A Conclusion?

Posted on by korgrocker

“Well then, should we conclude that we Jews are better than others? No, not at all, for we have already shown that all people, whether Jews or Gentiles, are under the power of sin. As the Scriptures say, “No one is righteous— not even one.”
Romans 3:9-10 NLT

Paul is finally reaching a conclusion to his rant about his fellow Jews. We don’t know how it was received in the Roman church, but hopefully there were positive outcomes. He asked the question if Jews were better than Gentiles, and then quite emphatically stated that they weren’t, because all people “are under the power of sin”, regardless of their heritage. And, to support his conclusion, he quotes verses from Psalms 14 and 53.

Psalm 14, a Davidic psalm, starts with a rather depressing theme about those who turn their backs on God, as being foolish. Verses 2 and 3 read, “The Lord looks down from heaven on the entire human race; he looks to see if anyone is truly wise, if anyone seeks God. But no, all have turned away; all have become corrupt. No one does good, not a single one”! If David had just stopped there then there would have been no hope for anyone, let alone God’s people. The only logical outcome would have been another flood to enable God to start again, in the hope that the next race of people would behave better. Thankfully, of course, God made a covenant that He would never wipe out sinful humanity again. And David went on in Psalm 14 to record three things about God’s people. David wrote, “… for God is with those who obey him … the Lord will protect his people … the Lord restores his people” (Psalm 14:5-7).

But Paul, in his letter to the Romans, was laying the foundations for what he was about to say in the chapters and verses to come. It all started with sin, he said. The powerful hold that sin has over mankind. If it was just left there then there would be no hope, regardless of who their ancestors were, whether Jew or Gentile. But we pilgrims today have the benefit of a handbook of examples and instructions, to enable us to live a life free of the power of sin. Over it all, and through the sacrifice of Jesus at Calvary, we can respond to Paul and say that we stand righteous before God, because Jesus took on board mankind’s sin and unrighteousness. He knew that when he wrote this letter, and in the days and weeks to come we too will follow his very clear and detailed thinking.

Dear God. We thank You for Your servant Paul, and his willingness to record what You were saying to the early church. Please help us too to listen to Paul’s words and act upon them. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Sinful Logic

Posted on by korgrocker

““But,” some might say, “our sinfulness serves a good purpose, for it helps people see how righteous God is. Isn’t it unfair, then, for him to punish us?” (This is merely a human point of view.) Of course not! If God were not entirely fair, how would he be qualified to judge the world? “But,” someone might still argue, “how can God condemn me as a sinner if my dishonesty highlights his truthfulness and brings him more glory?” And some people even slander us by claiming that we say, “The more we sin, the better it is!” Those who say such things deserve to be condemned.”
Romans 3:5-8 NLT

From Paul’s account, it looks as though there are some in Rome who are mocking God’s grace. They are saying that in order for God’s grace to be covering mankind, we must sin more and more. And the argument continues by pointing out that God will get more glory if His righteousness shines so much brighter than the dark nature of man’s unrighteousness. Warped logic? Perhaps an example of someone taking a truth in isolation, or out of context, and developing it into something far removed from what the original intent was. There have been many such religious examples over the years.

The logic seems to say that if we do something sinful or wicked, then God will make something positive out of it, thus demonstrating His righteousness. I wonder if Judas will try and justify himself before God by claiming that because he betrayed Jesus, salvation of mankind ultimately resulted. But Judas’s problem is that he still did something wicked. What God made of it was nothing to do with Judas but was part of His plan for mankind. If Judas hadn’t stepped into the role of betrayer, then God would have allowed someone else to act as a catalyst for His plan of salvation. Judas will still be held to account for his sin one day.

Although sinfulness may expose God’s righteousness, that is no help to the sinner. Sin will create a barrier between God and us. When we sin we cut ourselves off from the experience of God’s love, not because He loves us any less, but because we reject His love through our sin. And our sin, if not dealt with, will set us off on the slippery path that ends with God’s judgement. But we are so grateful that through God’s grace, we have a means to deal with our sin. The Gospel is clear and unambiguous. Peter’s sermon on the day of Pentecost included the following verse, “Peter replied, “Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38). Such love. Such grace.

How can we go on sinning, and by so doing wave our fists in God’s face, rejecting His love and kindness? How can we deliberately sin when we know how much pain it causes our loving Heavenly Father? But His grace will transform us, through faith, to become righteous before Him. So, we don’t become spiritually disorientated, making up stupid arguments, and becoming distracted by a false logic. We respond to the love of our Heavenly Father with grateful hearts. Always.

