Day #151: Romans 3:5-8

BACKGROUND:

The apologist in Paul can foresee further objections arising. He understands that people are usually more willing to rationalize than repent, and that their minds will be pondering ways to elude God’s righteous judgment. Paul knows they are thinking, “If my sinfulness makes God look so good, then why should he punish me? I’m actually helping him out!” This was an attempt to make it seem unfair for God to punish sinners.


Many believe that God’s wrath contradicts his loving nature. But God judges based on his own character, not on society’s norm for fairness. God is not accountable to some external, vague notion of fair play. His personal moral uprightness is the standard by which he judges.


Eventually the final day of reckoning will come when God “will judge all people according to what they have done”. God must and will judge sin—he has the right to judge the world because he is God, and he is holy and just. Paul answers by reaffirming God’s character. If God is not just, how is he qualified to judge the world? No person can be an exception to God’s laws; that would violate God’s character and disqualify him as the Judge.


The root problem is in people’s misunderstanding of God’s righteousness when he is patient to both unfaithful Jews and sinful Gentiles. Jews cannot condemn Gentiles; both are in the same predicament. Both need to rely on God’s righteousness in his dealings with them and then choose to trust him or face his inevitable wrath for their sins.




SO WHAT? (what will I do with what I have read today?)

The third question that Paul askas and answers regards God's righteousness.
"But if our unrighteousness brings out God's righteousness..." This passage is probably the hardest passage in Romans to understand in the Greek and the English. Paul is talking about faulty logic here and he's going to point out that it doesn't make sense but it was a common excuse that the Jews were giving at this time.

v. 5 "If our unrighteousness brings out God's righteousness more clearly what shall we say, that God is unjust in bringing His wrath on us? I am using a human argument." Paul is saying that some people are saying, "You've just said that God is faithful to us even when we're unfaithful to Him. Therefore it seems that when I sin God forgives me and when I sin more and God forgives me more, then every time I sin it makes God look good because it shows how forgiving He is. Therefore God shouldn't be upset with me when I sin because my sin actually makes God look good."

If our sin makes God look good and more gracious why should we be judged for it. Why should He condemn us because actually we're doing God a favor. By our sin, God shows what a great guy He is and so He ought to thank us for our sin. That's the logic in this sentence.

Paul says in parenthesis "I am using a human argument". This is human logic and sometimes human logic is insanity. He was realizing you could twist what he was saying and that people were saying that the Jews' unfaithfulness actually reinforces God's faithfulness.

Illustration: A guy goes out and commits adultery over and over. His wife remains faithful to him. The husband comes in to his wife and says, "My unfaithfulness just makes you look better. Because you're staying faithful to me even though I'm unfaithful to you and it shows what a great lady you are!" So one day this wife finally says, "I've had enough! I'm not going to take any more! That's all I'm going to put up with." Husband comes in: "What gives? Why are you mad at me? My unfaithfulness just shows your patience. In fact instead of being upset you ought to thank me for my adultery because it shows what a great person you are." Does that make sense? NO.

Just like a lawyer would do in a court of law, Paul is destroying this absurd logic. In this court case he's taking every single objection that the Jews are bringing up and blowing it out of the water. It's distorted logic.

His answer: "Is that the right way to think about it? Certainly not! If that were so how could God judge the world?" If God doesn't have any standards, and He lets everybody get away with anything, how can He be fair if He doesn't have any standards? If sin results in doing good then God can't judge anybody because everybody would be doing good every time they sinned.

Question 4 ,that Paul addresses, regards the Questioning of God's truthfulness.
v. 7 "Someone might argue, `If my falsehood, enhances God's truthfulness and so increases His glory, why am I still condemned as a sinner?'" This is kind of an extension of this last argument. Paul is saying "Let's take your logic a step further. If all the bad things I do make God happy because it gives Him the chance to show His grace, then why would God condemn me? And if the truth of God has increased through my sin, then why am I still judged? Can I be blamed for something that brings glory to God? How could God call me a sinner, if my sin shows what a forgiving person He is?"

