The Movement and the Religious

Posted on January 23, 2020 by Don Merritt

Last time we looked briefly at the events that took place at Pentecost, but of course, those events were not the end of the story; they were only the opening chapter. The Apostles saw amazing success when they first preached the Gospel among the Jews in and around Jerusalem, but the religious “Establishment” were not about to let them drain their swamp: They would fight back with ruthless zeal, as swamp dwellers have been known to do. In due course, the Gospel was driven out of Judea and into the lands of the Gentiles by persecution.

God raised up another Apostle from among the persecutors of His people, and Saul of Tarsus becomes Paul the Apostle to the Gentiles. I’m sure that I don’t need to retell Paul’s story from Acts here other than to say that because of his missionary endeavors, the Gospel spread like wildfire throughout the Eastern Mediterranean region. Yet despite the efforts of Paul and many others this great Movement that we call the Church or the Kingdom, began to come under the influence of those who would bring the old ways back into its midst.

Paul sometimes called these elements “Judaizers”, referring to them by various terms at various times, but always with sharp disapproval. To the Galatian churches he wrote:

You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh? Have you experienced so much in vain—if it really was in vain? So again I ask, does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you by the works of the law, or by your believing what you heard? So also Abraham “believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.

Galatians 3:1-6

Believe it or not, people actually came into our great Movement and began to persuade followers of Jesus that they could not follow Him until they put themselves under the Law and conformed to its obsolete practices.

And quite a few people actually believed them. Can you see a conflict between transactional relationship and relational relationship here?

The transactional side of this coin is following Jesus by “works of the law” and “means of the flesh”; the relational side is seen by Paul’s saying “believing what you heard” and “means of the Spirit”. Abraham became righteous in God’s eyes by believing God, not by being religious− how do we become righteous in God’s sight?

Understand, then, that those who have faith are children of Abraham. 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 rely on faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith. (3:7-9)

Yet Paul is far from finished:

For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse, as it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.” (3:10)

Bear in mind that when we see the term “Book of the Law”, Paul is quoting Deuteronomy 27:26− this is the Law God gave to Moses, not something some guy just made up. Do we like our chances relying upon man-made rules? This is precisely what Jesus went to the cross to set us free from:

Clearly no one who relies on the law is justified before God, because “the righteous will live by faith.” The law is not based on faith; on the contrary, it says, “The person who does these things will live by them.” Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole.” He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit. (3:11-14)

The whole point of this great Movement, the church, is that God did not desire a relationship with His people that was based on mere transaction, but instead, upon His great and abundant love for us, and our response to Him.

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Prologue

Posted on January 23, 2020 by Don Merritt

Romans 1:8-17

Paul’s personal observations are contained in verses 8-15, and are followed by a transitional section in verses 16-17. The personal remarks fall into three sections as he tells the Romans of his prayers for them, his desire to visit them, and of his desire to preach in their midst.

Paul’s prayers for the Romans can be found in verses 8-10, and follow more or less the typical Pauline pattern. Paul’s prayers take on the form of thanksgiving for their faith as he mentions that their faith has been reported all over the world by the time of his writing. A secondary emphasis is his desire to visit them, which transitions into the next section which is comprised of verses 11-13.

While the first two parts of this passage are fairly self explanatory, verses 14-15 reveal a great deal about Paul’s mindset:

I am obligated both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish. That is why I am so eager to preach the gospel also to you who are in Rome.

In the previous section, verses 1-7, Paul made it clear that he was Jesus’ slave, called to apostleship and that as such, his mission was to call the Gentiles to faith in Christ. Thus, in verse 14 he says that he is obligated to preach in the midst of the Romans. When you take Paul’s use of the word “obligated” here in verse 14 and pair it up with his use of the term “servant” (slave) in verse 1, Paul’s attitude flies in the face of our modern perspectives on faith.

What? Me someone’s servant or slave? Me being obligated to do something? Outrageous! How dare you!

