She needs a Savior

She needs a Savior

 

After a shipwreck in the middle of the Ocean, a female survivor is stranded in the waters.  She has no food and no drinking water.  She also does not know where she is.  Imagine her in the vastness of the ocean how small and insignificant she must feel.  She can swim, but she would not know where.  No amount of swimming could save her.  The nearest land is who knows where.  The boat's staff sent a distress signal before the ship sank.  Her only hope is that someone hears the signal answers it and comes to her rescue.  She knows that without being rescued her only fate is death.  When she no longer has the energy to swim she will drown.  Of course, the fact that she is immersed in salt water and exposed to the sun does not help her chances of survival.  Staying in one place can be dangerous, but swimming away may lessen her opportunity to be discovered by the rescuers.  It is indeed a dilemma.  

 

Now, let us say that the rescuers do find her (before she dies) she still has to consent to be saved.  When the rescuers come, she must do as they say.  Ignoring them or fighting against them will not help them rescue her.  The mere presence of the rescuer will not save her.   

 

The woman at the beginning of Romans 7 is in a similar situation.  As long as she is married to her current husband, she will die.  Let us read this passage,

 

Romans 7:1 Know ye not, brethren, (for I speak to them that know the law,) how that the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth?

Romans 7:2 For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband.

Romans 7:3 So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress: but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man.

Romans 7:4 Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ; that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.

Romans 7:5 For when we were in the flesh, the motions of sins, which were by the law, did work in our members to bring forth fruit unto death.

Romans 7:6 But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.

 

The woman may be willing to stay in her current situation until she meets a new man.  There is something about the new man that makes her see the reality of her present condition.  She realizes that if she remains in her current marriage, she will end up dying eternally.  She needs someone to be rescued.  The only way she can escape eternal death is to be the with the new man.  But, how can she do this without breaking the law?  That is her dilemma.

 

The woman is bound to her husband until he dies.  So, to be free and continue to live he must die.  So, now she wants to leave her current husband but cannot do it legally.   Divorce is out of the question because that would be adultery.  Killing the current husband is also not an option because that would be murder.  The new man gives her a third solution.  She goes into Him, He dies, and she dies with Him since she is inside Him.  He will be resurrected and since she is in Him, she will be resurrected with Him.  The  previous thought is what Paul is talking about in Romans 6: 3 – 7,

 

Romans 6:3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?

Romans 6:4 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.

Romans 6:5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:

Romans 6:6 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.

Romans 6:7 For he that is dead is freed from sin.

 

When the couple - who are now they are two in one - dies,  they are freed from Sin.  Therefore, when they are resurrected the Law can no longer bind them to the "old man" or "body of Sin."  They are now under grace, not under the law.  They can now be married legally.  How does this relate to us?  We are the woman in need of rescuing.  The issue is we cannot save ourselves.  It does not matter how much we try we cannot do it.  Jesus is our only rescuer.  Only He can save us.  He has already saved us in Himself.  But, for this salvation to become a reality in us we must consent to be saved by Him.  Ignoring Him or fighting against him will not help Him save you.  The mere presence of Christ will not save you. 

RR

Raul Diaz

https://about.me/raul.diaz

Even Grace Has Limits

Even Grace Has Limits 

In Numbers 21, the people of Israel murmured against God, and God sent serpents to bite them. 

Num21:5 And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread.

Num21:6 And the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died.

Num21:7 Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD, and against thee; pray unto the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people.

Num21:8 And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live.

Num21:9 And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.

God had given the people manna, a gift to them from heaven.  This gift they did not appreciate, but despised it.  So the Lord allowed serpents to come in the camp and bite the people.  Of course, the people were dying of the serpent bites.  Somehow they made a connection between the serpents and their Sin.  So, they asked Moses to pray to God for delivery.  Thus, God tells Moses to build a brazen serpent and put it on a pole, those who looked at the serpent on the pole would not die.  

God did not get rid of the serpents, or even stopped the serpents from biting.  God wanted the people to exercise faith.  The issue was: would they believe that in looking at the brazen serpent the poison would not be effective?   If they looked, they would live.  (There is no mention of what would happen with the bite marks.  It is possible that the bite marks would remain.) 

