The grace of God: Romans part 8

What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid.

 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.

 Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness. I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness. For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness.

 What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.

 For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Romans 6:15-23

At first glance it would seem that the question asked in verse fifteen of Romans chapter six is a repetition of verse one. If we take a closer look we see they are quite different.

The question of verse one asks the believer if we can continue in “the sin” since the power in grace is greater than the destruction of “the sin”. The difference between sins and “the sin” is this: “the sin” is the source while sins are the result.

“The sin” occurred when Adam rejected YHWH as his maker and life. He chooses instead of complete fellowship with the Father to become a self. Deciding to be his own maker and make his own life. Sins are the self-generated acts by which man attempts to reach Adams goal.

Pauls witness to us is that we who have placed our trust in the Fathers grace have through Messiah’s death put to death this rebellious desire. We have instead placed our trust in YHWH as our maker and source; fully expecting His life in us to be the generation of our living and acts.

The law teaches us what YHWH’s life generating our living looks like. The old man inherited from Adam who is trying to attain to life through his own generation is under the standard set by the law; under the law. The new man of faith in the Father and His messiah is receiving the gift of life manifested in his being; under grace.

 The relationship of the law is quite different for the old and new man. The old man finds it is an unwavering judge of the absence of life within him and a reminder of the death that shall be the culmination of all his efforts. The new man sees it teaching him the fullness of the result of the promise he has placed his trust in. The Law is for those who trust the Father as their maker is an illumination of what the Father is making them to be.

Paul ask us since we are no longer trying to obtain to the law as a standard do we continue in the acts of selfishness from which we have been set free. The self is separate from the fellowship of YHWH’s life and is therefore dead. When we experience this then we know that every self-generated act can only bring us to that death.

We yielded the actions of our members to bring forth our own selfish acts when our trust was placed in us as our own maker. Since our trust is now placed in the Father then we now should yield the actions of our members to that which He is making us.

The old man from Adam thinks to change himself by the things he does. This is blindness; for a man cannot generate from himself anything but what he already is. When the Father opens our eyes we see that the life of the Father made living in us changes who we are and thereby the things we do. “The obedience” is to turn from our own dead works and have faith (trust, dependence, and expectation) in the Father as our maker and only source.

The payoff for the constant work of trying to make oneself is to become a self; alone with no fellowship, separated from all, in short death. In contrast the gift given by YHWH through Messiah is to be one with the creator of all seen and unseen; brought into a complete fellowship having no separation between the Father and us, in short eternal life.

I and my Father are one.

Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

 If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him. Philip saith unto him, Lord, show us the Father, and it sufficeth us. Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Show us the Father? Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me

That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.

And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

Deuteronomy 30:19 20 “… I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, loving the LORD your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life…

 

The nature of God's life: Romans part 7

What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?

God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?

Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin; for he that is dead is freed from sin.

Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him: knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him. For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.

Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof. Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.

What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid. ROMANS 6:1-15

Years ago I was in Guatemala. I flew into the capital in the mountains and took a bus down to the coast. It was a memorable ride; on one side was an unforgiving rock face and on the other was a dizzying drop. If we left the road in either direction it would mean certain death.

In a similar fashion the way of life witnessed to us in the scriptures is more often than not presented to us in two equal truths that if either one is ignored could mean our death. We have a perfect example of that of which I speak found in the witness of Paul in Romans chapter six.

Paul started by establishing that all men Jew and gentile believer as well as all unbelievers are relegated to death by their very nature of sinfulness. The self given by Adam at the core of every motive and action showing forth the death we all inherited from him. The hopelessness of this situation is not comparable to the hope of glory given to those who place their full trust, dependence,and expectation in the redemption of the Father found in Messiah.

The fulfilled promise of life is so much greater than the death of the fall. It is like light and dark. We allow ourself to think of them as opposing forces but in truth darkness only exist where there is no light present; when light is present darkness is shown to be an immaterial illusion. Paul has shown that though this darkness of death is found in all mens heart the gift of life through the obedience of Yeshua the Messiah is a power that overcomes the penalty and power of sin to a degree that is beyond comparison.

