5 For Moses writes that the law’s way of making a person right with God requires obedience to all of its commands. 6 But faith’s way of getting right with God says, “Don’t say in your heart, ‘Who will go up to heaven’ (to bring Christ down to earth). 7 And don’t say, ‘Who will go down to the place of the dead’ (to bring Christ back to life again).” 8 In fact, it says, “The message is very close at hand; it is on your lips and in your heart.”And that message is the very message about faith that we preach: 9 If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved. 11 As the Scriptures tell us, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be disgraced.” 12 Jew and Gentile are the same in this respect. They have the same Lord, who gives generously to all who call on him. 13 For “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Confess and Believe

It really is amazing that we can get this so mixed up, isn’t it? I mean, for 2000 years we’ve been debating what it takes to be saved. We keep making it about what we do (and don’t do). We keep coming up with a list of rules and regulations. Those rules are our way of striving to be good enough for God. They are our attempt to bring ourselves up to where Christ is, rather than allow him to meet us where we are.

And that’s what Paul is getting at in this passage. Look, you can’t go up to where he is. You can’t go down to find him. You can’t do anything to make it right. He does the work. It’s by grace along.

What’s our role? Receiving the gift of grace. Confessing our need for the gift, and believing that it’s truly all we need.

As you read these words, we are only a few days away from celebrating Christmas. Waiting for you is a gift. A gift of grace. Why not unwrap it today and allow it to be applied to your life?

My prayer: Lord, I can’t bring you down from Heaven. I can’t raise you from the dead. Why? Because you have already done it all. As you said on the Cross, “It is finished.” You accomplished it all. And you’ve come to me. I confess my need for you. And I believe that you’ve done it all. I receive your gift of grace, I open it and allow it to be applied to my life. I live for you. Amen.

Until tomorrow.

1 Dear brothers and sisters, the longing of my heart and my prayer to God is for the people of Israel to be saved. 2 I know what enthusiasm they have for God, but it is misdirected zeal. 3 For they don’t understand God’s way of making people right with himself. Refusing to accept God’s way, they cling to their own way of getting right with God by trying to keep the law. 4 For Christ has already accomplished the purpose for which the law was given. As a result, all who believe in him are made right with God.

Have It Your Way

Have you noticed the shift in advertising in the past few years? For decades, the message of most commercials was you need this product! Companies would explain how their product would make your life easier, your job simpler, your life more enjoyable. It worked, and for years, our mantra was I need! I need! I need!

However, a few years ago, advertisers made a shift. You see, consumers were becoming cynical to the “need propaganda.” We stopped believing that we needed more and more things. After all, when an advertiser suggests that you need something, they are implying that your life isn’t all that it should be. In a way, they are talking down to you about your current lifestyle.

If you pay attention to many of the newer commercials in the past few years, you’ll notice that the shift is toward you deserve. In a sense, what advertisers are telling you is that “you really are an amazing person, and your life is pretty much perfect, and so, you deserve to make your own choices, enjoy luxuries, and do things for yourself. So, buy our product, not because you need it in order to be fulfilled, but because you deserve it for being so amazing.”

Next time you’re watching TV, pay attention to the commercials. Take note of how many tell you that you need something vs. how many tell you that you deserve something.

What’s that have to do with today’s passage? Well, for many, we want God on our terms. We want him to fit into our agenda. Our way of thinking. God should fit into our life, not the other way around. We refuse to do it God’s way and expect him to fit into our way.

Unfortunately, God isn’t trying to sell you something. He’s not dependent on your acceptance. He’s not a product. There’s only one option when it comes to salvation: God’s way. There’s only one option to living a life full of purpose: God’s way. There’s only one God. He’s God, I’m not. Yet, far too often, we get that confused.

Look at your life this morning. I’ll do the same with my own. Are there areas that we continue to hold on to and refuse to submit to God? Are there things that we think we deserve when it comes to God’s blessings? Having you submitted fully to the will of God? Don’t buy into the trap that suggests you’re the boss.

My prayer: Lord, I admit it. There are days when I truly believe that I deserve something. I’ll buy into the advertiser’s claim that I am king of my own world. And as a king, I should enjoy certain benefits. And yet, deep in my heart, I know it’s a lie. I’m not king. You are. I submitted my life to you many years ago. I submit my life to you again today. I need to put it all back into perspective. You are God, I am not. My choice is to live life according to that principle. Amen.

Until tomorrow.

³⁰ What does all this mean? Even though the Gentiles were not trying to follow God’s standards, they were made right with God. And it was by faith that this took place. ³¹ But the people of Israel, who tried so hard to get right with God by keeping the law, never succeeded. ³² Why not? Because they were trying to get right with God by keeping the law instead of by trusting in him. They stumbled over the great rock in their path. ³³ God warned them of this in the Scriptures when he said, “I am placing a stone in Jerusalem that makes people stumble, a rock that makes them fall. But anyone who trusts in him will never be disgraced.”

Background Doesn’t Matter

Are you getting the point yet? Paul’s certainly trying to make it clear. It doesn’t matter if you grew up in a “church family.” It doesn’t matter how spiritual or godly your grandmother was. What matters is what will you do with Jesus?

Our relationship with God is personal. Is all about us and God. It’s not about the nation you’re from or the denomination your church is a part of.

And yet it’s so easy to focus on all those things instead of our personal relationship. It’s natural to lean on all these other things and miss the point. In Paul’s day, many Jewish people did just that. They had always been “God’s people” and so why worry about a personal relationship. Just follow the rituals and the rules that their forefathers adhered to.

I’m sure it frustrated Paul. After all, he had once been a Pharisee. A “super-Jew” if you will. He had been a religious leader, teaching others to follow the law to the fullest. And yet, when he encountered Jesus and turned his life over to God, he realized the futility in that way of thinking. His passion was to lead others to the same freedom he now experienced. I’m sure when he encountered those who refused to listen, it would have been difficult.

My prayer: Lord, each day I need to come to you and focus on the relationship I have with you. I can’t rely on the past. I want my connection with you to be fresh. Daily. May I never become content with the idea that all that matters is the church I’m a part of, or the country I live in. Those things are not as important as staying connected to you in a very personal way. Amen.

Until tomorrow.