DAD'S RAMBLINGS --Justification By Faith

DAD'S RAMBLINGS – Justification By Faith
Romans 3:27-28
 
"Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? Of works? No, but by the law of faith. Therefore we conclude that a man is justified [margin: declared righteous] by faith apart from the deeds of the law."
 
Justification by faith. This is the truth that overwhelmed Martin Luther. Justification is a judicial act of God declaring a person righteous. I have nothing to brag about in regard to my salvation. I cannot buy or earn it. I could never be good enough to merit it. The only thing I can offer God is my faith in His Son, Jesus Christ. "In my hands no works I bring; simply to Thy cross I cling."
 
TODAY'S THOUGHT: God declares a person justified based only on that person's faith in Christ.
 
Have a justified day. Love you.
 

DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- God's Righteousness Revealed

DAD'S RAMBLINGS – God's Righteousness Revealed
Romans 3:21-22, 24-26
 
"But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed ... through faith in Christ, to all and on all who believe, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God has set forth as a propitiation [appeasement] by His blood through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness ... to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus."
 
God's righteous judgement was revealed and demonstrated in Christ – the sinless One who took the punishment for sin by His sacrificial appeasement of God's holy judgment on sin. Now God's righteousness is demonstrated by the grace He has bestowed on all who believe in Jesus. I am righteous, not because I never sin, but because God, in His grace, has placed His righteousness on me because of my faith in Christ's redemptive work on the cross. I am a righteous sinner – a sinner saved by grace.
 
TODAY'S THOUGHT: God is just and demands payment for sin, but He is also the justifier of those who believe in Jesus.
 
Have a righteous day.
 

DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- Guilty!

DAD'S RAMBLINGS – Guilty!
Romans 3:19-20
 
"Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world my become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh shall be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin."
 
Knowledge of law of God – whether the written law of the Old Covenant or the innate law written on our hearts – stands as witness against us because even though we knew what was right, no one has lived up that standard. We are all guilty of violating God's law and done things we knew were wrong. Even if I could boast that I obeyed what I knew was right 90% of the time, I would still be guilty of the other 10%. Truly, "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). I will never be justified by keeping 90% of the law. Thank God for Jesus, who did not come into the world to condemn the world, but that all the world could be saved (John 3:17). I need a Savior!
 
TODAY'S THOUGHT: No one will every be justified before God by keeping some of God's law because
there is always the part we don't keep.
 
Have a Jesus day. Love you.
 

DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- Original Sin

DAD'S RAMBLINGS – Original Sin
Romans 3:9-10, 18
 
"What then? Are we [Jews] better than they [Gentiles]? Not at all. For we have previously charged both Jews and Greeks that they are all under sin. As it is written: 'There is none righteous, no not one .... There is no fear of God before their eyes.' "
 
Although he does not use the term "Original Sin," Paul makes the argument that the entire human race is under the curse of sin. In this lengthy quote from Old Testament writings, he makes the case that no one is righteous or good, we have all sinned with the result that people lie, curse, murder, and fight. But I think he puts his finger on the root of the problem when he says that people do not fear God. They think that they can live in disobedience to God's law – whether the written law or the law in their hearts – with impunity. A person who truly fears an awesome and holy God will recognize how sinful he is and his need for a Savior to rescue him from sin and its judgment. May I ever keep the fear of God before my eyes.
 
TODAY'S THOUGHT: All humanity is corrupted by Original Sin and the result is that we sin.
 
Have a "fearing God" day. Love you.
 

DAD'S RAMBINGS -- Twisted Logic

DAD'S RAMBLINGS – Twisted Logic
Romans 3:5-8
 
"But if our unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God, what shall we say? Is God unjust who inflicts wrath? (I speak as a man.) Certainly not! For then how will God judge the world? For if the truth of God has increased through my lie to His glory, why am I still judged as a sinner? And why not say, 'Let us do evil that good many come'? ... Their condemnation is just."
 
