Love God and Fear Him

We hear that fear of the Lord is the being of wisdom, and the greatest command is love Him whole heartedly with actions. Love and fear should be co-existed, meaning that when you love God, your heart will want to please Him with all your might; but when you fear Him as well, you will be even more alert with your actions.

James said "faith without actions is dead", or "faith was made complete by what he did"; Paul said "you are saved by grace through faith". Here faith is like loving God, and action is like fearing Him. When love and fear should be co-existed, you cannot say that you fear God if you don't even love Him, because you have nothing to based on your fear. However, how could the claim of loving God be completed, when you don't even fear Him?

One last point though, is that, if you truly love God, how could you not fear him, yet fearing Him alone doesn't make you to love him. Therefore, the GREATEST command is still love your God with all your heart and soul and mind, and remember fear of the Lord is still the beginning of wisdom.

2 Chronicles 24-26

Looking at the histories of kings, we know that God hates those who worship the idols and will certainly destroy them, and God will take care who love and fear him.

Some like, Jehoiada, the priest, who against the evil Athaliah, did what was good in God's eyes in his whole life, his life journey is not easy and full of risk and trails, but God gives sufficient strength and power and wisdom for her to go through trails and in God's will he was able to achieve many.

Some like, King Joash, he started off his reign in wonderful way, but in his later years he turned away from the right path, instead follow the people and the wind instead of the unchanging God, he ended up losing all the people who had risked their lives for him and had loved him, turned away from him.

Some, like Jehoiakim, worship the evil power, becomes the vassal of Babylon, and still very prosper in the time being. As the book of Habakkuk mentions, Habakkuk cried out to God: "Why do you tolerate wrongdoing?", but in the end, God will reigns over the nation, and have justice after generation and destroyed the evil one.

There are more examples and stories....and history just repeats itself. The question is which life would you choose to live? "You will certainly carry out God's purpose, but it makes a difference to you whether you serve like Judas or like John." - CSL

Psalms 51:2

Wash away all my iniquity

and cleanse me from my sin.

(v2, NIV)

In the first verse, David asked God to blot out his transgressions. What he has done is referred to as being recorded and he asks for that record to be erased somehow. Now in verse 2, he asks for cleansing from his sin and iniquity. What he has done is not just something to be removed from record, but something that has made him dirty. His uncleanliness from his sin is something he requests God for cleansing from. When we sin, we become unclean and dirty. We are no longer pure but are impure. What's also interesting is who does the cleaning. Sure, it may seem to make sense to ask for cleaning from God, but why doesn't he do it himself? Well, if you want to brush your teeth, do you use a dirty toothbrush? Or if you just took a shower, would you use a dirty towel to dry yourself? It something unclean is used to clean, and then what is being cleaned can't be properly cleaned. If something dirty is used to clean something, the thing being cleaned wouldn't necessarily get clean but it would probably be dirtied by the dirty thing being used to clean it. Similarly, David cannot cleanse himself because he himself is dirty. Instead, he asks God, who is holy and pure, to cleanse him from his sin. Only a cleansing from God would render you clean.

Psalms 51:1b

Have mercy on me, O God,

according to your unfailing love;

according to your great compassion

blot out my transgressions.

(v1, NIV)

David asks for his transgressions to be blotted out. It's as if all he has ever done has been written in a book. David is asking for this record that has been written down to be erased in some way. He wants for it to be blotted out so that it would be as if it never happened. Often times after having sinned, I desperately wish for my sins to be blotted out. I wish to have never done them. I wish to go back in time and undo what I had done. David asks God for this and pleas for this according to God's compassion. In the ESV, the word used is mercy. David is appealing to God's mercy or compassion to blot out his transgression. With sin comes punishment, and God's mercy may kindly withhold it from us by blotting out our transgressions in some way. In addition, if it weren't for his compassion for us, he wouldn't have much reason to even want to blot out our transgressions.

Psalms 51:1a

Have mercy on me, O God,

according to your unfailing love;

according to your great compassion

blot out my transgressions.

(v1, NIV)

David is asking for mercy according to God's love. If God wasn't loving, would he have mercy on us? For what other reason would he have mercy on us? He certainly doesn't need us. He doesn't gain anything from us that he doesn't already have or hasn't given us already. It is because of love that he has mercy on us if he indeed does show mercy to any of us. In addition, his love isn't limited or flaky. It's not like one day it suddenly runs out. In the ESV, the word used is "steadfast", which means fixed or unchanging. If God loves you he will continue to love you and he will have mercy on you according to this unchanging love.

Psalms 51:1

Have mercy on me, O God,

according to your unfailing love;

according to your great compassion

blot out my transgressions.

