Believe and Confess 120916

Romans 10:9-13, because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” 

 

Confess with your mouth and believe in your heart. The heart believes and the mouth confesses. In verses 9 and 10 Paul summarizes the gospel for all the world to see. He uses belief and confession in both verses and reverses the order from one to the other. Both confession of the Lordship of Christ and belief in the heart that God raised Jesus from the dead is necessary for salvation. Both confession and belief are necessary to salvation. I do not believe they are steps that occur in a particular order. They sort of happen together rather than one leading to the other. If Jesus is Lord, then the resurrection is part of what we believe about him. Verses 11 through 13 are an expansion on verses 9 and 10 and shows the Old Testament proof supporting the earlier verses.

Paul has quoted from Moses showing that the word from the Lord was not far away from the people of Israel as they entered the promised land. Now he applies the same idea to the men of his day, and incidentally, to the people of our day. The word is near — in the mouth and in the heart — the word of faith proclaimed in Scripture. Everyone who calls on the name the Lord will be saved. Now there is a false teaching surrounding this idea.

I remember when I was a boy listening to a preacher presenting his understanding of this passage. I thought to myself then that what he was saying could not possibly be true. He said that if you call on the name of the Lord you are saved. Then he went on to illustrate the concept that he had. Remember, when I was a boy was during and just after World War II. Millions of American men had gone into that war. Many of them found themselves in combat much more vicious than today simply because they had no body armor to protect them. The preacher said that most of them, in the middle of battle, had cried out to the Lord to save them. Therefore, he concluded that those men were saved because during their time of fear they called out to God. That just simply cannot be! I agree with the elderly lady in a testimony service who said, "It ain't how loud you shout when you yell hallelujah, or how high you jump, it's how straight you walk when you hit the ground.” I am not advocating works salvation. I am saying that confession with the mouth that Jesus is Lord involves more than using his name in a particular time of crisis or religious fervor. Confessing with the mouth must be accompanied by believing in the heart for salvation to occur. Never take one verse by itself, or a few selected verses by themselves, to build your faith. It must be based on the entire word of God.

God invites all to call on his name and be blessed with all the riches of God. God's riches are not always seen in material things. However, he is very generous towards those he can trust with material possessions. Though he is the richest person in the universe he chose to leave heaven's glory for the gloom of earth and become poor in order that by his poverty that we might become rich. Now that is not my opinion it is the word of God found in 2nd Corinthians 8:9. Now let us look at the passage before us…

God invites ALL. There is a general call to all people to come to the Lord. At the Feast of Booths Jesus stood before the crowd and said, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ' Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.'" (John 7:37-38)

Jesus said, "whoever believes in him." Read with me, John 6:47, Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. In fact, twelve times in the gospel of John Jesus uses the term "whoever" in connection with belief in him. It seems obvious that he was saying anyone can come if they will. We know that not everyone will come and it is very obvious that many people will reject the gospel offer. God has made us in such a way that he ordains all that we do and we exercise our personal will and make real, voluntary choices. Many people reject this idea because we cannot understand it. Yet it is clearly presented in Scripture. Should we reject something that we do not understand? We cannot understand, in any final sense, how a plant lives or how a bumblebee flies. I do not understand what a carbohydrate is but I do not deny the existence of carbohydrates. I do not understand what a vitamin is but I take them everyday. Everyone has something they do not understand and yet they do not reject it simply because they do not understand it. So it is with the truth of the Bible concerning Election.

Most Bible scholars agree that Romans 1:16 states the theme of the book. Let us look that verse now…

The theme verse says, "everyone who believes". Read with me Romans 1:16, For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

Paul was not ashamed of the gospel even though the gospel condemned his own people because they pursued a righteousness of the law rather than righteousness of faith. He was not ashamed of the gospel because he had, literally, "seen the light" on the Damascus Road, as a result, he now understood that all he had stood for in the past was just garbage. The good news about Jesus Christ is the power of God for salvation. It is the power of God for salvation to everyone. It is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes. The Jews had the first opportunity to come to the gospel. Paul always presented it that way. He went to the synagogue and preached the gospel, and then, when he was turned away, he presented the gospel to whoever would listen. For that action he was condemned by his own people who believed that they were the chosen people of God. Paul had come to understand that the church is "The Israel of God" and now the gospel goes out all the world.

