The Gift of Life

Those people are on a dark spiral downward. But if you think that leaves you on the high ground where you can point your finger at others, think again. Every time you criticize someone, you condemn yourself. It takes one to know one. Judgmental criticism of others is a well-known way of escaping detection in your own crimes and misdemeanors. (Romans 2:1, MSG).

The Bible verse above is right in the middle of a larger point the Apostle Paul is making. He makes a great point here, but it's not his final point. He's laying the foundation for something much bigger, which I'll get into below.

I've noticed that many people seem to pick out pieces of Romans 1 without continuing on in Romans 2 and 3. Romans 1 mentions various sinful deeds, and I've seen people choosing a handful of those sins and going around judging the people of the world for those sins. But that's not why Paul wrote Romans 1. It's not a list of sins for Christians to watch out for or to judge one another for, or to judge to world for. His point in this first chapter leads up to Romans 2 (including the above verse)... which then leads up to Romans 3! (Again, I'll get to that in a minute).

Paul says in essence, "Who do you think you are, going around judging others? You are no different! Who do you think you are, teaching the law and rules, and trying to get people to live by them, but yet you fall short in keeping them yourself! I just got done listing a bunch of 'things which are not fitting,' and people who are 'filled with all unrighteousness' (see Rom 1:28-29). Don't you get it, that if you're going to point out and judge others for their behavior, you're right there on the list too!!! So quit your judging and quit trying to get others to keep the rules!"

Sadly, many people have used Romans 1 to go out and protest the sins that the people of the world commit. And many have made Romans 2 out to be a harsh word to those who aren't keeping the rules. But if you look at the whole thing from start to finish, Paul is being harsh toward legalists! He's being tough on those who think they actually make the grade and/or who think they're better than others. And again, he's leading up to something even greater!

The GOOD NEWS in all of this - which is what Paul is leading up to the whole time - is that even though all have fallen short, there is this thing called a gift through which people are freely justified (see Romans 3 - "to all and on all who believe"). Read the whole thing all the way through and see that it's not about sin and it's not about judging others... it's about the gift of life!

"Even though those unworthy worms didn't deserve it..."

So reads the first part of John 3:16, as apparently translated in some Bibles.

But my Bible actually says something like, "For God SO LOVED THE WORLD that He gave His only begotten Son..."

Why did God give? Why was the price paid? He gave and He paid the price because He so loved the world! The gift of eternal life that we've received from God truly did cost Him something, but the price was joyfully paid (see Heb 12:2). And now that the price has been paid, walk in the beauty of it and enjoy it!

Some people walk around as if God's grace, though given freely, is "cheap" unless we grovel before Him, always reminding Him and each other how "unworthy" we are to receive it. Of course, it's not that we should not be thankful for grace! In fact, the best way that we can show that we are truly thankful for the gift is to walk freely in it!

My son is three years away from getting his driving permit. (Lord have mercy!) ;) Let's just say that when he's able to drive, we have the means to buy him a car. He's done nothing to deserve it. We paid the price for it, entirely. He gets in the car, drives five miles and then stops and calls us and says, "Mom and Dad, I'm really not worthy of this gift you've given me. Thank you so much!" Great, he appreciates the gift! But then during the next five miles, he keeps on thinking about how unworthy he is, and he stops again and calls us to tell us again how unworthy he is, and how thankful he is for the car. This then keeps up for the rest of the time that he owns the car!

Am I being a bit over the top with this example? Maybe. :) But it's to point out that that's how some people see the gift of grace. They live day in and day out as if they need to keep reminding themselves of their unworthiness in order to truly appreciate the gift. But just as we wouldn't give our son a car with the hopes that he would keep on understanding and groveling before us about how he didn't deserve it, but rather we would give it to him so that he would simply enjoy it, God hasn't given us the gift of His life so that we would continue to feel unworthy. Even though we truly didn't deserve it, He didn't pay the price so that we would remain stuck in a mentality of unworthiness before Him, but rather so that we'd have a brand new life in which we see how much He truly LOVES us and how He has crowned us with glory and honor, and how He VALUES us!

People don't give gifts hoping that the receivers of the gifts will stay with the mindset that they didn't deserve the gifts. True giving is given joyfully and out of a true willingness to give! God gave the ultimate gift as the ultimate giver! To walk as a unworthy worm before Him is to not appreciate and understand the gift! In fact, it takes away from what the gift has truly provided us with! To appreciate the gift of grace is to walk in its fullness, which means understanding that we are PRECIOUS and VALUABLE to God, not unworthy worms.

Jesus became a curse for us and Jesus became sin for us

Abraham believed God and God accounted that to him as righteousness. That is the blessing of Abraham. Christ became a curse for us so that we might receive the blessing of Abraham. Also, Christ became sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God in Him! It's through nothing we've done... It's all what He has done! Your sins are not counted against you. You are not cursed. By faith, you are counted as righteous.

2 Cor 5:21
21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

Gal 3:5-14
5 Therefore He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? — 6 just as Abraham "believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness." 7 Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham. 8 And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel to Abraham beforehand, saying, "In you all the nations shall be blessed." 9 So then those who are of faith are blessed with believing Abraham.

10 For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them." 11 But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for "the just shall live by faith." 12 Yet the law is not of faith, but "the man who does them shall live by them."

13 Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, "Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree"), 14 that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.

GIG 192 - Us Living For God or God Living Through Us?

Life truly is God's gift to us! But is it really also true, as a common slogan goes, that "what we do with it is our gift to Him?" God created the universe, and everything in it - easily! Do we really have something of value to offer Him? Can we pay Him back in any way for the gift of Life He's given us?

This week we take a look at the difference between us living our life "for God," and God living His life through us. Rather than trusting in our own strength, we realize that we have died and now have a new life --- Christ lives in us. It's not us doing great stuff for God, it's Him expressing His very life through us. With this in mind, what does it mean to present ourselves as living sacrifices? We discuss this and more on this week's episode!

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