Blog: “Discovering His Living Hope”

The Heart Believes and it is Justified, the Mouth Confesses and is Saved. Is Public Confession Necessary or Even Essential for Salvation? Romans 10:9-10

In the back of my mind, I have always wondered but never questioned, can a person be saved without a public demonstration, such as walking down an aisle, raising their hand, standing, kneeling at an altar, or signing a commitment card? Romans 10:9–10 is often used to indicate that a “public profession” is essential to salvation. Having a clear understanding of these verses is vital.

Romans 10:8-10 Disciples’ Literal New Testament

8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart”, that is, the word of [a] faith which we are proclaiming, 9 that[b] if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and you believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is believed with the heart resulting-in righteousness, and it is confessed with the mouth resulting in salvation.

The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.

As in all serious Bible study there are three things we always want to do:

  1. Study the contents of the passage. To do this, we ask, “What is in the verse or verses under consideration?” We want to be careful not to overlook anything.
  2. Study the context of the passage. What is the setting of the verse or verses I am studying? What is the subject? What has the writer been discussing? To whom is he speaking?
  3. Study all other related passages. This involves a disciplined study of the topic under consideration as it is discussed throughout the Bible.

If we are serious about knowing what the Bible teaches, we dare not be in a hurry. Rushing to a conclusion without the careful and prayerful study of the Scriptures nearly always proves to be disastrous. Folks tend to resort to hurry-up methods when preparing for a Bible class or in “working up” a sermon.

Whenever we approach the Bible in that way, we are trivializing it, and will one day give an account before God for such a slipshod treatment of His holy Word.

Now let’s discuss Romans 10:9-10.

Verse 9

9 that[a] if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and you believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

Considering the Contents

I have concluded that the key word in Romans 10:9 is “and”.

https://www.blueletterbible.org/kjv/rom/10/9/t_conc_1056009

https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g2532/kjv/tr/0-1/

The word “and” in this verse is a translation of the Greek word kai. Depending on the context and the author’s purpose, kai may be variously translated. It has more than one use and more than one meaning in the New Testament.

Kai is usually translated “and” when it is used as a simple connective word.

For instance:

Matthew 2:11 Disciples’ Literal New Testament

11 And having come into the house[a], they saw the Child with Mary His mother. And having fallen down, they paid homage to Him. And having opened their treasure-chests, they offered gifts to Him— gold and frankincense and myrrh.

All four occurrences of kai in this verse are used to connect each thought.

https://www.blueletterbible.org/kjv/mat/2/11/t_conc_931011

This is the common way we use “and” in English.

Kai is also used to indicate contrast.

We see it used this way in John 16:13 Disciples’ Literal New Testament:

13 But when that One, the Spirit of truth, comes— He will guide you in all the truth. For He will not speak from Himself, but He will speak whatever He will hear. And He will declare to you the things coming.

https://www.blueletterbible.org/kjv/jhn/16/13/t_conc_1013013

A third use is seen when the intention of a passage is to emphasize something. This emphatic use is clear in

2 Corinthians 11:1 King James Version:

11 Would to God ye could bear with me a little in my folly: and indeed, bear with me.

https://www.blueletterbible.org/kjv/2co/11/1/t_conc_1089001

Finally, it is important to note that kai is used at times when the Holy Spirit wants to give some additional explanation to what has just been said.

When used in this way kai is generally translated “even”, as in 1 Corinthians 2:10: “For the Spirit searches all things, even [kai] the deep things of God.” In this instance “all things” particularly includes “the deep things of God.”

https://www.blueletterbible.org/esv/1co/2/10/t_conc_1064010

Now, how does all of this apply to our verse from Romans 10:9?

Simply this: I believe kai in Romans 10:9 should be translated “even” — so that it would read: “That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, even believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”

Applying this usage, “confess with your mouth” is further explained to mean “even believe in your heart.”

What has brought me to this conclusion?

Two things primarily (other than the actual contents of the verse): context and the testimony of all other Scripture on the same subject of salvation.

I will try to illustrate.

Considering the Context

The emphasis in Romans 10 is twofold:

righteousness by faith in contrast to righteousness by works (especially the works of the Law), and the recognition of Jesus as Lord, that is, His deity.

Righteousness by faith

Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved. For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.

Romans 10:1-4

The Lordship (deity) of Christ

That if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus [literally, Jesus as Lord] … For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. For whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Romans 10:9, 10:12-13

These were the very two things the Jews of the day refused to do: yield to a by-faith righteousness provided by God through Messiah Jesus (see Romans 9:30–33) and recognize the full deity of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Also, in the context it is essential for us to notice that in Romans 10:9 Paul places confession with the mouth before believing in the heart which follows the order stated in verse 8.

The word is near you, even in your mouth and in your heart (that is, the word of faith which we preach).

Romans 10:8

But in verses 10 and following Paul gives the order of actual experience, and we see that believing comes before confession.

This is verified in verses 13–15:

For whoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent?

Romans 10:13-15

The “confession” in verses 9 and 10 is the “calling” in verses 13 and 14.

Notice the order as we work our way backwards from verse 15 to verse 13: 

How shall they preach unless they are sent? Which comes first, the preaching or the sending? The sending.

How shall they hear without a preacher? Which comes first, the hearing or the preaching? The preaching: otherwise, there is nothing to hear.

And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? 

Which comes first, the believing or the hearing? The hearing comes first, as stated in verse 17. Without the hearing there is nothing to believe.

How shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? 

Which comes first, the calling or the believing?

The believing. The mouth confesses what the heart has already believed. So, the call of verse 13 is a call to the Lord (not necessarily to people) springing from a heart that already believes.

Considering the Testimony of All Scripture

The united testimony of Scripture on salvation is that God offers salvation to the lost on one condition and only one condition — belief in Christ.

To be justified we must have God’s righteousness credited to our account:

But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness.

Romans 4:5

In the first five chapters of Romans, God carefully explains that salvation is by faith in Christ, plus nothing else. This agrees with 160 New Testament verses.

After giving the most detailed explanation of salvation by faith found in the Bible, Paul would not then teach there is something more that must be done for one to be saved; namely, verbal confession.

There is also the further testimony of those who were genuinely saved but who did not publicly declare their faith.

They were, at least for a time, secret believers.

Nicodemus is described as he who “came to Jesus by night” in all references to him in the Scriptures (John 3:1–2, 7:50, 19:39).

He did not actually demonstrate he had already believed in Christ until after Christ’s crucifixion when he brought the weight of spices for Jesus’ burial.

Joseph of Arimathea, “being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly, for fear of the Jews” (John 19:38). We must accept this testimony of God’s Word as being valid.

The “MANY” in John 12:42:

Nevertheless, even among the rulers many believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue.

John 12:42

Some choose to declare these were not genuine believers, but who shall we believe, men or God?

The verse says they “believed in Him with their whole heart.”

So, public confession of Christ, though expected by God and normal for the believer, it is not a condition for receiving eternal life, nor is it the subject of Romans 10:9–10. Public Profession of belief was quite literally dangerous in those first century times. “Lest they should be put out of the Synagogue!”

The subject of this verse? “Private, inward Profession of Belief in Him.”

Then absolute trust and belief and sight and hearing and judgment of God!

King David’s Prayer from Psalm 139:23-24 (Amplified version)

23 
Search me [thoroughly], O God, and know my heart;
Test me and know my anxious thoughts;
24 
And see if there is any wicked or hurtful way in me,
And lead me in the everlasting way.

God’s Sovereignty over our hearts 1 Samuel 16:6-7 (Amplified Version)

6 So it happened, when they had come, he looked at Eliab [the eldest son] and thought, “Surely the Lord’s anointed is before Him.” 7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees; for man looks [a]at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

Let those who have eyes to see – those who have hearts which beat – Pray –

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Mighty God, your Son is my Lord and my Savior. I love him and praise him for his redeeming sacrifice. I thank him for his conquest of the grave. I marvel at his sacrificial and triumphant grace. Jesus is Lord. I know it sounds sweet in your ears, so I say it again, Jesus is my Lord. Thank you for being so great that you would be so sacrificial. In the name of my Lord and Savior, Jesus the Son of God, my heart and my soul quietly shout and offer to you these thanks. Amen.

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A Believers Believing Heart, The Word of God, The Word of Faith, The Word of Life unto Salvation. Romans 10:6-9.

Salvation is not difficult, but simple. Salvation is not inaccessible, but readily available. It is as near as your mouth & your heart. If you would believe in Jesus with your whole heart, and confess Him with your mouth, you will be saved.

Your heart has been created with a truly amazing capability. Your heart has been given the capacity to believe, and most wonderfully, to believe in God. It is in the heart that faith springs up, dwells, and works (Acts 15:9).

It is unbelief in the heart that draws men away from God (Hebrews 3:12). It is into the heart that God sends the Spirit of His Son (Galatians 4:6) and it is in the believing heart that Christ Himself dwells (Ephesians 3:17).

You need a heart of faith because the place of faith is the heart. How can you have a believing heart? How can your heart be made true and pure?

In our text we have God’s gracious offer of salvation in Christ and the provision of righteousness by faith in His word. God speaks into your heart because your heart is not only the center of your physical-psychological life, but also the very center of your spiritual life.

