World's wisdom or God's foolishness - pick one

You are reading my open letter to Corinth, part: [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16]

Greetings to all of you at Corinth! I'm here with my friend Sosthenes, and I'm sending you this letter in response to Messiah's call on my life. Jesus the Messiah sent me to you, Messiah's followers who have been cleaned up and set apart for God, you folks who call on God's name everywhere you go. Grace and shalom to you from our Father and our common master, the Messiah!

I'm constantly thanking God for the grace he gave to you folks in Corinth, the grace given in the form of the Messiah, Jesus. From what we hear and know about you, God made your lives deeper and richer. From this, we know Messiah is in you. I see all God's gifts evident in you as you wait for Messiah to be revealed once again. This same Messiah will see you through to the end. I'm entirely convinced that when the Day of the Lord comes, you'll be seen spotless and blameless because of God's faithfulness in Messiah Jesus.

Stop fighting amongst yourselves!

I have a serious matter to bring up, however, and I want to call you to action on one thing, my brothers and friends: unity. I've heard some disturbing reports from my friend Chloe that some of you folks have divided yourself into camps: a group that follows my teachings, another group that follows Peter, one that follows Apollos, and finally another that follows only Messiah's teachings.

Don't do that. Listen, Messiah wasn't split between me, Peter, and Apollos. I wasn't crucified for you. You weren't baptized in my name, were you?

After hearing about this nonsense going on, thank God I didn't baptize you all! As far as I can remember, I only baptized Crispus, Gaius, and Stephanas's family. So at least no one can go around saying, "I was baptized into Paul."

God didn't send me to immerse you in water or make a following for myself. He sent me to speak with plain boldness the Good News of Messiah, so that the death of the sacrifice lamb, the Messiah himself, wouldn't be rendered pointless. This powerful, central act God did for us should be the focus.

God has picked the foolish things of this world

That statement about his sacrificial death is foolishness and silliness to the folks dying of ignorance or unbelief, those folks hellbent on doing it their own way. But to us, that statement makes perfect sense; it's the most powerful work God's ever done on our behalf.

You know the world thinks lowly of us. We're the dumb ones, the unintelligent ones who believe foolish rubbish, they'll tell you. It's ironic that this is exactly what God planned - remember when he spoke hundreds of years ago to Israel,

I'll destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the intelligence of the intelligent I will bring to nothing.

God has indeed chosen the foolish things of this world in order to confound and confuse those who think so highly of themselves. It's no wonder it's always the lowly and the broken-hearted folks who turn to God! Rarely do we see those who think themselves intelligent and higher than others turn to God. No, only after God breaks something in the core of their being and brings them to a humble place do we ever see them turn back to God.

In this masterful plan, God's made the wisdom and intelligence of the world into true foolishness, and folded man's supposed foolishness into his plan.

In this so-called enlightened day and age, is there really wisdom? Where is it? Is there really anyone truly intelligent? I considered myself such a man once, having studied under the great Rabbi Gamaliel and learned man's latest doctrines; an intellectual by all means.

Yet God exposed man's intelligence -- even my own! -- as pretentious nonsense. The world in all its wisdom and knowledge remains clueless when it comes to knowing God. God's delighted in choosing what the world considers foolish -- preaching, of all things! -- in order that the high and mighty be laid low, and the low and humble be made righteous and upstanding before God. Thus, the world does not understand God.

As I write this, religious Jews ask for miracles, whereas you gentiles look for understanding and logic. So, when we preach Messiah's sacrificial death, it's a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Greeks! But we preach the power of God through Messiah to both Jews and gentiles anyways, because God's "foolishness" is wiser the world's wisdom and intelligence. God's "weakness" is greater than the world's strength.

I look at you and I don't see many of the "best and brightest", not many influential, not many high-society families. Isn't it obvious that God deliberately chose men and women the culture overlooks and discards, exploits and abuses? God picked such "nobodies" to expose the hollow pretensions of the "somebodies". He picks the ones who are broken, suffering, lowly, humble. In doing this, God shatters the self-importance of the pompous "high and mighty" folks. The first will be last, and the last will be first.

The world will call you weak, unintelligent, and foolish for following God. Don't worry about them. God's picked the foolish things in order to put the world's wisdom to shame. The things the world hates and despises and has contempt for -- these are the things God chooses, as if to laugh in the face of those who think themselves so great.

If there are any who are great, let them be great not for the world, but great for God.

