Whatsoever Is Not of Faith Is Sin

 Bible Echo - August 17, 1896  by A.T. Jones (Excerpt) 

"Whatsoever is not of faith is sin." Rom. 14:23.

Therefore it is that "being justified"--made righteous--"by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." Rom. 5:1.

Faith, not works, is that through which men are saved. "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God; not of works, lest any man should boast." Eph. 2:8,9.

"Where is boasting, then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay; but by the law of faith. Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law." Rom. 3:27, 28.

The gospel excludes boasting, and boasting is a natural consequence of all attempts at justification by works;  yet the gospel does not exclude works. On the contrary, works--good works--are the one grand object of the gospel. "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before prepared that we should walk in them." Eph. 2:10, with margin.

There is not the slightest contradiction here. The difference is between our works and God's works. Our works are always faulty; God's works are always perfect. Therefore, it is God's works that we need in order to be perfect. 

But we are not able to do God's works, for He is infinite, and we are nothing. For a man to think himself able to do God's works is the highest presumption. We laugh when a five-year-old boy imagines that he can do his father's work. How much more foolish for puny man to image that he can do the works of the Almighty.

Goodness is not an abstract thing. It is action, and action is found only in living beings. And since God alone is good, only His works are of any account. Only the man who has God's works is righteous.

But since no man can do God's works, it necessarily follows that God must give them to us, if we are saved. This is just what He does for all who believe.

When the Jews in their self-sufficiency asked, "What shall we do that we might work the works of God?" Jesus replied, "This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent. John 6:28, 29. Faith works. Gal. 5:6; 1 Thess. 1:3. 

Joh 6:28  Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? 

Joh 6:29  Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent. 

Gal 5:6  For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love. 

1Th 1:3  Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father

It brings God's works into the believing one, since it brings Christ into the heart (Eph. 3:17), and in Him is all the fulness of God. Col. 2:9. Jesus Christ is "the same yesterday and today and forever" (Heb. 13:8),  and therefore God not only was but is in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself. So if Christ dwells in the heart by faith, the works of God will be manifest in the life, "for it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure." Phil. 2:13.

Eph 3:17  That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, 

Col 2:9  For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.

Heb 13:8  Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever. Php 2:13  For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. 

 

How this is done is not within the range of our comprehension. We do not need to know how it is done, since we do not have it to do. The fact is enough for us. We can no more understand how God does His works, than we can do those works. So the Christian life is always a mystery, even to the Christian himself. It is a life hidden with Christ in God. Col. 3:3. It is hidden even from the Christian's own sight. Christ in man, the hope of glory, is the mystery of the gospel. Col. 1:27.

Col 3:3  For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.

Col 1:27  To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory

In Christ we are created unto good works which God has already prepared for us. We have only to accept them by faith. The acceptance of those good works is the acceptance of Christ. 

How long "before" did God prepare those good works for us? "The works were finished from the foundation of the world. For he spake in a certain place of the seventh day on this wise, And God did rest the seventh day from all his works. And in this place again, If they shall"--i.e., they, the unbelieving, shall not--"enter into my rest." Heb. 4:3-5. But "we which have believed do enter into rest."

The Sabbath, therefore--the seventh day of the week--is God's rest. God gave the Sabbath as a sign by which men might know that He is God and that He sanctifies. Eze. 20:12. 20. Sabbath-keeping has nothing whatever to do with justification by works, but is, on the contrary, the sign and seal of justification by faith. It is a sign that man gives up his own sinful works and accepts God's perfect works. Since the Sabbath is not a work but a rest, it is the mark of rest in God through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

Eze 20:12  Moreover also I gave them my sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am the LORD that sanctify them. 

Eze 20:20  And hallow my sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between me and you, that ye may know that I am the LORD your God. 

No other day than the seventh day of the week can stand as the mark of perfect rest in God, because on that day alone did God rest from all His works. It is the rest of the seventh day, into which He says the unbelieving cannot enter. It alone of all the days of the week is the rest day, and it is inseparably connected with God's perfect work.

On the other six days, including the first day of the week, God worked. On those days we also may and ought to work. Yet on every one of them we also may and ought to rest in God. This will be the case if our works are "wrought in God." John 3:21. So men should rest in God every day in the week, but the seventh day alone can be the sign of that rest.

Joh 3:21  But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God. 

