Something for Nothing

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“So the promise is received by faith. It is given as a free gift. And we are all certain to receive it, whether or not we live according to the law of Moses, if we have faith like Abraham’s. For Abraham is the father of all who believe. That is what the Scriptures mean when God told him, “I have made you the father of many nations.” This happened because Abraham believed in the God who brings the dead back to life and who creates new things out of nothing.”
Romans 4:16-17 NLT

Paul mentioned two qualities of God in Romans 4:17. He said that God “brings the dead back to life” and He “creates new things out of nothing”. We considered the first yesterday, and now we will consider our creator God. We are familiar, of course, with the Genesis account. Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth“. Just a few words but breath-taking in their implication. Hebrews 11:3, “By faith we understand that the entire universe was formed at God’s command, that what we now see did not come from anything that can be seen“. ‭‭But there is that word “faith” again. By faith in a limitless God, we believe He is able to create matter from nothing.

One of my problems with the non-creation theories, such as the theory of evolution, that are prevalent in today’s secular societies, is that they fail to address a basic question – where did all the matter that forms the universe, and everything within it, come from. The paradigms adopted by our non-religious scientists and academics all assume, or take for granted, the presence of matter. But God was able to take nothing and form something from it, through no more than His Word. The writer to the Hebrews said this very clearly, “what we now see did not come from anything that can be seen”. Everything around me, my computer desk, my office walls, the hills in the distance. They are all derived from matter that God spoke into being. Abraham believed in the fact that God was able to do miraculous things, and God credited that faith to him as righteousness (Genesis 15:6).

In our secular societies, the arrogance of mankind is, at times, breathtaking. There is no doubt that in recent times there has been an explosion of advances in medical science, and the way we treat illnesses. Operations are carried out to provide people with new knees or hips, greatly improving their qualities of life. Vaccines have been developed, that reduce the risks associated with nasty viruses. And then, of course, there are the advances in technology, with the internet, computers, and smart phones. All happening within just a few short years. But rather than give the glory for such advances to God, the medics and technologists claim the glory for themselves. God created us in His own image, as we read in Genesis 1:26-27, “Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground.” So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them”. So when our brilliant scientists create a new vaccine, or discover some physical property that is put to good use, they are just doing what God created them to do. And the glory is all His.

As a side issue, the UK at the moment is embroiled in a battle about gender. But that wouldn’t be the case if our politicians read Genesis 1:27. There are only two genders – male and female. And that takes place at the point of creation, conception in the womb. It is so sad to hear about those who feel that they were born the wrong gender, but rather than help them in a Godly and compassionate way, the medics and psychiatrists abandon them to the consequences of their confusion. In Romans 1:24, we read, “So God abandoned them to do whatever shameful things their hearts desired. As a result, they did vile and degrading things with each other’s bodies”. When Paul wrote this, I’m sure he was referring to the sexual sins being committed in his times, but perhaps the Holy Spirit could see the gender debate coming up nearly two thousand years later.

We pilgrims worship an amazing God. His depths are unfathomable and unmeasurable. His capabilities are limitless. His love and grace know no bounds. His patience with sinners like us is constant. His willingness to hear and answer our prayers indisputable. He is truly awesome, and truly deserves all the glory for His awesome creation. And so through faith we reach out to Him, day by day, for all we need for life on this outpost of His Kingdom in the hostile environment of Planet Earth. The ruler of this world, the devil, hates it. But God strengthens and protects us and one day He will call us home, to be with Him forever.

Dear Father God. All we can do is express our thanks and worship You. We give You all the glory. Amen.