Gentiles and Jews to become God's Holy People

You are reading my open letter to Rome, part: [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][[10][[11]][12][13][14][15][16]

Most Jews have missed Messiah, sadly. Does that mean God is done with Israel and the Jews? Of course not. Don't forget that I, Paul, am a Jew myself! I'm a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin. It's nothing I'm ashamed of. All those promises to Israel, all the prophecies by the prophets in the Tenakh (Old Testament), even the Torah (Law)--none of that is thrown away! God is by no means done with Israel. So if you think Jesus came to throw away these things, you're badly mistaken!

Remember the old story about how Elijah was crying out to God, praying to God about this same Israel:

God, they murdered your prophets,

They trashed your altars;

Now they're after me, the only one left!

God replied to Elijah,

I still have 7000 who haven't quit,

7000 who are loyal to the finish.

That's how it is today, my friends. There's still a zealous few, a group of unbudging hold-outs for God. They're holding out not because of some doom held over their heads, but because of this unique gift of forgiveness even when you don't deserve it--sheer grace.

It's the same today. There's a fiercely loyal minority still--not many, perhaps, but probably more than you think. They're holding on, not because of what they think they're going to get out of it, but because they're convinced of God's grace and purpose in choosing them. If they were only thinking of their own immediate self-interest, they would have left long ago.

And then what happened? Well, when Israel tried its own ways and went into rebellion. Only the elect remained! Only the remnant kept God close. The rest hardened their hearts, as it's written in Isaiah,

Fed up with their quarrelsome, self-centered ways,

God blinded their eyes and dulled their ears,

Shut them in on themselves, confusing them,

and they're there to this day.

And David was saying the same thing, even back then:

Let the table they eat on trap them,

a retribution the makes them trip up and fall.

Let their eyes be darkened so they can't see,

let their backs be eternally bent.

Gentile believers are not the root

The next question is, "Are Israel and the Jews out of God's plans for good?" And the answer is a clear-cut no. Ironically when they walked out, they left the door open and you outsider gentiles walked in. But the next thing you know, Jews were starting to wonder if perhaps they had walked out on a good thing, this Messiah. Now, if Israel rejecting Messiah triggered this worldwide coming of gentile outsiders to God's kingdom, making non-Israelites serve the God of Israel, just imagine the effect of their coming back! What a homecoming that will be!

But I don't want to go on about Jews, after all, I'm writing this letter to you gentiles in Rome. It's you, the gentiles, that I'm concerned with right now. Because my personal assignment is focused on non-Jews, I make as much of this as I can when I'm among my Jewish kin, hoping they'll realize what they're missing and want to get in on what God is doing. If their falling out initiated this worldwide coming together, their recovery is going to set off something even better: mass homecoming! If this thing Jews did by rejecting Messiah, even though it was wrong for them, turned out for your good, just think what's going to happen when they get it right and see Messiah!

In essence, what happened was that many Jews, being the natural branches as descendants of Jacob, were broken off the tree so that you gentiles could be grafted-in as a wild olive shoot to this Israel-Promises Tree, a sheer gift of God to you. Now that you've seen it in this context, be sure you don't boast over Jews because you have Messiah and they don't. Don't think you're special just because God grafted you in: remember, this grace given by grafting you into the Israel Tree was not done by human hands -- not by your own doing! -- but was and is God-enacted.

Read this carefully and understand: it is not you gentile believers in Messiah who are the root of the tree, after all, you're in-grafted olive shoots; branches do not support a tree. It is the root -- which is God, and the promises given to Abraham and passed down to Israel -- which supports the branches, Jew and gentile alike.

So don't be arrogant and self-righteous! Some natural branches fell for that, and look what happened: they were so focused on their own interests, they lost faith and missed Messiah right in front of them! If God didn't hesitate to prune those faithless natural branches, he certainly wouldn't hesitate to do the same to you grafted-in branches. If there's only one thing in this letter you understand, make sure it is this: that you remain humble with your grafted-in status, mindful of the root, which is God and the promises to Abraham, passed down to Israel.

A Complete Israel

I want to lay all this out on the table as clearly as I can, friends. This is complicated. It would be easy to misinterpret what's going on and arrogantly assume that you gentile believers in Messiah are royalty and the Jews are just rabble, out of God's plans for good. But that's not it at all. This hardness on the part of insider Israel toward God is only temporary. Its effect is to open things up to all the gentiles so that we end up with a full house. Before it's all over, there will be a complete Israel, Jews and gentiles together making up a holy people for God. As it is written,

A champion will stride down from Mt. Zion;

he'll clean up the unrighteousness in Israel.

