Heavenly Father, You are always at work. Why should I ever doubt? For behind the scenes, You are moving, and though we may not see it Your will will be made known in this world! All to praise to our God Almighty!
Romans 1:17 (<<click here to read the passage)
I’ve mentioned before that I enjoy watching YouTube videos of people starting with a mess and ending with something “beautiful”. These include old, abused furniture being dismantled and cleaned up, stripped of varnish or paint, then reassembled with everything repaired, then once again stained, or painted, bringing it back to its original glory.
I enjoy the same process with power washing dirty and stained sidewalks, driveways, and patios, and also mowing/trimming extremely overgrown properties. The popular thing now is for people to donate their services as they are supported by revenue from the volume of views, likes, and comments on their YouTube channels.
What I enjoy most is the satisfaction of watching the process from start to finish, from filthy, unkempt, disrepair to a beautiful end product of order and respectability, often at the hands of masters in their field (or at least the very good workmanship of dedicated amateurs!)
In verse 17 Paul speaks about how the righteousness of God is revealed in the gospel – the Good News. And in God’s act, we see the Master Himself reveal a righteousness that is by faith from first to last. God left nothing to chance but laid everything out in meticulous detail as only He could. And we, as His children, have the great satisfaction of knowing, beyond any doubt, that we are the beneficiaries of His great love for us. The Righteous One has made it possible for the unrighteous to obtain His righteousness as our own!
And the most wonderful news of all – the ultimate Good News! – is that, while it cost Him everything in the death and resurrection of His one and only Son, Jesus, the Messiah, it costs us nothing! Our only responsibility is to accept this wonderful free gift! No one is denied, it is offered to all!
Many in the past – and yet today! – struggle with feeling that they are not worthy of the gift and that because of the unworthiness they feel that somehow, they need to work and “earn” what they ultimately discover to be totally unearnable!
The end of verse 17 is the verse that set Martin Luther free. It’s the same verse that John and Charles Wesley latched on to. And actually, Paul is quoting an Old Testament text. Paul states, “The righteous will live by faith.”
But here is the passage from which Paul quoted.
Then the Lord replied:
“Write down the revelation
….and make it plain on tablets
….so that a herald may run with it.
For the revelation awaits an appointed time;
….it speaks of the end
….and will not prove false.
Though it linger, wait for it;
….it will certainly come
….and will not delay.
“See, the enemy is puffed up;
….his desires are not upright—
….but the righteous person will live by his faithfulness… Habakkuk 2:2-4 NIV (emphasis mine)
From the beginning to the end God worked to bring about our righteousness and it is entirely failproof because as we trust God, we are saved; we have life both now and forever! Amen and amen!
*Life Application Bible New Living Translation
Sept 25th, 2022, Sun, 7:59 pm