Two things may be noted as self-evident conclusions of the truths already set forth. One is that the setting apart of another day than the seventh, as the sign of acceptance of Christ and of rest in God through Him is in reality a sign of rejection of Him. Since it is the substitution of man's way for God's way, it is in reality the sign of man's assumption of superiority above God and of the idea that man can save himself by his own works. Not everyone who observes another day has that assumption, by any means. There are many who love the Lord in sincerity and who accept Him in humility, who observe another day than that which God has given as the sign of rest in Him. They simply have not learned the full and proper expression of faith. But their sincerity and the fact that God accepts their unfeigned faith does not alter the fact that the day which they observe is the sign of exaltation above God. When such hear God's gracious warning they will forsake the sign of apostasy as they would a plague-stricken house.

The other point is that people cannot be forced to keep the Sabbath, inasmuch as it is a sign of faith and no man can be forced to believe. Faith comes spontaneously as the result of hearing God's word. No man can even force himself to believe, much less can he compel somebody else. By force a man's fears may be so wrought upon that he may say he believes and he may act as though he believed. That is to say, a man who fears man rather than God may be forced to lie. But "no lie is of the truth." Therefore since the Sabbath is the sign of perfect faith, it is the sign of perfect liberty--"the glorious liberty of the children of God"--the liberty which the Spirit gives, for the Sabbath, as a part of God's law, is spiritual. And so, finally, let no one deceive himself with the thought that an outward observance of even God's appointed rest day--the seventh day--without faith and trust in God's word alone, is the keeping of God's Sabbath. "For whatsoever is not of faith is sin."  

God's Heaven, God's Rest.

 Before mankind sinned…

"Thus the heavens and the earth were finished." 

The heavens - our sky, our atmosphere, our outer space- all created separate from where God and all the hosts of His heaven would reign. A heavenly temple was brought into existence before mankind, before earth and earth's heavens were created. The heaven of God is unlike anything we can imagine fully, only as looking through a dark glass. Our eyes have NOT seen, our ears have NOT heard,  we do NOT have in our hearts fully convicted the THINGS GOD has prepared for us who LOVE HIM. God's heaven was created on a plane of existence we cannot comprehend in our temporal condition. God's heaven exists and by faith we believe it exists. God's heaven- our longed for HOME. God's heaven- the gospel of the KINGDOM. God's heaven separate from - the heavens that were finished for us who live upon earth. 

God created the heavens and the earth and finished the creative process, all of creation upon earth was in place when God finished.  How momentous was this creation of heavens and earth that God culminated it by resting and not only resting but God blessed the day He rested, God made the day He rested Holy. Day one through six were not blessed, were not made holy, and yet they were filled with all of creation. Those days of creation were not the focus. The skies, the sun, the earth, the land and sea, the creatures of earth, sky and sea -none were the focus of what was transpiring- in and of themselves they were NOT the all-important, NOT worthy of any worshiping at all whatsoever! Nothing created was worship worthy, why? Because nothing created - created itself- it had a CREATOR. The CREATOR blessed a DAY, the CREATOR made a DAY HOLY, why? Was it a one-time day blessed and sanctified? If it were, then why isn't it commemorated as such?  Like, for instance… "Remember that day God rested- let's make a yearly celebration of that day. We'll call it day one of every year we have. Wait? How do we have years? Why are we using the objects in the created heavens to dictate our years, our months, our days? You know our days- morning and night. You know our months- that moon goes through a cycle fully seen to not seen at all. You know our years, positioning ourselves in the same orbital place using the Sun as a point of reference. And our weeks, you know the seven days… using…uhm… using a… the, you know, that uhhhh…  no, no planetary reference, no light and dark set point, no rotation around… yet people will tell you that those created long after the first of creation instituted the week with planets numbered and so on. God however, CREATED ALL who came up with various ideas (and there have been many) of our life cycles.  God CREATED and RESTED.  GOD created a DAY for REST, a DAY of HOLINESS, and what makes something holy? GOD! 

A PERMANENT MEMORIAL OF CREATION, and hence, a PERMANENT MEMORIAL OF OUR CREATOR.