God opens your heart to speak faith into your heart by His written Word. God builds and molds and shapes faith within the heart of men and women through our receiving, believing and obeying the word of God.

Let me repeat this again because it is that important – Now God’s Word to us is not distant, but always nearby. Salvation is not difficult, but simple. Salvation is not inaccessible, but readily available.

It is as near as your own mouth and your heart. If you would believe in Jesus with your heart, and confess Him with your mouth, you will be saved. And once the Lord Jesus is in your heart you have His righteousness reigning/abiding in your heart also. Let this sink into your souls.

Romans 10:6-9 Disciples’ Literal New Testament

6 But the righteousness of faith speaks[a] as follows: “Do not say in your heart, “Who will go up into heaven?”, that is, to bring[b] Christ down, 7 or “who will go down into the abyss?”, that is, to bring[c] Christ up from the dead. 8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart”, that is, the word of [d] faith which we are proclaiming, 9 that[e] if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and you believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.

What an amazing thing to know in your inner most being that you are saved. Through faith in Jesus, your inner man is 100% sealed, sanctified, redeemed.

This transformation into a new creation in Christ happened in your born-again spirit. There was a change on the inside of you when you put your 100% trust into Jesus as your Savior.

Unlike relying on the Law to bring you into right relationship with God, you trusted in Him to provide for you the righteousness that comes by faith alone. This righteousness changes the way we look at the world. No longer do we have to look to heaven or ascend into the deep to find God, because the word of faith proclaims that He is in our mouths, in our hearts and very near all the time.

In our carnal nature it is impossible to live in fellowship with the Lord. This is why trying to be good enough on our own merit will never work.

We set ourselves up for failure if we try to live this way. God understood this and this is why he never intended for us to work for our salvation.

Sin had destroyed us, and the Law helped us to recognize it.

Isaiah said, “The LORD looked and was displeased that there was no justice. He saw that there was no one, he was appalled that there was no one to intervene; so, his own arm worked salvation for him, and his own righteousness sustained him” (Isaiah 59:15-16).

Even God looked around for one that could represent mankind on his behalf to save the world from themselves but there was no one because sin has destroyed us. So, Isaiah said, his own right arm (Jesus) worked salvation for us, and it was His righteousness that sustained him so he could defeat sin once for all. In the same way He broke the power of sin over us.

Through faith in Jesus, we have been translated from the kingdom of darkness, held under the power of sin and death, into the kingdom of his dear son (Colossians 1:13).

We are free from the bondage that sin held us in and born again with a new spirit inside us. We are a completely different being than we once were (II Corinthians 5:17).

That is why we do not have to look for God, instead we simply know that his presence is always with us, His word in is our mouths, and His righteousness and precepts are written on our hearts.

It makes quite a difference in how we live when we understand this truth.

This becomes a reality when we get a revelation of who we are in the spirit.

When we see ourselves as God sees us, we live like who we are instead of living by what we see. This is why God gave us the Holy Spirit, so he could lead us into all truth (John 14:26, John 16:13).

He didn’t want us to have to rely on the physical aspect of life to interpret these things. Instead, he wanted us to know and experience him in a personal way. Jesus told the women at the well in John 4, that “God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24).

God gave us His Spirit so that we could commune with him spirit to spirit bypassing the natural realm. We do not have to have someone teach us these things because God has made them real inside us.

An amazing thing was what the prophets foretold concerning the New Covenant through Christ Jesus,

Jeremiah said, 

“This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time,” declares the LORD. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,” declares the LORD. “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.” (Jeremiah 31:33-34, Hebrews 8:10-12).

This is the word of faith. God is written himself on our hearts; we don’t need to look anywhere else for him. He dwells inside us, so close that he is in our minds, our hearts and overflowing from our lips.

Paul was quoting from Deuteronomy 30 in today’s passage. This passage immediately follows the law, but this chapter shows that it is man’s heart that God wants, this was always His intent.

The chapter ends with an amazing call to his children that still applies to us today, 

“This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob” ( Deuteronomy 30:19-20 ).

God said, choose life and you will live. We know that life only comes through Jesus. He is the way to the Father. Through him, he gives us the capability to love the Lord, listen to his voice and hold fast to him. He is our life, and he incredibly blesses us as we walk with him.

Today, I encourage you to choose life so that you may also live. I am so thankful that God has provided a way for us to remain in fellowship with him at all times.

I am blessed to know that his faithful love and his faithful word flows out of me and that I am never without him. This is the word of faith that I proclaim today, may you be blessed by this revelation of God’s wonderful plan for you, Amen!

In the name of the God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

O God may the faith within us get out, onto our lips, into our feet and hands, through our hearts.

May what we sing and pray here in this place, get past our inhibitions and into our actions this week.

May the passion for your Gospel burn within our hearts, so that we cannot be silent in the face of deception or injustice.

If old-fashioned ways of sharing faith do not ring true to us, then let us persist until we find ways to tell our story that reveal Your presence in our lives.

Help us, God, please help us to just get it out, not arrogantly, but as our humble confession of what we believe. Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.

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“I Know the Way by Heart!” Moses Described the Way of Righteousness That Is by The Law—Romans 10:5

Travel back to your days in High School or College English Literature class.

Recall a poem by Robert Frost titled,

“The Road Not Taken” (1951)

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I–

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

Robert Frost talks about living life in two different ways.

As the narrator of the poem, he chose to live a different way than most people: one perhaps more challenging, and one perhaps requiring more of a personal investment and commitment than the other.

One way is a legalistic way. It’s the way of rote obedience, of diligently following all the rules, of faithfulness to religious expectations to a fault.

The other way of having a relationship with God involves faith.

It involves believing in the love of God in such a way that can’t be known by the mind but can only be known by the heart.

Now I’m the kind of person that can handle just about anything, as long as I know what’s coming, what to expect.

Car repairs, medical procedures, home improvements – it doesn’t matter. I believe I can deal with almost anything if I know what’s going on and what’s about to happen. I’m a person that likes to do my research and be informed.

But being informed, doesn’t address all of my needs. That the doctors know what medical procedure I need to have done, and can explain it all to me, doesn’t make the physician care for me on a personal, intimate level. The expertise of my personal mechanic doesn’t address my concerns and anxiety.

I can read up on my medical condition, I can take a class in automotive repairs, but it doesn’t change the fact that I still have a problem and doesn’t mean the doctor or mechanic will raise themselves up, be my Savior in my time of need.

Paul talks about two ways of knowing, and only one of those-knowing God by heart rather than by mind, knowing God by faith- is one able to truly know God.

I know exactly how to “live in the world” by “heart.”

I also know its exact “message” of “salvation.” by “heart.”

The Question is – Do I know how-to live-in God’s Kingdom “by heart?”

Do I know God’s message of Salvation “by heart?”

Romans 10:5 Disciples’ Literal New Testament

The Law Requires Performance; True Righteousness Comes By Faith In Christ

5 For Moses writes [in Lev 18:5] as to the righteousness of the Law that “The person having done them will live by them”.

The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.

There is a difference between the righteousness that the Law offers and the righteousness that comes by faith. Paul started out chapter ten by saying the Israelites were zealous for God, but their zeal wasn’t based upon the truth of Jesus and because of it they sought to establish their own righteousness based upon the law (Romans 10:2, Romans 10:3).

Then in verse 4 made an amazing declaration that Christ was the end (the aim, the goal) of the law so we could be righteous and holy by faith (Romans 10:4).

Thinking about this for a while, this is truly an amazing truth, but difficult to accept unless one’s heart is in alignment with this truth from God’s word.

Our relationship with God has always been based upon a heart change even at the time that the Law was given this was the objective.

Moses warned the Israelites when he gave them the law the man who obeys them will live by them (Leviticus 18:5). It wasn’t based on Ten commandments; it was more extensive and based on over four hundred laws and precepts.

If you religiously followed one law, then you had to follow all laws. Moses warned them about this. However, he also understood that this revelation of God’s decrees was simply intended to get them to practice God’s presence, get ready for the coming of the promised Messiah and not to be a means to an end.

It outlined everything Messiah would be, it showed us how He would be the one true, perfect sacrifice before God in our stead. Moses warned that if anyone was set upon hyper trusting in the law to save them, they would soon discover how completely impossible it was. If you live by the law, then you will die by the law.

James said the same thing, “For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it” (James 2:10). 

The Law is an all or nothing thing. So, in that sense it is impossible to live by it because of the sinful nature with which we were born.

Fortunately for us we do not have to live this way because “but the righteous will live by his faith” (Habakkuk 2:4). The Amplified Version of the Bible put it in this way, “but the [rigidly] just and the [uncompromisingly] righteous man shall live by his faith and in his faithfulness” (Habakkuk 2:4 Amplified). 

Meaning that our faith in Christ is how and what we must live by, and this faith fulfills the law in our own hearts and souls. Because the law looked forward to Christ and made him its bullseye. Jesus brings us into relationship with God and inevitably our hearts and our souls changes and aligns to His in the process.

What does Jesus say about the Law?

Questioned about it by the Pharisees and Scribes, Jesus quickly responded, 

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments” (Matthew 22:37-40).

