Clean Up Your Act?



Romans 5:1-11
1Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.  Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. 11 More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

I’ve had more than a few people tell me over the years that they will come to God after they clean up their lives. They knew that there were aspects of their everyday life that certainly weren’t up to God’s standards, so improvements were going to have to be made in order for them to come to Him. And if we are earning our way into God’s presence through our own actions, I can see where that idea makes sense. But that’s just not how it works in God’s economy. This passage completely belies that concept.

Our reading for today is a big one. If you’re going for theological depth, here it is. In order not to miss anything, we’re going to take it point by point.

  • A thorough discussion of Abraham has proven that we are not justified by our actions or deeds, but by God given faith. Abraham was nothing remarkable. He was most probably a polytheist (believed in multiple gods) when God chose him out of humanity to be the father of His people and the ancestor of Jesus Christ. He didn’t earn that privilege or work to gain his righteousness. God simply declared Abraham righteous and so he was. He did nothing to bring peace between God and himself. God did all the work.
  • Because of our faith in the work of Jesus, we are at peace with God; but that peace does not mean a stress-free life. We will still suffer because sin still exists in the world. But we do get to decide if we’re going to carry those stresses alone or let God do all the heavy lifting.
  • Even suffering has a worthy outcome – hope. Hope, by the Biblical definition mean “confident expectation.” We are wishing for a brighter future. We hope in what God has promised. We can be confident because God’s promises are sure.
  • Jesus suffered and died because of our sins long before we had “cleaned up our lives.” He died for those who were inherently His enemies because of our complete lack of holiness. If God waited for us to get ready to be saved it would never happen. God loves us too much to make that a stipulation.
  • Now we are reconciled to Him through Jesus Christ. It seems simple – because it is.
As I read back over the “points” I again marvel at the simple beauty of God’s plan and the overwhelming extent of His grace. We don’t deserve it, we didn’t earn it, we didn’t even expect it – yet Jesus died to reconcile us with God. It’s unprecedented and completely true. So if you’re trying to clean up your act before you respond to God, give it up. Instead, just receive His embrace.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

יהוה שָׁמַר--Yahweh Shamar (God Watches)

Image
Psalm 121 1 I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? 2 My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. 3 He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. 4 Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. 5 The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand. 6 The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. 7 The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. 8 The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore. There are numerous passages I cling to when stress takes over my life. I would be hard pressed to declare a favorite, but this psalm would come close. So this morning I listened to Psalm 121 about 20 times as I meditated through the verses. First, I want to point out that the word or idea of shamar appears in every verse expect 6. The NIV uses the word "watch" while the ESV uses "keep". The...
Read more

Excusez-moi

Image
2 Kings 23:31-37 31 Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of Libnah. 32 And he did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to all that his fathers had done. 33 And Pharaoh Neco put him in bonds at Riblah in the land of Hamath, that he might not reign in Jerusalem, and laid on the land a tribute of a hundred talents of silver and a talent of gold. 34 And Pharaoh Neco made Eliakim the son of Josiah king in the place of Josiah his father, and changed his name to Jehoiakim. But he took Jehoahaz away, and he came to Egypt and died there. 35 And Jehoiakim gave the silver and the gold to Pharaoh, but he taxed the land to give the money according to the command of Pharaoh. He exacted the silver and the gold of the people of the land, from everyone according to his assessment, to give it to Pharaoh Neco. 36 Jehoiakim was twenty-fiv...
Read more

Narrow Door

Image
Luke 13:22-30 22 He went on his way through towns and villages, teaching and journeying toward Jerusalem. 23 And someone said to him, “Lord, will those who are saved be few?” And he said to them , 24 “Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. 25 When once the master of the house has risen and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, open to us,’ then he will answer you, ‘I do not know where you come from.’ 26 Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’ 27 But he will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of evil!’ 28 In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God but you yourselves cast out. 29 And people will come from east and west, and from north and south, and recline at tabl...
Read more