Judges 4, Numbers 14: Salvation, Take it or Leave it.

Presented to Swift Current Corps of The Salvation Army, 02 Oct. 2011

by Captain Michael Ramsay

We looked at the salvation God provided to the Israelite spies penultimately through Rahab the redeemed prostitute (Joshua 2&6, Hebrews 11:31, James 2:25 and ultimately to the whole world via Rahab’s descendent Jesus Christ the redeemer[1] last week; so I thought that we would look at a couple of other prominent women of the faith this week: Deborah, one of the early leaders of Israel and Jael who assassinated a leading general of one of their oppressors (Judges 4-5). In doing so, I was especially drawn to Deborah’s conversation with one of her generals, Judges 4:6-9:

She sent for Barak son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali and said to him, “The LORD, the God of Israel, commands you: ‘Go, take with you ten thousand men of Naphtali and Zebulun and lead the way to Mount Tabor. I will lure Sisera, the commander of Jabin’s army, with his chariots and his troops to the Kishon River and give him into your hands.’”

    Barak said to her, “If you go with me, I will go; but if you don’t go with me, I won’t go.”

    “Very well,” Deborah said, “I will go with you. But because of the way you are going about this, the honour will not be yours, for the LORD will hand Sisera over to a woman.” So Deborah went with Barak to Kedesh,

The honour was there for Barak: he could take it or leave it. He could act in faith or in fear.[2] As I meditated on these verses, I was drawn more and more to Numbers Chapter 14, especially 14:3,4 and 30-33, where the Israelites refuse to invade the Promised Land saying:

Why is the LORD bringing us to this land only to let us fall by the sword? …We should choose a leader and go back to Egypt…

    [Therefore God Replies, Verse 30:] …Not one of you will enter the land I swore with uplifted hand to make your home, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.

As for your children that you said would be taken as plunder, I will bring them in to enjoy the land you have rejected.

But you—your bodies will fall in this desert. 

Your children will be shepherds here for forty years, suffering for your unfaithfulness, until the last of your bodies lies in the desert.

Salvation was there for the Israelites. They could take it or leave it. They could act in faith or they could act in fear. Today we are going to do a comparison of sorts between the leaders of Israel in Judges 4 and the children of Israel in Numbers 14. The main things I want us to concentrate on is the fact that with God no matter what the situation facing us, we don’t need to be afraid for God is faithful even when we are faithless (Romans 3:3,4, 2 Timothy 2:13; cf. Deuteronomy 31:6, Joshua 1:5, Hebrews 13:5)– but, we only experience His provided salvation if we actually take Him up on His offer of salvation (John 3:16; cf. TSA docs. 6&8).  His salvation is waiting for all of us: we can take it or leave it.

We will look at Judge Deborah, Jael and General Barak in a bit here. But first, a little background information: The activity in the book of Judges takes place in the time after Joshua dies. Joshua was the leader of Israel after Moses and he was the one through whom most of the land of Canaan was conquered and its inhabitants put to the sword (Deuteronomy 31:1-8, 34:9; Joshua 1; Judges 2). When Joshua died, there was no clear successor as God’s leader of the Israelites (Joshua 1; Judges 2). What happened then is that the people –without clear leadership- would drift away from the Lord time and time again, just doing what they saw as fit in their own eyes; the Lord in His mercy would then sell them into the hands of their rivals so that they would eagerly seek to return to the joys of serving Him. At which time God would then by raise up various regional generals, despots, kings, or rulers from the various clans in order to save them, to liberate and to then rule over them (cf. Judges 2:16ff.). These primarily military leaders were called ‘judges’. Deborah, she is one of the judges of Israel here at a time when many of the tribes of Israel are struggling against the Canaanites under Jabin of Hazor and General Sisera (cf. Judges 4:1-2). This was Israel in Palestine at the time of Deborah in the book of Judges.

We read from Judges Chapter 4 earlier where Israel’s leader, Deborah instructs General Barak, in the name of the LORD, to lead the troops into battle against their oppressors.[3] Instead of simply saying ‘Yes ma’am’ to Deborah and ‘Yes’ to the Lord, Barak sounds a little like a scared elementary school student and he says instead to Deborah, “If you go with me, I will go; but if you don’t go with me, I won’t go” (Judges 4:8; cf. Exodus 4:13, Judges 6:15, Jeremiah 1:6). It reminds me of a summer or two ago when my daughters were younger and one of them accidentally threw a ball or something in the neighbours’ yard. I told her to just go ring their doorbell and ask if you can go into the yard and get it back. She looked scared stiff. She -in a moment of shear panic- said, ‘No, only if you go with me!’ General Barak when God through the Prophetess Deborah, Israel’s judge, tells him to run an errand for God, he says, “If you go with me, I will go; but if you don’t go with me, I won’t go.”  Now I told my daughter when she attempted to give me this ultimatum that she could take her sister with her to ask our neighbours for the ball and the two of them went hugging and grasping each other for support, with me watching, to our next door neighbours’ house to retrieve their ball. Judge Deborah similarly has mercy on this timid general, Barak, and says that she will go with him.[4] She doesn’t have quite as much mercy as I did with my 7 or 8 year-old daughter at the time though; nor should she. Barak, in his fear to go into battle without Deborah holding his hand, wasn’t just questioning Deborah’s order; he was questioning God.[5] In response: “‘Very well,’ Deborah said, ‘I will go with you. But because of the way you are going about this, the honour will not be yours, for the LORD will hand Sisera over to a woman.’ Then Deborah went with Barak to Kedesh” (Judges 4:9).

This is important. Glory was there for Barak: he could take it or leave it. But regardless of Barak, God still delivered the people of Israel from their oppressors, just like He said he would do. Even though Barak did not show faith and faithfulness, God was still faithful and He delivered His people unto salvation. But because Barak was more afraid of men than of God, he did not receive the full reward that he otherwise would have received (cf. Deuteronomy 31:6; Numbers 14; Joshua 1:5; Romans 3:3,4; Hebrews 13:5-6; 2 Timothy 2:13).

