The Notes are Good

In yesterday’s lesson we learned that faith is accepting the free offer of adoption by God.  It is nothing more complex or less complex than that.  To be faithful is to fully accept the gift, body and soul, outward and inward.  It is a truth of the truth.

In God’s adoption we receive righteousness.  While this is a gift, it is much more.  It is a new heart and a new spirit.  It is God writing His name on our foreheads.  It is being a brother to Christ.

Think of it like a jersey.  When we become faithful followers we still sin; we fumble the ball, we foul other people, we are in the wrong place at the wrong time.  While God, who knows everything, sees and knows this, He also sees that the name on the back of the jersey we wear says Jesus Christ, not our name.  When we sin, Jesus already paid the price.  When we foul, Jesus paid the price.  When we fumble, Jesus paid the price.  That does not mean there aren’t repercussions. Our sin is like a wave crashing over others and causing damage, even to the 3^rd and 4^th generations.  But it doesn’t change who gets called out and pays the penalty for our sin – Jesus, not us.

So, what does the bible call us to do?  Just go on sinning?  Not at all (I’m starting to write like Paul).  Specifically we are called to suit up every day and get back in the game.  The bible calls this putting on the “full armor of God.”

My Answers:

6.
David committed extreme sin (adultery/murder), but when confronted he confessed and repented and was forgiven by the Lord

7.
as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us PS 103:12

8.
I had been proud in Bible study. I was humbled to take the time to read through the bible. I completed the NT and felt a joy of spirit not only in the accomplishment but in how it deepend my walk with God. I’m in the OT now (reading this week was, amazingly, the story of Abraham!)

Driving down the street you might see many people out working on their yards and houses.  Mowing the yard, cleaning gutters, decorating, painting, trimming, you name it.  Some of these people are the family members who live in the house.  Others are hired hands.  Sometimes it is easy to predict which is which based on uniforms they might wear or the tools they have to work with.  But other times the hired hand may be another kid from the neighborhood.

While they are all doing work that is visible to anyone looking, there are vast differences in the benefits they receive and the reasoning behind their activity.

The hired hand is contracted to do work and earn a wage.  The family member is doing the work because they are part of the family.  It may be something they enjoy doing.  It may be something they have skills and talents to perform.  It may just be something that they appreciate the outcome of the labors.

At the end of the day when the work is done, the hired hand receives the wage and nothing more.  The family member however receives far more.  They receive food and shelter, love and companionship, education, coaching, trust, guidance, goodwill and so much more.

No matter how good of a job the hired hand does they never receive the same status as family with the same benefits.

God does not hire us, He adopts us.

 

My Answers:

3.
Abraham believed that God is God, that He would keep His promises and provide. Abraham listened, obeyed and worshiped God. He also worked and prepared accepting all that God blessed.

4.
Because it is a quid pro quo (something for something). It is an exchange, a trade.

5.
a.
The gift is salvation and righteousness. The earned wages are death.

b.
I walk with God daily. I also sin daily. My trust is in the Lord and I pray my actions and language serve Him.

I was working on today’s lesson and thinking about the relationship of faith and the law and Christ I glanced over at a pile of wood in our neighbor’s driveway.  They are having some repairs done to their house and had the supplies they would need delivered.

It made me realize that this is what the law was.  It was the raw materials and the plans.  God delivered it to the Jews, His chosen people, and had them set about working with it, building skills, developing their talents, but also so that they would learn and realize that they did not have the ability to take it from the raw materials stage to the finished project.

But Jesus came and took the law and, with it, built a bridge.  He was present at the creation of the world and He was the builder to repaired the damage caused by sin to reunite us to communion with God.

We aren’t called to sit back and admire the bridge, although it is a very beautiful bridge.  The bridge Jesus created is not simply a piece of art, it is functional.  With the power of the Holy Spirit, He guides us up and onto the path.  Actually, that’s not all; He invites us in to His vehicle and offers to drive us across. (I never thought about Jesus being the first Uber driver, before!)

If we stand on the side of the road, continuing to believe we do not need to obey the law, we, in essence say, “I’ll wait for the next car.”  We are not an example, we are not accepting the gift.  We are tourists, not participants and players.

To reject the law is to reject the building materials that the builder, Jesus, used.  It simply does not make sense to think we can or should separate the building components from the final building, to accept a building but reject the beams and joists and siding and rock.

