Justification by faith ( penned on 27 Dec 2009)

With the beginning of the New Year I realize we are at  2010 , the   beginning of a new decade, the passage of a crushing year in terms of   economic turmoil. While much of the world continues to reel from the   aftermath,  is there anything tangible left  for one to look forward to?  

 

I believe this year  will present  much potential and opportunities  for one to exploit. Anything is possible for him who believes......   

But one has to have a keen eye, calculate his cost, be optimistic and enterprising as he takes on the challenges presented before him. I believe the second half of this year will provide opportunities  and be a starting point for the next economic cycle.

The world will recover from the crisis. That's for sure. There will be   a new generation of wealth creation. The wealth will however shift from the   West to the East. Thats what the gurus are saying. New powers will   emerge. There will be greater regulation of banking , finance and   taxation. The recent crisis has set that precedence in place ..... 

There will be signs that the  world will gradually tilt towards a   central point of control .Terrorism and clandestine nations that   subscribe to this as a political belief system will  continue to   further strike fear into the hearts of the civilized world. It will gradually   force the civilized world towards a belief in a policed form of security and   central control. Iran and Moscow and probably China and India (as the   new Eastern rich economies that will clamour for world political   prominence) will need to be watched as they will inadvertantly play themselves into   key  eschatalogical roles in accordance with biblical prophecy. Also   watch the next generations of personal mobile telephony and computing   as people warm to the idea of a cashless society using  the implanted   verichip. This continued predisposition  of the mindset of society in general  to intermittent but escalating terror attacks, will further reinforce the  belief system that will lean towards  a barcoded society; ie security at the price of personal freedom; as and when it is implemented by the State.. .........

The West will embrace Eastern religions even more and in greater numbers ; but in a rather pantheistic (all is God and God is all)  fashion. The East will however become more Christianized. Pockets of the West   will experience revival such as in the UK and the USA ; as they do a deep soul   search in the midst of the recent  economic downturn. The world at   

large will gradually bow to the demands of Muslims who will   persistently seek their presence and expansion into Western civilizations   exploiting  the provisions of the West's  human rights laws , which in their current state  makes it possible for them to do so. 

Atheism , godlessness , pantheism in the form of the New Age religion ,Humanism,   

unrestrained fornication and homosexuality will continue to take a   greater grip over our children against society's  former model of   religion, morals and family values as observed in the preceeding 6   millenia of civilization. The family unit as we know it to be will therefore   

gradually disintegrate bringing about society's decline. This  will also contribute significantly to society's gravitation towards central control , security and  barcoding; to keep the worm out of the woodwork   so to speak and to bring some sanity into social order. 

The earth and it's climate will continue to deteriorate despite the   many symposiums and concerted effort that global nations will  make on   climate control. Why would this be a loosing battle? Because the   population grows at 3 percent per annum and this places a great demand   on world energy resources. Alternative energy resources will not be able   to expand fast enough to keep up with this rate. Hence the continued   dependance on petroleum based fuel source. 

It is also somewhat alarming that population expansion is growing at   its greatest rate amongst Muslim communities while the rest of   civilized especially Western societies continue to grow at a negative   rate .There is therefore bound to be a tipping point somewhere.There is already talk about a Muslim France in 20 years time. The   greatest majority in terms of racial or religious group will always   have the greatest say in determining how any society or nation is run. 

On a biblical point of view, the earth will groan in anticipation of   the revelation of the sons of God.(Romans 8:19 ) The world will take a turn for the   worse , with accompanying natural disasters, preparing the stage for an   impending celestial intervention. 

Does this sound like doom and gloom? Certainly not! For we know where our hope lies!

It is actually good news for one who has persevered in his   faith , faced his trials and through this brought forth a godly  character and has kept his eyes on hope in regards to  what eternity   holds for him.................it is time for the redemption of our bodies, the grand finale of our salvation! 

