Have you ever heard someone ask “Who are you to judge?”  Generally someone asking that question is hoping the mere asking will deflect judgment that they don’t want, often over behaviors they don’t want judged.

God won’t and can’t be dissuaded.

He is the one to judge and

He’ll judge by His own standard:  the truth.

If you look at today’s full passage, you’ll see it’s filled with you and it’s filled with judgment and wrath.

Now we know that God’s judgment against those who do such things is based on truth.  So when you, a mere man, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment? (Romans 2:2-3 NIV)

So does this mean that God doesn’t ever want us to judge anything?  No, we are allowed to judge behaviors because the truth is revealed in His Word.

What we are not allowed to judge are the hearts of other people.  God will take care of that, giving to each of us what we have earned on earth by our actions and our hidden judgments of people’s hearts.

The reason we will not escape God’s judgment is that even though we might not do specific behaviors we see in others, we do plenty of other things that also do damage to the Image of God.  (So, while I am not engaging in the homosexual behaviors listed in the prior passage, what if I dislike political activists trying to change the culture to declare it A-OK when God says it’s not?  The damage done to the Image of God is the same regardless whether it is homosexual expression or disliking activists).  Both use the Image of God to do something God Himself would not do.

All of this is why God sent Jesus.  Ultimately Jesus will judge us for what we’ve done with His Image whether to do good or to selfishly pass judgment on God’s truth and follow evil.

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Give it up for Lent: Passing Judgment on God’s Truth

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For further study, read Romans 2:1-8, Matthew 7:1-5

Questions to think about:

1. While this passage of Scripture’s use of you was referring to Paul’s Jewish readers in Rome, how many ways can you find that you’ve been a hypocrite about sin or taken for granted God’s forgiveness and grace?
2. What secret thoughts reside in your heart about God’s truth and are there ways you might reject it?
3. Jesus says, Matthew 7:1 “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2 For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”  How does this apply to today’s passage?

I must have lived under a rock in 1990.  Not until I started working on today’s devotional did I realize The Monty Hall Problem was ever such a national fixation.  The question was loosely based upon Monty Hall’s program “Let’s Make a Deal” and explored the odds of picking correctly among three doors of which only one was a winner. 

The problem was popularized in the Ask Marilyn column of Parade magazine in 1990 and generated more response mail than just about any other column.  The answer given by high-IQ-famed Marilyn vos Savant (i.e. switch doors if given a choice) appeared incorrect but was demonstrably true.  Even so, nearly 10,000 readers –PhD mathematicians and average readers alike—wrote to scold her for being wrong and vehemently asserted that one should never switch doors from one’s original choice.

Interesting isn’t it: things can be proven true, yet people will still exchange the truth readily for a lie?  Worse, in the “Let’s Make a Deal” of life, people still choose the bad deal (door number three) knowing that it’s already been revealed to be wrong!  This is the type of bad-to-worse exchange referred to in today’s passage.

The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them…so that men are without excuse. (Romans 1:18-19, 20b)

God reveals His wrath against sin.  It’s like He’s opened door number three and plainly shown us the truth: choosing sin will always be a losing proposition. Yet many people will refuse to turn from their choice to sin.

Each of us is without excuse and will eventually be stuck with the door we choose.  Will you stay with sin’s Bad-to-Worse Exchange or will you switch and choose the way of Christ that leads to life?

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Give it up for Lent: Making Excuses for Embracing Known Sin

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For further study, read Romans 1:18-32 to see the full extent of sin’s Bad-to-Worse Exchange.

Questions to think about:

1. What sin is at the root of our refusing to change our ways?  What does it mean to be without excuse?
2. To live a lie, we suppress what we know to be true.  Find the ways our passage (Romans 1:18-32) reflects that idea.
3. How does God decide what is a sin?  I have written an article on sin that you can read today.
4. When Scripture says that God “gave them over” it’s referring to God’s intentional releasing of people to the full natural consequences of their chosen actions.  Are there any natural consequences you’re presently facing that might be warning flags to return to God and seek His truth?

At the risk of revealing my age, I remember “Flower Power” and brightly colored flower decals all over my school notebooks.  The term “Flower Power” was coined by Allen Ginsberg in 1965 as a means of transforming the image of war protests into something that appeared to be peaceful and affirming.  Flower Children appeared on college campuses and in magazine photos.  Passive resistance and an ideology of non-violence became the counter-culture’s preferred narrative regarding protests in opposition to the Vietnam War.

This is the power of masses of people.  Some protests were peaceful, but there were other instances, such as in the Kent State shooting (1970), in which the protests turned horribly violent.  Burning draft cards and ROTC buildings.  People setting themselves on fire.  Flowers apparently didn’t have enough power to keep the protesters under control.

Gospel Power is different.  Gospel Power is…of God and…from God…and is sufficient to save every believer…all the way to eternal life!

