Angelic Conflict part 303: Reigning in life – Rom 5:20-21; Ecc 1:2-3; 12:13-14; Luk 18:18-19; Neh 8:9-10.Title: Angelic Conflict part 303: Reigning in life – Rom 5:20-21; Ecc 1:2-3; 12:13-14; Luk 18:18-19; Neh 8:9-10.
The long centuries of human struggle in the CA were decreed for the one purpose of revealing the all sufficient grace of God and the insufficiency of men.
No vision which is less than this will prove sufficient.
Eph 1:7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace,
Eph 1:8 which He lavished [perisseuo] upon us.
All the work for the redemption of man and his life before God has been accomplished by Christ on Cavalry. Short of this, no concept of the plan of God can fulfill the canon of grace set forth in the word of God. In light of this, all human philosophy is false.
In light of grace through Christ, all human philosophy is seen to be false.
The concept of mankind evolving and someday making his way to some kind of paradise on earth is just silly. Man is at best vain.
Ecc 1:2 "Vanity of vanities," says the Preacher, "Vanity of vanities! All is vanity."
Ecc 1:3 What advantage does man have in all his work Which he does under the sun?
Anything of value that is eternal must come from the grace of God and completely without human input or effort.
At the very end of the book: Ecc 12:13 The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person.
Ecc 12:14 For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil.
Apart from the dealings of God with His people, the stream of human history flowed on its way, illustrating and illuminating the eternal plan of God. Kings ascended thrones and descended to the grave to demonstrate that peace comes not by human effort. Dynasties rose and fell, to teach men that there is no hope in man. Men fought and died for gain, to teach the world that possessions cannot satisfy the human heart. The burden of sin pressed heavily upon each heart in order to teach men that release comes only through the Savior. In every field of life and activity sin abounded, and where sin abounded grace did much more abound.
In light of scripture and historical trends, we find that everything is ordered by God to exalt His plan of grace.
Human knowledge is insufficient to solve the problems of men, and God confounds the wisdom of the wise and the knowledge of the prudent, that men may see that the foolishness of God in saving us by the blood of the cross is wiser than the wisdom of men who go their own way.
Churches that are selfish and self-serving seek to serve many good purposes in the world and may clothe bodies and fill stomachs, but have no effect on men's hearts.
The wars of our time are fought to make the world safe for democracy, but each sows the seeds of a greater war, and mightier weapons of death are created to destroy man's illusions of peace.
Governments promise prosperity to all and only result in prosperity for them.
Man is corrupt to the core and God has revealed it again and again over 20 centuries of the Church and during all that time, where sin increased, grace super-abounded all the more.
There can be neither peace nor righteousness in our day or any other, apart from the cross of Jesus Christ, where God made peace which He commands men to accept.
In the midst of the world's colossal failure, God is constantly demonstrating His ability to pour forth grace, feed hungry hearts, and give heavy-laden sinners rest from their burdens.
Given the nature of God — holy, righteous, absolutely perfect — it follows that since every breath of the unsaved man is a breath of rebellion, sin has abounded. Men are declared guilty, dead in sin, bondslaves to sin, sold under sin, condemned. Therefore, they can do nothing for themselves.
All men are on the same level in the sight of God, with no degree of difference. God could not place mankind lower than He has. The holiness of God admits no comparison.
Nothing that the unbeliever can do, outside of faith in the gospel, can draw him nearer or send him farther from God. The holiness of God admits no comparison.
A great example of this is found in a very confused young man who has inherited an earthly inheritance and prefers it over any heavenly inheritance that might come with eternal life.
Luk 18:18 And a certain ruler questioned Him, saying, "Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?"
"Good teacher" - avgaqo,j dida,skaloj [agathos didaskalos] = divinely good school master. Agathos Kurios would have been much more appropriate.
Luk 18:19 And Jesus said to him, "Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone.
The young man addressed Christ as "Good Master." The Lord answers to the effect that the adjective does not agree with the noun. Everyone who has studied a foreign language knows that adjectives must agree with the nouns they modify, in gender, number and case. "Teacher" is a human title, and Christ was telling the young man that "good" is a divine adjective that does not belong on the human level.
His rebuke was the equivalent of saying, "Don't call me 'master.' Call me either 'Good Lord' or 'human master,' but do not mix the two.
There is no such person as a divinely good man. All have fallen under the reign of sin and death and no one does good.
The scripture destroys the dream of human goodness and establishes the principle of divine grace.
Rom 3:12 "All have turned aside, together they have become useless; There is none who does good, There is not even one."
Yet in grace, God found a way so that fallen man can produce divine good and that is in grace all the way.
