Skip to main content

The Blessing Of Disobedience


I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in, and in this way all Israel will be saved. As it is written:
“The deliverer will come from Zion; he will turn godlessness away from Jacob.
  And this is my covenant with them when I take away their sins.”
As far as the gospel is concerned, they are enemies for your sake; but as far as election is concerned, they are loved on account of the patriarchs, for God's gifts and his call are irrevocable. Just as you who were at one time disobedient to God have now received mercy as a result of their disobedience, so they too have now become disobedient in order that they too may receive mercy as a result of God's mercy to you. For God has bound everyone over to disobedience so that he may have mercy on them all.  (Romans 11:25-32)
          This may sound a little strange. I may have shared something like this in the past. Certain themes tend to repeat in my mind. Do you realize how big a blessing it is that God allowed us to sin? Let me put it more strongly. Do you realize how big a blessing it is that God put us in a situation in which it was likely that we would sin? If you never sinned, would you understand mercy? If you never sinned, would you know what it meant to be forgiven? If you never sinned, God could not show the depth of His love for you because you would not have needed Him to die for you. If you had never experienced any of those things from God, how would you know how to give them to anyone else?
          Don’t misunderstand me. I’m not saying that sin is good or good for us. I’m not saying that we shouldn’t be held responsible for our sins. Sin separates. Sin kills. But God bound everyone over to disobedience so that He may have mercy on them all. Without disobedience, mercy couldn’t exist. Without our freedom to really reject God, love couldn’t exist. In order for mercy, forgiveness, and love to be real, not only must we be able to need them, but the natural consequences of our disobedience must be real. It would be a cruel God who told us “the wages of sin is death” and then at the judgment, said, “Oh, that was just a joke.” It would be a cruel God who forced someone who had hated and rejected Him all his life to endure eternity in His presence. It would be a cruel God who declared our decisions meaningless. It is a loving God who treats us with enough respect to give us what we earn, and yet provides a means for us to escape that wage. I thank God for my sin, and for its forgiveness.


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