Paul was an intellectual giant, a genius. He uses what philosophers call "you take it to it's logical, illogical conclusion." Push it to the extreme and show how stupid it really is.

v. 8 "Why not say as we are being slandered as purported to be saying, and as some claim that we say, Let us do evil that good may result." He's saying, If every time I sin it brings more glory to God because it shows what a forgiving person He is, then let's live it up! Let's gross out on evil so God can be super forgiving! Does that make sense? No! Paul is saying, God does not need our evil to contrast His goodness. That's cheap grace. That's basically saying, It doesn't matter what you do as long as you believe the right thing. There are a lot of people going to church and believing the right things . . . but their life style? They live for the Lord on Sunday and then live for the devil the rest of the week. That's the way a lot of people are.

Paul is saying, You don't want to go out and sin more to prove what a gracious God He is.

Illustration: You get strep throat and go to the doctor. He says, "I have a wonder drug. You just have a minor case. This drug can wipe out your strep throat immediately!" What if you said, "Let's wait a few days. Let's pray that I get a super severe strep throat so that it will really demonstrate how powerful your wonder drug is!" That's the same kind of logic.

A lot of people do that with God. They think that God is some old grandfather up in the sky who's loving but absolutely harmless. Like you take your kids to grandpa's house. He's rocking, gumming his teeth... You say, We'll be back in a little while and leave the kids. The kids tear up the house! Grandpa's sitting there smiling, kind of senile. The kids think, "Grandpa must love this. Let's do it even more!" Because he's such a pushover and you know he can't stop you.

A lot of people think God is that way. I've had people come to me in counseling and said this: "I know the choice that I'm making is wrong, but I'm going to do it anyway because I know that God will forgive me." That can be used in all kinds of instances. If there is anything that really upsets me, it's that! I want to say, "What kind of fool do you think God is? Don't you think He sees through that? Do you think that a God who would let you get away with that is worthy to be worshipped?" Forgiveness is not a license to sin. Never confuse forgiveness with approval. They are two totally different things. Forgiveness from God does not mean approval.

Can a parent forgive a child for doing something wrong and still let them reap the consequences of their behavior? Maybe you stole some candy at the store. Your parents forgave you but you still had to pay back for the candy. Even though you were forgiven.

You can go out and get your life messed up in a certain kind of lifestyle and ask God to forgive you but you will still reap what you've sown. The consequences are still there. It can happen in any area of life. You can make a mistake, sin, ask God to forgive you, repent and God will forgive you. But we still hold scars.

It's like the boy who, every time he disobeyed, his dad made him nail a nail into the door of his room. Every time he asked forgiveness he could pull a nail out. After about a year the boy noticed that the door was getting full of holes. There were scars that were left. Was that boy forgiven? Absolutely. Was he in perfect, total fellowship with his dad. Absolutely. Did God hold a grudge against him? Not at all. But he still reaped the results.

When I was in youth work, I knew many people who took drugs and then came to God. God forgave them but their mind was still messed up from years of taking drugs.

Paul is saying, Don't presume on the grace of God. Some people were actually reporting that Paul was teaching this. He says "I've been slandered, insulted. People are saying Paul is encouraging loose living!" Anytime you get a pastor or preacher who teaches on grace that person is always going to be misrepresented by someone as believing in loose living. It always happens.

Paul's response to that attitude was the last thing he said in v. 8. "Their condemnation is deserved." If you think you can go out and sin and get away with it and ask God to forgive you, you get what you deserve. I know this is long, but if you'll hang in there with me this week, God will teach you some foundational truths from Romans 3.

I love you guys. Stay faithful. Stay the course.

Day #150: Romans 3:1-4

BACKGROUND:

Having firmly described the shared sinful condition of humankind in Romans chapter 2, Paul turns to several thoughts about the unique benefits of being Jewish. He wants to remind his Jewish brothers that their lack of faith has not hindered God’s plan. Paul does not want his people to miss the significance of God’s faithfulness. In spite of their failures, God still allows them to be the people of the Messiah. In fact, the Jews’ lack of faith is a clear witness to the absolute need for a Savior. Neither they nor we can save ourselves. God’s faithfulness is our only hope.

Paul makes clear that true “Jewishness” is not a matter of heritage, but a matter of one’s relationship with God, and that true circumcision is not on the body, but on the heart. The Jewish response might have well been, “Then what’s the advantage of being a Jew? Is there any value in the Jewish ceremony of circumcision?” Paul gives his response.