Dear Heavenly Father. We thank You for Your grace and love. What else can we do, kneeling before You in worship? Amen

God is Faithful

Posted on by korgrocker

“True, some of them were unfaithful; but just because they were unfaithful, does that mean God will be unfaithful? Of course not! Even if everyone else is a liar, God is true. As the Scriptures say about Him, “You will be proved right in what you say, and you will win your case in court.””
Romans 3:3-4 NLT

In the previous verse in Romans 3, we read that “the Jews were entrusted with the whole revelation of God“. And we discovered that with such knowledge there comes a great personal responsibility. Paul conceded in his letter that not all Jews had been faithful to the Covenant God had made with them, but he pointed out that just because some Jews didn’t keep their side of the bargain, didn’t mean that God would keep His. 

One thing about God is that he is constant. He never changes. He provides us with a stable and far-reaching foundation, unshakeable in a world that is constantly changing around us. There are some things which it is impossible for God to do or be. One thing is that it is impossible for God to change. We read in Malachi 3:6, “I am the Lord, and I do not change. That is why you descendants of Jacob are not already destroyed“. Another thing God just cannot do is to tell a lie. Numbers 23:19, “God is not a man, so he does not lie. He is not human, so he does not change his mind. Has he ever spoken and failed to act? Has he ever promised and not carried it through“? And one thing of benefit to the Jews, no matter how they behaved, was that God was never going to be unfaithful to His Covenant. 

Paul quotes from Psalm 51:4, that Davidic Psalm of confession and contrition, “Against you, and you alone, have I sinned; I have done what is evil in your sight. You will be proved right in what you say, and your judgment against me is just“. David got it. And he knew that God’s judgement was righteous and just, and was coming one day. He kept short accounts with God and so must we. In John 3:17, John recorded what Jesus said about judgement. “God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him“. But in the following verses, Jesus said, “There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son. And the judgment is based on this fact: God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil. All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed“. 

We pilgrims are children of God. And as such we too have Godly attributes, increasingly important in our Godless days. We stand in the gap between God and those around us, pleading with Him for their forgiveness, because they indeed fail to realise the consequences of turning their backs on the only One who can give them assurance for their future. To those in our families and communities we exemplify God and His ways, His person, His attributes. We stand on the foundations of His Word, strong and secure, unmoved by anything that the world throws at us.

Dear Father God. To You, the immutable and unchangeable One, we give our praise and worship. Amen.

The Jewish Advantage

Posted on by korgrocker

“Then what’s the advantage of being a Jew? Is there any value in the ceremony of circumcision? Yes, there are great benefits! First of all, the Jews were entrusted with the whole revelation of God.”
Romans 3:1-2 NLT

Chapter Three of Romans starts with the question, “what’s the advantage of being a Jew? By now, the Jewish Christians must have been feeling totally demoralised, having had their religious rug pulled out from under their feet. They were bruised and battered, trying to develop a new paradigm for their faith, and perhaps feeling that nothing made sense any more. Having decided that they might just as well have never bothered to be circumcised (not that they would remember anything about it because it always happened by the time they were eight days old, and then only to the male child), Paul then told them that there were great benefits. I can hear them thinking that it’s about time he made his mind up. But what are the benefits of circumcision?

God made it clear in the Old Testament that there were two forms of circumcision. We know about the outward form, but, more importantly, there is an internal circumcision. We read in Deuteronomy 30:6, “The Lord your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live”. The New Living Translation replaces “circumcise your hearts” with “change your hearts”, perhaps making the meaning more understandable. Through the “ceremony of circumcision”the Jews were entrusted with something precious, the knowledge about God and what He required of human beings. Deuteronomy 30 sets out the positives of knowing God and following Him in obedience, and the negative result in not doing so. The “Jews were entrusted with the whole revelation of God” and they knew very clearly what that meant. Great benefits of course. But great responsibilities as well.

That’s the problem with knowledge – it comes with a responsibility. As an example, the discovery of penicillin would have been no good at all on its own. But the inventor shared his research with others and as a consequence, the way bacterial diseases were treated was transformed. God revealed Himself to His chosen people the Jews. Initially, that knowledge was to be applied to them as a nation, and the Old Testament is full of stories of the struggle they had in trying to adhere to what God required. That struggle would still be going on except for one fact – Jesus. God in His mercy sent His Son to establish a new Covenant between God and man. We pilgrims are very aware of that – I’m writing this on Christmas Eve and in my spirit I can feel a sense of excitement building up. Tomorrow we remember that day long ago when Jesus was born. Emmanuel, God with us. 

