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Thoughts in Worship

Message Magazine's Online Devotional for Monday, March 2, 2015

Based Upon Romans 4

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Paul was a champion of righteousness by faith. In crystal clear tomes he taught, in the spirit of the prophet Habakkuk that anyone who is seen in heaven just as if they had never sinned, will only be seen thusly, by faith. He was equally clear that the kind of faith that facilitates such a revolutionary change in one’s spiritual DNA lays hold upon the power of God unto salvation. The faith itself has no native virtue. It is the primary vehicle, or conduit by which God’s virtue is transferred to our accounts. This virtue is not in any way theoretical or abstract. This virtue is living, powerful, and effective to change us from sin lovers to God lovers. This virtue was purchased by the perfect work of Christ, living a perfect life in submission to the Father in the flesh; voluntarily allowing His adopted humanity to die the death we deserve, while maintaining His mysterious divine nature; and taking up His life again on the third day to go home and minister on our behalf. God’s cooperative plan of redemption is hereby communicated to all who will receive it.

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Interestingly, not many people realize that this revolutionary experience preceded the New Testament era. Many still believe that somehow, before Christ, we were able, and thus required to conjure up innate energy to do God’s will according to the Law in the Old Testament era. Nothing could be further from the truth! From the moment Adam sinned, we have been privileged to place our entire trust in God for our help. The only primary difference between the two points in history where this is concerned is that then, we looked forward to the coming of Christ as the Genuine Article to which all sacerdotal elements pointed. Now, we look worshipfully backward to His sacrifice as we await His Second Coming. Consider what Moses aptly taught: “And the LORD thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live.” (Deuteronomy 30:6). Even the one whom many professed believers blame for teaching and facilitating a sort-of works-based pre-gospel, understood that the physical sign of sanctification in that time (circumcision), was an emblem of the heart of love toward God. The material simply illustrated the spiritual, even then. Therefore, whether a person was called a Jew or a Gentile, as long as they kept covenant with the Lord by faith, they were saved (Isaiah 56). Abraham, the father of the faithful, lived according to this principle, through his mistakes and trials, before and after he was physically circumcised.

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Now that I have feebly attempted to encapsulate the most revolutionary and controverted doctrine of the Christian church in two paragraphs, let’s quickly make application to our lives. The same way Abraham wholeheartedly embraced with pleasure the fact that God could bring temporal blessing through death and non-existence, in this spirit, we can wholeheartedly embrace God’s power to destroy our fleshly lusts and recreate us into the image of His dear Son. And as we continue to believe and experience this reality by faith, we will also continue to receive the mind of Christ and become His heirs unto salvation. In another place, Paul said it like this: “For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” (Galatians 3:26–29).

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No matter who we are, or from what walk of life we come, we may all have God’s best, which is eternal life, and we may also live holy lives now as we work to help others as we await His arrival. Amen.—L. David Harris...