Based on Romans 3:1-20 (New King James Version)
“What advantage then has the 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 but every man a liar. As it is written: ‘That You may be justified in Your words, and may overcome when You are judged.’ 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 also still judged as a sinner? And why not say, ‘Let us do evil that good may come’?—as we are slanderously reported and as some affirm that we say. Their condemnation is just. What then? Are we better than they? 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 none who understands; there is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside; they have together become unprofitable; there is none who does good, no, not one.’ ‘Their throat is an open tomb; with their tongues they have practiced deceit’; ‘The poison of asps is under their lips’; ‘Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.’ ‘Their feet are swift to shed blood; destruction and misery are in their ways; and the way of peace they have not known.’ ‘There is no fear of God before their eyes.’ 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 may become guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.”
I have some bad news, and some good news. The bad news is: that today’s message will be difficult for egos and pride. The good news is: if you can triumph over your ego and deal with your pride, and are able to understand what God has given you through Jesus Christ, this can open doors for you to a much greater and different view.
Here is where the difficult part starts. Most of us are not special. We do not come from a sensational spiritual background, per se. I think most of my readers are not Jewish (as far as I know). And for those that cling on to messianic teachings, that they are part of a distant Jewish lineage, I should tell you that you have the same pagan background as the rest of the gentiles (those of us that are not Jews). Even further, to those that try to glory in or feel special because of having certain distant Jewish roots, I should unfortunately tell you that you are part of the Jews that abandoned Judaism and their God, and that joined pagans, being absorbed by the pagan religions and practices of different nations; possibly even Satan worship and demon worship. So then, this puts us most us with ancestors that were not that good. And well, as pagans and gentiles, and according to the Scriptures, we were foreign to the things of God before Christ, completely separated from the plans of God and most Biblical promises. During Old Testament times, we the gentiles had no hope, because our true destiny was hell (that’s why as Christians, we should not believe or follow things related to destiny). Whether we like it or not, the Jewish people were God’s elect; not the gentiles (even though they were not perfect either). Have a little more patience, please.
Why was it like this? Because if we are honest, and even now, during the dispensation of God’s grace through Jesus Christ, we still continue being very hard and sinful. The Word teaches us this: “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me.” Psalm 51:5. Sin forms part of our very fiber, our being. There is no avoiding it. That’s why sicknesses, physical imperfections, death, etc. exist. We live with this evil in our being. And as such, the hardness and rebellion of our heart manifests itself. For example: “Because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse.” Romans 1:19-20. God starts looking for us since we came out of our mother’s womb. Our breath of life came from God, not from science or from ourselves. God started talking to us since we opened our eyes and started seeing the light of day, the heavens, the sun, the moon, all of creation. God went looking for us each dawn, each instant our lungs fill with air. Our heart beats “involuntarily” because God allows it and sustains it. All of creation, starting with ourselves, speaks to us about God and His power and love. However, each of us have been, or maybe, still are so hard that we don’t perceive Him, His presence, and we even question His existence, His goodness, and power. Maybe you got to the Lord when everything you trusted was destroyed or fell apart. Like Paul, who was persecuting the Lord through the Christians he would jail, punish, and even forced to blaspheme against their faith in God, until he arrived at that moment when God encountered him suddenly, throwing him off his horse, leaving him blind and fragile, destroying his human power, his security, and his pride. With me personally, the Lord allowed for my family to be dissolved, taking my stability, and affecting my health so I would be able to listen and lift my eyes up to heaven, while still being a child. Sincerely speaking, I would not have listened if it were otherwise. And well, there are many, even though they may think themselves as being good people, that still don’t see the light, hardened in their flesh, in their sin, in their human pride, etc. We are hard people! And, no one is good!
But, here comes the good stuff. Despite our past, and our sinful reality, God did give us the grace of being saved from our sins through Jesus Christ, breaking our destiny completely, giving us eternal life. For it is written: “In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” 1 John 4:9-10. So then, neither Jew or gentile matters anymore. What matters is that we appreciate what God has done for us, by looking for Him because He is truly good. For it is written: “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.” Ephesians 2:8-10. In Christ Jesus, we become a new creation for good works, if we repent from our sins, making Jesus the Lord and King of our lives, following Him faithfully until He comes again for us.
When you truly understand God’s grace, you will value what has been given to you and the opportunity you have. So then, do you really understand who you are, and what God’s grace truly is? Lord bless! John