We NEED this memorial and GOD solidified our need in a remarkable way. He rained manna from heaven to feed the Israelites freed from Egypt. He rained it down SIX days only.  On the sixth day He rained down double, the extra to be used on the day there was NO manna. God explained to those who had long forgotten His ways (in many ways) that He created a SABBATH back at CREATION on the SEVENTH DAY HE RESTED- and He blessed that day and made it HOLY. Mankind were NOT to forget they had a CREATOR, not ever! A permanent reminder of their creaturehood was given right after they'd been created. 

We KNOW which day of the seven was blessed and sanctified because God's chosen people kept track of it throughout time, so we know today which day is that seventh day. We know and yet we make so many excuses for why it was supposedly changed, none of which are found in God's word if studied through very thorough, careful exegesis. 

God created and blessed and sanctified this seventh day I'm writing this little study on. My Creator wants me to know Him as my Creator, to know Him as my Redeemer, my GOD, my LORD, my SAVIOR. I serve my CREATOR! I choose to HONOR Him today, on the day HE created for me to remember HIM and how ALL important HE is, the all in all, the everlasting to everlasting! 

All praise, honor, and glory to GOD! 

Heb 8:5

Psa_11:4

1Co 13:12 

1Co_2:9 

2Co_4:18 

Heb_11:13 

Joh 14:2-4

Mat 24:14

Excerpt-Formalism.

 Bible Echo - February 15, 1892  by A.T. Jones (Excerpt) 

Even this side of the cross of Christ, which itself should be the everlasting destruction of it, the same dead formalism, an empty profession, has exalted itself, and has been the bane of the profession of Christianity everywhere. Very soon, unconverted men crept into the church and exalted themselves in the place of Christ.  Not finding the living presence of Christ in the heart by living faith, they have ever since sought to have the forms of Christianity supply the lack of His presence, which alone can give meaning and life to these forms.

In this system of perverseness, regeneration is through the form of baptism and even this by a mere sprinkling of a few drops of water. The real presence of Christ is in the form of the Lord's supper. The hope of salvation is in being connected with a form of the church. And so on throughout the whole list of the forms of Christianity,  they have heaped upon this, ten thousand inventions of their own in penances, pilgrimages, traditions and hair- splitting distinctions.

And as of old and always with mere formalists, the life is simply and continually the manifestation of the works of the flesh--strife and contention, hypocrisy and iniquity, persecution, spying, treachery, and every evil work.  This is the Papacy. ((This is most church organizations today))

This evil spirit of a dead formalism, however, has spread itself far beyond the bounds of the organized Papacy. It is the bane of the profession of Christianity everywhere today, and even the profession of the Christianity of the third angel's message has not entirely escaped it. It is to be the worldwide prevailing evil of the last days up to the very coming of the Lord in glory in the clouds of heaven.

For "this know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves,  covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection,  truce-breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, high-minded,  lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God, having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away." 2 Tim. 3:1-5.

This all-prevailing form of godliness without the power, and which even denies the power, is the dead formalism against which we are to fight the good fight of living faith. The living faith which is brought to the world in the third angel's message is to save us from being swallowed up in this worldwide sea of dead formalism.

How is it with you individually today? Is yours a dead formalism or a living faith? Have you the form of godliness without the power? Or have you by living faith the living presence and power of the living Saviour in the heart, giving divine meaning, life and joy to all the forms of worship and of service which Christ has appointed and working the works of God and manifesting the fruits of the Spirit in all the life?

Except as the means of finding Christ the living Saviour in the word and the living faith of Him, even this word itself can be turned to a dead formalism now as it was of old when He was on the earth. He said to them then  (Revised Version), "Ye search the Scriptures, because ye think that in them ye have eternal life; and these are they which bear witness of me. And ye will not come to me that ye may have life." John 5:39, 40.

They thought to find eternal life in the Scriptures without Christ; that is, by doing them themselves. But "this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in His Son"--as we find Him in the Scriptures and not in the words of the Scriptures without Him. For they are they that testify of Him. This is their object.  Therefore, "he that hath the Son hath life, and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life." 1 John 5:11, 12.

"True godliness elevates the thoughts and actions; then the external forms of religion accord with the Christian's internal purity; then those ceremonies required in the service of God are not meaningless rites, like those of the hypocritical Pharisees." --Spirit of Prophecy, vol. ii., p. 219.  

Christ Alone.

