Romans 7:7-13
I just have a couple of minutes today so let me get right to it. Paul's point is that not only does the law not justify us (chapter 3) but it does not bring us life. It was intended to but, because I am so broken and twisted that I prefer and am enticed by what is forbidden, in simply saying I was not to do something, the law produced the desire to do that very thing which results in death. This is not a fault of the law but with me. The theological term is depravity - I prefer my own glory and the glory of the created things to the glory of God. Not only do I prefer it but I actively seek to undermine the glory of God. The result of all of this? Death.
If I am looking for life, I will not find it in the law. I will not find life by making rules about being a Christian. I will not find life there at all. And yet that is what I do. The law does not bring life! I need to stop creating and relying on the law and start pursuing life!
Showing posts with label depravity. Show all posts
Showing posts with label depravity. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
Friday, June 22, 2007
the verdict: all are guilty!
Romans 3:9-20
Observation:
The words "no one" and the idea of "righteous" are repeated. Paul uses a list of verses from the OT that speak of the depravity and brokeness of all of humanity. The theme is that no one is righteous, not even one. "Law" is also a key word that is repeated a few times.
Interpretation:
The main argument of the passage is that there is no one who is righteous - it doesn't matter wether you are a Jew and have access to the Scriptures or a Gentile and don't. All of humanity prefers sin to the fear and glory of God and rushes to sin rather than to obey God. The law does not make people righteous - the law acts as a mirror, making us aware of our unrighteousness and sinfulness. The law is the instrument that God will use to measure our lives and everyone will be found lacking.
Application:
Any righteousness that I have "gained" is not from my own efforts because I could never be good enough to earn it. Any righteousness I have achieved by my own efforts is self-righteousness and is empty and futile. I am fallen. This means that rather than running to do what is good, my feet are swift to shed blood and my tongue practices deceit. Any decently close examination of my life will show this to be true. This is not just what I do but my character has been twisted so this is what I prefer and any time I do something good, it is a miracle because it is God breaking through my falleness and depravity. The miracle is not just that I don't perform the bad act but that God is starting to change my preferences and fix my depravity.
If it takes God's intervention to change me, then I need to stop expecting that other people will change apart from the intervention of God. Rather than beating them up (emotionally. I usually avoid throwing punches!), I need to introduce them to Jesus, offer them grace and pray that God would intervene in my life as he has in theirs. I also need to seek the intervention of God in my own life more. Jesus said in John 15 that apart from him I can do nothing of eternal value, I can bear no fruit. My goal is to bear fruit and the way that I do that is not to try to produce fruit on my own but to seek the divine intervention, the life-giving source that flows through me as I abide in Christ.
Observation:
The words "no one" and the idea of "righteous" are repeated. Paul uses a list of verses from the OT that speak of the depravity and brokeness of all of humanity. The theme is that no one is righteous, not even one. "Law" is also a key word that is repeated a few times.
Interpretation:
The main argument of the passage is that there is no one who is righteous - it doesn't matter wether you are a Jew and have access to the Scriptures or a Gentile and don't. All of humanity prefers sin to the fear and glory of God and rushes to sin rather than to obey God. The law does not make people righteous - the law acts as a mirror, making us aware of our unrighteousness and sinfulness. The law is the instrument that God will use to measure our lives and everyone will be found lacking.
Application:
Any righteousness that I have "gained" is not from my own efforts because I could never be good enough to earn it. Any righteousness I have achieved by my own efforts is self-righteousness and is empty and futile. I am fallen. This means that rather than running to do what is good, my feet are swift to shed blood and my tongue practices deceit. Any decently close examination of my life will show this to be true. This is not just what I do but my character has been twisted so this is what I prefer and any time I do something good, it is a miracle because it is God breaking through my falleness and depravity. The miracle is not just that I don't perform the bad act but that God is starting to change my preferences and fix my depravity.
If it takes God's intervention to change me, then I need to stop expecting that other people will change apart from the intervention of God. Rather than beating them up (emotionally. I usually avoid throwing punches!), I need to introduce them to Jesus, offer them grace and pray that God would intervene in my life as he has in theirs. I also need to seek the intervention of God in my own life more. Jesus said in John 15 that apart from him I can do nothing of eternal value, I can bear no fruit. My goal is to bear fruit and the way that I do that is not to try to produce fruit on my own but to seek the divine intervention, the life-giving source that flows through me as I abide in Christ.
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
A Standing Ovation for Sin
Romans 1:24-32
Observe:
The connects back to the wrath of God being revealed from heaven against all godlessness and wickedness. There is a connecting word (therefore) that indicates that what happens next is the result of humans wisdom for foolishness and God's glory for the lesser glory of created things. The main punishment seems to be that God has given humans over to sexual impurity and perversion.
Paul uses the language of exchange or trading again - this time humans traded the truth of God for a lie and the worship of God for the worship and service of created things. The phrase "served created things" struck me - we don't just elevate their importance but we become enslaved to them when we do so.
