are in Christ you are an eternal being of total purity and righteousness — the purity and righteousness of God. If you are in Christ you will know because your desire will be to please God. Even as you sin your heart will long to be obedient to Christ rather than being weak and sinful.

Take heart from Paul’s words in Philippians 3:12-14:

Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Even though you are weak, don’t wallow in weakness and sin — lift your eyes and heart to Christ. Then press on to be found in Him.

Artwork

The painting featured in this post is an original work by my neighbour, David Holmes, titled ‘The Revealing Light’. It portrays the battle within between the renewed heart and indwelling sin, with the light of the Holy Spirit and God’s word revealing this struggle to us.

Other posts related to this topic:

In Christian thinking , ,
permalink

The unpreached sermon

June 8, 2010

Faith is good – essential in fact. Faith that has been tested is even better. It is tested by trials and suffering, so when they come, don’t run away. If you do run away you might end up proving something else; that a comfy life is what you really believe in rather than Jesus Christ.

Continue Reading...
In Hard stuff , , , ,
permalink

Real faith, terrifyingly fragile

April 18, 2010
Sermon delivered on Sunday 18 April, 2010

The book of Romans was written to a church comprising both Gentile and Jewish believers. In the opening chapters of this book Paul addresses these two groups in such a way as to point out why they both need the salvation that is by faith in Christ, and why it is that nothing aside from faith in Christ is sufficient for salvation.

The section we are looking at today is primarily targeted at the Jewish believers, but we will see that it also links to significant issues for us non-Jewish folks.

I normally use the English Standard Version for my sermon texts, but today I want to read from The Message because it is the overall thoughts of the passage I want to consider and I think this is emphasized well in The Message.

Romans 2:17-29 (The Message)
17-24If you’re brought up Jewish, don’t assume that you can lean back in the arms of your religion and take it easy, feeling smug because you’re an insider to God’s revelation, a connoisseur of the best things of God, informed on the latest doctrines! I have a special word of caution for you who are sure that you have it all together yourselves and, because you know God’s revealed Word inside and out, feel qualified to guide others through their blind alleys and dark nights and confused emotions to God. While you are guiding others, who is going to guide you? I’m quite serious. While preaching “Don’t steal!” are you going to rob people blind? Who would suspect you? The same with adultery. The same with idolatry. You can get by with almost anything if you front it with eloquent talk about God and his law. The line from Scripture, “It’s because of you Jews that the outsiders are down on God,” shows it’s an old problem that isn’t going to go away.

25-29Circumcision, the surgical ritual that marks you as a Jew, is great if you live in accord with God’s law. But if you don’t, it’s worse than not being circumcised. The reverse is also true: The uncircumcised who keep God’s ways are as good as the circumcised—in fact, better. Better to keep God’s law uncircumcised than break it circumcised. Don’t you see: It’s not the cut of a knife that makes a Jew. You become a Jew by who you are. It’s the mark of God on your heart, not of a knife on your skin, that makes a Jew. And recognition comes from God, not legalistic critics.

In a nutshell, this section is destroying the argument that Jews would put forward that they are exempt from judgement because they have the inheritance from Abraham and the Law and prophets. Apparently it was a common belief among Jews that they would not come under judgement because of their being God’s chosen people (which I find staggering even with my limited knowledge of Jewish history!).

First Paul attacks their trust in the law, claiming that they are breaking the law and so bringing God’s name into disrepute. He uses a series of questions focusing on the second, seventh and eighth commandments of the Decalogue. It seems that he is not so much trying to prove guilt for specific sins (in which case he would likely have used specific examples, there were probably plenty), but that he is simply showing that contrary to the ‘doers of the law’ described in Romans 2:13-15, it was usual for Jews to rely on possessing the law as exempting them from judgement. His reference to the secrets of men in Romans 2:16 implies that all Jews will know secretly that they do not fully keep the law.

Paul then moves on to address the sign of the old covenant – circumcision. This was the sign given to Abraham to show that he would be exceedingly fruitful, would be the father of many nations and that Abraham and his offspring would inherit the land of Canaan (Genesis 17:6-10). Any Israelite male who was not circumcised was to be cut off from the inheritance of God’s people.

Because it was the sign of the covenant, and because it was performed at eight days of age (Genesis 17:12), every boy born into a Jewish family was automatically circumcised. It was effectively a personal membership badge for God’s chosen people.

Consider what Paul has been saying about the state of the heart in Romans 2:15 and then what he says in verse 29:

But a Jew is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. His praise is not from man but from God. (Romans 2:29 ESV)

Romans 2:28-29 is actually terrible news for any law-abiding Jew because what Paul is describing, namely the heart condition of a true Jew, is impossible to attain. Whereas a mark in the flesh of a Jewish male is an easy thing if your parents were Jewish and followed the accepted ritual when you were 8 days old.

