True Justice

/ Neal Embry / Leave a comment

There is no such thing as a good person.  No matter what you’ve been told, we are not inherently morally good.  We’re certainly not good enough to save ourselves.  Romans 3:11 says “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God.”  Verse 23 of the same chapter says that “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.”

Here on Earth, we have a merit-based justice system.  We do things and make decisions based on what we believe is fair, what is right.  But in God’s eyes, we are all worthy of death without Christ.  God didn’t save you because there’s something in you worth saving.  God saved you because he is an incredibly gracious and loving God.  He saved you because he loved you, not based on your works, but because he just did.  God just did.  That’s a tough concept to grasp, and it’s something we may struggle with all of our lives.

God is a holy, righteous God.  Thus, he is the only true judge.  He alone is worthy to judge all peoples, and his goal is to uphold his holy character and bring glory to himself.  Because of who he is, God deserves all the glory and all the praise, and we deserve none of it.

Those who seek their own glory, or “justice” for themselves, will find themselves declared wicked by God, and God will have none of it.  Stealing God’s thunder will get you struck by lightning if you don’t turn around and trust in Christ:

“If a man does not repent, God will whet his sword, he has bent and readied his bow, he has prepared for him his deadly weapons, making his arrows fiery shafts.  Behold the wicked man conceives evil and is pregnant with mischief and gives birth to lies.”–Psalm 7:12-14

God cannot allow us in our sinful condition into heaven.  He can be around sin, but because it is so abhorrent to him, he is definitely not ok with it.  We have a sin condition, and desperately need a savior.  But far too often, we think we are our own savior.  We are not saved by our works.  Look again with me at Romans 3.  By our works, we are condemned, and so, only Christ can justify us, and only God can judge us, because he alone is worthy.  God is the goal, we have all fallen short.  You see, looking at God’s justice, the upholding of his name, and the punishment we are all worthy of, points us to Christ.

“For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.  But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it–the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe.”–Romans 3:20-22

So God is the only one who is good.  Jesus is the only man who’s walked this Earth that was perfect.  We are sinful, and have no true moral code.  We have no way to save ourselves.  We have no right to declare what is right and wrong, what’s fair and not fair.  So pretty much, we’re in trouble.

But God made a way when we were dead in sin, and the way is Jesus, and Jesus alone.  Jesus can save us, and for those who believe, Christ is the savior, and is able to make us righteous by his work, not ours.

May this impact us every day, to marvel at God’s grace, and to keep us from judging others and thinking we know what is right or fair, for God is the only judge of what is right and fair.  Our justice system does a marvelous job, but ultimately, the final judgment lies with the Creator.

One last thing I want us to see is found again in Psalm 7.  Verse 8 says “The Lord judges the peoples, judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness and according to the integrity that is in me.”

Without Christ, when we ask this of God, we’re pretty much telling God that we’re ready to go to hell.  We’ve packed our ice packs and sunscreen, let’s go.  Do we think about it like that?  No, because again, we think, before we know what we know about God, that we are inherently morally good.  But if we were to truly get what we deserve, we’d get death.

But think about that prayer and request from David in the light of the salvation of Christ.  God doesn’t then look at us for righteousness, but at Christ, who makes us righteous and who makes us whole.  He had the righteousness needed, and thus, we are saved by faith in Christ, and not in anything else.

God, your grace is amazing, and we don’t fully understand it.  May we continue to live our lives in such a way that marvel at who you are and bring glory to your name.

God bless,

Neal E

The Example of Paul–Big Heads and Big Rocks

/ Neal Embry / 5 Comments

Thanks to my cousin Debbie for the idea of blogging on this passage of Scripture.  I think it’s very interesting and relevant to current Christian leaders and believers today.

So look with me in Acts 14:8-23.  Paul and Barnabas have gone to Lystra to share the gospel.  There was a man there who could not use his feet.  He had never walked.  As Paul spoke, this man listened.  Paul looked intently at him and saw that he had the faith to be made well, and he told him to stand on his feet.  The man began walking.

