A life of happiness is one that finds its place in the outrageous & spacious love and excitement of God.

Listen to this…
All the tax collectors and sinners drew near to Him to hear Him. And the Pharisees and scribes accused him, saying: “This Man receives sinners and eats with [...]]]> (by Dawie Blake)

A life of happiness is one that finds its place in the outrageous & spacious love and excitement of God.

Listen to this…
All the tax collectors and sinners drew near to Him to hear Him. And the Pharisees and scribes accused him, saying: “This Man receives sinners and eats with them.”
Jesus immediately responds with no less than 3 parables to emphasize God’s view of the so-called “sinners”… these parables are key to understanding what motivates God.

He says: “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost until he finds it? And when he found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbours, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!’”

The term “hundred sheep” refers to the world with all its “sinners”, and the term “one” is an individual. This Man may have more than 6 billion sheep, but if one goes astray He will not count the 6 billion enough but immediately leave to go after the one! He will seek until he finds. Not give up after a week or 2 months or a year, but until He finds him. And when He finds him he is overjoyed and not angry with the sheep. He lovingly picks him up and carries him all the way home. He then calls all his friends and neighbours and celebrates his joy with them…

Now throughout all my observation and experience I have never seen or heard of a man motivated in this manner. Its, well, nearly ridiculous… placing so much value on the individual (and in this case the one who was the worst of the lot) to seek him, not giving up until he finds, not being angry at all, and then calling everyone he knows together in a huge celebration.

This, my friend, is what righteousness in God’s heart is about. Its not about doing right, but about placing the right value. “Sadok”, the Hebrew for righteousness, is the beam in a scale of balances. If God places you and your life on one side of the scale, what did He put on the other side to balance it out… no less than Himself!

You see, there was never another you. And there will never be another you. He only has one of you, if he loses you… he has lost you. For Him, you have equal value than Himself. He cannot be without you.

Jesus asks, “What man…” I don’t know of one with this outrageous love for us…
The last part of this parable was aimed specifically at the Pharisees’ twisted mindsets, “I say unto you, that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner that repents (Gr. metanoeo – to change your mind) than over ninety nine (so called) just persons that need (Gr. echo – the correct translation is to hold, posses or conceive…) no repentance (Gr. metanoia – change of mind)”.

Someone once said something that left a deep impression on me: “When Jesus hung on that cross, He didn’t die for a faceless multitude, but He died for you by name”.

Once I went out into the night alone and sought God. I became distinctly aware of Him saying to me, “David if you were the only one on earth, I would still die for you.”

For months though, I wasn’t satisfied with this impression alone, and there was a yearning within me to read it in the bible. I prayed and searched specifically about this. Then one day I was sitting on my bed and opened my bible where it says: “I am the Good Shepherd: the Good Shepherd gives his life for the sheep.” I read this, and then opened the bible directly at the above portion, loosely translated: “I am the Good Shepherd that will leave the ninety nine and go after the one”. If you put these two scriptures together we have this word confirmed.

(When next you have some study time, I recommend looking up the word “shepherd” in the New Testament…)

In order to clearly emphasize the principle Jesus tells the 2nd parable in Luk 15.

“Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp and sweep the house and seek diligently until she finds it? And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbours, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin which I had lost.’”

The Pharisee may think that a coin (a simple man) is worth nothing, but this special woman searches carefully until she finds it; and once again an outrageous celebration follows in the joy of the find. Likewise God rejoices in your intrinsic value.

Jesus felt so strongly about establishing God’s viewpoint against the Pharisees’ viewpoint of man that He told another radical parable.

Luk 15 from verse 11. This parable I found so rich with meaning … let it linger in your mind…
“There was a man who had two sons; And the younger of them said to his father, ‘Father, give me the share of property that falls to me.’ And he divided his living between them. Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took his journey into a far country, and there he wasted all his possessions with prodigal living.”

