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(Blue entries in the meditation are links; clicking on them will take you to the verse(s) in the New International Version; clicking on the other versions on that page will show the same verses in the selected version. Occasionally links are to another file of mine. On this page entries in green are the words of Scripture (NIV). If you wish to pursue your own study on issues raised try this link: The Online Study Library. )
Oct. 1999
At home. Who does not know from personal experience that there
is misery, pain, hurt, and death all around him or her? There
is even more going on in far away places where we are not.
Headlines or observations such as
these could be multiplied a million times. Reports such as these
are heard over and over, from every corner of the globe, and would
fill a library. This world is full of pain and misery--more than
I could ever take in. Yes, this certainly is a hurting world.
But is that the only statement that is true of this world? Is
the fact that there are many people in it who are hurting the
most important fact? Is the fact this world is filled with people
who are hurting the most important fact about people in God's
opinion?
We have often heard the statement that the the gospel is the answer. The answer to what? If the question or issue is not the right one the gospel is not the answer. For example, if the issue is how to subtract 97 from 114 the gospel won't help you. If the issue is how to fly a plane the gospel is not the answer. Now reverse the statements. If we know what the answer is does that tell us what the question (or issue) is? For example, if the answer is '700 miles per hour' then the question is not how much concrete will the foundation require. If the answer is 'growing more food' then the question is not how high is the mountain. If the answer is 'the earth is round' then the question is not how many students are in Mrs. Smith's class. If the answer is 'the sacrificial death of the Son of God on the cross' what is the issue?
How can we know what the the gospel or 'good news' says has been cured? By looking at the 'literature'.
When we 'see' what we consider a problem such as when
our bodies don't seem to be working properly we seek answers,
we go to physicians for their knowledge and help. We go
to the garage if we believe there is a problem that interferes
with our car running properly. If we want to find out what a particular
drug or medicine is good at dealing with we read the literature
on it (or go to a doctor who has done so). We often pay attention
to what these sources say the problem is. Do we pay attention
to God's opinion (knowledge) as to what the 'problem' is? Do we
pay attention to what God says his cure (the work of Christ) was
designed to do?
Is the gospel the "answer"? Of course, it is. Of course
it is the 'answer' to what God considers the 'problem' to be.
The gospel is the answer only to what in God's opinion the 'problem'
is. What God did did not make an end of every problem sinners
can see around them.
Be careful.
The rest of this meditation looks at the 'literature' provided
by God that sets forth what God looks upon as the 'problem' and
what God did about it.
When Christ was on earth was the situation different from the
way it is now? Did God miss hearing the cries of
pain? Did he not see the circumstances in which most of humanity
was living--in poverty and in desperate straits? Or, was there
not enough misery, hurt and death in the world to get him to change
his mind as to what was important? Why didn't God alter his focus
and decide that the reduction or elimination of misery and hurt
in this world was the most important matter to be taken care of?
Was it because Jesus the Christ was callous and hardhearted that
he did not try to stay on earth to do more miraculous healing?
Because God did something about what was very meaningful to him,
because God did something the results of which will last forever
does that mean he is indifferent to everything else? Because God's
mercy was not focused on those needs people have that will end
when their bodies disintegrate does that make him callous, hardhearted?
Hardly! The Bible says, "Because
of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were
dead in transgressions--it is by grace you have been saved." (Ephesians 2:4-5; see also John
3:16)
As we all know if we read the papers or hear the news or hear
our friends and neighbors talk--there is a great deal of misery,
pain and hurt in the world. But that was not issue that was so
important to God that he sent his only Son to take care of it.
For God, the greatest "need" which people had was not
to be removed from the painful situation they find themselves
in. There was a greater need than having relief from hurt and
unhappiness. Sin and the lack of Holiness or Righteousness. (2
Corinthians 12:7-9; 1 Peter 1:6-7)
Before looking at many of the verses that tell us what the
"need" is that God considers of vital importance, before
looking at many of the verses that tell us what God considers
the matter that the work of Christ was designed to take care of,
a teaching of the Bible about the character of God needs to be
set forth. This truth about the character of God needs to be kept
in mind lest anyone harbor the ungodly thought that God is indifferent
to the pain and hurt his people and all people are feeling in
this world.
