In the trials and victories of everyday life,
The Lord is my strength and my song;
….he has given me victory.
Songs of joy and victory are sung in the camp of the godly. Psalm 118:14-15 NLT
Romans 4:9-17 (<<click here to read the passage)
Though they were way before my time, growing up I enjoyed watching Our Gang, a popular and successful American film series of comedy shorts centered around a group of child actors known collectively as “The Little Rascals”. Between 1922 and 1944, there were over two hundred and twenty shorts. Their popularity zoomed in the 50s and then later in the 80s a movie was released around the same characters and general plot.
One thing that aired in the original series and was a carryover in the remake was the He-Man Woman-Haters Club, and as the name implies it was a boys-only club, here’s the club vow that they had to recite
“I, [state name here, but everyone just repeated Stymie’s name (he was the club’s sergeant-at-arms)], a member of good standing of the He-Man Woman-Haters Club, do solemnly swear to be a he-man and hate women and not play with them or touch them unless I have to and especially never fall in love and, if I do, may I die slowly and painfully and suffer for hours or until I scream bloody murder.”
It brings a smile to my face but what brought this old memory to mind was reading through today’s passage of Scripture. You probably think I’ve lost it but hang in there with me.
One of the struggles in the early Church, as we discovered in our time in the book of Acts, was what was expected of Gentile (non-Jewish) converts to Christianity. One big point of contention was circumcision. The act was definitely associated with Judaism. The leadership of the early Church decided that circumcision was not to be a requirement for those who chose to follow Christ.
The Apostle Paul pulled from the Old Testament when he spoke of Abraham and his life. Paul wrote,
…Abraham was counted as righteous by God because of his faith. But how did this happen? Was he counted as righteous only after he was circumcised, or was it before he was circumcised? Clearly, God accepted Abraham before he was circumcised! Vs9b-10 NLT
As the He-Man Woman-Haters Club had its rules as to who was and wasn’t allowed in, devout Jews during the time of the early Church struggled with rules, too. And truth be told, today’s church struggles as well.
Some may beg to differ, but many have mindsets that keep others at bay until they clean up, at least to a certain degree, before they are allowed in the fold.
But Paul’s declaration in verse 16 speaks just as clearly today as it did 2,000 years ago.
Therefore, [inheriting] the promise depends entirely on faith [that is, confident trust in the unseen God], in order that it may be given as an act of grace [His unmerited favor and mercy], so that the promise will be [legally] guaranteed to all the descendants [of Abraham]—not only for those [Jewish believers] who keep the Law, but also for those [Gentile believers] who share the faith of Abraham, who is the [spiritual] father of us all… AMP
There are no rules here, just faith. May we all see the world through the eyes – and open arms – our Savior!
Nov 10th, 2022, Thurs, 12:57 pm
