Posted on 02/14/2015 5:44:42 PM PST by pastorbillrandles
For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them. But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above:) Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.) But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved (Romans 10:5-14)
Israel stumbled over the Righteousness of God, not because it was a way which was too hard, but because it is too simple. They did not understand what Moses refered to when He said, that Righteousness would not be a matter of self effort,“Who shall bring Christ down from heaven?…”
Christ did indeed come from heaven, to save us from our sins and to justify us before God, but not because of the worthiness orb attainments of Israel. It was sheer grace, Love and mercy which brought Christ down to us from Heaven. Truly, “The Father sent the Son, to be the Savior of the World”.
Nor was anyone worthy of “resurrecting” any lost opportunities for salvation squandered by Israel in the past,“Who shall descend into the deep to bring Christ from the dead?”. Christ died for our sins willingly and on the third day God raised him from the dead, death having no real claim on Jesus, who had done no sin, nor was guile found in his mouth….
The only worthy person who ever lived is Jesus Christ, He is the only wise God and our Savior and man can only be saved through Him. He descended from heaven himself, no one was ‘worthy’ to go up there and fetch him. He rose from the dead, after he had “by himself purged our sins”, as Hebrews 1:3 tells us.
But Israel for the most part didn’t want such a salvation. The salvation described in the book of Romans, is too simplistic. Salvation by a substitute is demeaning to the individual, it presupposes no inherent righteousness and gives no credit to the status of being a child of Abraham,Isaac and Jacob.
There is no striving, and nothing to glory in. They preferred a “Righteousness of their own”, an ethical system of works and saving rituals, originating in scripture but steadily evolving over the centuries by the teachings of Rabbis and Sages. Jesus and John warned about it, that mere physical affinity with Abraham wouldn’t save anyone, rather spiritual affinity.
Who is really a son of Abraham? Who was Abraham and how was he counted as Righteous? What works did he do to attain Righteousness. Abraham was a pagan idolater, who had an encounter with the Living God. God gave him a promise, that one of his children would be a blessing to the whole world! Abraham believed God, and He counted it to Him for Righteousness.
Moses also had an encounter with God, and He believed Him. He is the one who warned Israel not to trust in works, but to realize that “The Word is nigh thee, evening thy heart and in thy mouth…”. God is as close to you as your breath, for in the coming of Jesus, God was manifested in the flesh, He has come unto us, bringing salvation.
How close is salvation?
It is in the simplicity of confessing with our mouth, That Jesus is the LORD, and believing in our hearts that God has raised Him from the dead, that we shall be saved.
This is the original Creed, and the only saving faith, That Jesus is the LORD, and that God has raised him from the dead. In these spare words lie a whole theology, an entire life, even an eternity.The Creed is simple, in the sense that it is uncomplicated, but it isn’t easy. Consider it’s only two components briefly-
* Jesus is LORD- Jesus is the name of a human being, a very real person, the son of the Carpenter from Nazareth. He had a time and a space, having lived in the Roman Empire, in the first century. Jesus of Nazareth lived, laughed, felt, ate, slept, and in short he fully experienced humanity.
Then he died, for he was accused of blasphemy and treason and was “Crucified under Pontus Pilate”.
But God has shown us that this Jesus of Nazareth, is God.
* God raised Him from the dead- Jesus died as a human being on a cross of shame. But on the third day after he died, when they went to complete the embalming of his body, they found the tomb empty, and Jesus appeared to them very much alive. They handled him, ate with him, listened to him and walked with him until he ascended back to heaven.
The nation of Israel rejected Jesus for the most part, choosing instead a salvation of their own making, one that gives a works righteousness and that elevates the most pious among them, one that a man can glory in, and be exalted above others by.They have unwittingly fulfilled the prophecy of Jeremiah,
“My people have committed two evils, they have forsaken ME, the fountain of Living waters, and have Hewn out for themselves broken cisterns that can hold no water”. (Jeremiah 2)
That so accurately describes any religious system.
All religion ever does is complicate the beautiful simplicity of Christ in me, the hope of glory.
I have been crucifies with Christ and I no longer live but Christ lives in me. The life I live int eh body I live by faith in the son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me.
Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
TYPING......
Sheesh.....
This weather is getting to me.
“But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become sons of God, even to them that believe on his name” ( John 1:12)
“For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Romans 10:13)
Salvation is a gift, freely given. It is between Christ and us. Our human nature tells us that we must do some work to gain salvation, but Jesus did it all.
Without His imputed righteousness there’s no hope for a sinner.
Amen- We sing “He is all my Righteousness,I stand complete in Him, and worship Him...”
True that! I feel sorry for those who are always working never really sure.
Maybe you should go to Florida 😄😇😃🆒
Got the tickets.
Go to the Weather Underground and type in either Buffalo NY or Syracuse NY.
They have a great graph showing the highs and lows.
Yes, we know a few groups like that don't we?😄😇😃
In the meantime, I’m heading for a warm bed with LOTS of comforters piled on.
Night......
Wait...I thought I had be infant baptized, confess my sins to a man and not God, belong to certain church and go weeky, do a spell in Purgatory to cleanse me of my sin and make sure the mother of God intercedes for me to Jesus....to get salvation....
Seems like a lot of work to get something that’s already been paid for....
Yes we do. And each time a Catholic posts a list like that I think of the way each of them went off track and can see those same errors in Catholicism. They don't realize but they are putting a knife in their own back.
You temporarily threw me for a loop. I saw WU, and the first thing I thought of, was Bill Ayres. We went to a nice Valentine's day romantic dinner at Taklobo, Jack's Ridge, Davao City (You can google the place) it is very interesting place, about a thousand feet above the city. The weather is totally different than 2 miles away. It was about 75 degrees and breezy. It was too chilly to eat outside. 😄😇😃. Can you imagine that, 75 degrees, and I felt cold?🆒😊
There must be billions of Asians who have already passed on who have no hope, then. That’s going to be one big barbecue.
lots of people complain it’s too simple.
if that’s true why is over two-thirds of the world that have heard it, unable to accept it?
it’s hard to accept because it makes absolutely no sense to the natural (unsaved/pre-accepted salvation) man. “the world” does not work this way, which is what he/she knows. nothing is free. certainly nothing valuable is free. you have to do something in return for something valuable. the more valuable, the more you are going to have to do.
this is why it is very hard for the unsaved person to accept the real gospel message.
False religion erects the proverbial scaffolding to heaven and tells men to start climbing. Blind sinners don’t understand they’ve been given a false hope. They can’t see the utter futility of that climb.
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