 Christ alone makes it possible for us to keep His law, His commandments, His love. We struggle daily with principalities and powers unseen that affect the seen. Our lives are affected constantly by outside stimulus. How many of us feel provoked into wrong doing, and that if left unprovoked we would not do the wrong? Provocation accounts for a lot of wrong doing. We get egged on by situations, and even by our own bruised and battered thoughts. We are influenced constantly through every interaction with others, and with situations that don't even involve other people but rather things out of our control. 

A situation transpires and instantly we are provoked towards anger, it happens. It's a daily occurrence and will continue to be so until we breathe no longer, until we live no longer in this temporary sin-filled condition. We will be provoked unceasingly and to bemoan the constant barrage that keeps us from living a life we aspire to in what we imagine are our finest thoughts, is something we need to stop doing. If at all possible we have to come to the realization that we will be provoked daily towards being unloving, being un-Christ-like. Each provocation when it comes is meant to derail us, to defeat us, to cause us to edge closer and closer to despairing of ever being how we imagine we need to be. 

We imagine we need to be Christ-like and it's no wonder, we are told to be so. However if we EVER imagine we can be Christ-like on our own we immediately fail of that aspiration. Being Christ-like is CHRIST in us doing ALL the love and our allowing Him to work in us, to live in us, to love us. We may fail to allow Christ to work in us and that is what we have to comprehend. Not that we've failed to attain a standard of goodness, but we've failed to allow Christ to be good in us. 

You say what does it matter, it's all jibber jabber, all this or that, semantics and the like. Whether we're good, or fail to be good, or whether we're good, or allowing Christ to be good in us or failing to let Him work in us, what does it matter- we fail in some way. We fail.  If you fail at a task because of a stubborn need to do it on your own it is different than if you fail at a task because you are expected to do it on your own.  You fail to work with another. You neglect the source of your ability to succeed, by accepting the success of another for you. You neglect to give up your own success. Wanting glory to succeed on your own. Telling the One who has succeeded for you and enables you to succeed that you have done it, is wrong. Telling the One who has succeeded for you and enables you to succeed that you can only succeed through Him, and are thankful eternally for His success is truth.

Being sorry for all the failures of not letting Christ live through us is a continuous recognition of what our failure is, it's truth.  We should NOT expect to live the life we know is pure love, but we can expect to endlessly recognize our need to submit to that pure love. We live in a constant state of soul affliction before our God, the affliction of our lack of submission to Him fully in all things. The affliction of our easy provocation towards looking to self for a source of goodness. He is all things good in us. He is the end of the law, the ultimate keeper of the entire law, He did for us what we could not, and cannot do without Him. We seek forgiveness for our failing not to be good on our own, but rather not to allow Him to be good in us.

God help us to be HIS in all ways! All through HIS LOVE, HIS FORGIVENESS, HIS MERCY, HIS GRACE, now and forever!

Bible Echo - February 15, 1892  by A.T. Jones (Excerpt) 

'In Rom. 10:4 we read as follows: "For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth."  

Before showing what this text means, it may be well to briefly show what it does not mean. It does not mean that Christ has put an end to the law, because (1) Christ Himself said concerning the law, "I am not come to destroy."  Matt. 5:17. (2)

The prophet said that instead of destroying it, the Lord would "Magnify the law and make it honorable." Isa. 42:21. (3)

The law was in Christ's own heart: "Then said I, Lo, I come; in the volume of the book it is written of me, I delight to do thy will, O my God; yea, thy law is within my heart." Ps. 40:7, 8. 

And (4) since the law is the righteousness of God, the foundation of His government, it could not by any possibility be abolished. See Luke 16:17.

Luk 16:17  And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail. 

The reader must know that the word "end" does not necessarily mean "termination." It is often used in the sense of design, object, or purpose. In 1 Tim. 1:5 the same writer says, "Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned." the word here rendered "charity" is often rendered "love," and is so rendered in this place in the New Version. 

In 1 John 5:3 we read, "This is the love of God, that we keep his commandments," and Paul himself says that "love is the fulfilling of the law." Rom. 13:10.  In both these texts the same word (agape) is used that occurs in 1 Tim. 1:5. Therefore we say that this text means,  Now the design of the commandment (or law) is that it should be kept. Everybody will recognize this as a self-evident fact.