(v1, NIV)

Been reading a lot of Psalms lately, so I thought I'd take a break from Romans from time to time. The last UWCCF bible study was on 2 Samuel 12 where Nathan rebukes David. Nathan rebukes David for the whole Bathsheba incident. The heading of Psalms 51 refers to the time when Nathan rebuked David in 2 Samuel 12. Reading Psalms 51 gives an insight to David's feelings at that time. It begins with him asking for mercy from God. Mercy is withholding from someone something bad that they deserve. In the case of David, he deserves punishment for the sin he had committed when he slept with Bathsheba and had her husband murdered. As humans we sin all the time. If it wasn't for God's mercy upon us, we would have been struck dead a long time ago. We need his mercy. We are dirty sinners at the mercy of him whether we like to admit it or not.

Romans 4:17

As it is written: “I have made you a father of many nations.” He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed—the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not.

(v17, NIV)

Apparently, he is the father of us all. Those who follow in his footsteps of a crediting of righteousness by faith are those who he is a father to. A quote is even taken from Genesis here to refer to God's promise to Abraham. Paul goes on to talk about a God who gives life to the dead. He even calls into being things that are not. This is the God whom Abraham believes in. He is able to give life to the dead. God is able to raise Jesus from the dead and he is able to declare those who have faith in him righteous. These who have faith in him are also the ones who are dead. We are spiritually dead and without hope if we are without God. Yet it is God who gives life to us who are spiritually dead, declaring us righteous apart from works. This is a weird concept which seems not to make sense. How do you bring to life something that is dead or how do you call into being things that were not? Sure, it's not so weird because of the stories we read or because of perhaps when someone is resuscitated being near death. However, this seems like something magicians seem to do. They're mere humans who we easily attribute their act to some sort of "trick". However, God is able to do this simply because he is able. He doesn't perform with long sleeves able to hide things. Sure, he doesn't reveal everything to us, but he is God and able to bring the dead to life. This is a powerful God, one whom Abraham put his faith in. Abraham had faith in this God and it was credited to him as righteousness. Those who follow in Abraham's footsteps of faith are fathered by him in a sense.

Romans 4:16

Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring—not only to those who are of the law but also to those who have the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all.

(v16, NIV)

It doesn't make sense for the crediting of righteousness to come by the law. Following Abraham's example, Paul points to him and his promise, showing the way in which Abraham lived and how he was credited righteousness. If you recall, Paul's previous point was about the nature of works and how a worker is owed his wages. However, one who is graced with a gift is not owed in the same way a worker is owed his wages. If righteousness was based upon one's keeping of the law, it would be dependent on them and their performance. God's promise would be conditional and based upon the deeds of man instead of the faithfulness of God. Being by faith allows it to be by his grace and guaranteed according to the promise given to Abraham.

Romans 4:15

because the law brings wrath. And where there is no law there is no transgression.

(v15, NIV)

So, the law and faith is contrasted by Paul. Clearly he has and continues to be promoting faith and saying that Abraham's faith was credited to him as righteousness. Now talking about the promise, it makes sense for it to be by faith and not based upon the law. The thing is that the law brings wrath. In addition to this, transgression is in there where there is the law. Paul describes this point by making the opposite assertion. He says that where there is no law, there is no transgression. Since there is transgression, there is wrath. Wrath is brought upon by the breaking of the law. Instead of bringing righteousness and salvation through the promise based on faith and God's faithfulness, the law brings the wrath of God for the transgressing of his law.

Romans 4:13-14

It was not through the law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith. For if those who depend on the law are heirs, faith means nothing and the promise is worthless,

(v13-14, NIV)

Now this moves towards the promise God gave to Abraham and his offspring. This promise was not through the law, but instead it is through faith. The thing is that it doesn't really work if it depended on the law. If heirs to the promise are receiving it through the law, this has nothing to do with faith. In addition, the promise is worthless. How is the promise worthless? The promise is based upon what we do. This condition placed upon the promise focuses on what we do instead of what God does. Since we know that we all sin and fall short, how could any of us ever lay hold of this promise? Instead, it is by faith and it depends on God and his faithfulness.

Romans 4:11-12

And he received circumcision as a sign, a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. So then, he is the father of all who believe but have not been circumcised, in order that righteousness might be credited to them. And he is then also the father of the circumcised who not only are circumcised but who also follow in the footsteps of the faith that our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.

(v11-12, NIV)

If righteousness was attained through circumcision, all would need to be circumcised to be declared righteous. However, Abraham was justified before circumcision, so that he would be the father of the circumcised and the uncircumcised. Even if there are those who are circumcised, it is not by their circumcision but by their faith. They may follow in Abraham's example in circumcision if they so choose, but it is more importantly his example of faith that is to be followed.