Fulfilling the first commandment can only be accomplished with true lasting heart change. We cannot hope to love God with all of our hearts when it is only perceived and acted upon as an exercise in being an intellectual ritualistic thing.

To love God takes every ounce of our being we can only do this when our heart is aligned to his heart. This only happens when we experience the love of Christ. John said, “we love because he first loved us” (I John 4:19). 

Our love is a natural response to His love towards us. We can all 100% love him with everything we are because through grace alone we are a redeemed and holy people. By loving God in this way, we fulfill the intent of the law because we are looking to become dependent on him for everything, not relying on ourselves.

In the same way, because of His love pouring out of us we can love others where before we couldn’t. TBT, we can love others more by accident than on purpose.

This is because we are living our lives from a real change of heart that focuses on God for everything. It is not a self-centered thing. Love flowed from the cross and overflows into our hearts and we have become like Him through the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit.

Paul encourages us with the same thought elsewhere, 

“The entire law is summed up in a single command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Galatians 3:14).

“Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law.” (Romans 13:8). 

This love is based upon Christ who is the end of the law (Romans 10:4).

Today, my heart and my soul are indescribably thankful that Moses foresaw the coming Messiah and insightfully challenged the Israelites to look beyond and then forward to Messiah in faith instead of living by the dictates of the Law.

I am unbelievably thankful Christ has come in the flesh to redeem mankind. By trusting in Jesus, you are 100% saved and 100% loved and equipped to love one another. May the truth of this revelation of Jesus Christ bless you today, Amen!

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

let us Pray,

All Praise to You, Lord Jesus Christ, King of endless glory. You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.

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What does it mean to say Jesus Christ is the End of The Law—Romans 10:4

Throughout the long course of Paul’s letter to the Romans he wrote extensively about how the Law could not justify us before God. Rather he is trying to teach the true intent of the law which, from the beginning, was to point us to Christ.

After building his case against mankind in the first two chapters, Paul wrote in Romans 3, “But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference” (Romans 3:21, Romans 3:22). 

He showed that this way had always been God’s plan from the very beginning.

Both the Law and the Prophets of God testified about Jesus as the means for justification. We were never supposed to cling to the Law to bring us into right relationship with God. The Law was meant to condemn us; this is why Paul said in Corinthians “the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life” (2 Corinthians 3:6). 

Then went on to call the Law the “ministration of death” because that is what it was (2 Corinthians 3:7). It only brought us death. It accused us before God, it showed us our guilt before God, and it magnified our sin before God. It could never justify us, instead it silenced us and held us accountable (Romans 3:19).

But do we really grasp what it means to say; “Christ is the End of the Law?”

Romans 10:4 English Standard Version

4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. [a]

The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.

Do we genuinely know what Romans 10:4 really means? Because of the great misunderstanding of this verse, a lot of Christians missed its real meaning. Join me now as we try to discover what it means for Christ to be the end of the law.

Christ is the end of the law.

That is what Romans 10:4 says.

However, a lot of people believe this verse proves we don’t have to keep the law.

Is this what Romans 10:4 really mean?

Let’s try to sort it out and try to find out what God, through Paul is teaching us.

Examining the Greek word

Romans 10:4 tells us:

“For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.”

To better understand this verse, we need to look into the original Greek word of “end.”

According to Strong’s Hebrew and Greek Dictionary,

the word “end” in Romans 10:4 came from the Greek word, “telos,” which means, “to set out for a definite point or goal).”

https://www.blueletterbible.org/esv/rom/10/4/t_conc_1056004

https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g5056/esv/mgnt/0-1/

Now, compare this definition to Thayer’s Greek Definitions where it says telos means “termination, the limit at which a thing ceases to be (always of the end of some act or state, but not of the end of a period of time).” 

Thayer also defines it as “the end to which all things relate, the aim, purpose.”

Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words include variations in meaning such as “‘the aim or purpose’ of a thing.”

Looking into these diverse and various meanings, telos can mean the “end” or the “aim or goal.”

What does Romans 10:4 mean?

Now, we must ask, which one of these meanings does Paul really intend to use? 

Most Christians would say telos means “the end” and thus, Romans 10:4 tells us that Christ is the end of the law. They conclude that the law ceases from being effective and that all we need is faith.

In short, faith voids the law.

However, I believe this understanding runs contrary to what the Apostle Paul says in the same letter, Romans 3:31: “Do we then make VOID the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law.”

What does Romans 10:4 mean when it says, “Christ is the end of the law?”

Paul clearly tells us that faith does not negate the law of God. He goes on to say that instead of putting an end to the law, we, as Christians, should establish it!

Obviously, the main purpose of Paul in Romans 10:4 isn’t to end the law, but Christ is the aim of the law.

1 Timothy 1:5 English Standard Version

5 The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.

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Notice how telos is properly translated in I Timothy 1:5:

  • New King James Version – Now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith.
  • New Revised Standard Version – But the aim of such instruction is love that comes from a pure heart, a good conscience, and sincere faith.
  • New American Standard Bible – But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from a sincere faith.
  • New English Translation – But the aim of our instruction is love that comes from a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith.
  • English Standard Version – The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.

That should be enough to tell us the word telos doesn’t entirely mean the end or put a stop, but rather it can be translated as “goal,” “aim,” and “purpose.”

So, back to Romans 10:4, this verse can and should be properly translated as:

“For Messiah [Christ] is the goal of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.”

What is the true meaning of Romans 10:4?

Because of the wrong interpretation of most Christians, it is really possible they have missed the genuine magnitude of Paul’s real message in Romans 10:4.

In English, when we say, “end,” it can mean objective or goal.

You probably heard of the famous but wrong belief of Sergey Nechayev, the 19th century Russian revolutionary, “The end justifies the means.”

In this expression, we understand the word “end” here means goal, purpose, or aim. How do we know?

Because the main reason why Sergey said this is he believes as long as the “end” or goal is morally acceptable, whatever means you use would also be acceptable.

Of course, we know that’s incorrect, but the point I’m getting to get at here is that the English word “end” varies in meaning and you need to get the context to know its real intention.

In the same way, Romans 10:4 tells us that Christ is the end [the goal, the aim] of the law. We need to dig deeper to get the context to know its real meaning.

In the initial verses of Romans 10, we read:

“Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they may be saved. For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God” (Romans 10:1-3).

Paul was saying here that Israel is zealous, but they are doing it with the wrong understanding. For many Jews during the time of Paul, they are trying to earn their salvation by keeping the law of God.

Now, please try to understand, it doesn’t mean it is wrong for them to keep the law, but their motivation and their purpose were misguided. They thought that by themselves, by their works, they can earn salvation and gain God’s grace.

That’s why the Apostle Paul needed to explain to them that they need the sacrifice of Yahshua or Jesus Christ to be cleansed of their sins.

By believing and accepting the sacrifice of Yahshua, they can now submit to the “righteousness of God” instead of establishing their “own righteousness.”

When Paul wrote in Romans 10:4 the Messiah is the goal or aim of the law, Paul was pointing them, and us today, in 2022, to Yahshua.

He was saying to all who would believe, we must make it our goal, our aim to develop the mind, character of our Savior and Master, Yahshua the Messiah!

That’s the deeper truth and the critically important point of Apostle Paul here.

He was not trying to abolish the law in Romans 10:4, but rather, he was teaching that our ultimate goal in keeping the law is to become more and more like Yahshua.

Remember, Yahshua is the living Word of God.

He is the perfect representation of how we must keep the law, what our motivation should be in keeping the law, and what the law really teaches.

So, when we obediently follow God’s laws and commandments, bear in mind that we keep them to help us develop Christ’s character, mind, and wisdom.

Understanding the implications of this profound truth will completely free you in every sense of the word. We are called to a higher goal, a higher aim, to live a life of freedom and this also includes after we come to Christ. Many understand salvation by grace, but no sooner than they come to accept the transformation of Christ’s salvation they put on the yoke of slavery again.

Many start out accepting this grace that Christ offers only to return to the Law as a means to live. We pick it up again to dictate the Christian life instead of living in the freedom to which we were called.

As Christians the Law is not for us it was nailed to the cross with Jesus. We do not need it as a basis of how to live because we have the Holy Spirit as our guide to lead us into all truth (John 14:26, John 16:13-15).

God said, through the Apostle Paul that “Christ is the end of the law …” (Romans 10:4), and this rings true especially for Christians.

Today I am so thankful my righteousness came through Christ. I am glad that he has cancelled the written code that stood and accused me. He has become the end of the Law and the aim in my life so I can live by faith. Today, I pray we all understand this blessed truth and experience this freedom in our life, Amen!

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Heavenly Father, thank You for sending the Lord Jesus Christ to be the end of the Law to all who trust in Him as Saviour. I confess that of myself I can-do no-good thing but praise Your holy name that I can do all things through Christ, Who has become my righteousness, and in Whose name I pray. AMEN.

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The Cry of a Christian Heart. God’s Righteousness Versus Our Own Self Righteousness—Romans 10:3

The most prolific writer of the New Testament was the Apostle Paul as he wrote many letters to the church of his day.