Here's my commitment to my people Israel:

removal of their sins.

From your point of view as you hear and embrace the good news of the Messiah and suffer through persecution, it almost looks like Jews are God's enemies. But looked at from the long-range perspective of God's overall purpose, they remain God's oldest friends. God's gifts and God's call are under full warranty--never canceled, never rescinded.

There was a time not so long ago when you were on the outs with God: living rebelliously, doing whatever felt good, living for yourself. But then Jews slammed the door on Messiah and things opened up for you. Now Jews are on the outs. But with the door held wide open for you, they have a way back in. In one way or another, God makes sure that we all experience what it means to be outside so that he can personally open the door and welcome us back in. That's what's going to happen with Israel -- they are temporarily in rebellion to God by rejection of the Messiah, but God will use this as an opportunity to show kindness and welcome them back in.

What amazing wisdom! Giving discipline to those who rebel and generous grace to those who are lost, making us all come back to Him, one way or another.

Is there anyone around who can explain God?

Anyone smart enough to tell him what to do?

Anyone who has done him such a huge favor

that God has to ask his advice?

Everything comes from him;

Everything happens through him;

Everything ends up in him.

Always glory! Always praise!

Yes!

Living the right way

You are reading my open letter to Rome, part: [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][[10][[11]][12][13][14][15][16]

My friends, all I want for Israel is salvation through Messiah, nothing less. Yes, they already love God. But they miss what makes people acceptable to God--it isn't the Law alone! There's nothing we can do to make ourselves acceptable to God; only God can set us right with him. This setting-things-right is already in place! He's done it through the one who makes the Law complete, Jesus the Messiah! We get in the acceptable state before God not solely by following the Law and doing good works; no, there's only so much we can do. At some point, God has to take over. And he has! This faith, this trust in Messiah, is what sets us right before God.

The Law gets us only so far in this right way of living!

The Law got us ready for the Messiah, who then gave life to those who trust him to set us right before God. Moses writes that the Law gives life too; anyone following the Law lives. By the same standard, anyone who breaks the Law, then, dies. The Law gives life, it's true. Ah, but there is a catch: we know that no person can keep the Law perfectly! That means the Law can only get us so far. On the other hand, trusting God to shape the right living in us is a different story--no precarious climb up to heaven to recruit the Messiah, no dangerous descent into the grave to rescue the Messiah. This right way of living was predicted:

The word that saves is right here,

as near as the tongue in your mouth,

as close as the heart in your chest.

It's this trusting God to set a right way of living we are telling everyone about. This is the core of what we're saying!

How can someone get this right way of living?

Our part in getting this right way of living is simple: we just initiate it with a willing heart. If you just believe in your heart that this Messiah I speak of is the Master, you are saved from what's coming to you under the Law. That's it; you're saved from the end result of sin; you're saved from death! Just like it had been predicted all along.

It doesn't matter if you're a Jew or a non-Jew, or if you've got an extensive religious background or you've never said a single prayer before: we know that anyone who trusts God with his heart will not regret it. God's the same incredibly generous and forgiving God--no matter your background--helping anyone who calls out for help.

Tell people about it!

That is why we need to get the message out; without it, how can people call out for help when they don't know who will help them? Who can they trust if they don't know the trustworthy Messiah? How can they hear if no one shouts it aloud? How can it be shouted without someone there to shout it?! That's why Scripture says,

A sight to take your breath away!

Grand processions of people

telling all the good things of God!

It's true, many people aren't ready for this. They aren't ready to see it, hear it, or act on it. Some people have hard hearts; their narrow minds are already made up, they are like Pharaoh in Egypt, where no matter what God did, he kept shutting out the truth even to his own downfall. When we encounter people like this, it's easy to ask that inevitable question that Isaiah had to ask,

Does anyone care, God?

Is anyone listening and believing a word of it?

Before there can ever be a trusting in God and a right way of living, there has to be an ear to hear and an open heart. But unless we're the ones telling of Messiah, those ears will have nothing to listen to.

How can it be that Israel missed Messiah?

You might be wondering, "What about Israel? Weren't they listening? Didn't they have ears to hear the truth? Why didn't they see this Messiah you're talking about?" Yes, it's true, they were listening:

Preachers' voices have gone around the world,

Their message to earth's seven seas.

We also know Israel's punishment was coming. Moses himself said it:

I'll make you envious by those who aren't a nation

I'll make you angry by a nation that has no understanding.