Embracing this truth provides for such a release of our burdens that our eyes become open to the fact that our failures can never overcome the success of the Fathers redemption in Messiah. We see that the wrath poured on our Saviour was complete and that for YHWH to place His wrath upon a believer would mean that what was upon Yeshua was not sufficient. Without the equal truth of our need for holiness and righteousness in our living; we might well come to the conclusion that our sins do not matter. We could fall victim to the idea that if we trust in what He has done then our own actions are of no consequence in YHWH's eyes. While it is true that our Father desires to change who we are not simply what we do; it is equally true that what we do is a reflection of who we are.

Paul builds an undeniable case that far exceeds the thought of our actions do not matter if we are in grace. He shows that the effect of being in grace is a change so magnificent that to continue in our old conduct is impossible. Paul ask a simple question, in the Greek it reads, do we continue in the sin that grace may abound. It is not the acts of sinfulness he refers to but the first sin. When Adam chose to trust in his own self to provide life.

Paul ask the believer; do you not understand that the witness of water baptism is a token of our true baptism into death by our being made one with Messiah. When Yeshua died and was buried we also died and where buried. This being true when the Father breathed His life into Messiah and raised Him from death all of us who are in Him where raised also into the shared life of the Father.

The old man born from Adam was crucified with Yeshua that the sin of the self generated life would be destroyed in a shared death. In this shared death we are made free from the slavery of our sinfulness from the self generated life.

To paraphrase Paul... do the math. If the old mans self generated life is dead through our fellowship with Messiah and by such its sinful nature then our new God generated life also has a new nature of righteousness. So is it possible to live in grace and not have our actions be according to the nature of our new life.

Every tree bearing fruit after its kind:Romans part 6

Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: by whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope:  And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.

 For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

 Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.  For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life. And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement.

 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: (For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come.

But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.  And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification.

 For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.) Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.

 Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:  that as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. Romans 5

 

Chapter and verses are useful tools but we must remember they are additions and as additions we must be careful these separations do not influence interpretation and perception. The end of chapter four says He was raised for our justification. The next statement that we are justified by faith is one thought.

This word translated justified is in other places translated righteousness. As we have said before; these are not a credit for a future event but recognition of a tangible change that is being revealed in us. The old man is crucified in Messiah (not some future event) and as such happens when we stand in the faith. The new life comes in the resurrection of Messiah (not some future event) but as we trust the promise is the truth. As Paul has said “it is no longer I that live, but Messiah lives through me.”

The Father’s grace is often confused with mercy, long suffering, and forgiveness. Yet grace is in truth the promise fulfilled; some may ask what promise? The first promise, the one which every other promise comes from, that we who were made to live in Adam when YHWH breathed His life into him and died in Adam when he chose to be a self would be redeemed back to the shared life of YHWH.

We stand in this gift of life with full expectation of seeing our Fathers glory manifested in us by His making of us to be one with Him. We find glory even in our struggles. The echoes of the old man; the strongholds of his death in us show forth in us the power of the Fathers grace as He renews our mind writing His law in our heart and mind. Our Father is not simply expecting us to act different but instead He shows us to expect Him to make us different; a new creation.

If we are struggling to crucify the old man or striving to live in the new life then we will only meet with failure and heartache. Adam was given the power to choose what He desired whether to trust YHWH as his maker or himself. Adam did not by his own ability make himself a living soul. We who after the flesh where born of Adam cannot by our own ability make ourselves have life but we do have the choice to trust God as our maker or ourselves.

Paul now will give us the most profound exposition of truth that has ever been recorded. Many commentators have used Romans as a place to tell the difference between the unredeemed and the redeemed. However that which Paul gives us is the story of our own redemption not from an outward enemy but from our old man. The foundation he now lays will guide us in the coming explanation of the battle between the flesh which came from Adam and the new life of the Spirit from our Father.

In Adam we have all died from his sin. We tend to think it was sin that we inherited but in truth it was death. Sin is a fruit but death is the tree. The tree makes the fruit the fruit contains the seed of the tree. Every tree produces after its own kind. So it is that when Adam sinned he became a tree of death and his fruit (all mankind) was born with that death within them. We see this fruit of sin coming forth on our own branches but picking off the fruit does not change the tree.