Death to Life

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“So the promise is received by faith. It is given as a free gift. And we are all certain to receive it, whether or not we live according to the law of Moses, if we have faith like Abraham’s. For Abraham is the father of all who believe. That is what the Scriptures mean when God told him, “I have made you the father of many nations.” This happened because Abraham believed in the God who brings the dead back to life and who creates new things out of nothing.”
Romans 4:16-17 NLT

At the time when Abraham ”… believed the Lord, and the Lord counted him as righteous because of his faith” (Genesis 15:6), God had just made the statement that Abraham’s descendants would be as numerous as the number of stars. But Paul pointed out that “Abraham believed in the God who brings the dead back to life and who creates new things out of nothing”. At this point, Isaac had not even been born – that didn’t happen until Genesis 21. But Abraham continued to believe God that He would supply him a family that would be too numerous to count. 

Do we pilgrims believe that God resurrects the dead? There are of course several Biblical examples. Take Lazarus for example. We read in John 1139-43, the incredible account of his resurrection, ““Roll the stone aside,” Jesus told them. But Martha, the dead man’s sister, protested, “Lord, he has been dead for four days. The smell will be terrible.” Jesus responded, “Didn’t I tell you that you would see God’s glory if you believe?” So they rolled the stone aside. Then Jesus looked up to heaven and said, “Father, thank you for hearing me. You always hear me, but I said it out loud for the sake of all these people standing here, so that they will believe you sent me.” Then Jesus shouted, “Lazarus, come out!”” Every time I read this passage I’m struck by its authenticity. All Martha could think about was that there would be the bad smell of a decaying corpse, which would have not taken too long in that warm climate. But Jesus had His eyes on His Father in Heaven, to God who was the Source of the power Jesus needed. 

But what about bringing the dead back to life today, on 21st Century Planet Earth? There are many Christians today who claim that such miracles died out with the original Apostles. But we mustn’t forget that every time a medic resuscitates a person who has suffered a cardiac arrest, we experience an intervention that would have been miraculous in first century society. However, Jesus gave His disciples an instruction, which we can read from Matthew 10:8, “Heal the sick, raise the dead, cure those with leprosy, and cast out demons. Give as freely as you have received!” The God I worship is all powerful, and is able to perform miraculous acts both through His people and directly. But the reality is that bringing the dead back to life is an unusual event. There is a book “Miracles: The Credibility of the New Testament Accounts” authored by Craig Keener, that sets out an in depth account of miracles throughout the world since Bible days. Worth a read. But if God performed miracles in Biblical accounts, I fail to understand why He would suddenly stop. In the end, perhaps if we all had faith like Abraham’s, miracles would become commonplace. Paul believed that God could raise the dead, so why shouldn’t we believe that as well?

We pilgrims march through life without really knowing all that much about how things will work out each day and how our lives will end on this earth. But we do have a God who leads and guides us on our journey. And the closer we stay with Him, the more light we will receive to illuminate our paths. We are living in a time of much change. But God never changes. And having “faith like Abraham’s” will take us into incredible places, so be prepared! We’ll finish today with Psalm 71:3. David said to God, “Be my rock of safety where I can always hide. Give the order to save me, for You are my Rock and my Fortress”. 

Father God. You’re an amazing God, full of love, grace and good gifts. We worship You today. Amen.

 

Free Gifts

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“So the promise is received by faith. It is given as a free gift. And we are all certain to receive it, whether or not we live according to the law of Moses, if we have faith like Abraham’s. For Abraham is the father of all who believe. That is what the Scriptures mean when God told him, “I have made you the father of many nations.” This happened because Abraham believed in the God who brings the dead back to life and who creates new things out of nothing.”
Romans 4:16-17 NLT

Paul couldn’t be clearer. His unequivocal statement was that all who have faith in God will receive, as a free gift, God’s promise. And it didn’t matter whether or not those reading his letter were trying to “live according to the Law of Moses”. They just needed to “have faith like Abraham’s”. We all love a free gift, don’t we? The trouble is that in our materialistic society we associate gifts with a physical item, such as a camera or a watch. A gadget or an item of clothing. But in the Kingdom of God, free gifts are spiritual. Gifts like eternal life, joy and peace. In 2 Peter 1:4-5a we read, “And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires. In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises …”