How much he thought of the church that would be around in 2022 I don’t know, but the words he was inspired to write are eternal and they reach out to us right now just as powerfully as they did when he wrote them.

Paul had come a long way, from being one who persecuted the church, to being converted on the road to Damascus and being filled with the Holy Ghost prior to stepping out onto the pages of church history as the Apostle to the Gentiles.

But Paul was a Jew who had been trained in the greatest schools of Israel on the Law of Moses.

At one place he refers to himself as a Pharisee among the Pharisees, meaning that no one could best him at the knowledge of the Law and how to force men to comply to it.

He was a great debater, even at one point taking on the seekers of mysteries among the great thinkers of the Greeks on Mars Hill, where he declared unto them the Lord Jesus Christ as the one, they knew only as “The unknown God”.

One thing Paul had was a heart after God.

When he was converted, he “got the real thing”.

This gospel was no plaything to him.

When he gave his heart and soul to Jesus, he did so without reservation, committing his life to the preaching of the gospel at all costs, and counted everything as loss in this world, so that he might comprehend all that he could about Jesus and have a greater revelation of the power of the Holy Spirit.

One man, fully committed and sold out to God, under the anointing of the Holy Ghost, laid the foundation of the church upon the same foundation that Jesus had laid for there is no other foundation that will stand the test of time and eternity. The words that he spoke revealed the very heart and nature of Jesus to a world that was lost and dying in the sin of darkness.

As I look around today, I still see that same world! It’s a lost and dying world, steeped in idolatry and wandering around without eyes to see, ears to hear, and unable to come to the Truth of the gospel which has the power to see men free.

Romans 10:3-4 J.B. Phillips New Testament

How Israel has missed the way

10 1-4 My brothers, from the bottom of my heart I long and pray to God that Israel may be saved! I know from experience what a passion for God they have, but alas, it is not a passion based on knowledge. They do not know God’s righteousness, and all the time they are going about trying to prove their own righteousness they have the wrong attitude to receive his. For Christ means the end of the struggle for righteousness-by-the-Law for everyone who believes in him.

The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.

God’s righteousness and our righteousness are polar opposites.

Apart from Christ our right standing with God is impossible.

It was Isaiah who said that our righteous acts are like filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6).

He was talking about self-righteousness (the things we do to try to make us right with God). Self-righteousness looks great on the outside and people do genuinely take the time and the season to notice it and then comment upon it.

Like the Israelites our churches are filled with people who look holy but solely trust in themselves to be good enough for God. They are seeking him based on their righteousness and what they can accomplish for God. However, God does not grade on a curve, our righteousness in no way possible compares to his.

Paul said in today’s passage that the Israelites didn’t know God’s righteousness and so they tried to establish their own.

What is God’s righteousness? His righteousness is the uprightness that He ascribes to. It is who HE is – in thought, word and deed.

I pray you and I can see; this is a polar opposite of who we are as humans. God is so holy, completely just and true, in every sense of the word. It is impossible for us to approach God on the basis of what we’ve done, even though all of it seems good in the natural realm. In our own self sufficiency and sinful state, we would not even be able to stand in His presence because of the ugliest effects of sin.

Paul said in Romans 5, “before the law was given, sin was in the world. But sin is not taken into account when there is no law” (Romans 5:13). So, sin existed, but God was not crediting it to the accounts of mankind before the law was given.

So, they mistook his forbearance with sin to be his acceptance of it. Sin became more and more ugly and prevalent in the world, so in contrast, a life lived holy looked pretty good in contrast and comparison to the corruption that existed.

Therefore, the law was given to the Jews, and it outlined hundreds of rules and guidelines on how to live. God did this to demonstrate his righteousness to them. Compared to the nations around them, they assumed they were good enough but in comparison to God’s righteousness, the law showed them it was impossible to fulfill on their own.

The law came with both blessings and curses (Deuteronomy 28), and they were subjected to those by how they lived. The law was never intended to be a plan of salvation. The law was intended to show us our inability to earn our way to heaven and to reveal our need for a savior.

This is a major truth in the Bible; we cannot earn our way into heaven by our good deeds. If we are relying on what we do for God and our own self-righteousness, then Paul says that we remain under the curse of the law.

“All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.” Clearly no one is justified before God by the law, because “The righteous will live by faith” (Galatians 3:10-11). 

God knew it was impossible for us to fulfill the law, so he provided another way to be justified before him through Jesus. This comes about by faith and those who are righteous before God live by faith.

He went on to answer the question on everyone’s mind, 

“What, then, was the purpose of the law? It was added because of transgressions until the Seed to whom the promise referred had come” (Galatians 3:19). 

Romans says it this way,

“no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin. (Romans 3:20). 

And again, Paul said in Galatians, 

“the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith (Galatians 3:24). 

In other words, the law shows us our need for a Savior so we will fall upon the grace and mercy of God and trust in his plan for salvation instead of our own.

The law was intended to get us ready for Christ and was never proposed to be the way to God.

The amazing thing about falling upon the mercy of God and accepting this grace message is that by doing so, we know and submit to God’s righteousness.

Romans says, “But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe” (Romans 3:21, Romans 3:22). 

Which means that we obtain God’s righteousness through faith in Jesus and since we are righteous by God’s standards, we can stand before him, completely justified, where before it would have been impossible to be in His presence.

Romans goes on to say, “For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law” (Romans 3:28). 

This is good news for us today. We do not have to rely on what we do to please God; he is already pleased with us on the basis of our abiding faith in Jesus.

There is nothing else we can do to add to it, he looks deeply at us and sees us completely whole, righteous and justified before him as if we had never sinned.

What an incredible blessing it is to 100% submit to the righteousness of God.

Today it is my prayer that we recognize how righteous we are in Christ Jesus.

We have God’s righteousness covering us and we can stand in His presence fully justified, forgiven and loved. Sin is not an issue with him because he has paid your debt to it. Through faith in Jesus, we are the righteousness of God, Amen!

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Lord, my teacher, I’m often confused when I need to make important decisions about my work, my relationships, my health, or finances. Show me the way I should go when I don’t know which way to turn. Help me remember to come to you, rather than trying to figure everything out on my own. Guide me along the best pathway for my life. Advise me and watch over me. Help me to listen to your guidance and not resist it. I thank you that your unfailing love surrounds those who trust you. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.

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Zeal Must be Based Upon Knowledge. Zealous Adherence to God’s Truth!!—Search and Survey of Romans 10 (1-2)

Today, we begin a survey of the centrality of Christ from Romans Chapter 10.

The Word of Faith

Romans chapter 10 teaches the word of faith. By confessing with our mouth and the wholeness of our whole heart that Jesus Christ is Lord and by believing this in our hearts, we are saved—nothing more, nothing less. Christ is the end of the law so we can be justified and made righteous by faith in Jesus alone. Faith comes by hearing this gospel message and responding to it. Paul encourages us that “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Romans 10:1-2 New American Standard Bible

The Word of Faith Brings Salvation

10 Brothers and sisters, my heart’s desire and my prayer to God for them is for their salvation. 2 For I testify about them that they have a zeal for God, but not in accordance with knowledge.

The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.

Like the Israelites many people are passionate for and about God but have no real regard for the truth of Jesus Christ. We use our religions and doctrines to umbrella God into what we want him to be or what we think he is.

But Paul said that there is laid in Zion a stone that causes men to stumble and fall and that stone is Jesus Christ (Romans 9:33).

If we remove Jesus from His deity and worship God without regard to him then our worship is in vain, and it is not based upon any truth or any knowledge.

This is an incredible reality to understand.

Worship is misguided and meaningless unless it is based upon the truth of God’s word.

Jesus said the same thing in John chapter 4 when he was speaking with the women at the well.

She had been questioning him about an age-old argument between the Jews and the Samaritans and Jesus revealed to her an amazing thing. He said, 

“You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth” (John 4:22-24). 

He tells her plainly that they do not know the truth. The truth is that true worshippers have to worship God in spirit and truth. This can only happen through Jesus. God is a spirit and to communicate with him on a spiritual level we must be born again. Born not naturally but supernaturally from above.

The world is okay with religion and okay with talking about God, and the world wants you to think that many roads lead to heaven. It is acceptable to talk about Buddha and teach about Allah but at the mention of the name of Jesus the world gets hostile, because there is power in that name.

Peter said, “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). 

So as long as we can be deceived looking outside of Jesus for salvation and meaning in life then we are no threat to the world. Just like Paul said in today’s passage, “I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge” (Romans 10:2).

Jesus is the vital piece of information that we must have in worshipping God as he desires.

Even as Christians we can be well meaning in what we do, but what good is that?

Hosea said, “my people are destroyed from lack of knowledge” (Hosea 4:6). 

Unless we take the necessary time to understand the truth of God and his Living Word, we will destroy ourselves in our well-meaning ignorance. God’s word is full of the person of Jesus Christ, what he has done, what he has provided in his redemption package and what he will do for everyone once we come unto him.

He is the way, the truth and the life and no man comes to God the Father except through him (John 14:6). This is the knowledge that Paul desired the Israelites to have. He knew Jesus was the missing link in their devotion to God.

Jesus said in John, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (John 8:31-32). 

