A Medley for Salvation

 

A Medley for Salvation

The subject of righteousness and mercy is one that generates a lot of questions. In this article, we would dissect the Apostle Paul's assertions on the Righteousness of God versus the Law of Righteousness. 

Rom 10:1  Brothers, my heart's desire and my prayer to God for Israel is for their salvation. 

Rom 10:2  For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to accurate knowledge.

Rom 10:3  For ignoring the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God. 

Rom 10:4  For Christ is the end of the Law for righteousness to everyone who believes. 

Rom 10:5  For Moses writes about the righteousness that is by the Law: "The man who does these things will live by means of them."

WHY 'the Law for righteousness'?: When Adam and Eve ate the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil, it became a sin for them. Not because one having the knowledge of good and evil is sin, but simply because God told them not to! I have made a deeper explanation of this in previous articles. Now, it is usually said and I quote: Rom 5:13  or until the Law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Yet, Noah is proof of the opposite, as God imputed sin on the world, even though there was no law at the time. God said:

Gen 6:5  And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 

Gen 6:6  And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. 

Gen 6:7  And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them. 

Gen 6:8  But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD. 

Again God said to Noah:

Gen 6:11  The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. 

Gen 6:12  And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth. 

Gen 6:13  And God said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth. 

The people at the time did not any laws, likewise, the people of Sodom and Gomorrah whom God destroyed. Yet, in those generations, there were men like Noah and Abraham who - even though had no laws, yet were able to find grace with God. Noah understood the precepts of mercy, for it is through mercy obtained, that we find grace with God. We see this that immediately after Noah and his family got off the ark, he offered a sacrifice.

Gen 8:20  And Noah builded an altar unto the LORD; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar. 

So, we can see that Noah understood the significance of obtaining righteousness - howbeit temporary - by offering burnt offerings to God. After this sacrifice, God promised not to destroy humankind again in that manner:

Gen 8:21  And the LORD smelled a sweet savour; and the LORD said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake; for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done. 

Gen 8:22  While the earth remaineth, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease. 

Likewise, Abraham understood by instruction the significance of cutting a covenant with God through the sacrifice of animals. He also had learnt obedience and was willing to offer his son as a burnt offering to God, believing that God had the ability to restore life to His son. This act of faith in my opinion was the seed that made God willing to offer up His only begotten Son, Jesus as an atonement for righteousness for the entire humankind. God was impressed with Abraham and said:

Gen 22:15  And the angel of the LORD called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time, 

Gen 22:16  And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son: 

Gen 22:17  That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; 

Gen 22:18  And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice. 

So God selected Abraham's seed as the lineage by which His begotten Son would come. However, there was still no law at this time, and one can only imagine God's faithfulness to Himself when He said in His heart that:  neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done. 

Like I mentioned earlier, God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, imputing their sin upon them, even though there was no law. He did so on the basis that there could not be found there 10 people who were righteous. Yet, God left a remnant in Lot and his family.

It is my strong belief that when God chose the lineage of Abraham for His seed, he had to protect that lineage from sin and his eventual wrath against sin, and find a way to ensure that there could be righteous people in that land and even a remnant - as safeguards for the preservation of that lineage. And so, God made a covenant with them and gave them a Law for righteousness. This included the 10 commandments, the statutes, precepts and all the offerings associated with it. 

When we read through the historical portion of the bible, we see that when things got bad with the people of Israel, God raised judges, prophets, kings to restore righteousness. And when those failed, he sent them away in captivity, but always left a remnant to ensure the preservation of the lineage. So we see that the Law for righteousness was successful in keeping the Abrahamic lineage existing for the birth of the seed - the messiah, Jesus Christ. 

Meditate on the following scrptures: Hebrews 10: 1 - 4, 9: 9 -10, Romans 3: 20, Hebrews 7: 18 - 19.

