August 13, 2023
Ignorance of God’s righteousness caused Israel to set about establishing their own
standard of righteousness. They supposed that their approximation to the law would
be counted as ‘righteousness’, but God saw that only as ‘works’. They did not
recognize neither the majesty nor the gracious power of God. His ability as “The
potter over the clay” to create, also came with the authority to honor one piece and
to dishonor another (Romans 9); this capability was not considered. Our God alone
calls and the faithful come, recognizing that He “first loved them”; and so, they
know that He feeds them because they are His sheep - His creation! He calls, we
come, and are then fed by His every word (His very Word), and so believing we
live by faith. By faith, active faith, we continue to believe in our heart that God
raised up Jesus from the dead and will raise us up (Romans 10:9). This we confess
as our hope in His promise. We also trust that because He does not lie, we do not
expect to be ashamed of our hope. Therefore, we call upon His name because we
trust His word. When Christ is preached and the good news is declared we learn
that trusting in ourself makes us the same as the Jews, self-righteous. In this
condition we have no hope beyond this day and this life. The hope for eternal life
that makes us not ashamed is through the resurrected Jesus and his grace, not in
self. If we have hope in this life only, we are of all men the most miserable. Let us
then hear the words of Christ and develop faith through hearing those words
(Romans 10:17). This faith causing us to become faithful to his daily call, as well as
continued feeding, guarantees our growth in the grace and knowledge of our Lord
and savior, Jesus Christ. What is this faith? It is our acute awareness of our need
and our trust in Christ Jesus, which only he alone can meet. We are unlike Israel
who relied on trusting in themselves and in the law, which they understood both to
be the same. We know only one law, the love of God and neighbor. Israel did not
love God nor their neighbor but rather they kept the minor rules - touch not, taste
not, and etc. What rules do we follow today while neglecting what Jesus declares to
be the first and second cause of action, FAITH?
Kenneth E. Morrison