My Answers:

11.
Jesus did not come to abolish the law, but to fulfill it (Matt 5:17. Faith in Christ is faith in that fulfillment. That the forbearance of God to our rightful punishment was laid on Jesus on the Christ who paid the price of sin for all since He himself was without sin. We follow the law to honor God.

12.
Hypocricy is what is seen by others. They claim to be followers and lie, cheat and steal. This is a stumbling block (and wrong)

I loved the wording of one of our questions today.  It asked, how we could respond graciously to people who had wrong beliefs about God.

I liked it because it really hit at the core of our lesson this whole week.  Is it about me or about God.  Boasting is just another way of saying, “look at me.”  Faith is just another way of saying, “look at Jesus.”

GRACE, by definition, is the act of someone of authority and power willingly stepping down to a lower level to provide help to someone else with no recompense.  An acronym that has been used to describe this definition of grace is God’s Righteousness At Christ’s Expense.

Given that definition, I cannot, on my own, be respond graciously to people who have wrong beliefs.  Those people and I are both human, we are both sinners, we are both intelligent, we both have core beliefs and we both lack the power and control to our present life on our own much less what happens to us after death.  But, God does.

What this tells me is that the only way I can graciously respond is be immediately and continually praying to God to intervene.  If I take pride in my ability to argue, I will fail.  If It take pride in my example, I will fail.  If I take pride in my superior intellect, I will fail.  If I do anything to elevate myself in the response, I put the other person down.  That is not gracious.

But if I immediately and continually call on God’s intervention and power, I tap into the power that created everything.  If I call on the King, He responds by graciously sending the Holy Spirit to soften hearts, open minds, and to provide and guide the words that are being spoken.

We should interpret “graciously” to be the same as immediately calling God to the conversation, not as our backup, but to take the lead.

My Answers:

8.
Non-Jews, largely pagan worshipers. They were not “the people of God” like the Jews.

9.
There are many different gods that are worshiped today – god of money, god of self, “the universe”, pagans and idols
There are also others who claim there is one God, but many paths to Him – i.e., can accept God but reject Jesus (which makes no sense since He is God.)

10.
To ask them to think and respond deeper. How is that possible? In other words, how can a religion who believes Jesus is God be compatible with another religion who rejects Jesus as God? They cannot both be right. That defies logic.

A book I’m reading included a quote from John Piper.  In it, he says the reason most believers do not have a deeper relationship with God and a more enriching study, worship and prayer time with Him is not because they don’t want to, but because they don’t plan to.

The lack of planning does not normally lead to miraculous, spontaneous experiences.  Instead, it normally leads to the ruts.  If we don’t make plans to do something else, we sit around staring at screens and not getting anything accomplished.

A Christian life is not one to be lived in a rut!  God calls us for more.  He reaches down to pull us out of our ruts, but He also gives us the freedom of choice and not making a plan is, by default, a plan to live in the ruts.

There are three components that each of us should be planning and scheduling time for each and every day: intake of the Word of God, Meditation, Prayer.  The first is our food; taking in the nutrients of the holy scriptures.  The second is digestion and includes thinking about and pondering what we have read, journaling, doing homiletics, thinking about and writing down how these words should become alive in our lives both in what we need to add as well as what we need to stop, thinking about and writing down how we are being called to support and care for others.  Finally, we take all of that, all of our thoughts and notes and bring them in strength of the word and confidence in the promises to God.

One of our kids had a violin teacher who said, “you don’t have to practice every day, just on the days that you eat.”  What if we had the same approach to intake, meditation and prayer?  What if every day that we chose to feed and strengthen our bodies we also intentionally chose to feed and strengthen our walk with God?  How can you make this a habit in your life?

My Answers:

6.
correct: faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.
Incorrect: leap of faith, faith in yourself, just have faith (not in something but as its own entity), blind faith

7.
a.
It is a “whole hearted” faith, one that comes from fully trusting in God for life (both here and eternally). It is not a blind faith, it is one rooted in the knowledge of God either through direct exposure to God’s word or indirect such as through prophets, the law and the scriptures. It culminates in Jesus Christ.

b.
Study and put in to practice spiritual disciplines including scheduled time for intake, meditation, prayer and fasting. Also to schedule time to connect with others.

Many of us live compartmentalized lives.  We have our work self, our family self, our alone self, our church self, our outgoing self, our introspective self, etc.  We don’t bring work home.  We don’t bring personal problems to the office.  We don’t discuss our walk with Christ at work.  We don’t share the details about our lives but instead wear a mask that everything is as we try to make it appear on fakebook.

