Author: Scott Lane

Re:Verse passage –  Romans 11:33-36 (day five)

“Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways!” 

When you read and meditate on verses like this, does it cause a reaction of personal distress, or praise?  The tension it creates is unique. God is bigger, wiser, and more complex than man (us/me). We are finite. We are promised that on this side of eternity, our perspective and potential to fully know and understand God and His Ways are limited by our humanness. “For now we see in a mirror dimly… now I know in part.”
One of my devotional books had a lot to say about this very topic in yesterday’s reading: “It’s humbling to admit, but important nonetheless. You will never reach true, sturdy, and lasting peace and rest of heart by means of understanding… God reveals in his Word all the things you need to know, but he does not tell you all the things that could be known. You and I simply are not able to contain in our limited brains all of God’s plans for us and all of the reasons for those plans.”
“Now, here’s the rub: God created you to be a rational human being. He designed you to think, that is, to strive to make sense out of your life and your world. That is not a bad thing in itself. In fact, it is a very good thing. Your ability to think, interpret, examine, define, explain, and understand is meant to drive you to God. Your mentality is meant to lead you to him and to enable you to understand his revelation to you. So biblical faith is not irrational, but you must face this: it will take you beyond your ability to reason.
So there will be mysteries and surprises in our lives. If you and I suspend belief at every encounter with mystery, we will spend large portions of our lives not believing. If we question God’s goodness and love every time he acts in a way that is unexpected, we will end up concluding that he is not good. If we refuse to rest when we don’t understand, we will end up living lives of distress.”
“So where is peace and rest of heart to be found? You rest in the fact that in his Word, God has told you all the things you absolutely need to know, and then you rest in the complete perfection of his wisdom and character. You rest not because you know, but because the One who knows it all is the definition of what is wise and what is good.” – Paul Tripp

Re:Verse passage – Romans 10:5-13 (day five). One of the things I really like about shopping on Amazon is the ease and simplistic way they have made returning an order. I have purchased dozens of things with the thought, “If I don’t like it or end up not wanting it, I can just return it.” It’s really for the most part, a no-hassle process. Click the button. I do it all the time. In fact, I am returning two items today because they turned out to be different than what I thought I was purchasing- not as advertised. I’ve also had items that didn’t work- they were defective. So I send them back.

I love verse 11 in our Re:Verse text. “For the Scripture says, “WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED.”  The word choice of “disappointed” is interesting. Other translations and the original language use shame. But really, in the context of Paul’s writing it’s a better choice. Salvation through faith alone in Christ alone is NEVER disappointing. There is never shame, even though we are commanded to symbolically identify with one of the most shameful practices known to the Romans (take up our crosses daily). There is never a need or cause to regret or be disappointed in this commitment. Salvation is better than described. Salvation never fails- God’s provision and promises are true. In all my years of ministry, I’ve never heard someone say, “I wished I had not put all my faith and trust in Christ.”  How about you? Any shame or disappointment?  Have you experienced His faithfulness?  More reasons to thank and praise God today!!

Re:Verse passage – Romans 9:30-33 (day five)
“Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as though it were by works.”
It’s a picture and conversation that parents and grandparents of young children experience all the time. When offered help or guidance with a task or responsibility, a young child will reject and dismiss the help and guidance (grace) and demand that they do it themselves. Why? Maybe a couple of reasons. First, perhaps they want to say, “I did it on my own.”  I don’t want to share any of the credit or glory. Second, they really don’t think they need any help. (I got this) Or third, maybe they really don’t “believe” that the parent or one offering help can really help at all.
Maybe it’s more than a picture; perhaps it is a glimpse into the human heart. Selfish. Prideful. Non-trusting.  But faith undoes these lines of thinking. Faith reveals to us that we really do need help and guidance. Life and sin are bigger than me. It brings humility to say, “I don’t have to do this on my own.” (I want to give glory to God).  And ultimately, faith assures us that it is God who is faithful to do and accomplish what He has promised.

Re:Verse passage – Romans 6:1-14  (day five)

As a believer, do I ever get to do what I want?  Maybe that means my wants and desires are the same selfish and morally destructive preferences and priorities that are indicative of sin and rebellion. My rules. My wisdom. Maybe that means I am declaring myself righteous. Then, NO. Notice the “logic” (or rationalization) in 6:1 – I can still act and think like I want to (pre-salvation) because that will bring even more grace from God to me. Makes God seem like a genie at our disposal. We become the sovereign.