Young and without insight and knowledge this son may have lived in the home, but in his heart he was lost and living somewhere else. So the Father, seeking to find him, let him go…

“And when he had spent everything, a great famine arose in that country, and he began to be in want. So he went and joined himself to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him into his fields to feed swine. And he would gladly have fed on the pods that the swine ate; and no one gave him anything. But when he came to himself he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have bread enough and to spare, but I perish here with hunger!’”

So when the temporary dried up and his once confident, independence and control over circumstances could not satisfy or sustain him, the truth started dawning on him. He realised his foolishness and that his Father is the only continually sustaining source of life. He realised that this is where he belongs.

“I will arise and go to my father, and I will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me as one of your hired servants.”‘

Notice that although he sincerely repented, he still had a “sinner” and a slave mentality. He viewed himself as the Pharisees would have. They must have reeled with disgust at the thought of prodigal living and thereafter living with pigs!

And he arose and came to his father. But while he was yet at a distance, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him.

Now it is very uncommon for Hebrew fathers to run. Woman and children ran, but not “respectable” fathers. What is more, is that the father was constantly on the lookout, scanning the horizon. He was the first to see him from a distance. There was only one thought on his mind, this all-surpassing treasure of His was found. Overcome by emotion he ran to embrace and kiss his son, not giving any popular opinions any thought.

And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’

The son had his little speech prepared and delivered it. He valued himself according to his deeds, and therefore only expected the very least.

The father said to his servants, ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet; and bring the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and make merry; for this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’

Paul asks, “if He has given us Jesus, how much more won’t He give us all things?” Rom 8:

These parables all point to a single principle – how does God value and see you? If I can put the answer in words it would be that the definition of you is Himself and His love, not where you come from or what you have done.

Why does God feel so strongly about this one principle? Imagine building an intimate relationship with someone based not on value, but on guilt and a poor self-image! It will never work. Why do we fool ourselves thinking God who did everything to reconcile us to Him in blameless innocence (Col 1:22) takes pleasure when we feel sinful & unworthy? How can I build a relationship with Him feeling this way? It is nothing less than a false religious humility based on the original sin of “I am not, I must become”. And it disregards His accomplishments on the cross. True humility is to know my works or my past cannot help me, but He did it all, a perfect and complete work! Now I see as He sees, I know as He knows – I am enveloped in His love, His thoughts, His works, His joy – I rejoice and rest in all I am and have in Him, and that’s all that matters to Him.

—

Although the sheep or the coin or the son were lost, and may have been battered along the way, they never lost their value. Nothing can change it, not even you, and so nothing can separate us from His love. Nothing can change the cross – it happened and the result was final. Do you really understand what happened there? It is the single most important truth you will ever consider… make sure you do!

Even what we [...]]]> Never underestimate the effect of this Word in and through you. Never disqualify yourself from the full benefit of what God made available for your enjoyment. The enemy will try anything to persuade us that we are disqualified from both enjoying and proclaiming this relationship with God. Distraction is His ultimate strategy.

Even what we consider ‘ministry’ could be a distraction from God’s point of view! Let me illustrate. A couple of days ago I casually started thinking about the ways, methods and resources we use to ‘promote’ this gospel – everything from the weekly fellowship, the occasional weekend function, books, CDs and internet site came to mind. It wasn’t long before I found myself comparing what we did, with what I knew others were doing. The moment that happened a sense of inadequacy came! My first reaction was: I’ve got to do more!

But God is so faithful. He reminded me of this scripture: “…when they measure themselves with themselves and compare themselves with one another, they are without understanding and behave unwisely” 2 Cor 10:12 (AMP). He then pulled my attention off others … and off my own efforts, onto the one and only measure that accurately reveals me – Christ: the revelation of my value.
…until we all attain oneness in the faith and in the comprehension of the full and accurate knowledge of the Son of God, that [we might arrive] at really mature manhood (the completeness of personality which is nothing less than the standard height of Christ’s own perfection), the measure of the stature of the fullness of the Christ and the completeness found in Him. Eph 4:12

Seeing Him is the most captivating and satisfying experience. It has nothing to do with ministry in the first instance – it has everything to do with enjoying Him and enjoying others from this perspective. Promoting this gospel is not the aim – it is the natural consequence of delighting ourselves in Him. If your understanding of this gospel does not motivate you to include others, then you have not seen & enjoyed what God intended. The love of God is not a passive force, but a compelling force. It compelled Jesus to offer the ultimate sacrifice – His own live. It compelled Paul … it compels anyone who understands it.