Paul answers yes, there are advantages for those members of God’s chosen nation. The Jews were entrusted with the whole revelation of God (Exodus 19–20; Deuteronomy 4:8). That great privilege alone made the Jews even more responsible to live up to God’s requirements. Paul himself was a Jew, and even though he became a dynamic Christian, he did not turn his back on his heritage. In fact, he realized that the prophets, the law, and God’s plan all pointed to fulfillment in Jesus Christ. Therefore, he could confidently state that being a Jew and being circumcised did have meaning, but only as part of God’s total plan. The Jews were entrusted with God’s words, preserving them until the coming of Christ, who was the fulfillment of the prophetic Scriptures.

While it was true that many Jews were unfaithful to God or to what they had been entrusted, that didn’t change the fact of God’s faithfulness. Many Jews rejected the gospel and thus failed to understand their own Scriptures. But Israel’s unfaithfulness did not determine God’s faithfulness. God had always been faithful to Israel, despite the nation’s failings, and God would continue to be faithful to his covenant with them.

Paul quoted from one of the profoundly confessional passages in the Old Testament (Psalm 51:4). It records the repentance of David following his confrontation with the prophet Nathan over his sin with Bathsheba. In the revelation of his sin David realized, as all of us must, that there is no denial before God. He sees even those things that we hide so well in ourselves and perhaps even come to believe never happened. Kings were used to getting their way. We tend toward the same arrogance. Before God it carries no weight at all.

SO WHAT? (what will I do with what I have read today?)

In the first eight verses of chapter 3 Paul asks some questions and gives some answers. In a synagogue setting it was perfectly normal for the teacher to speak and then say, "Are there any questions?" And he'd open it up. That's what's going on here in Romans 3.

Paul is the prosecuting attorney. The opposition stands up and say, "I object." The background for these questions are in the previous chapter. Paul has just told the Jews that their religion will not get them to heaven. In fact, he says, nobody's religion will get you to heaven. He says you're not going to make it because of your race, religion, or ritual. In reading chapter 2 it seems that there is absolutely no difference between Jews and Gentiles. Paul is not saying that. He's just saying none of us are innocent.

The first question is about the Jew's uniqueness.
3:1 "What advantage is there then in being a Jew? Or what value is there in circumcision?" Paul is saying, Some of you are thinking, "Why be religious? If working hard and going to church and being circumcised and keeping the law and serving the Jewish holidays won't get me into heaven, why should I even do it?" Is there any advantage in being a Jew over being a pagan if we're all guilty?

Paul answers in v. 2. "Much in every way." It's a great privilege to be a Jew. Praise the Lord! If you're Jewish you ought to be proud of it. There is advantage to it. What is that advantage?

He's saying that the greatest thing the Jews had going for them was that God had given them His word, more than all the rituals and all the other things, God had given them His word. The best thing they had going for them was the Old Testament. This is the Jews' great distinction. God told them, This is the Word and it has been entrusted to you.

Exodus 25. Why did God give them the Word? The first reason that God gave the Jews the Word was to care for it and protect it. We, as Christians, have a lot to thank the Jews for because they have preserved the Bible for thousands of years. If you were to open a Hebrew Bible the first thing you'd notice when you opened it is that you were at the end. The Hebrews read the Bible backwards. The last page of the Hebrew Bible is actually the first page. Genesis 1:1. This word of God has been preserved through centuries and centuries because one thing the Jews did do was take care of the Word that was intrusted to them.

Raiders of the Lost Ark -- great movie, lousy theology! A lot of adventure but very little truth about what the Ark of the Covenant was. What is the Ark of the Covenant? This was the box that was encrusted by gold inside and out that the Jews were to keep the word of God in. In Exodus 25 God gives the instructions for making the Ark. "Have them make a chest of acacia wood, two and a half cubits long, a cubit and a half wide, and a cubit and a half high. Overlay it with pure gold both inside and out and make a gold molding around it. ... make gold rings and fasten them on the four sides ... make poles that are to go through these rings and they're never to be removed."