Only when we learn that God has swept away all human claims and all obstacles, can we understand the terms which God uses to express His free-flowing grace. Sin — everything that was against us — has been removed and punished in Christ. Merit, works — everything that we might do for ourselves — has been cursed and rejected by God. Debt — the thought that God might be obligated to any of us — has been swept away.
The ground having been cleared, it is now evident that the overflow of free grace cannot be stopped and that God will do for His own all that is in His eternal purpose.
2Co 4:15 For all things are for your sakes, that the grace which is spreading to more and more people may cause the giving of thanks to abound to the glory of God.
Rom 5:20 And the Law came in that the transgression might increase; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more,
Rom 5:21 that [in order that], as sin reigned in death [spiritual death], even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Rather than teach about this verse I feel I should just bow before it in complete adoration and awe and thanksgiving. Many hours can be spent talking about grace, righteousness, eternal life, and how they have come to us through our Lord, and rightly we do so, but for a moment I just want us to lay aside all technicality, which sometimes can blind us to the simplicity of the truth, and just adore in faith Him who has given us these things.
Sin reigned in death over the whole of creation and so grace might reign through righteousness, which is given at salvation, towards eternal life, not earning it or anticipating in, but living in it rather than earthly life, and all through Jesus Christ our Lord.
What joy these words should give our hearts.
After returning from exile in Babylon the book of the Law of Moses was studied by men called scribes, Levites. Ezra, the leading priest and scribe, built a wooden podium and had the people gathered before him and he opened and read from the book to the people for several hours. The city needed to be rebuilt, the temple, the walls, etc. and the word of God had dried up in many of their hearts while in captivity and so upon hearing the word their sins were brought to the light, for the Law revealed the many sins of man, and they wept and mourned for themselves, but this was a wrong response.
Neh 8:9 Then Nehemiah, who was the governor, and Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, "This day is holy to the Lord your God; do not mourn or weep." For all the people were weeping when they heard the words of the law.
This was on the first day of the seventh month, which was the Jewish equivalent of our New Year's Day. The seventh month was a special time in the Jewish calendar because the Jews celebrated the Feast of Trumpets on the first day, the Day of Atonement on the tenth day, and the Feast of Tabernacles from the fifteenth day to the twenty-first day (Lev 23:23-44). It was the perfect time for the nation to get right with the Lord and make a fresh new beginning.
Neh 8:10 Then he said to them, "Go, eat of the fat, drink of the sweet, and send portions to him who has nothing prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength." Title: Angelic Conflict part 303: Reigning in life – Rom 5:20-21; Ecc 1:2-3; 12:13-14; Luk 18:18-19; Neh 8:9-10.
The long centuries of human struggle in the CA were decreed for the one purpose of revealing the all sufficient grace of God and the insufficiency of men.
No vision which is less than this will prove sufficient.
Eph 1:7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace,
Eph 1:8 which He lavished [perisseuo] upon us.
All the work for the redemption of man and his life before God has been accomplished by Christ on Cavalry. Short of this, no concept of the plan of God can fulfill the canon of grace set forth in the word of God. In light of this, all human philosophy is false.
In light of grace through Christ, all human philosophy is seen to be false.
The concept of mankind evolving and someday making his way to some kind of paradise on earth is just silly. Man is at best vain.
Ecc 1:2 "Vanity of vanities," says the Preacher, "Vanity of vanities! All is vanity."
Ecc 1:3 What advantage does man have in all his work Which he does under the sun?
Anything of value that is eternal must come from the grace of God and completely without human input or effort.
At the very end of the book: Ecc 12:13 The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person.
Ecc 12:14 For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil.
Apart from the dealings of God with His people, the stream of human history flowed on its way, illustrating and illuminating the eternal plan of God. Kings ascended thrones and descended to the grave to demonstrate that peace comes not by human effort. Dynasties rose and fell, to teach men that there is no hope in man. Men fought and died for gain, to teach the world that possessions cannot satisfy the human heart. The burden of sin pressed heavily upon each heart in order to teach men that release comes only through the Savior. In every field of life and activity sin abounded, and where sin abounded grace did much more abound.
In light of scripture and historical trends, we find that everything is ordered by God to exalt His plan of grace.
Human knowledge is insufficient to solve the problems of men, and God confounds the wisdom of the wise and the knowledge of the prudent, that men may see that the foolishness of God in saving us by the blood of the cross is wiser than the wisdom of men who go their own way.
Churches that are selfish and self-serving seek to serve many good purposes in the world and may clothe bodies and fill stomachs, but have no effect on men's hearts.
The wars of our time are fought to make the world safe for democracy, but each sows the seeds of a greater war, and mightier weapons of death are created to destroy man's illusions of peace.
Governments promise prosperity to all and only result in prosperity for them.