We began this meditation with various quotes which made it abundantly clear (as if our own experience were not enough!) that there is an enormous about of hurt in this world. Is God unconcerned and unmoved by the presence of so much pain and misery? Of course not. What an awful image of God that would be! According to the Bible that is a terribly inaccurate image of God, a blasphemous image of God. The Bible tells us over and over again that God is merciful and compassionate. He knows what we need. (Matthew 6:31-33) He gives us what we need. It was his purpose to give us the kingdom (Luke 12:32; 18:29-30) Is it possible to think that "He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all" is not merciful and will not "also, along with him, graciously give us all things?" (Romans 8:32; see also 8:35-39; Psalm 84:11)
God the Father is merciful. In this period of time (before
his day of judgment) he shows mercy causing his benefits, his
rain to fall on the wicked as well as the righteous. Can we do
less?
What better example of God could we have than that of Jesus, the
Son of God. And who ever displayed more compassion than He did?
Who has ever done more works of mercy and healing than He did?
Can it be godly that I or any child of God would feel and act
differently? (Romans
8:29; Philippians 2:5-8)
As James puts it, "Religion that God our
Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans
and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted
by the world." (James 1:27) As
the apostle Paul puts it: "Therefore,
as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially
to those who belong to the family of believers." (Galatians 6:10)
The purpose of salvation is that the people he has purified will be like him--holy and blameless. "For he chose us in him [Christ] before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight." (Ephesians 1:4) "But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy." (1 Peter 1:15-16) Christ, the righteous and sinless one, died for a purpose--that we might be holy and blameless. (Ephesians 5:25-27;Titus 2:14;1 Peter 3:18) [The next section will (I hope) show in more detail that being holy like our Lord and our God is the goal of God's plan of salvation.]
Being merciful is not an a form of
behavior that has been or can be chosen (or not chosen) by the
redeemed of God anymore than a fish chooses to swim (or not to
swim). We must be like the merciful God. Feeling and being merciful
is a built-in component of the new creature God created or regenerated.
As the English idiom expresses it, "it comes with the territory."
For Christians, is being moved to acts of kindness by seeing bodily
and mental hurts in this world an irrelevancy? Not at all. That
same character that we see is part of God also appears--not surprisingly--in
his redeemed children: They are to be merciful. It "comes
with the territory." It comes with redemption. Behaving like
the Lord--which includes being merciful-- is part of what is meant
by those statements of God which describe his people and what
he has done for them: "You
are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people
belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who
called you out of darkness into his wonderful light." (1 Peter 2:9) or "He has rescued us from the
dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son
he loves." (Colossians 1:13;
see also Philippians 3:20)
The apostle John tells us this: "This is how we know who the children of God
are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not
do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does
not love his brother." (1 John 3:10) Jesus, in
his Sermon On The Mount, teaches us this: "But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray
for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father
in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good,
and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love
those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the
tax collectors doing that?... Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly
Father is perfect." (Matthew 5:44-46,48) [For further comments on the idea of being
as your father is--see the file 'Who
Is Your Father']
The apostle Paul touched on the matter when he said, "In everything I did, I showed
you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering
the words the Lord Jesus himself said: `It is more blessed to give
than to receive.'"
(Acts
20:35)The apostle John set
forth this truth in these words: "If anyone has material possessions and sees
his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of
God be in him?" (1 John 3:17)
The feeling of compassion and the doing of works of mercy is unquestionably
an integral part of the character of God (and of the children
he redeemed with the blood of his only Son) but that fact does
not tell us what God considers our greatest 'need' anymore than
having the general knowledge that a doctor is compassionate and kind shows that
the particular 'sickness' he has diagnosed us to be suffering from is correct. To know that God is
merciful (and that his redeemed children share that characteristic)
does not tell us what God considers the greatest impediment is
to being in his presence forever.
In the Bible there is a thing called 'righteousness'. It appears
over and over again as the principal value that permeates the
message of Christianity. The gospel is the announcement that God
has provided this property to everyone who believes.