The truth is the truth, but to be free, you have to know it.

Socio-Cultural Religion does not want you to be free, that is why it keep you bound up under the power of the law. But it was John who said, “the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ” (John 1:17). 

Today, it is my ever-fervent prayer that we understand the grace and truth found in Christ Jesus alone and completely trust in him as our personal Savior.

This is the knowledge that Paul desired for the entire world to grasp.

Salvation in the Living Christ ALONE!

Jesus is the rock laid in Zion that many stumble over, however to those who fall upon Him they will never be put to shame (Romans 9:33).

Today, be blessed by this truth in Jesus’ name, amen!

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Father, faithful One, teach me your divine wisdom. Empower me to understand wise teaching. Give thy insight to my simple mind. Help me to live a life that is disciplined and successful, based on the wise teachings of your Living Word.

Give me the knowledge I need to make smart decisions. I know that reverence for you is the beginning of wisdom. Help me listen when you correct me, and not neglect your instruction. I know when I follow your wisdom, I will receive grace and honor. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.

WHO IS THIS JESUS? (ROMANS 3:21-26)

We are now confronted by the realities of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ!

But now comes the challenge of all the ages; what do we do with this reality?

The choices and decisions and possibilities are as counting the grains of sand on the seashore or looking into a desert expanse and counting those grains of sand. We can never hope to count each and every one of them, but we must each still grapple with the reality that the sands are there, and we all must do something.

We cannot avoid the temptation to kneel down and pick up a handful of sand and let it course through our fingers and over our hands just for wonderment. Letting that handful of sand return to the earth before we reach down into a different section of sand, repeat the process wondering “did I pick up more?”

How long do we keep scooping up the sand into our hands before we just decide we are more interested in getting to know more about the actual sand we hold?

On the surface, that seems a whole lot easier than trying to count to numbers we have never heard of, nor could we ever hope to keep track of in our heads.

Over-all there is still an incredible wealth of knowledge and wisdom we can gain simply by taking the time to study and compare the contrasting qualities and characteristics and attributes of the sand, applying it to the reality of life.

Such is the nature of the quest to study the question: Who really is this Jesus?

Romans 3:21-26 New American Standard Bible

Justification by Faith

21 But now apart [a]from the Law the righteousness of God has been revealed, being witnessed by the [b]Law and the Prophets, 22 but it is the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those [c]who believe; for there is no distinction, 23 for all [d]have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God displayed publicly as a [e]propitiation [f]in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, [g]because in God’s merciful restraint He let the sins previously committed go unpunished; 26 for the demonstration, that is, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who [h]has faith in Jesus.

The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.

Sorting out the most basic implications of the Resurrection and now the Life.

Living into the reality of Resurrection ……

Loving into the reality of Resurrection …..

Moving into the reality of Resurrection ……

We start with acknowledging the reality of the Resurrection of Christ Jesus.

This reality is center mass to being Christian – it is at the heart of who we are. The tomb is absolutely empty – the disciples Peter and John have looked inside; we believe their witness – we believe what their eyes have seen and not seen.

We examine the witness of the disciples behind a locked door in the Upper Room. We study the witnesses, affirmation of faith of the disciple Thomas.

We find them to be absolutely credible and worthy of our acceptance and our belief because this is exactly what the Holy Spirit reveals to be trustworthy and true. We examine the Scriptures as a whole from Genesis through Revelation.

What does such a thorough examination reveal to me?

Today’s Bible verses shows us that none of us are excused from sin.

We were born sinners.

There’s no amount of trying or working that would get us out of our sinful state.

Also, there’s no way that our good could ever outweigh our bad. It’s literally impossible to come to the father except through Jesus. That’s the bad news.

The good news is that whoever this Jesus is, he didn’t leave us dangling there. He gave us His own life for the forgiveness of sin, righteousness as a free gift.

The starting place of receiving this gift is to first understand that we are a sinner and desperately need His grace. Salvation is only possible when one knows they are a sinner, and they completely throw their trust on Jesus.

Today, if we have not experienced the saving power of Jesus in our life, we can.

We simply have to ask Jesus to be the Lord of your life.

He will come in and save us, cleanse us and make us like new.

Then we simply live out of our new nature in Him.

We’ll want to spend time talking to God, getting to know Him on a deeper level.

Knowing Him is the best thing that God offers.

When you know Jesus, and love Him, your life has meaning and purpose.

So today, we begin to live out our choice to live for Him in everything we do.

JESUS IS THE PROMISED OLD TESTAMENT CHRIST WHO OFFERS “A NEW WAY” (ROMANS 3:21-22)

Romans 3:21 begins with a dramatic “but now”. When is this ‘now’? It is a ‘now’ after Genesis 3, after God has shown us our sinful state.

It signals for us a turning point, where “the righteousness of God had been manifested…” and that something objective has been done in history so that something is different now.

Ever since the fall of man in sin, mankind has been trying to work our way back to paradise, that state of blessed righteousness and peace with God.

We have all done so by covering up sins with fig leaves or trying to live good lives and be good people.

This “but now” is the appearing of Jesus Christ on the scene of history – the Son God promised to reverse the curse. 

Now, a “righteousness of God … apart from the law” has been made known.

What is this and what does it mean?

The righteousness of God has been shown apart from the law, meaning that a righteousness separate from the law is now present and Scripture (i.e., the Law and the Prophets) actually bears witness to it.

Romans 3 is basically saying that there is a way to become perfect not through obeying and keeping the law.  It is what Luther calls an “alien righteousness”- a righteousness that does not come from my own work or effort of keeping of the law.

Rom 3:21, Paul says that a non-law righteousness is now available. Sinners can now cross the bar without actually crossing the bar.  

This new way is through faith in Jesus, for He is the “Christ”, the promised one spoken of in the Law and the Prophets. 

JESUS IS THE SAVIOR WHO PROPITIATES, REDEEMS AND JUSTIFIES (ROMANS 3:23-25)

Rom 3:23 presents a problem that we all face.

It tells us that all have sinned in Adam and that we have fallen short of the glory of God. We have all run away from God and have shut him out of our lives. This is the sin that we have all committed. Gen 6:5 shows us the extent of our sins.

We are not just flawed or are flawed people with innumerable problems. We all share the sin nature of our ancestors – fearful, lustful, irresponsible and more. 

Verses 24 to 25 then go one to show us what Christ did for sinners like us. Jesus propitiates, redeems and justifies. Propitiation borrows the language of temple worship and means “to make favourable to” or “to satisfy”.

This is directed towards God to satisfy his wrath, the wrath of a righteous, holy God against sin, and this wrath means sinners naturally deserve death. Romans 3:25 tells us this Jesus was put forward by God as a propitiation of this wrath.

What does this mean?

The Bible tells us that God has no more wrath for sinners because Jesus Christ has satisfied God’s righteous judgment.

How did He do this? He lived the perfect life we were supposed to live and, on the Cross, died the death we ought to die as guilty sinners (Isaiah 53:4-6).

There, on the cross, He was punished as a rebel against God as our substitute, going through hell in our place (1 Peter 3:18). Jesus Christ gave His life for us because He loved us (Romans 5:8). This means those who receive and accept His work on their behalf are now absolutely at peace with God (Romans 5:1).

Redemption has taken place because of propitiation. Because Savior Jesus has propitiated God’s wrath, He has redeemed us.  

The word comes from economic language or the language of the marketplace.

It speaks of transfer of ownership. Thus, when the Bible speaks of redemption, it means we are freed from our former master, but we now serve Christ. We are never our own masters, but Jesus is our master, and He is one who justifies.

Because Jesus was put forward as the propitiation, and we have been redeemed, we are also justified. Because of what Jesus has done, we are justified sinners in God’s sight. That is the legal status we receive because of Christ. 

JESUS IS THE EVIDENCE OF GOD’S CHARACTER – HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS, MERCY, & WISDOM (ROMANS 3:26)

No matter how hard we try, how good we are, how much we work, we can never measure up to the only standard that matters — the glory of Almighty God.

Thankfully, God doesn’t require us to pretend to be what we are not — perfect, spotless, and holy. Instead, God makes us to be these (cf. Colossians 1:21-23) by grace, through the gift of his Son who purchased for us our pardon and gave us his righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Praise God. Praise our Savior, Christ Jesus.

Now let’s live with Jesus as our Lord; not to earn or secure our salvation, but to thank him for what he has so freely given us!

Romans 3:25b tells us that God did much more than show us his love at the cross. You see, God had another problem. He had passed over sins in his divine forbearance, leaving them unpunished. What does this mean?

Verse 25 tells us God left sins unpunished all the way until Jesus and if God did not deal with those sins, He would be an incompetent, partial and poor judge.

His integrity and justice would be compromised. 

The Apostle Paul teaches in Romans 3:26b that in Jesus Christ, God shows His wisdom by not only radically, scandalously loving us in forgiveness, but also justly satisfying what righteousness demands.

The cross shows us God’s love for those who could not be righteous on their own and yet, the fulfillment of His righteous requirement for divine justice.

What can we learn about God’s character through Jesus Christ?  We see his kindness to pardon us, but also in a way that satisfies his justice. God knows what to do with sin — either in hell, or it is all charged to Jesus on the cross.