But this is not the ultimate design of the law. In the verse following the one under consideration, Paul quotes Moses as saying of the law that "the man that doeth those things shall live by them." Christ said to the young man, "If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments." Matt. 19:17. Now since the design of the law was that it should be kept, or, in other words, that it should produce righteous characters, and the promise is that those who are obedient shall live, we may say that the ultimate design of the law was to give life. And in harmony with this thought are the words of Paul, that the law "was ordained to life." Rom. 7:10.

But "all have sinned and come short of the glory of God," and "the wages of sin is death." Thus it is impossible for the law to accomplish its design in making perfect characters and consequently giving life. When a man has once broken the law, no subsequent obedience can ever make his character perfect. And therefore the law which was ordained unto life is found to be unto death. Rom. 7:10.

If we were to stop right here with the law unable to accomplish its purpose, we should leave all the world under condemnation and sentence of death. Now we shall see that Christ enables man to secure both righteousness and life. We read that we are "justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus." Rom.  3:24. "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." Rom. 5:1. More than this, He enables us to keep the law. "For he [God] hath made him [Christ] to be sin for us, who knew no sin;  that we might be made the righteousness of God in him." 2 Cor. 5:21. 

In Christ, therefore, it is possible for us to be made perfect--the righteousness of God--and that is just what we would have been by constant and unvarying obedience to the law.

Again we read, "There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit. . . . For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God,  sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh; that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh but after the Spirit." Rom. 8:1-4.

What could not the law do? It could not free a single guilty soul from condemnation. Why not? Because it was "weak through the flesh." There is no element of weakness in the law; the weakness is in the flesh.

It is not the fault of a good tool that it cannot make a sound pillar out of a rotten stick. The law could not cleanse a man's past record and make him sinless; and poor, fallen man had no strength resting in his flesh to enable him to keep the law. And so God imputes to believers the righteousness of Christ, who was made in the likeness of sinful flesh, so that "the righteousness of the law" might be fulfilled in their lives. And thus Christ is the end of the law.

To conclude, then, we have found that the design of the law was that it should give life because of obedience.  All men have sinned and been sentenced to death. But Christ took upon Himself man's nature and will impart of His own righteousness to those who accept His sacrifice, and finally when they stand, through Him, as doers of the law, He will fulfill to them its ultimate object, by crowning them with eternal life. And so we repeat, what we cannot too fully appreciate, that Christ is made unto us "wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption."  '

In Spirit and Truth.

 Joh_4:23  But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall WORSHIP THE FATHER in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to WORSHIP HIM.

Joh_4:24  God is a Spirit: and they that WORSHIP HIM must WORSHIP HIM in spirit and in truth.

Heb_1:6  And again, when he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God WORSHIP HIM.

Rev_4:10  The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and WORSHIP HIM that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne…

Rev_14:7  Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and WORSHIP HIM that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.

Rev_19:10  And I fell at his feet to WORSHIP HIM. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: WORSHIP GOD: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

We’ve confused the worship of God with the worship of self, disguised as worship of God. It's true. Israel of old, and currently, worship a religion set up by God but ruined by man. Jesus recognized this when He ministered upon the earth and pointed it out to them, but they refused to unstop their spiritual ears to hear. Today, mankind has many religions.  A quick google of how many religions are there revealed this…

'According to some estimates, there are roughly 4,200 religions, churches, denominations, religious bodies, faith groups, tribes, cultures, movements, ultimate concerns, which at some point in the future will be countless.'

This isn't to say there are 4,200 (or countless) religions based upon worshipping God alone, but there are many who lay claim to that worship of God.  In truth there can be ONLY ONE true worship of God. Yes, I said it and I believe it.  And this ONE true worship is the worship that comes to each individually from the heart in truth and in Spirit. There is no titled one church in existence that is God's true church. It is a people of God, Christ followers from all over the world, some from this organized church, some from the other organized church, some from this unorganized church, some from a house church, some that profess no church at all. People, individuals, worshiping God from their hearts- in spirit and truth! 

Did God set up the Jewish religion? Yes, it's origins are of God- the Father of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, the Only Begotten of the Father. God also is at the origin of other religions that veered away from Him and His truth in Jesus Christ. As soon as those religions leave the truth of God, they are no longer worshiping God but Satan, who has disguised himself as their God. This is truth.

What is also truth, is the fact God allows for sins of ignorance, meaning those who have no access to the truth in entirety but live up to all the truth they do possess, will be numbered as God's true believers as well. God alone can judge hearts, God alone knows the Spirit workings. God alone know us and our hearts. God help us be His in Spirit and truth now and always!