I can almost hear someone objecting on the basis of the old Faith versus Works argument, yet as I have pointed out so many times, there is no conflict whatever between faith and works. If you are new to this idea, here is why: Salvation is by grace through faith; we could not earn it by working for it no matter what we do because it has nothing to do with works. Having received salvation by the blood of Christ shed on the cross, mandated by God’s love for us, our response is the expression of God’s love in us to the world around us. Paul uses the word obligation because he has been called to make disciples, just as we have been; he is answering God’s call. Yet his motivation is in the fact that he loves God and all of God’s children, and there is no greater act of love than sharing God’s love with others, and to share that love, he needs to do something.

In that, we find fellowship between Man and God when our relationship with God brings about the response to do our part in achieving God’s purpose, which is the reason God created Man in the first place.

Paul sums this up in verses 16-17:

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile. For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”

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Pentecost

Posted on January 22, 2020 by Don Merritt

Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. (2:2-4)

The Ap0stles waited in Jerusalem as Jesus had instructed them; they were waiting for the Holy Spirit to come upon them. As they waited, the religious authorities were going about their business as usual, thinking that they had gotten rid of that Jesus guy once and for all. Yes, of course there were whispers and rumors about Him, but that sort of foolishness was to be expected from zealots and nutjobs like those who had followed Him.

No sir, it was back to regular business; the ceremonies, customs, traditions and commerce would go on as they always had− the danger had been nailed to a cross.

Yet unbeknownst to the religious authorities, the Holy Spirit had come upon the Apostles, with Power, so much so, in fact, that many thought they were drunk!

“They have had too much wine.” (2:13)

Before the Authorities knew what was happening, the Apostles were out in the Temple area preaching the Word of God in tongues they hadn’t studied, a Word of salvation and redemption for all Mankind, a Word that made them and their traditions utterly obsolete. Peter steps forward and addresses their sobriety issue:

Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: “Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say.  These people are not drunk, as you suppose. It’s only nine in the morning! No, this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: (2:14-16)

Then he continues to tell the people that the prophecy of Joel was coming to pass before their eyes: I will pour out my Spirit on all people. (2:17a; see Joel 2:28-32) He proclaims the resurrection of Jesus from the grave, and announces to the people that all can be saved by God’s grace through faith in Jesus Christ− from that point forward, nothing would be the same again for a new Age had dawned that day.

The religious were just a tad befuddled that day, for the response of the people to Peter’s message was too vast for them to deal with at first; thousands followed Jesus right away; they must regroup before taking the steps necessary to keep the old ways intact, but they did regroup, and within a fairly short time, Peter and others were in jail.

As we look back at those tumultuous days, we can see pretty clearly that God was moving His plans forward and the old ways were replaced with that which was entirely new. The history of Israel had shown this pattern before− God would move His plans into a new area, and thigs would be fine for a time, but then customs and traditions would be established, followed by corruption of the message of God, and then a kind of rot from within. God would warn the people and offer then a chance to turn things around. Yet those in authority would always fight Him and eventually God would take the situation in hand, and the cycle would start over.

Solomon told us that there is nothing new under the sun, and he had that right, for the history of the Christian Church has continued the same pattern to this very day.

Next time, let’s see how Paul dealt with his: See you tomorrow!

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Greetings

Posted on January 22, 2020 by Don Merritt

Romans 1:1-7

The custom in the first century was to begin a letter with a greeting that set forth the identity of the author, the recipient and a few words of greeting. In most of Paul’s letters, those few words of greeting were comprised of a prayer and thanksgiving that expressed Paul’s regard for his recipients. Paul deviated from this pattern once in awhile; in Galatians for instance, he identified himself and then launched in to quite a lecture about their error: He was writing to correct them.

Romans is another case when Paul deviates somewhat from the usual pattern.  Some have suggested that he did so to better introduce himself to a church he had not yet met in person, others that he was in a hurry, but it appears to me that something else was on his mind. Thus, while I often fly past the introductory parts of his letters, I think it might be interesting to take a closer look here in Romans, because it helps us to understand the letter’s context.

Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God— (1:1)

Paul identifies himself immediately as a servant (slave) of Jesus Christ, the implication of which is that he is not writing on his own behalf, but as Christ’s representative. This is amplified in the second half of the verse as he says that he has been called to be an apostle, which means “one sent” and then tells his readers he has been “set apart” for the gospel of God. Of course, we know that to be set apart is another way of saying to be “holy”. Thus, Paul’s first line tells his recipients that he is Jesus’ slave who has been sent to represent the Lord and the gospel which, if you think about it, is quite a statement: He has the authority of his Master.