The reason why, the ark was so sacred, they were never to even touch it. Why? Because it contained the Word of God. The two tables of the Ten Commandments were actually put in that ark. v. 16 "Then put in the ark the testimony which I will give you [the Word of God] and place the cover on top of the ark and put in the ark the testimony which I will give you." What was special about the ark? Nothing. What was special about the ark was what was inside of it -- the Word which was given to the Jews from God which they were to take care of.

Later God told Solomon to build a temple, an enormous, elaborate temple. Why? To hold the ark which held the Word of God. It was that important. God says I'm giving the Jews the Word to take care of it and protect it so that down through the ages people will have it.

Romans. That was part of the Jewish privilege talked about in v. 2. But there were two parts to this entrustment. The second thing the Jews were to do with the Word of God was to share it. The Jews were to be the missionaries to the rest of the world. God did not make them the chosen nation so they could say, We got it and you don't! He did not make them to be a special group so that they could say, We're the In crowd. Everybody else, forget it! He made them to be evangelists to the world. They were to take the Word of God and share it. But did they do that? No, they didn't.

The Jews did one of the two things God gave them the word for. They took care of it, preserved it. But they didn't share it. They thought that "We're the chosen people" meant We're the only people. But God said, "I gave you the Word so that you could share it with everybody else." The Jews saw their position as a position of prestige and privilege. But Paul said, You have an advantage yes -- the Word of God, but you also have a responsibility.

The second question that Paul deals with is God's faithfulness. The first question is about the Jew's uniqueness and the second is about God's faithfulness. Paul imagines some saying, "What if some of them did not have faith? Will their lack of faith nullify God's faithfulness?"

Paul says in v. 4, "Not at all. Let God be true and every man be a liar. As it is written so that you may be proved right in your words and prevailing in your judging." The question Paul asks now is, Since the Jews did not follow God's word completely does that mean that all the promises God made to them, God doesn't have to keep them any more? Paul says, No! Not at all! This is a favorite expression of Paul's. Not at all! It's used thirteen times in Paul's writings and nine times in the book of Romans. The literal translation is No! No! No! No! No! No! It means God forbid! It is the strongest statement you can make in the Greek language. It means Absolutely not!

God does not break His promises even when our performance doesn't warrant it. There are some people questioning God's faithfulness. They're saying since the Jews were unfaithful to God does that mean that God can now be unfaithful to the Jews? and He doesn't have to keep all the promises He made to them? Paul says No! Even if every person in the world is a liar, God is true.

In the Bible there are two kinds of promises. There are conditional promises and there are unconditional promises. Conditional promises are promises that say, "If you do this then I will do this." "Ask and it shall be given unto you." The condition is Ask, the promise is It shall be given unto you. It doesn't say if you don't ask He's going to give it anyway. There is a condition. How about "Whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved." Condition: call on the name of the Lord. If you do your part, God does His part. 2 Chronicles 7;14 "If my people which are called by My name shall humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and forgive their sins and heal their land." There is a promise and there's a premise. Those are conditional promises.

There are also in the Bible many promises that are totally unconditional whether we do what's right or not. These are the promises that Paul is talking about here. There are some promises to the Jews that God made regardless of what they did. For instance, God promised the Jews that eventually they would have a Messiah. Did the Jews deserve that Messiah? Were they faithful all through the years of the Old Testament? They weren't. But did God send the Messiah anyway? Sure. Even though He knew that they were going to reject Him, He sent Him anyway. That was an unconditional promise. The Bible also says that one day Christ is going to come back. That's a promise. It doesn't matter what you do or what you don't do. That promise is not conditioned upon you. This is what Paul is talking about here.

He's saying some of you are saying that since the Jews have blown it and then God can forget everything He's promised to them. Paul says No, God's promises are based on His character not on man's performance.

Aren't you glad that some of God's promises aren't based on how you perform? I'm really glad!
God is saying that even though the Jewish nation has not done what I told them to do, I still love them and I still will fulfill the promises that I made to them. If you want an example of the faithfulness of God, look at the nation of Israel. How many of those nations in the Old Testament are still around today? Only one! Israelites. Because God is faithful. We see the faithfulness of God in the nation of Israel. That ought to be an encouragement to us. One of the reasons why these promises in the Bible ought to be so precious to us is because they are absolutely trustworthy. You can count on them. God will never go against His word. God says it and it will happen!