The theme of the book of Acts seems to me to be the gospel going out beginning in Jerusalem, then to Judea, then to Samaria, and finally to the ends of the earth. Beginning with only Jews, Acts tells us about the gospel going to Samaritans, an Ethiopian, Roman soldiers, and spreading to non-Jews in many places. The last word in the Greek book of Acts is translated as "unhindered". Though Paul was in chains in Rome the gospel was not hindered — it was going out to everyone everywhere. And those who believed were being saved. It is a wonderful story and has continued until today. This is not some New Testament idea it was prophesied repeatedly in the Old Testament for example…

Joel spoke of everyone. If you have your Bible, turn to Joel 2:32, And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. For in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there shall be those who escape, as the Lord has said, and among the survivors shall be those whom the Lord calls…

This is the verse used by Paul in Romans 10:13. Repeatedly, Paul has quoted from the Old Testament prophets in support of this truth that the gospel of God has always been "The Gospel of Grace" and is available to all people everywhere. Remember, the call must come because the person doing the calling has believed in their heart. The basic belief in Christ is that he was born of a virgin, took our sins on the cross, was buried and raised again to live forever as the only mediator between God and man. This is not some simple repetition of a formula for salvation. Instead, this is a serious commitment to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

In using the quote from Joel, Paul was making very plain who Jesus is. Joel, of course, was written originally in the Hebrew language. The word "Lord", in the Hebrew text, is the name of God "Yahweh" or, as some would have it in English, "Jehovah". So Paul, a very intelligent scholar of the Hebrew Bible, knowingly used the quote from Joel to say that Jesus is God Himself. Therefore, when we…

Call on the Name. We are calling on God himself because that is who Jesus is. You may say that you do not understand the Trinity. And some deny it because the word Trinity is not in the Bible. It is a word based on "tri", or three, and "unity". Resulting in a word to describe three persons in one Godhead. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, are God. They are in perfect unity and perfect communion with each other. When we call on the name we do it because we believe and not because we have somehow earned the right through our good works.

Believing and confessing, not works of the law. Turn in your Bibles to Ephesians 2:8-10, For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Salvation is by grace through faith only. The Scripture says that we are not saved by works of righteousness that we have done. This passage states that it is not our own doing. In fact, it is a gift of God! Our salvation does not result from our good works. We have nothing to boast about and many things to be ashamed of. We have all sinned and come short of God's glory. That is exceptionally sad because the wages of sin is death. If we have all sinned and the wages of sin is death we are born in trouble and it just gets worse as we grow older.

Praise God, we are not beyond hope. God shows his love for us while we are still sinners, ungodly people, by sending his Son to take our sins into his own body and die on the cross. Which allows us, if we are willing, to come to him and confess that Jesus is Lord affirming our belief that he died on the cross and was raised again. If a person believes in their heart, with their entire being, and confesses with their mouth that he is Lord the Bible says that they are saved. A person makes such a confession because they have been called by God you see…

The "called" call on the name. Let's see what Paul said to the Corinthians, he was writing to the church there, turn with me to 1 Corinthians 1:2, To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours: 

 

This is just one example, out of many that we might have used, talking about those who call on the name of the Lord. Notice how these people are described. 1st) they are the church of God that is in Corinth. Not the Baptist Church or the Methodist Church or the Catholic Church but the church of God. All those names for churches came later. I personally believe that what God has done in the Baptist Church speaks to me personally so I am not ashamed of the name "Baptist". Any time you want to know more about what I believe in that respect just ask me I will be happy to fill you in. 2nd) Paul is writing those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus. They are people who are set apart from the world and are in Christ Jesus. 3rd) They are called to be saints. Sanctified in Christ Jesus and called, by God, to be saints. I know that there are some churches who respect certain individuals to the point that they call them "Saints". In New Orleans there is a whole football team of "Saints". Yet the New Testament refers to all believers as Saints. It is made very clear in this passage that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ is called to be a Saint. And therefore, the called call on the name of the Lord. And…

Calling on the name involves Lordship. Recall the words of Joel, "… everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved." There are people who teach that salvation comes to a person when they give intellectual assent. Then they teach that the person who wants to go on in spiritual growth accept Christ as "Lord". The Bible does not teach this division.