Romans 3 shows us the incalculable depths and riches of God’s love. We have all the firewood and kindling stacked up high, to set our hearts ablaze by faith. Do you dare believe all that’s written here? Let the saving work of Jesus move you. 

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us now Pray,

Most precious holy Father, all I can say to your marvelous grace is thank you! Please know that while these words are woefully inadequate, they are genuine. Dear Father, I look forward to showing you through the rest of my life just how much I appreciate all that you have done for me. In Jesus’ glorious name, I pray. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.

Victory In Jesus! (Eugene M. Bartlett, 1939)

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Its Easter!! A New Countdown to Life Begins! A New Hope and a New Living Morning is Here! The SON is Risen!!!

The Meaning of a Living Hope in an Empty Tomb!

Matthew 28:1-7 New American Standard Bible

Jesus Is Risen!

28 Now after the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to look at the tomb. 2 And behold, a severe earthquake had occurred, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled away the stone and sat upon it. 3 And his appearance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow. 4 The guards shook from fear of him and became like dead men. 5 And the angel said to the women, “[a]Do not be afraid; for I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified. 6 He is not here, for He has risen, just as He said. Come, see the place where He was lying. 7 And go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead; and behold, He is going ahead of you to Galilee. There you will see Him; behold, I have told you.”

The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.

“He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay.” – Matthew 28:6

Jesus’ death and resurrection are not only celebrated at Easter. Long before Jesus walked to the cross, Scripture tells of the hope we find in Him. His resurrection story began in the first notes of Scripture, and He is apparent throughout the entirety of the Bible.

“‘He is Risen’ means that Jesus was raised from the dead, and now is with God in heaven,” explains Christianity.com, “It means He has overcome death as those who believe in Him will have eternal life.”

Every day we wake to a new morning carries divine purpose to serve as a channel of Christ’s love. The world is consumed with itself, and therefore crumbling inward as the days go on.

But our hope isn’t in the world!

Our hope is not in the grave!

Rather our living and everlasting hope is in the One who utterly defeated death on our account and one day soon, WILL return to take us home for all eternity.

Now, how about that for Good News to start your day?

Where Is This Verse in the Bible?

“Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen!” – Luke 24:5b-6a)

The Gospel of Mark also records,

“‘Do not be alarmed,’ he said, ‘You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they had laid him” (Mark 16:6-7).

All four Synoptic Gospels tell of the empty tomb, Jesus’ resurrection, and Mary Magdalene’s discovery of Jesus’ empty tomb.

The Gospels differ slightly in the details included in their recording of the day’s events.

“Luke includes a second angel,” the NIV Application Commentary explains, “but Matthew and Mark focus only on the one who speaks for both.”

Luke and John both wrote some of the disciples ran to the tomb, Luke has specifically mentioned Peter.

John made a point to mention the disciples still did not understand the full scope of the Scriptures being fulfilled in Jesus’ resurrection.

Take into consideration the way in which John concluded his Gospel:

“Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written” (John 21:25). Through the Holy Spirit’s divine revelation through the writings of these apostles, we receive irrefutable confirmation of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection.

What Is the Context of the Phrase “He Is Not Here for He Is Risen”?

“The angel said to the women, ‘Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.” (Matthew 28:5-7)

Mary Magdalene and Mary (Matthew 28:1) discovered Jesus’ tomb was empty the Sunday after He had been crucified and buried in the tomb. Shocked and worried about what may have happened, Jesus’ teaching about this day was not the first thing to cross their minds. An angel provided comfort and clarity to them by telling them what had happened and giving them their next steps.

It’s quite one thing to listen to teachings and believe, but another to experience their unfolding in the moment. Their reaction was pure joy, and in Matthew’s Gospel account they ran to do as the angel said. On their way to tell the disciples what had happened, “Jesus met them” (Matthew 28:9). He greeted them! 

Matthew 28:8-10 New American Standard Bible

8 And they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy and ran to report to His disciples. 9 And behold, Jesus met them [a]and said, “[b]Rejoice!” And they came up and took hold of His feet and worshiped Him. 10 Then Jesus *said to them, “[c]Do not be afraid; go, bring word to My brothers to leave for Galilee, and there they will see Me.”

Imagine their state of awe! Matthew wrote,

“They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him” (Matthew 28:9).

The awakened, awakening hope welling up deep inside these women upon their discovery and reunion with their Messiah is linked to the wellspring of hope we too can find in Jesus everyday as we wake as sinners, forgiven and rescued by our salvation in Christ Jesus. “Do not be afraid,” Jesus assured them, “Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me” (Matthew 28:10).

Matthew wrote of a rumor purposefully spread to blame Jesus’ disappearance from the tomb on His own disciples, claiming they took His body. “And this story has been widely circulated among the Jews to this very day” (Matthew 28:15). Luke specifically mentioned Peter looking in the tomb, even holding the strips of linen, but not understanding what had happened.

When Jesus met his disciples in Galilee, some doubted it was Him.

Often is our hope stands directly right in front of us, but we are too blind to see.

In our search for concrete answers, we sometimes entertain “believable” rumors instead of placing our whole faith in the truth of God’s word. “While other stories will be concocted to try to cover up the truth (Matthew 28:11-15),” the NIV Application Commentary explains, “God’s word of revelation through the angel tells the real story—Jesus has indeed been raised from the dead.”

When Did Jesus Say He Would Rise from Death?

“The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed, and after three days rise again.” – Mark 8:31

Jesus said He would rise from the dead. He spoke it Himself, as recorded by Matthew (Matthew 16:21; 17:23; 20:19), Luke (Luke 9:22) and Mark (Mark 8:31). Jesus also spoke of His death and resurrection indirectly (Matthew 12:39; 16:4; 21:42), and in conversation with others. “Two separate witnesses testify in two very different ways to Jesus’ statement during his lifetime that if his enemies destroyed the temple (of his body), he would build it again in three days (John 2:19; Mark 14:58; Matthew 26:61),” 

God’s plan from the beginning of everything was to rescue us from sin. Isaiah 53 and Hosea 6:1-2 point towards the resurrection. The fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection is an important foundation of the Christian faith. It further reveals the character of our great God to keep His promises, His unsurpassable love for us, and the alive and active nature of Scripture as a means in which He communicates with us.

How Does Matthew 28:6 Solidify the Foundation of Christianity?

“Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God—the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures regarding his Son, who as to his earthly life was a descendant of David,” – Romans 1:1-3 NIV

Through the Holy Spirit’s divine revelation on Paul’s pen, Jesus’ identity is again confirmed. John chose to begin his Gospel account by stating Jesus was with God in the beginning, and through him all things were made (John 1:1-5).

The anonymous author of Hebrews confirmed “Jesus is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8).

The empty tomb solidifies the foundation of Christianity.

Jesus did not just appear on the first page of the New Testament. He is present throughout the entirety of Scripture. His life, death, and resurrection not only fulfill the Old Testament prophecies, but irrefutably prove the great love of our ABBA in heaven to rescue each one of us from the penalty of sin, which is death.

“The believers who saw the risen Christ with their own eyes and touched him with their hands spent the rest of their lives taking about the resurrection,” wrote Marshall Segal for DesiringGod.org.

In Christ, we have access to God through prayer and His Word, through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit gifted to us by Christ, Himself. The One, True, Triune God is glorified through the empty tomb. Only He could execute such a miracle. The Author of Life, Defeater of Death, the very Breath of God.

Through Christ Jesus, because of His life, death and resurrection, we find our salvation. Life lived within the love of Christ is full of God’s grace, forgiveness, mercy and compassion. When we live, walk out our lives in obedience to His will, as Jesus did all the way to the cross, we are promised joy and fulfillment.

What Hope Can Christians Find in This Biblical Truth Today?

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the end of every age.” – Matthew 28:18-20

In the beginning, God created us in His image, with dignity and a purpose our enemy is constantly trying to distract us from.

When sin succeeds, destruction abounds. We form idols, mistakenly believing we can find true and lasting satisfaction in achievements, people, and material things. Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross ultimately defeated death. We can each now choose to embrace salvation in a living Christ, come to ABBA for forgiveness of our sins, daily, embracing a new hope, a life in which we find true satisfaction.

Christ’s resurrection gives us a new and ever living and everlasting hope for today, for our future. Jesus will return again. He will right all wrongs and mend all hurts. Death will cease to exist, and we will go home to heaven with Him.

“We can enjoy the stability of resurrection hope,” writes Mitch Chase for TGC, “because the promises of the world to come will never waver or fail.”

When our daily circumstances are too hard to bear, when we can only see the darkness, taste our tears, we can submit them to God through Christ, knowing He hears and sees us, and that the pain and struggle of this world is temporary.

The Will of God is that we should all see the SUN rise!

The Will of God is that we should all see the SON rise!

The Will of God through Christ Jesus is we should all have life in abundance!

By His Resurrection, we can truthfully say: God’s Will can never be thwarted!

A PROMISE IS A PROMISE …… OUR GOD IS FOREVER A FAITHFUL GOD!

Happy Easter to everyone – FOR THE MORNING HAS COME!

Happy Easter to everyone – FOR THE SON IS RISEN INDEED!