Paul is saying that God is still not through with Israel. He is working with the church today but God still has a plan for Israel. He still has promises to keep and to fulfill. Stay with me this week as we work through this foundational passage. I love you guys. Stay faithful. Stay the course.

Day #149: Matthew 5:38-48

Written this week by Alan Lindberg

38 “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’

Here Jesus refers to Leviticus 24:19-20 If anyone injures his neighbor, as he has done it shall be done to him, fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; whatever injury he has given a person shall be given to him.

One of the things these verses in Leviticus do is to define limits to retribution. Revenge has always been an issue for man. What is just and what causes an escalation beyond the original injury? Designating the retribution or justice to be equal to the original crime put a limit to the escalation of revenge. The other part of the law was that the magistrate was to provide the punishment, not the injured.

39 But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. 40 And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. 41 And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. 42 Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you.

Jesus again teaches us the godly way to act, as opposed to our interpretation of the Law not through retribution but through forgiveness and understanding. Rather than to seek revenge we are to treat those who seek to harm us with love and kindness. This advice Proverbs 25:21-22 If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat, and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink, for you will heap burning coals on his head, and the LORD will reward you. Evil is not conquered by evil in return, but by good. Ultimately the destruction of evil is sure, and is in the Lord’s hands.

43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’

From early times the message of the Lord has been to love your neighbor and to NOT hate others. Leviticus 19:17-18 says "You shall not hate your brother in your heart, but you shall reason frankly with your neighbor, lest you incur sin because of him. You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD. The teachers of the time assumed that if you loved your neighbor that you must hate your enemies and taught that precept. Hating one’s enemies is the worldly, carnal reaction.

44 But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.

We should react to evil with good and pray for those who persecute us. Again, in order to please God, we must act as He would have us act. He provides sustenance and life to all, whether good or evil. We should likewise act with love toward others and pray for those in need of His love.

46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?

Those who do not follow God love those who love them and are friendly to their brothers. We need to go beyond that norm and love those who are unlovely, those who do not love us. In this way we can please God who loves us. We are also called to show ouw love for God through our love for our brother: 1 John 4:19-20 If anyone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.

48 You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

We must strive for the perfection of our heavenly father. It is through His leading us and our obedience to His leading that we please God. He is in the process of maturing us toward perfection. We cannot achieve that perfection on our own, being imperfect, but the attitude of our hearts and the actions derived from it can move us closer to that goal. We are assured that this work will one day be complete though: Philippians 1:6 And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

Day #148: Matthew 5:27-37

Written this week by Alan Lindberg

27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’

“You shall not commit adultery” is another of the Ten Commandments, just as “You shall not murder” that we reviewed yesterday. To illustrate His point Jesus often used more than one example to ensure that His listeners and those of us today understand what He is telling us.

28 But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

Just as our thoughts cause us to be considered by God as a murderer, our thoughts cause us to be considered as an adulterer. It is our intentions and the sin in our hearts and minds that matter to God, just as much as the actions that follow them. Sin takes place first in our mind and attitude. God wants us to nip it in the bud there, before it takes control of us.

29 If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. 30 And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.

Jesus is not asking us to disfigure ourselves to prevent sin. Since the sin is in our mind and heart it should be stopped there first. What He is saying though is that we should take extreme measures to avoid sin. Anything which is an enabler to sin should be removed. We should have an attitude of sin prevention, not of continuing to sin and asking forgiveness. We need to be asking ourselves, is there something in our lives which is enabling sin to creep into our lives? To take the adulterous example in verse 28 is there “harmless” flirting going on at the office? The trouble with these kinds of things is that they can and often do escalate to something that is no longer harmless. What is the best course of action? Avoid those situations. Be careful not to enable sin in your life.

31 “It was also said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’

Here Jesus is referring to Deuteronomy 24:1 “When a man takes a wife and marries her, if then she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some indecency in her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house, and she departs out of his house, While we would say that the “indecency” is likely to be adultery only, to the Jews of the time it was often interpreted to mean anything that the husband did not like, causing them to divorce for reasons God had not sanctioned.

