The Lord provided
the sacrificial system as a way of maintaining covenant. His desire wasn't for sacrifices to multiply,
but for obedience and righteousness. As
they became prosperous they were able to afford sin. It would be as if you decided you would put a
nickel in a jar every time you cursed.
The penalty might not be enough to cause you to stop cursing. Sacrifices are not a substitute for obedience
and righteousness. The Lord's desire was
for a people who would obey Him and be that kingdom of priests He so
desires. We can make an even more
egregious mistake since we make no sacrifice at all, we can so rely on Jesus'
finished work that we do not restrain ourselves from sin at all. This is far worse than the Israelites error,
it makes a mockery of the cross.
Jesus makes an
amazing offer at the festival. On this
day they poured out water around the altar as a sign of their faith that the
Lord would soon provide the rains in their season. He would be faithful and give them more
water. We live in a region where such
seasons are not common but in places where rain happens only during certain
seasons of the year, it is truly an act of faith to pour out the water you have
stored in anticipation of rain. Jesus
says that if they will come to Him they will have rivers of living water
flowing from his heart. See Isaiah 55
for the reference here. People were
divided over Him based solely on what they thought they knew concerning His
place of birth. You would think there
would be a bit of humility concerning knowledge given the nation's history of
problems with interpretation wouldn't you?
I wouldn't, I know too much about Christian history to believe that we
understand everything we need to.
Does Paul mean faith
is simple mental assent to a proposition?
I am quite certain he means a bit more than that when he uses the word
faith. With respect to Abraham, there
was action required to prove his faith.
He first had to go where the Lord sent him and then he had to continue
to walk with Him. Sometimes it requires
a long season of obedience to receive the promise of God but ultimately
whatever He has promised He will do.
Faith and obedience go hand in hand.
We prove our faith by the living of our lives according to God's
will. We don't go back to where we were
before, we leave it all behind and move ahead in the belief that what He has
promised He will fulfill. The faith we
have is in the resurrection of Jesus and we live with the security of that
resurrection to life eternal.
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