Embrace the Within no. 187

“Then what is the advantage of the Jew? Or what is the benefit of circumcision? Great in every respect. To begin with, the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God [His very I.e. the Old Testament promises.words].

What then? If some did not believe or were unfaithful [to God], their lack of belief will not nullify and make invalid the faithfulness of God and His word, will it? Certainly not! Let God be found true [as He will be], though every person be found a liar, just as it is written [in Scripture],

‘That You may be justified in Your words,

And prevail when You are judged [by sinful men].’

But if our unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God, what shall we say? God is not wrong to inflict His wrath [on us], is He? (I am speaking in purely human terms.)

Certainly not! For otherwise, how will God judge the world? But [as you might say] if through my lie God’s truth was magnified and abounded to His glory, why am I still being judged as a sinner? And why not say, (as some slanderously report and claim that we teach) ‘Let us do evil so that good may come of it’? Their condemnation [by God] is just.

Well then, are we [Jews] better off than they? Not at all; for we have already charged that both Jews and Greeks (Gentiles) are under the control of sin and subject to its power. As it is written and forever remains written,

‘There is none righteous [none that meets God’s standard], not even one.

There is none who understands,

There is none who seeks for God.

All have turned aside, together they have become useless;

There is none who does good, no, not one.’

‘Their throat is an open grave;

They [habitually] deceive with their tongues.’

‘The venom of asps is beneath their lips.’

‘Their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.’

‘Their feet are swift to shed blood,

Destruction and misery are in their paths,

And they have not known the path of peace.’

‘There is no fear of God [and His awesome power] before their eyes.’

Now we know that whatever the Law [of Moses] says, it speaks to those who are under the Law, so that [the excuses of] every mouth may be silenced [from protesting] and that all the world may be held accountable to God [and subject to His judgment]. For no person [flesh] will be justified [freed of guilt and declared righteous] in His sight by [trying to do] the works of the Law. For through the Law we become conscious of sin [and the recognition of sin directs us toward repentance, but provides no remedy for sin]” (Romans 3:1-20).

Again, another huge chunk of Paul’s epistle, however, it is one unit to look at in detail about how all of us are guilty. A fact that I too often forget. “They have all turned aside, together they have become corrupt; There is no one who does good, not even one” (Psalms 14:3 AMP).

Lawful or lawless. Presbyter or congregant. Jew or Christian. Gentile or American. Not one.

“Their feet run to evil,

And they rush to shed innocent blood.

Their thoughts are thoughts of wickedness

[of sin, of injustice, of wrongdoing];

Devastation and destruction are in their highways.

They do not know the way of peace,

And there is no justice in their tracks.

They have made them into crooked paths;

Whoever walks on them does not know peace” (Isaiah 59:7-8 AMP).

This study has started to take a turn here. BUT that does sound a lot like American society. It is almost like if Paul was writing letters today that there would be an epistle to American Christians. We live in a community, all across this world BUT definitely in America, where “devastation and destruction are in [our] highways”. We have a system that is based in inequality and founded in violence so much so that we no longer “know the way of peace”. Folks murder blatantly and there “is no justice” because our system has “made them into crooked paths”. How can we walk in those systems and know peace? We can’t. There is only peace through being part of His Kingdom. There is no justification in the Law. The Law is there to show me how wrong I am. And the systems around me show just how far away from His Way I can get if allowed to make my own decisions. If I try to judge what is good on my own, I get the systems and societies that surround me.

Israel had the Law and failed. Israel was set apart and favored and failed. BUT through the lessons of the past, I can build upon the Law’s fulfillment. I can look beyond the Law and to The Christ to make a way for me to salvation and sanctification. I can turn away from the kingdoms of men and the goodness I judge with my own eye and look towards His Kingdom and see things through the Spirit.

I pray that I begin to live as The Christ taught. I pray that every day my walk with Him is better aligned to the love and grace and mercy He has shown to me and to all humanity. I pray that I daily deny myself, take up His cross, and follow Him obediently. I pray that through my walk I am a better Ambassador of His Kingdom.

Grace and Shalom to your home.

I love you. I forgive you. Have a blessed and abundant day!