Imagine the thoughts and temptations presented to Paul, while in prison. Prison was as shameful then as it is now. Even though he knew his innocence, the situation he found himself in undoubtedly would have closed some doors to him. And even the doors that remained open to him were unreachable because he was shut behind a cell door. It must have seemed as if all opportunity to declare this gospel was taken from him. He had no internet access! Not even the printing press was invented yet. It was him alone, isolated … with the greatest revelation of the love of God ever known. That revelation was the source of his confidence – the Word unveiled in his heart could not remain hidden even while He was imprisoned. In one of His letters he wrote: “For this Gospel I am suffering affliction and even wearing chains like a criminal. But the Word of God is not chained or imprisoned!” 2 Tim 2:9 The integrity of this message, not what people thought of him, is what gave him unwavering boldness to speak about that which he enjoyed – an enjoyment not hindered by circumstance. ” … for I have learned how to be content (satisfied to the point where I am not disturbed or disquieted) in whatever state I am …I have learned in any and all circumstances the secret of facing every situation, whether well-fed or going hungry, having a sufficiency and enough to spare or going without and being in want.”

Never ever, for whatever reason, allow your focus to be diverted from this message that produces intimacy with our Creator, to any other message. For I am persuaded beyond doubt that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities, nor things impending and threatening nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Nothing else is worth taking your attention off this inexhaustible truth.

Prisons do not exclude God
By Madame Guyon (imprisoned for her faith)

Strong are the walls around me,
That hold me all the day;
But they who thus have bound me,
Cannot keep God away;
My very dungeon walls are dear,
Because the God I love is here

They know, who thus oppress me,
‘Tis hard to be alone;
But know not, One can bless me,
Who comes through bars and stone;
He makes my dungeon’s darkness bright,
And fills my bosom with delight.

Thy love, O God, restores me
From sighs and tears to praise;
And deep my soul adores thee,
Nor thinks of time or place;
I ask no more, in good or ill,
But union with thy holy will.

‘Tis that which makes my treasure,
‘Tis that which brings my gain;
Converting woe to pleasure,
And reaping joy from pain.
Oh, ’tis enough, what’er befall
To know that God is All In All

Note: There is an email link embedded within this post, please visit this post to email it.

The [...]]]> My parents have been visiting us – their first time in England – what a pleasure to show them the sights, sounds, tastes of England. Yesterday we took them to the Lyceum theater for the Lion King performance. I’m not particularly fond of theater, but I have to admit – this one I enjoyed.

The story has such a beautiful theme of lost & found identity …. in particular as it relates to one’s relationship with one’s father. The point at which Simba re-discovers his identity was so moving. The monkey asks him (Simba) to look into the water. He pulls away and says: “that’s just my own reflection”. She (I think its a she) says: “No, look deeper”. Simba looks again – longer and deeper. Suddenly, he recognises his father, his origin in his own reflection. The words of the song are:

He lives in you
He lives in me
He watches over
Everything we see
Into the water
Into the truth
In your reflection
He lives in you

Wow – for such truths I’ll sit through a three hour theater performance again!

It reminded me firstly of James where he said: “Because if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man looking at his own face in a mirror; for he looks at himself, goes away, and right away forgets what kind of man he was. But the one who looks intently into the perfect law of freedom and perseveres in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer who acts—this person will be blessed in what he does.” James 1:24&25

Can you see how the word reveals the face of our origin … and then encourages us to live out our true identity. A while ago I translated verse 25 as follows:

Look and continue to look,
the perfect, complete, and eternal freedom.
Listen; listen intensely;
listen in such a way that you are able to express it as a poet; able to perform it like an actor…
then act; act in the full conviction of what you have seen and heard,
and you will find delight and affirmation in your action.