Just as the Jews “were entrusted with the whole revelation of God”, so too are we New Covenant pilgrims entrusted with the revelation of Jesus. With that knowledge comes the responsibility of sharing it with those around us. And the time could not be more appropriate. The Western society around us has lost its way spiritually. A quote from a newspaper this morning about the increasingly “woke” nature of our society. “In cultures which reject or forget metaphysical belief systems, the desire for belief does not disappear, but becomes ungrounded. You have beliefs, but you no longer know their shape and foundations“. We pilgrims have an opportunity and an obligation to put society’s feet back on the ground, the true “ground” of a belief in the one true God who has all the answers to man’s confusion. We have a mission to reconnect people who have lost their way with our wonderful Heavenly Father. And there is no better way than to introduce them to Jesus.

Dear Lord. Thank You for Your grace and mercy, for the love that has cut across all the world’s sin and wickedness with an offer too good to be true. But true it is. We pray for the opportunities to connect those in our families and communities with the one true God. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

A Changed Heart

Posted on by korgrocker

“For you are not a true Jew just because you were born of Jewish parents or because you have gone through the ceremony of circumcision. No, a true Jew is one whose heart is right with God. And true circumcision is not merely obeying the letter of the law; rather, it is a change of heart produced by the Spirit. And a person with a changed heart seeks praise from God, not from people.”
Romans 2:28-29 NLT

The writer of the Roman letter, Saul of Tarsus, later to be called Paul, had a change of heart one day. It was a dramatic, cataclysmic event that totally changed his life. But it wasn’t just his heart that was changed. The narrative starts in Acts 8, with a mention of a man called Saul witnessing the murder of the first Christian martyr, Stephen. And Saul was so incensed by what he perceived as a dangerous threat, posed by the early Christians who were referred to as “the Way”, to the sanctity of the Jewish religion, that he started to persecute them. We read in Acts 8:3, “But Saul was going everywhere to destroy the church. He went from house to house, dragging out both men and women to throw them into prison”. Dramatic stuff. The story continues in the next chapter. We read in Acts 9:1, “Meanwhile, Saul was uttering threats with every breath and was eager to kill the Lord’s followers. So he went to the high priest”. Equipped with letters of authority, Saul headed off to Damascus to create mayhem there. But on the Damascus Road, something even more dramatic happened. We read in Acts 9:3-5, “As he was approaching Damascus on this mission, a light from heaven suddenly shone down around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul! Saul! Why are you persecuting me?” “Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked. And the voice replied, “I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting!” Blinded by the light in his vision, and after a few days, Saul was baptised, publicly declaring his conversion to become a follower of Jesus. That encounter with the risen Jesus totally upended Saul’s life. But then something equally as dramatic occurred. We read in Acts 9:19b-20, “… Saul stayed with the believers in Damascus for a few days. And immediately he began preaching about Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is indeed the Son of God!”” A “change of heart“? I would say so!

For us pilgrims, we too had a “change of heart“. It may not have been so dramatic as Saul’s, on that Damascus Road. But it would have been real nevertheless. That point in our lives when we turned around, from a life of evil and wickedness, and instead turned towards Jesus, bringing our sins to the foot of His cross at Calvary. And there we received the forgiveness that our spirits yearned for. Through God’s on-going grace and mercy, the offer remains.

But following his “change of heart”, Saul became Paul and one of the most effective evangelists this world has ever seen. We too have a mission. The manifestation of God’s grace through Jesus in our lives cannot be suppressed within us. We have to shout it out. Especially in these last days as the persecution of Christians increases day by day, drip by drip. We may feel that there is no persecution of Christians in our Western societies, but just this week the Scottish Government approved legislation allowing 16-year olds to self-certify which gender they wanted to adopt, in the process cutting right across the God-given order of gender and sexuality. That’s persecution. And in another instance, a woman was arrested in England this week for silently praying outside a closed abortion clinic. It appear that she was not allowed to think her prayers. That’s persecution. 