But, if in this new life (verse 4) of having been justified and made righteous, my thoughts, desires, preferences, and priorities are transformed into the same ones that Jesus had, and that I choose them in order to glorify God (declare Him to be the sovereign), then the answer changes to Yes. That’s the work of grace. We are free to live like that- to live united with Christ and to live free from sin and “do what we (now) want to do” (what we were created and designed to do- trust, obey, serve, follow, and glorify Him).

Re:Verse passage – Romans 5:1-8 (day five)“and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”  One of the bigger storylines (meta narratives) of the Bible is Hope. Hope that we have lost/forfeited and then provided/gifted by a gracious God. The scriptures describe hopes that can never fully deliver, and direct us to discover a true hope that promises to give everything we need- God’s hope. God’s Word guides us away from people, places, and priorities that deliver false hope, while compelling us toward a lovingly wise and eternal God who endlessly supplies hope for His glory and our good. One last insight. Hope’s address and location are even closer than you might think.  Inside us. Look no further than your own heart to find it. As believers, hope lives in us because the Holy Spirit has taken up residence in our hearts, and even now the gracious and glorious God lives in us bringing (pouring out) His hope, to us, with Him, in us.

Re:Verse passage – Romans 3:21-31 (day five)

It seems like an easy question to answer. Because we have placed our faith in Jesus, the law really shouldn’t matter any more to us, right?  At first glance the answer is yes. The righteousness of God has been given apart from the law, 3:21. Yet Paul’s answer is a resounding NO (may it never be). The law must always be kept. Death- penalty if law not kept. Life- promise if law is kept. The gospel declares that when we put our faith in Jesus, the law of God still has its place in the life of the believer. It humbles us in recognizing that we can never completely keep it (3:23). The righteousness from His perfect life and obedience becomes ours. And it also holds a special place of encouragement when we realize that the death demanded for failing to keep the law is paid for us by Jesus’ death on the cross. He takes our death. He gives His life. The law must always be kept both in penalty and promise. And in Christ, it is, and both are!!  Righteousness and Redemption, manifested and displayed.

Re:Verse passage – Romans 2:5-16 (day five) Works matter. This is one of the main truths that Paul is declaring. Does that make us cringe or nervous? Didn’t he just announce a few verses earlier that we are saved apart from the law and apart from anything we can do?  How do these go together?  Faith and works?  One proves there is salvation and new life, while the other provides salvation and new life. Works serve only to prove salvation and new life, while faith in God alone, serves to provide salvation and new life. Both are good and meaningful when in the right priority and perspective. And back in verse four, it is the kindness of God that reveals the exact place and priority of faith and works that we might repent and grow closer to God and deeper in saving faith. Read Psalm 62 for reference. Paul quotes it in our Re:verse text this week.

Re:Verse passage – Romans 1:14–17  (day five)

“I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish.” Verse 14 uses an interesting word to describe Paul’s relationship to the people in the Roman church and to all Roman citizens—“obligated.” It literally means a debtor, or someone who owes a financial debt to another person. How can he be in debt or obligated to these people he has never met (the people in the church much less the people who live in Rome)?  Think about two hypothetical circumstances in which I might be in debt to you. First, you lend me money. I am in debt to you until I pay you back. Second, someone gives me money to give to you. I am in debt to you until I give it to you. This second example is the context to which Paul is referring. He has been given the gospel to give/share with all others. He now lives indebted to everyone/everywhere to give them the gospel. Fact is, we as believers have been given the same gift and same instruction to share it with everyone/everywhere. Most of us (me too) don’t often if ever, have this perspective. We don’t live with that burden and passion to give away and share the gospel as we’ve been commanded. Instead of living as if obligated, the temptation is to live as entitled. How might this perspective shape the way we see, talk to, and serve all of those around us?

The Savior hath given us freely,
Salvation and grace through His name,
He bids us to publish His gospel,
Its words to all creatures proclaim;
We’re debtors to those who are dying,
And never its power have known;
Can we who so richly are favored
Still leave them to perish alone?

They perish, they perish,
Yet Jesus to save them has died;
Go pay them the debt that we owe them,
Those souls who in darkness abide.
Clara M. Brooks