Paul concludes that even without breaking a spoken command from YHWH the death ruled over all men. The death in Adam is passing death into all who were born from him. Messiah took our death on himself that we as one with Him might pass away. He was made one with us in death so we also are made one with Him; being born into His life. Life in Messiah living in all who believe, trust relies, depend, and expect in Him.

The law was given that we would see the depth of the death in us; to the end that all trust in ourselves as our maker would be shown as false. With the loss of trust in us comes the availability of a trust in Him. We are saved from the grave of what we bring forth that the power of the gift of the Fathers life in us would bring righteousness beyond man’s work of doing. We find that His life in us is manifested as we trust Him to make us as He is. It is in Him that we move and breathe and have our very being; an unfailing life that is not subject to the failings of man.

Faith and law understanding which one produces the other: Romans part 5

What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found? For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God. For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.

Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.

 Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man, unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin.

Cometh this blessedness then upon the circumcision only, or upon the uncircumcision also? for we say that faith was reckoned to Abraham for righteousness. How was it then reckoned? when he was in circumcision, or in uncircumcision? Not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision.

And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet being uncircumcised: that he might be the father of all them that believe, though they be not circumcised; that righteousness might be imputed unto them also:  And the father of circumcision to them who are not of the circumcision only, but who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham, which he had being yet uncircumcised. For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect: Because the law worketh wrath: for where no law is, there is no transgression.

Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all, (As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.

Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, so shall thy seed be. And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah's womb: He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; and being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform. And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness.

Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him; but for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification. Romans 4

Paul asks believers to consider Abraham as the physical father of the Jewish people. He asks the question did Abraham possess righteousness by his own efforts. Perhaps by men’s comparison Abraham was obedient but not by comparison to the Holiness of YWHW. The scriptures state plainly that it is by the faith of Abraham that he was made righteous.

It is of great importance that we understand the difference between a credit for a thing and a gift. The modern church thinks of righteousness as a credit given by God; this makes a case of God bearing a false witness by declaring us righteous when we will never be. God forbid we believe such a lie. The gift of God is to change who we are and make us to be as He is. This righteousness is real and tangible and comes from Messiah living in and through us as one. The more we come to trust him the more we let go of us and thereby His righteousness becomes revealed in us. So we receive this righteousness when we repent o dead works( the renewed heart), then as our trust and belief is stripped from ourselves and placed in Him(the renewed mind and tearing down of strongholds), there will come a time when this is complete and we are one with Him a shared nature. YHWH looking to this fruition calls what is not now what it shall be. The idea that God calls what is not righteous ;  to be what it not  is simply blasphemy.

Some may say but the scripture say He calls what is not what is; I agree for YHWH calls us what we are becoming not what it is in an unfinished work. He is both author and finisher of our faith and not only this but He who began a good work in us will keep that which is entrusted to Him.

This brings us to understand what Abraham found. When he attempted to reveal YHWH’s promises in his life by his own ways and plans and effort he could not attain to the promises but only failure. However when he instead gave up on what he could or could not do and trusted in YHWH to do the work in him then the results of fulfilled promises where seen in his life.

Paul points out to them who believe that righteousness can be brought by effort to act in the way the law describes; that the law did not bring the righteousness or covenant of Abraham. Instead it is obvious that the law as a description of the way of life was brought forth from this covenant. So it is that Abraham was uncircumcised when he received the covenant and by said covenant the token of circumcision was given.

Circumcision did not bring forth the covenant but the covenant brought forth circumcision. In the same way the working of the righteousness found described by the law does not bring faith but instead faith will bring the righteousness into our lives. It is not our actions that bring life but it is the Fathers life in us that brings forth a nature that makes our actions become righteous.

If by our effort we could live a life that was pleasing to our Father then there would be no need to depend on our Father to give us that life.

This giving of righteousness was not for Abraham alone but to all who believe. If we trust that our old person received from the nature of Adam is crucified in Messiah then we are also raised by the same power that raised Messiah from death…the breath (Spirit, life) of the Father. Lazarus could not call himself forth from death and neither can we. Instead as Yeshua trusted the Father to raise Him up so we trust we will be raised in Him.

 

The faith is the only hope of life: Romans part 4

What advantage then hath the Jew? or what profit is there of circumcision? Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God.  For what if some did not believe? shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect?