Peter wrote that with God’s promises we can live a life free of sin. Free of being corrupted by the world around us. And by doing so we enjoy a share in God Himself. But God’s Spirit can’t live within us if we are riddled by sin. Peter wrote that these free gifts, God’s promises, are precious. They are more valuable than any worldly gift that comes our way. There are many stories about rich and powerful men and women who lack the peace of mind to be able to enjoy what they have. Their personal lives are a mess, and their wealth has lost its shine. Some years ago I visited a house occupied by a couple who had received a modest lottery win. But their life had deteriorated because of it; they had lapsed in drunkenness and ill health. In the end, money had bought them anything except happiness.

In Ecclesiastes 2, the philosopher, probably Solomon, muses over the frustrations of chasing pleasure in a worldly environment. He starts off the chapter by writing, “I said to myself, “Come on, let’s try pleasure. Let’s look for the ‘good things’ in life.” But I found that this, too, was meaningless. So I said, “Laughter is silly. What good does it do to seek pleasure?”” (Ecclesiastes 2:1-2). Solomon was a rich king, with many wives and much in the way of possessions, but here he is mourning that true peace of mind was eluding him. In verse 8 he concludes, “… I had everything a man could desire!” But it wasn’t enough. In Ecclesiastes 2:10-11 he wrote, “Anything I wanted, I would take. I denied myself no pleasure. I even found great pleasure in hard work, a reward for all my labours. But as I looked at everything I had worked so hard to accomplish, it was all so meaningless—like chasing the wind. There was nothing really worthwhile anywhere“. Perhaps possessions had introduced him to depression.

But in the Kingdom of God, different principles come into play. Psalm 1:1-2, “Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with mockers. But they delight in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night“. At first sight, meditating on the “law of the Lord” day and night would seem to be a bit of a trial. But meditation encompasses far more than sitting in a corner with a scroll containing the ten commandments. It is a lifestyle in which God’s principles become the very centre of who we are. And in the process, God’s presence within us grows more and more. And, financially, it hasn’t cost us anything. It’s all about God and His free gifts. And the benefits keep on coming, throughout this life and into eternity. How awesome is that?

Dear Father God. We are so grateful for the gifts You have so freely given us. And keep on giving us day by day. Please help us to put them to good use. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Lawlessness

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“Clearly, God’s promise to give the whole earth to Abraham and his descendants was based not on his obedience to God’s law, but on a right relationship with God that comes by faith. If God’s promise is only for those who obey the law, then faith is not necessary and the promise is pointless. For the law always brings punishment on those who try to obey it. (The only way to avoid breaking the law is to have no law to break!)”
Romans 4:13-15 NLT

Paul now makes a valid point in his thoughts about the Law. He makes the statement that faith is not necessary if it is possible to be completely obedient to the Law. But as soon as a set of rules and regulations appear, then human beings have a tendency to become box-tickers. 
Do not murder – tick
Do not steal – tick
Do not commit adultery – tick
Do not covet your neighbours goods – errr – tick?
Love the Lord Your God with all your heart – oh dear.
Honesty compels a response that acknowledges the impossibility of being able to keep the Law. And Paul points out that punishment is the only response to the Lawbreakers. 

It is impossible to keep the Law. I always consider the difficulties of laws around speed limits. There is a tendency to resent them, but they are there nonetheless. A 30mph speed limit is difficult to keep to if we drive near that limit. Before we know it we find our speedometer recording 31mph and technically we have then broken the law. The local law enforcers may not detect our lawbreaking, but God sees everything. He knows that we have broken this particular law. A simple and trivial example I know, but one that illustrates the difficulties of keeping the Law, and the need for God’s grace to be poured out and for us human beings to live in faith. 