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Abba, Father! Jesus, Savior! Spirit, Breath of God! One, True, Triune God! Glory up! Praise You for this day, which we walk out because of Your creative hand. Praise for the purposes You have for us today, and each day we wake to breathe on this earth. Jesus, in Your resurrection, we find hope for each day. In You we are given a supernatural strength, perspective, and joy that cannot be shaken or stolen. May our daily lives reflect our love for You and serve as a channel of that love to everyone You have placed in our lives. Thank You for resurrection hope.

In Jesus’ Powerful and Ever-Living Name We Pray,
Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.

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Countdown to Calvary: Walking with the Chief Priests and Pharisees into Pilates Palace. “Order the Tomb to be made secure!” (Matthew 27:62-66)

Our Countdown to Calvary has one more day to account for. The day of silence when the disciples have all been scattered – they have gone their own ways for fear of being hauled away from the homes, livelihoods, arrested, found guilty of being a follower of Jesus and crucified. Who knows where they are hiding now?

While they are in their very best hiding places, what we do have is the location of the Chief Priests and the Pharisees as they walk into Pilates Palace. They too are in fear of their future – What if Jesus actually rises from the tomb? What will become of them? Will the people arise against them, demand their crucifixions? What will happen to the Temple, its community, its role and its religious order?

Yes! They are afraid for the future of what they have worked hard to out into its place and the life of the people who have relied on them for being taught about God, facilitating their God-covenanted commitments, righteous community according to all the Laws of Moses and to the teachings of the great Prophets. There has been much invested by them here. They have too much to protect not the least of which is their positions of power and prestige and great influence.

But, instead of hiding away, they’re acting decisively, with great determination. We cannot find any of the disciples so we will now walk with the Chief Priests and the Pharisees to see what their intentions are in this very critical moment. We will walk alongside of them to learn just how the establishment responds.

Matthew 27:62-66 New Revised Standard Version

The Guard at the Tomb

62 The next day, that is, after the day of Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate 63 and said, “Sir, we remember what that impostor said while he was still alive, ‘After three days I will rise again.’ 64  Therefore command the tomb to be made secure until the third day; otherwise his disciples may go and steal him away, and tell the people, ‘He has been raised from the dead,’ and the last deception would be worse than the first.” 65 Pilate said to them, “You have a guard[a] of soldiers; go, make it as secure as you can.” [b] 66 So they went with the guard and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone.

The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.

It’s the Sabbath, the day of rest for the Jewish people. Jesus’s followers, hiding, devastated by his death, are resting: “On the Sabbath day they rested according to the commandment” (Lk 23:56).

But “the Chief Priests and the Pharisees” are busily at work. They have insisted on having an appointment with Pilate. They demand that he set people to work securing Jesus’s tomb. When Pilate tells them to use their very own “guard of soldiers” for the task, they don’t hesitate. They supervise the Jewish soldiers’ labor in “sealing the stone and setting a guard.”

These are the same religious leaders who got so mad at Jesus if he so much as healed anyone or even plucked heads of grain on the Sabbath. What’s got into them that they’re now so ready to work and to put other people to work on this obligatory day of rest?

The reason they give is inadequate: “Lest his disciples go and steal him away and tell the people, ‘He has risen from the dead.’” Well, yes, but a fraud like that would be exposed fairly quickly by the discovery of the stolen body, or it would just fade away when the risen Jesus himself remained an embarrassing absence, failing to appear in person.

So, what do the religious leaders really fear?

Let’s look at some of what’s happened in the last twenty-four hours or so.

For three hours, while Jesus was on the cross, “there was darkness over the whole land …, while the sun’s light failed” (Luke 23:44-45).

Whether or not this was a solar eclipse or divine intervention of another sort, it would have been deeply unnerving. Solar eclipses were read as threatening omens back then and for many centuries afterward.

There was also an earthquake, apparently with a specific target.

At the moment of Jesus’s death, “the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom” (Mark 15:37-38).

This was the curtain that blocked entrance to the Holy of Holies at the heart of the temple to anyone but the high priest on the Day of Atonement.

With Jesus’s death, the barrier was removed. Tombs were opened, as well, and “many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised.” Although the risen saints did not “appear to many” in Jerusalem until after Jesus’s own resurrection, rumors of resurrection must have been heavily in the air.

All this was enough to persuade at least one centurion that Jesus was both “innocent” (Lk. 23:47) and truly “the Son of God” (Matt. 27:54), but it must have given “the chief priests and the Pharisees” the exalted heebie-jeebies.

Is it possible they are afraid of more than the theft of a body? They don’t admit this to Pilate. They probably haven’t voiced the fear to one another or even, perhaps, allowed themselves to be conscious of the true reason for their fear.

But is it possible that they were terrified that they’d made a dreadful mistake and that Jesus really would rise from the dead and prove himself to be the Christ, the Son of God? Given all that had happened, it wouldn’t be an irrational fear. And only an unspoken fear of such magnitude would plausibly explain their demand, on the Sabbath day, that soldiers work to seal the tomb and guard it against not just body snatchers but—God forbid! —a resurrection.

If that’s what’s making their stomachs churn, they do not have many options.

Do they really think that sealing the tomb will keep a risen Christ inside?

Or that a guard of armed soldiers might arrest and conceal the risen Christ?

These are desperate and inadequate measures. The portents of imminent supernatural intervention are staring them in the face, and they are flailing helplessly. Even Pilate has no confidence in their efforts. He says, “Go, make [the tomb] as secure as you can.” He’s being more than just a little bit ironic. He knows they can never make it secure. Not against what’s about to happen.

The fears of these religious leaders may be profoundly characteristic of fallen human beings in general. Even in our times, those who minimize or deny the resurrection of Christ may, at some level, be afraid that it might just be true.

They would readily deny their doubt, of course, certainly to us and probably to themselves. But if, as we believe, Jesus really did rise from the dead on that first Easter Sunday, then his resurrection threatens a spiritual earthquake in the life of anyone who prefers not to answer to (or even to be loved by) a risen Christ. It must seem easier to guard against perceived threats to their established faith.

Many today are still incredibly uncertain of what to make of the resurrection. Many today still prefer to remain “restful” and in hiding from the reality of the moment. They prefer to acknowledge more truth to the fact the tomb is now heavily guarded “by the guards of the temple establishment” and see no viable reason to raise themselves up challenge it or to question it or protest against it.

With the humility we have been taught by the man, Rabbi Jesus, we’ll go ahead, gracefully acknowledge they have their questions and legitimate concerns. We meet with them as Jesus met Levi/Matthew as the Tax Collector. We will “walk” across their paths in the prayerful hope they will freely engage us as Levi did. In the prayerful, faith-filled, living hope that we will be invited into their ‘homes.’

God invites all of us to have an abiding relationship with Him. He extends His invitation in His time and in His own way. This “day of our silence” is His way. This day of silence is His time for us to walk across that “Levi/ Matthews path.”

It is an enormously powerful moment to receive the skeptic and their questions.

While they may only see the “heavily guarded tomb,” God is busy working His miracle of resurrection beyond the guards, beyond the rock, inside the tomb. We just need to be ready to invite the skeptics to come back with us tomorrow.

We who, by God’s grace, have been allowed to believe that Christ not only died for our sins but was also “raised for our justification” (Rom. 4:25) are blessed to await Easter Sunday morning not with fear but with sure hope and great joy.

May we each take time today to “accidently” cross paths with, pray for those who minimize, question, deny the resurrection. May we pray that their fear, too, might be replaced with a joyous living faith in the love of God in Christ.

For tomorrow, COMES THE SON RISE ….

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

ABBA Father, today we pray we would have a refreshed perspective of all that has Jesus endured for us. He humbly served those He loved, even His betrayer. We pray that if we have become too callused or familiar with His suffering that our hearts would be softened again. We pray that His resurrection would give us a renewed, empowered and inspired and inspiring confidence all things are still possible, and that greater things are surely yet to come. Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.

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Countdown to Calvary. An Agonizing Walk into the Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus and Us. – MATTHEW 26:36-46

Today is Good Friday.

The question beckons us today as we continue our countdown to Easter,

Was Jesus’ coming crucifixion the most agonizing moment of his life?

Surely it must be ranked among the very highest we read of in the bible. Death on a Roman cross was excruciating pain, and none of that was spared to Jesus.

Perhaps considering the magnitude of this moment, for Jesus, what happened in the Garden of Gethsemane was suffering just as great as crucifixion.

When the Passover meal was eaten Jesus left with his disciples, except Judas, who had already gone to fetch soldiers to arrest Jesus.

Jesus and the other disciples went to Gethsemane, an area filled with olive trees. The man, Rabbi Jesus needed his time and space to pray, to pour out his heart to His Father God, and he took along three of the disciples to stay close to him.

In the hour or two that follows, we read from our incoming text, Jesus bares the unbelievable weight of his grief in his soul, and we see pain beyond imagining.

Matthew 26:36-46 New American Standard Bible

The Garden of Gethsemane

36 Then Jesus *came with them to a place called [a]Gethsemane, and *told His disciples, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” 37 And He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee with Him, and began to be grieved and distressed. 38 Then He *said to them, “My soul is deeply grieved, to the point of death; remain here and keep watch with Me.”