 God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged. But if our unrighteousness commend the righteousness of God, what shall we say? Is God unrighteous who taketh vengeance? (I speak as a man) God forbid: for then how shall God judge the world?  For if the truth of God hath more abounded through my lie unto his glory; why yet am I also judged as a sinner?  And not rather, (as we be slanderously reported, and as some affirm that we say,) Let us do evil, that good may come? whose damnation is just. What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we have before proved both Jews and Gentiles, that they are all under sin;

  As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God.  They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips:  Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness:  Their feet are swift to shed blood:  Destruction and misery are in their ways: And the way of peace have they not known:  There is no fear of God before their eyes.

  Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law: that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.  Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.

 But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference: For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;  Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:  Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;

 To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.  Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith. Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.

 Is he the God of the Jews only? is he not also of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also: seeing it is one God, which shall justify the circumcision by faith, and uncircumcision through faith. Do we then make void the law through faith? God forbid: yea, we establish the law.

 Romans 3

In the previous thought Paul has established both Jews and gentiles as equally sinful.  The learning of what was right did not change the nature of sinfulness in the Jews. Then Paul continues to say that God does not favor any man over another.

The natural question comes forth; what benefit is it to be called the elect and the people of God. In many ways they are blessed; yet the greatest is they have been the mouthpiece and womb of God to all mankind. It is through this people that God has given both the written witness of His word and the living word; His son Yeshua the Messiah.

The fact that some did not place their trust in that word cannot disempower the trusting of God to have its promised effect.

A man may ask “if my nature of sinfulness proves Gods declarations to be true then why does God judge me for being what He has declared I am.” The Father has placed a stop to sin in the death of His Son. We who believe cannot expect God to judge the world for continuing in sin in a different manner than He will judge us if we continue in the same way.

So it is the Father judges sin without respect of persons. The law,

which is a description of His nature and the life it brings forth, shows every man born from Adam that his own nature is against righteousness and only brings forth death.  The act of learning and by force of will doing those things the law teaches cannot make us innocent of the sin in our nature. The very fact that we must will to act in a way described by the law is evidence that we are only imitating a possession of life. The law by showing us a witness of life testifies of the death in us.

The life and being of the Father shared with and living in and through us by its nature is righteous. This righteousness is manifested in our living. The law and prophets become witnesses of the righteous life now living within us.

This righteousness does not come by our will or work; for we are crucified in Messiah. It is by the trust, dependence, and expectation of the promised life of the Father that this righteousness is manifested. The righteousness that we could not attain to by our nature and being becomes our nature as we trust in the shared life of the Father in us.

For by our death in Messiah sin is judged in us; so by His life in us His righteousness is manifested in us; showing Him to be just in justifying us.  

Man’s way of thinking is that the deeds determine the life in a man. The Father’s truth is that the life in a man determines his deeds. Justification is not a result of our deeds but by trusting in the new nature, heart, and mind that is the promise and gift of the Father to all who trust Him. God’s grace is His life shared in us and as we trust that life in us it is manifested.

The Jews who had been given the token of circumcision and the covenant are saved by their trust in the promise of God. In the exact same way those who never knew the covenant and teachings are saved by their trust in the manifestation of those promises the living Messiah.

So do we do away with the law. No but rather we establish the life described within its witness.

No respect of persons: Romans part 3

 

Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judges: for wherein thou judges another, thou condemns thyself; for thou that judges does the same things.

 But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them which commit such things. And thinkest thou this, O man, that judges them which do such things, and does the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God?

 Or despise thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leads thee to repentance? But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasures up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God;

 Who will render to every man according to his deeds: to them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life: But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile; but glory, honor, and peace, to every man that works good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile:

  There is no respect of persons with God. For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law; (For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified. For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves:  which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;) in the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.

 Behold, thou art called a Jew, and rests in the law, and makes thy boast of God, And knows his will, and approves the things that are more excellent, being instructed out of the law; and art confident that thou thyself art a guide of the blind, a light of them which are in darkness, An instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, which hast the form of knowledge and of the truth in the law.

Thou therefore which teaches another, teach thou not thyself? Thou that preaches a man should not steal, dost thou steal? Thou that says a man should not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery? Thou that abhorres idols, dost thou commit sacrilege? Thou that make thy boast of the law, through breaking the law dishonors thou God? The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you, as it is written.

