Coffee Shop Chapel

What an awesome prayer!

Amen,
Dan

 

September 18

Romans 10:3, “For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.”

Our text tells us that there are two kinds of righteousness, God’s and man’s. Does it matter which righteousness we possess? Is one righteousness better than the other? Is one righteousness right and the other wrong? How serious is this issue? Charles Hodge observes that the Jews’ “ignorance on this point implied ignorance of the character of God, of the requirements of the law, and of themselves.” Hodge considered this issue important. He goes on the say, “Those who err essentially here, err fatally; and those who are right here, cannot be wrong as to other necessary truths.”

Those who fail to see the distinction between the righteousness of God and the righteousness of man, seek salvation in the wrong way. Boice lists five fatal consequences of this error.

1. Those who make it are satisfied with their own righteousness. Boice writes, “This is like a woman dying of some disease saying that she is sure everything is all right with her because her face looks good when she puts on her makeup. I have no doubt that a dying woman might look a great deal better with some makup, particularly if she is very sick. But it is utter folly to trust the makeup and fail to see a doctor, if there is any chance that the doctor can detect the disease and cure it.”

But that is exactly the folly millions (billions) of spiritually dying people are wilfully committing. They are ignorant of their true condition and they “trust their efforts to paint over the surface of their lives with human morality.” (Boice) Some think that they must be right with God because they have been baptized or take communion. It is true, God commanded these things, but they are meant to be signs of an inward change, not the reality itself. Others give to church or charitable institutions, again thinking this will add up to God’s righteousness. “Because they are satisfied with what they have done, they suppose that God must be satisfied also. They fail to see that they are spiritually dying men and women.” (Boice)

2. They look down on other people. Can you imagine what heaven would be like if we made it there on our own righteousness? Eternity would be one big brag festival. “I did more than you did to get here, I’m better than you!” “Those who are satisfied with their own righteousness, inevitably look down on other people – whom they suppose to have achieved less. Because they have no high, absolute standard by which to judge themselves, they assume that they are somewhere near the top.” (Boice)

This is one of the reasons why, in our natural sinful condition, we refuse to look up to God and His righteousness. If we were to look up, as Paul was forced to do on the road to Damascus, we would be most conscious of far short we are of the divine requirements. “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). If we would look up, we would realize that we too are but dim light bulbs when compared to the sun (Son). And when a fifty watt bulb is in the sunlight, it is foolish to brag that it is brighter than a twenty five watt bulb. So what does sinful man do, he refuses to look up. Because the righteousness of God humbles us (something the natural man hates), and takes away all grounds for proud comparison, we avoid it. Instead we keep our eyes focused on other people, and pat ourselves on the back, because we imagine ourselves to be superior to other fallen sinners. That makes as much sense as a someone who is drunk on $150.00 per bottle vodka, feeling superior to someone who is drunk on $3.00 per bottle ripple. Both are drunk, both are in the same condition, it’s just one thinks he’s a better drunk than the other.

Lord willing, we will look at the other three fatal consequences next time.

Adapted from “Romans” by Boice.

In Christ,
Dan Todd

 

Well stated dear friend.

God bless,

Dan

 

September 20

Romans 10:3, “For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.”

God’s righteousness or man’s righteousness, that is the question. There are five fatal consequences if you err and choose man’s righteousness over God’s righteousness. We previously looked at the first two:

1. Those who make it are satisfied with their own righteousness.
2. They look down on other people.

Today we will look at the final three:

3. They resent Jesus and His gospel. Boice writes, “When Jesus came to earth it was as if God brought down to our level the righteousness we in our fallen state refused to look up to or acknowledge.”

The religious leaders of Jesus’ day fiercely hated Him. Today, people who do not trust Jesus as their Lord and Savior, will often acknowledge that He was gentle, kind, loving, and active in good works. Why was such a person hated as Jesus was, hated to the point of an unjust trial and an execution? The only explanation was that He was too gentle, too kind, too loving, and too active in good works. His good was of such a high quality that it was seen as other-worldly. Why? Because His was divine righteousness, not mere human righteousness. His righteousness was unattainable, and that was His offense, in fact it was an intolerable offense to His enemies. Why? Because before Jesus (God incarnate) arrived on the scene, His enemies considered themselves to be quite good and clearly better than others, Jesus’ righteousness proved otherwise.