When Paul met Jesus on the Damascus Road he called Jesus, "Lord". "Who are you Lord", he said. And no one knew better what the meeting of "Lord" was than Paul. He knew that word should only be applied to God himself. Later, Paul would tell us about his preaching by saying that he did not hesitate to tell them anything that was profitable to them. He preached to them publicly and from house to house telling everyone about repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. (Acts 20:20-21)

Repentance is essential to salvation. We turn away from all known sin because we are now ready to confess that Jesus is Lord to the glory of God the Father. All people everywhere need to repent and confess Jesus is Lord. It does not make any difference who your family is or what race you are. The same Lord is Lord of all and he is…

Bestowing his riches. On those who call upon his name.

Salvation is the greatest gift. Turn with me to Ephesians 1:3-8, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight

If you are Christian you have been blessed in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. You have been chosen by him before the world was created! We have been chosen to be holy and blameless before him. He chose beforehand to adopt us into his family through Jesus Christ. It was the purpose of his will that he blessed us with Jesus — The Beloved! He has redeemed us through the blood of Christ, forgiving our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace. These riches he lavished on us in his wisdom and insight.

His riches may include material things. I subscribe to the concept that God rewards us with material things as much as he can trust us with material things! In other words he gives us what he can trust us with! The truth is, God is more generous than we come near to deserving in the area of material blessings. God is prepared to pour out upon us, lavishly, of material and spiritual things…

More than we can imagine. Look at this quote from Isaiah found in 1 Corinthians 2:9,But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”—

God has prepared for those who love him more than can be imagined. Not just more than we have imagined but more than we can imagine. More than we have ever seen, more than we have ever heard about and more than we have ever dreamed. 2nd Chronicles 16:9 tells us that the eyes of the Lord run to and fro over the whole earth to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless towards him. We should be aware that God wants to provide for us. Through the psalmist (Ps 81:16) he said that he would feed us with the finest wheat and with honey from the rock. But, he could not because we would not trust in him.

As Jesus entered Jerusalem he mourned the condition of the city, saying, "How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not!" (Matthew 23:37)

We see in these examples how much God desires to bless his people. The big problem is his people, by and large, are just not blessable! 

 

God Himself is the ultimate gift!

The greatest gift we could ever receive is a relationship with the living God! All the world, sons and daughters of Adam and Eve, are born in sin and conceived in iniquity. Everyone, without exception, deserves death and hell. Yet, God chose for reasons of his own to save some and make them his people. Chosen, not because they are good or somehow deserve it, but because he chooses to love the unlovely. His greatest gift was himself! From the beginning of time he had planned a way for man to know him. Not as the far-off God who created and then drew back to watch his creation but instead one who is near. In fact, not just one who came alongside us but one who came to be one of us. John tells us in the 1st chapter of his gospel that Jesus, the Word, came to his own and his own people did not receive him. But, to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave a right to become children of God,

In Romans 5:8 Paul tells us that God shows us his love in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. And in the 2nd Corinthians 5:21 we are told that he who knew no sin was made to be sin for us so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Can any gift be greater than that which he bestows on us who believe in him.

Throughout Romans 9-11 Paul's concern for the Israelites, his own people, causes him to point out to them (and us) that God always had a plan. A plan that called all people to himself not just the descendents of Abraham. It is not just a matter of saying the word "Lord" in your confession. It is not just a matter of calling to the Lord. Remember, Jesus said that there would be many on the day of judgment who would say to him, "Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?" Jesus went on to say that he never knew them! Just before that Jesus said, "Not everyone who says to me 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my father who is in heaven." (Matthew 7:21-23) If Jesus as your Lord you will do the will of God the Father.