For circumcision verily profits, if thou keep the law: but if thou be a breaker of the law, thy circumcision is made uncircumcision. Therefore if the uncircumcision keep the righteousness of the law, shall not his uncircumcision be counted for circumcision?  And shall not uncircumcision which is by nature, if it fulfil the law, judge thee, who by the letter and circumcision dost transgress the law?

For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God. ROMANS 2

To have a clear picture of what Paul is saying it is necessary to have a general understanding of who he is addressing. The church at Rome was not like the churches that received Paul’s other epistles in that it was not a congregation that had been the result of the apostles own ministries.

The church at Rome in its early inception would have been decidedly Jewish and it is likely that gentile’s where welcome but expected to become proselytes to Judaism. However the expulsion of the Jews from Rome would have left the church with a new gentile leadership. When the Jews were allowed to return a few years’ later conflicts arose between those who thought that life in Messiah was still only within Judaism and those who felt that conversion to Messiah did not mean conversion to Judaism.

The common result of any disagreement is separation. To what degree this problem was evident in the church at Rome we are not told; yet Paul with vigor comes against both Greek thought and Jewish thought. Paul’s conclusion is that neither way of thinking will fall out to unity with Messiah and the Father but will drive the one who trust in it into wickedness that will surpass the pagans of this world.

The Greek thinking, which the romans had long ago assimilated, was that the physical life is flawed but the thought or spirit is perfect. This thought that would later become a foundation of the church’s apostasy.  In stark contrast the thinking that what a man did regulated his relationship with God permeated Jewish thought.

Paul concludes both groups to suffer from the same delusion. Whether the Greek idea that only ignorant people live by the base means of the physical or the Jewish belief that the knowing of what is contained in scripture and forcing the body into obedience makes one favored of God; both thinking’s make one to judge others as somehow secondary or less than oneself. Paul points out that despite their thinking of being above another they have the exact same passions and weaknesses as those they judge.

These believers, both Greek and Hebrew, had allowed themselves to settle into man made thinking. Paul attempts to shake them awake.

The life of a believer is different from that of an unbeliever. The unbeliever depends on himself to generate that which he has judged as good. The believer instead depends on Gods life in him to generate the life that God has judged as good.

The things performed in the body show what is truly done in the heart. It is for this reason that as a judge of our hearts our Father approves or disapproves of the actions we carry out.

Paul will turn his focus to the Jews and the law. Paul’s argument is not against the law but instead against the idea that because one has learned what is right and holy that such learning makes one righteous. Paul shows that it is not learning what is right but being what is right that is evidence of being in a covenant and oneness with God.

An earthly judge may show a respect for a rich man or an educated man or even a charismatic man, but the heavenly judge of the living and the dead shows no respect of persons. He judges one thing alone who you are. If His life is living in you then you are His. If you are your own maker then you are dead. For it is not about what we have learned or what we have accomplished but who we are.

Paul spoke in another place of those who were always learning but never coming to a knowing of God. Jesus himself spoke of those who would come to him in the last days and proclaim all they had done in His name; His answer was depart I never knew you.

We are the bride of Messiah and as such we have been made one with Him. This oneness is not an ideal or a teaching but a trust, dependence and expectation of living a shared life. It is only as we trust Him to generate His life in us that we truly can come to know Him. It is this generation of true life in us that reveals the self-generated life from Adam as a way which can never be approved by a holy God.

The way of life:Romans part 2

 

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.  For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, the just shall live by faith.

  For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.

 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things. Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonor their own bodies between themselves: who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.

 For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: and likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was meet.

 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, without understanding, covenant breakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.

Adam became a living soul because God breathed His own life into him. So it was that Adam was one with God; Gods life was his life. Yet God is not without the ability to choose and in a similar way if Adam was to be in His likeness as a son then Adam also had to have the ability to choose. For this reason Adam was placed in the garden with the choice between the knowledge of good and evil or life.

We are all aware of Adams choice and the blindness it caused. The result of this “fall” from oneness with Gods life left Adam and therefor his progenitors on a course to attempt to generate life by their own ability. The blindness caused men to equate doing good with producing life; however to do good is not the same as being good for it is still fruit from a tree that does not recognize that life can only come from God.