Righteousness. Righteousness is a state of being. It is a state of being like wetness is the state being of anything that has been dipped in water. It is the state of being that exists when the power and dominion of sin over a people has been broken and when the penalty which their previous and future unrighteousness made them subject to has been removed (by being placed on Christ).
"For in the gospel
a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is
by faith from first to last, just as it is written: 'The righteous
will live by faith.'" (Romans 1:17) The
Bible says, "Therefore
no-one will be declared righteous in his [God's]
sight by observing
the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin. But
now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known,
to which the Law and the Prophets testify.
(This is what the gospel announces) This righteousness from God comes through
faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference." (Romans 3:20-22)
"Christ is
the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone
who believes." (Romans 10:4) "For everyone who believes" what?
That the code of ethics that individual has chosen to follow is
more pleasing to God than every other code of ethics? That his
or her way of doing things is the right way? That is not the message
of Christianity. Trying to keep God's law, trying to live according
to a code of ethics, is not the gospel. That is not the answer.
The Bible says that very clearly: "All who rely on observing the law are under
a curse, for it is written: 'Cursed is everyone who does not continue
to do everything written in the Book of the Law. '" (Galatians 3:10) And again,
"Know that
a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus
Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we
may be justified by faith in Christ...because by observing the
law no-one will be justified." (Galatians 2:16)
The Bible tells us what the 'problem'
is--"For
if, by the trespass of the one man [Adam], death
reigned through
that one man..." And
it tells us the gospel--
"...how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision
of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through
the one man, Jesus Christ." The Bible repeats this truth--"For just as through
the disobedience of the one man [Adam]
the many were
made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the
many will be made righteous."
(Romans
5:17,19 )
"For it is
not those who hear the law who are righteous in God's sight, but
it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous." (Romans 2:13 ) (But in practice
no one since the 'Fall' of Adam and Eve can obey all the
law--be flawless in thought, word and deed from the day of his
or her birth. "There
is not a righteous man on earth who does what is right and never
sins." (Ecclesiastes 7:20) This
statement of God becomes
even more awesome when combined with another truth of God: "For
whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of
breaking all of it." (James
2:10)
The
worth of human efforts at being righteous when compared with the
righteousness of God is as nothing. The Bible says so.
"All of us
have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts
are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like
the wind our sins sweep us away."
(Isaiah
64:6;
see also Romans 3:10-12)
That is why no one can be acceptable to God unless he or she is
covered by, or clothed in, the righteousness of Jesus the Christ.
The perfect righteousness of Christ is a necessary qualification.
"For I tell
you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees
and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the
kingdom of heaven. "
(Matthew
5:20) Righteousness is a pure property of God. There
is no such thing as 'almost righteous', 'somewhat righteous'. There
is no such thing as 'almost holy', 'somewhat holy', 'somewhat
blameless'. Either your blameless or your not. Either the perfect
righteousness that God provided by the sacrifice of Christ
(Romans
8:3) is present or it is absent.
Putting out great effort to come up to God's standards is not
enough. Nobody can do it. Sincerity and zeal are not enough. Many
religious leaders of the Jews were doing just that during the
Old Testament period and when Christ was on earth. As the apostle
Paul--who had been one of those religious leaders when
Jesus the Christ was on earth--put it, "Brothers, my heart's desire and prayer
to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved. For I can
testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal
is not based on knowledge. Since they did not know the righteousness
that comes from God and sought to establish their own, they did
not submit to God's righteousness. Christ is the end of the law
so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes." (Romans 10:1-4;
see also Luke 7:29-30; John 5:38-40)
That is why in the case of all who rely upon it God's gift of
righteousness is such 'good news' ('gospel'). In the Old Testament
book of Isaiah we read words which express the confidence of the
redeemed people of God: "I
delight greatly in the LORD; my soul rejoices in my God. For he
has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a
robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a
priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels." (Isaiah 61:10) In the New
Testament the apostle Paul rejoices in God's gift of righteousness,
saying, "What
is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing
greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have
lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ
and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that
comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ--the
righteousness that comes from God and is by faith." (Philippians 3:8-9; see also Romans
4:13)
This is the 2nd category I have chosen in which to set forth
the biblical teachings that show how important this thing called
'righteousness' is.