This brings us to our parallel passage in Numbers 14. The events in Numbers 14 happen a few generations before the events of Judges 4. In Numbers 14, Moses is still the leader of the Israelites. Moses, on God’s command, has just sent spies to spy out the land that the Lord had promised to them (Numbers 13). Two of the spies – Joshua, who would be their next leader and Caleb - come back and report that ‘yes we should take this land as God and Moses have commanded’. The other 10 spies however out-vote them (cf. Numbers 12, Exodus 5:15-21, Deuteronomy 9:7-29; Praise the Lord the Kingdom of God isn’t a democracy!). They are afraid and say, Numbers 14:4, “We should choose a new leader and go back to Egypt.” The people are about to execute Moses and his brother Aaron when the Lord intervenes (Numbers 14:10-12). God is understandably a little bit upset and says to them. If you’re going to be that way then I don’t want you here either. Go away (Number 14:20-25). I’ll invite Caleb and Joshua and another generation of people back to the promised salvation from the desert. Your kids can come without you to this Promised Land, after the rest of you have died (Numbers 26:65, Numbers 32:12, Joshua 14; Hebrews 4:3).

God prepared this promised rest for the Hebrews who had been wandering around the desert: it was there for the taking. They said ‘no’ to the rest so God withdrew the offer until after they had all died. Hebrews 4:3: God says, “So I declared on oath in my anger, ‘They shall never enter my rest.’”

Now this is significant: because the people are afraid and in their fear they rebel against God and Moses and Aaron, God says that they may not enter His promised salvation from their wanderings in the desert (Numbers 14:1-4,9). God says that He will still offer His salvation to His people but those who reject it will not get to experience it; they will die outside of His promise (cf. TSA doc. 9). God provided for the salvation of all of them but they decided not to take it. A whole generation of God’s chosen people rejected His promised rest and – save Joshua and Caleb- they all died outside of His promise (Number 14:24, Hebrews 4:3). God’s salvation: They had the opportunity to take it or leave it. They chose to leave it.

There is more to this part of the story too. After the people reject God’s deliverance into the promise, they then attempt to obtain their salvation from their desert wanderings without God. They attempt to secure the salvation on their own. This is what happens, Numbers 14:41-45:

But Moses said, “Why are you disobeying the LORD’s command? This will not succeed! Do not go up, because the LORD is not with you. You will be defeated by your enemies, for the Amalekites and Canaanites will face you there. Because you have turned away from the LORD, he will not be with you and you will fall by the sword.”

     Nevertheless, in their presumption they went up toward the high hill country, though neither Moses nor the ark of the LORD’s covenant moved from the camp. Then the Amalekites and Canaanites who lived in that hill country came down and attacked them and beat them down all the way to Hormah.

Numbers 14 records the tragic consequences of people out of fear first  rejecting God’s salvation that He had already provided for them and then rejecting His deliverance by trying to obtain this salvation on their own. God did still provided His salvation to a future generation as He promised but as far as this generation was concerned, deliverance was available to them: they could take it or leave it. They chose to leave it so this whole disobedient generation, through their lack of faith, died outside of the promise. It is a sad story indeed.

Back to Barak and Deborah, Jael and Judges 4. Because Barak rejected the glory offered to him, the glory went to someone who would take it: Jael -who is a foreigner (Kenite) and a woman- she experienced that glory instead of Barak (Judges 4:9, 21-22). It is important to note that Barak’s lack of faith could not and would not prevent God’s salvation from coming to His people – God still delivered them unto salvation - but Barak’s fear did prevent him from experiencing the full glory of that.[6]

As it is with Barak in Judges 4 and the children of Israel in Numbers 14, so it is with us. We cannot thwart the salvation of God but we can decline to be a part of it. Now God is a merciful God and He still used Barak to do His will and Barak, as Barak was faithful in battle he is now and forever remembered as a hero of the faith in Hebrews 11:32, even though because of his fear, he did not experience the honour that was otherwise available. And we know that God did save the children of that Numbers 14 generation of Israelites from the desert even though their parents chose to die in the wilderness and did indeed die outside of God’s rest. God is gracious. He is faithful even when we are faithless. His salvation is offered for us all but we need to take Him up on His offer to experience it for ourselves. John 3:16-18:

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.

This is important. This is the same choice we have today. Jesus’ death and resurrection provided salvation for the whole world. It is there for us. God is speaking to us all as he spoke to Barak through Deborah all those many years ago. He is telling us that victory is assured. We can take it or we can leave it. We are standing on the precipice of the Promised Land of eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. We can take it or leave it. I encourage us today. If there are any who have not yet said that yes they will follow God into His promised salvation, it is not too late. As long as well have breath in our body, the opportunity is there for the taking. Just like with Barak and the children of Israel, God’s Salvation is still available for us all: we can take it or leave it. Today, I want to encourage us that if there are any of us here today who have not yet taken God up on this that indeed, today will be the day of our salvation.

Let us pray.

 

http://www.sheepspeak.com/

 

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[1] Captain Michael Ramsay, Rahab the Redeemed (Joshua 2&6, Hebrews 11:31, James 2:25) Presented to Swift Current Corps of The Salvation Army, 25 Sept. 2011, Weekend of Prayer to Stop Human Trafficking. Available on-line: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2011/09/rahab-redeemed-joshua-2-hebrews-1131.html

[2] cf. John J. Davis and Hebert Wolf, Judges in NIV Study Bible (ed. Kenneth Barker; Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2002), 336.

[3] But cf. Dennis T. Olsen, The Book of Judges (NIB II; Nashville: Abingdon, 1998), 778-783.

[4] Cf. Robert Jamieson, ‘CHAPTER 4: Judges 4:1-17. Deborah and Barak Deliver Israel from Jabin and Sisera’. Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible. Available on-line: http://www.ccel.org/ccel/jamieson/jfb.x.vii.iv.html?scrBook=Judg&scrCh=4-4&scrV=0-0#x.vii.iv-p0.1

[5] John Wesley, “Explanatory Notes on Judges 4”. Cited from Christ’s Notes Bible Commentary (Cited 26 September, 2011). Available on-line: http://www.christnotes.org/commentary.php?b=7&c=4&com=wes

[6] Herbert Wolf, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM:Judges/Exposition of Judges/II. The Rule of the Judges (2:6-16:31)/E. The Victory of Deborah and Barak Over Jabin and Sisera (4:1-5:31)/1. The prose account (4:1-24)/b. Deborah's challenge to Barak (4:4-10), Book Version: 4.0.2

Rahab the Redeemed (Joshua 2&6, Hebrews 11:31, James 2:25)

Presented to Swift Current Corps of The Salvation Army, 25 September 2011, the Weekend of Prayer to Stop Human Trafficking and 20 October 2013. Presented on the same same occasion, 25 September 2016 at Warehouse Mission in Toronto. Presented also on the 15^th Anniversary of Corps 614 Regent Park in Toronto, 01 October 2016. Also presented to Alberni Valley Ministries in Port Alberni, By Captain Michael Ramsay

This is the Weekend of Prayer to Stop Human Trafficking version. To view the Alberni Valley Version, click here: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2019/01/joshua-2-redeemed.html To view the Corps 614 version, click here: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2016/09/rahab-redeemed-2016-jos-2-heb-1131-jas.html

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We have just been speaking about human trafficking in Canada and I am going to lighten the mood a little bit here before we briefly examine the story of Rahab today. Here is something that I ran across the other day when researching another topic.