In short life is about whom we are not what we do. Our actions come from who we are in opposition to the way of man that believes that what we do determines who we are. If we can produce wickedness then it is because we are wicked.

The teachings given to Moses are a description of life but the veil of man’s ways saw them as things to be done to attain to life. So while Moses tells the congregation of Israel YHWH is our creator, that He is one, that if we love Him with all our heart, all our soul, and all our might (to surrender and entrust all we are to Him) then the life given shall be found in our heart. DEUT 6:4-9 The blindness of man’s way caused the children of Israel to instead proclaim “All that the Lord hath spoken we will do.” EXODUS 19: 8

The response shows that their thinking was to act in a certain way making witness of themselves as actors; acting as if they had life in them. Jesus called the Pharisees hypocrites (actors) for this very same reason.

Moses concludes these things by saying “I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:” Take notice that Moses did not say good and evil or right and wrong but the foundational source of life and death.

Moses gives this foundational understanding at the close of his earthly ministry. We see Jesus giving the same teaching at the beginning of His ministry when He says “think not that I come to destroy the law, I come not to destroy but to fulfill the law.” MATTHEW 5. Jesus then goes on to teach that sin is not originated in the action but instead in the heart which comes out in our actions.

Expanding on the fact that Jesus came to fulfill the law in us He also says that He came that we might have life and life more abundantly (JOHN 10:10) and be one with the Father (JOHN 17: 6-19). When these things are seen clearly seen the necessity of the cross becomes plain. Jesus died that we being one with Him could die in Him. The natural man and his sinful rebellion of trying to generate life by the lie of acting good must die in the cross that the life of God generated by His spirit in us may become our life. It is this to which Jesus said that if a man tries to find (make) his life he will lose his life but if he will lose his life (in Messiah) he will find his life (YHWH’s shared life in us).MATTHEW 10:39

Paul was and is accused by many to be in opposition to Moses and even Messiah. However with clear understanding we see that the grace of Gods life in us that Paul speaks of is in complete agreement with both.

Paul first tells us that the message of Messiah giving us life is the generating power of YHWH’s being in us to save us. The result of our complete trust, dependence, and expectation of God living in us has the unavoidable result of the righteousness of Messiah showing in those who have no ability to create that righteousness. This right way is shown in us more and more as we learn to trust Him alone more and more.

However if we refuse to trust God as our maker and set forth to be our own maker God will submit us to our own blinded mind. The result of such is that every type of wickedness grows and expands in those who are separated from Gods holy life by their refusal to come to His life.

So it is that Paul, as Moses had centuries before, sets before us the way of life and death, of blessings and cursing’s. Paul declares a solid assurance that Jesus is the way the truth and the life and also a warning that if we refuse to trust in Him we will find ourselves given over to the darkest condition of the soul.

The greatest letter ever written: Romans part 1

 

Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God, (which he had promised afore by his prophets in the holy scriptures,) concerning his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh; and declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead: by whom we have received grace and apostleship, for obedience to the faith among all nations, for his name: Among whom are ye also the called of Jesus Christ: To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.

First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for you all, that your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world. For God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you always in my prayers; making request, if by any means now at length I might have a prosperous journey by the will of God to come unto you. For I long to see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift, to the end ye may be established; That is, that I may be comforted together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me.

Now I would not have you ignorant, brethren, that oftentimes I purposed to come unto you, (but was let hitherto,) that I might have some fruit among you also, even as among other Gentiles. I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians; both to the wise, and to the unwise. So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also.

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. ROMANS 1: 1-17a

Moses, at the end of his earthly ministry, wrote one of the greatest books that a believer might ever have the privilege to read; named Deuteronomy. It transcends a prophet speaking that which God has revealed to him. The intimacy of its writing makes the outward acts of the man become translucent and the inner workings of his relationship with YHWH, as his being, is made plain.

Paul also has written such a book titled Romans. However though these books stand as two of the most pivotal in scripture much of their truths are not seen without first understanding what came before them. So though I can understand the political reasons the church at Rome placed this epistle at the forefront; the understanding of first the general epistles and then Paul’s other writings are needed if we would take all that this epistle offers us.