All scripture quotes from:The Holy Bible : English standard version. 2001. Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.

The People of God 120826

Romans 9:25-33, As indeed he says in Hosea, “Those who were not my people I will call ‘my people,’ and her who was not beloved I will call ‘beloved.’” “And in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ there they will be called ‘sons of the living God.’” And Isaiah cries out concerning Israel: “Though the number of the sons of Israel be as the sand of the sea, only a remnant of them will be saved, for the Lord will carry out his sentence upon the earth fully and without delay.” And as Isaiah predicted,, “If the Lord of hosts had not left us offspring, we would have been like Sodom and become like Gomorrah.” What shall we say, then? That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is, a righteousness that is by faith; but that Israel who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness did not succeed in reaching that law. Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over the stumbling stone, as it is written, “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense; and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”

Paul has, just before this, questioned, "What if God, desiring to show his wrath and make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory — even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles." This is an amazing thought for a former Pharisee to have. It was also very offensive to the Jews of his day. I suppose, but do not know, it may be just as offensive to an Orthodox Jew today. The Pharisees believed that one is born into the family of God. Sadly enough, many Christians today seem to hold the same idea. Nothing could be further from the truth. Salvation is entirely a work of God having nothing at all to do with any effort on our part.

Paul has been proving that God chooses out of Israel, but also out of the Gentiles. He does not express his own opinion instead he turns to Scripture to prove his point. This left the Jews very little wiggle room because they were very proud not only of having the Scriptures but also with knowing the Scriptures. By the way, this is always the best process. What we believe must be based on the word of God. Not on verses taken out of context but instead verses consistent with all Scripture.

Paul begins with a quote from the Prophet Hosea. Hosea, contrary to the moral standards of his day, was instructed by God to take a prostitute as his wife. This was a picture for unfaithful Israel to see how they had related, or not, to God. He went so far as to have Hosea name his children symbolic names. A daughter was named "No Mercy", and a son was named "Not My People".

Now, Paul uses this quote to show the Jews that God had a plan that included all people. There would be a remnant of Israel, as well as a portion of Gentiles, who would make up the church.

Not My People — Now My People.

Gentiles, chosen by God. Read with me, Acts 13:44-49, The next Sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord. But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began to contradict what was spoken by Paul, reviling him. And Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, saying, “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken first to you. Since you thrust it aside and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles. For so the Lord has commanded us, saying, “‘I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’” And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed. And the word of the Lord was spreading throughout the whole region.

Paul and Barnabas had gone out from Antioch on the first known missionary journey to share the gospel where it had not been preached before. Their usual method seems to have been to find the synagogue, or at least a place of prayer, in every new location they came to. In this city they were welcomed by the Jewish community and on the first Sabbath Paul preached a sermon based on the salvation history of Israel. Upon seeing how well-received they were, the leaders of the synagogue opposed them. Paul and Barnabas then announced that since they were refused in the synagogue they would now go into the streets and preach to the native people — the Gentiles! Paul quoted from Isaiah that the Lord commanded them to be a light for the Gentiles and to bring salvation to the ends of the earth.

This experience must have helped Paul a great deal when he later wrote to the Romans that the Gentiles would be brought into the church on an equal basis with the Jews. To his great sorrow, his people had tragically refused to believe in the only begotten Son of God. From the very beginning of Christ's ministry they had rejected him…

Jews, rejecting Christ. Read with me, John 1:11-12, He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,

"He came to his own" refers to the fact that Jesus, as creator, had ownership rights over everything and especially the land where he had chosen to put his name. Jesus was the sovereign Lord of the land of Israel. Yet, when he came to his own property he was rejected by his own people.

During his ministry, Jesus told a parable about a landowner who built a farm and let it out to tenants. After time he sent a servant to collect the rents. Some of these servants they killed. Others were simply driven away. Needless to say, the rents were never collected! Last of all, the land owner sent his son saying, "Surely they will respect my son." Instead, the tenants thought they could kill the son and inherit the property themselves. What a tragedy! They could have enjoyed the favor of God by simply receiving his son and instead they tried to take the kingdom for themselves.