Another passage that sprang to mind was Psalm 23:

He leads me beside still water (water in which I can see my reflection … and recognise more than just myself)

He restores my soul. ( Restore means to bring back to the original )

So like the monkey in the Lion King, I want to encourage all of you to look again; to look longer and deeper into the still water. At first it might simply look like your own reflection, but keep on looking until you behold Him in this mirror. Discover Him in yourself and discover yourself in Him afresh. He is the truth about your identity – not your career; not your achievements; not your disappointments; not even a criminal record can make the faintest mark on the image of you that God preserved within this eternal realm – the still waters that reveals your original image and likeness.

Long, long ago … before time itself, before creation, the ‘Logos’ began to plan.

There were no limits to the knowledge or the ability of the Logos. ‘He’ was (and is) all-knowing, all-powerful and all-present.

The ‘Logos’ was part of a union that found expression in different forms. The Logos was the [...]]]> The Logos

Long, long ago … before time itself, before creation, the ‘Logos’ began to plan.

There were no limits to the knowledge or the ability of the Logos. ‘He’ was (and is) all-knowing, all-powerful and all-present.

The ‘Logos’ was part of a union that found expression in different forms. The Logos was the logic of this Union. We could think of the Logos as the mind of God. There were other parts to this Union also, but they’ll appear later in this story. So with these unlimited abilities, the Logos began to imagine its ultimate achievement. The mind of God conceived a drama that would span across eternity and require a creation of gigantic proportions, yet engineered in the minutest detail. He imagined the whole plot from beginning to end. No detail was left to chance … for there was no chance there was only Him! Neither was there a time-limit for the planning to end and the action to start, for there was no time.

(Much, much later … after creation, when the Logos began to reveal his logic to His creation, He inspired the following writing:

The Eternal Self-existent one formed and brought me [Logos] forth at the beginning of His course, before His acts of old. (He planned and thought before he acted)
I was appointed from everlasting, from the beginning, before ever the earth existed. (The plan and logic was in place before the first action was taken)
When there were no deeps, I was brought forth, when there were no fountains laden with water. Before the mountains were settled, before the hills, I was brought forth, while as yet He had not made the land or the fields or the first of the dust of the earth.
When He prepared the heavens, I was there; when He drew a circle upon the face of the deep and stretched out the firmament over it, when He made firm the skies above, when He established the fountains of the deep, when He gave to the sea its limit and His decree that the waters should not transgress His command, when He appointed the foundations of the earth.
Then I [Logos] was joined to Him as an architect and director of the work; and I was continually His delight, rejoicing before Him always, rejoicing in His inhabited earth and delighting in the sons of men.)1

And also the following:

“I am God, and there is no one else; I am God, and there is none like Me, I declare the end and the result from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure and purpose.”2

From the very core of who He was, this plan was birthed as an expression of His nature a plan to do His pleasure and fulfil His own purpose. This was what God was thinking about: how to make the most of who He was, of what He knew and what He could do. In short how to express Himself fully.

Before His infinite mind, lay infinite possibilities. Within His limitless imagination arose limitless options. But within this Union there was a very specific quality that caused Him to have a specific inclination, a preference. Another part of the Union influenced the Logos – this Union consisted, not only of logic, but also of heart! The closest word we have to describe this quality, is the word ‘love’. Yet this love was not the tainted or twisted type that we so often refer to as love. No, this was the pure, the original motivation that defined the very nature of God. The mind (Logos), together with the heart (later referred to as the Father), chose from all the possibilities, those which would most accurately express the Union. The possibilities and options that were rejected, later became known as ‘evil’. ‘Evil’ is all the possibilities that are not in harmony with the nature and character of God. In the light of what will be said later, this point needs to be made very clear: God is only good; only love there is nothing double minded or contrary in Him.
“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, in whom there is no inconsistency or shifting shadow.”3

To understand why He chose some possibilities and rejected others, why some options were preferred and others ignored, we need to understand a bit more about this ‘love’ – His essential nature.
Loves only need is to give. Love cannot find full and complete expression by itself. Love is an expression of abundance; the overflow of joy and satisfaction. Love desires to give love is not focussed on itself, but desires the benefit of others. This posed a problem, because at this stage before creation – there were no ‘others’ … no-one and nothing else to focus on.