This post and those that will follow in this series will attempt to show the majesty of that which was given to Paul. The gospel that The Father has given to His children is like a painting that at its revelation was more vibrant and beautiful than words can express. However over time as men battled to possess it for their own purposes the grime and sweat and bloodshed of the human condition has faded its glory. The gospel we see now while still recognizable as a master piece is not the clear, vibrant, living work it once was.

While comparing myself to these two men of faith seems to me a foolish thought at the same time I cannot avoid that which my Lord has shown me. Moses felt the desire to deliver God’s people from Egypt long before God had formed the humble servant who could see it done. Paul had a passion to see God worshiped in purity long before Our Lord opened his eyes to see the purity which can only come by grace. For myself, I have had a desire for all believers to live the life that is described by the witness of scripture and be free of every trace of the life of this world.

This call has been in me since I came to the Lord as a teenager. It remained when my way of trying to obtain to it drove me deep into failure. When I told God I could not serve Him; that it was not in me to be His son, it remained as an unrelenting blazing fire that would not allow me to lie down and die. When I surrendered my life to him completely without a definition of what that meant it remained.

When we are young and immature in the Lord we take our call as a proof of our own importance and approval from God. However our Father by longsuffering and patience brings us to a place where we are called for His glory alone. This is a place where we see His goodness and grace working through us instead of our consecration and position.

So it is with a humble heart that Paul proclaims his call and apostleship as a proof of God’s grace instead of, as some did in Paul’s time and continue in our own, a claim of position and authority. It is Paul’s desire to give blessing and establishment to the brethren; not to receive from them for him. Paul rather feels he is in debt to those to whom he preaches; for without them the life of God would not be working through and within him.

It is the good news of what Christ has done that receives all credit from Paul for it is not about the man speaking it but the man who is spoken of. This man’s life is the power of salvation to all men.

Will you ask God to judge you?

Judge me, O Lord; for I have walked in mine integrity: I have trusted also in the Lord; therefore I shall not slide.
2 Examine me, O Lord, and prove me; try my reins and my heart.
3 For thy lovingkindness is before mine eyes: and I have walked in thy truth.
4 I have not sat with vain persons, neither will I go in with dissemblers.
5 I have hated the congregation of evil doers; and will not sit with the wicked.
6 I will wash mine hands in innocency: so will I compass thine altar, O Lord:
7 That I may publish with the voice of thanksgiving, and tell of all thy wondrous works.
8 Lord, I have loved the habitation of thy house, and the place where thine honour dwelleth.
9 Gather not my soul with sinners, nor my life with bloody men:
10 In whose hands is mischief, and their right hand is full of bribes.
11 But as for me, I will walk in mine integrity: redeem me, and be merciful unto me.
12 My foot standeth in an even place: in the congregations will I bless the Lord. psalm 26
In movies and books we all love a hero. We imagine one who has a power and ability beyond what we find in our self and set them as something to strive to be like. If we fall short it is only because we are just common men trying to reach a standard that is beyond our abilities.
Believers also fall into this thinking; making those who make witness of God's power in their life as men who were more gifted than us common folk.One such character is David; despite his human weakness being laid out before us we tend to think of Him as a spiritual hero who has a blessing beyond our own. However the witness of God in Davids life is not given that we could see David's blessings but that we may comprehend the power of God in our own life.

When David ask God to judge him he is not claiming a greatness beyond those around him. Instead he is saying he is honest with God and trusting God to try him and purge him. He has not made a false pretense of serving God. He will not settle for living by mans will worship of acting holy before men while living in the weakness of mans sinful heart.

When David comes to be cleansed and partake of Gods alter it is not for men to see him but a desire and faith of being redeemed from his life to the life of God in him.His desire is to tell all men of a true salvation from sin not just an outward confession with no inward change.

David has a trust that if he desires God truthfully then a loving God will have mercy and give to Him a true redemption. Do you have the same trust in you or are you busy trying to show men how christian you really are? We can not have two masters; we may please men (including yourself) or God but not both.