It is twisted logic that thinks that the more sin I commit, the more God is glorified because my sin only shows God's holiness and gives Him opportunity to manifest His graciousness. Should God be grateful and overlook my sin just because He is holy and gracious? How absurd! Yet people violate God's truth and depend on His grace because it is easier to ask for forgiveness than to ask for permission when they want to sin. Jesus said, "Do no tempt the Lord your God" (Luke 4:12). I am tempting God's grace when I deliberately violate His truth because I know He will forgive. God would be unjust if He did not condemn sin, even though it demonstrates His glory.
 
TODAY'S THOUGHT: To think that I can glorify God by sinning is stinkin' thinkin'.
 
Have a logical day. Love you.
 

DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- God Is Faithful

DAD'S RAMBLINGS – God Is Faithful
Romans 3:1-4
 
"What advantage then has a Jew, or what is the profit of circumcision? Much in every way! Chiefly because to them were committed the oracles of God. For what if some did not believe? Will their unbelief make the faithfulness of God without effect? Certainly not! Indeed, let God be true and every man a liar."
 
To the Jews were committed the Word of God and Old Covenant. Just because the Jews violated God's law and forsook Him did not change God. He remained faithful to His covenant. To Believers, God has entrusted the New Covenant – salvation through the shed blood of Jesus on the cross. My faith does not stand or fall on whether I or other Christians fail to live up to the covenant. It is based squarely on what Jesus did and promised, because even though humans fail, Jesus never fails. "This is a faithful saying...If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself" (II Timothy 2:11a, 13).
 
TODAY'S THOUGHT: God's faithfulness is not contingent on man's faith or obedience, but solely on God's character.
 
Have a "faithful" day. Love you.
 

DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- The True Child of God

DAD'S RAMBLINGS – The True Child of God
Romans 2:25, 28-29
 
"For circumcision is indeed profitable if you keep the law; but if you are a breaker of the law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision.... For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh, but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit (or spirit), not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God."
 
Paul is addressing the Jews who claimed their position as God's chosen people based on their adherence to the outward rite of circumcision – which actually predated the Mosaic Law – but struggled to obey the righteous law of Moses. The evidence of being God's chosen people (the elect) is not based on the external acts of righteousness, which may indeed win the praise of other people, but on the inward work in the heart, which is what wins God's approval.
 
TODAY'S THOUGHT: The basis for being God's chosen people is not the external acts of righteousness but the inward work of the heart.
 
Have a "God's person" day. Love you.
 

DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- Boasting

DAD'S RAMBLINGS – Boasting
Romans 2:23-24
 
"You who make your boast in the law, do you dishonor God through breaking the law? For 'the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you,' as it is written."
 
How often the name of Christ is dishonored by His followers and dragged through the mud by pagans because Christians fail to live up to God's standard. Instead of bragging about my righteousness – "I don't drink, smoke, cuss, or commit adultery" – it is better to humbly admit, "I'm just a sinner saved by grace."
 
TODAY'S THOUGHT: It is better to boast in God's grace than to brag about my goodness.
 
Have a humble day. Love you.
 

DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- Blind Spots

DAD'S RAMBLINGS – Blind Spots
Romans 2:17-21
 
"Indeed you who are called a Jew, and rest on the law, and make your boast in God, and know His will, and approve the things that are excellent, being instructed out of the law, and are confident that you are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, and instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, having the form of knowledge and truth in the law. You therefore, who teach another, do you not teach yourself?"
 
It is so easy to see everyone else's flaws and not see my own blind spot. While I am teaching others God's truth, I need to be sure to apply it to myself.
 
TODAY'S THOUGHT: The teacher needs to teach and apply the truth to himself first.
 
Have an bright spot day. Love you.
 

DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- The Moral DNA

DAD'S RAMBLINGS – The Moral DNA
Romans 2:12-15
 
"For as many as have sinned without law will also perish without law, and as many as have sinned in the law will be judged by the law (for not the hearers of the law are just in the sight of God, but the doers of the law will be justified; for when Gentiles, who do not have law, by nature do the things in the law, these, although not having the law, are a law to themselves, who show the work of the law written in their hears, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts according or else excusing them)...."
 