32 But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.

Jesus now describes an example of the sin of adultery. While Deuteronomy permitted divorce and described some of the circumstances for divorce, it did not describe the sin relationships associated with it specifically enough for the people. In Deuteronomy Moses said that the man had “found some indecency in her”. Jesus says specifically that the only “indecency” on the wife’s part to justify divorce is her adultery. It also says that divorce for any other reason causes adultery to be committed after the divorce if she re-marries, in this case causing her, and her new husband also, to commit adultery.

33 “Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.’

Again Jesus takes an example of the Ten Commandments, the commandment to not bear false witness. Just like with the teaching on murder and adultery He is not overturning the Law but letting us know what the true meaning of the law is. To some people at the time it was so different than the interpretation they were used to.

34 But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, 35 or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. 36 And do not take an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. 37 Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.

Swearing by things, or taking oaths, was a common practice at the time and was, as many other things, a source of abuse and misuse. Sometimes we hear it in our own day when someone declares that they “swear to God” that something is true. It is better to leave the statement as it is without the embellishment of oaths or “swearing by” something. Our statements should all be true to begin with not embellished with oaths. Be forthcoming and clear and do not pull other people, places and things into your statements.

Day #147: Matthew 5:21-26

Written this week by Alan Lindberg

21 “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’

In Genesis we read of the first murder which Cain committed against his brother Abel. God took that crime seriously, punishing Cain to wander the earth. We know that God included “You shall not murder” in the Ten Commandments. In the 35^th chapter of Numbers there are judgments described for murderers, most of which prescribe that the murderer be put to death for his crime. Clearly murder was a serious crime, to be dealt with severely. Murder is an outward, physical act. It is perpetrated by one person upon another. The great majority of people do not commit this kind of sin.

22 But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.

Earlier in the chapter we see that sin is in the heart, just as righteousness is in the heart, not just apparent outwardly. Here we see that we should emulate God in our mind and attitude, not just in our actions. Jesus describes here punishments not just for physical actions, but for anger and insults. Sin always begins in the mind and heart. We sin by hating others and by assassinating their character long before we take physical action by verbally insulting them or attacking them physically. Jesus is helping the people on “the mount” and us today to understand that sin is not limited to taking evil action, it includes thinking evil thoughts. God, who is wholly good, and wholly righteous cannot condone that which is not good, including our ill thoughts about others.

23 So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.

Jesus is saying that because God is wholly good you cannot relate to Him while you are holding evil in your heart. By bringing your gift to the altar you are showing your love for God. God wants you to love your brother. As we saw earlier He followed the Great Commandment (to love Him) with a second commandment to love your neighbor as yourself. God created all men. Since God wants us to love both Him and each other, how can we come to Him (bringing the gift to the altar) with evil thoughts about our brother, or even knowing that our brother holds evil thoughts against us? As He says in Matthew 9:13, quoting Hosea, Go and learn what this means, 'I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.' For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners. We should be showing mercy to our “brother”, which has a much higher priority than the “sacrifice” we bring to the altar. We should work out our relationship with our brother so that love can prevail in that relationship

25 Come to terms quickly with your accuser while you are going with him to court, lest your accuser hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the guard, and you be put in prison. 26 Truly, I say to you, you will never get out until you have paid the last penny.

This could be taken to refer to earthly disputes. Avoid the court system and try to resolve your disputes with another before going to court. It should be considered in the realm of eternity. We stand accused of sin by God and no matter how hard we try we are all guilty. Any sin separates us from God. If we do not reconcile with God, as we can through Jesus, we will be condemned not to be with God in heaven, (in fact to be condemned to be eternally separated from God in Hell) in this analogy be “put into prison”. The reality is that we will never get out of that situation because we can never “pay the last penny” because we cannot “undo” our sin. Therefore, through Christ, we should make sure that we are reconciled with God and that we let others know the way they can be too.

Day #146: Matthew 5:17- 20

Written this week by Alan Lindberg

Background: The Jewish people at this point have lived for about 1500 years under the laws recorded by Moses. The original laws He recorded have been expanded to include a great deal of detail proscribing how people should live their lives. Much of the true meaning behind the laws was lost to them through their focus on following all of the rules which had been documented. The meaning was so lost that a man who was learned in the law had to ask Jesus what the greatest commandment was. Jesus replied with the great commandment as recorded in Matthew 22:37-38 And he said to him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. Knowing the law He should have realized that this commandment had already been taught to the people of Israel and had been recorded in Deuteronomy 6:5 You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.