By stating what won't work to acquire
a righteous standing before God the apostle Paul indicates
the necessity of Christ's sacrificial death. "If righteousness could be gained through
the law [by obedience
to it], Christ
died for nothing!" (Galatians 2:21) Think about it. Think about what only the
death of Christ on the cross could bring about! "God presented him [his only
Son] as a sacrifice
of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate
his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the
sins committed beforehand unpunished-- "
(Romans
3:25) (In this translation (NIV) where the term
'justice' is used some other translations use the term 'righteousness'.)
In some of the declarations of God
which speak about the results of the sacrificial death of Christ
the specific word 'righteousness' is not used but its frequent
synonyms--holiness and blamelessness--are used. In the book of
Hebrews we are told this: "And
by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of
the body of Jesus Christ once for all....But when this priest
[Jesus the Christ] had offered for all time one
sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God....because
by one sacrifice he has made perfect for ever those who are being
made holy." (Hebrews 10:10,
12, 14) In the apostle Paul's letter to the church
at Ephesus we are told, "Husbands,
love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself
up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with
water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant
church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy
and blameless." (Ephesians 5:25-27)
Yet another expression is used later in the book of Hebrews to
refer to that ultimate condition of God's people which was earned
by the sacrificial death of Christ. "But you have come to Mount Zion, to
the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. You have come
to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the
church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You
have come to God, the judge of all men, to the spirits of righteous
men made perfect," (Hebrews 12:22-23)
What was the state of affairs or the condition God wanted to produce?
Holiness, blamelessness. "For
he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy
and blameless in his sight."
(Ephesians
1:4) God did not choose us to be happy or successful
or pain-free but to be holy and blameless. As all prayers should
be, the apostle Paul prayed in accordance with God's revealed
purpose, saying, "May
he strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy
in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes
with all his holy ones."
(1
Thessalonians 3:13)
The apostle reminded the congregation
of the Lord's people of God's faithfulness to his purpose: "Therefore you do not
lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus
Christ to be revealed. He will keep you strong to the end, so
that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ."
(1
Corinthians 1:7-8)
Later in that same letter the
apostle summed up the results of God work accomplished by Christ:
"...you are
in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God--that is,
our righteousness, holiness and redemption." (1 Corinthians 1:30)
In the apostle's letter to Titus he described the same purpose
of Christ's death in slightly different words, saying, [He] "gave himself for us
to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people
that are his very own, eager to do what is good." (Titus 2:14)
This is the 3rd category I have chosen in which to set forth the biblical teachings that show how important this thing called 'righteousness' is.
As mentioned before, sometimes the quality of righteousness is described by other overlapping terms such as blamelessness or holiness. The Bible puts the question, "Who may dwell in your sanctuary? Who may live on your holy hill?" Answer: "He whose walk is blameless and who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from his heart." (Psalms 15:1-2) God has a standard for his people which is the reflection of his nature. That standard is not stated to be health (pain-freeness), success or happiness. The standard is holiness. He says, "But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy." (1 Peter 1:15-16)
This is the 4th category I have chosen in which to set forth the biblical teachings that show how important this thing called 'righteousness' is.
In the apostle Peter's letter addressed "to those who through the righteousness of our God and Saviour Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours" (2 Peter 1:1) believers are told of their destiny in these words, "But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness." (2 Peter 3:13)
(To see a few more verses in which the theme of righteousness is mentioned see the file 'More Verses On Righteousness')
The mission of Jesus Christ (which the gospel is the proclamation
of) was not to eliminate the hurt in the world but to make a people
righteous, holy, blameless so that Holy God could associate with
such. The important issue to God is the presence of sin (which
is the absence of righteousness), not the attainment of a higher
state of health, success, or happiness in this world. In
the last book of the Bible we read of the Holy City Jerusalem:
"Nothing
impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful
or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's
book of life." (Revelation 21:27)
Perhaps it is the words of King David in the Psalms
(32:1-2) that brings
out more clearly than anything that it is God's act of forgiving
sin that is God's greatest mercy. These very words are
quoted by the apostle Paul in his letter to the congregation at
Rome to support his statement about belief in God and credited
righteousness (v.3).