From His innermost being arose a thought that would be the centre and purpose of all His other thoughts …
“We will make a being in our own image and our own likeness. We will fully express ourselves toward this being We will love him … we will continually delight ourselves in him. We will design this being with the capacity to receive Our love and the capacity to respond to Our love”

The Paradox
The Logos understood that true love could not be pre-programmed within this being. For this love to be pure, it had to be as free and spontaneous as its origin. For this companionship to be all that God imagined it to be, His companion had to be free to choose or reject this love. A being made in the likeness and image of the Union would have the same creative ability to imagine. The same infinite possibilities that lay before the infinite mind of God, would present themselves to this being … but would he choose the same … would he have the same preferences? What a disaster it would be to produce an equal one that is all-knowing and all-powerful and then discover that this being has different preferences to the one who created him!

The Logos calculated that such a situation would be disastrous and so the option was rejected. Instead another possibility was presented. An environment could be created in which this being could learn to use its powers without eternal disastrous consequences. Some of the qualities that God possessed would be given to this being, but would be limited in this environment. Some qualities would only be placed within this being as seeds potential qualities that would grow and manifest in … time. God thought about ‘time’ a way to limit the potential damage that such a creature could do.
But one thing He would not compromise on, was reproducing His most essential quality in this being. You see, it is not being all-powerful that makes God, God. Neither is it His omnipresence or the fact that He is all-knowing. The most essential quality of God is … love. God is love. This capacity to receive, contain and reflect back this love is the most important ‘likeness’ that this being would possess.

But another difficulty remained. How could a completely free and spontaneous being be guaranteed to make the right choice? The Logos calculated uncountable scenarios and configurations of the environment to see if there was a way to guarantee the right choice. The answer was produced after an exceptionally long period of timelessness. The fact that this being would not be all-knowing, yet be imaginative and free, meant that this being would indeed make choices and have preferences other than those chosen by God! This creature would be responsible for choosing ‘evil’!

For any other logic, this would be an impossible situation – how to plan and purpose every detail of the plot, yet give another creature the freedom to choose what role to play within it. But for the Logos, nothing is impossible.

So this was the paradox presented to the Logos: Of all the possibilities to realise God’s dream of having a love companion, the only options available would result in ‘evil’ being realized! God already rejected all possibilities not in line with his character, but this being would imagine and choose some of these rejected possibilities; this being would choose evil! At this stage God did not created anything yet, He was simply considering all His options. What He realised is that should He create and set this plan in motion, He would indirectly be responsible for ‘Evil’! ‘Evil’ would be a consequence of creation! Yet there was something deeper to God’s Logos (logic) than this. He calculated that within this temporal environment, evil too, would be temporal … but the object of His love, the being created in His likeness and image, would be eternal. He knew how to take ‘evil’ and turn it into a part of a greater purpose: “Don’t you see, you planned evil against me but God used those same plans for my good…”4

Evil would indeed cause terrible suffering, both for His creation and for Himself. He knew the end from the beginning and saw the suffering that He would have to endure Himself for the sake a having this companion named man. Although He would not be directly responsible for choosing evil, His choice to create would give the opportunity for evil to be realised He would be indirectly responsible! And so God took the responsibility – He would be indirectly responsible for creating evil and therefore He also took it upon Himself to ultimately destroy it.