But the Holy Spirit does not seek a closet in our heart.  God wants and deserves our whole heart.

As we get deeper into the word and walk with Christ every day, we begin to tear down walls.  We live our faith out in every part of our lives.  It is the connection that makes us a whole person at work, school and home.

But, for many of us, the last and most difficult part of our heart to give up, to “circumcise” is our pride.  We feel like we need to do something to earn God’s love and forgiveness.  We believe that we need to be seen as good.  We hold on to my strength, my will, my fortitude, my intelligence, my works because we want them to reflect well upon ourselves.

But, this part of our heart does not work with the rest of the rebuilding of our heart that needs to take place.  Faith is not paint that is slapped on the outside.  Faith is concrete of a foundation that builds to holiness.  Our refusal to circumcise our pride is not cosmetic, it is a weakness in the foundation and a limit to the new heart that God promises in Ezekial 36.

Paul teaches us that pride/boasting is not something to be “covered up,” or “worked on”, it is a part of our heart to completely cut off as part of our new covenant relationship with the Lord.

My Answers:

3.
Bumper stickers and decals, making sure they are seen going to church. Using “christianeze”. Acting superior.
It does not bring others to Christ. It does not add value. It robs God of the credit He deserves when we take it ourselves.

4.
Works, better than the majority, through supplication and sacrifice, through family legacy, through faith in Jesus Christ. Only the last has merit.

5.
Uncircumcised heart. Pushes H/S out to make room for pride.
Daily intake of the word of God. Meditation. Prayer for self and others. Doing work to teach and love without self-glory.

Forbearance is an interesting word and one we seldom use.  It means to “patiently endure” but it is far deeper (and far more cool) than what those words explain.

The question Paul poses is, on a timeline, there have been a whole lot of people who have been born, lived, sinned and died, prior to Jesus;  What about them?  If God is fair and just, shouldn’t they have received the wrath that was due them?  Did they get a “free pass”?  If so, how is that considered right?  Shouldn’t we all get a free pass, then?  And, if there are “free passes”, why do we need Jesus?

Fortunately, Paul also answers the questions he poses for us in the book of Romans!

God did not give a “free pass”.  God did not excuse their sin.  That would be unjust and God is Just.

Instead, God “forbore” it.  “For” (as in before) God “bore” (as in carried, like carrying the debt of another or carrying the burden of another) the just outcome of sin “for” (as in on behalf of) us.  He patiently endured (forbearance) the weight of our injustice, until it, along with all the other sins and injustices of all people and all times (past, present and future) were laid on Jesus who “bore” them on the cross, “for” us so that we might be “forgiven” and thus “given” a new choice, as Adam and Eve were given choice, to accept or reject the gift of His payment “for” our sin.  (I always joked that Paul was the master of run-on sentences and now he has me doing them, too!)

My Answers:

11.
He had left things “un-right” i.e., He had not delivered the just punishment to mankind but had held it back so that Jesus could make the all-redeeming sacrifice that would resolve the earned punishment

12.
By whole-heartedly putting my trust and faith in Jesus Christ and offering the life He has given to me as a tool for Him to use to spread the good news and help and support His bride, the church.

Yesterday we studied Justification and Redemption – the what’s of God’s plan for us.  Today we study Atonement, the why.

While the bible is full of insights so that we can learn about our great God, there are few places where God plainly explains why He does what He does.  On one hand, this is because He is the King, we are not, and He does not have to constantly explain Himself to us.  On the other hand, we sometimes fail to see that all of the reasons tie back to the “whys” that He does provide.

Let me explain what I mean.  John 3:16 – “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”  Why was Jesus given to us?  Because “God so loved the world.”  Did He love the world because of something we did or said?  No, He just “so love the world.”  Was this a loan, something we are expected to pay back?  What is in it for God?  “He so loved the world.”  It is all about and all stems from His love of us.  Period.  End.  But, why does He love us?  Because He does.  He gets to make that choice and decision and He chose to love us deeply.

We were made in God’s image and Adam and Eve lived in complete harmony and community with God.  As the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are One, we were part of that.  We were part of the “one-ness” of God.  When we chose (and choose each day) sin, we chose/choose to pull away from that “one-ness” with God even while every fiber of our soul yearns for it.