God also abandoned humans to a sinful way of thinking (a depraved mind). Basically, because we preferred the lesser glory of created things to the greater glory of God, He surrendered us completely to that kind of thinking so that we can't help but prefer those things (apart from his intervention - Paul gets to that later) and suffer all the consequences of that preference.
Interpret:
The main argument of the passage is that because of humanity's choice (specifically Gentiles) to exchange the glory and wisdom of God as seen in creation for the lesser glory of created things (Paul actually says we traded God's glory for the glory of reptiles - good job humans!), God has "honoured" that choice and abandoned us to the consequences of that decision.
Paul's main point in Romans is that the just will live by faith. We are made righteous as a gift from God. He is proving here that we couldn't achieve this righteousness on our own because we have become such victims of our own choices that we have become totally depraved - we can't help but prefer the lesser glory of created things to the glory of God.
Paul is also saying that the pleasures of sin have actually become our punishment. This might not make sense at first glance (God punishes me by giving me over to sexual impurity? Wahoo!) but you don't have to look very far to see the emptiness and destruction that sexual impurity and perversion brings to people, families and society.
Apply:
First, I think that this passage actually settles the debate on homosexuality. It may have been a choice at one point but Paul makes it clear that God has given people over to it. I don't think most people would choose homosexuality - it almost always means secrecy, hardship and loss of relationship.
Second, I can find myself on the list of characteristics of someone who has a depraved mind: greed, envy, deceit, gossip, boastful, disobedient, etc. The words that jump out to me specifically are "they invent ways of doing evil." This is a huge inditement on our society and on me. We are not just content to do evil, we find ways of doing it differently, more and "better".
Third, the people that Paul is talking about know better and know that they deserve punishment but continue in sin anyway. He could be talking about me. How many times have I done something I knew was wrong or not done something I knew was right, regardless of the consequences? Too many to count.
Finally, the ultimate sin according to Paul is applauding the sinfulness of others. This stands as a huge condemnation on our society, on our churches and on myself. We hold up as heroes those who break speed limits - the faster the better! We honour those who find inventive ways of cheating the system or on the test. We listen with rapt attention to those stories about sexual conquest and applaud the conqueror. We applaud, rather than regret, sin.
Lord, have mercy...
Observe:
The connects back to the wrath of God being revealed from heaven against all godlessness and wickedness. There is a connecting word (therefore) that indicates that what happens next is the result of humans wisdom for foolishness and God's glory for the lesser glory of created things. The main punishment seems to be that God has given humans over to sexual impurity and perversion.
Paul uses the language of exchange or trading again - this time humans traded the truth of God for a lie and the worship of God for the worship and service of created things. The phrase "served created things" struck me - we don't just elevate their importance but we become enslaved to them when we do so.
God also abandoned humans to a sinful way of thinking (a depraved mind). Basically, because we preferred the lesser glory of created things to the greater glory of God, He surrendered us completely to that kind of thinking so that we can't help but prefer those things (apart from his intervention - Paul gets to that later) and suffer all the consequences of that preference.
Interpret:
The main argument of the passage is that because of humanity's choice (specifically Gentiles) to exchange the glory and wisdom of God as seen in creation for the lesser glory of created things (Paul actually says we traded God's glory for the glory of reptiles - good job humans!), God has "honoured" that choice and abandoned us to the consequences of that decision.
Paul's main point in Romans is that the just will live by faith. We are made righteous as a gift from God. He is proving here that we couldn't achieve this righteousness on our own because we have become such victims of our own choices that we have become totally depraved - we can't help but prefer the lesser glory of created things to the glory of God.
Paul is also saying that the pleasures of sin have actually become our punishment. This might not make sense at first glance (God punishes me by giving me over to sexual impurity? Wahoo!) but you don't have to look very far to see the emptiness and destruction that sexual impurity and perversion brings to people, families and society.
Apply:
First, I think that this passage actually settles the debate on homosexuality. It may have been a choice at one point but Paul makes it clear that God has given people over to it. I don't think most people would choose homosexuality - it almost always means secrecy, hardship and loss of relationship.
Second, I can find myself on the list of characteristics of someone who has a depraved mind: greed, envy, deceit, gossip, boastful, disobedient, etc. The words that jump out to me specifically are "they invent ways of doing evil." This is a huge inditement on our society and on me. We are not just content to do evil, we find ways of doing it differently, more and "better".
Third, the people that Paul is talking about know better and know that they deserve punishment but continue in sin anyway. He could be talking about me. How many times have I done something I knew was wrong or not done something I knew was right, regardless of the consequences? Too many to count.
Finally, the ultimate sin according to Paul is applauding the sinfulness of others. This stands as a huge condemnation on our society, on our churches and on myself. We hold up as heroes those who break speed limits - the faster the better! We honour those who find inventive ways of cheating the system or on the test. We listen with rapt attention to those stories about sexual conquest and applaud the conqueror. We applaud, rather than regret, sin.
Lord, have mercy...