39 And He went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will.” 40 And He *came to the disciples and *found them sleeping, and He *said to Peter, “So, you men could not keep watch with Me for one hour? 41 Keep watching and praying, so that you do not come into temptation; the spirit is [b] willing, but the flesh is weak.”

42 He went away again a second time and prayed, saying, “My Father, if this cup cannot pass away unless I drink from it, Your will be done.” 43 Again He came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. 44 And He left them again, and went away and prayed a third time, saying the same thing once more. 45  Then He *came to the disciples and *said to them, “[c]Are you still sleeping and resting? Behold, the hour [d]is at hand and the Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners. 46 Get up, let’s go; behold, the one who is betraying Me is near!”

The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.

Three things mark out the time in Gethsemane.

1. It is a time of deep agony.

Several of the words in verses 37 and 38 are filled with appalling pain and anguish for Jesus. He was “sorrowful” and “troubled.” He told the disciples: “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death.”

The gospels don’t often describe any emotion of Jesus other than compassion.

So, the gospel narrators saw this time and this experience in Gethsemane as something almost unique and certainly important to record.

There are martyrs who have gone silent or with brave words to their death, as if it is nothing to them that they will be burned at the stake or torn by wild dogs or executed with a sword.

Not Jesus. Inside him is a sorrow and an agony so strong, so all-consuming that he feels he might die there and then, and he pours out that sorrow to God.

Why such pain?

Above all, perhaps two reasons.

For one thing, Jesus knew that crucifixion lay ahead.

Death on a cross was death by prolonged torture.

The piercing of hands and feet with nails, the exposure to burning sun or bitter cold, the humiliation by mocking crowds, the near-impossible strain of lifting the collapsed body to breathe, the physical frame becoming weaker, the mind becoming delirious… all excruciating pain.

And it lasted a very long time, maybe hours, maybe days. Crucifixion was an intentional slow death, so the condemned person experienced maximum agony and so those who watched learned the lesson – never to rebel against the state.

Crucifixion was so cruel that the Romans usually crucified only slaves, pirates, or their enemies and not their own citizens.

Jesus knew crucifixion lay just ahead. Who would not be in an agony of soul?

For another thing, Jesus’ death would be no ordinary death.

Yes, he would suffer and die like any man. But he would be the man whose suffering included bearing the sins of the whole world in his own body.

No one can know all that meant for him – perhaps more intensified pain, perhaps separation from his perfect communion with his Father.

Whatever exactly was before Jesus, it was a ‘cup’ he dreaded drinking. Bishop N.T. Wright says: “He had looked into the darkness and seen the grinning faces of all the demons in the world looking back at him. And he begged and begged his father not to bring him to the point of going through with it.”

Whatever the trials or suffering of our lives, whatever the reality is, however great our darkness or our pain, Jesus understands. He knows deep agony, he knows what it is to dread what lies ahead, he knows the need to get down on the ground and cry out to God to be released. He knows what we all need to know!

2. It is a time of wrestling and resolution.

Jesus’ prayer in the Garden is remarkable for its straightforward honesty.

“My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will” (v. 39).

We have all known people who prayed for a dreadful future to go away:

  • The person diagnosed with an incurable neurodegenerative disease, or with an inoperable cancer or severe cardiac disease which will lead inevitably to death.
  • The mother who was just told by their doctor that the baby in her womb was anencephalic, and without full development of the child’s brain and skull the baby could not and in fact would not live for more than a few hours after birth.
  • The parents of any beautiful seven-year-old boy or girl diagnosed with a brain tumor, or in a severe auto accident, life supported only by medical equipment, waiting for the inevitable day the child’s time in this world would certainly end.
  • The Husbands or Wives who were just told that their spouses had Alzheimer’s.
  • Ask any Ukranian Citizen who just had their lives upended by bullets flying in and through their kitchens or living rooms or bedrooms where they were just going to sleep, watching TV, listening to music with the children close at hand.

For these people and so many others like them, their deepest longing was that somehow that unimaginably dreadful future would not exist. If only somehow – by a miracle of miracles – what they know will happen will not happen. If only the impossible could become possible. How can we or they not pray for any of that?

So, the man, Rabbi Jesus went off to be alone and he prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me.” Is Jesus simply voicing his agony and his longing? Or did Jesus truly think the cup of suffering could be taken away?

When Jesus prays the prayer the second time, he seems to know the answer.

The words are slightly different. “My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done” (v. 42).

Had Jesus sensed the answer to his prayer was ‘no’?

Perhaps that is reading too much into the slight change of words, because Matthew records that Jesus prayed the same prayer a third time (v. 44).

But it sure makes sense that Jesus would ask if he could be released from the appalling suffering of death on the cross. There is a deep inner wrestling here.

But Jesus was not rejecting God’s will. 

He was not trying to avoid the will of His Father God; he was ensuring this cup of suffering was the will of God. Certainly, his flesh recoiled from the prospect of dying in agony, and certainly it was an unimaginable burden to absorb the pain and sin of the world in his body, but the heart of his prayer was always “may your will be done.” He wanted nothing other than what His own Father wanted for him. He had no alternate agenda other than to do the Father’s will.

And as he rose from prayer and returned to his disciples, the matter was settled.

There was no more time for questioning. It was resolved, and Jesus would go forward into the hands of those who would betray, arrest, beat and crucify him.

3. It is a time of weakness and failure.

The disciples persistently let Jesus down. At the start he told them to keep watch with him (v. 38).

After his first time of prayer, Jesus returned to them, found them sleeping and urged them again to watch and pray (v. 41).

A short time later he came back to them again, and again found them sleeping (v. 43). And when his prayer was then finished and he rejoined them, it was no different. “Are you still sleeping and resting?” he asked them (v. 45).

It was the night and therefore no surprise they were tired and fell asleep.

But Jesus needed them.

One of the greatest struggles of all human history was happening only a few paces away, but these men curled up and went to sleep. Even though they were asked several times to stay awake, still they slept. What Jesus wanted was not very difficult to understand and not impossible to do. But they let him down.

We are no different. We don’t sin out of ignorance. We sin because of weakness, unwillingness, selfishness, or carelessness. At times when the deep spiritual battles are at stake, we’re not on the alert, not at our posts, not playing our part.

Thankfully Jesus did not give up on these disciples, just got them to their feet since the force coming to arrest him was in sight (v. 46).

Jesus does not give up on us either.

That does not mean our failures don’t matter, only that Jesus won’t let us wallow in past mistakes for there are new challenges to face just ahead.

What then shall we say of this walk through the Garden called Gethsemane:

A time of deep agony.

A time of wrestling and resolution.

A time of weakness and failure.

There are three short but important lessons.

1) Prayer is not always answered as we might wish.

Jesus, the perfect Son of God, poured out his heart.

There is no doubt he longed to escape the cross. But God said ‘No.’

There was no fault in the person praying.

There was nothing wrong with the prayer. It would have made no difference if the prayer time had lasted all night, or if the prayer had been repeated a million times by a million people. The answer from God would still have been ‘No.’

The lessons?

  1. We can and should pour out our hearts to God, but with humility and meekness let us recognize that the will of God we find may find on the door stops of our hearts may not be the same as the will we agonizingly brought to the prayer.
  2. The deepest of inner agonies can be shared with God.

Jesus was troubled, and he tells his disciples his soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death.

Some Christians believe any form of depression as weakness of faith.

If that were true, then many of the Bible’s greatest saints were weak. And Jesus was weak in the Garden of Gethsemane. He was, but it was no sin.

Weakness is common to human experience, and, at times, it is the very thing that drives us to God.

There is no sin in being real about our feelings, and no sin in coming to God confessing our struggles. God copes very well with honest people. Cures are rarely instant but being open before God is always the right start.

3. God’s will does get done.

Jesus prayed for that: “…not as I will, but as you will” (v. 39). And God’s will was done.

We may never face death on a cross, but we may see some other appalling future that sends dread through our whole being. At times like that we are tempted to say: ‘How can God be so absent or impotent?

Where is God at a time like this?’

The answer is God is right there. Just as he was in Gethsemane, as he was at the cross, and as he was at the tomb raising Jesus back to life.

Through all of it, God was there.

Our challenges and our agonies overwhelm us, and we feel so alone.

But God is there, always there. He is not hiding, not gone astray, not become unwilling. And God is at work, and his work is always good.

When Jesus left Gethsemane, the challenge of the future was still there.

The agony of the cross was still ahead. Easter was about to come.

But Jesus came through Gethsemane strengthened in knowing God’s will more certain and surer and he could face anything God allowed in his life. Because of what happened in his Gethsemane, he was now prepared even for the cross.

As we walk around and through the Garden, observing the events of that day,

May God also make us all more ready for his perfect will, whatever it may be!

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Eternal God, your power is unlimited, and your strength has no end. You have said that faith, hope and love as small as a mustard seed can move mountains. Fill me with the measures of faith, hope and love for a breakthrough in my own circumstances. I believe You are able to do far more than all that I ask or can even dare imagine, according to the power at work within me. To you be glory throughout all generations, forever and ever. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord, Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.

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