So we have a warning that the outward sign of the covenant is worthless if the people of God are not keeping the commandments of God form a pure heart. What counts before God is a heart intent upon obeying Him in spirit and in truth (John 4:23-24). With man this is impossible (Matthew 19:26).

Obviously we have already read ahead in the book enough to know that God has made the impossible possible – He has provided a Way through whom we can gain access to God and has made us new, as is stated in Galatians 6:15:

For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation.

This new creation is what was promised 600 years earlier by Ezekiel:

And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. (Ezekiel 36:26-27 ESV)

This is what we have experienced through the new birth made possible by faith in Jesus Christ. Our sins are forgiven, our hearts transformed and God has put His Spirit within us as to help us and as a guarantee of the redemption to come (Ephesians 1:13-14).

Yet, I find that I still sin! Despite God’s Holy Spirit within me and a new heart, I struggle with weakness and sin every day. I read verses such as Romans 6:11:

So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

And realize that I fall way short of living consistently out of a heart devoted to Christ, I am much more like the man in Romans 7:18-20:

For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.

At times like this I find myself feeling weak and needing help to remind me of my standing in Christ, my promise to follow Him with all my heart, and the need to die to my old nature. Something like a sign in my body would perhaps help as a constant reminder to walk in holiness before God would it not?

Oddly enough, as gentile believers we are at risk of the Galatian error: seeking outward signs of what, by faith, Christ has done in us. It happens in various ways, church buildings are an obvious one, wearing cross pendants is another. There are bumper stickers, T-shirts and WWJD bracelets. On a more subtle level there is the underlined verses, dates, notes and various bits of paper we stuff our bibles with as reminders of significant incidents in our Christian life.

I am NOT saying that any of these are innately wrong, it is just worth being aware of what they can become – a substitute for an ongoing walk of faith in Christ. This would happen if we were to look at the sign of something God had done in the past and trust in that as proof of our salvation rather than trusting in Christ alone right now as the only ground for being justified before God.

As an example, I have something like a very permanent WWJD bracelet on my arm – 13 years ago I got a tattoo in the likeness of a crown of thorns engraved on my right arm as a reminder to myself that I am nothing apart from Christ. At the time that seemed like a good way to remind myself that I am in the world but not of it, and I’m sure the fact that tattoos were becoming increasingly trendy around that time was also a factor! (Which sort of contradicts the idea of not being ‘of the world’ doesn’t it – at age 27 I was just as blinded by the world as I am now.)

So I got the tattoo, and for a few weeks it was a sharp reminder of Christ as it itched on my arm.

What I didn’t realize is that having such a sign in my flesh could also be a lie, my intention was to remind myself that I belong to Christ and so have died to myself and sin, yet I continued to sin. So in the end the mark on my skin actually become a symbol of hypocrisy – what should have been a sign helping me remain faithful to Christ ended up as a testimony to my faithlessness, proving that even within days I was still a sinner who disobeyed God despite an outward statement to the contrary. This is why I don’t tell anyone it is a sign of my faith in Christ or even think of it that way myself anymore. It is just a mark on my skin.

What makes this story even more ludicrous is that four years prior to getting the tattoo I had an experience in which God made me acutely aware of the nature of faith, the ongoing gift that faith is from God.

I was experiencing a very low point in my life, feeling lonely, stressed and depressed. Some elements of the Christian life that I had relied on as essential to my faith had been smashed out from under me and frankly I didn’t really want to be a Christian anymore, the cost seemed too high and what the world had to offer seemed more attractive. The only thing keeping me from throwing my Christian convictions away was fear: if God actually was real then so also was hell and Satan and demons and I was really scared of the idea of all of those.

I distinctly remember praying, or complaining, to God that there was nothing supporting my faith – it looked set to crumble at any moment and I was desperately afraid that it would indeed fail. At that time I received one of the very few immediate and direct answers I have ever gotten from God: It was as though God replied that this is the very nature of faith, simple trust in Christ without any grounds in myself for being able to trust in Him. By nature my faith will always feel terrifyingly fragile because there is nothing in me to merit God’s approval, I am utterly at the mercy of Jesus and come to Him based on His promises, nothing else.

In a sense, the weakness of my faith, my fear that it would be non-existent tomorrow and my pleading with Jesus to not let me fall was proof that it was actually faith in Him. In this small way, I can see what Paul is meaning that “when I am weak, then I am strong” ( 2 Corinthians 12:10). I cannot trust in myself in any way, not even with constant reminders to live a holy life, because my only hope is in Christ. Any ‘outward sign’ will always become a stumbling block because it will draw me to trust in it rather than in Christ alone.

So my challenge to you all is to face your fears and be weak. Let your strengths fade away, discard any crutch that convinces you that, ‘you are a good Christian because…’. Being a good Christian is not worth having, being Christ’s is worth losing all else to gain, as Paul so eloquently states in Philippians:

Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— (Philippians 3:8-9).

Thanks to Richard N for the sermon title!