Paul pointed out that perhaps the remedy is to have no Law. Then there is nothing to break. Good point, but lawlessness is not helpful, as we know. Without laws, anarchy will rule our lives with disastrous consequences. In our first verse today, Romans 4:13, Paul wrote about God’s promise to Abraham. He said that this promise depended on “a right relationship with God that comes by faith”. It’s all about our faith. Back in Genesis 15:5-6 we see the scale of Abraham’s faith. “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!” And Abram believed the Lord, and the Lord counted him as righteous because of his faith”. God made an outrageously extravagant statement to Abraham, who then believed it through faith. And God was pleased with him, considering him righteous. Abraham then orientated his life around God’s promise.

What about us pilgrims today? We too have received a promise from God. For example, John 3:16, “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life”. By having faith in Jesus, believing in Him for our salvation, God promises that we will receive the right to spend eternity with Him in return. So like Abraham, we must then orientate our life around God’s promise. Through our faith we will clean up our lives, dealing with sin, avoiding worldly pleasures and so on, demonstrating to ourselves and to others, what it means to have a “right relationship with God”. We pilgrims are Kingdom people living Kingdom lives. There is no other way than to do this with faith.

Dear Father God. It’s all about You and Your grace. You know our frailties and sinful inclinations. But through faith we believe Your message, delivered through Jesus at Calvary. We are so grateful. Amen.

The Whole Earth

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“Clearly, God’s promise to give the whole earth to Abraham and his descendants was based not on his obedience to God’s law, but on a right relationship with God that comes by faith.”
Romans 4:13 NLT

Paul said that God promised to give “the whole earth to Abraham and his descendants”. This is a statement that needs to be checked out. Is it true? In Genesis, God promised to give Abraham the “land” before him. We read in Genesis 15:7, “Then the Lord told him, “I am the Lord who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land as your possession””. But that wasn’t the “whole earth”. Before we get hung up in Paul’s extrapolation, we need to remember that, “The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it. The world and all its people belong to him” (Psalm 24:1). And Jesus said in Matthew 28:18-19, “Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit”. So Paul perhaps wasn’t wrong when he made the statement about giving the “whole earth” to Abraham, who has two types of descendant – those who can directly trace their natural lineage back to him, those in the “land”, and those spiritual descendants, like Abraham himself, who have been declared righteous before God because of their faith, those in the “whole earth”.

We are God’s representatives on Planet Earth, and He has given us a mission. In fact we call it a Great Commission. And that is to take the Gospel to every nation, to give those there the opportunity to become Abraham’s spiritual children. Too big a job? We will probably not see this happen in our lifetimes, although great strides are being made in that direction. I read a news report this morning of the activities of South Korean missionaries in spreading the Gospel and building churches in Nepal. They have been hugely successful with the Gospel message of God’s grace and love, even though converting people from one religion to another is illegal in Nepal. But there will come a day when God will draw a line under Jesus’ Commission and then the Revelation events will initiate a new Heaven and Earth, populated by people who are the spiritual descendants of Abraham.

We have a limited opportunity to reach our communities, our families, our friends, with the Gospel. We currently live in a season of God’s grace. We, like the Korean missionaries, mustn’t waste it.

Dear Father God. We take responsibly the fact that You have entrusted us pilgrims to share Your Gospel in the world in which we live. Please help us, and guide us, in spreading the message. In Jesus’ name. Amen,

True Righteousness

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“Now, is this blessing only for the Jews, or is it also for uncircumcised Gentiles? Well, we have been saying that Abraham was counted as righteous by God because of his faith. But how did this happen? Was he counted as righteous only after he was circumcised, or was it before he was circumcised? Clearly, God accepted Abraham before he was circumcised! Circumcision was a sign that Abraham already had faith and that God had already accepted him and declared him to be righteous—even before he was circumcised. So Abraham is the spiritual father of those who have faith but have not been circumcised. They are counted as righteous because of their faith. And Abraham is also the spiritual father of those who have been circumcised, but only if they have the same kind of faith Abraham had before he was circumcised.”
Romans 4:9-12 NLT

Paul continues his logical analysis, designed to expose and debunk the feelings of superiority that the Jews in Rome were obviously suffering from. He challenged them with the thought that God considered that Abraham was righteous, not because he had been circumcised, but because of his faith. We read in Genesis 15:6, “And Abram believed the Lord, and the Lord counted him as righteous because of his faith.” But then some time later, we read in Genesis 17, that Abraham and his household were circumcised under the terms of the covenant God made with him. 