God gave the same word to Isaiah, hinting at what was coming:

People found and welcomed me

who never so much as looked for me.

And I found and welcomed people

who had never even asked about me.

So why did Israel, who were looking and listening for the Messiah, miss him? God gives us the answer:

All day long I have spread out My hands to a rebellious people

Doing whatever they please, never listening to My heart.

What a sad and terrible thing to miss out on the Messiah! If that weren't tragic enough, they were looking for him all along! It's sad, but what choice did they leave to God, except correction by punishment? Fortunately, this punishment is only temporary.

Where do we Jews fit?

You are reading my open letter to Rome, part: [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][[10][[11]][12][13][14][15][16]

You need to know that I carry with me at all times a huge sorrow. It's an enormous pain deep within me, and I'm never free of it. I'm not exaggerating--Messiah and his Spirit are my witnesses. It's the Jewish people... If there were any way I could be cursed by the Messiah so they could be blessed by him, I'd do it in a minute. They're my family. I grew up with them. They had everything going for them--family, glory, covenants, revelation, worship, promises, to say nothing of being the race that produced the Messiah, the Christ, who is God over everything, always. Oh, yes!

There's a plan behind all this

Don't suppose for a moment, though, that God's Word has malfunctioned in some way or other. The problem goes back a long way. From the outset, not all Israelites of the flesh were Israelites of the spirit. It wasn't Abraham's sperm that gave identity here, but God's promise. Remember how it was put: "Your family will be defined by Isaac"? That means that Israelite identity was never racially determined by sexual transmission, but it was God-determined by promise. Remember that promise, "When I come back next year at this time, Sarah will have a son"?

And that's not the only time. To Rebecca, also, a promise was made that took priority over genetics. When she became pregnant by our one-of-a-kind ancestor, Isaac, and her babies were still innocent in the womb--incapable of good or bad--she received a special assurance from God. What God did in this case made it perfectly plain that his purpose is not a hit-or-miss thing dependent on what we do or don't do, but a sure thing determined by his decision, flowing steadily from his initiative. God told Rebecca, "The firstborn of your twins will take second place." Later that was turned into a stark epigram: "I loved Jacob; I hated Esau."

Is that grounds for complaining that God is unfair? Not so fast, please. God told Moses, "I'm in charge of mercy. I'm in charge of compassion." Compassion doesn't originate in our bleeding hearts or moral sweat, but in God's mercy. The same point was made when God said to Pharaoh, "I picked you as a bit player in this drama of my salvation power." All we're saying is that God has the first word, initiating the action in which we play our part for good or ill.

Are you going to object, "So how can God blame us for anything since he's in charge of everything? If the big decisions are already made, what say do we have in it?"

God's just molding the clay

Who in the world do you think you are to second-guess God? Do you for one moment suppose any of us knows enough to call God into question? Clay doesn't talk back to the fingers that mold it, saying, "Why did you shape me like this?" Isn't it obvious that a potter has a perfect right to shape one lump of clay into a vase for holding flowers and another into a pot for cooking beans? If God needs one style of pottery especially designed to show his angry displeasure and another style carefully crafted to show his glorious goodness, isn't that all right? Either or both happens to Jews, but it also happens to the other people. Hosea put it well:

I'll call nobodies and make them somebodies;

I'll call the unloved and make them beloved.

In the place where they yelled out, "You're nobody!"

they're calling you "God's living children."

Isaiah maintained this same emphasis:

If each grain of sand on the seashore were numbered

and the sum labeled "chosen of God,"

They'd be numbers still, not names;

salvation comes by personal selection.

God doesn't count us; he calls us by name.

Arithmetic is not his focus.

Isaiah had looked ahead and spoken the truth:

If our powerful God

had not provided us a legacy of living children,

We would have ended up like ghost towns,

like Sodom and Gomorrah.

So where does Israel fit in all this?

How can we sum this up? All those people who didn't seem interested in what God was doing (that is, the non-Jewish people of the world, the gentiles) actually embraced what God was doing as he straightened out their lives. And Israel, who seemed so interested in reading and talking about what God was doing, missed it. How could they miss it? Because instead of trusting God, they took over. They were absorbed in what they themselves were doing. They were so absorbed in their "God projects" that they didn't notice God right in front of them, like a huge rock in the middle of the road. And so they stumbled into him and went sprawling. Isaiah (again!) gives us the metaphor for pulling this together:

Careful! I've put a huge stone on the road to Mount Zion,

a stone you can't get around.

But the stone is me! If you're looking for me,

you'll find me on the way, not in the way.