The early Christians didn’t care about persecution and neither must we. In these dark days we can only keep praying for those in our families and communities, that they too may experience a “change of heart” assuring and ensuring their salvation. And we pray too for our countries. Please join me in praying for Scotland, and particularly for those who have been badly let down by deluded Scottish politicians who, rather than help young people face their challenges with compassion, instead enable them, even encourage them, to embark on a ruinous journey of personal confusion that will not end well before God’s throne.

Father God. We ask for forgiveness for all those who are intent on disrupting Your ways. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

A True Jew

Posted on by korgrocker

“For you are not a true Jew just because you were born of Jewish parents or because you have gone through the ceremony of circumcision. No, a true Jew is one whose heart is right with God. And true circumcision is not merely obeying the letter of the law; rather, it is a change of heart produced by the Spirit. And a person with a changed heart seeks praise from God, not from people.”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭2‬:‭28‬-‭29‬ ‭NLT

What is our children’s position before God? Does there come a point when they emerge from the covering of their parents (assuming they are Christians of course) and stand on their own two feet, responsible to God for their own relationship with Him. There is such a time, of course. But before that, Christian parents must bring up their children to have a knowledge of God, teaching them to pray, telling them Bible stories. Taking them to church and Sunday School. We used to have a great time on long car journeys singing the songs and choruses our children had learned in their Sunday School services. As a family we became closer to each other somehow, as we all became closer to God.

But I have heard about some Christian parents who don’t believe that they should teach their children about their faith, preferring instead to allow them to make up their own minds when they are old enough. But such a view is flawed. It would be like saying to a 17-year old that it’s his or her decision about whether or not they obey driving laws. We, of course, teach them road sense from an early age for their own safety. 

The Bible says that we should teach our children about God and His ways. Back in Deuteronomy 6:1-2 we read, “These are the commands, decrees, and regulations that the Lord your God commanded me to teach you. You must obey them in the land you are about to enter and occupy, and you and your children and grandchildren must fear the Lord your God as long as you live. If you obey all his decrees and commands, you will enjoy a long life”. Later in the same chapter we read, “And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today. Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up” (Deuteronomy 6:6-7). 

There was a special place in Jesus’ ministry for children. We read in Matthew 19:14-15, “But Jesus said, “Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to those who are like these children.” And he placed his hands on their heads and blessed them before he left“. And there are several Proverbs like this one, “Direct your children onto the right path, and when they are older, they will not leave it” (Proverbs 22:6). 

Paul pointed out to his hearers that their standing before God has nothing to do with their birth credentials or whether or not they were circumcised. It was all about getting their hearts right with God. It’s all about “a change of heart produced by the Spirit”, he said. And he also pointed out that there had to be a time when the umbilical cord to their parents was cut, to allow the children to make their own decision for Christ. There has to be a radical cutting off from our past and instead a commitment to a new way in God’s presence. Paul himself made such a decision. We read in Galatians 2:20, “My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me“. And it’s the same for us pilgrims. Like Paul, we too must trust alone in our wonderful Saviour, Jesus Christ.

Dear Father God. Thank You for reminding us that You are in the heart-changing business. We pray for the heart surgery we need to truly be Your followers. In Jesus’ name. Amen. 

Gentiles – God’s Own People?

Posted on by korgrocker

“And if the Gentiles obey God’s law, won’t God declare them to be his own people? In fact, uncircumcised Gentiles who keep God’s law will condemn you Jews who are circumcised and possess God’s law but don’t obey it.”
Romans‬ ‭2‬:‭26‬-‭27‬ ‭NLT

This statement from Paul must have been highly upsetting to the Jews. How dare he say such things, they must have thought. But Jesus did much the same to the Pharisees. In John 8, the Apostle John recorded the gist of a conversation Jesus had with some Jewish people of His day. And the dialogue highlights exactly what Paul was saying to his Jewish Christian friends in Rome. We read what the Pharisees said in John 8:33, ““But we are descendants of Abraham,” they said. “We have never been slaves to anyone. What do you mean, ‘You will be set free’?”” The Jews basically took the huff because Jesus seemed to be saying to them that they were missing the most important truths that have ever been exposed. They thought, wrongly of course, that because they were of Abrahamic descent, everything about their lives and future was OK.

