TEXT TO REFLECT ON
For Moses writes about the righteousness that is based on the law, that the person who does the commandments shall live by them. But the righteousness based on faith says, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’” (that is, to bring Christ down)“or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
ROMANS 10:5-13
REFLECT
This passage contains about the clearest description of what God considers righteousness that is acceptable to Him. We often consider the Ten Commandments as the standard or the plumbline as to what is righteous enough to be accepted by God. In judging ourselves or another person, we ask if the Ten Commandments have been obeyed or contravened. Or for those who adhere to another faith, or who do not believe that there is a God, we lay out certain criteria for what constitutes good or bad, and judge themselves or each other by those standards.
So I have on many occasions been asked the following: did Abram lie to his servants when he told them that he and his son Isaac were going to worship God, when in fact he was planning to sacrifice his son? Or, wasn’t Rahab a prostitute? And didn’t she lie to her own people when she hid the Israelite spies and told their pursuers that the spies had left, when they were in fact hiding on her rooftop? How could God consider a prostitute and a liar like Rahab to be a hero of the faith? Or that Ruth had seduced and slept with Boaz in order to have him marry her. At best, was that not premarital sex, and at worst, was that not sexual seduction? How could God have found such sinners acceptable to Him? How could God overlook their sins and still consider them heroes of the faith? This question has perplexed many.
The answer to this question is made clear in this passage: there is a new righteousness, not based on the law, but on faith. The law of Moses stated that whoever obeyed the commandments would live by them. But the righteousness based on faith need no longer ask if one complied with the requirements set out in the commandments. Therefore one could not judge another by saying, “this person will definitely go to heaven”, or “this person will go to hell”. By doing so, we would make Christ redundant.
On the contrary, there is only one requirement to qualify for God’s approval, in two steps: to believe that God raised Jesus Christ from the dead, and to confess that Jesus is Lord. What do these two steps mean? What does it mean to believe that God raised Jesus, and why is that important? And what is the significance of confessing that Jesus is Lord? Is it merely mouthing the words, or does it mean more than that?
When Jesus died, He died by taking on our sinfulness. Paul in another letter that he wrote to a different church, wrote thus: For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Cor 5:21). By this, Paul meant that Jesus Christ, who was sinless, became tarred with our sin. Hence He died because of our sin that He took as His own. Death is the consequence of sin. But by raising Christ from the dead, God defeated death. Paul, in yet another letter writes,
“Death is swallowed up in victory.
death, where is your victory?
O death, where is your sting?” 1Cor 15:55.
By believing that God raised Jesus from the dead, we believe that our sin has been taken away by Jesus, and we are thus reckoned as without sin, and that death is no more. This takes the fear of punishment from us.
To confess that Jesus is Lord is then to acknowledge that we no longer belong to ourselves, nor to the devil who took control of us when we sinned, but by Jesus. Jesus lives, operates, and ministers through us.
RELATE
In my blog last week, I wrote about how God showed me how sinful I was, not only concerning the sins that I was already aware of, but also the sins that I refused to acknowledge but that were every part of my life. Having realized the state of sinfulness that I lived in, I despaired of ever being a pastor again, or even of being of any help to anyone. And I told God so. I told God that I could never be a pastor anymore, so filled were my mind and my mouth with sin. I asked God how I was ever to utter another word over the pulpit or in the counselling room, when every word that I said was infused with sin. I resolved then to be silent and not utter another word about God. It was then that God spoke to my heart, “Then let me minister through you.” At that point, I realized that none of us has anything good or helpful to say to another, but that if we allowed the Holy Spirit to guide our thoughts, words, and actions, only then could we be a blessing to another.
To be saved then, is not only to not die eternally, but to be made alive to speak words that give life to others, and to do things that will be a blessing to another and to ourselves. And to do that, we need to believe that we on our own can do nothing but cause more harm, but that God, living through us can give life.
REST
Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way!
Thou art the Potter, I am the clay.
Mold me and make me after Thy will,
While I am waiting, yielded and still.
Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way!
Search me and try me, Master, today!
Whiter than snow, Lord, wash me just now,
As in Thy presence humbly I bow.
Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way!
Wounded and weary, help me, I pray!
Power, all power, surely is Thine!
Touch me and heal me, Savior divine.
Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way!
Hold o’er my being absolute sway!
Fill with Thy Spirit till all shall see
Christ only, always, living in me.
From the Hymn Have Thine Own Way, by Adelaide A. Pollard 1907
Chiu Ming Li
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