A distinguished, prominent big city pastor cruised through a small town. As he did his eyes fell upon a child not more than two feet tall at the door of one of the houses. The boy was on tiptoes valiantly attempting to reach the doorbell. Amused and wanting to help, the pastor parked his car and went over to assist the boy. He reached up and pushed his finger onto the button and the chimes rang inside. Satisfied that he had done his good deed for the day, the pastor turned to the child, “Okay, what happens next­?”

With a smile the child replied, “Now we run!”

Another story: This lady goes to the doctor. She has been in serious pain for quite a while. The doctor asks her where it hurts and what is the matter. To which she replies, “It hurts when I touch my temple; it hurts when I touch my side; it hurts when I touch my arm; it even hurts when I touch my nose.”

“I think I know what the problem is”, the doctor says, “your finger is broken.”

Now, of course, today we have been speaking about the real pain associated with Human Trafficking. And the most logical passage in scripture to speak about addressing this would be the story of Joseph,[1] Genesis 37 [38] – 50, as he was actually was trafficked into slavery but as we have just spent quite a bit of time looking at Joseph over the summer, I thought we would deal with the story of the prostitute Rahab today instead (Joshua 2&6, Hebrews 11:31, James 2:25). While there is no evidence that Rahab was trafficked: her family was close to her; they lived in the same town as her (Jericho) and she went out of her way to save their lives when the opportunity arose (Joshua 2:12-13, 18; 6:23).[2] Most –or at least many- of the people trafficked today in Canada, however, are prostitutes, in a similar manner as Rahab was a prostitute:[3] though Shrine prostitution was not uncommon among the pagan peoples in that area, in those days, Rahab was not a shrine prostitute: the language used of Rahab’s profession refers to her strictly as a secular prostitute not unlike those in our own time, in our own country.[4]

Prostitutes then, like prostituted peoples today, were often outcasts from society. The significant thing about Rahab of course was that she repented -she changed to support God (Joshua 2,6) and she was redeemed - James recognizes her for both her faith and her works (James 2:24-26). Rahab was redeemed and the author of the sermon (or letter) to the Hebrews even records her as one of the heroes (heroines) of the faith. Hebrews 11:31: “By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient.” Rahab, the prostitute, was saved. Rahab was redeemed.

 

Now today when we hear the name Rahab, we often think of this lady whom the LORD used to save the spies and deliver Jericho into the Hebrews’ hands. Does anyone know what the name ‘Rahab’ actually means? It -literally translated from Hebrew- means ‘broad’, ‘fat’, or ‘large’ and in common usage it refers to ‘fierceness’, ‘insolence’, and ‘pride’.[5] In the Bible, the country of Egypt is sometimes derogatorily referred to as a Rahab. Rahab is an insult used of one of the Hebrews’ off again / on again enemies, the Egyptians.[6] Egypt - according to Isaiah and according to the Psalms – Egypt is a fat, insolent, Rahab (Psalm 89:10, Isaiah 51:9; cf. Psalm 87:4, Isaiah 30:7). Rahab in our story today was a prostitute. But Rahab is saved and Rahab is redeemed.

Now many of you know some of our own personal history. Susan, the girls (the oldest 2 anyway), and I were urban missionaries with 614 in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside prior to being commissioned as Officers in The Salvation Army. And before we were appointed to serve the LORD and the Army in Saskatchewan, we served in Downtown Winnipeg and Winnipeg’s North End; I also served in Stoney Mountain Penitentiary. We made more than a few friends in these environments who –like Rahab- were relegated to the margins of society by either circumstances, their choices, and/or someone else’s actions. We had friends in our cell groups, Bible studies, knee drills, church services, and/or staying in our very home (we ran a transition residence in Vancouver) who were prostituted peoples, addicted to drugs and alcohol, reliant on theft and deception... I have elsewhere previously told the story of transvestite friends of ours whom the Lord redeemed and transformed through –among other things- simply reading the Bible in community with the rest of us.

We have had more than one friend, for whom our hearts still break, convicted of murder – some even since knowing the Lord. Sometimes people fall back but even still we have seen God transform many lives: sometimes once, sometimes twice, sometimes thrice, or even more as need be. There are many more people still relegated to the margins of our society even here - they (we) are not unredeemable; they (we) are as ready for redemption as anyone. I have spent many hours since we have moved to Saskatchewan between Nipawin, Tisdale, Carrot River, and Swift Current, sitting with people in the courts, speaking with people in the courts, speaking on behalf of people in the courts, praying with people in the courts. John, Ron, Sylvia, and others here through the food bank and other ministries are walking people through many of life’s challenges. We have post-food bank interviews now where volunteers sit down with people in need and we try to help out in anyway that we can. There are many people we know here who wind up on the margins of our society by either circumstances, their choices, and/or someone else’s actions. They can be redeemed.

There are many relegated to the margins of our society by either circumstances, their choices, and/or someone else’s actions. Many of us at one time or another have found ourselves outcasts like prostituted peoples, like Rahab. Rahab in our stories today, Rahab was a prostitute. Rahab was an outcast. Rahab is saved and Rahab is redeemed. We can be saved. We can be redeemed.

I have been involved with AA at times: I would fairly regularly attend meetings in Nipawin and the AA Roundup has had their annual celebrations here, at the Swift Current Corps, the previous few years. I have been to more than one AA meeting and at AA we speak about a higher power. Step 1 in AA: “We admitted we were powerless over alcohol — that our lives had become unmanageable.” Step 2:  We “came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity” and Step 3: We “made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood God.”

Well, there is one higher power, God, through whom salvation is offered not only from alcohol; not only from addiction; not only from a horrible, storied past of abuse and other things; but from all else as well. There is one name by which we all can be saved not only for the here and the now but forever (Acts 4:12). That name, that one is Jesus. Jesus has died and he rose again from the grave so that we don’t need to be trapped in our addictions; we don’t need to be trapped in our sins; we don’t need to be trapped in our struggles. Jesus rose from the grave conquering sin and death so that even those of us most caught by sin and by circumstance can be saved. Rahab was a prostitute in a doomed pagan city. Rahab is saved and Rahab is redeemed. We, no matter who we are and what we have done, we can be saved. We can be redeemed (TSA docs. 6&10).