WHY The Righteousness of God?  This was the plan of God all along. That by one singular offering - God's own lamb (Jesus Christ) - all of humanity will receive righteousness once and for all by faith.

Rom 5:12  Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned, 

Rom 5:13  or until the Law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. 

Rom 5:14  Nevertheless death reigned from Adam until Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the likeness of Adam's transgression, who is a type of the one who is to come. 

Rom 5:15  But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if by the trespass of the one the many died, much more did the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, abound to the many. 

Rom 5:16  And it is not the same with the free gift as with the way things worked through the one man who sinned. For the judgment after one trespass was condemnation, but the gift after many trespasses was justification.

Sidebar: This 5vs16 is for those who say my sins have been very many for it all to be forgiven. God is saying, come and obtain mercy regardless!

Rom 5:17  For if by the trespass of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the one, Jesus Christ. 

Rom 5:18  So, then, as through one trespass there was condemnation to all men, so too through one act of righteousness there was justification of life to all men. 

Rom 5:19  For as through the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one the many will be made righteous. 

Meditate on the following scriptures: Hebrews 4: 15, 1 Peter 1: 18 - 19, 2 Corinthians 5: 21, Hebrew 10: 10 -14.

Poser: Righteousness in Christ is a gift. But if Righteousness is now for us, why do we need mercy. Should a righteous person still seek for mercy? 

Jesus already knew these questions will come up, so He proclaimed to us the parable of the Prodigal Son. 

Luk 15:11  And he said, A certain man had two sons 

Luk 15:12  And the younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of the property that should come to me.’ So he divided his belongings between them. 

Luk 15:13  And not many days later, the younger son gathered all his things together and traveled to a distant country and there squandered his property by debauched living. 

Luk 15:14  And when he had spent everything, a severe famine arose in that country, and he began to be in need. 

Luk 15:15  And he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, and he sent him into his fields to tend swine. 

Luk 15:16  "And he would have gladly filled his stomach with the pods that the swine were eating, and no one was giving anything to him. 

Luk 15:17  "But when he came to himself, he said, ‘How many of my father's hired men have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger! 

Luk 15:18  ‘I will get up and go to my father, and will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight. 

Luk 15:19  I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me as one of your hired men. "’ 

Luk 15:20  So he got up and went to his father. While he was still a long way off, his father caught sight of him and was moved with pity, and he ran and fell upon his neck and kissed him. 

Luk 15:21  "And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ 

Luk 15:22  "But the father said to his slaves, ‘Quickly bring out the best robe and put it on him and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. 

Luk 15:23  And bring the fattened calf and kill it and let us eat and celebrate. 

Luk 15:24  For this son of mine was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate. 

Luk 15:25  "Now his older son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. 

Luk 15:26  And he summoned one of the slaves and asked what these things meant. 

Luk 15:27  "And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has received him back safe and sound.’ 

Luk 15:28  But he became angry and did not want to go in. So his father came out and began pleading with him. 

Luk 15:29  But he answered his father, ‘Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might celebrate with my friends. 

Luk 15:30  But when this son of yours came, who has squandered your belongings with prostitutes, you slaughtered the fattened calf for him.’ 

Luk 15:31  And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. 

Luk 15:32  ‘But we had to celebrate and rejoice, for this brother of yours was dead and is alive again and was lost and is found.’ 

So we see that the prodigal son after much suffering outside His Father's presence, came to himself, and he became broken in spirit and had a contrite heart. He said this to show his repentance with the hope of obtaining mercy:

Luk 15:18  ‘I will get up and go to my father, and will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight. 

Luk 15:19  I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me as one of your hired men. "’ 

Now we will see the free gift of righteousness in this parable: before the son could get to the Father and speak His words of repentance, His Father was already compassionate and running to Him (verse 20).

Making it clear that regardless of all that had transpired, the prodigal son still had right standing with his father. Likewise, God before the sacrifice of Jesus would have required a sin offering before the prodigal son could even come and obtain mercy. Because God is Holy. But because of the sacrifice of Jesus had made all righteous, God could run to the prodigal sons of the world. Very important! 