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
Futile Minds and Foolish Hearts
Romans 1:18-23
Observe:
God's wrath is being revealed in the present. He doesn't just wait for the "end times" to pour out his righteous judgement against sin and wickedness. The judgement is actually quite similar: at the end of days he will abandon people to the choice they made to live without him, honouring and enforcing that choice for all eternity; in the present he also abandons people to the choices they make to live without him - abandoning the wicked to their sins (v. 24).
I notice also that Paul uses the language of exchanging and concious choices: humans knew the truth but supressed it with wickedness (v. 18-19), the knew God but exchanged his glory for created things.
There is also a contrast between the eternal power and divine nature of God (v. 20) and the futile thinking and foolish hearts of humans (v.21). The issue is that in their folly, humans think that they are wise.
Interpret:
We sometimes think that people are victims of their circumstances, even blaming God for their not being in a position to know and respond to God. Paul disagrees with this view: he says that everyone has the opportunity to know God through his creation (his qualities are clearly seen) and that people have chosen to take the knowledge and truth of God and suppress it with their own choices.
This decision to suppress truth with wickedness and exchange the glory of God for the glory of the created thing is as old as humanity. Adam and Eve made the same choice (in fact, Paul could be talking about Adam and Eve. They knew God but suppressed the truth of God with their choice to eat the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil. They exchanged the glory of God for their own glorification - "you will become like gods...").
I believe that Paul is actually talking about Gentiles - people who, at that time, do not have God's truth as revealed in Scripture. His thesis is that righteousness comes from God and is received by faith. He is showing the depravity of those who never had access to the Word of God and proving that they are just as guilty because they could see the nature of God through creation and their conscience.
Interpret:
God is holy and is just. He cannot stand sin and while he appears to be patient in that he is not actively judging the world right now, he is also active in that he is revealing his wrath against the sin and wickedness of humanity. Admittedly it seems strange that he would judge the sinfulness of people by abandoning them to their sin (sort of like trying to get someone to stop smoking by giving them more cigarettes) but maybe God's judgement and patience are intertwined. Maybe he is trying to get people to see the emptiness of their choices - they are being punished because their sin is not ultimately satisfying to them but that dissatisfaction actually draws them to God at the same time.
Personally this serves as a warning - I can't take my knowledge of God for granted. It's possible for me to know God and still exchange the glory of God for lesser things. In fact, because of my sinfulness and brokeness, I prefer the lesser things to the great glory of God. Paul tells me that my depravity can only be overcome by the righteousness that comes from God and I can only receive that righteousness through faith. "The righteous will live by faith."
Observe:
God's wrath is being revealed in the present. He doesn't just wait for the "end times" to pour out his righteous judgement against sin and wickedness. The judgement is actually quite similar: at the end of days he will abandon people to the choice they made to live without him, honouring and enforcing that choice for all eternity; in the present he also abandons people to the choices they make to live without him - abandoning the wicked to their sins (v. 24).
I notice also that Paul uses the language of exchanging and concious choices: humans knew the truth but supressed it with wickedness (v. 18-19), the knew God but exchanged his glory for created things.
There is also a contrast between the eternal power and divine nature of God (v. 20) and the futile thinking and foolish hearts of humans (v.21). The issue is that in their folly, humans think that they are wise.
Interpret:
We sometimes think that people are victims of their circumstances, even blaming God for their not being in a position to know and respond to God. Paul disagrees with this view: he says that everyone has the opportunity to know God through his creation (his qualities are clearly seen) and that people have chosen to take the knowledge and truth of God and suppress it with their own choices.
This decision to suppress truth with wickedness and exchange the glory of God for the glory of the created thing is as old as humanity. Adam and Eve made the same choice (in fact, Paul could be talking about Adam and Eve. They knew God but suppressed the truth of God with their choice to eat the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil. They exchanged the glory of God for their own glorification - "you will become like gods...").
I believe that Paul is actually talking about Gentiles - people who, at that time, do not have God's truth as revealed in Scripture. His thesis is that righteousness comes from God and is received by faith. He is showing the depravity of those who never had access to the Word of God and proving that they are just as guilty because they could see the nature of God through creation and their conscience.
Interpret:
God is holy and is just. He cannot stand sin and while he appears to be patient in that he is not actively judging the world right now, he is also active in that he is revealing his wrath against the sin and wickedness of humanity. Admittedly it seems strange that he would judge the sinfulness of people by abandoning them to their sin (sort of like trying to get someone to stop smoking by giving them more cigarettes) but maybe God's judgement and patience are intertwined. Maybe he is trying to get people to see the emptiness of their choices - they are being punished because their sin is not ultimately satisfying to them but that dissatisfaction actually draws them to God at the same time.
Personally this serves as a warning - I can't take my knowledge of God for granted. It's possible for me to know God and still exchange the glory of God for lesser things. In fact, because of my sinfulness and brokeness, I prefer the lesser things to the great glory of God. Paul tells me that my depravity can only be overcome by the righteousness that comes from God and I can only receive that righteousness through faith. "The righteous will live by faith."
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