For a description of the (Y2) reading plan, see the “About” page.
Rom. 3
Why is boasting excluded? How does the gospel “uphold the law?” The law reveals God’s righteousness and our lack of it. The “law that requires faith” that Paul mentions in verse 27 is God’s righteousness offered to us through Jesus Christ. Therefore, our righteousness does not come from ourselves, the written law, or our efforts with regard to that law. Thus, we have no boast, as the work is not ours. If someone gives us a gift and we boast about the gift, the boast is really in the giver. So it is with God’s gift of grace to us.
As for upholding the law, this goes back to the idea of repentance that I mentioned yesterday. When we receive God’s righteousness through faith in Jesus Christ, we fully acknowledge our need for a Savior. That is, we acknowledge that we cannot keep the whole law. We admit that God is righteous and we are not, and thus uphold the law.
Ezek. 3-4
In what ways might God have called you to be a “watchman” for those around you? I can’t imagine the difficulty of Ezekiel’s task. Being a prophet of God was no pleasant thing! It is not something that anyone would choose. In fact, I’m not certain that any of the prophets did choose it. Obviously God called each of them, and He certainly had to have given them the strength, courage, fortitude…whatever, to do what He called them to do. However, it seems that, for whatever reason, they could not have rejected God’s calling even if they had wanted to. Was it God or their devotion to Him that wouldn’t let them say “no”? I wonder.
I see this concerning Ezekiel in today’s reading. “The Spirit then lifted me up and took me away, and I went in bitterness and in the anger of my spirit, with the strong hand of the LROD on me.” (Ez. 3:14). What was Ezekiel bitterly angry about? Was it the hardened, obstinate hearts of the Israelites that distressed him so? Or was he bitter about the task that was his to do? Was he angry because God called him to do it? Because he could not turn away from it? Or simply because it needed to be done at all? I don’t have an answer, though I wish I knew.
Whatever was causing Ezekiel’s bitterness, angry spirit, and deep distress, there are a few positive things I see in it all. First of all, God went with him. He kept His strong hand on Ezekiel, helping him to do what He asked of him. Secondly, all that God required of Ezekiel was obedience. As long as Ezekiel spoke what God gave him to speak, he was not responsible for the decisions, actions, and outcomes of the people.
And lastly, though I don’t completely understand it, I see yet another promise of reward for Ezekiel’s obedience. God handed Ezekiel a scroll with, “words of lament and mourning and woe” (Ez. 2:10b) on both sides and commanded him to eat it. I see in that a correlation to the harsh words God gave Ezekiel to speak to the people of Israel and Judah. It represents the difficult and unpleasant task God laid on him. Yet when Ezekiel obediently ate the scroll, “it tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth.” (Ez. 3:3b). Though obedience to God is never easy, it is truly the only desirable choice.
Ps. 128
What blessings await those who fear the Lord? The premise of this Psalm is simple. Live your life under the authority of God’s rule and it will be full of blessings and prosperity. While I believe there is deep truth in this, the reality of life often paints a starkly different picture. If I were to make a list of the undue hardship that befalls faithful people in this life, it would be a ridiculously long one. So what’s the deal? Is this Psalm more wishful thinking or outright lie than it is truth? I don’t think so.
As with so many other things in the Bible, I believe the breakdown in understanding comes from a perspective problem, largely caused by the rigid timeline that binds us. What I mean is that our time-bound perspective skews our expectations. We read something like this and expect it to be a picture of our years here on earth. What we need to remember, however, is that our years here on earth are but a brief, distorted image of our true life. So yes, there is a general truth to this simple premise for the here and now. When we walk in obedience to Sovereign God, we tend to make better decisions; to choose better paths. This generally leads to better life experiences, at least minimizing the negative consequences of doing our own thing.
The deeper truth in this Psalm, however, lies outside of time. And I don’t just mean at the end of time. When we understand that our actions impact more than just today, tomorrow, or even 50 years from now, we start to see things differently. Consider Jesus’ words about storing up treasures in heaven. Everything we do here and now impacts our eternity. Eternity is eternal (duh), which means it doesn’t “start” when time ends. It is happening now, just not exactly here. Mind blowing, I know.
When I read this Psalm through this lens, though, I see that my labor here and now is producing fruit in my eternity. And when I keep that eternity in focus, I do indeed, “see the prosperity of Jerusalem all the days of [my] life.” (Ps. 128:5b). This is because, regardless of what is happening in Jerusalem here and now, I trust that “Jerusalem” is God’s promise that He dwells with His people, to be their God and they His people. And I have faith that when time ends, we will prosper together as such forevermore.