After Rahab’s faith and deeds were used by God to save the Hebrew spies and deliver Jericho over to the LORD, do you know how the Lord transformed her life? According to Jewish tradition, she married Joshua and became the ancestor of eight priests (Tal Megillah 14b). She is also listed as one of four women of surpassing beauty (Tal Megillah 15a; the others were Sarah, Abigail, and Esther).[7] The Bible tells us she did marry Salmon, one of the princes of Judah (Ruth 4:21, 1 Chronicles 2:11, Matthew 1:5). We remember too the wealthy landowner, Boaz, who married Ruth of the book of Ruth; this prominent Boaz was Rahab’s son. Ruth was Rahab’s daughter-in-law. Ruth and Boaz had a child, Obed, who was Rahab’s grandson. His son, Rahab’s great grandson was Jesse and his son, Rahab’s great great grandson was King David from whose line God promised Salvation and to establish His Dominion (Matthew 1:5-6; cf. 2 Samuel 7). This was of course accomplished through another descendent of Rahab the redeemed prostitute – that is Jesus, the Redeemer himself, the Messiah (cf. Matthew 1:16).

“For God so loved the world that he sent his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life” – John 3:16 (AV) – and He chose to do this through the ancestral line of the redeemed life of Rahab.

Scholar Richard Hess tells us that, “the story of Rahab confirms God’s welcome to all people, whatever their condition. Christ died for all the world and the opportunity is available for all to come to him through faith, even the chief of sinners [like you and like me] (1 Timothy 1:15)...Rahab exhibits faith and understanding of the God who saves her. She becomes part of the family line that leads to the birth of Jesus (Matthew 1:5) and [she is] a model of faith for all Christians” (Hebrews 11:31).[8]

Rahab, who was once a secular pagan prostitute now stands redeemed, saved, holy, cleansed of her sins, and as one of the heroes of the faith. You and I here today, no matter what we done, no matter who we have been, we too can be saved. Jesus died on the cross so that we could die to our sins and He rose from the grave so that we could live out a holy, redeemed life (cf. Romans 10:9-13). It is my prayer that today each of us would - like righteous Rahab - take God up on His offer of His Salvation and of His Redemption.

Let us pray.

http://www.sheepspeak.com/

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[1] Cf. Captain Michael Ramsay, Genesis 50:15-21: Regarding Forgiveness: Do not be afraid, for are we in the place of God? Presented to the Swift Current Corps of The Salvation Army, 07 August 2011. Available on-line: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2011/08/genesis-5015-21-regarding-forgiveness.html And Captain Michael Ramsay, Genesis 39:2a: The Lord was with Joseph and He Prospered.  Presented to the Swift Current Corps of The Salvation Army, 10 July 2011. Available on-line: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2011/07/genesis-392a-lord-was-with-joseph-and.html

[2] Cf. Robert B. Coote, The Book of Joshua, (NIB II: Nashville, Tenn.: Abingdon Press, 1998), 592.

[3] Cf. RCMP Criminal Intelligence. Project SECLUSION: Human Trafficking in Canada (Ottawa: 2010).

[4] Leon Morris, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM:Hebrews/Exposition of Hebrews/VIII. Faith (11:1-40)/F. The Faith of the Exodus Generation (11:29-31), Book Version: 4.0.2

[5] ‘Rahab’ in Easton’s 1897 Bible Dictionary. Cited from Biblegateway.com. Available on-line: http://www.biblegateway.com/resources/dictionaries/dict_meaning.php?source=1&wid=T0003054

[6] ‘Rahab’ in Smith’s Bible Names Dictionary. Cited from Biblegateway.com. Available on-line: http://www.biblegateway.com/resources/dictionaries/dict_meaning.php?source=3&wid=S10094

[7] Leon Morris, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM:Hebrews/Exposition of Hebrews/VIII. Faith (11:1-40)/F. The Faith of the Exodus Generation (11:29-31), Book Version: 4.0.2

[8] Richard S. Hess, Joshua: An Introduction and Commentary. Downers Grove, IL : InterVarsity Press, 1996 (Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries 6), S. 89

Romans 10:9&13: Say it! Know it! Do it!

Presented to Swift Current Corps of The Salvation Army, 11 Sept. 2011
Presented to Corps 614 Regent Park, Toronto, 14 Feb. 2016
and The Warehouse Mission, Cabbagetown, 11 Feb, 2018

by Captain Michael Ramsay
  Abbreviated 2018 version here: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.ca/2018/02/romans-109-say-it-know-it-do-it.html

Today we are speaking about Romans 10:9: “That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” And, Romans 10:13, “For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” These are some of the basics of the whole Christian faith (cf. TSA doc. 7). Therefore as we launch into our time today, along these lines I thought that I would share this piece of wisdom that was presented to us at Officer Camp by Major David Ivany – he is in charge of Spiritual Direction for all of Canada in The Salvation Army. He shared this story with us about a kind elderly lady, who in her heart upon a public confession of faith is experiencing the pure joys of Christian love.

This lady, Emma, she goes into a local Christian bookstore and sees a “Honk if you love Jesus” bumper sticker. Feeling particularly good that day because she has just come from a great choir practice and prayer meeting, she buys the bumper sticker and she put it on her car – professing her faith publicly. She recalls, “Boy, I’m glad I did! What an uplifting experience followed!” and then she launches into this story. She remembers stopping at a red light at a busy intersection just when she first had on her new ‘Honk if you love Jesus’ sticker. Lost in thought about the Lord and how good He had been to her, she didn’t notice the light had changed.

“It is a good thing someone else loves Jesus,” she said, “because if he hadn’t honked, I’d never have noticed that the light had changed!” She then noted that indeed, lots of people actually love Jesus because while she sat unmoving, blocking the lane of traffic, the guy behind her also honked like crazy before leaning out of his window and screaming, “For the love of God! Go! Go! Jesus Christ, Go!” She remembers thinking, “What an exuberant cheerleader he was for the Lord!”

Suddenly, it seemed as though she had started an epidemic and everyone started honking. Impressed by such a response, she leaned out of her window and started waving and smiling at all these loving people – while she was still parked in front of the intersection. “I even honked my horn a few times to share in the love!” she recited. Then she realized the mix of celebrants. “There must have been a man from Florida back there because I heard him yelling something about a “sunny beach… I saw another guy waving in a funny way with only his middle finger in the air. I asked my teenage grandson in the back seat what that meant, and he suggested that it was probably an Hawaiian good luck sign or something…”

The woman admitted that she had never met anyone from Hawaii before and was unaware of their customs. “I leaned out the window and gave him the good luck sign right back,” she reminisced.

