Title: Zeal for Righteousness (Romans 10:1-10)
Contents
★Introductory words
Today is the 483th anniversary of the Reformation. When it comes to the Reformation, the first name that comes to mind is “Martin Luther” (M.Luther). In 1377, 160 years before Luther raised the flag of the Reformation, John Wyclif (1328-1384) was already carrying out reforms and was condemned by the Pope, and in 1415, more than 100 years ago, John Wyclif (John Wyclif) Huss (1373-1415) followed suit and was burned at the stake in carrying out reforms.
In this way, there were many reformers who were killed while crying out for reform against the corruption of the church in the Middle Ages, which was already rotten. Luther succeeded in trying more systematic reforms based on the blood of their martyrdom. Of course, it goes without saying that it is because God's time has come.
More than 500 years have now passed since the Reformation. Now, the Reformed church, which was built on the ground where they fought bloodily against the secularization and corruption of the church at that time, is rather deteriorating. The church that resisted the corruption of the pope and clergy and criticized the corruption of the world's slanderous elections is accusing money, slander, corruption, accusations, and accusations even in the elections for the general president, presbytery, and even the permanent office of the church. Some great zeal, but these are false zeal.
Even though today's era is called the 'age of loss', the loss of humanity and the loss of faith in the church goes too far. As people called by God in these times, we must once again push our faith stance while thinking of the spirit of the Reformation.
The medieval church, where the Reformation took place, was zealous for the power and pleasures of the world. The text of this hour teaches what a right zeal for God is. Real human beings must have humility and obedience as a creature, and have a genuine passion for life as the image of God. That is, as a creature, there must be a pure passion for establishing a relationship with God the Creator and governing the natural world according to God's will. So, with these thoughts in mind, let's get to the main text.
1. Wrong zeal that was combed through misunderstanding of the saint
The term 'misunderstanding' often leads to more serious consequences than expected. In particular, when believers 'misunderstand' God's Word, they may turn into a terrifying 'Heresy'. Then let's look at the misunderstanding about God that the Israelites appear in the text.
Let's read verses 1-3 again.
The Jews worshiped Jehovah God as one god. The reason why they believe that God is one God comes from the process of interpreting the law God has given them.
- Deuteronomy 6:4, "Hear, O Israel. The LORD our God is the only LORD..."
For the Jews, the law was the measure of faith. Therefore, the Jews thought that keeping the law well was serving God well. So they put all their heart into keeping the law. This zealous attitude of heart was desirable. The zeal they had was good, but it was wrong because the zeal was out of target. In other words, the cause was "for God", but in reality, they were zealous for their own desires. Jesus also dealt with this fact in depth.
-Mark 7:5-9, "Then the Pharisees and the scribes asked Jesus, Why do your disciples do not follow the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unclean hands? It is prophesied, for it is written, 'This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. They worship me in vain, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.' You keep the traditions, and he said, 'You often forsake the commandments of God in order to keep your traditions.' / Matthew 7:22,23, "Many said to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, we Did he not prophesy, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' And then I will say to them plainly, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you who practice lawlessness.'"
As in verse 5, the law had a clear purpose. However, the godly saints who tried to live by the law found that the more they tried to keep the law, the more problems they found. I learned that I could not be justified by the law. Imperfect humans could not perfectly keep the laws of a perfect God. When it became difficult to keep the law perfectly, people were divided into two groups.
One class is people who, like publicans, give up on being righteous by keeping the law and rely on God's mercy.
- Luke 18:13, "The publican stood at a distance and did not dare lift up his eyes to look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, 'Have mercy on me, O God, for I am a sinner.'"
The other class is people who are degenerating into a superficial form. There are many people, including Pharisees, scribes, and lawyers. Their zeal for the law began to deteriorate over time. When it became difficult to keep the law, they created the {Torah}, a kind of explanatory text about the law in human language. This was intended to make it easier to observe. This is a book called {The Elder's Inheritance}. However, for those who were trying to keep it easy, the laws they had to follow increased even more. There was no way to cope with the gradually increasing [Torah]. So people are increasingly […] Pretend] has changed into an outward act. … Pretending to be is an act conscious of people's eyes.
- Section 3 of the main text
Even now, it is said that there are those who keep the {Torah}, the elder's genetic book, and do not even raise it on the Sabbath. If it is absolutely necessary to upload it, buy a stranger and have it uploaded. Paul was typical of this legalist. He volunteered to witness the murder of Stephen and was at the forefront of persecution of Christians. Jesus pointed out this false zeal beforehand.
- John 16:2,3, "Not only will people leave you out, but in due time anyone who kills you will think, 'This is the service of God.' They will do these things because they do not know the Father or Me. Ira"
Paul called this kind of faith 'zeal that does not pursue knowledge' in the text. In other words, it is a human zeal based on experiences that one has seen and heard without knowing the will of God. They say they do not know the righteousness of God (v. 3).
What is God's will? It is faith in Jesus Christ. Verse 4 says, 'Christ was the end of the law for the fulfillment of all righteousness'. Jesus fulfilled all the laws that humans could not keep and put an end to those laws. The core of the law is the temple. This was so that an unholy person could never come before God. However, the Holy of Holies, the holy and secret place of this temple, was made public by Jesus Christ. In other words, when Jesus died on the cross, the veil covering the Holy of Holies was torn from above and the way was opened.
Therefore, we only need to believe in the merits of Jesus, who fulfilled the law through self-sacrifice. This is the will of God. In other words, God considers people righteous by seeing the faith they trust and rely on Jesus' merits. This is what is called 'justification'.
In this way, our zeal should be to follow Jesus Christ based on the Word of God. Zeal for my will and plans can never achieve God's righteousness. Then, what is the zeal for the righteousness of God?
2. The condition of zeal for the righteousness of God
Let's look at verses 9-10. These words show the conditions of a zealous life that God approves.
The first condition is a life of acknowledgment.
What is a life of confession? It means that we do not hide our being a disciple of Jesus Christ with our mouth or our life. I see many saints ashamed of being Christians. Or they are reluctant to show that they are Christians in front of people.
-Mark 8:38, "If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in the glory of the Father with the holy angels."
In the past, when the church was noisy over the issue of shrine worship under Japanese colonial rule, the excuse of the leaders who allowed shrine worship was 'You only have to deny God with your heart.' Do you think you are right? The body bows down to idols, but the heart turns to God? Are the martyrs, then, foolish people who gave their lives in vain? This is self-deception.
Strive to express your faith by word of mouth and by life. Confessing with your mouth is evangelism of the truth, and confessing with your life is evidence of expressing your faith. An outward manifestation of Jesus Christ is an acknowledgment of God before men.
The second condition is a life of faith.
Faith here refers to complete faith in God. In other words, not believing part of God's Word, but believing all of it. And I believe with my heart and with my life that Jesus Christ is my own Savior.
If you say you believe in Jesus Christ with your mouth, but you are worried, anxious, afraid, and doubtful in your life, you are actually not having faith.
-James 2:14, "My brethren, if a man says he has faith, but has no works, what profit is it? Can faith save him?
Anything you do without this faith is sin.
- Romans 14:23, "He who doubts and eats is condemned, because it is not of faith. Anything that is not of faith is sin."
There are rules to be followed in athletics. If you break the rules, you will not be able to win medals, and even if you do, you will soon lose it. In this way, it is the condition of salvation and true zeal to achieve God's righteousness that faith and the lips that express it and the poet of life follow. I pray that you will fulfill God's righteousness by always acknowledging the Lord based on faith in your life.