Skip to main content

But!


But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. (Romans 3:21-24) 

          But.
Most of the time, but is a bad word. I was once told that when you say “but,” everything before it is a lie. In this case, all the stuff that comes before the “but” was and is absolutely true. The “but” is a relief. After all the bad news of the past several blog posts, and all the condemnation, “but” brings hope. “But” lets us breathe a sigh of relief. We have screwed up. Even our best attempts don’t succeed, but righteousness is possible because God provides it.
This is the difference Jesus Christ makes. This is the reason Christianity is not just another in the many religions in the world. Religions are man’s attempt to please God and man’s attempt to resolve whatever went wrong – and there’s always something that went wrong, something that prevents us from having the sort of life we believe we should. In the developed world, huge efforts continue to solve these problems. We spend billions on education, social infrastructure, government programs designed to help the poor…and while they may mitigate the worst for many, and seem to provide the solution for some, it never quite fixes the problem. The answer always seems to be to spend more money and to work harder.
Part of the problem is that we don’t correctly define the problem. Part of the problem is that we reject the real solution because it’s too easy. The answer to the problem of man is righteousness from God, which He made available through Jesus Christ. The answer to the problems man faces is the righteousness from God, planted in the heart of man, which the Holy Spirit causes to grow. No, the righteousness of God may not make money appear, or heal diseases, but as the image of Christ grows in a person, that person’s response to those things also grows. Those bad things do not steal hope, they are the seeds of hope because hope must begin with the negative to move to the positive. We have spent the last several days wallowing in the negative, but there is now reason to hope.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The List

              Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,   through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;   perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. (Romans 5:1-5)           Think about it. We have been justified. At least, we could be justified if we stopped insisting that our justification be based on our merits. We have peace with God, or could have peace if we stopped throwing temper tantrums. We have gained access into grace i...
Post a Comment
Read more

Listen!

  While he was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!” (Matthew 17:5)            Do you like roller coasters? I don't. You spend forever climbing a hill. You get to the top and have half a second, then you race down to a low point. Sometimes the racing down involves tying your insides into knots. At the bottom, you either have to be dragged up another hill or you get off the ride. Peter's life was a roller coaster from the time he met Jesus. There would be miracles, and then Jesus would teach things that didn't always make sense, and then they'd go out and perform miracles, and return to be taught. Peter was praised for giving the right answer to "Who do you say that I am?" Jesus said that said answer came from God. Peter was at the top of the hill.            ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Prayer Lists

                 Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good. (I Peter 2:2-3)   In connection with what I wrote yesterday about the possibility that I’m wrong, I’m feeling the need to go back to basics - craving spiritual milk because somehow, I missed something. It’s a little embarrassing, craving milk like a newborn, but the truth probably is that we are newborns many times in many ways in our lives. From God’s perspective, we may never be anything more than newborns, forever needing that milk. On the other hand, being a newborn can also be exciting because so much is new. My mind is playing pinball - ricocheting from one idea to the next and through six more before it happens to hit the third again. The main topic is prayer. I have at least seven organizing structures all somewhat influenced by the movie War Room , which I’v...
Post a Comment
Read more