She also remembers that a few persons were so caught up in the joy of the moment that they got out of their cars and started walking towards her. “I’ll bet they wanted to pray or ask what church I attended but that was when I noticed that the light had changed. So, I waved to all my loving sisters and brothers in Christ, grinned joyously, and drove on through the intersection. I noticed that I was the only car that made it through the intersection before the light changed again and I felt kind of sad that I had to leave them after all the love we had shared, so I slowed the car down, leaned out of the window and gave them all the Hawaiian good luck sign one last time before I sped away.”

I love this story.

Romans 10:9: “That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” And, Romans 10:13, “For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

These two verses are two critical verses to that famous ‘Romans Road to Salvation’ – there are many different versions to Romans Road, by the way, but these two verses, 9 and 13 seem to be regular stops so I thought that we would visit them today. Last week I mentioned that I had a teaching background. This week’s pericope tends to lend itself to an old style of teaching. The passage has in it a ready-made 3 points:

1) Romans 10:9: “That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord’ and 

2) Believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” And,

3) Romans 10:13, “For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

1)      Confess Jesus as Lord with your mouth.             Say it.

2)      Believe in your heart in His resurrection.             Know it.

3)      Call on the name of the Lord.                             Do it.

What we need to remember, pertaining to Salvation, when we leave here today – and forever more – to take advantage of the Salvation that God has offered the whole world as a free gift (Romans 6:23; John 3:16-17); to take advantage of God’s Salvation, we should

1)      Say it!

2)      Know it!

3)      Do it!

1) Say it! Romans 10:9: “…confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord…’

This is important. Whenever I hear this verse I immediately think of Peter, the rock upon which Christ was to build His church (Matthew 16:13-16; cf. Mark 8:27-29, Luke 9:18-20). We know this story, right? Jesus tells Peter that he is going to use him to help build his church. This is the point where Jesus gives him the name ‘Peter’ as a nickname – that wasn’t his given name; Simon was his given name – Peter means ‘Rock’ or even ‘Rocky’. Simon ‘Rocky-Peter’ here is to be one of Christ’s main ‘go to’ people after His resurrection and we remember the story about how Jesus told Rocky-Peter that he would deny him 3 times before the cock crows twice and then shortly after Peter’s saying ‘I don’t know what your talking about’; shortly after Peter’s third denial that he even knows Jesus; the rooster crows and Peter is devastated (Matthew 26:69-75; cf. Mark 14:66-72, Luke 22:55-62, John 18:15-27).

Point #1 about Salvation today: Say it! (Cf. also Luke 21:12–15; 1 Corinthians 12:3; Philippians 2:11; 1 Peter 3:13–16, 21) Simon Peter had his chance to confess Jesus as Lord but he declined it. Now, if the story had ended there it would be sad indeed but John 21:15ff, records Simon Peter’s restoration, as Rocky, as Peter.[1] The Resurrected Lord asks him 3 times to feed his sheep and he agrees to it.[2] Near the conclusion of the book of John, Jesus then blows on Peter -and the other disciples- giving him the Holy Spirit (John 20:22). Luke picks up the story of Rocky-Peter in the book of Acts where Rocky-Peter is there at Pentecost, taking the lead as the Holy Spirit like a starting pistol sends the disciples and more out to proclaim salvation to the world. Acts Chapter 2, after they share the gospel in many different languages as the Spirit enables them, the Lord adds to their number daily those being saved (cf. also Deuteronomy 30:14; Matthew 10:32, 2 Corinthians 4:13-14; Philippians 2:11). Point 1, Romans 10:9, for us today, Say it!

Peter and the disciples said it and many were saved. And just to underscore that Peter did fully recover from his earlier denial, church tradition states that in the end Peter even earned his martyr’s crown. He was apparently crucified upside down as he left his life here for heaven to await the resurrection. Point 1: Say it! This brings us to Point 2.

2) Know it! Believe in your heart in His resurrection.

It is great and it is very important to proclaim the gospel but that is not the end of it. Speaking is one thing and believing is quite another. If you have any doubt about that, think about the general reputation (accurate or not) of our elected politicians – speaking is one thing, believing what you say is quite another. Paul in this section of scriptures is really addressing the whole problem of Israel (Romans 9-11; cf. also Deuteronomy 30, Leviticus 18). He is addressing the problem of the Law and their relation to the Law and their relationship to God. He is quite concerned about people who are quite happy to say what needs to be said – the Pharisees, as a group, did believe in the resurrection in general and as a group were quite evangelistic (cf. Acts 23:7-8)! But believing in your heart in Jesus’ resurrection is quite a different matter though (1 Corinthians 15:17; cf. 2 Corinthians 4:13-14).  And the Apostle Paul - who was a Pharisee - celebrated the fact that Jesus has been raised from the dead but sadly many Israelites and even Pharisees did not. It pained Paul that people who were zealous for God’s Law were indeed missing out on the benefits of the culmination of the Law, Jesus, the one whom the Law points towards (cf. Romans 9:1-5; 10:1-4; Matthew 5:17,18; Luke 16:16; Acts 4:12; Galatians 3:19-24). Salvation is about, Point 1, Saying it, confessing that Jesus is Lord, and it is also about, Point 2, Knowing it, really believing in your heart in the resurrection and in Jesus’ resurrection, which is the central part of not only’ Paul’s message but of all of Christianity (Romans 6:9, Romans 9:16; 1 Corinthians 15:17, 20; 2 Corinthians 4:13-14; Ephesians 1:20-23; Philippians 2:9-11; Colossians 3:1-4; Hebrews 2:9; Revelation 1:17-18; cf. Deuteronomy 30:14, Acts 4:12, cf. also Isaiah 28:16).[3] N.T. Wright tells us, “Almost all early Christians known to us believed that their ultimate hope was the resurrection of the body.  There is no spectrum such as in Judaism.  Some in Corinth denied the future resurrection (1 Corinthians 15.12), but Paul put them straight; they were most likely reverting to pagan views, not opting for an over-realized Jewish eschatology.”[4] Belief in the resurrection and the resurrection of Christ is central to Christianity.[5]

To review what we know so far about Romans 10’s three points of Salvation:

1) Say it! - Confess Jesus as Lord with your mouth.      

2) Know it! - Believe in your heart in His resurrection.

3) Do it! Call on the name of the Lord.

3) Do it! Call on the name of the Lord.