“This is why Jesus had a much better reception among social outcasts than among the model members of the community. The outcasts had no illusions about themselves. They knew they were sinners. They were merely overwhelmed and happy to find that Jesus loved them. But the self-styled righteous people felt offended by Jesus, someone whose true righteousness exposed the limits and falseness of their own.” (Boice)

4. They misunderstand and mishandle the law. What is the purpose of the law? To show that we are sinners, not for us to be saved by it! “If we reject the revelation of God’s true righteousness in Christ and suppose that we are doing well in our efforts to achieve our own righteousness, we will then use the law wrongly, misinterpreting it to require what we feel able to do and then praising ourselves for our achievement.” (Boice)

The Pharisees defined and refined the law. It was not enough that the law said, “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.” (Exodus 20:8). The Pharisees asked, “What does it mean to keep it holy?” The law said, “In it thou shalt not do any work” (verse 10). The Pharisees responded, “But what is work?” From this sort of thinking came an elaborate system of rules that dictated how far you could walk on the Sabbath, what you could carry when you walked, and the type of activities you could pursue. The Pharisees did this with the other nine commandments as well as the many additional ordinances found in the Pentateuch.

Matthew records how Jesus thought about the law. To hate makes you guilty of murder, “Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire” (Matthew 5:21-22). To lust is to commit adultery, “Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart (verses 27-28). You must do more than love your neighbor, you must also love your enemy, “Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you” (verses 43-44).

Jesus understood the law rightly. When we follow His example, we to will use it rightly, and see that we can never measure up to this or any other right standard, and we will turn to the mercy of God to save us from our sins. The Pharisees refused Christ’s example, because they were satisfied with their own deficient righteousness.

5. They will not submit to God’s righteousness. The self-righteous will never acknowledge that they need God’s righteousness and seek Christ.

Boice summarizes the matter, “Paul says that the people of his day pursued a law of human righteousness but failed to achieve God’s true righteousness because they sought it the wrong way. They thought they could attain it by works, when it can be received only as a gift of God through faith. The reason they sought it in the wrong way is that they were ignorant of these two types of righteousness. They trusted in their own righteousness and thought that, if they had enough of it, their righteousness would add up to the righteousness of God. Therefore, they did not abandon their own efforts and submit to God’s righteousness.”

“If we are not to be ignorant of God’s righteousness, if we are to turn away from any attempt to establish our own righteousness, we must come to the place where we submit ourselves to the righteousness of God – as it is seen in ... Jesus Christ” (Barnhouse).

Adapted from “Romans” by Boice.

In Christ,
Dan Todd

 

September 22

Romans 10:4, “ For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.”

We have before us a rather interesting verse, a short verse, just fifteen words in the authorized text, yet a verse that is difficult to interpret. It is not the polysyllabic words that give us problems, it is two simple words that lead to so many questions. Those two words are “end” and “law.”

In recent years, American politics seemed to have been reduced to its lowest common denominator when a ranking politician argued over the meaning of “it.” I trust that we shall not stoop that low in our discussion of “end” and law,” but it might be helpful to look at several possibilities. The late Charles Hodge reduced the possible number of meanings of “end” in his “A Commentary on Romans.” He gives us three possible interpretations:

1. “The object to which any thing leads,”
2. The “completion or fulfillment” of something, and
3. An “end or termination.”

Boice writes, “In terms of our text, if the first meaning is the right one, the verse means that Jesus is that to which the law points so that, if it is properly used, the law will carry the one using it to Him. If the second meaning is correct, the idea is that Jesus has Himself perfectly fulfilled the law. If the third meaning is chosen, the verse means that Jesus has brought the dispensation of law to an end by dying for sin, rising again, and inaugurating the Christian Era. Obviously, something can be said for each interpretation.”

Now, just to add difficulty to an already difficult situation, let’s look at the possible meanings of the word “law.” Law could mean: the Mosaic Law; a principle of conduct; the ceremonial law; or moral law. With three definitions of “end” and four definitions of “law,” and if I remember my mathematical studies from high school correctly, there is a possibility of twenty-one different combinations.

How shall we proceed? Boice did not argue the merits of the various possibilities, but asked, “How does Jesus Christ fulfill the law?” We too shall attempt to answer Boice’s question as we weave our way through this theological maze.

The first way in which Jesus fulfilled the law, and became “the end of the law,” was by keeping it perfectly Himself. Theologians distinguish between Christ’s “active” and “passive” obedience. Jesus’ passive obedience refers to His willingness to submit to His Father’s will, and go to the cross, giving His life for our sins. Philippians 2:8, “And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.”