God has imprinted His moral law into the psyche of every person. It is a "moral DNA." So it is universally acknowledged that murder, lying, and stealing are wrong. Our conscience accuses us when we violate these laws. Yet we do go against these moral laws. Knowledge by itself is not enough. Obedience is required. That is why "to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin" (James 4:17). Knowledge is only one side of the coin; obedience is the other. "But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves" (James 1:22).
 
TODAY'S THOUGHT: The "moral DNA" is the standard by which people without Christ will be judged in the Day Of Judgment.
 
Have an "obedience" day. Love you.
 

DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- The Choice

DAD'S RAMBLINGS – The Choice
Romans 2:8-9
 
"... but to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness – indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, on every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek."
 
I don't like to think about hell. It is such a horrible place of torment and anguish where God's wrath and indignation for sin is revealed. Paul did not try to gloss over God's judgment by using the rationale that "God loves us too much to send us to hell." God does not send anyone to hell. Each person makes choices to either obey or disobey God's truth. Many are "self-seeking," satisfying their own desires to obey unrighteousness. Then they live with the consequences of God's indignation, wrath, tribulation and anguish. We all have that choice. I choose to live by God's truth in order to experience "glory, honor, and peace" (vs. 10) in eternity. It is not a difficult choice, considering the end results.
 
TODAY'S THOUGHT: Each person has the choice to obey or disobey God's truth.
 
Have a truth-choice day. Love you.
 

DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- Patient Continuance

DAD'S RAMBLINGS – Patient Continuance
Romans 2:7, 10
 
"... eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality;... glory, honor and peace to everyone who works what is good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek."
 
Glory, honor, peace, and forever life are the rewards for living God's way. But it requires
endurance – patient continuance. "He who endures to the end will be saved" (Matthew 10:22).
 
TODAY'S THOUGHT: There are eternal rewards for those who continue to live godly.
 
Have a patient day. Love you.
 

DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- God's Account Book

DAD'S RAMBLINGS – God's Account Book
Romans 2:5-6
 
"But in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are treasuring [margin: storing] up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, 'who will render to each one according to his deeds.' "
 
God, the righteous judge who knows all and sees all, keeps accurate account, not just of the things I do but also the intent of the heart. Paul quoted Proverbs 24:12: "If you say, 'Surely we did not know this,' does not He who weighs the heart consider it? He who keep the soul, does He not know it? And will He not render to each man according to his deeds?" He "weighs the heart." Justice demands proportional judgment. So the person who sins in ignorance will be judged less severely than the one who sins in rebellion against knowledge – what he know is right. Jesus said, " 'If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you say, 'We see.' Therefore your sin remains" (John 9:41). The person with an impenitent heart is adding to his account, and God will judge. But praise God, I do not have to pay for my sins because Jesus took all the judgment on Himself. He wiped the account clean. Truly, "the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin" (I John 1:7). HALLELUJAH!!!
 
TODAY'S THOUGHT: God keeps record, not only of what we do but also the motive of what we do, and will judge righteously.
 
Have a "clean account" day. Love you.
 

DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- The Goodness of God

DAD'S RAMBLINGS – The Goodness of God
Romans 2:4
 
"Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?"
 
Just because judgment on evil-doing is not immediate does not mean there will be none. Delayed judgment is only proof that God is longsuffering. "... [God] is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance" (II Peter 3:9). In His goodness, He delays judgment in order to give people time to forsake their sin. People may thumb their nose at God and continue in their sin as if there is no God, but judgment will surely come – in this world and in the next. What a gracious God we serve!
 
TODAY'S THOUGHT: Delayed judgment is only proof that God is longsuffering and demonstrates His goodness.
 
Have a grateful day. Love you.
 

DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- Personal Accountability

DAD'S RAMBLINGS – Personal Accountability
Romans 2:2-3
 
"But we know that the judgment of God is according to truth against those who practice such things. And do you think this, O man, you who judge those practicing such things, and doing the same, that you will escape the judgment of God?"
 