This is important. Saying it is good. Knowing it is better. Doing it is imperative (This fact is also implied in v. 9).[6] The scriptures speak about this quite a bit (cf. for ex: Leviticus 18:5 and Deuteronomy 30:11-16, which are cited in vv. 5-8; Luke in Acts 2:16-21 and this passage by Paul are both quoting from Joel 2:32).[7] I believe that Matthew actually paints this picture quite vividly. In Chapter 25:31ff is recorded the parable of the sheep and the goats. In that parable you have two groups of nations. Both groups – the sheep and the goats – 1) say and 2) know that Jesus is Lord. But it is only the sheep that do anything about it. As a result, only the sheep are saved. The goats that didn’t do anything go off to where there is a weeping and gnashing of teeth. Matthew 7:21 is quite clear on this matter: it is recorded that the Lord says “Not everyone who calls me ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the kingdom of heaven but only he who does the will of my Father in heaven”: Say it! Know it! Do it!

We must actually call on the name of the Lord. We have to call on Him. We have to trust him.[8] This is important. For example, it is one thing for me to confess that I know my wife; it is another thing to believe in my heart the many wonderful things that have been done through her: these are wonderful things but my relationship with Susan only grows when I actually call on her, when I actually spend time with her. I can say she is my wife all I want; I can believe she is my wife all I want; but we only actually have a marriage if I bother to see her, to call on her sometimes. This is important. Christianity isn’t some academic pursuit. Christianity isn’t some code. Christianity isn’t some rules and regulations. Christianity isn’t some club. Christianity isn’t some principles to live our life by. Christianity is a relationship with the risen Christ. Jesus Christ raised from the grave and he promises that, Romans 10:13 “…everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” He loves us and he wishes that none would perish. And Salvation in our text today is as easy as 1, 2, and 3. It is my prayer today that every one of us here will:

1) Say it! - Confess Jesus as Lord with our mouths.      

2) Know it! - Believe in our hearts in His resurrection.

3) Do it! – That we would call upon the name of the Lord.

Psalm 34:8, “Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.” Matthew 11:30: “For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Romans 10:15 and Isaiah 52:7, "...How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!" (cf. Psalm 118:26, Matthew 21:9, Matthew 23:39, Mark 11:9, Luke 13:35, Luke 19:38, John 12:13). Romans 10:9a, say it: confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord. Romans 10:9b, know it: believe in your heart in Jesus’ resurrection. And above all else, Romans 10:13, do it: call upon the name of the Lord and then even we will be saved. Halleluiah! Praise the Lord! Let it be.

 

Let us pray.

http://www.sheepspeak.com/

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[1] Cf. Captain Michael Ramsay, ‘John 21:15-23: We’re Back!’ Presented to Weston Corps of the Salvation Army, May 2006 and Nipawin Corps of The Salvation Army, 21 February 2009. Available on-line: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2009/02/john-2115-23-were-back.html

[2]Cf. George R. Beasley-Murray, John, (WBC 36: Waco, Texas: Word Books, 1987), 404-405.

[3] Cf. William Hendricksen, Exposition of Paul’s Epistle to the Romans, NTC (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic: 1981), 345

[4] Cf. N.T. Wright, 'Jesus’ Resurrection and Christian Origins' (Originally published in Gregorianum, 2002, 83/4, 615–635).  Reproduced by permission of the author on-line at http://www.ntwrightpage.com/Wright_Jesus_Resurrection.htm

[5] Cf. Everett F. Harrison, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-, ROM:Romans/Exposition of Romans/VI. The Problem of Israel: God's Righteousness Vindicated (9:1-11:36)/D. Israel's Failure to Attain Righteousness Due to Reliance on Works Rather Than Faith (9:30-10:21), Book Version: 4.0.2: Paul's statement in vv. 9, 10 is misunderstood when it is made to support the claim that one cannot be saved unless he makes Jesus the Lord of his life by a personal commitment. Such a commitment is most important; however, in this passage, Paul is speaking of the objective lordship of Christ, which is the very cornerstone for faith, something without which no one could be saved. Intimately connected as it was with the resurrection, which in turn validated the saving death, it proclaimed something that was true no matter whether or not a single soul believed it and built his life on it.

[6] Cf. John Murray, The Epistle to the Romans Vol. II, NICNT, (Grand Rapids, Michigan, Eerdmans, 1968), 56; John Stott, Romans: God’s Good News for the World, (Leicester, UK: IV Press: 1994), 283;  F. F. Bruce, Romans: An Introduction and Commentary. Downers Grove, IL : InterVarsity Press, 1985 (Tyndale New Testament Commentaries 6), S. 201 - Doing it, though not specifically reference (it doesn’t need to be because it is referenced a few verses later in v.18), is implied as well in verse 9.

[7] F. F. Bruce, Romans: An Introduction and Commentary. Downers Grove, IL : InterVarsity Press, 1985 (Tyndale New Testament Commentaries 6), S. 201: There the statutes and ordinances of God were enjoined on the people so that they might do them and live. Here God says that his commandment ‘is not too hard for you, neither is it far off. It is not in heaven, that you should say, “Who will go up for us to heaven, and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?” Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, “Who will go over the sea for us, and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?” But the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it.’ (Paul significantly omits the italicized words.) That the doing of the commandment was the way to life in the Deuteronomy context is evident from the words of Moses which follow immediately: ‘See, I have set before you this day life and good, death and evil. If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you this day, by loving the Lord your God, by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his ordinances, then you shall live …’ (Deut. 30:15–16).

[8] Cf. John Stott, Romans: God’s Good News for the World, (Leicester, UK: IV Press: 1994), 285

Romans 6:23: The Obedience Company

Presented to Swift Current Corps of The Salvation Army, 04 Sept. 2011

By Captain Michael Ramsay

Some of you know that before I was an Officer in The Salvation Army, I was trained as an elementary school teacher and I was a private businessman predominantly working in the field of education. I had a number of contracts. I had jobs at the Ministry of Education and oversaw staff working in the Examinations and the Learning Resource Branches. I also was in charge of a crew at Defence Research. I owned/operated a couple tutoring companies, ran the Journal of International Education, founded an association of international colleges and was a director and/or programmer for a number of colleges. This was my life prior to entering into full-time ministry. Have I ever told you the story about how I got my first wages, my first real paycheque working with the international colleges?

