For a CLEAR Gospel Message click on THE GOOD NEWS link belowIgnorance is Ignorant
"For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God." --- Romans 10:3
A phrase has been running around in my head for a couple of days…just the phrase, " I would not have you to be ignorant" so this morning I did a word search on my computer Bible program on the word " ignorant" and several choices jumped up, but this is the verse that seemed to be calling out for some thought. "For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness," Paul is the writer here and he is talking about His kin folks…Israel. When he accepted the work of Jesus Christ on the cross for himself and his sin, he was adopted into a new family, the body and family of Jesus Christ just like we are. But the verse applies to a lot more than just Israel; I think it applies to a lot of our believers in Jesus Christ today who have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.
Why do the lives of some of us who call ourselves Christians not look any different from the outside of the lives of those who don’t? I use the phrase "from the outside" because I believe there has been a change at some point in the past in the "heart" or belief in the saving work of Jesus Christ by some…realizing their need for identification with the work of Christ on the cross to pay for the penalty for their sin, but that appears to be where they stopped. Today, the lives of a lot of believers look absolutely no different from those around them who are not. I’m not going to spend a lot of time listing categories of sin for you to consider, because that can be a distraction…(you can get to feeling pretty good about what you don’t do, in the areas of sin, and excuse what you do… thinking they aren’t as bad as some others.) No amount of effort at establishing your own righteousness will ever amount to anything more than "busy work"!!Remember in school when the teacher just wanted you to be quiet so she made up and gave you something to do? It didn't accomplish anything to educate you, but it at least it kept you busy and quiet. That is what is going on in the lives of a lot of believers today in and out of church…busy work… going about to establish their own righteousness! OK Jim Brettell, that is the "what to do", now on to the "how to do it" .
How do we change? The change starts with this verse! We have to stop being ignorant of God's righteousness. How? By learning to think like He does! We have to study Him backwards and forwards. We have to read in the Old Testament the things that specifically brought Him joy and what brought Him anger. We have to study the way He thought as recorded in the Word of God and apply that to the way we think. Then, we study the life and words of His Only Begotten Son, Jesus, backwards and forwards and we will begin to see perfect harmony between the two. Guess what, we were designed for that harmony of thinking also. Scripture records that we were designed in the image and likeness of God and I believe that with every fiber of my being. Genesis 1:26 "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth." Today, we have accepted far, far less than our potential as the norm of thinking. Most people don’t want to look deeply into this mirror as they hate what they see when they do! They see a gulf between us and God, between our thinking and His. Jesus Christ is the bridge over that gulf not just in terms of removing the eternal penalty of sin, but in leading us to a new way of thinking. And as I have said before, if we can learn to think correctly,if we can get control of our minds, then our bodies are going to follow and the world around us will see hope over this world of sin, evil and death in our lives and the way we think.
Philippians 2:5 "Let this mind be in you which was in Christ Jesus"
A phrase has been running around in my head for a couple of days…just the phrase, " I would not have you to be ignorant" so this morning I did a word search on my computer Bible program on the word " ignorant" and several choices jumped up, but this is the verse that seemed to be calling out for some thought. "For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness," Paul is the writer here and he is talking about His kin folks…Israel. When he accepted the work of Jesus Christ on the cross for himself and his sin, he was adopted into a new family, the body and family of Jesus Christ just like we are. But the verse applies to a lot more than just Israel; I think it applies to a lot of our believers in Jesus Christ today who have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.
Why do the lives of some of us who call ourselves Christians not look any different from the outside of the lives of those who don’t? I use the phrase "from the outside" because I believe there has been a change at some point in the past in the "heart" or belief in the saving work of Jesus Christ by some…realizing their need for identification with the work of Christ on the cross to pay for the penalty for their sin, but that appears to be where they stopped. Today, the lives of a lot of believers look absolutely no different from those around them who are not. I’m not going to spend a lot of time listing categories of sin for you to consider, because that can be a distraction…(you can get to feeling pretty good about what you don’t do, in the areas of sin, and excuse what you do… thinking they aren’t as bad as some others.) No amount of effort at establishing your own righteousness will ever amount to anything more than "busy work"!!Remember in school when the teacher just wanted you to be quiet so she made up and gave you something to do? It didn't accomplish anything to educate you, but it at least it kept you busy and quiet. That is what is going on in the lives of a lot of believers today in and out of church…busy work… going about to establish their own righteousness! OK Jim Brettell, that is the "what to do", now on to the "how to do it" .
How do we change? The change starts with this verse! We have to stop being ignorant of God's righteousness. How? By learning to think like He does! We have to study Him backwards and forwards. We have to read in the Old Testament the things that specifically brought Him joy and what brought Him anger. We have to study the way He thought as recorded in the Word of God and apply that to the way we think. Then, we study the life and words of His Only Begotten Son, Jesus, backwards and forwards and we will begin to see perfect harmony between the two. Guess what, we were designed for that harmony of thinking also. Scripture records that we were designed in the image and likeness of God and I believe that with every fiber of my being. Genesis 1:26 "And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth." Today, we have accepted far, far less than our potential as the norm of thinking. Most people don’t want to look deeply into this mirror as they hate what they see when they do! They see a gulf between us and God, between our thinking and His. Jesus Christ is the bridge over that gulf not just in terms of removing the eternal penalty of sin, but in leading us to a new way of thinking. And as I have said before, if we can learn to think correctly,if we can get control of our minds, then our bodies are going to follow and the world around us will see hope over this world of sin, evil and death in our lives and the way we think.
Philippians 2:5 "Let this mind be in you which was in Christ Jesus"
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