In the next verse, he continues by pointing out that the gospel he represents is the very one promised in the Scriptures. The sentence continues in verse 3 as Paul points out that this gospel that was foretold by the Scriptures is all about God’s Son, who was a descendant of David, the king, as the Scriptures promised. This brings us to verse 4:

and who through the Spirit of holiness was appointed the Son of God in power by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord.

Make no mistake about it, Paul is setting forth his authority as a teacher when he reminds his readers that he is the representative of Jesus Christ, the very Son of God, whose authority and position was confirmed by His resurrection from the dead, which, if I may say so, was no mean feat.

Many years ago, I had the honor of reading a message from the president to a group of people. When you do that, there is a certain form of address, so you begin by saying, “I bring you a message from the President of the United States of America” before you start reading. I couldn’t help notice that at the precise second that I said that, the silence in the room was deafening, even though everyone knew what I was doing up there beforehand. After you read the message, you say “signed”, give the president’s name, and then say, “President of the United States of America.” To be honest with you, I thought this whole procedure was a little fussy as the protocol people were briefing me on how to do this, but since it was a very nice honor, I followed instructions (for once). After I did it, I understood why it is done, for even in our cynical times, this has a profound effect on an audience.

What Paul has just done in verses 1-4 is the first century equivalent of this; he’s telling them that they had best pay attention, for this is Official God Business.

What it also tells us is that what follows will be persuasive in nature.

I mentioned in the last post that Romans is a “doctrinal essay” but what I didn’t mention is that a doctrinal essay is a persuasive piece… He continues:

Through him we received grace and apostleship to call all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith for his name’s sake. And you also are among those Gentiles who are called to belong to Jesus Christ. (1:5-6)

Verses 2-4 set forth Jesus’ Jewish credentials; verses 5-6 set forth the credentials of Paul and the Gentile believers. This Jesus who is the fulfillment of Jewish prophetic Scriptures is the One, who called Paul to apostleship, and by His authority, Paul has called the Gentiles to faith in Christ; by this authority, no Jew may challenge the validity of a Gentile’s position in Christ or his status in God’s sight, a revolutionary concept from the Jewish perspective. Pay careful attention to verse 6: The Gentile believers in Rome are among those Gentiles who have been called to belong to Christ. This harmonizes nicely with Paul’s status expressed in verse 1, that of being Christ’s servant (slave is a better rendering in my view) for not only did Jesus pay the price to redeem the Jews; He also paid the price for the Gentiles.

Verse 7 makes it abundantly clear that this is being written to ALL Christians, both Jew and Gentile, slave and free, male and female, for the word “all” bars no one. Paul extends his greetings and is ready to move on to the next section which is a prologue containing some personal observations.

Before I wrap up for now, I would like to point out one more thing: Paul has revealed in this passage what the letter will be about, actually who the letter is about: Jesus. As we continue to go through Romans, we must keep in mind that the letter is about Jesus.

Thus, we have the overall context of the letter.

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Some thoughts on the nature of relationship

Posted on January 21, 2020 by Don Merritt

Since I’ve already used these terms in our discussion about following Christ and following religion, I thought it might be a good idea to explain a bit about what I mean in using them. The terms both deal with the nature of a relationship: Is the relationship transactional or relational?

To be quite honest, most human relationships tend to be transactional. Yes, I realize that statement might surprise many, that is, until we think about it. When you are on the job, you might have a great relationship with the boss, maybe you really hit it off together. Yet, if you argue with his or her decisions, don’t complete your work on time, show up late, are absent frequently and make consistent and frequent errors in your work, how long is that relationship going to last? Those things are all transactions in the relationship. Transactions within a relationship are all about following a set of rules or expectations: Follow the rules and everything is fine, break the rules and we have a problem.

Come to think of it, we can probably say that every human relationship is transactional to some degree.

A relationship that is relational is more about the human beings involved and how they feel about one another in spite of most transactional matters− people forgive one another’s faults and shortcomings… to a point.

Hold on− isn’t love supposed to be unconditional?