In my early 20s, I volunteered to help a friend teach a class at a Japanese girls’ school in Victoria for the summer. I enjoyed the experience so I embarked on a strategy to secure myself a paid contract with the school the following year. This college only hired teachers for the spring and summer semesters; the rest of the year they just employed the administrators. What I would do is in the fall and winter, I would take time and make a point of visiting the chief administrator, the director of the college so as to get to know her and let her know that I would be interested in working with the college in the spring. I would visit her every week or two and ask the director about the college and tell her about the contracts that I was doing at the Ministry of Education with the goal in mind to get a paid contract with the school for the summer.

Well, I guess I wasn’t clear as to why I was visiting all the time because at one point I asked about the spring programme and she told me that she had already hired all the classroom teachers. She didn’t need anyone else. I was in shock. Why had I been investing all this time to visit throughout the year? She then asked me if I could teach basketball. Me, 5’7” or 5’8”, me, teach basketball… “No” I replied, still in shock. She then asked if I could teach badminton to which, still in shock, I, after turning down the basketball teacher’s job, reflexively and almost involuntarily replied “Yes” and then I promptly went by the local library to learn how to play badminton. I picked up every book on badminton that I could find and called up a friend of mine who actually knew the sport to teach me how to play so that I could live up to the job that I had already obtained. Now the position of Acting Principal opened up shortly afterwards and I took that on before becoming one of the directors of that college myself but I got my first wages in the colleges by agreeing to teach badminton in this way. (The badminton class went well by the way.)

Today the verse we are speaking about, Romans 6:23, is looking at wages from a different source. 6:23a records that, “the wages of sin is death.” Before we get into this too much, we should all know what sin is. Literally, the word here in Romans comes from an archery term meaning, ‘to miss the target’ or ‘to miss the mark’.[1] The word as it is applied in this context here refers to more of a status than a process.[2] Sin here is the already fired arrow having missed the mark. We have all sinned as we have missed the righteousness mark (Romans 6:16; cf. Romans 3:22-23). Righteousness for our purposes today we will simply define as being right with God.[3] Sin is having fallen short of this mark (this status).

We know also what wages are, right? Wages are what we are paid for what we do – often times in our culture this is represented by a paycheque. So then relating to our scripture today, what we earn by having missed the righteousness mark is death. The wages of sin is death. Doctrine 5 of The Salvation Army reads, ‘We believe that our first parents were created in a state of innocency, but by their disobedience [their sin] they lost their purity and happiness; and that in consequence of their fall all men have become sinners, totally depraved, and as such are justly exposed to the wrath of God.’ The wages of sin is death.

The Apostle Paul expresses this idea in a number of different ways (cf. Romans 6:1-14, Romans 6:15-23, Romans 7:1-6).[4] Pertaining to the wages, which we are looking at today, he says in this analogy (Romans 6:15-23) that being neutral is not an option. Like a CFL (professional football) game that is already underway, you are either in the uniform of the Blue Bombers or of the Roughriders. The game is underway; no other players are on the field. You can play for one team or you can play for the other. No player on the field in neutral.

Expressed another way: unemployment is not an option. There are two competing companies in town and we have to work for one or the other of them. We can be employees (slaves/servants) of the Sin Company of which Adam, as the first to sin, is the CEO  (Romans 6:21); or we can be employees of the Obedience Company, of which Christ, as the first fruits of the Resurrection, is the CEO (Romans 6:22). We can be employees (slaves/servants) of the Sin Company and receive as our pay, death (Romans 6:21); or we can be employees of the Obedience Company and receive as our pay, sanctification (NRSV, NIV: holiness; Romans 6:22; cf. TSA doc. 10). We can either choose sin and death or we can choose obedience and sanctification.

Paul, in this pericope is addressing the oft-asked question, ‘Whose side are you on; are you on the Lord’s side?’ If God’s Obedience Company employs us then we should make sure that we actually work for His side. If we are on His team, we should play our position. We do the team no good, if we put on the jersey and then just sit in the stands. Paul asks in effect ‘what good is it to wear the team jersey if we never take the field. In Chapter Six Verse One he asks, now that we are on God’s Obedience team “shall we just go on sinning so that grace may increase?” Paul then answers this right away before he even gets to the passage and the analogy that we are looking at today. He says here, as he has said elsewhere, Romans 6:2, “By no means! We died to sin; how can you live in it anymore.” You can’t (cf. 1 Peter 1:15; Leviticus 11:44-45, 19:2, 20:7; Psalm 89:35; 2 Corinthians 13; Colossians 1:28; Hebrews 11-12).

In Chapter 7, Paul will point out - what was generally accepted by his readers/listeners at the time and place of this letter- that when you enter into a marriage covenant with someone that is the one person you promise God you will be faithful to, forsaking all others, until one of you dies.[5] It is only when one’s first spouse dies that one is free to marry a subsequent spouse – otherwise we are committing adultery (Romans 7:2; cf. 1 Corinthians 7:10-11; cf. also 1 Timothy 3:2, 12; Titus 1:6). Paul says this is representative of our covenant with God. Only when we die to sin are we are released from our bondage to it (cf. Romans 6:5-10). When we are raised in Christ, we are a part of a new creation; we are free to be the holy bride of Christ (cf. 2 Corinthians 5:27, Galatians 6:15; Ephesians 5:22-32, Revelation 21-22). Returning to sin is like returning to be with our diseased first spouse (Romans 7:1-6; Romans 6:1-14). That doesn’t make any sense.

The truth is that, Romans 6:23, “The wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” And Romans 6:1-2: “Shall we just go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can you live in it anymore.” We are saved from sin; we are not saved to sin (Matthew 5:17-21, 1 Peter 1:16, Galatians 3-5 cf. Leviticus 19:22; Psalm 89:35, 2 Corinthians 13, Colossians 1:28, Hebrews 11-12). You have been traded to a new team, don’t play for the old one; you are no longer employed by the Sin Company, so stop doing its work! This is important and it is something that historically even high-profile people have either ignorantly misunderstood or defiantly misinterpreted. One such person was the notorious Russian Monk, Rasputin. We know who Rasputin was? Maybe we remember that Boney M 1978 Disco song ‘Ra Ra Rasputin’. That song claims that the monk was a lover of the Russian queen. There is no evidence for this but he was an advisor to the Russian Royal family prior to the 1917 Revolution and Scholar F.F. Bruce points out that Rasputin promoted the heresy that we can continue to intentionally sin and still be saved. FF Bruce says,

…Russian Monk Gregory Rasputin, [was] the evil genius of the Romanov family in its last years of power. Rasputin taught and exemplified the doctrine of salvation through repeated experiences of sin and repentance. He held that, as those who sin require the MOST forgiveness, a sinner who CONTINUES to sin with abandon enjoys, each time he repents, MORE of God’s forgiving grace than any ordinary sinner. [6]

