Making His Glory Brighter!

"In the same way, even though God has the right to show his anger and his power, he is very patient with those on whom his anger falls, who are destined for destruction.  He does this to make the riches of his glory shine even brighter on those to whom he shows mercy."  (Romans 9: 22 - 23 NLT)

So I have been thinking about the place where the law and faith meet and if you read my last post, law and faith come together in the work of Jesus Christ.  To that end, "what does this all mean?  Even though the Gentiles (that's you and me) were not trying to follow God's standards, they were made right with God.  And it was by faith that this took place." (Romans 9:30 NLT)  Paul goes on from Romans 9:30 to talk about that while the law could have held the Gentile's back, it was actually the law that was the stumbling block to the Jews.  You see, the Jews tried to live out all parts of the law, thinking that it was their duty in faith, but Paul reminds the Jews that without faith the law means nothing.  "I am placing a stone in Jerusalem that makes people stumble a rock that makes them fall.  But anyone who trusts in him will never be disgraced." (Romans 9:33 NLT)

Here is where it gets really good!  Paul's ultimate desire was that the people of Israel would be saved and he said that the people of Israel are trying to be saved by their own means: trying to keep the laws.  "For Moses writes that the law's way of making a person right with God requires obedience to all of its commands.  But faith's way of getting right with God says, 'Don't say in your heart, 'Who will go up to heaven' (to bring Christ down to earth).  And don't say, 'Who will go down to the place of the dead' (to bring Christ back to life again)." (Romans 10: 5-7 NLT)  You see, it is not our place to work out the details of the law because Jesus' sacrifice on the cross overcame and fulfilled the law.  "In fact, it says, 'The message is very close at hand; it is on [our] lips and in [our] heart.'" (Romans 10: 7 NLT)

SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT

The message that is close at hand and rests upon our lips and heart is the message of Jesus Christ and the work that He has been doing in our lives: that is a story worth telling the world.  "And that message is the very message about faith that we preach: If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your mouth that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." (Romans 10: 8-9 NLT)  We each are saved by the mercy and grace of Jesus Christ and when we acknowledge that this redemption is better than the law: in fact it is bigger than the law, it is by faith, then we allow the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in our life to shine out the brighter and tell the world whose glory we live for.