That’s not as easy a question as some might suppose. If you made an indecent proposition to your best friend’s spouse, how well do you think that would go over? They didn’t care that you tipped over your wine glass at their dinner table and ruined the new tablecloth, they’re OK with your tendency to misspeak or be crude, but there’s always a line you can’t cross with people and remain on their Christmas card list.

With all of that said, what this really comes down to in our discussion is this: Does God want a relational or transactional relationship with His people?

Please forgive me for painting with such a broad brush here, but the person who is religious will answer that question with a resounding RELATIONAL just before reaching for the rule book. Who knows, maybe you’ve met someone like that.

At any rate, I hope everyone is clearer about my use of the terms as we continue in our journey. Our next stop is to examine the nature of Christian worship, and what better place is there to begin that part of the journey than the Day of Pentecost? That’s where we’ll pick up next time, see you then.

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A Brief Introduction to Romans

Posted on January 21, 2020 by Don Merritt

The letter to the Romans was written by the Apostle Paul while he was in Corinth shortly before his departure to Jerusalem in early 56, 57 or 58 AD. Unfortunately, it is just about impossible to tie down an exact year, but it would have been one of these. His recipients were the believers in Rome, both of Gentile and Jewish background as you will see as we go through the book.

Paul gives us some insight into what occasioned his letter in chapters 1 and 15. It seems that he was about to leave Corinth and go to Jerusalem with the offering they had collected for the needs within the church there, and he asks the Roman Christians to pray for his journey since he was very much aware that his enemies in Jerusalem were interested in killing him. He also wasn’t entirely sure how the offering from Gentile Corinth would be received by the Jewish Christians, as there was still a great deal of mistrust and confusion between the two groups, especially related to the role that the Law should play within the church. As you will discover, there is a great deal of discussion on this subject in the letter itself.

It is also clear, that Paul believed that his work was about finished in the Eastern Mediterranean area, and he was already planning to venture to the western Mediterranean after his mission in Jerusalem was accomplished. In all likelihood, Paul would travel from Spain to Rome on this next journey.

Paul’s purpose for writing the letter to Rome isn’t as easy to discern as with most of his letters. Certainly, he wanted to give clear instruction about the Gospel, and he also wanted to provide instruction about the role of the Law, and teach about the two covenants (Law of Moses and New Covenant) and how they relate to each other. In addition, it is clear that he desired to teach unity within the church between Jew and Gentile: For these reasons, the letter to the Romans is a doctrinal essay.

As we consider these things, another interesting point concerning Paul’s purpose begins to emerge− Paul is sending this letter to Rome, but his audience is far greater than that, for this letter is really written to all believers in all times; it is just as relevant today as it was when it was read for the first time. Today it is beloved by millions, a comfort and an encouragement, yet our loudest doctrinal arguments swirl through its pages. Even though there may be a controversy or two, and even though there are a few passages that are rather deep, and yes, even though Paul’s writing style can be a little hard to follow, I am confident that we can study this book together and come away with a clear understanding of it without raising our voices about this or that teaching by simply keeping the context straight.

In any event, it will surely be a fun adventure, so grab a chair and a cup of coffee, and we’ll set out when we get together next time!

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TLP Living: 1/20/20

Posted on January 20, 2020 by Don Merritt

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TLP Inspiration:1/20/20

Posted on January 20, 2020 by Don Merritt

The Lord is my Shepherd

The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,
 he refreshes my soul.
He guides me along the right paths
    for his name’s sake.

Psalm 23:1-3

With these three verses, we begin one of the most memorable pieces of writing in all of recorded history, words of comfort, of safety, of enduring hope and peace.

Yes, peace; that’s what we feel in reading these words:

The Lord is my Shepherd…

On this Monday morning, let’s just sit back and drink it all in; what could be better than that?

Have you ever wondered why the Lord used sheep and a shepherd as metaphors to illustrate the relationship that He desires with us− it’s kind of interesting, isn’t it?

The shepherd leads the sheep; the sheep don’t lead the shepherd. The sheep are part of a flock, they don’t all run off to do their own thing. The shepherd decides where they will all lie down to rest; not the flock. The shepherd provides for the needs of the flock, the sheep don’t decide what they want and go for it; the shepherd restores their souls in the process. The flock allows the shepherd to lead them, they follow wherever He leads them: They surrender control to the shepherd.