Yet, a remnant remains. Read with me, Romans 11:2-5, God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew. Do you not know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he appeals to God against Israel? “Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have demolished your altars, and I alone am left, and they seek my life.” But what is God’s reply to him? “I have kept for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” So too at the present time there is a remnant, chosen by grace.

Paul was himself an example of the fact that God had not rejected his people. Paul was proud of his Jewish heritage and was deeply grieved that they had rejected his Lord. The problem the Jewish leaders had was they believed that because a person was born a Jew they were all right with God. Repeatedly, throughout the Old Testament, prophets used the term, "remnant", to refer to the people who would be chosen by God. Nowhere in Scripture does God promise that all Jews would be saved. In this passage Paul quotes the very familiar response of Elijah to God, "I alone am left", and God's reply, "I have kept for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal." And then Paul refers to that seven thousand as a remnant. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Micah, Zephaniah, Haggai and Zechariah all talked about the remnant that would be saved. The rabbis ignored, or explained, each of these references. That way they could hold on to the idea that a person is right with God because of their descent from Isaac.

Considering the fact that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, it is a miracle that any of us are saved. All deserve death and hell. Yet some, selected by God, feel a stirring in their heart to come to him. God is not required to do this but he does it for his own reasons.

Arrogant mankind demands to know why God would do this! What we should be asking is why God does not destroy everyone beginning with Adam because of our rebellion and sin. Everyone is naturally rejected, until some are chosen and brought into the family of God. God does not desire that anyone will perish and calls all to repentance. Let's look at…

A remnant chosen by grace.

The tragedy of the remnant. Read with me please, John 5:39-43, You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life. I do not receive glory from people. But I know that you do not have the love of God within you. I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not receive me. If another comes in his own name, you will receive him.

It is possible to be a Bible scholar and still reject God's plan. Remember Nicodemus? He was a teacher of Israel and he could not understand the simple truth that one must be born again to enter the kingdom of God. Of course Nicodemus did not understand! He believed himself to be one of God's chosen people because he was born of the house of Israel. But the Bible is very clear, as are Paul's teaching, that a person is…

Chosen not based on works, or race. Read with me please Acts 15:7-11, And after there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, “Brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them, by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us, and he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith. Now, therefore, why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.”

On their return from their first missionary journey Paul and Barnabas were confronted by some who taught, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” This would have invalidated almost all Paul's work. After a heated debate, the interested parties went to Jerusalem to set the matter before James and the other apostles and elders. What we have here is the basis of Peter's argument for receiving the Gentiles without imposing Mosaic tradition on them. God had put his seal of approval, the evidence of the Holy Spirit, on the Gentiles by cleansing their hearts by faith. Peter understood that the act of circumcision was simply part of the whole law and that the law had failed to bring people to salvation. Now as Gentiles were coming to faith he did not want to see them put under a burden that Israel had been unable to carry out. Peter and Paul both knew that people are…

Chosen by grace. Turn to 2 Timothy 1:8-9, Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began,

Throughout Paul's letters he reaffirms, again and again, that it is the power of God, not the work of man, that brings a person to repentance. It is God who saves us. It is God who calls us to a holy calling. He did not do this because of good works on our part but because of his own purpose and grace. This purpose and grace were given to us in Christ Jesus before the ages began.

God is not affected by time as we are. He sees the end from the beginning. It is as though all of time — all of human history were laid out on a table and God is above it looking down and seeing it all at once. Paul told the Ephesians that God chose us in Christ Jesus before the foundation of the world. The book of Revelation tells us that the Lamb's Book of Life, that contains the names of the people of God, was written before the foundation of the world.

Non-seekers and seekers — who succeeded?

Gentiles — the non-seekers. Read with me Ephesians 2:11-12, Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.

