Finally, after forty years in the wilderness and more than
450 years after the promise of the Land was made to Abram when he was in Haran,
the people are ready to begin to possess the Land. Has God's promise to you been delayed in
fulfillment? This story certainly tells
us that God's promises are always fulfilled, no matter how long it takes, we
can never lose faith, never give up on a promise. Joshua tells the people to prepare, God, in
the presence of the ark, will go before them and they are to give it wide berth,
about the length of ten football fields, as they follow behind it. The Jordan will roll back as the Red Sea had
done but this crossing will require them to take the first step of faith, they
have to step into the water before God will roll it back. They have seen enough to be able to make the
decision to act in faith. The longer we
follow Him the more we see and the more we see the more He calls us to act
before we see.
We are saved by grace, so what is Jesus saying here? Yes, grace is always the case but Jesus is
also incredibly clear in every respect that to be truly saved is to be reborn,
a new creation, characterized by a change of living to be more like Him, the
perfect image of God. He has shown us
the way the Father intended us to be and to live and has given us not only an
example but also His Spirit to guide and direct us. The way we live should reveal that He lives
in us, we are to be the people who do the things of which He speaks. If your priorities haven’t changed and you
haven't become less self-obsessed, you might need to ask for more of Him. Righteousness means that we live in concert
with our beliefs.
All are disobedient so that God may show mercy to all. We cannot blame our genetics or our forebears
or Adam and Eve for our own sins. Their sin
imparted the proclivity to sin but not the outworking of sin. Whatever our genetics may say we are not
determinists, not automatons or slaves. If
we were, we would have no sin in some respects, we could excuse some people's
behavior as deterministic rather than holding them responsible. The Father treats us with far greater dignity
than that by holding us responsible and
accountable for our actions and providing us with the Helper, the Holy Spirit,
to assist us in our weakness. The Jews
were disobedient to that which had been revealed to them and on account of that
we receive mercy. Paul completes his
theological teachings of the first eleven chapters with a doxology, a hymn of
praise to the One who has saved him, it is all about Him. Theology (knowledge of God), should always
lead to doxology (praise of God).
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