Christ’s active obedience refers to the way he carefully and deliberately kept the law of Moses in all respects. This obedience has several dimensions:

1. Jesus fulfilled the moral law by obeying it perfectly.

2. Jesus fulfilled the types and ceremonies of the law by being the reality to which they pointed, and accomplishing in His death what they symbolized. Christ was (and remains) our perfect sacrifice for sin. The daily temple sacrifices, and the yearly sacrifice on the Day of Atonement pointed to Jesus Christ. Leviticus presents five sacrifices and their accompanying laws, which point to the complexity of our Savior’s sacrifice. To accurately portray our One Savior, Who died but once, it takes five different Old Testament sacrifices to paint that picture of what Christ did for us on the tree.

3. Jesus fulfilled the prophecies by living them out to the letter. The law of probabilities make it impossible for anyone to fulfill the many Messianic prophecies, unless they are fulfilled by the living God inhabiting human flesh.

Jesus Christ fulfilled all the Old Testament prophecies relating to His first coming, down to the most minute of details. Those fulfillments in detail, give me the confident (and it is not a misplaced confidence) “Blessed Hope” that all the prophecies relating to His second appearing will be fulfilled as accurately and completely as those of His first appearing.

Those of you who have read some of my music posts know that I am a big fan of Southern Gospel Music. The late J. D. Sumner used to write a column in the “Singing News.” He usually ended his article with the phrase, “I can’t wait!” As I see what is happening in the world around us, and with the “Blessed Assurance that Jesus is Mine,” I can’t wait – either!

Adapted from “Romans” by Boice.

In Christ,
Dan Todd

 

Jim,

Thankyou for those thought provoking remarks. I (We all) need to always remember Who called me, and Whose I am!!

Dan

 

September 24

Romans 10:4, “ For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.”

Last time we mentioned three areas in which Christ was the end of the law:

1. Jesus fulfilled the moral law by obeying it perfectly.
2. Jesus fulfilled the types and ceremonies of the law by being the reality to which they pointed.
3. Jesus fulfilled the prophecies by living them out to the letter.

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus referred to at least two of these areas when He said, “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil” (Matthew 5:17).

Jesus came to John the Baptist to be baptized. John, who had been alerted by God as to who Jesus was, said, “I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?” (Matthew 3:14). John had been teaching about Messiah’s work of “baptiz[ing] ... with the Holy Ghost” (Matthew 3:11). John was saying “that he needed to receive a baptism with the Holy Spirit from Jesus, rather than Jesus receiving any benefit from him.” (Boice)

Listen to Jesus’ response, “Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him” (Matthew 3:15). John’s baptism was a baptism for repentance, and Jesus had committed no sin. Why did Jesus need to be baptized in order to fulfil all righteousness? Baptism has two aspects, identification and obedience. Jesus was identifying with all the other Israelites who were responding to John’s preaching. It was a symbol of the union of Jesus with the believer. Jesus considered baptism to be “part of His conscious obedience to all that God required. Through John, God had commanded His believing people to be baptized. So Jesus was baptized.” (Boice)

H. N. Ridderbos writes, “No matter how conscious Jesus was of His exceptional position, up to that time he had no other calling than to comply with the demands that God had imposed on every Israelite. Hence, just as He had once undergone circumcision, He now had to be baptized.” John A Broadus writes, “It was proper for all devout Jews to be baptized; therefore it was proper for Jesus.”

By being baptized by John, Jesus was declaring His intention to fulfill all that God had required. Jesus so obeyed God’s law, that none of His enemies were able to accuse Him of any wrongdoing, as much as they tried. Jesus was convicted on false accusations, but not on legitimate accusations. God the Father affirmed Jesus’ obedience, by saying, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17).

“It was because Jesus fulfilled the law perfectly that He was able to be our substitute in dying for us on the cross, truly ‘a lamb without blemish and without spot’ (1 Peter 1:19).

Jesus fulfilled (satisfied) the demands of the law completely. You and I cannot say that, we do not go for a day without breaking God’s law. We deserve eternal damnation in the lake of fire, but when we trust Christ as Lord and Savior, confessing our sin, we put on His righteousness, as He put on our sin as He hung on that awful tree. Praise God, He did for us what we can not do for ourselves. He paid a debt He did not owe, because I (we) owe a debt I (we) cannot pay.

Adapted from “Romans” by Boice.

In Christ,
Dan Todd

 

Jim,

I sometimes use a baseball analogy when speaking about sin.

I am a sinner - because I sinned in Adam - strike one

I am a sinner - because I was conceived in sin - strike two

I am a sinner - because I knowingly chose to sin - strike three

My apologies to those who do not care for sports analogies!!!

Dan