Is. 30-31
What will it take for people to truly know that God alone is God? Even we who know it and who strive to live by that truth find ourselves continually seeking our own path and turning to other things. God brought devastation on His people to show them that He alone is God, to wipe out the evil from among them, and to turn them back to Him so that He could save and restore them. But still His people sought shelter in Egypt, trusting in their armies, their horses and their chariots.
God said to them, “The Egyptians are man, and not God, and their horses are flesh, and not spirit.” (Is 31:3). He also says, “Egypt’s help is worthless and empty” (Is 31:7a). God wanted His people to understand, and He wants us to understand that He alone is God and He alone can save. “In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength. But you were unwilling.” (Is 30:15). “Therefore the LORD waits to be gracious to you, and therefore He exalts Himself to show mercy to you. For the LORD is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for Him.” (Is 30:18). May my heart understand and embrace God’s truth!
Rom. 2
One of the age old debates of Christianity is whether salvation comes by works or faith. It is a foolish debate, really, that shows a lack of understanding. Paul says here that it is all about obedience. If you obey the law, then you are righteous and will be saved. The problem is that none of us can obey all the law all the time, and so we need Christ. Christ fulfills the law, so obedience to Him is obedience to the law. That’s where the faith comes in. When we put our faith in Christ, He pays the penalty for our shortcomings (because we all have them). We are made righteous because He is righteous, and so we are saved through Him.
But Paul says, “God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance” (Rom 2:4b). Which means that paying lip service is not enough. Faith is not really faith if it is not put into action. You can say that you trust that wobbly wooden bridge, but unless you are willing to step out on it, your trust is unproven. And so true faith in God manifests itself in obedience to Him. Obedience implies a way of acting or doing, which translates to our works – how we live our lives. Our actions, or works, become the evidence of our faith.
On the other hand, we can do things – works – that look like obedience but really aren’t. We can do our best to live a righteous life, lifting ourselves up over those who don’t make such an effort. But that brings us back to the fact that none of us are capable of obeying all the law all the time. And so we are guilty of breaking the same law that we judge others for not keeping. Self-righteousness simply does not work. Without the acknowledgment of our need for Christ and His righteousness, our works are empty and rooted in self-serving motives. God knows our hearts and knows if our works are our efforts to appear righteous or are an act of faithful obedience to Him through Christ.