I really can’t say how people reacted to this when it was first written, but in our time and place, most of us have trouble doing that− trusting, following, surrendering. I don’t know about you, but I want to be in green pastures, beside still waters with my needs met and my soul restored. Yet I’m inclined to make my own plans, my own paths and to be in control of my own destiny.

Yes, that’s it: I want to be in control.

The sheep do not lead the Shepherd, but I want the peace, the provision, the restoration…

O Lord, grant me the strength, the courage, to surrender to your leading this day, and all the days to follow…

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Those Who Mourn

Posted on January 19, 2020 by Don Merritt

Most of the time, we don’t associate blessing with mourning; maybe we should rethink this… Matthew didn’t actually say what those blessed ones are mourning; it could be the loss of a loved one, it could be the loss of their home or possessions, or it could be the sinful and rebellious state of this world. Maybe it doesn’t matter…

I think it is safe to say that for a person to truly mourn they first had to love; certainly, this would be true in the loss of a loved one. It would also be true if a person is mourning the loss of possessions, for if they didn’t love the possession(s) lost, would they actually mourn?

It wouldn’t seem so.

If the person was mourning for the wickedness of this world, wouldn’t that show they loved God a whole lot?

Consider for a moment those who do not mourn− what a terrible and sad life they must lead! Never having enough of a relationship with anyone for love to develop; never being able to mourn? Never having a loving relationship with God so as to mourn for those who rebel against Him?

Never loving− never mourning?

Those who mourn will receive comfort from God, both in the here and now and in the ultimate future when all pain and sorrow will cease. I don’t know about you, but for me, just knowing this is a comfort that brings joy into my life.

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Some Final Thoughts

Posted on January 18, 2020 by Don Merritt

Thinking about the story of Ruth, it’s hard to come away from it without the sense that God really does work in the lives of His people. He certainly did so in ancient times, and maybe we sometimes feel like they were more “special” than we are because of this. Yet upon reflection, we should know better. The Bible is full of stories of amazing men and women of faith, and it also has many stories of men and women who were ungodly in their lives and characters, and isn’t this really the same condition that we see around us today?

I would actually like to go a step further and suggest that there are more amazing men and women of faith today than there were in Bible times, since unlike those in the Old Testament, God’s people in our time are indwelt by the Holy Spirit, and Old Testament Israelites were not. The problem we have today is that we aren’t having these people pointed out to us, and in the busy day-to-day we might not notice what is really going on around us. If nothing else, we might at least ponder the possibilities.

As for the specifics of the Ruth story, one thing is quite clear: Boaz was no ordinary man, for he was a “type” of Christ as a kinsman-redeemer. The fact that the text includes “redeemer” in it should bring this into focus for most readers. To review, a “type” is a term that comes from a manner of interpretation called “Typology”; a “typological interpretation”, and is a natural element of Old Testament writing since the Old Covenant itself is a “type” of the New, a fact brought out and referred to again and again in the New Testament book of Hebrews. Ruth is a type of the redeemed, which is to say of you and me. The humility that she demonstrates over and over is the behavior that is supposed to be seen in us, and when she lay down in total submission and humility at the feet of Boaz portrays our coming to Christ in humility and submission and receiving redemption from our sins and the gift of a new life in Christ.

The result of Ruth’s actions was that she was redeemed from widowhood and received a new life as the wife of Boaz, ultimately giving birth to a son in the direct lineage of the Son of God. For us, we are redeemed from sin and receive a new life in Christ, as I said, but we also join the family tree of Jesus as his brothers and sisters in the household of His Father… and our Father. While we remain on this earth, we are servants of His, but when we inherit this birthright, we have not only eternal life with Him, but that life is lived as His brother or sister in the Father’s house. It is because of this significance that we can say that the story of Ruth is much more than an inspiring tale of overcoming adversity and of godly role models, for it is a significance that leads us to the very source of life itself.

I hope that you have enjoyed our little adventure through this story, and I hope that you have found it to be an adventure that is worthy of more thoughtful contemplation. May all of us walk more closely with our Lord as a result of our adventures with Him!

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