To take a step back, Jesus made an astonishing claim about Himself when He said, “… You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free“. He went on to clarify that He was talking about being a slave to sin, and He went on, “So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free” (John 8:36).‭‭ This was an incredible claim that Jesus made, and it dropped into the Pharisaical culture like an atom bomb. And to really rub it in, Jesus went on to challenge the whole basis for the Abrahamic religion practised by the Jews in His day. The Pharisees said, ““Our father is Abraham!” they declared. “No,” Jesus replied, “for if you were really the children of Abraham, you would follow his example” (John 8:39). And Jesus led them straight back to the very foundations of their faith. We read in Genesis 15:6, “And Abram believed the Lord, and the Lord counted him as righteous because of his faith“. 

It’s not religion that will save us. When we stand before God it will do our cause no good at all if all we can do is to base our claim to salvation on our religious ways. On how much we gave to the church offering, how often we went to church, how many hymns or carols we could sing by memory. How familiar we are with the denominational liturgies, or what church volunteering opportunities we became involved with. What really counts is our faith. The Apostle Paul said to the Philippians church, “… 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). 

Paul said to the Roman Jews that His people are not those who, even though circumcised and Jews by birth, fail to obey His law. And he pointed out to them that the uncircumcised Gentiles who keep God’s law have a mandate to condemn the Jews who don’t. 

We pilgrims today look back at the situation that erupted between Paul and the early Christians in Rome, and are perhaps tempted to take the moral high ground. But we shouldn’t, because we can fall into the same attitudes of mind, the same traps, that Paul’s readers had obviously done. Faith and obedience are the parameters that drive us to be true followers of Jesus. Not religion and liturgies.

Dear Father God. It’s all about You and Your love, not about us and our religions. We commit afresh to following Your Son Jesus today, with faith and obedience. Amen.

Circumcision

Posted on by korgrocker

“The Jewish ceremony of circumcision has value only if you obey God’s law. But if you don’t obey God’s law, you are no better off than an uncircumcised Gentile.”
Romans‬ ‭2‬:‭25‬ ‭NLT

Way back in Genesis 17 we read about how God decided to make a covenant with a man, then called Abram. “When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am El-Shaddai—‘God Almighty.’ Serve me faithfully and live a blameless life. I will make a covenant with you, by which I will guarantee to give you countless descendants” (Genesis 17:1-2).

From God’s side of the covenant, He promised Abram many descendants, and a land in which to live. In the process, his name was changed from Abram (“exalted father”) to Abraham (“father of a multitude”, confirming that God promised that Abraham would become the father of many nations. But Abraham also had his side of the bargain to keep. We read this in Genesis 17:10-11, “This is the covenant that you and your descendants must keep: Each male among you must be circumcised. You must cut off the flesh of your foreskin as a sign of the covenant between Me and you”. And so the Jewish custom of circumcision was introduced and faithfully followed generation after generation, right up until the present day.

However, Paul was continuing in his tirade against the Jewish Christians in Rome, who were all puffed up with their self-perceived status as special Christians. Perhaps there was a whiff of Gnosticism lurking in the air. But whatever the situation was, Paul dropped a bombshell – he told them there’s no point in being circumcised in you don’t obey God’s law. And just to add to their discomfort, he said, because of that, they might as well be uncircumcised Gentiles, surely an insult if there ever was one.

Is there a learning opportunity here for us 21st Century pilgrims? I would say so. And I’m not suggesting that all us men rush out and find a clinic prepared to circumcise us. Perish the thought! No – for the Jews, circumcision was supposed to be an outward sign of someone dedicated to God and His service. But sadly they ended up going through the motions of their religion, but neglecting its spirit. They felt secure in their physical status but were missing what that status really meant. Paul wrote very clearly to the Corinthian Christians the following, “For it makes no difference whether or not a man has been circumcised. The important thing is to keep God’s commandments“. (1 Corinthians 7:19). 

We pilgrims must be a people who are obedient to keeping God’s commandments, in the way Jesus taught in Matthew 22:37, “Jesus replied, “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind””. A people who are in a loving relationship with our wonderful Heavenly Father. Paul said to the Philippians, “For we who worship by the Spirit of God are the ones who are truly circumcised. We rely on what Christ Jesus has done for us. We put no confidence in human effort” (Philippians 3:3). Paul said in his Colossian letter, “When you came to Christ, you were “circumcised,” but not by a physical procedure. Christ performed a spiritual circumcision—the cutting away of your sinful nature” (Colossians 2:11). So, the whole meaning of the word “circumcision” has been expanded to mean the removal of our sinful nature, and by so doing, has brought us closer to being the people God wants us to be. 

