Thursday, August 11, 2022

 

Thursday, August 11, 2022


Psalms 95; 96


2 Chronicles 26:1-15


Romans 10:5-13


Observances: Clare of Assisi (d. 1252); John Henry Newman, cardinal and theologian (d. 1890)


If you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.


We have left the prophets for now, and the lectionary has dropped us right into the middle of the historical narrative of 2 Chronicles. History is fun, because it usually records either war or political drama. There will be more to learn as we move through it, but notice the last line of this morning's reading, because it is a recurrent theme: “[The king's] fame spread far, for he was marvellously helped until he became strong.”


Paul has spent some time now using illustrations from the history of the people of Israel to prove his claims about who God is. Lest we misunderstand him, he returns to his principle claim concerning the nature of salvation in order to reinforce the fact that these are illustrations; there is not a literal one-to-one comparison between Israel's land rights and salvation in Christ Jesus. (There are aspects that are, however. For example, the reason why we baptise babies is related to these old covenants. But that is for another time.)


The important point which is made here (before Paul moves on to his next teaching in the letter) is what does connect the ancient Israelites and us. Verses 6-9 are lifted from Deuteronomy 30:11-14. They are the final words of the dying Moses. Moses saw a lot; his final words are worth listening to. He is telling the people to follow God's Law. But, the astute reader says, Paul teaches that the Law is impossible to follow! Yes, but look at the thrust of Moses' instructions in the latter part of Deut 30. There is a direct link between obeying God and loving Him. This is what Paul is talking about. We don't need to go up to heaven or down to the place of the dead to find out what God wants; we have Christ on the cross, dying for us, displaying to the universe how much God loves us. We do two things in response: acknowledge that Jesus is God and therefore Lord of all, and trust that by His rising from death we also are risen to new life alongside Him.



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