Bread of Life Radio message #2 of Psalm 73 pt. 2

The work of the Spirit is consistent in convicting a person of sin. The response of the person under conviction is also consistent. Paul is an evangelist. He has seen that response multiple times. Here is a diatribe Paul recreates the responses of a man who is under conviction. Listen in and see if you recognize the pattern.

Bread of Life Radio message #2 of Psalm 73 pt. 1

Bread of Life Radio message 1 of Psalm 73 pt. 2

Bread of Life Radio message 1 of Psalm 73 pt. 1

The Jew's national identity found in circumcision considered by Paul. What it didn't do for them and what was its advantage. Apply the lessons to the Christian religion with its ordinances and its heritage. What is its limitations and what its value.

Now Paul turns to the Jew who counts his privileges and his position and his separation from the world as evidence that he stands apart from the threat of God's judgment. Paul acknowledges (if not here in Romans 9-11) the privileges of the Jews and the great position God had given to them over all other peoples and the separate lives they were called too. But here Paul teaches us that a good thing can become a bad thing when it is held as a self-vindicating/self-justifying thing.

In Romans 2:12-16 Paul explains that you cannot claim ignorance of the law as a defense against God's judgment of your sin. "I didn't know I wasn't supposed to do that?" Is a defense that won't hold up before God. Let's go verse by verse for a moment and then we will draw out some key principles to apply for ourselves.

What do your deeds reveal is at the heart of your faith? There are one of two points of faith and all people live by either one or the other. Everyone faces down their death, and what is beyond death with one of two faiths. They either put their hopes and faith in themselves... in the bottom line of their own moral acceptability or moral accomplishments or they put their faith in the righteousness and life provided for them through Jesus Christ . One man hopes in himself. The other puts all his hope in Christ. Now the life the individual will live will reflect where they have placed all their faith and all their hope. It will show up in the deeds that they do. God will test the deeds of people because deeds reveal where people have placed their hope and faith.

Arguing that blessings from God are evidence of your right standing with God may be evidence that you are actually snubbing the goodness of God.