Sadly, many Christians have become somewhat tarnished in their faith. They go through the motions of the religion, attending church, warming a pew, putting an offering in the collection bag and so on, without stopping to think about what they are doing, or are supposed to be doing. The loving relationship that God so desires with His creation is far from their hearts. By so doing they are behaving much like the Jewish Christians in Rome. Perhaps, Paul would have said to them that they may as well have been unbelievers.

The clear message to us pilgrims is this – don’t get caught up in the trap that Paul warned his protégé Timothy of. We read in 2 Timothy 3:5, “They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. Stay away from people like that!”

Father God. We are so sorry that we neglect the loving relationship so freely available to us all. We get so caught up in our daily activities that we forget to put You at the centre of what we do. Please forgive us, we pray. Amen.

Blasphemy

Posted on by korgrocker

“You who call yourselves Jews are relying on God’s law, and you boast about your special relationship with him. You know what he wants; you know what is right because you have been taught his law. You are convinced that you are a guide for the blind and a light for people who are lost in darkness. You think you can instruct the ignorant and teach children the ways of God. For you are certain that God’s law gives you complete knowledge and truth. Well then, if you teach others, why don’t you teach yourself? You tell others not to steal, but do you steal? You say it is wrong to commit adultery, but do you commit adultery? You condemn idolatry, but do you use items stolen from pagan temples? You are so proud of knowing the law, but you dishonour God by breaking it. No wonder the Scriptures say, “The Gentiles blaspheme the name of God because of you.””
Romans‬ ‭2‬:‭17‬-‭24‬ ‭NLT

Paul wrote a withering and hard-hitting critique of the behaviour of the Jewish Christians in Rome. He pulled no punches and the more sensitive of his hearers would have been squirming in their seats with red faces as Paul’s letter was read out. There is no direct quotation “The Gentiles blaspheme the name of God because of you” that the Bible scholars have been able to find, but the nearest one, they say, is from Isaiah 52:5, which reads, “”What is this?” asks the Lord. “Why are my people enslaved again? Those who rule them shout in exultation. My name is blasphemed all day long.”” If that was the Scripture Paul had in mind, then he seemed to be quoting it a bit out of context, but that just adds to the authenticity of his account. The meaning of Isaiah 52:5 fits in very well with Paul’s tirade, particularly when it moves on to verse 7 in the chapter. 

But what is blasphemy? The word is not in common everyday use, even in our churches. But it is a very important word, because it describes the “act of insulting or showing contempt or lack of reverence for God” (dictionary definition). In Isaiah 52, the background is of a people oppressed by a stronger nation, first Egypt and then Assyria. And the contempt shown to God’s people, the Jews, leads to God’s name being blasphemed “all day long”. In a sense, today, Western Christians are treated with contempt. We are considered to be deluded, worshipping a being that is foreign to the secularists in the society around us. A being they perceive as being more a tradition than anything relevant. A being only found, within old dusty buildings filled with the music and lyrics of a bygone age, long gone. But there’s a strange phenomenon – all these people who don’t know God, who deny His very presence, and who want nothing to do with Him –  they use His name frequently as part of colloquial expletives in conversation. I’ve written before about a lady I used to work with who, although a confirmed, and even mildly aggressive, atheist, frequently punctuated her conversations with “Oh my god”, presumably to add some weight to the more extreme parts of her dialogue. But she had failed to make the connection between her state of God-denial and the use of His name in her conversation. After I had pointed out this anomaly, I never heard her use the expression again. But there are other references to the names of God and Jesus that are frequently used in our society, in a sadly wearying and constant flow of blasphemy.

In some cultures and religions, blasphemy is a capital offence. Apparently, there are thirteen countries in the world that retain the death penalty for the offence of blasphemy. 

But back to our Scriptures in Isaiah 52. In Isaiah 52:6, God introduced a “but”. Don’t we need God’s “buts”! We read, “But I will reveal my name to my people, and they will come to know its power. Then at last they will recognize that I am the one who speaks to them”. As God’s people, we know it doesn’t matter what those unbelievers around us say, because one day they will be held to account for their words. They can blaspheme all they like. The important thing is that God said He will reveal His name to us, His people. And He says it’s a powerful name. 

One day, all those people who blaspheme God’s name will have a nasty shock. What they considered and used so contemptibly will bring them to their knees and they will have to declare that Jesus is Lord. We read that in Philippians 2:10-11, “that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father”. 

