Title: Wrong Zeal / Romans 10:1-15
Contents
Wrong Zeal / Romans 10:1-15
“I tell the truth in Christ, I do not lie; my conscience bears witness with me in the Holy Spirit that I have great sorrow and unceasing pain in my heart” (Romans 9:1).
The Apostle Paul's suffering was due to the zeal for the God of his people, Israel. In general, any religion imposes zeal on its adherents. They demand fervent offerings, dedicated prayers, and more dedication to their religion than to their home or work. And it demands strict adherence to the regulations required by that religion.
However, the Apostle Paul said that he was troubled and troubled because his fellow Israelis were too zealous. Israel's zeal for the God they believe in cannot be followed by members of any denomination.
First of all, even in regards to the Sabbath issue, the Sabbath law that they strictly observe and the provisions on the holiness law that they observe in their daily life are things that members of any denomination cannot follow.
But the question Paul raises is what his zeal is about. Paul's sorrow and suffering for his own people is that their zeal is to establish "the righteousness of God," not "the righteousness of God." There was a time in the past when Paul himself was very zealous to establish 'self-righteousness'. His zeal was almost fanatical to such an extent that he took the lead in pursuing, arresting, and imprisoning Christians who were scattered from Jerusalem due to persecution of Christians.
There is no difference between the 'self-righteousness' and 'God's righteousness' that the Apostle Paul speaks of in that they are directed toward salvation on the surface. However, there is a fundamental difference in their motivation.
First, 'self-righteousness' is a kind of self-centered way of salvation in which a person tries to solve the problem of his own salvation by accumulating his religious virtues. The more people who walk this path of salvation, the stricter the religious regulations are. This is inevitable because we must achieve salvation through it. But there is no joy, no love, no freedom in such a religious life.
In a way, the more zealous the person who tries to solve the problem of their own salvation with 'self-righteousness', the more zealous they may be. But can the ultimate problem of salvation be solved with human wisdom and power? I can't help but ask a question.
Next, 'God's righteousness' is fundamentally different from 'self-righteousness'. This is the way of salvation that God has prepared for mankind. Humans can be born into the world, live satisfied with bread alone, and die. Otherwise, for a person who thinks about his problems to some extent, he can devote his whole life to self-realization. A more religious person may be interested in matters of the soul and eager to pursue religious practice.
However, the question of man's ultimate salvation revealed in 'God's righteousness' is the answer to the question of how man will be reconciled with God and live in communion with God after being born into this world.
God did not create humans to be content with bread alone. However, He did not make us live without God with the ultimate goal of self-realization. Of course, he did not send his soul alone into the world to devote himself to religious virtues in order to be saved. God created man as a partner in his creation, a conversational partner with him. Man's true self-realization, the salvation of the soul, is in reconciliation with God. The way of reconciliation is the way of salvation revealed in 'God's righteousness'.
What man cannot do, God has accomplished through Christ. God's righteousness does not require human virtues or sacrifices, but requires faith. You have to accept and believe what God has done. To do so is to honor God. In 'God's righteousness', human righteousness is an act of unbelief.
There are some sick people. His illness is very serious. Leaving it unattended is life threatening. A competent doctor who knew him well examined him carefully and made a medical prescription for him to be cured and live a healthy life. The patient does not accept it, but makes his own prescription and puts it into practice. His condition is getting worse and worse. At last he was on the verge of death. Later, he realized that he trusted the doctor and agreed to accept and obey his prescription. His condition improved day by day, and he finally recovered his health.
In God's history of salvation, 'God's righteousness' is the way of salvation that God has provided for us humans. What is required of us here is to believe, accept, and admit. It doesn't ask for more than that.
The Apostle Paul quotes from the Old Testament Deuteronomy to say that man's salvation is not controlled by man.
“If you say in your heart, ‘Who will go up to heaven?’, will you go up to bring Christ down, or if you say ‘Who will go down into the abyss? (6-7)
What the Apostle Paul is trying to say here is that we humans cannot bring Christ into the world or raise him from the dead. No human effort can adjust the way of salvation. We only need to acknowledge and accept the path that God has made.
What we must do specifically about God's righteousness is to confess with our mouths that Jesus is Lord, believe in our hearts that God raised Him from the dead, and confess with our mouths. 'Self-righteousness' is a self-centered path that seeks to come to God by observing the law through human effort. However, 'God's righteousness' is the only way to live by God's grace. In this path of grace, there is God's forgiveness, healing, liberation, regeneration, freedom, and eternal life. Only those who have discovered this path of God's grace can live in this world looking forward to the future of hope. In this path of grace, there is God's promise to "make all things new." In 'God's righteousness', there is a major transformation in which human beings change from self-centeredness to God-centeredness.
There is no discrimination on this path of grace. There is no discrimination between Jews and Greeks. Anyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. That salvation encompasses self-realization and the salvation of souls, but goes far beyond it.
It is a new time when a new destiny begins. This new time has been opened in this history with the coming of Jesus Christ. Since then, the message of this 'righteousness of God' has been echoed here and there by those sent to spread this message. Those who were sent had already landed on our Korean Peninsula a century ago. True faith comes from hearing about the 'righteousness of God'.
Those who accept, believe, and profess the 'righteousness of God' are characterized by their obedience and service in Christ. They are not zealous to achieve their own righteousness, but are zealous for the glory of God. The true meaning and purpose of the Reformation is not human righteousness, but a movement for correcting faith that restores the 'righteousness of God' of only God's grace, only God's Word, and only faith.
Even in the non-Jewish Christian faith, there is a temptation to settle for 'one's righteousness' rather than 'God's righteousness'. In the past Christian history, there have been dark times in which we struggled in the midst of human righteousness, not God's grace. Also in our day today, our fight is for the 'righteousness of God'. Often, knowingly or unknowingly, we are zealous for human righteousness rather than God's.
Especially in today's advanced age of science, another type of human righteousness is emerging. The core of the gospel is the righteousness of God. But these days, instead of 'God's righteousness', psychological self-realization, mind and body training, and spirituality without God are often emphasized.
Ken Geyer speaks to a soul who is walking on the path of a lonely life.
"Self-seeking is what most of us have been doing all our lives. Even through our religious life. But the self is a dead end, and in the end we come back to where we started. With our bruised feet wet with frustration and dissatisfaction, what's left is a sense of defeat. If our pursuit ends with the soul itself, the pursuit of the soul is no different. There are more easy descents, but this road is also a dead end, so no matter how hard we walk, we will eventually find the edge of our existence. can't escape."
"But we're a little weary of that fringe and every step that revolves around it. What we crave is more than a clich d step around a religious radius. We want the intimate companionship of God."
Dear brothers and sisters, this place where we are now is a place where we can be justified by God and go to healing, liberation, and rebirth. We are looking forward to God's promise to make all things new here. Our future is not punishment and hell, but a new heaven and a new earth of hope.
In this grace and hope, we live to love, forgive, submit to one another, and serve one another. Today we sit around the Lord's table and reaffirm this reality and future. And thank you. The 'righteousness of God' reflected through this 'window of the Lord's Supper' is God's pain, God's sacrifice, and God's love.
Dear brothers and sisters, we must become Christians who deeply appreciate God's grace and respond deeply to it. Our response is not to announce our own righteousness, but rather what God has done for us humans. We cannot be saved because of our righteousness. We can only be saved by believing and accepting the way of salvation that God has accomplished. We must not be zealous Christians to establish our own righteousness. We must become devoted Christians for the Kingdom of God.