March 15

Journey-through-the-Bible-with-us

READINGS FOR MARCH 15, 2024: JOB 19, ROMANS 2, PSALM 19:7-14                                      JOB 19 Job responds by asking how long his friends will keep tormenting him. He wonders why they are so cruel because his situation had nothing to do with them. It was solely between God and Job. Good point. Why did they get so worked up?  Perhaps tearing Job down was a perverse way of building themselves up.  How like us (in our worst moments). 

Job then launches into a series of complaints about the ways God had “wronged” him. Here he, just as we often do, spoke rashly without knowing God’s bigger plan and final result. This often represents the crux of nonbelievers' disbelief in the existence in a good God. They see hunger, children with cancer, wars in the Ukraine and Gaza, or even disarray in our political processes and cannot conceive of the existence of a God with a greater purpose. They likely don’t say God has wronged them, as Job did, but rather say there cannot be a God. When we study Romans 2 below, we will discuss this human tendency to assign good and bad. 

Keep in mind that God did not create evil in Gensis 1 and 2. He did allow for man to have free will by rejecting the good. This rejection or absence of good is perhaps the best way to describe evil, not as an entity on its own. As in Job’s case, God is currently in the process of taking all our choices (good and bad) to achieve His ultimate good: The Kingdom of Heaven. Consider this: if everything God (the eternal source of wisdom and goodness) does or allows made sense to us (severely limited wisdom, and goodness), it would make no sense. 

In the midst of Job’s limited wisdom, his earthly trials, and his destructive friends, Job makes one of the most beautiful statements of faith in all the Bible: “I know that my Redeemer lives,
and at the last, He will take His stand on the earth. Even after my skin is destroyed, Yet, from my flesh I will see God.” (Job 19:25-26). We need a special blessing today. Listen to Handel’s stunning musical expression of this passage: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kg7aXEvCeXY

ROMANS 2 The first part of the first verse of this chapter is among the favorite words in the Bible of many—perhaps for the wrong reasons. Here it is: “Therefore, you are without excuse, every man of you who passes judgment for in that matter you judge another you condemn yourself” (Rom. 2:1). These words are often plucked from the Bible without reading the context. The resulting interpretation often implies no one can say that any practice is sinful. (That would be “judging.”)  No. But there is judging we should avoid, though. Keep reading. 

First the context. There are at least 20 sins Paul identified in the last part of Rom. 1--verses just preceding 2:1. And the very verse that precedes it reads, “those who practice such things (20 sins listed) are worthy of death” (Rom. 1:32). Clearly Paul says it’s wrong to commit these acts. In the very verse following 2:1, Paul writes, “We know that the judgment of God rightly falls upon those who practice such things” (Rom. 2:2). Is Paul contradictory? Keep on reading.  

READINGS FOR MARCH 15, 2024 CONTINUED: ROMANS 2, PSALM 19-7-14                          There seem to be two judgment-related practices to avoid: 

  • In 2:1 it says those who pass judgment on another but practice the same sin will be condemned. In 2:3 Paul writes, “Do you suppose...when you pass judgment upon those who practice such things and do the same yourself, that you will escape the judgment of God?” Jesus linked this hypocrisy to seeing the “speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log in your own eye” (Matt. 7:3).
  • The phrase “judgment of God” in 2:2 is called right judgment to fall on such individuals.  In 2:3 we see the same phrase used to reference a future event. Then in 2:4-5 it reads the “righteous judgment of Godwho will render to every man according to his deed.”  This again appears to be a final verdict on a person’s life that is reserved only for God. We should never say another person will be condemned to hell. As it says in 2:4, we cannot know how “the kindness of God leads you to repentance.” Paul himself is the most famous recipient of this kindness which led him to repentance. The Bible tells us what sin is. God alone renders final judgment on us all. As He did with Paul, He can do with others.

A final word about judgment. There appears to be two judgments mentioned in the Bible: The Great White Throne Judgment for unbelievers (Revelation 20:11–15) and the Judgment Seat of Christ where believers will be rewarded, or not (2 Corinthians 5:10).

Two necessarily brief but hugely significant points:

  • Verse 12 says it is not just knowing the Old Testament law that saves us but obeying it (at least hypothetically). Later (Rom. 3:19-20) we see the law defines sin, but it can’t actually save us. Why? Because no one, other than Jesus, has fully obeyed the law (Rom. 3:21-24). This will be clearer later, but as stated in 3:23-28, the only way to be judged just in the sight of God is through faith in Jesus.
  • The other point relates to what C.S. Lewis has called the “Law of Right and Wrong.” In Rom.2:15, as we have discussed before, it says that our conscious is actually a law that is written on our hearts.  All people all over the world during all ages have had a sense of right and wrong. Where did this sense come from if we all descended from purely non-personal forces?  We all know that there is some "right standard" to which we can appeal when we say, "That's so unfair." To Lewis, this is one of the strongest arguments for the existence of a God who transcends the individual (see Mere Christianity).

PSALM 19:7-14 While the first six verses exult the magnificence of the natural or general revelation of creation, the remaining extol what is known as special revelation: God's word. 

  • The Psalmist says it is Perfect (often disparaged today by some "theologians" who believe the Bible is full of errors) 
  • Soul refreshing (needful in the stress of life) and Trustworthy (not like social media) 
  • Wisdom producing (in short supply these days) and Right (in this time of moral ambiguity) 
  • Joy evoking (anyone a bit down at times?) and Light providing (plugged into the ultimate power)
  • Pure (not laced with anything harmful) and Everlasting (never out of date), 
  • True (the final authority on any issue) and Priceless (leads to treasure in heaven that can't lose value) 
  • Sweeter than honey (more delightful to ingest than even dark chocolate)
  • Timeless warning system and Rewarding (if studied and lived out, of course) 

It gives us insight into ourselves we could get nowhere else. It helps us avoid sin, which is self-destructive and an offense to our holy God. NOW, WHAT WERE WE SAYING ABOUT BEING TOO BUSY TO SPEND TIME IN GOD'S WORD?