Blessed are the meek and justification by faith alone

We discussed on Sunday morning how being meek is the natural response to understanding we are poor in spirit and then also mourning our sins. On Sunday evening we began to discuss the Letter to the Galatians and that Paul’s main point in writing this letter was to correct the Galatians on the issue of justification by faith alone. These two issues go together. Because we are justified by faith alone, there is no place for boasting, which would be the opposite of being meek.

Another way of saying it would be that we are meek because we are justified by faith alone, and therefore, there is no reason for us to boast in ourselves. The only place for us to boast is in the cross of Jesus Christ. It is Jesus who deserves the praise and glory, because He paid the price for our sin. Paul said it this way, “but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Rom 5:8 ESV)

When we live daily in the knowledge of Christ’s grace and mercy toward us, we truly begin to live! So be meek; it’s a good thing.

Blessed are those who mourn.

After a discussion with someone who will remain anonymous, I feel the need to explain a bit further why I understand the second beatitude to refer to mourning of sin and not simply mourning from the hardships of life. The very first point you must understand is that I believe Matthew 1:21 is foundational to understanding Matthew’s gospel. It says, “And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” It is here we must remember not to get off track with the purpose of the gospel which is not primarily to give us earthly comforts, but rather spiritual comforts.

The second reason I believe Jesus is referring to mourning our sins is due to the point of the first beatitude, blessed are the poor in spirit. I believe the mourning Jesus is referring to is primarily a spiritual mourning. Now this text ends with “for they shall be comforted.” This portion of the beatitude draws us back to Isaiah 40:1-2 that says, “Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem , and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the Lord's hand double for all her sins.” Yes this text refers to comfort from the physical hardships of life, but the reason for those hardships for Israel was due to their sin! So while comfort will come, it will only come to those who come face to face with the reality of their sin and then mourn!

One last thing. I mistakenly had a reference to Romans 14:26, but there is no verse 26. It should have been verse 23, which ends by saying, “whatever does not proceed from faith is sin.”

Have a great week.

The ways and thoughts of God

Yesterday we discussed Isaiah 55 in the sermon but as with most texts of scripture there is always more to discuss. Yesterday I covered rather quickly verses 8 and 9 which say, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” In the sermon I discussed how God’s ways and thoughts about grace and compassion are higher and much different than what we would consider or even think about doing. But the meaning of the text goes much further. Specifically, in the context of the wicked and the unrighteous, God’s ways and thoughts go deep, they go directly to the motives of our heart.
Jesus addresses this very idea as He preaches the Sermon on the Mount. He reminds us of what the commandments say but says that our understanding of how to obey them is too superficial. We must obey them even in the thoughts we produce.
The point of Isaiah 55 and the point Jesus is making in the Sermon on the Mount is that we are totally depraved. From the actions we do to thoughts of our mind, to the desires of our hearts we miss God’s mark and are in need of his power to transform us. But as God works in us to give us a new heart we are called to turn away from our sinful past and turn to God following his ways and learning his thought as we follow the Lord Jesus Christ.
No matter how far away from God we may be or others we have been pray for to know Christ we must remember God has power, absolute power and he is able to do abundantly beyond all we could ever ask or wish for. He is able!