Paul set out a powerful argument that opened the door for all uncircumcised people to be capable of righteousness before God. We considered earlier the verse at the end of Romans 2, “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 2:29). Righteousness before God is a matter of our hearts. In Deuteronomy 30:6, we read, “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 Jews of Paul’s days were fixated on the thought that they were in a right place before God because they had been circumcised. Once again Paul reminded them that this was not necessarily the case. We pilgrims might claim that such a belief in an outward act would never apply to us. But it is possible for Christians to delude themselves, to end up in wrong thinking, replacing a heart relationship with God with something else outward and remote. I’m thinking about the liturgies and rituals we go through in practising our religion. One of them that comes to mind is the Anglican communion service, where the especially manufactured wafers and the communion wine are blessed and sanctified by the priest, and people then solemnly and individually take the sacraments. There’s nothing wrong in any of that but what about our hearts? I remember a time in such a service where two young men in the seats behind me were discussing the local football match as the priest was going through his ritual. They then proceeded to take the sacraments when they were available. What about their hearts? One of the most precious times I remember was at the end of a fellowship meal when there was some grape juice and bread left over. We spontaneously shared communion together. Jesus never said it was only the Anglican priest who could make the sacraments available. He said instead that we should remember Him through the sharing of the bread and the wine. About the bread, Jesus said, “… Then he broke it in pieces and said, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me”” (1 Corinthians 11:24). In the following verse, Jesus said, through Paul, “In the same way, he took the cup of wine after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant between God and his people—an agreement confirmed with my blood. Do this in remembrance of me as often as you drink it.””

Once again, we remind ourselves that righteousness starts with the states of our hearts. Do we believe in Jesus, in all that He has done for us, and the only way to God is through Him? Do we believe through faith that He died for us so that our sins were forgiven? Of course we do, but perhaps the Jews that Paul wrote to in Rome were a bit arrogant and confused. After they had read Paul’s letter they would have had no doubts about the source of true righteousness.

Dear Lord Jesus. We really do remember You, our wonderful Saviour. We worship You today with grateful hearts. Amen.

God Forgives Sinners

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“But people are counted as righteous, not because of their work, but because of their faith in God who forgives sinners. David also spoke of this when he described the happiness of those who are declared righteous without working for it: “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 4:5-8 NLT

It is an amazing and counter cultural fact that we receive the currency of Heaven without having to work for it. In God’s economy, “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23) but those who put their faith in God are rewarded with the most valuable currency ever invented – righteousness in God’s sight. So it is not surprising that David expressed his “joy for those whose record the Lord has cleared of sin”. 

It is easy to put our faith and forgiveness on the back burner, because we think to ourselves that Paul’s verses on faith and righteousness, death or forgiveness, will only happen after we pass from this life. But nothing could be further from the truth. Paul quoted the first two verses from the Davidic Psalm 32. But the next two verses are important. We read in Psalm 32:3-4, “When I refused to confess my sin, my body wasted away, and I groaned all day long. Day and night your hand of discipline was heavy on me. My strength evaporated like water in the summer heat.” This is reality and increasingly our medical professionals find links between our personal sinful state and our physical and mental wellbeing. God never designed us to carry a heavy load of sin. The sad thing is that so many people try and deal with their sins by visiting a psychiatrist or therapist, in the forlorn hope that in that way they will gain peace of mind. But nothing could be further from the truth. A sticking plaster approach to fixing our sins doesn’t work. There is only one remedy, and that is to have “faith in God who forgives sinners”. 