 

*******

Bible Echo - January 28, 1895  by A.T. Jones  

 'Unbelieving Israel, not having the righteousness which is of faith, and so not appreciating the great sacrifice that the Heavenly Father has made, sought righteousness by virtue of the offering itself and because of the merit of presenting the offering.

Thus was perverted every form of service and everything which God had appointed to be the means of expression to a living faith and which could not have any real meaning except by the living presence and power of Christ Himself in the life. And even this was not enough. For, not finding the peace and satisfaction of an accomplished righteousness in any of this nor in all of it together, they heaped upon these things which the Lord had appointed for another purpose, but which they had perverted to purposes of their own invention--they heaped upon these things ten thousand traditions, exactions, and hair-splitting distinctions of their own invention, and all, all, in a vain hope of attaining to righteousness. For the rabbis taught what was practically a confession of despair, that "If but one person could only for one day keep the whole law and not offend in one point--nay, if but one person could but keep that one point of the law which affected the due observance of the Sabbath--then the troubles of Israel would be ended and the Messiah at last would come." --Farrar, "Life and Work of St. Paul," p. 37. See also pp. 36, 83. 

What could possibly more fittingly describe a dead formalism than does this? And yet for all this conscious dearth in their own lives there was still enough supposed merit to cause them to count themselves so much better than other people that all others were but as dogs in comparison.

It is not so with those who are accounted righteous by the Lord upon a living faith freely exercised. For when the Lord counts a man righteous, he is actually righteous before God, and by this very fact is separated from all the people of the world. But this is not because of any excellence of his own nor of the "merit" of anything that he has done. It is altogether because of the excellence of the Lord and of what He has done. And the man for whom this has been done knows that in himself he is no better than anybody else but rather in the light of the righteousness of God that is freely imparted to him, he, in the humility of true faith, willingly counts others better than himself. Phil. 2:3.

Php 2:3  Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.

The giving themselves great credit for what they themselves had done and counting themselves better than all other people upon the merit of what they had done--this were at once to land men fully in the complete self-righteousness of Pharisaism. They counted themselves so much better than all other people that there could not possibly be any basis of comparison. It seemed to them a perfectly ruinous revolution to preach as the truth of God that "there is no respect of persons with God."

And what of the actual life of such people, all this time? O, it was only a life of injustice and oppression, malice and envy, variance and emulation, backbiting and talebearing, hypocrisy and meanness, boasting of their great honor of the law, and through breaking the law dishonoring God, their hearts filled with murder and their tongues crying loudly for the blood of One of their brethren, yet they could not cross the threshold of a Roman tribunal "lest they should be defiled!" Intense sticklers for the Sabbath, yet spending the holy day in spying treachery and conspiracy to murder.

What God thought and still thinks of all such ways as this is shown plainly enough for our present purpose, in just two short passages of scripture. Here is His word to Israel--the ten tribes--while yet their day lingered:

"I hate, I despise your feast days and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies. Though ye offer Me burnt-offerings and your meat offerings, I will not accept them, neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat beasts. Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs, for I will not hear the melody of thy viols. But let judgment run down as waters and righteousness as a mighty stream" Amos 5:21-24.

And to Judah near the same time He said the same thing in these words:

"Hear the word of the Lord, ye rulers of Sodom; give ear unto the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah. to what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices unto me? saith the Lord: I am full of the burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fed beasts; and I delight not in the blood of bullocks or of lambs or of he-goats. When ye come to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to tread my courts? Bring no more vain oblations;  incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with;  it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting. Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth; they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them. And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you;  yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear; your hands are full of blood.

"Wash ye, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil; learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow. Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." Isa. 1:10-18.  

The Lord Himself had appointed these feast days and solemn assemblies, these burnt offerings, meat offerings,  and peace offerings, but now He says He hates them and will not accept them. Their fine songs sung by their trained choirs and accompanied with instruments of music, making a grand display--all this that they got off for wonderfully fine music He called "noise," and wanted it taken away.

He had never appointed any feast days nor solemn assemblies nor sacrifices nor offerings nor songs for any such purpose as that for which these were used. He had appointed all these as the means of worshipful expression of a living faith by which the Lord Himself should abide in the heart and work righteousness in the life, so that in righteousness they could judge the fatherless and plead for the widow and so that judgment could run down as waters and righteousness as a mighty stream.