In the next few chapters, Paul addressed those Jews who were depending on their jewishness for salvation. Just because they were Jews and knew the Law of God did not absolve them from the judgment of their sin, "for not the hearers of the law are just in the sight of God, but the doers of the law will be justified" (2:13). "God will render to each one according to his deeds" (2:6) "for there is no partiality with God" (2:11). In our times, we do not have the contrast between Jews and Gentiles. But there is a similar scenario – people who depend on their godly heritage for salvation ("I was raised as a Baptist," or, "My grandpa was a preacher"). My heritage will not save me from judgment. Only faith in Christ and His work of redemption will deliver me. It is personal thing, and I am personally accountable.
 
TODAY'S THOUGHT: Each person is personally accountable before God for his/her deeds; there are no second generation Christians.
 
Have a personal day. Love you.
 

DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- Removing The Mote

DAD'S RAMBLINGS – Removing The Mote
Romans 2:1
 
"Therefore you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are who judge, for in whatever you judge another you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same thing."
 
I have observed – in myself and in others – that sometimes the person who is loudest in condemning a particular vice is struggling with the same problem himself. My own battle with sin can cause me to be harsh in my judgment of other people who have the same issue, or project my own battlefield onto other people.   I need to guard against the "Do as I say, not as I do" syndrome. I can boldly and unashamedly proclaim what God says about sin. But Jesus calls me to remove the mote from my own eye before I try to remove the log from another person's eye (Matthew 7:3-5; Luke 6:41-42).
 
TODAY'S THOUGHT: Judgment of sin needs to start in my own life.
 
Have a self-judging day. Love you.
 

DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- Tacit Approval

DAD'S RAMBLINGS – Tacit Approval
Romans 1:32
 
"...who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them."
 
In the legal system, those who have knowledge of a criminal act but do not report it or harbor the criminal are just a culpable as the perpetrator of the crime. John Wilkes Booth was guilty of assassinating President Lincoln, but four other people were hanged as co-conspirators, including his brother, Edwin, and his land-lady, Mary Surratt, because they knew what he was going to do but did nothing to stop him. If I sit idly by and say or do nothing when I am aware of other peoples' sin, then I am giving tacit approval and become a part of the problem. Lot, that righteous man, was vexed in his soul by the sin around him in Sodom (II Peter 2:7-8), but he apparently remained silent, probably because he wanted to be accepted by the community of Sodom. He was afraid of being rejected, but he paid a price. God says, "Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues" (Revelation 18:4). May God help me to stand for righteousness in the face of rejection by others.
 
TODAY'S THOUGHT: Silence with the knowledge of other peoples' sin gives tacit approval.
 
Have a "coming out" day. Love you.
 

DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- Not Fitting

DAD'S RAMBLINGS – Not Fitting
Romans 1:28
 
"And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind to do those things which are not fitting."
 
God created man to be a noble creature – in His image. Man was the apex of His creation intended to demonstrate His glory. Sin does not fit into the way God planned for man to live. When people reject the ways of the Creator, the only alternative is a debased mind. They fall short of that glory (Romans 3:23) and they end up doing what is ignoble. Paul gave a litany of unrighteous actions and attitudes – sexual immorality (porneia), greed, envy, murder, lying, destroying other people, rebellion, pride, lack of mercy and forgiveness. This is a not a pretty picture and gets even worse because the mind that hates God's ways invents even nastier ways to do evil. (See verses 29-31.) Only the person who submits Himself to God's righteousness can live up to the glory that God intended for humanity.
 
TODAY'S THOUGHT:  The righteous person demonstrates the nobility that God intended for His creation.
 
Have a "fitting" day. Love you.
 

DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- What A Shame!

DAD'S RAMBLINGS – What A Shame!

Romans 1:26-27

"For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. Likewise also the men, leaning the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their errors which was due."