A clear conscience is the remedy for the problem that David wrote about. After suffering much physically for his state of unconfessed sin, David wrote in the next verse in Psalm 32, “Finally, I confessed all my sins to you and stopped trying to hide my guilt. I said to myself, “I will confess my rebellion to the Lord.” And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone“. And I can just imagine David jumping around in gleeful abandon, as he wrote the last verse in this Psalm, “So rejoice in the Lord and be glad, all you who obey him! Shout for joy, all you whose hearts are pure!”

In Psalm 32:6, David wrote down a warning about the urgency of dealing with, and that means the confession of, our sins, before God. We read, “Therefore, let all the godly pray to you while there is still time, that they may not drown in the floodwaters of judgment“. I read this morning about the sad and sudden death of Jeff Beck from bacterial meningitis. He was one of the guitar greats of all time for his particular genre of music, rock and blues. I don’t know where he stood in relation to God, but the suddenness of his death highlights the urgency of getting right with Him, while there is still time. Remember, somebody adopting the default position of failing to get right before God will mean ending up in a lost eternity. We don’t know how long we have left in this life, whether young or old. But we do know the One who knows.

Dear Father God. We confess our sins before You today, and are grateful for Your forgiveness. We worship You today. Amen.

Working

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“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

As long as society has been around there has been a system of work and reward. Man’s principle need is for warmth, shelter and food to eat. For Adam, as he tended the Garden of Eden, God’s provision was there to keep him alive and well. There was fruit for food, streams to drink from, and two trees, the fruit of the one to keep him permanently alive, “the tree of life”, and the fruit of another tree that provided the knowledge of “good and evil”. We know the story and what happened. But ever since, and as a consequence of, what we call the “Fall”, men and women have had to work hard to provide for their own basic needs. We can read the story in Genesis 3.

In our relationship with God there is a work link between His Kingdom and the earthly kingdom of which we are a part. Colossians 3:23, “Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people”. Bringing God into our work environment is important, because it provides an added impetus to do well. In our jobs, we get paid for the service we supply. A wage agreed when we start, and is paid regularly during the period of employment. But a problem can occur if we try and take the same principle into God’s Kingdom. Heaven’s economy is not like the economy in the world around us. In our earthly work, we earn not just our wages, but also the praise and encouragement of those we work for. And through that we can earn promotion or other favours. But the important thing about God is that there is nothing we can do to earn His favour, no matter how hard we think we are working for Him. Nothing can make Him love us more.

According to Paul, the currency in God’s Kingdom involves righteousness, and that is acquired by our faith in God, a faith that believes that are sins are forgiven. Through Jesus’ sacrifice at Calvary, we are now able to stand righteously before God. There is no other way. Through Jesus, and our faith in Him, we receive forgiveness of sins. We can’t earn it by working harder. It doesn’t depend on the number of sermons a minister or pastor preaches. Or the number of times we attend a prayer meeting. Or how many hymn books we hand out on a Sunday. Or how often, even, we clean the church toilets. These things are important, but they won’t gain us forgiveness for our sins. As Paul wrote, “But people are counted as righteous, not because of their work, but because of their faith in God who forgives sinners.” 

Dear Father God. We are so grateful for Jesus. We thank You for Your forgiveness of our sins. We believe You – we really do! Amen.

Abraham’s Faith

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“Abraham was, humanly speaking, the founder of our Jewish nation. What did he discover about being made right with God? If his good deeds had made him acceptable to God, he would have had something to boast about. But that was not God’s way. For the Scriptures tell us, “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.””
Romans 4:1-3 NLT

This is obviously Paul, the Jew, speaking here. Like all Jews, he could trace back his ancestry all the way to Abraham. In Genesis 15:5, God spoke to Abram, we read, “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!”” A bit further on, as we read in Genesis 17:4-7, God said, “This is my covenant with you: I will make you the father of a multitude of nations! What’s more, I am changing your name. It will no longer be Abram. Instead, you will be called Abraham, for you will be the father of many nations. I will make you extremely fruitful. Your descendants will become many nations, and kings will be among them! “I will confirm my covenant with you and your descendants after you, from generation to generation. This is the everlasting covenant: I will always be your God and the God of your descendants after you.”