The brazen serpent was for all the people in the camp.  But, only those who looked when bitten would be delivered.  Did they deserve it?  No, not one person in the camp deserved to be delivered (Romans 3: 10 – 12).  God did this because He loved the people.  This gesture toward them displayed God's grace.  He gave all of them this gift of life, even when they did not deserve it.  But, just because God gave this gift to all, it did not mean that all would spare all of the effects of the poison in their bodies.  Those who chose not to believe would not look therefore they would die.  In this case, God's grace could not deliver those bitten from dying.   There was no cure for rejecting the remedy.  Suddenly grace has limits.  Those who refuse the grace that can save them will find that there is no grace for dismissing the grace.  

We may get the impression from Romans 5:20 to 6:2 that grace covers all sin.  But that is not the case.  Let us read it the passage,

 Rom5:20 Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:

Rom5:21 That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.

Rom6:1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?

Rom6:2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?

Those who are of the belief that the more they sin, the more grace abounds - if they continue on that path - forget that at some point they will commit the Unpardonable Sin.  Jesus talks about this Matthew 12: 31 -32,

Matthew 12:31-32 (King James Version)

31Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men.

32And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.

The Unpardonable Sin is the point where you have gone beyond repentance.  You no longer will respond the Holy Spirit's invitation for you to open the door to Him.   Christ did not die for that Sin.  And, while the law may expose that Sin, grace will not abound as far.  This Sin is rejecting the grace that can save you.  Put in different words: there is no remedy for rejecting the remedy.

RR

Raul Diaz

https://about.me/raul.diaz

Sewed from Jesus

Sewed from Jesus 

 

A woman went to buy a new dress.  She went first to a high-end store.  She saw a dress she liked.  She tried on the dress, and it fit her very well, but it cost more than what she wanted to pay.  So she went into a store with more affordable prices.  She saw what seemed to be the exact dress; in fact, it was the same brand.  But it was not quite as attractive as the first one nor did it fit as well.  "How can this be? She asked herself.   Was it all in her mind?

She was puzzled by this so she decided that before buying anything that she would investigate.  She contacted the company.  They told her that on the label, there is a number; the lower the number, the better the quality of the dress.  Some details went into the production of the lower number dresses that the manufacturer did not consider in the higher number dresses.  Sometimes it was the kind and color of thread used or the kind of stitch.  Other times it was how they cut the fabric, etc.  Two things that seem identical were not.

I find a similarity in our works. Works by faith and works from your effort may seem similar. But works of faith are different from works done in our strength. Let's consider Abraham as an example.  We know Paul opens Romans 5 with this declaration.

Romans 5:1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:

The word "therefore" tells us that this statement is referring to what was said before in chapter 4.  Paul says of Abraham in chapter 4 verse 3,

Romans 4:3 For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.

Paul used the Greek word episteusen, which comes from the word pistis for faith or belief. In essence, it is saying that Abraham had faith. We know that faith comes through hearing and hearing by the Word of God (Romans 10:17). Abraham heard God's Word and believed it. When we replace "believe" with other definitions of faith, we get a better feel of what this means. Abraham heard God's word and felt appreciation in his heart. He heard God's word and trusted the word to do what it said it would; he waited and depended on the Word alone. God's word to Abraham was the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. As a result of his belief in God's Word, Abraham was one of the elders that obtained a good report, and he pleased God (Hebrews 11:1, 2, 6).

 The second part of Romans 4:3 says that His belief was counted unto him for righteousness. What is righteousness? Ellen White defines it as obedience to the law (1 Selected Messages, p. 367). We replace the word righteousness with the definition Ellen White provides and it reads, "Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for obedience to the law."  In believing God's word, Abraham obeyed the law.  Abraham's righteousness (obedience to the law) came from exercising faith in God's word.