The Gentiles were far from being seekers. In our text for today Paul pointed out that the Gentiles did not pursue righteousness but they attained it! Before they came to know Christ they were separated, alienated and strangers to the covenants. They had no hope and were without God in the world. And yet, they attained a righteousness that is by faith.

So much for looking for seekers! They were not seekers — but they were called. Jesus had said, "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him." God puts a hunger in the heart of a person that draws them to Jesus Christ. There is an emptiness in everyone apart from Christ. Only by coming to him, in faith, can that hunger be satisfied and the empty place be filled. If you have never come to him I encourage you to do so now!

Jews — the seekers. Read Deuteronomy 4:4-8, But you who held fast to the Lord your God are all alive today. See, I have taught you statutes and rules, as the Lord my God commanded me, that you should do them in the land that you are entering to take possession of it. Keep them and do them, for that will be your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples, who, when they hear all these statutes, will say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’ For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as the Lord our God is to us, whenever we call upon him? And what great nation is there, that has statutes and rules so righteous as all this law that I set before you today?

Moses was giving his final instructions to the people of Israel. He gave them the law and encouraged them to see, in that, the evidence of the blessing of God. The problem is they replaced God with the law. As Paul would say in Romans 9 that they pursued a law that would lead to righteousness and did not attain it because they did not pursue it by faith! The writer of Hebrews tells us that those who died in the wilderness did so because of a lack of faith. The message was good but they did not have faith. What a tragedy! They had the law and believed they were right with God because of having it. And yet, they could not keep it. A large part of the sermon on the Mount, given by Jesus, shows how the rabbis had twisted the law because they discovered they could not keep it! They stumbled, Paul would tell us, over the stumblingstone. The problem becomes…

What do you do with Jesus? Please read Matthew 21:42-44, Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: “‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes’? Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits. And the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.”

Jesus had just told the parable of the tenants. The people who were listening to him saw immediately how unjust the action of the tenants was. They proclaimed that the landowner would take away the vineyard and give it to others who would pay the rent. Jesus identified himself as the stone the builders had rejected. He also proclaimed that he had become the cornerstone. And then he said that the kingdom of God would be taken away and given to people who would produce its fruit.

The chief priests and rabbis knew immediately that he was talking about them. They understood that Jesus was the beloved son sent by the landlord to claim ownership and they turned away because it did not suit their view of religion.

Today, there are many who have the word of God and rather than believe it and obey it they seek to explain it in the light of their understanding.

D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones wrote, “Let us be clear about this. The Lord Jesus Christ is one of two things to everyone of us. You either believe in him and rest your faith in him alone, or else he is to you a stumbling-stone and a rock of offense.”

May God grant that when we sing the great hymns of the faith we will really mean what we sing.

When I survey the wondrous Cross, On which the Prince of glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss, And pour contempt on all my pride.
Were the whole realm of nature mine, That were an offering far too small,
Love so amazing, so divine, Demands my soul, my life, my all. Isaac Watts

And may our prayer be, “Take it all Lord, you bought it all on the cross and I surrender it to you.”

Many years ago I discovered that I was spending more time explaining the Bible than I was spending time believing it! I determined then that no matter where it led I would simply believe the Bible and let it explain itself. Over the years there has been a gradual change in what I believe because of this decision. I encourage you to believe the word and accept what it says at face value. But remember, it must all fit together. You cannot take part of the word without taking all of the word! Never build what you believe on a single verse of Scripture, or a few verses. At the same time never reject what becomes clear to you as you study the word.

One of the greatest tragedies in human history is the rejection, by the Jews, of Jesus when he came to Earth. These were the very people who should have welcomed him and understood his purpose. They did not because they had been searching the Scriptures with the rules already made up and not allowing the Bible to speak for itself. If we are not careful we will fall into the same trap. Many have done so and the church has suffering as a result. The gospel message is damaged by prejudice. We must be faithful to the word but we must not be proud of it. We must walk humbly with our God and our heart’s desire should be that we become a people of God who can be used for his glory.

All Scripture quotes are fromThe Holy Bible : English standard version. 2001, Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.