“I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things. “5,
“Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy”6

His plan to destroy it, included sacrificing Himself and so we read about a ‘lamb slain before the foundation of the earth’7. Before creation, God understood the consequences of creating – unimaginable suffering, sorrow and death but He also saw beyond it. He saw the end of evil and the realisation of His eternal dream. Evil was indeed an necessary evil, but also a temporary evil. In the end evil and its consequences would be abolished. An so Hosea prophesied:

“Shall I intervene and pull them into life? Shall I snatch them from a certain death? Who is afraid of you, Death? Who cares about your threats, Tomb? In the end I’m abolishing regret, banishing sorrow,”8

Seeing the grand scheme of God’s plan, Paul wrote: “At the same moment and in the same way, we’ll all be changed. In the resurrection scheme of things, this has to happen: everything perishable taken off the shelves and replaced by the imperishable, this mortal replaced by the immortal. Then the saying will come true: Death swallowed by triumphant Life! Who got the last word, oh, Death? Oh, Death, who’s afraid of you now? It was sin that made death so frightening and law-code guilt that gave sin its leverage, its destructive power. But now in a single victorious stroke of Life, all three-sin, guilt, death-are gone, the gift of our Master, Jesus Christ. Thank God! “9

The possibility of evil existing forever, was rejected by God. He was confident that in the end man would choose as He chose. He knew that He could accurately communicate His original plan in such a way that all things He created would once again be reconciled to Himself.

“We look at this Son and see the God who cannot be seen. We look at this Son and see God’s original purpose in everything created. For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible, rank after rank after rank of angels everything got started in him and finds its purpose in him. He was there before any of it came into existence and holds it all together right up to this moment. And when it comes to the church, he organizes and holds it together, like a head does a body. He was supreme in the beginning and leading the resurrection parade he is supreme in the end. From beginning to end he’s there, towering far above everything, everyone. So spacious is he, so roomy, that everything of God finds its proper place in him without crowding. Not only that, but all the broken and dislocated pieces of the universe – people and things, animals and atoms get properly fixed and fit together in vibrant harmonies, all because of his death, his blood that poured down from the cross. You yourselves are a case study of what he does. At one time you all had your backs turned to God, thinking rebellious thoughts of him, giving him trouble every chance you got. But now, by giving himself completely at the Cross, actually dying for you, Christ brought you over to God’s side and put your lives together, whole and holy in his presence. You don’t walk away from a gift like that! You stay grounded and steady in that bond of trust, constantly tuned in to the Message, careful not to be distracted or diverted. There is no other Message – just this one. Every creature under heaven gets this same Message.”10

1 Proverbs 8:22 -
2 Isaiah 46:10
3 James 1:17
4 Gen 50:20
5 Isaiah 45:7
6 Isaiah 54:16
7 Revelation 13 : 8; 5:12
8 Hosea 13:14
9 1 Corinthians 15:52-54
10 Colossians 1:15-23

2:1 Your presumed knowledge of that which is right or wrong does not qualify you to judge anyone. Especially if you do exactly the same stuff you notice other people do wrong. You effectively condemn yourself. No man is another man’s judge.

2:2 God must judge all transgression, [...]]]> Chapter 2 (Translation by Francois du Toit)

2:1 Your presumed knowledge of that which is right or wrong does not qualify you to judge anyone. Especially if you do exactly the same stuff you notice other people do wrong. You effectively condemn yourself. No man is another man’s judge.

2:2 God must judge all transgression, but your judging others does not make them any guiltier!

2:3 God is totally impartial in His judgement; you are not scoring any points or disguising your own sins by telling on others!

2:4 We cannot afford to get the wrong idea about God’s goodness; the wealth of His benevolence and His stubborn refusal to let go of us, and His patient passion is to gently shepherd everyone into a radical change of heart.

2:5 A calloused heart that resists change accumulates cause to self-destruction while God’s righteous judgement (that fell on Christ) is revealed in broad daylight.

2:6 You are on your own; your own deeds will judge you.

2:7 Mankind’s quest is to be constant in that which is good, glorious and honourable and of imperishable value. He is committed to pursue the original blueprint-life of the Ages.

2:8 Yet there are those who ignore the truth (about their identity as sons) through unbelief. They continue to exist as mere hirelings, motivated by a monthly wage (rather than sonship). They believe in their failure and unrighteousness and are consumed by outbursts of anger and displeasure.

2:9 Pressures from every side, like an overcrowded room, (or a cramped foot in an undersized shoe,) is the experience of the soul of everyone who does what is worthless. The fact that the Jews are Jewish does not make their experience of evil any different from that of the Greeks.