Now, once the son got to the Father, He groveled and begged, he was ready to receive his just punishment of losing his sonship, he showed he was now broken and contrite, and he obtained His Fathers Mercy. 

By Mercy His Father restored to him his graces and celebrated in the best way. Saying, For this son of mine was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate. 

Rom 10:6  But the righteousness based on faith says: "Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven? that is, to bring Christ down, 

Rom 10:7  "or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’ (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead)." 

Rom 10:8  But what does it say? "The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart," that is, the word of faith which we are proclaiming, 

Rom 10:9  that if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 

Rom 10:10  For with the heart one believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth one confesses, resulting in salvation. 

Verses 6 - 7 is basically saying I acknowledge the need of a messiah, Jesus, but who will now bring him to me now? And then we see verse 8 saying: the word, Jesus, your messiah, is near you just speak what you believe right there where you are. 

What are you to believe? Verse 9: that Jesus is Lord and that God raised him from the dead.

Verse 10 shows us how to obtain that free gift of righteousness, it is by believing Jesus is Lord and that He is alive, God having raised him from the dead - just as Abraham believed that God could return His son Isaac. 

Believing God raised Jesus from the dead is important for the following reasons:

1. The Resurrection Proves Jesus' Divinity: Romans 1:4 says that Jesus was "declared to be the Son of God in power according to the Spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead." Without the resurrection, Jesus' claim to be the Son of God would lack its ultimate validation.

2. Without the Resurrection, Our Faith Is in Vain: In 1 Corinthians 15:14, Paul writes, "If Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith." The resurrection confirms that Jesus conquered sin and death, giving believers the hope of eternal life.

3. It Guarantees the Future Resurrection of Believers: In 1 Corinthians 15:20-22, Paul explains that Jesus' resurrection is the "firstfruits," guaranteeing that those who belong to Him will also be raised. Without His resurrection, there is no promise of eternal life.

Essentially, the resurrection is the linchpin of the Christian faith, affirming Jesus' identity, the power of His sacrifice, and the hope of eternal life for believers. As Abraham received his son back, so God must receive His Son back. If not, then God is nothing but a murderer, and we who believe in Jesus' death for our sins, would be nothing but co-murderers or accessories to murder as the legal parlance dictates. And thus we would still be in sin. And there would be no Christianity. Very important.

In the Gospel of John, Mary Magdalene is indeed the first to see the risen Jesus (John 20:11-18). Following her encounter, the role call of witnesses to the resurrection unfolds as follows:

1. The Disciples in the Locked Room (John 20:19-23): Later on the same day, Jesus appeared to the disciples while they were behind locked doors. He showed them His hands and side, confirming His resurrection.

2. Thomas, the Disciple (John 20:24-29): Eight days later, Jesus appeared again to the disciples, this time specifically addressing Thomas, who had doubted until he saw and touched Jesus' wounds. Very Important! let us read:  Joh 20:24  But Thomas, one of the twelve, called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came

   Joh 20:25  The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe. 

   Joh 20:26  And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you. 

   Joh 20:27  Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing. 

   Joh 20:28  And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God. 

   Joh 20:29  Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.. 

3. Seven Disciples by the Sea of Galilee (John 21:1-14): Jesus appeared to seven disciples while they were fishing. He performed a miraculous catch of fish and shared a meal with them.

...and with the mouth one confesses, resulting in salvation. 

Salvation how do we receive it, by confessing. Our Salvation is essentially God's Mercy on us. Whenever we obtain God's mercy, we obtained salvation.

Confessing is in two forms. (1) Confession of your sins and (2) Confession of your righteousness in Christ.

1) Confessing of sin takes place before God the Father. It is an issue of relationship. If in the real world, we hurt someone, we go to the person and say hey am sorry, i hurt you, should not have said what i said, or done what i did, please forgive me. That is like our confession even before God. A broken spirit and a contrite heart.