The church will have in the coming years much to do in terms of   disaster and crisis management, ministry, preaching the gospel, preparing the   believers unto maturity, feeding the poor, clothing the naked ,   defending the fatherless and healing the sick. It is the decade for   the layman and the place is the marketplace. There is coming a time of miracles and prophesying that will   open the ears of the spiritually dead for the gospel of Jesus   Christ....... almost in a way that rhetorics cannot do with today's   educated. (1st Corinthians 4 verse 20 says the Kingdom of God is not in word but in power ' !)

 

It is not the time to build our empires and put money into   brick and mortars unless wisdom requires this. It is time for us to examine ourselves and to go back to the point of   our first love (Revelations 2 verse 4) and to consider what amends we need   to make to our very own Walk...............it's Back to Basics or  First Principles........ 

(Read Romans 3 to 4 quickly to get a gist of what Paul is saying) ........

The main premises of our Christian faith lies in the imputation of   

righteousness into our lives. It is an act of grace.

 

Who imputed it?  God.

 

Against what condition is it imputed? Our faith! 

This principle of Justification (acquitted and declared innocent from sin) was a principle that was lost during the Middle Ages and   rediscovered only later by Martin Luther almost after 1000 years ; which lead to   the Reformation and subsequently the Renaissance. It appears that   whenever the truth of the gospel is silenced the world plunges into   darkness and whenever it is preached it brings about an awakening of   wisdom in all disciplines . It goes without saying that there is a   sudden increase in knowledge today and that is only because the gospel   is being declared like never before. Why must knowledge arise as a   by product  of the propagation of the gospel? That is because   knowledge will always point us back to the Magnificence of God , so   that man is without excuse. (Read Romans chapter 1 verses 18-22 )

 

Isn't the fear of  God the beginning of wisdom? Weren't  great men of God behind the   greatest of  scientific discoveries made during the period of   Renaissance to present day?.......refer the works of science made by Copernicus,   Marconi ,Newton ,Galileo, Edison etc? 

Romans 5: vs 1 and 10 say we have been justified; we have peace , and   

we have been reconciled with God as a result of the saving work of Christ. 

(Justify means declared innocent, guiltless, absolved, acquitted) 

What does this really say in essence? 

It means before we were declared innocent and acquitted of our sin by   the very sacrifice of Jesus Christ (Romans 3 verses 24-25), all mankind were really alienated from God, and were not   at peace with Him. There was a divide between God and man; and Adam's   sin was the culprit. 

A reconciliation between all mankind and God, now  made possible by the   complete acquittal of man from the scourge of sin; was accomplished   through a blood price paid by a God-Man (Son of Man) on behalf of all   mankind , as provided for personally by God. This is where God meets man   in the person of Jesus Christ.

 

What man could not do , God did.

 

What  nobody else could do ,God did by Himself through his own incarnate manifestation .......the   sacrificial lamb being God in the form of man, so that he represents   all man but yet is an unblemished being, fulfilling the requirements of a   perfect sacrifice...........a feat only God himself could accomplish......... 

The only way to gain access to this Reconciliation between man and God   

is by Faith. 

So what is Faith?

 

What is it's mechanics?

 

Faith in what? What does it entail?

 

What is the crucial essence required in one's heart when one prays the sinner's prayer ?..........  

ie to repent, confess that Jesus is Lord, believe he died for our   sins, and that God raised him up from the dead? 

Is there something deeper in the heart that needs to take place   when one is being led through the sinner's prayer?.......of the   similitude of the warmth in the heart that John Wesley felt when he   read the account of Martin Luther on the book of Romans in regards to   

Justification by faith?

 

Yes there is a deeper essence! 

The key seems to lie in Abraham's Faith as outlined by Paul in the book of Romans 4 . Lets look at this   further..........and examine it's depth....... 