God's blessings come by faith not fear

I cringe in my heart when I hear so called ministers implying (if not outright saying) that the blessings of God are financial. The most horrible sin a man can take part in is to imply that God's blessings are for sale.Those who preach that a man will suffer a curse from God if they don't give an offering are bringing a response of fear or greed but never an action of faith. Faith actions come when God speaks to a man and that man acts from a trust in Gods word.
However this post is not about correcting these false teachings but instead it is about my repentance. I have acted from a fear of becoming a hireling and tried to provide for the work of God in my life by myself. I have never asked for any help in ministry. I did this because I told myself if God wanted me to do a thing He would provide a way. While that sounds very much like faith God reveals the heart.
The word of God says give a glass of water in the name of a prophet and receive a prophets reward. It is a way in which we are one;same work together same reward. We are to be one body doing the work God has put in us to do as one body.
I have never been afraid to give but my fear of receiving has caused me to not allow my brethren to take part in Gods working through me. So to my brethren I say I am sorry and to my Father I ask that my fear and trust in myself die in the cross of my Lord and that His life in me will make me walk in humbleness to His will.
Some of you may have noticed I have not posted in a while; the reason for this is my grandbaby gave my laptop a glass of water. I ask for your prayers and faith that God will not only provide another but also the microphone and camera I've been saving for to do video and live bible studies.
I do not believe God's blessings come from financial giving but instead by our giving of all we are to God. This is a hard thing for me to write but there is a button on the side of my blog that reads "if God leads you: donate" so if He does then I ask that you would.
May we all grow in His grace and the knowledge of Him, your brother in Messiah Rick Rosamond.

Hypocrite!

 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.  For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.  Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5: 17-20

Then Jesus said unto them, Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees… How is it that ye do not understand that I spake it not to you concerning bread, that ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees? Then understood they how that he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. Matthew 16: 6, 11-12

Then spake Jesus to the multitude, and to his disciples, Saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat: All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not…

But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves…

Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone. Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. Matthew 23: 1-28

What would we call a man who had learned from His past failures that living in a way contrary to the things taught in the bible was a sure path to destruction? If this lesson set him on a course to deny the wrong things that his carnal nature desired and only do those things which the scriptures said pleased YHWH how, do you think, we would see him as a person? If by the wisdom of how weak a man can be he determined to avoid even the appearance of evil by making sure he did not do things that would put him in a place where he might offend; would we admire his heart for YHWH? Finally, what if this man concluded that despite his efforts to live as YHWH intended; his limitations as a man would still leave him falling short so that the only hope of being with YHWH one day was the sacrifice that YHWH had made for redemption; would we not call him a sincere believer?

The Jews of the first century when Messiah walked the earth would call him a Pharisee. Our redeemer Yeshua would call him an actor and dangerous snake.

If we follow man’s way that the commands and teachings of the bible are the way we should act when we make ourselves act accordingly we testify against ourselves; that we are our makers, that we are actors, and by default we confess we are dead because we do not have what YHWH calls life within us.

For YHWH teaches us that sin is death but life is the nature described by the scriptures. Yeshua did more than provide forgiveness of sin he provided freedom by giving us His life which is the Fathers life; which is the only life. If our faith stops at His forgiveness for our sin we make Him the minister of sin.

He is the minister of Gods life. We must trust Him as the way that our death was finished in His crucifixion. If we believe with our heart and confess with our mouth YHWH alone is our maker and through His messiah Yeshua he has made us free from sins death to have His life shared in us.

The things which the Pharisees said a man should do were right. The determined trust they set on themselves to do those things were a veil of flesh separating them from the life of YHWH. For it is not by men’s might or power but by His Spirit breathed into us that men can have life.

Abraham looked at the deadness of His own body and the deadness of His wife’s womb and saw the immutable promise of God.

His children looked at the promise and saw only their inability to possess it; so YHWH carried them into a wilderness where they could see his provision that they might be brought to faith.

Our Messiah was taken into the wilderness where He was presented with whether He would trust in Himself to be the maker of His life or YHWH. The first Adam had chosen himself and brought separation of self on all men. The second chose that YHWH was His life and became the first born of many brethren.

We say that God judges our heart and this is true but the heart of man is deceitfully wicked. The Pharisees by their dedication to acting as the scripture described life became nothing more than men pleasers. They showed to men what they considered holiness and deceived themselves that they had made themselves righteous.

Yeshua said our righteousness must exceed the righteousness of the Pharisees. So we must do those things described as life; not by acting against our nature but by possessing the nature of YHWH through His promise of the same.