Now the crowd they were speaking to was made up of mostly Greeks, and in this particular city, there was a local myth that the Greek gods Zeus and Hermes had visited the village.  When they saw what Paul did, they began saying that the men were gods, and they called Barnabas Zeus and Paul Hermes, because he was the chief speaker.  Verse 11: “The gods have come down to us in the likeness of men!”  Obviously, Paul didn’t like this.  He refuted the claims and tore his garments.  He cries, in verse 15, “Men, why are you doing these things?  We also are men, of like nature with you, and we bring you good news, that you should turn from these vain things to a living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them.”  Paul goes on to say that God’s character revealed by nature is the Lord’s witness.  But the crowd still sought to offer the men sacrifice.

Here Paul sets the biblical model for our response to other people’s praise of our work.  There’s nothing wrong in thanking them, but ultimately, we should give the glory to God.  He says that he and Barnabas are men just like them, but what they bring is good news.  They themselves, like us today, are not good, but the message is good.

Hopefully no one is calling us gods.  And if they are, hopefully we aren’t buying into it.  But I know that sometimes it can be challenging for leaders in the Christian community to deflect the praise and protect against getting a big head.  God doesn’t call us to missions to get a big head.  He doesn’t call us to proclaim his great name to bring about a huge ego in us.  Our leaders, pastors, and every believer must know this.  When we set the example of Christ, we set him, not ourselves, and must not gain any pride.  It’s not easy, for I know that sometimes I feel better about myself when I do Godly works, but then I’m reminded of just how much I need him.

When I was in Virginia, it would’ve been easy, and in fact, a few times was, to walk around pridefully, because I was the missionary.  Walking out into the community, I could’ve thought “I’m the missionary.  Yeah.  I’m serving God…I’m awesome.”  What about that is awesome?  It’s not me.  It’s not my job.  It’s God.  The work God calls us to do isn’t great in and of itself, but is great because of who it is about, and it is about God.

So when I walked around thinking “Yeah, that’s right…I’m a missionary,” of course God humbled me. I would screw something up in about five minutes, and hear that little voice saying “Yep.  You’re a missionary alright.  But guess what?  You’re also Neal Embry.  Remember him?”  Then I’d mutter “oh…yeah.  That guy.  He’s not that cool.”

I’m not cool.  I realized that pretty quickly in high school.  Then I realized it again in college.  I’m not cool.  But God’s cool.  And if I’m serving him….I don’t care how many Facebook friends I have.  While I want a lot of people to read this blog, and hopefully it’s always because I want them to be changed by God, not just to make me feel better, it’s worth it if only one person reads it and is changed.

Yes I do get satisfaction in serving God, and in seeing him move, but it is because it is amazing to see.  I feel like I’ve truly accomplished something, but the pride goes to pride in God, not in myself.  And Paul’s reaction to being called a god is perfect.  He deflects the attention away from him and on to the message.  That’s what I want us to see.

We must protect ourselves from getting big heads in ministry, and we must never elevate ourselves above the message of God.

Moving on.

Jews come onstage and persuade the crowd to stone Paul.  They seem to be good at persuading people to do violence.  So they throw big rocks at Paul.  They think he’s dead, and the disciples drag him away.  Paul gets up, goes into the city, then goes to Derbe the next day.  He strengthened area churches and established elders among them, and told them they must suffer tribulations for Christ’s name.

Now, I don’t think anyone would think any less of Paul if he took a day off.  These aren’t pebbles.  They’re probably pretty boss stones.  Just a guess.  It hurts.  While Paul didn’t get a big head egotistically, he probably got a good looking bump up there on his noggin.  He gets up the next day and goes to another city to share Christ with them.  That’s amazing to me.  He kept going.

We must do the same.  I think Paul was thinking that if Christ was willing to suffer that brutal death on the cross, he would be willing to take a few rocks to the head for his Savior.  Are we willing to take the hits?  Or will we sit back and lay down as the world around us continues to live in sin, condemned to hell with no knowledge of Jesus Christ?

Paul spoke of tribulation.  Now, I don’t know about you, but when I think of tribulation, getting stoned with big rocks is about #276 on my list, right behind being volunteered to participate in a magic show and get sawed in half.  Don’t ask me how that could serve the kingdom….just go with it.  Anyway…

The point is that we will suffer.  It won’t be easy.  But we must remember this: It wasn’t easy for Jesus, either.  And he is worth everything, for our hope and home is in and with him, eternally.

May we live in a way that makes him known above ourselves, no matter the cost.

God bless,

Neal E