2) Confession of your righteousness in Christ is not for God. It is for your conscience and your accusers. So lets say while the prodigal son, now wearing his robes and eating the fatted lamb, his conscience starts to say to him: You know you don't deserve this love your father is showing you, you are simply a bad child etc Then the prodigal son CONFESSES I am now righteous before my Father because of Jesus and I have obtained his mercy. I am saved.

If also his brother (who was unhappy at his brothers return, and was full of self-righteousness) decided to go to his brother, and like the devil, accuse him saying to his face: You know you don't deserve this love our father is showing you, you are simply a bad child etc here is a disease, here is poverty - that is what you deserve, then the prodigal son CONFESSES I am now righteous before my Father because of Jesus and I have obtained his mercy. I am saved.

Glory to God!

Now, what if the prodigal son messes up again and leaves the father's presence and go and spend his days in riotous living (sin), God will punish as a parent disciplines an erring child. Read Hebrews  12: 5 - 13. As the child repents and pleads for mercy.

So, you have heard the message of God's love preached by his messengers, you have questions, you want to hear from God yourself as you read the word. Some said they are seemingly confused the more they tried to find the answers in the bible. Why was this so? 

Maybe they had not believed even the basics of receiving righteousness by faith and not by the law, even though they were born into Christian homes. 

OR/AND

Maybe they believed and received the free gift of righteousness and instead of going to confess their sins before God and receive mercy - become saved, they assumed they were already saved - its like going to someone you hurt and instead of saying sorry, instead you say I owe you no apology because you have forgiven me already, past present and future sin, the person might get even more cross with you and keep you at the gate until you learn contriteness.  On this subject, this is what God told the Prophet Ezekiel:

Eze 43:10  "As for you, son of man, describe the temple to the house of Israel, that they may be ashamed of their errors; and let them measure the plan. 

Eze 43:11  If they are ashamed of all that they have done, make known to them the plan of the temple, its arrangement, its exits, its entrances, all its plans, all its statutes, and all its laws. And write it in their sight, so that they may observe its whole design and all its statutes and do them.

The temple is the presence of God, the dwelling of God, you may have had the temple described to you through teachings (especially discussions on God's love and majesty), but being ashamed of our errors - which is meant to lead to repentance - will lead to more revelations on the innerworkings of the presence of God - the temple. The choice is yours.

We will end with this hymn: "Come, Ye Sinners, Poor and Needy"

"Come, Ye Sinners, Poor and Needy" is a beloved Christian hymn that emphasizes the themes of grace, forgiveness, and the universal call to salvation. It was written by Joseph Hart in 1759, a man who had experienced a deep spiritual transformation after previously rejecting Christianity. His personal journey of repentance and faith is reflected in the heartfelt words of the hymn. Good song!

Lyrics video to the Hymn

Come, ye sinners, poor and needy,

1. Weak and wounded, sick and sore;
   Jesus ready stands to save you,
   Full of pity, love and pow’r.
   • Refrain:
     I will arise and go to Jesus,
     He will embrace me in His arms;
     In the arms of my dear Savior,
     Oh, there are ten thousand charms.
2. Come, ye thirsty, come, and welcome,
   God’s free bounty glorify;
   True belief and true repentance,
   Every grace that brings you nigh.
3. Come, ye weary, heavy-laden,
   Lost and ruined by the fall;
   If you tarry till you’re better,
   You will never come at all.
4. View Him prostrate in the garden;
   On the ground your Maker lies;
   On the bloody tree behold Him;
   Sinner, will this not suffice?
5. Lo! th’ incarnate God ascended,
   Pleads the merit of His blood:
   Venture on Him, venture wholly,
   Let no other trust intrude.
6. Let not conscience make you linger,
   Not of fitness fondly dream;
   All the fitness He requireth
   Is to feel your need of Him.