The Pharisees in Jesus’ day were very proud of the lineage back to Abraham, and thought that because they were people of the covenant, following the Law, they were safe, with their future assured. But John the Baptist was having none of their religiosity – we read in Matthew 3:9-10, “Don’t just say to each other, ‘We’re safe, for we are descendants of Abraham.’ That means nothing, for I tell you, God can create children of Abraham from these very stones. Even now the axe of God’s judgment is poised, ready to sever the roots of the trees. Yes, every tree that does not produce good fruit will be chopped down and thrown into the fire”.

The Jewish nation was founded on faith. Abraham’s faith. And that was before the Law had even been given to the Israelites. There’s nothing God likes more than our faith in Him. In fact, He likes it so much that, through faith, we are made righteous before Him. We read in Genesis that Abraham “believed God”. And so it is with us pilgrims. We believe God and all that He has done for us. What we believe is summarised in the Anglican “Apostles’ Creed”. It’s worth including with the blog today. We believe it. And we have faith that through our belief we achieve righteousness before God, as Abraham did all those years ago. But just saying the Creed does not constitute faith. We really need to believe what it says, with all the implications behind it. The “head” knowledge needs to migrate to our “hearts”, where there can be an outpouring of our love and worship for our amazing God.

I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried;
he descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again;
he ascended into heaven,
he is seated at the right hand of the Father,
and he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting.
Amen.

Only One God

Posted on by Adrian Clark

“After all, is God the God of the Jews only? Isn’t he also the God of the Gentiles? Of course he is. There is only one God, and he makes people right with himself only by faith, whether they are Jews or Gentiles. Well then, if we emphasise faith, does this mean that we can forget about the law? Of course not! In fact, only when we have faith do we truly fulfil the law.”
Romans 3:29-31 NLT

Paul makes another profound statement in this chapter in Romans. “There is only one God”. Paul wrote this when he was thinking of the conflict between the Jewish and Gentile Christians in the Roman church. But in today’s world, it has of even greater importance. In recent years we have had to observe the bizarre spectacle of “multi faith” services. Where Christians, Buddhists, Muslims, Hindus and others have come together for a joint worship service. I have a relative who sincerely believes that all religions worship the same God, only in different ways. He reckons that God has different compartments in Heaven, each for one of the worldly religions. I don’t know how he has come to that conclusion but that is what he believes. Many years ago the controversial comic Dave Allen used to end his TV programmes with the parting phrase, “May your god go with you”. The world is very confused about God. 

But in all the religious fog that infects our world, a fog introduced by the devil and the effects of sin, we Christians have the truth. Jesus said, “Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). There is only one way to God and that is through Jesus. Those in the world will reject such an unequivocal statement. They will question how we really know that. The clue comes in the next part of Paul’s message, where he said, “He makes people right with himself only by faith”. It’s all about our faith. And through that faith we know that only Jesus has the words of eternal life. Only Jesus can make us righteous in God’s sight.

Paul asked the question of his readers, “Well then, if we emphasise faith, does this mean that we can forget about the law”? His answer echoed what Jesus said in Matthew 5:17-18, “Don’t misunderstand why I have come. I did not come to abolish the law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. No, I came to accomplish their purpose. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not even the smallest detail of God’s law will disappear until its purpose is achieved”. The Law was given by God through Moses, for the express purpose of teaching and guiding the Israelites, and in the process exposing their sin. God sent His sinless Son to fully keep the Law so that we could, through faith, keep the intentions of the Law too. Because of their sin, mankind is incapable of keeping the Law and appearing righteous by their own efforts. But through faith in Jesus, we can. What a wonderful God we have!

Dear Father God. Thank You for Jesus. Thank You for the words of eternal life. We worship You, and only You, today. Amen.