The previous thought gives context to Romans 5:1, where Paul reiterates what he explained in chapter 4.  Translators have interpreted it as "Therefore being justified by faith."  But, the transliterated Greek rendering of Romans 5: 1 seems to say, "Being-justified then out of-belief."  We know that the word justified means made righteous.  So we could interpret it as, "Being made righteous out of faith" -- thus there is a kind of faith that makes us righteous or obedient to the law.  Ellen White expresses the same thought in the following quote,

 Righteousness is obedience to the law. The law demands righteousness, and this the sinner owes to the law; but he is incapable of rendering it. The only way in which he can attain to righteousness is through faith. By faith he can bring to God the merits of Christ, and the Lord places the obedience of His Son to the sinners account. Christ's righteousness is accepted in place of mans failure, and God receives, pardons, justifies, the repentant, believing soul, treats him as though he were righteous, and loves him as He loves His Son. (Ellen G. White, 1 Selected Messages, p. 367)

The prophet Isaiah tells us that, "All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags" (Isaiah 64:6). Our righteousness falls short of the law's requirement.  We need a righteousness that is perfect since the law requires perfection.  Ellen White states that Christ's righteousness is what we are given to satisfy the laws demand of perfection. We have stated thus far that the only way to get this righteousness is by faith. Can our filthy faith produce a perfect righteousness?  The answer is obviously, "No, it cannot." Therefore we must obtain a faith that is perfect. That faith is the faith of Jesus. When we accept His faith, it produces in us His righteousness. This faith of Jesus is what characterized Abraham. It is the faith that those who overcome and endure until the end will have (Revelation 14:12).

Perhaps this is why the Apostle Paul says that "…whatsoever is not of faith is sin" (Romans 14:23).  Only works wrought from faith are righteous.  So, just like the difference in the dresses, the works of those who have the faith of Jesus may look similar to those who do not, but there is a difference.  The former is built and sewed from Jesus, the latter from sinful flesh.  Furthermore, the character of those who have the faith of Jesus will be transformed into the likeness of Jesus. The question is which dress do we want to be?

RR

Raul Diaz

https://about.me/raul.diaz

Commentary: Elusive Righteousness

Elusive Righteousness

 

The Word elusive means: difficult to find, catch, or achieve; difficult to remember or recall; to elude capture, perception, comprehension, or memory; difficult to define or describe; be difficult to detect or grasp by the mind.  We use this word to describe something that may seem within grasp, but yet we can never reach it.  It could be used for that promotion or raise you never get.  In some organizations, a specific landmark amount of members is never reached.  It can be used for a fugitive or criminal that is hard to catch.  It is also used for a particular animal that is hard to hunt or fish.

 

There is a metaphor used in an old Spanish love song that I think illustrates this point well.  To tell the lover his or her love will always be unrequited, the singer makes this statement,

 

"The sea and the sky look equally blue

and in the distance, they seem to meet and unite,

better remember that the sky is always sky

that never, never will the sea reach."

 

The point is obvious, "As the sky is elusive to the sea, so am I to you."

 

God's ways are higher than ours.  God says through Isaiah "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts" (Isaiah 55:9).  In the above metaphor, we are the sea, and the Lord is the sky.  We will never reach God.  That is why God sent His Son to reach us.  So anything from God is unattainable for us unless it is through Jesus.  That is why Paul says that "Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law" (Romans 3:28).  The word justified means to be made righteous; this means that man is made righteous by faith and not by attempting to obey the law in his strength.  Paul is saying that your effort to obey the law on your own will be futile and therefore you will never be righteous.  Righteousness will be elusive in your strength.  The more you try, the harder it gets to reach it. 

 

But, Paul makes it clear that being justified by faith does not make the law void, on the contrary, it exalts the law (Romans 3:31).  Then He uses Abraham as an example of how justification by faith works.  Paul says of Abraham,

 

Romans 4:1 What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found?

Romans 4:2 For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God.

Romans 4:3 For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.

 

Abraham was no exception in regards to how to become righteous.  It was not on his strength, but by faith.  He believed God's Word and this believing the Word was counted to Him as righteousness.  Ellen White says that Righteousness is obedience to the law (Selected Messages, book 1, p. 367); this means that when Abraham believed God's word, it was counted unto Him as obedience to the law.  It was faith that made Abraham a doer of the Law.  And, so it is with us. 

RR

Raul Diaz

https://about.me/raul.diaz