#ThinkBetter #BeBetter #NoKingButChrist #EmbraceTheWithin #NotMyWayYHWH

Embrace the Within no. 186

“When Gentiles, who do not have the Law [since it was given only to Jews], do instinctively the things the Law requires [guided only by their conscience], they are a law to themselves, though they do not have the Law. They show that the essential requirements of the Law are written in their hearts; and their conscience [their sense of right and wrong, their moral choices] bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or perhaps defending them on that day when, as my gospel proclaims, God will judge the secrets [all the hidden thoughts and concealed sins] of men through Christ Jesus. But if you bear the name “Jew” and rely on the Law [for your salvation] and boast in [your special relationship to] God, and [if you claim to] know His will and approve the things that are essential or have a sense of what is excellent, based on your instruction from the Law, and [if you] are confident that you are a [qualified] guide to the blind [those untaught in theology], a light to those who are in darkness, and [that you are] a corrector of the foolish, a teacher of the [spiritually] childish, having in the Law the embodiment of knowledge and of the truth— well then, you who teach others, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal [in ways that are discrete, but just as sinful]? You who say that one must not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who detest idols, do you rob [pagan] temples [of valuable idols and offerings]? You who boast in the Law, do you [repeatedly] dishonor God by breaking the Law? For, “ the name of G od is blasphemed among the G entiles because of you ,” just as it is written [in Scripture]. Circumcision [the sign of the covenant of Abraham] is indeed of value if you practice the Law; but if you habitually break the Law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision [it is meaningless in God’s sight]. So if the uncircumcised man keeps the requirements of the Law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded [by God] as circumcision? Then he who is physically uncircumcised but keeps [the spirit of] the Law will judge you who, even though you have the written code and circumcision, break the Law. For he is not a [real] Jew who is only one outwardly, nor is [true] circumcision something external and physical. But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and [true] circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by [the fulfillment of] the letter [of the Law]. His praise is not from men, but from God” (Romans 2:14-29 AMP).

I know that’s a big chunk BUT it is a unified chunk of Paul’s epistle. Although it applies to the distinction between Jews and Gentiles in the early days of The Christ’s following, I feel there is an application of how legalism and this need to follow rules, however well intentioned, leads down the same path as Judaism and the Pharisees traveled back then. And that path usually ends with hypocrisy. There is never anything so different about people, “'That which has been is that which will be [again], And that which has been done is that which will be done again. So there is nothing new under the sun. Is there anything of which it can be said, ‘See this, it is new’? It has already existed for [the vast] ages [of time recorded or unrecorded] Which were before us” (Ecclesiastes 1:9-10 AMP).

Paul compares how some can act with a heart of love without ever hearing the Law. There is something within us that knows what is right and just and good even without being told the good news of The Christ. Philosophy is full with morality devoid of salvation. I have walked along with many and been on a walk that was at least keeping God out of my philosophy BUT still found a morality that was at odds with those that not only knew salvation BUT were claiming to walk as The Christ. They called themselves Christians BUT lacked the circumcision of the heart that Paul speaks about in this letter. I walked with folks that understood that you don’t hurt people and you don’t take their things. Folks that understood that we had to allow other people to make their own choices. Folks that understood that ideas were only important when aligned with action.

BUT there were also hypocrites within that group as well. And it seems that regardless of time, place, or philosophy, wherever you find people that believe in something, then you will also find people that are hypocrites. Having the news of salvation isn’t always a help. If I don’t decide to change, and that takes a lot of courage, then all the good news isn’t going to help me.

I used to think that if you had the right ideas, then you were good. I wanted to be right and that got me nowhere. I was right BUT living completely wrong. Until I started living right rather than being right, nothing changed with my life. Three years ago when the plague hit, I had to make some decisions about being a hypocrite. Was I going to go all in on my walk with the Lord or was I going to just say I was changed and put on a good show for the internet? Was I going to do this thing or just pretend? Because pretending is not as difficult as getting on the ground and making changes.

And so I made those changes to my routine. I made those changes to my diet. I made those changes to my health. I made those changes mentally. I made those changes physically. I made those changes in self. I made those changes in action. If I was going to change, then it wasn’t going to be adding something new to the old me. It was going to be like Paul wrote, “Therefore if anyone is in Christ [that is, grafted in, joined to Him by faith in Him as Savior], he is a new creature [reborn and renewed by the Holy Spirit]; the old things [the previous moral and spiritual condition] have passed away. Behold, new things have come [because spiritual awakening brings a new life]” (2 Corinthians 5:17 AMP). And that says new creature and not creature with some new additions. It doesn’t say creature with some modifications. It doesn’t say creature with a new spoiler or rims. It says a new creature which has let the old creature die. I think that is the root of our hypocrisy. At least it has always been the root of mine. Having a heart that isn’t circumcised is because I am keeping my old creature alive. And I need to let that creature die and get buried so I can resurrect as something new.

I pray that I let the old me lay in its grave so the new me can walk in the Way of the Lord. I pray that I am a new creation in thought and action. I pray that I deny that old self and take His Cross to follow obediently in His Will. I pray that His grace helps me become a better creature, a new creature that is an Ambassador of His Kingdom.

Grace and Shalom to your home.

I love you. I forgive you. Have a blessed and abundant day!

#ThinkBetter #BeBetter #NoKingButChrist #EmbraceTheWithin #NotMyWayYHWH