Homosexuality is not new. From early times men and women have taken the natural order that God created and perverted it to satisfy their own evil lusts – even as Sodom and Gomorrah. God originally created male and female (Genesis 1:27) with genital paraphernalia designed for specific purposes. Human anatomy shows God intention for reproduction, with males having sperm and females having eggs, and the male organ to enter the woman and the woman to receive the man. God also made sex pleasurable, but that was not the primary purpose. Humans, in their degeneracy, have taken God's creative intentions and perverted them to perform acts against nature, "committing what is shameful" in order to satisfy their own sinful lusts. Jude phrased it this way: "...as Sodom and Gomorrah ... having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh...." (Jude 7). Homosexuality is not a civil rights issue; it is and has always been a moral issue. God allows people to do such things, but there is a price to pay (venereal diseases and AIDS ). No matter what medical advances to have to mitigate the effects of sin, it is still costly in more ways than one. God's way is the best way.

TODAY'S THOUGHT: God allows man to violate His creative intent in nature, but there is a price to pay for sin.

Have a "natural" day. Love you.

DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- Freedom

DAD'S RAMBLINGS – Freedom
Romans 1:24
 
"Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves...."
 
On this 4^th of July, we as Americans celebrate the freedoms that God has allowed us to enjoy. God does give us freedom even to do things that are dishonorable and unseemly. He gave Adam and Eve the freedom to reject His truth and follow their own desires. So freedom cuts both ways. It is a blessing but it can also be a curse when we choose to do things that are contrary to God's truth. And He will give us up to do them. But we also have freedom to do what is right and He gives us the power to live His way.
 
TODAY'S THOUGHT: God give us the freedom to do the evil that is in our hearts when we choose to do it.
 
Have a free day in God's freedom. Love you.
 

DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- The Wise Fool

DAD'S RAMBLINGS – The Wise Fool
Romans 1:22-23
 
"Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man – and birds and four-footed animals and creeping things."
 
What is a fool? He is someone who rejects the evidence of the facts to believe what he wants to believe, regardless how inane it is. It is evident that the universe and all that is in it could not have come from nothing.  There had to be a Creator,  and no mortal being – whether man or animal – could have created it. Any intelligent person who is honest would acknowledge this. But many people who think they are smart reject this truth to believe their own imagination. How utterly foolish.
 
TODAY'S THOUGHT: The fool ignores the evidence of the eternal incorruptible God to make himself or some other corruptible object his god.
 
Have a truly wise day. Love you.
 

DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- Empty-Headed

DAD'S RAMBLINGS – Empty-Headed
Romans 1:21
 
"...because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened."
 
The Greek work for futile basically means "empty." People who reject what they can know about God through Creation are empty-headed – candidates for a blond joke. They think they are so intelligent and educated – so enlightened – that they are beyond the idea of God. But really, they are in darkness. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to view the evidence of God's handiwork and conclude that there must be a Creator. The Atheist is ignorant by choice, and there is no greater fool than one who chooses to be ignorant. Truly, "The fool has said in his heart, 'There is no God' " (Psalm 53:1).
 
TODAY'S THOUGHT: It is the epitome of ignorance to deny the existence of God.
 
Have a full-headed day. Love you.
 

DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- Without Excuse

DAD'S RAMBLINGS – Without Excuse
Romans 1:20
 
"For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even the eternal power and Godhead [margin: divine nature], so that they are without excuse."
 
Ken VanValkenberg was one of those people who struggled to become a Christian because of the age-old question: How can a loving God condemn people to hell who have never heard the gospel of Christ? I suggested that he study Romans Chapter One, which he did, and he came to faith. Creation reveals a powerful and loving God. The vastness of the heavens, and especially the human body, could not be a product of chance. There must have been an intelligent Creator. The laws that make everything work together in order point to an external force – God. Of course, General Revelation is incomplete. That's why God spoke in Special Revelation through the prophets and ultimately revealed Himself in Jesus Christ, His Son (Hebrews 1:1-2). Faced with all this evidence, no one can claim ignorance. There are no excuses for not believing in God.  Every person will be accountable for the light he has.
 
TODAY'S THOUGHT: God has revealed Himself to every person on earth, so no one has the excuse of ignorance.
 
Have a believing day. Love you.