Theology for Everybody: Romansنموونە

Over and over, Christians must decide between what the world says and what the Word says. This fact is particularly true regarding how good God is, how bad we are, and how we have a relationship with God.

The World vs. The Word

The World

I am good.

I decide right and wrong.

I blame external systems.

I rebel against authority.

I deserve tolerance.

I am a victim.

I accept myself.

I love myself.

I make myself better.

The Word

God alone is perfect.

God defines right and wrong.

God blames internal sin.

God rules with all authority.

God deserves repentance.

God and others are my victims.

God forgives me.

God loves me.

God makes me new.

The storyline of the Bible is that we have fallen into sin and need a Savior to forgive what we have done and change who we are. These twin truths of sin and the Fall explain life on our planet. Only the Bible tells us what has gone wrong and why we cannot fix the problem—because we are all part of the problem. Furthermore, the Fall and sin give us our dignity back as God made us and calls us to be more than animals driven by lusts and base instincts. Additionally, the Fall and sin give us the basis for human equality. All races, cultures, genders, and classes are made up of sinners who equally need Jesus to be their Savior. Black people and white people need Jesus, Republicans and Democrats need Jesus, men and women need Jesus, young and old need Jesus, and poor and rich need Jesus. We’re all equally fallen, equally sinful, and equally rebellious. We equally messed everything up, and Jesus is our only hope.

The difference between Christianity and religion is this: religious people are sneaky about being bad, while Christians are honest about it. If you’re a “good” person, then you’ve got to hide your badness. If you fix your problems, you can’t ask for help when you need it most. That’s why the Bible uses words and phrases such as rebellion, folly, self-abuse, madness, treason, hatred, death, spiritual adultery, missing the mark, wandering from the path, idolatry, sanity, irrationality, pride, selfishness, blindness, deafness, hard-heartedness, stiff-necked delusion, unreasonableness, and self-worship. Sin includes commission (the bad things we do) and omission (the good things we don’t do). Some people say, “I don’t know why you’re upset; I didn’t do anything.” That’s the problem. A husband who doesn’t provide for his family—a sin of omission. Parents who don’t raise their children—the sin of omission. The citizen who expects the government to take responsibility for the accountability God assigns them— the sin of omission. Your sins are sometimes commission—you do something you shouldn’t do—but often it’s omission—you’re not doing what you’re supposed to do. Indifference, apathy, and cowardice are horrendous sins of omission. (Continued on Day 77...)

Today’s Reflection

How do the religious people in your life act “sneaky”?