Thus, Rasputin reasoned, if you sin more, you receive more grace. This is not true. The Salvation Army Doctrine 9 states that “continuance in a state of salvation depends upon CONTINUED obedient faith in Christ.” Doctrine 10 of The Salvation Army states, “that it is the PRIVILLEGE of ALL believers to be wholly sanctified, and that their whole spirit and soul and body may be preserved BLAMELESS unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” The Apostle Paul says, Romans 6:1-2: “Shall we just go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can you live in it anymore.” You have been traded from the Sin team to the Obedience team; how can you keep playing for the Sin team; you are now employed by God and the Obedience Company so don’t do the work of the Sin Company. Romans 6:23: “The wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

There is another important element to this: You have no doubt heard in other sermons/ homilies/ speaks on this verse the difference between wages and a gift. Wages are something that we deserve. We go into work, we put in our hours and we get our paycheque. When you are a slave to sin, when you are an employee of the Sin Company, you earn your wages and your wages are death. This is true. When you work in Sin you earn your death. Romans 6:23, “The wages of sin is death...”

In contrast the eternal life that we receive and our obedience to the Lord, is a gift. We do nothing to merit that gift but like any gift it is only any good to us if we accept it and if we open it. Christ died on the cross and rose from the grave so that whosoever will, may be saved and so that that none of us need to perish (John 3:16-17). He offers us all that free gift of eternal life in God if we just accept this gift of righteousness and open this gift of obedience. Each and every one of us has already been offered a job in the righteousness department of the Obedience Company of our Lord and Saviour. Jesus Christ -between the cross and the empty tomb- made this job offer to everyone (cf. TSA doc. 6). All we need to do is go to work for the Lord and we will collect our free gift at the end of the day. Romans 6:23: “…the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

We should remember what company we work for, what team we play for and act accordingly. As was pointed out earlier, Rasputin rolled his ball of biblical interpretation of sin and salvation so far from holiness that it rolled right off the table onto the floor of heresy. Others conversely, having rolled their hermeneutical balls too far in the other direction, have brought this passage so far from grace that they have also fallen upon heresy. We spoke last week about Galatians 3:19-25 and how people can be trapped by legalism, rules and regulations, as if somehow by our own merit we can obtain salvation.[7] We can do nothing to offer ourselves eternal life. Eternal life is a gift of God.

And once we have accepted this free gift of eternal life, the righteous, we will live by faith. And this faith is both, as James D.G. Dunn declares, “the initial act of receiving the gospel and the continuing process toward salvation.”[8] Faith is a result of righteousness (Romans 3:22; 4:5, 9,11,13; 9:30; 10:6) and righteousness is from God (Romans 3:22, 24; 10:3, 17; cf. 5:19; Psalm 72:11; Isaiah 46:13; 61:10; Joel 2:23) for it is God who is righteous (Romans 3:5; cf. Psalm 35:24; 48:10; 50:6; 51:14; 65:5; 71:19; Isaiah 5:16) and it is His righteousness that enables us to be righteous, just as it is Christ’s faithfulness that enables us to live by faith.

Romans 6:23, “The wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” As we said at the top of this homily, this passage is addressing our position in Christ rather than our individual actions. We have come back to Paul’s analogy a few times that we can either be in the position of a slave (employee/servant) of Sin (Romans 6:21) or we can be in the position of a slave (employee/servant) of Obedience (Romans 6:22). We can either choose sin and death or we can choose obedience and sanctification. We can choose one or the other but we cannot choose both.

Now this does not mean that if we are working for the Sin Company and sometimes accidentally or otherwise commit actions of obedience that we are contracted out to the Obedience Company and receive the gift of eternal life. The devil does not give up on us that easily!  Likewise and very importantly as we are each now working for the Obedience Company, this passage does not mean that if we accidentally or otherwise sin that we will immediately be terminated and lose eternal life; it does not work that way.

This is important. Romans 6:23, “The wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” This verse is not speaking of our every action; we do not lose our salvation every time we utter a curse word. This pericope is speaking about our relationship with Christ. For those who choose to continue outside of a relationship with Christ, for those who choose to reject His job offer of obedience and righteousness, as they make that choice they will receive the consequence of death regardless of whether they have done a bunch of seemingly ‘good’ things in their lives or not (cf. TSA doc. 11). But here is the good news: For those of us who have committed to following Jesus. He has already declared us righteous. He has already declared us holy. He has made us positionally perfect when we accepted his job offer of obedience unto righteousness (cf. Psalm 89:35, 2 Corinthians 13, Colossians 1:28, Hebrews 11-12).

If we are playing for the Obedience Team, the Salvation Team, He is not going to kick us off the team when we throw an incomplete pass, when we miss the mark, when we sin. He, like the good coach, is going to give us the opportunity on the very next play to repent, to change. As long as we are willing to play for His team, He is going to continue to send us right back out there and give us every opportunity to complete the pass. As we remain on Christ’s team, no matter how many times we mess up; as we remain on His team, He has already won the victory; as we remain on His team, Christ guarantees that, even though the wages of sin are death; as we remain on his team, we are guaranteed eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Let us pray.

http://www.sheepspeak.com/

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[1] Cf. John Phillips, Exploring Romans (Chicago, Ill.: Moody Press, 1969), 67 and The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible. ‘264: hamartanō’ (Nashville, Tenn.: Thomas Nelson Publishing, 1995), p.5.

[2] N.T. Wright, The Letter to the Romans (NIB 10: Nashville, Tenn.: Abingdon, 1995), 544

[3] Cf. John Reumann, “Righteousness (NT),” in The Anchor Bible Dictionary, Volume 6. Ed. David Noel Freedman, 1st ed. (New York, New York: Doubleday, 1992), 764-765.

[4] Paul J. Achtemeier, Romans. Interpretation: (Atlanta, Georgia: John Knox Press, 1985), 108.

[5] Paul J. Achtemeier, Romans. Interpretation: (Atlanta, Georgia: John Knox Press, 1985), 108.

[6] F.F. Bruce, The Letter of Paul to the Romans. Tyndale NTC (Leicester, UK: IV Press, 1985) 127.

[7] Captain Michael Ramsay, Don’t Be A McChicken. Presented to the Swift Current Corps of The Salvation Army (28 August 2011). Available online: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2011/08/galatians-319-25-dont-be-mcchicken.html

[8] James D.G. Dunn, Romans 1-8. (WBC 38A: Word Books: Dallas, Texas, 1988), 49.