Songs sung in the pomp and stylish intonation of a vain show are but "noise," while the simple expression, "Our Father," flowing from a heart touched by the power of a true and living faith and "spoken in sincerity by human lips is music" which enters into the inclining ear (Ps. 116:2) of the Heavenly Father and brings divine blessing in power to the soul.

This and this alone is what He had appointed these things for and never, never to be used in the hollow pretense of a dead formalism to answer in righteousness for the iniquity of a carnal heart. Nothing but the washing away of the sins by the blood of the Lamb of God and the purifying of the heart by living faith--nothing but this could ever make these things acceptable to Him who appointed them.'

Glory Through Jesus Christ.

 Articles on Romans by E. J. Waggoner Chapter 16

(Excerpt)

Two-thirds of the last chapter of Romans consists of greetings:

"Greet Priscilla and Aquila my helpers in Christ Jesus." "Likewise greet the church that is in their house." "Greet Mary, who bestowed much labor on us." "Salute Andronicus and Junia, my kinsmen." "Greet Amplias my beloved in the Lord." "Salute Urbane, our helper in Christ, and Stachys my beloved." "Salute Trypena and Tryphosa, who labor in the Lord." "Salute Philologus, and Julia, Nercus, and his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints which are with them."

And so the list runs, including both men and women impartially. Let one but read that blessed list, realizing that it shows not only the largeness and heartiness of Paul's sympathy, but also the special care which the Holy Spirit has for each individual member of the household of faith, singling them out by name, and there will be no questioning as to why such things were written.

A Significant Omission. But one thing is very significant, and that is the fact that there is no mention of Peter,  who is claimed to have been "the first Bishop of Rome." We may sometimes learn as much by what the Bible does not say as by what it does say. From what is not said in this place we may learn that so far from being Bishop of Rome, Peter was not in Rome at all when Paul wrote, and that if he was ever in Rome it was after the Epistle to the Romans was written, and long after the church was established and flourishing there.

It is most certain that in saluting the members of the church by name Paul would not have omitted the name of the chief person in it, whose hospitality he had once shared in Jerusalem for fifteen days. Of course there is abundance of the most positive evidence that neither the church of Christ nor the church of Rome was founded upon Peter; but if there were no other, this testimony of the sixteenth chapter of Romans would be sufficient to settle the matter.

In Conclusion Romans 16:24-27

24 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen. 25 Now to him that is of power to stablish you according to my gospel, and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began, 26 but now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith: 27 to God only wise, be glory through Jesus Christ for ever. Amen.

What a Magnificent Conclusion! It reaches from eternity to eternity. The gospel of God is the thing of the ages.  It was kept secret in the mind of God from times eternal. Christ "was foreordained before the foundation of the world." 1 Pet. 1:19, 20. But now the mystery is "made manifest." Not simply is it made manifest by the preaching of the apostles, but "according to the commandment of the everlasting God," "by the scriptures of the prophets" it is "made known to all nations, for the obedience of faith."

The gospel plan originated in the mind of God in the eternity of the past. Patriarchs, prophets and apostles have worked in unison in making it manifest; and "in the ages to come" it will be both the science and the song of the redeemed "of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues," who shall gather with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of God, and will say, "Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father, to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen."

God of Hope.

 Through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Rom 15:13  Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost. 

We can abound in hope THROUGH the POWER of the HOLY SPIRIT. We don't abound in hope by our own power! We try to, we imagine we should be able to manufacture our own hope, but we can't! 

Rom 5:5  And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. 

Our hope founded in Christ through the Holy Spirit is a sure thing. There is no doubt that Christ is our hope, and we are allowed to revel in that hope as the Holy Spirit's power gives us this hope. We are to have all JOY and PEACE in BELIEVING.  This is truth our hope is founded on BELIEVING. When we believe we can have JOY, when we believe we can have PEACE. When our joy is HEAVEN, when our peace is HEAVEN, when HEAVEN is our all in all because Christ is in heaven we aren't looking to have earthly peace and joy. The peace and joy we experience through the Holy Spirit are not at all the peace the world offers. 

Joh_14:27  Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

Our hearts can be troubled, our hearts can be afraid, but we are NOT to let them be so. The only way we cannot let our hearts be troubled and afraid is to accept the peace left to us by Jesus Christ, through the POWER of the HOLY SPIRIT. 

