Posts
At first blush, these verses cause a “wait-a-minute!” reaction
from Christians: “Some people, by always
continuing to do good …. God will
give them life forever.”
By the writer of my commentary believes that Paul was
addressing Jewish readers in this section.
“It would not be an easy task to find the Jews guilty, since disobedience to God was one sin they did not want to confess.” He
says what Paul is doing is telling his Jewish readers that having the law and obeying
it are two very different things. Having
God’s blessings didn’t mean they were
getting special treatment from God – those blessing gave them greater responsibility to obey Him and glorify Him.
“Paul was not
teaching salvation by character or good deeds.
He was explaining another basic principal of God’s judgment: “God judges according to deeds, just as He judges according to truth. Paul was dealing here
with the consistent actions of a
person’s life, the total impact of
his character and conduct. For example, David committed some terrible
sins, but the total emphasis of his life was obedience to God ... God not
only judges according to truth, and according to men’s deeds, but He also
judges ‘the secrets of men’. He sees what is in the heart!”
It didn’t matter if they honored the Sabbath if their consistent
daily life was one of disobedience
to God, it added.
God attracts us and draws us back to Him by His love. Verse 4 says:
“He has been very kind and patient, waiting
for you to change, but you think nothing
of His kindness. Perhaps you do not
understand that God is kind to you
so you will change your hearts and
lives.”
Father, thanks again for the reminder that attitudes are as
important as actions and that You
realize that we will fail because we
are human, but You look at our practice and not simply at our failures.
Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford
No comments:
Post a Comment