As sinners, we could not and cannot rejoin the one-ness of a purely holy being.  But, In His love for us, God has always yearned for us to be rejoined to Himself.  So, since we could not ascend to Him, He descended to us.  He became fully man and paid the price of our sin, so that through Him, would could again become holy and live with Him forever.  There is no path other than through Him, because no one else has the ability to remove the sin.

Christ’s “sacrifice of atonement” is the sacrifice made by the priests on Yom Kippur (Kippur means Atonement).  But unlike that day which was the only day of the year that the High Priest could enter the Holy of Holies, Christ’s sacrifice was complete and never needs repeating.  He is our High Priest and stands in the tabernacle every day.  His “atonement” allows us to once again be “at-one-with” our God.

We also get one more glimpse of a “why” of God in the verses today.  “He did this to demonstrate His Righteousness.”   What we could not do in our unrighteousness, Jesus accomplished – as fully man, like us – demonstrating that it was not impossible (which would not have been fair or just) but that it was only impossible for us on our own.

My Answers:

9.
We originally were made in God’s image and walked with Him, but sin separated us from holiness. The sacrifice Christ has made provides the avenue to again be “at-one-with” our creator through acceptance of the gift, repentance, faith and the power of the Holy Spirit.

10.
It was His plan from the beginning – because there is not greater love. By giving my life into His hands.

Illustration: You are a guest at an amazing place built by a family member.  While there, you steal something that does not belong to you and sell it to a thief, a common criminal.  However, you don’t realize the true value of what it was and sell it for a percent of a percent of a percent of its true value and worth.

Your crime is discovered, you are arrested and await trial.  Although your family member has no desire to do you harm, Justice demands that things be made right.  You have no means of doing this.

You appear before the judge and receive your sentence.  “Not Guilty”.

What?  Did the judge make an error?  How did this happen?

Through investigation you find that your family member went out, and at great personal cost, bought back what you stole to satisfy justice.

You have been found not guilty, not because of error, not because of something you did, not because of a technicality, but because someone else – the actual person that you stole from – paid the price of your injustice.

 

My Answers:

6.
Not graded on a curve – It is not how we compare to others but the choices we have made through our own volition (whatever we think, say, or do, not only those acts that we have done but also those left undone and even the entertainment of the thoughts of doing/not doing them)

7.
a.
To be declared not guilty not by inaccuracy but by substitution of Jesus and His act and representation

b.
Redemption: To be bought back (as in out of slavery). God is willing to pay the ultimate price to buy us back to the glory He has ordained

8.
I am not earning this and this is nothing I have that gives value to God that He has not. But by love He wants me home. My response needs to be to get down and kneel and thank Him and seek to shine the light to others

 

Over and over again, as I study the bible I see God pointing out how much our thinking is upside down and inside out from His.  We expect a mighty conqueror, He shows up as a humble baby.  We expect a king to serve, He spends His ministry on earth serving others.

It showed up again today in this whole “apart from the law” thing.  The Jews, who were the recipients of the law, had attached themselves firmly to the law.  Think about what the word “adhere” means – stuck to like glue or tape.  Their everyday was focused on adhering to the law.  It was something out there, something you reached and strived for, but never quite achieved fully.

But, God’s word says it isn’t what is “out there” but what is “in here”.  Faith is not a striving or reaching, it is an acceptance of a gift.  Jesus isn’t some “out there” being that we try to appease, He is in us in the presence of the Holy Spirit for all who believe.

Even back in the time of Jeremiah, God was relaying this covenant.  He will remember their sins no more because He places the law in them, in their minds and on their hearts, not because they reach for it with their fingertips.  It is not just the law itself, but the fulfillment of the law that Jesus paid through His life, death and resurrection, that God places in us who believe.

Being made right – righteousness – is something that God places in us.  Faith doesn’t go out and grab the righteousness or purchase it.  Faith simply unlocks the door from the inside so that God is welcomed to come in and make us right.

 

My Answers:

3.
Righteousness is being made right, restored to the side of God. It comes from God and given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe, Jew and Gentile alike.

4.
It was not by supreme adherence to the law alone that righteousness came into the world, but by a an act of grace and love that was outside of the law but completed the law

5.
a.
G: Abram, who preceded Moses, was counted as righteous by faith
J: God covenants that all will know Him and he will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more because they carry the law in them not by adherence
Ez: Through a new heart and the indwelling of the H/S

b.
All who believe – Read hear heed