The scripture at the time, revealing God’s nature, consisted of the books written by Moses (the Law) and those written by the later Prophets. The people must have wondered how He would relate himself to God’s word in the scriptures.

17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.

We find hundreds of prophecies in the Old Testament (their scriptures at the time) of the coming Messiah. The book of Isaiah from several hundred years earlier alone contains many references to him. The Book of Psalms (see Psalm 22) also has a great number of references to the Messiah. Every one of these prophesies were indeed fulfilled in Jesus. The Law too, as we saw in the example from Deuteronomy 6:5, was often quoted by Jesus during His ministry. He brought out the true meaning of the Law to the people, which was not the ritual which they had grown accustomed to.

18 For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.

Christ as a part of the Trinity, as God, was the true author of the Law which Moses recorded. God is the true giver of law to man. The truly righteous laws are God’s, not man’s. Man’s laws can emulate God’s but don’t always do so. God’s laws are righteous and eternal. Although at the time Jesus was speaking to those people about the scriptures they had then, He is speaking to us about our entire Bible. There are many prophecies in the Old Testament and in the New which are yet to be fulfilled, but as the Lord says, you can be certain that they will. When He talks about an iota, while this is not in common usage today, He is saying that not the smallest thing will be left undone.

19 Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

God’s laws are absolute, just, and righteous but because men interpret them, as the scribes and Pharisees of the day were doing, they can be poorly applied and poorly taught. The religious teachers of the day had produced books of laws that they had derived from laws in scripture and were teaching them. Today when we do that we call it legalism. We want to make sure that as we follow Christ we follow what is written in God’s word, not what someone told us they thought was in His word. That is one of the reasons why we want to be reading the Bible, so we know what it really says and not take someone else’s word for it. In extreme cases we see others corrupting God’s word and founding cults which are purported to be Biblically-based, but when it comes down to it they are based on man’s invention rather than God’s word itself. Again, those who do God’s will, in this case by teaching His laws, are called great and will be so in the kingdom of heaven.

20 For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

At the time the scribes and Pharisees were known for their outward righteousness. Unfortunately many also had hearts which were far from righteous. It is the righteous heart that the Lord desires, not the outward appearance of righteousness. That is not to say our actions do not also speak of our righteousness. If our hearts are following God then our actions will follow. We don’t need to make a deliberate outward show of how righteous we are, all will see it from our actions. By citing the Pharisees as extreme examples of visible righteousness Jesus is implying that you could only enter the kingdom of heaven if you are more righteous than the most righteous, a difficult thing to be. As we know though, Christ’s blood makes us righteous in God’s eyes, allowing us to enter heaven even though it would be impossible for us to get there based on our own efforts.

Day #145: Matthew 5:12-16

Written this week by Alan Lindberg

Background: Jesus now moves into a different way of teaching, by providing examples that people could relate to in their lives. We have seen over the last two days the ways in which we can behave which both please God and help others see Him in us, bringing them closer to Him. Now we see how we use those gifts to influence others for Him can be wasted and become ineffective.

The people shared a common understanding of how both salt and light worked in their lives. Both were critical to them. Salt, a mineral required for life, was a precious commodity that everyone interacted with daily. Light, its presence or absence, made a profound difference in how people lived their lives. Jesus starts each teaching here with the opportunity the people have to be like salt or like light and follows with how salt and light can lose their value.

13 “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet.

Salt was thought to have many values at this time, as a preservative, as a seasoning, and as a requirement for life. For each of these aspects of salt there is an equivalent spiritual aspect. His followers have the ability to preserve, or save, others from the corruption of the world through the good news that He came to save us. They are able to provide the “seasoning” of a new and different approach to life by teaching others how to follow God in their lives. They are also able to help give life to others through helping to lead them to Christ and thus helping them to have eternal life.