Romans 4:11

And he received circumcision as a sign, a seal of the righteousness that he had by faith while he was still uncircumcised. So then, he is the father of all who believe but have not been circumcised, in order that righteousness might be credited to them.

(v11, NIV)

So, if Abraham was justified by faith, what was the purpose of his circumcision? That's a legitimate question if Paul is making the point that Abraham was not justified by works. Well, apparently circumcision was received as a sign. Sure, Abraham had received righteousness by faith, but circumcision was a sign of that in a sense. It's described as a seal, and I am reminded of how the Holy Spirit is a seal or guarantee for us as described in Ephesians 1. It's not what justifies but it was like proof for Abraham. This doesn't mean it applies the same way for us. Just because you're physically circumcised doesn't mean you have been declared righteous according to faith.

Romans 4:10

Under what circumstances was it credited? Was it after he was circumcised, or before? It was not after, but before!

(v10, NIV)

See, some Jews may point to the fact that Abraham was circumcised and that was credited to him as righteousness. However, if you look carefully, you'll notice that it was credited to him as righteousness before he was circumcised. Therefore, the argument doesn't hold anymore. Abraham had faith and it was not works that merited him any sort of justification.

Romans 4:9

Is this blessedness only for the circumcised, or also for the uncircumcised? We have been saying that Abraham’s faith was credited to him as righteousness.

(v9, NIV)

Now the focus is directed towards Abraham. This blessing spoken of by David is not only for the circumcised. If that were the case, then Abraham would be exempt from the blessing before he was circumcised. However, blessings to Abraham from God were before he was circumcised. Using Abraham's example, which many Jews boasted in, Paul points out that the crediting of righteousness to Abraham was by faith. This is yet another point in the stack in Paul's argument against works for righteousness and towards faith crediting righteousness.

Romans 4:7-8

“Blessed are those

whose transgressions are forgiven,

whose sins are covered.

Blessed is the one

whose sin the Lord will never count against them.”

(v7-8, NIV)

This quote of David's is taken from Psalms 32:1-2. It begins with sins and transgressions. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. However, David is talking about forgiveness and the covering of sins. Your sins aren't covered by doing works. How would the observance of the law remove sins already committed? These are sins already committed and ones the Lord chooses not to count against those who commit them. Nowhere in this passage does it say anything about meriting God's favor through works. Instead, it seems like something David is simply thankful for. These people who receive this are blessed. If it was something owed according to works, this passage doesn't really make that much sense. It is by faith and not by works that sins are covered and one is declared righteous.

Romans 4:6

David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the one to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:

(v6, NIV)

This train of thought may be quite different from the Jews at the time. However, Paul uses an example from David to reinforce the legitimacy of what he's talking about. David in the Old Testament does in fact talk about a God who credits righteousness in a way different from works. Though it may seem to many that the Old Testament teaches works and observance of the law as a means to credit righteousness, David seems to say differently in the passage Paul is about to quote.

Romans 4:5

However, to the one who does not work but trusts God who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness.

(v5, NIV)

Now the Paul begins to address the issue of faith. This is contrasted with "work". Instead of being one who works, Paul uses the example of one who trusts God. This trust in God is trust that God justifies the ungodly. Clearly Paul has already addressed the fact that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. All of us are ungodly. This trust in God of this person Paul describes is credited to him or her as righteousness. Instead of an owing of wages associated with work, there is a crediting as a result of faith.

Romans 4:4

Now to the one who works, wages are not credited as a gift but as an obligation.

(v4, NIV)

Now Paul embarks to explain the nature of works. What does it mean to work for something? So for the example of someone who works a job, how does he or she earn their pay? When a person works, they work to earn their wages. What they earn is what their employer owes them. Their wages are what they deserve. The nature of work is described as opposite to a gift.

Romans 4:3

What does Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”

(v3, NIV)

Here Paul settles the debate. Paul quotes Genesis 15:6 where it talks about Abraham's belief. Righteousness is credited to Abraham from his belief in God. Therefore, nobody can bring the argument that Abraham was justified by works. Thus, they have nothing to say. It is by faith and not by works that one is justified.

Romans 4:2

If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about—but not before God.

(v2, NIV)

Abraham would have had something to boast about if he was justified by works. Justification by works brings forth the possibility of boasting. However, this is not the case with justification by faith. Justification by works is what most people think is the way to be saved. People think if you do a bunch of works, you can merit something allowing you to be justified. What's interesting is that this hypothetical situation Paul presents is "not before God". If justification came by works, you could boast, but not before God. The boasting allowed to one who is justified by works doesn't even apply before God. Before God, even this hypothetical boasting cannot stand.