This is where I think it is not that far off to see passages or psalms like these this way. However, when you use the rest of the Old Testament you can see this is not true. When you go back to the covenant with Abraham, God is the only one who walks between the animal halves showing He and He alone is responsible for keeping the covenant. It is not dependent on what Abraham and His followers do. There are many other examples that show God is still the subject of the one salvation is dependent on. So, what do we do with these passage and a psalm like this that seem to be going against the Christian message of how one is saved? We remember that even in the New Testament Jesus gives us lessons on how we are to live. He says that the world will hate us for His name sake. Well how will the world know we are under His name? How will they know we are the ones they hate? Because as Jesus says in John 15:19 “If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.” The world knows to hate us because we do not live like the rest of the world. We do not look like the rest of the world by the way we live and act. Is this because we think our actions are what save us? No, absolutely not. However, because we know we have our salvation from God, now we live a life of loving obedience to our Lord who has redeemed us. So do we still have a certain way we live and act? Absolutely. God doesn’t need our good works, but our neighbor does. It is not for our passive righteousness, but it is for our active righteousness. (If you don’t understand these terms, please ask and I will further explain the Two Kinds of Righteousness). So if someone who doesn’t know the whole story of salvation and of God’s people were to read this psalm alone, could they think works righteousness is a correct teaching? Yes, but we who do know the who story and the whole Gospel message understand passages like this one in the correct light. So, we should help those who don’t to better understand what this passage is saying. It is basically asking how do you recognize one of God’s people? Well they will look this, not because this is what saves them, but because since they already know they are saved, this is how they live. The only thing left to do is to ask yourself, do people recognize you are a Christian by the way you live or only when you tell them you are a Christian? Maybe this psalm is the perfect reminder that we as Christians do strive to live good lives. Again, not for salvation, but out of loving obedience to the God who gives us our salvation.
Monday, December 4, 2017
Psalm 15
I think we may give the people of God of the Old Testament, Israelites/Hebrews/Jews, a little too hard of a time for works righteousness. I mean if you only had the Old Testament to go off of, would you really get the point that it is by faith alone you are justified? When looking Psalm 15, it seems like how we live and act is exactly what matters. The psalmist asks the question of who will sojourn in your tent, and who will dwell on your holy hill O God. Basically he is asking who will be part of the people of God in this life (sojourn in tent refers to tabernacle and God’s presence amongst His people here), and who will be part of the righteous people in the afterlife (dwell in the presence on His holy hill, another view of what we would see as heaven). So who will be the people of God and be in His presence both in this life and the next? Then when you look at the answer, it is all about how one lives and acts. The one who walks blamelessly and does what is right. Well what does that mean? Well it means you don’t slander, do evil, take up reproach, put out money at interest, or take a bribe. Instead you swear to your own hurt and do not change, you speak truth in your heart, and when you do these things you are part of God’s people. So in order to be part of God’s people and to be in the presence of God, I have to live a life like this and be this type of person. I have to do these things in order to be saved. It is all up to what I do and how I live that determines if I am part of God’s people right? That what this psalm is saying isn’t it?
This is where I think it is not that far off to see passages or psalms like these this way. However, when you use the rest of the Old Testament you can see this is not true. When you go back to the covenant with Abraham, God is the only one who walks between the animal halves showing He and He alone is responsible for keeping the covenant. It is not dependent on what Abraham and His followers do. There are many other examples that show God is still the subject of the one salvation is dependent on. So, what do we do with these passage and a psalm like this that seem to be going against the Christian message of how one is saved? We remember that even in the New Testament Jesus gives us lessons on how we are to live. He says that the world will hate us for His name sake. Well how will the world know we are under His name? How will they know we are the ones they hate? Because as Jesus says in John 15:19 “If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.” The world knows to hate us because we do not live like the rest of the world. We do not look like the rest of the world by the way we live and act. Is this because we think our actions are what save us? No, absolutely not. However, because we know we have our salvation from God, now we live a life of loving obedience to our Lord who has redeemed us. So do we still have a certain way we live and act? Absolutely. God doesn’t need our good works, but our neighbor does. It is not for our passive righteousness, but it is for our active righteousness. (If you don’t understand these terms, please ask and I will further explain the Two Kinds of Righteousness). So if someone who doesn’t know the whole story of salvation and of God’s people were to read this psalm alone, could they think works righteousness is a correct teaching? Yes, but we who do know the who story and the whole Gospel message understand passages like this one in the correct light. So, we should help those who don’t to better understand what this passage is saying. It is basically asking how do you recognize one of God’s people? Well they will look this, not because this is what saves them, but because since they already know they are saved, this is how they live. The only thing left to do is to ask yourself, do people recognize you are a Christian by the way you live or only when you tell them you are a Christian? Maybe this psalm is the perfect reminder that we as Christians do strive to live good lives. Again, not for salvation, but out of loving obedience to the God who gives us our salvation.
This is where I think it is not that far off to see passages or psalms like these this way. However, when you use the rest of the Old Testament you can see this is not true. When you go back to the covenant with Abraham, God is the only one who walks between the animal halves showing He and He alone is responsible for keeping the covenant. It is not dependent on what Abraham and His followers do. There are many other examples that show God is still the subject of the one salvation is dependent on. So, what do we do with these passage and a psalm like this that seem to be going against the Christian message of how one is saved? We remember that even in the New Testament Jesus gives us lessons on how we are to live. He says that the world will hate us for His name sake. Well how will the world know we are under His name? How will they know we are the ones they hate? Because as Jesus says in John 15:19 “If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.” The world knows to hate us because we do not live like the rest of the world. We do not look like the rest of the world by the way we live and act. Is this because we think our actions are what save us? No, absolutely not. However, because we know we have our salvation from God, now we live a life of loving obedience to our Lord who has redeemed us. So do we still have a certain way we live and act? Absolutely. God doesn’t need our good works, but our neighbor does. It is not for our passive righteousness, but it is for our active righteousness. (If you don’t understand these terms, please ask and I will further explain the Two Kinds of Righteousness). So if someone who doesn’t know the whole story of salvation and of God’s people were to read this psalm alone, could they think works righteousness is a correct teaching? Yes, but we who do know the who story and the whole Gospel message understand passages like this one in the correct light. So, we should help those who don’t to better understand what this passage is saying. It is basically asking how do you recognize one of God’s people? Well they will look this, not because this is what saves them, but because since they already know they are saved, this is how they live. The only thing left to do is to ask yourself, do people recognize you are a Christian by the way you live or only when you tell them you are a Christian? Maybe this psalm is the perfect reminder that we as Christians do strive to live good lives. Again, not for salvation, but out of loving obedience to the God who gives us our salvation.
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