All of those things can be lost though if we are not an example to others and if we do not share Christ with them. If we don’t do these things, our “saltiness”, our ability to have a positive impact on them for Christ is lost. If we are not influencing people then that ability or “saltiness” is valueless, we may as not have had it. Make sure you are leveraging it to help others.

14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

Christ brought light to the world. He said in John 8:12 Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." Light is the opposite of darkness. The corrupt live in darkness; the light is the “good” to the “evil” of darkness. John 3:19-21 describes it this way: And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God. Through the light we see and can therefore understand a great deal about our surroundings. It leads to understanding and truth. We have that “light” in Christ. Through our relationship with Christ those who are the “light of the world” can shine that light and show others that they follow God. We also have the ability to illuminate the darkness.

Jesus teaches again with this analogy that we should influence others to change their lives by following Christ just as our lives have been changed by following him. Our light, as demonstrated by our following of His path in a way that is clear to others, will help them to follow Him as well. However, if that light is hidden by not revealing our Christian walk, then we are not helping them. We are effectively hiding our light under a basket. We should therefore put our light on a stand, making it clear to others in order to help them. Sharing this light with others not only helps them to know what they should do (follow Him) but also glorifies God through your example.

Day #144: Matthew 5:6-11

Written this week by Alan Lindberg

Background: Today we continue through the Beatitudes showing us how our approach to life can result in God’s blessing.

7 Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.

The three verses from yesterday all related to our attitudes. This one relates to actions we can take as we relate to others. We have a choice in terms of how we interact with others. God has clearly demonstrated mercy to us in terms of not punishing us at the level that our sins likely deserve. As He loves us, we should love others. In Matthew 22:37-38 Jesus tells the lawyer, and us - And he said to him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. Immediately after declaring the greatest commandment He follows it in Matthew 22:39 with - And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. How can we not be merciful to others if we love them? Here again it is too easy to fall into the trap of the world. It says to us take advantage of others; get even, but we have a better source of direction than the world in these matters.

As I mentioned above we are experiencing life under a merciful God. He loves it when our actions follow His. We need to show mercy to everyone, like the Good Samaritan did. This may be an extreme example of mercy given the condition of the one who needed it, robbed and beaten and left along the road to die. The man who was beaten was considered a risk to everyone who passed by, of danger from hidden robbers, lying in wait and even from ceremonial uncleanness for the Jews. We need to overcome our reluctance to help. We also need to be thoughtful and observant in our lives to truly see those who are in need of some mercy.

8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

As we see in the description of many of the people at the time of Christ’s earthly ministry the focus was on outward appearance and ritual. Provide the right sacrifices, act the right way in the synagogue and you are “righteous”. All of these things are outward appearance but not the true intention of the believer. As we see in the selection of a new King for the people of Israel in 1 Samuel 16:7 ^- But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart." God does not judge on anything outward, including our religious behavior. He does judge our hearts and those whose hearts are pure shall see God. What does it mean to be “pure in heart”? The word “pure” means to be free from anything of a different, inferior, or contaminating kind. We need to work on our hearts being pure by focusing on the Lord, which is “essentially seeing God”

9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

God made the ultimate gesture of peace through Christ, giving Him to reconcile us to Himself. We are the beneficiaries of that greatest gesture of peacemaking. God offers this peace to us. We need to take Him up on that offer. Again we need to emulate Him by helping bring that peace to others. We also need to act to bring peace between our fellow men when the opportunity presents itself. We will be called sons of God because we are emulating our Father in our actions.

10 Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

God loves the truly righteous as they are acting as He would act, emulating God, following His lead in all things. Why are the righteous persecuted? They follow God and not the world. Unfortunately we live in a world that knows sin and as a consequence many are led by the sin that is in their lives. In John 7:7 Jesus told His brothers: The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify about it that its works are evil. The world needs a savior yet rebels at His message because it contradicts what they know and it serves to condemn them. As a consequence those who bring the message are reviled and persecuted. We see only a little of this persecution in our lives. We need to remember that we live in a world where there are many who are persecuted to the point of being martyred for their faith. For all of the righteous who believe in and follow Christ there awaits the reward of God’s kingdom and His blessing. In fact, the reward is not just in being a part of the kingdom, but the reward is great in heaven just as the reward was great for those prophets who were persecuted before us.