'Abraham believed God and it was credited to him for righteousness' -( Romans 4: verse 3 )

 

In order to understand the Faith of Abraham, let's look at some definitions of Believe and Faith: 

Believe:

 

to have confidence in the truth,the existence,or the   

reliability of something,although without absolute proof that one is   

right in doing so.Only if one believes in something can one act   

purposefully 

Faith:

 

trust in god and in his promises as made through Christ and the   

scriptures by which humans are justified or saved 

So what does it mean to believe? 

To understand this we need to look into the context of the belief  mechanism as demonstrated by Abraham. We have to really go to that point where Abraham was tested in his faith rather than at the point of his demonstration of faith. We have to view the quality of faith that Abraham demonstrated when he was tested by God in regards to this matter.

You see....Abraham's test of faith was.... he  was required by God to   sacrifice his only son. God did this of course to test his faith and to teach us something as well . We will not   cover the details of that story here. What is more important is the   significance of Abraham's faith in regards to our subject matter of   belief and faith as emphasised by Paul in the book of Romans.

It had taken a miracle of proportions for Abraham to beget Isaac. This   son was a son of promise,through whom was to come the nation of   Israel  and the Savior of the world. Abraham and Sarah could not have   anymore children as they were very advanced in age. They were   obviously very attached to this child  as he was their only child.

 

What  could have possibly run through Abraham' s mind as he was faced with   

God's sacrificial requirement? Let your imagination run. Could it have been like this? ....... 

• it took me much to beget this child. How can I bear to loose him? 
• how can God possibly prepare another child for me? we are too old for  this! 
• why does God want me to kill my own child? What kind of a God is he? 
• what am I going to tell Sarah and my people after I have done this? I   will be made a mad man, a scum of the earth, won't I? Won't they stone   me for my senseless act? Wont my wife abandon me? 
• Did I really hear God correctly? Is God really requiring me to do carry out this crazy act? 
• how am I going to bear this pain of killing my own son? How am I going   to ever find the strength to perpetrate this act? 
• how am I going to live with myself after this? 

Abraham must have felt faint in the midst of all these maddening   thoughts. Only God knows the actual emotional state of the man in the days that he led his son up to the mountain. Nevertheless Abraham believed God. He trusted him   completely. He knew the matter was in good hands,although it may not in   his mind at that point in time appeared to have been so. It was   certainly a compelling situation of complete trust. It was by this very great act of faith that he was justified. 

Paul draws reference to Abraham's faith  as the primary driving example   to illustrate the principle of Justification by Faith ; and drawing a   strong parallel between this and the manner in which we are Justified   by Faith in Jesus Christ. 

Faith requires us to completely entrust ourself to the Lordship of   Jesus Christ .This kind of faith is not just demonstrated in an   instantaneous act of declaration alone  during the sinners prayer; but   requires the kind of trust in the Lordship of Jesus that is carried   entirely throughout one's transformed life from that point onwards. Hence the   righteous shall walk by faith as declared by the scriptures 

This is why a Christian is said to die to oneself. A Christian looses   his life and as a result gains it. Abraham died to himself, his   thoughts, his imaginations, his fears, his rationalization; and placed   himself completely at God's disposal. Are we like Abraham, dead to ourselves? 

This is the explanatory behind the kind of faith and trust we need to   demonstrate in living out our Christian lives. This is the kind of faith   that helps us work out our salvation with trembling and with great   fear; crucifying the old man, counting it joy when we are faced with   trials and tribulations, the perseverance that ensues, resulting in the development of our character,  which brings about  hope........ in regards to our eternal destiny.......... 

Meditate on this: 

............Walk by faith (what we dont see) and not by sight ( by   

what we see).............. 

If we are being faced with issues in regards to our walk of faith, it is time   to examine our faith and renew our first love , to consider Abraham's   faith ,and to renew our faith in the Lordship of Jesus Christ starting 2010 ; .................................for the coming decade is ours to take  for the kingdom of   Heaven , ..............with Christ at the head of our lives....... 

........To Examine oneself and to Keep the Faith as Abraham did...........God bless!