What are these words--"Blessed are they whose
transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is
the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him." (Romans 4:7-8; See
also Matthew 9:5-6) (Why
are his sins never to be counted against him? Because the penalty
for those sins were transferred to, or charged to Christ's account--
Isaiah
53:5,6; Romans 4:25; 8:3; 2 Corinthians 5:21)
What was the mission that God gave
to the apostle Paul? "To
open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from
the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness
of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in
me." (Acts 26:18) On the apostle's first missionary journey
he spoke to the Jews and other God-fearers in the synagogue in
these words-- "Therefore,
my brothers, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness
of sins is proclaimed to you. Through him everyone who believes
is justified from everything you could not be justified from by
the law of Moses." (Acts 13:38-39)
Why did Christ come into the world? Put another way, we could
say, 'What did he come into the world to accomplish?' The apostle
Paul answers this bluntly, saying, "Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves
full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners--of
whom I am the worst." The
worst, not the most destitute! (1 Timothy 1:15) "The Scripture declares that the whole
world is a prisoner of sin, so that what was promised, being given
through faith in Jesus Christ, might be given to those who believe.
" (Galatians 3:22) "The Scripture foresaw that God would
justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel
in advance to Abraham: 'All nations will be blessed through you.'
So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man
of faith."
(Galatians
3:8-9) It is not the presence of hurt in the world
that made people unacceptable to God. It was the presence of sin
or the absence of blamelessness. (Habakkuk 1:13; Isaiah 59:2)
Neither the works of mercy Jesus wrought (apart from the cross)
nor our showing mercy makes anyone acceptable to God. (Psalm
49:7-9) Neither the works of mercy Jesus wrought (apart
from the cross) nor our showing mercy eliminates that which offends
God (Sin) or permanently eliminates the consequences of sinful
behavior. (The Bible does not say or imply that those individuals
that Christ or the apostles healed or raised from the dead did
not ever become sick again or die of old age.) Only the sacrificial
death of the Son of God on the cross was sufficient to accomplish
that. And it did accomplish that. (Romans 3:20-25) That
is the gospel message. It is the absence of holiness, purity,
blamelessness and its attendant consequences in the creation of
the holy and majestic God that is the greatest "need."
It was the presence of this condition, this "need" in
the world that moved God to send his only Son to be the sacrifice
that atoned for the sin and provided that holiness which all
people are in desperate need of (Ecclesiastes
7:20;Romans 3:10ff.)
--that
holiness without which "no-one
will see the Lord." (Hebrews 12:14;
see also John 3:3; Romans 8:3)
The possession of righteousness or a record of absolute blamelessness
is not a peripheral or subordinate theme in the Bible. Can a theme
which seems essentially unrelated to bodily welfare in this world
be the essence of the gospel? Can a theme in which every benefit
besides righteousness or blamelessness is only a by-product be
the core of the matter that the Gospel is all about? Yes. In the
NIV the terms righteous or righteousness occur 546 times. A very
small proportion of them have been quoted or referred to here.
(In the KJV the number times the term appears is even greater--
555)
(There are many other benefits that result from the work of Christ
that become apparent when individuals rely on the work of Christ
and follow his teachings--but they are not the focus of
the gospel. (Part II which will be available in January gets into
these matters)
Over and over again the Bible speaks about sin and righteousness. Is this the theme or emphasis we are hearing? Is this what our minds are being focused upon? Is it the presence of sin, the absence of blamelessness, and God's provision of his righteousness and holiness that the thoughts and hearts of people both in the church and in the world are being told or reminded of? Or, is God's gospel being redefined implicitly by being set forth as the answer to concerns other than what the Bible says God is primarily concerned with? To rephrase the question we would ask, 'If that value that the gospel focuses on (emphasizes) is not what the message we are hearing focuses on, perhaps it is not the gospel that is being put before people in church or before people in the world!
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(If you appreciate what you read here please tell your friends about this URL and sign my guest book on the homepage. Also, if, as you read any of the meditations, you feel you know of a situation that beautifully illustrates any of the points made I would be delighted to learn of it. I might incorporate it.) mailto:camppp21355@comcast.net
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