Back in our verses from Romans, the enormity of the responsibility we have is clear. Are we pilgrims doing anything, or behaving in such a way, that causes those around us to blaspheme? It’s always a good thing to do a spiritual check up from time to time, to make sure that what we are doing, or the way we are doing it, never dishonours God. 

Father God. We echo the prayer Jesus taught His disciples and hallow Your name today. We honour You. We elevate You in our thoughts and prayers. We declare our love for You, the one and only Mighty God. Amen.

Being Self-Taught

Posted on by korgrocker

“You who call yourselves Jews are relying on God’s law, and you boast about your special relationship with him. You know what he wants; you know what is right because you have been taught his law. You are convinced that you are a guide for the blind and a light for people who are lost in darkness. You think you can instruct the ignorant and teach children the ways of God. For you are certain that God’s law gives you complete knowledge and truth. Well then, if you teach others, why don’t you teach yourself? You tell others not to steal, but do you steal? You say it is wrong to commit adultery, but do you commit adultery? You condemn idolatry, but do you use items stolen from pagan temples? You are so proud of knowing the law, but you dishonour God by breaking it. No wonder the Scriptures say, “The Gentiles blaspheme the name of God because of you.””
Romans‬ ‭2‬:‭17‬-‭24‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Paul pointed out to his Jewish Christian friends that before they could have a mandate to teach others, they needed to be able to teach themselves first. He wrote, “if you teach others, why don’t you teach yourself?” Though Paul wrote in the singular, the implication was that he was writing to a whole group of people. 

Teaching is a difficult job. The challenge of being able to communicate a subject or idea to a group of students in a way that engages them and transfers information, with the goal of retention by the hearer, is a skill that is unfortunately rare. This can be a problem in things like religious education, particularly here in the UK. The RE teacher will teach what is factually correct about all “faiths” but will fail to communicate the spirit behind them. So an RE student will come away from his or her classes with head but not heart knowledge. Back in my school days, just about the most unpopular subject was Latin. But me and my school friends were very fortunate in that we had a teacher who was passionate about his subject and brought the Latin language to life. As a result I still retain items of Latin grammar in my mind, even today, many years later. But teaching style was not really what Paul was writing about in his letter.

A better way of teaching is not just through the dispensation of words but by a lifestyle, that lives out the subject matter. Jesus was the Master teacher using this technique while He was here with us on earth. He spent three or so years of His life in a transparent example of how to live, really live, as a true God-follower. Not only did He “talk the talk” but He also “walked the walk”. His prayer life, His attitudes, His teaching, His love and grace, His compassion – it was all there for His disciples to emulate. And because of the faithfulness of His disciples, we have written accounts of His sinless life that we can refer to. Jesus was passionate about living life God’s way.

Paul was saying to his friends in Rome, as well as us today, that the best way of teaching others is by example. He said that if his friends were to be effective teachers, then they had to not just tell their followers how to behave but show them, from their own life experiences. As an example, an ex-drug addict is better able to reach and teach other addicts if they can demonstrate that it is possible to kick the habit and move on. But perhaps you can see where I am going. There was a day when we pilgrims had an encounter with the living God. We were transformed from being citizens of the kingdom of darkness to being citizens of the Kingdom of Light. Where we are now was summed up by the Apostle Peter in 1Peter 2:9, “But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light.” We are not people who teach others a few dusty, lifeless and historical truths about a man called Jesus. Instead, we can teach others about the wonderful Son of God, and what He has done for us. We are like the buyer of pearls that Jesus told His hearers about in Matthew 13:45-46, “Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a merchant on the lookout for choice pearls. When he discovered a pearl of great value, he sold everything he owned and bought it!” We have indeed found something so precious that we give up all we have, all we are, for the privilege of being a child of God.

But here’s the thing. We mustn’t be like the Roman Jewish Christians who apparently failed to display any of the fruit that comes from knowing God. If they had had a life-transforming and personal encounter with the risen Jesus, their lives would have been transformed. Paul was knocked off his horse by an encounter with Jesus on the Damascus Road. We may have not experienced anything quite so dramatic, but the very fact that the God of this universe cared so much about us that He sent His Son to die for us in our place, taking on Himself the punishment we deserved for our sins. The “wow!” that comes from us in response must surely impact those around us, giving us a mandate to “teach” them about the wonderful God we worship.

Dear Father. We are truly wowed by Your presence in our lives. With grateful hearts we praise You today. Amen.