God help us to this end!

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Articles on Romans by E. J. Waggoner Chapter 15 Excerpt

Faith, Hope, Joy, and Peace. 

"Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost." Here we have faith and hope, joy and peace. The God of hope is to fill us with all joy and peace in believing, and this is to be by the power of the Holy Ghost. This connects the present instruction with that of the fourteenth chapter, where we are told that "the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost."

Paul's Successful Gospel Outreach Romans 15:15-33

15 Nevertheless, brethren, I have written the more boldly unto you in some sort, as putting you in mind, because of the grace that is given to me of God, 16 that I should be the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, ministering the gospel of God, that the offering up of the Gentiles might be acceptable, being sanctified by the Holy Ghost.  17 I have therefore whereof I may glory through Jesus Christ in those things which pertain to God. 18 For I will not dare to speak of any of those things which Christ hath not wrought by me, to make the Gentiles obedient, by word and deed, 19 through mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God; so that from Jerusalem,  and round about unto Illyricum, I have fully preached the gospel of Christ. 20 Yea, so have I strived to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named, lest I should build upon another man's foundation; 21 But as it is written, To whom he was not spoken of, they shall see: and they that have not heard shall understand. 22 For which cause also I have been much hindered from coming to you. 23 But now having no more place in these parts, and having a great desire these many years to come unto you; 24 whensoever I take my journey into Spain, I will come to you: for I trust to see you in my journey, and to be brought on my way thitherward by you,  if first I be somewhat filled with your company. 25 But now I go unto Jerusalem to minister unto the saints. 26 For it hath pleased them of Macedonia and Achaia to make a certain contribution for the poor saints which are at Jerusalem. 27 It hath pleased them verily; and their debtors they are. For if the Gentiles have been made partakers of their spiritual things, their duty is also to minister unto them in carnal things. 28 When therefore I have performed this, and have sealed to them this fruit, I will come by you into Spain. 29 And I am sure that, when I come unto you, I shall come in the fulness of the blessing of the gospel of Christ. 30 Now I beseech you,  brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ's sake, and for the love of the Spirit, that ye strive together with me in your prayers to God for me; 31 that I may be delivered from them that do not believe in Judaea; and that my service which I have for Jerusalem may be accepted of the saints; 32 that I may come unto you with joy by the will of God, and may with you be refreshed. 33 Now the God of peace be with you all. Amen.

The Gospel Commission. 

When Jesus was about to leave this world, he told his disciples that they should first receive power by the Holy Spirit, and then, said he, "Ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth." Acts 1:8. "To the Jew first, and also to the Greek," but to all alike, and the same gospel to all. So Paul declared that his work as a minister of the gospel consisted in "testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ." Acts 20:21. So in our text he tells us that as "the minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles,  ministering the gospel of God," he had "through mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God" "fully preached the gospel of Christ" "from Jerusalem and round about unto Illyricum."

Partaking the Same Spiritual Things. The apostle, speaking of his desire to visit the Romans, said that he hoped to see them when he took his journey into Spain. "But now," said he, "I go unto Jerusalem to minister unto the saints. For it hath pleased them of Macedonia and Achaia to make a certain contribution for the poor saints which are at Jerusalem. It hath pleased them verily; and their debtors they are. For if the Gentiles have been made partakers of their spiritual things, their duty is also to minister unto them in carnal things."

A very simple statement, but it shows that the Gentiles received nothing spiritual except that which came from the Jews. The spiritual things of which the Gentiles had been made partakers came from the Jews, and were ministered to them by Jews. Both partook of the same spiritual meat, and therefore the Gentiles showed their gratitude by ministering to the temporal necessities of the Jews. So here again we see but one fold and one Shepherd.

The God of Israel. Many times in the Bible God is declared to be the God of Israel. Peter, full of the Holy Spirit,  immediately after the healing of the lame man, said to the people, "The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his Son Jesus." Acts 3:13. Even in this age, therefore, God is identified as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of Israel.

God desires to be known and remembered, and so we read his words, "Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep; for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, for a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between me and the children of Israel forever; for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed." Ex. 31:13, 16, 17. God is the God of Israel. True, he is the God of the Gentiles also, but only as they accept him, and become Israel through the righteousness by faith. But Israel must keep the sabbath. It is the sign of their connection with God.