Matthew 14:22-33 Romans 10:5-15
What does this passage from Romans mean?
Paul’s statements pile one on another – difficult to entangle
To do with righteousness of non-Jews (Gentiles) compared to unbelief of Jews (God’s elect – so why did they disbelieve – this was a problem for Paul)
Is salvation for all?
Yes
GENTILES – came to faith effortlessly by believing the proclamation by Paul about Jesus Christ – and thereby will be saved
JEWS – worked diligently to observe Law and so be justified and reckoned by God as righteous – yet have rejected faith in Christ the Messiah as the only means of becoming truly righteous as they cannot be saved through their own efforts alone.
Argument is about
Faith in Christ
Works of the Law
Modern parallel
Those who attend church but do not allow Faith to really change the way they live their lives
Those who may or may not attend church or observe religious practices outwardly, but develop a close and personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ and the working of the Holy Spirit in their inner being, as a result of which one can see their whole lives are changed
You cannot know God by
Attending church
Listening to words
Participating in liturgy
Religious observance
That is WORKS
It is a form of righteousness that in the end cannot be effective
It is incomplete
It misses the point
That’s what Paul meant when he said WORKS of the Law is like
Bringing Christ down, or
Raising him from the dead
Only God can do that
We cannot through our own efforts
As Paul says, all we need to do is
Listen to the Word that is near us
On our lips
In our hearts
And believe
This was the simple child-like faith shown by Peter in the miracle story of Walking on Water
His open and trusting acceptance that he could do the seemingly impossible enabled him to do so
When he thought about it – rationalized it – he failed and started to sink
When he sank, he called out “Jesus save me”
Jesus reached out his hand
He did not tell Peter he was doing it all wrong – like a surfer putting his weight in the wrong place and toppling over
He chided Peter for his lack of Faith – not his lack of technique
It was his faith that was missing, and Peter started to fail
It was Faith that got him started when no one else in the boat was prepared to take a step into the unknown
It was Faith that enabled Peter to continue against all the odds
It was a failure of Faith that caused him to doubt
Those in the boat watched and learned
They developed their own faith
It was their reaction “Truly you are the Son of God” that ends the story
Simple child-like trusting faith that believes and not spend too long on the rituals, the right and wrong ways of doing things, the minutiae of theology – the WORKS of the Law in other words.
May we all listen and learn – strive to develop this kind of faith – learnfrom what we have ourselves seen and heard.
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