December 6, 2022 NOT THE HEARERS
Romans 2:9-11, 13 “There will be tribulation and stress for every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek, but glory and honor and peace to every man who does good, to the Jew first and also to Greek. For there is no partiality with God.” “for not the hearers of the Law are just before God, but the doers of the Law will be justified.”
In the day in which we live, it seems that knowledge is the goal; even in Christian circles particularly, we can find ourselves putting great value on ‘knowing the Word,’ while at the same time not ‘doing’ the Word. Certainly, knowledge is important and there is great value in learning; we should be continually expanding our minds and gaining new insights. The scriptures tell us to grow in the knowledge of God; that implies study and meditation. For believers, is gaining, or even having a certain level of knowledge the proper goal? One could debate whether or not Paul was addressing believers in Romans 2, but it seems that he was; but, the essence of what he says applies to all. Paul drives home the fact God has extended His grace to mankind that he might be saved, but mankind rejects the grace of God and chooses to live according to his own dictates. Verse 4 warns of the danger of ‘thinking lightly of the riches of the kindness and forbearance and patience of God.’ The crucial point for us to get out of this passage is that knowing the word of God and not doing the word of God has serious consequences and is the biggest error we could make. The central truth is that God has made believers righteous by the work of Christ; because we have been made righteous, we are to be about expressing that righteousness by doing good! That sounds so simple-but that is exactly the point. God is good-so we are to be good and do good. When you think about it, it becomes a no-brainer; we just do the things that please our Father God. So, we make choices; we choose our way, the flesh, or we choose to live according to the ways of our Father. For example, if my neighbor needs help and I am able to meet that need, I can choose to take action-do a good deed-and help my neighbor; or I can choose not to help. This all sounds so basic, but we need to make sure we are actually putting into practice the clear teachings of scripture; our thoughts, our motives, our responses, and our actions are to reflect the righteousness of Christ. It is the doers of God’s word who will be blessed.
Luke 11:28 “But He said, ‘On the contrary, blessed are those who hear the word of God, and observe it.’”
Blessings,
Buddy
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