2:10 In sharp contrast to this, bliss, self-worth and total tranquillity is witnessed by everyone, both Jew and Greek, who finds expression in that which is good. We are tailor-made for good.

2:11 God does not judge people on face value.

2:12 Ruin and self-destruction are the inevitable results of sin, whether someone knows the law or not.

2:13 Righteousness is not a hear-say thing, it is law defined in practical living!

2:14 For even a pagan’s natural instinct will confirm the law to be present in his conscience even though he has never even heard about Jewish laws. Thus he proves to be a law unto himself.

2:15 The law is so much more than a mere written code, its presence in human conscience even in the absence of the written instruction is obvious, condemning or commending personal conduct.

2:16 Every hidden, conflicting thought will be disclosed in the daylight of God’s scrutiny, based on the good news of Jesus Christ that I proclaim. (The ineffectiveness of good intentions and self discipline to produce lasting change will be exposed as worthless in contrast to the impact of Christ’s sacrifice on man’s behalf)

2:17 Your Jewish identity does not make God your exclusive property,

2:18 even though you boast in the fact that you have the documented desire of God published like an instruction manual in the law.

2:19 You promote yourself confidently as a guide for the blind, and a light bearer for those groping about in darkness.

2:20 You feel yourself so superior to the rest of the world, you are the ‘kindergarten’ teacher to the mindless, an instructor of infants, because you believe that in the law you’ve got knowledge and truth all wrapped up in a nutshell.

2:21 However, the real question is not whether you are a good teacher; how good a student are you? What’s the good of teaching against stealing when you yourself have a reputation of a kleptomaniac?

2:22 You speak against adultery while you cannot get your own mind off sexual sins. It just doesn’t make sense does it? You say idolatry stinks yet you steal stuff from pagan shrines.

2:23 Your proud association with the law is ruined every time you dishonour God by dodging the doing bit.

2:24 This has been going on for hundreds of years as recorded in scripture. No wonder the Gentiles think that your God is no better than any of their philosophies when it comes to living the life the law promotes.

2:25 The real value of circumcision is tested by your ability to keep the law. If you break the law you might as well not be circumcised.

2:26 The fact that you are circumcised does not distinguish you from the rest of the world; it does not give you super-human power to keep the commandments.

2:27 If it is not about who is circumcised or not, but rather who keeps the law or not, then in that case even uncircumcised people can judge the ones who claim to know it all and have it all! On the one hand you have those who feel naturally inclined to do what is right, yet none of them are circumcised, then you have the circumcised who know the letter of the law but fail to keep it.

2:28 So it is not about who you appear to be on the outside that makes you a real Jew, but who you really are on the inside.

2:29 For you to know who you are in your heart is the secret of your spirit identity; this is your true circumcision, it is not the literal outward appearance that distinguishes you. After all it is God’s approval and not man’s impression that matters most. Man sees skin-deep, God knows the heart.

Notes:

v 4 Paul often has to remind his readers that his emphasis on the goodness of God is not a cheap excuse for them to continue in sin. See 6:1

chrestotetos from chraomai, to receive a loan, life is on loan to us as it were. Life is God’s property.

anoches from ana, showing intensity and echo, to hold

makrothumias to be patient in bearing the offences and injuries of others. Literary, passion that goes a long way; from the root word thuo, to slay a sacrifice

ago, to lead as a shepherd leads his sheep

metanoia, traditionally translated, repentance, suggests a total change of mind, to come to your right mind.

v 7 the life of the ages is the most attractive life man could wish to live, yet it remains elusive outside the redemption that Christ worked on man’s behalf. Not even the most quality decision to live a blameless life under the law could measure up.

v 8 erithea from erithos, working as a hireling for wages (traditionally translated, self-willed or contentious)

apeitheo, to be unpersuaded (traditionally translated to be disobedient)

v 9 Symptoms of disease are the same in anyone, they are no respecter of person, doctrine or nationality.

v18 dokimatso, document, decree, approve;

diaphero to carry through, to publish (Acts 13:49), to discern the difference.