Man is corrupt to the core and God has revealed it again and again over 20 centuries of the Church and during all that time, where sin increased, grace super-abounded all the more.
There can be neither peace nor righteousness in our day or any other, apart from the cross of Jesus Christ, where God made peace which He commands men to accept.
In the midst of the world's colossal failure, God is constantly demonstrating His ability to pour forth grace, feed hungry hearts, and give heavy-laden sinners rest from their burdens.
Given the nature of God — holy, righteous, absolutely perfect — it follows that since every breath of the unsaved man is a breath of rebellion, sin has abounded. Men are declared guilty, dead in sin, bondslaves to sin, sold under sin, condemned. Therefore, they can do nothing for themselves.
All men are on the same level in the sight of God, with no degree of difference. God could not place mankind lower than He has. The holiness of God admits no comparison.
Nothing that the unbeliever can do, outside of faith in the gospel, can draw him nearer or send him farther from God. The holiness of God admits no comparison.
A great example of this is found in a very confused young man who has inherited an earthly inheritance and prefers it over any heavenly inheritance that might come with eternal life.
Luk 18:18 And a certain ruler questioned Him, saying, "Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?"
"Good teacher" - avgaqo,j dida,skaloj [agathos didaskalos] = divinely good school master. Agathos Kurios would have been much more appropriate.
Luk 18:19 And Jesus said to him, "Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone.
The young man addressed Christ as "Good Master." The Lord answers to the effect that the adjective does not agree with the noun. Everyone who has studied a foreign language knows that adjectives must agree with the nouns they modify, in gender, number and case. "Teacher" is a human title, and Christ was telling the young man that "good" is a divine adjective that does not belong on the human level.
His rebuke was the equivalent of saying, "Don't call me 'master.' Call me either 'Good Lord' or 'human master,' but do not mix the two.
There is no such person as a divinely good man. All have fallen under the reign of sin and death and no one does good.
The scripture destroys the dream of human goodness and establishes the principle of divine grace.
Rom 3:12 "All have turned aside, together they have become useless; There is none who does good, There is not even one."
Yet in grace, God found a way so that fallen man can produce divine good and that is in grace all the way.
Only when we learn that God has swept away all human claims and all obstacles, can we understand the terms which God uses to express His free-flowing grace. Sin — everything that was against us — has been removed and punished in Christ. Merit, works — everything that we might do for ourselves — has been cursed and rejected by God. Debt — the thought that God might be obligated to any of us — has been swept away.
The ground having been cleared, it is now evident that the overflow of free grace cannot be stopped and that God will do for His own all that is in His eternal purpose.
2Co 4:15 For all things are for your sakes, that the grace which is spreading to more and more people may cause the giving of thanks to abound to the glory of God.
Rom 5:20 And the Law came in that the transgression might increase; but where sin increased, grace abounded all the more,
Rom 5:21 that [in order that], as sin reigned in death [spiritual death], even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Rather than teach about this verse I feel I should just bow before it in complete adoration and awe and thanksgiving. Many hours can be spent talking about grace, righteousness, eternal life, and how they have come to us through our Lord, and rightly we do so, but for a moment I just want us to lay aside all technicality, which sometimes can blind us to the simplicity of the truth, and just adore in faith Him who has given us these things.
Sin reigned in death over the whole of creation and so grace might reign through righteousness, which is given at salvation, towards eternal life, not earning it or anticipating in, but living in it rather than earthly life, and all through Jesus Christ our Lord.
What joy these words should give our hearts.
After returning from exile in Babylon the book of the Law of Moses was studied by men called scribes, Levites. Ezra, the leading priest and scribe, built a wooden podium and had the people gathered before him and he opened and read from the book to the people for several hours. The city needed to be rebuilt, the temple, the walls, etc. and the word of God had dried up in many of their hearts while in captivity and so upon hearing the word their sins were brought to the light, for the Law revealed the many sins of man, and they wept and mourned for themselves, but this was a wrong response.
Neh 8:9 Then Nehemiah, who was the governor, and Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people said to all the people, "This day is holy to the Lord your God; do not mourn or weep." For all the people were weeping when they heard the words of the law.
This was on the first day of the seventh month, which was the Jewish equivalent of our New Year's Day. The seventh month was a special time in the Jewish calendar because the Jews celebrated the Feast of Trumpets on the first day, the Day of Atonement on the tenth day, and the Feast of Tabernacles from the fifteenth day to the twenty-first day (Lev 23:23-44). It was the perfect time for the nation to get right with the Lord and make a fresh new beginning.
Neh 8:10 Then he said to them, "Go, eat of the fat, drink of the sweet, and send portions to him who has nothing prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength." |