In Simple faith , ,
permalink

We are lepers compelled to share

March 8, 2010

Romans 1:28-32

Have you ever gossiped, boasted, coveted or been disobedient to your parents? Are you aware that you deserve to die for doing that?

Is Paul perhaps overstating his case here a bit? What is the point he is trying to make?

Is Paul overstating his case?

Our culture would very much like to think so, as Romans 1:32 indicates — they not only do these things but approve the practice of such behaviours.

However, despite our innate desire to have others agree that our dubious behaviour is really OK, Paul has already asserted that we actually know better. God has revealed His divine nature and eternal power to everyone so that we are without excuse — we know there at least could be a God and that if there was, He certainly would not approve of this sort of behaviour. This has been established in Romans 1:18-21.

So what is the point that Paul is trying to make in Romans 1:28-32?

To understand this we need an overview of what Paul’s purpose was in writing to the Roman Christians. Fortunately he tells us fairly plainly in Romans 15:20-24. Basically, Paul wants their support for his plans to spread the gospel to Spain.

Paul is compelled to spread the gospel into regions where Christ is not yet known and this letter to the Christians in Rome is showing why he feels so compelled. He has already stated in Romans 1:14 that he is under obligation to all people to preach the gospel to them.

Then he shows that all people have suppressed the truth about God which is revealed throughout creation. Their thinking has become darkened, they have turned away from acknowledging God to worshiping created things and the creations of their own hands. Therefore God has given people over to debased relationships, from the most intimate through to the superficial. The dysfunction of their relationships and interactions with others is the judgement of God already at work in them.

The unfolding of the beginning of this letter is like the unfolding of the book of Genesis. God creates and His glory is manifest, man reaches out in an attempt to be like God, judgement is pronounced upon man and he is cast from God’s presences yet continues attempting to make himself great with the tower of Babel. The wickedness of man is great and the thoughts of his heart are evil continually (Genesis 6:5). In Romans 1:29-31 Paul lists a sample of the ways in which the thoughts of the hearts of people are evil.

When you read this list of sins do you not resonate with the thought that at least some of these deserve strong punishment? And that all of them are undesirable, that if nobody was foolish, faithless, heartless or ruthless we would all be better off?

Excellent! Paul is wanting you to recognize that there is wrong in the world. Once you acknowledge this he drops the bomb of Romans 2:1.

Paul wants us to come to a judgement on evil and sin, and shows that in judging we also condemn ourselves. He has destroyed the validity of universalism — the notion that everyone will get to heaven, either because they are really not that bad, or because God is not so nasty as to judge and condemn anyone. Chapter 1 of Romans shows plainly that we all not only deserve judgement and wrath, but that we have already been judged and are currently under wrath, having been handed over to debased minds, dishonourable passions and the lusts of our hearts.

THIS is why Paul is compelled to preach the gospel, because it is universally needed! Nobody will get into heaven because they are naturally good or as a result of obeying some hazy understanding they have of God that they comprehend through nature — the general revelation leads to condemnation, not salvation. We suppress the truth, we don’t honour it!

Romans 1:16 clearly states that the gospel is the power of salvation, and Romans 2:8 states that those who do not obey the truth are destined for wrath and fury. Without the gospel, everyone is going to hell.

In case this seems too drastic — nasty, mean old Paul, not that gentle Jesus meek and mild also speaks much about judgement and hell. For example: In the story of Lazarus and the rich man in Luke 16:19-31, the rich man is in torment in hell; Jesus tells us to fear God who can destroy body and soul in hell (Matthew 10:28); and he warns that it is better to chop off anything that leads to sin rather than to end up in hell (Mark 9:43-48).

We cannot escape the horrifying truth that all those people who do not respond to the gospel by putting their faith in Jesus Christ will end up in eternal torment in hell. This is an awful thing to consider — it is supposed to be, you should shudder in horror at the thought. Paul was desperate to ensure everyone had access to the truth that can save them from hell.

Paul said, “I am under obligation both to Greeks and barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish“. If we think nobody ‘deserves’ to go to hell then we are the bearers of the only way to stop them ending up there. Whether those people are like us or foreign to us, whether they are atheist academics or drunken louts on the streets, the message is as simple as Romans 10:9.

…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.

God has given us the book of Romans so we can be completely clear that everyone needs to be saved from the wrath and fury of God, and how to be saved, and the effects our salvation will have upon our hearts. Like Paul we will realize that we are obligated to all people to tell the truth of how to be saved. This sense of obligation is like that of the lepers who found the loot in the Syrian camp after the army had fled (see 2 Kings 7:3-9).

Paul has shown us that every soul who is alive today is under condemnation and destined for horror much worse than that awful siege and famine. Jesus has given us freely a salvation infinitely better than the feast these lepers enjoyed. If we keep this salvation to ourselves, “We are not doing right. This day is a day of good news. If we are silent and wait till morning light (to tell the good news), punishment will overtake us.“

Other posts related to this topic:

In Simple faith , ,
permalink