Romans 1:16 I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. 17 For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”

This key verse from Romans sets the stage for the entire letter.  It’s all about Gospel Power.  Power for salvation and revelation of the righteousness of God.  And it is available by faith to all: Jew and Gentile (which is just a fancy word for the non-Jewish rest of us).

Unlike Flower Power which looked nice but was ineffective, Gospel Power never runs out.  It is as eternal as God Himself.  The Gospel is and has always been God’s appointed means of bringing sinners back home alive.  It marks the very end of our war against sin because Jesus fought the war and won.  Gospel Power brings us peace with God.  Because God knows our beginning from our end, Gospel Power is good from our first faith to our last breath.

With Gospel Power, we sinners are declared innocent even while the Holy Spirit sets at work to transform us into changed people who better reflect the righteousness that ought to permeate our spiritual existence.

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Give it up for Lent: Powerless Protests Against Receiving God’s Peace

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For further study, re-read Romans 1:16-17 (above).

Questions to think about:

1. Name some things about which you are ashamed.  If any of those are sins, how can Gospel Power help you to overcome the shame?
2. How often do you consider your behavior better than someone else’s?  Do you ever see yourself as more “worthy” of heaven than other people?
3. Do you know who the Holy Spirit is?  If not, consider reading John 15:26-16:15  

“I’m all in!”  Can you say that about anything in your life?  What might you say commands your total devotion?  What occupies your thoughts? 

For Paul, he was devoted to the Gospel. His writings have a combination of urgency and passion that says he’s all in! Today’s passage, Romans 1:8-15, is no different.  Paul had focus.  He had drive.  He was zealous.  He cared deeply.

I find that I have so many daily distractions that I could literally entertain my life away without having any sense of productivity or lasting legacy.  Distractions all shout, “Hey, look at me! Pay attention to me!  Life’s short; eat dessert first!  Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain!”

Truly, my life is better with a sense of priority where I can focus, be motivated, care deeply, and yes, even be zealous about a few things.

Zeal has received a bad rap.  No one really wants to be called a zealot, especially a religious zealot.  The most popular definition in the Urban Dictionary defines a religious zealot this way: 

Usually called fundamentalists, these people tend to be the idiots that piss off atheists and lead them to be jerks in definitions like god and bible.  these people are oblivious to the obvious, and were ostracized from europe and russia, and sent to what is nowdays called the united states [sic].

Yup. Sounds like me.  Except for that deportation thing.  And that oblivious thing.  Arguably, I can be a jerk, annoy people, and hold on to Christian fundamentals.  But that’s only because I’m all in!

Jesus says, “If anyone is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.” (Luke 9:26, NIV)

Yikes.  Makes us rethink that whole religious zealot idea, doesn’t it?  No fence straddling.  No dip a toe in the water.  No hokey-pokey dancing in and out of Christianity.  No half-hearted, faint, watered down, thin, or wimpy Gospel for me!  Like Paul, let’s say “I’m all in!”

PS. Speaking of wholeheartedness, Happy Valentine’s Day!

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Give it up for Lent: Hokey-Pokey Fence Straddling Religion

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For further study, read Romans 1:8-15 and identify the ways in which Paul was wholehearted, All In!

Questions to think about:

1. Why is no one afraid to be “All In” when it comes to a sports team or an athletic endeavor?  Are tennis or golf lovers considered zealots?
2. Why might someone be concerned about being perceived as a religious zealot?
3. Why are we hesitant to share the Gospel with people we know like family or friends; or with people we’ve never met?

“Don’t touch the dinner bell!” was their family’s unspoken rule. When I was a kid, one of my friends had a big bell hanging on the side of her house.  No one was allowed to ring that bell but my friend’s mom.  Maybe the dad could use it too, but I never saw him touch it.  I wondered if even he didn’t have the authority to ring it. That, of course, gave the bell an even greater prestige!  (Maybe, though, it was just a sign of the times: she who cooked the dinner gets to ring the dinner bell.)

No matter where we were playing, my friend and her siblings could always hear the dinner bell and our play would immediately break up as they ran home in response to the wild clanging.

The Gospel is supposed to be that kind of thing.

People hear the Gospel; know what a great offer of forgiveness is being served; and come running to take full advantage of this.

Through him and for his name’s sake, we received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith.  And you also are among those who are called to belong to Jesus Christ.  (Romans 1:5-6 NIV)

In the opening statements of Romans, the Gospel calls all people to come to Jesus!  Jesus—who has both a human nature and a divine nature—rose from the dead and the Good News is that now, by God’s grace, this resurrection to eternal life is available to all people who belong to Jesus Christ.

Because He died and rose again, believers in Christ can too.  The Letter to the Romans proclaims the Gospel, rings with the Good News, and alerts us all to the Gospel’s invitiation to Come and Get It!

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Give it up for Lent: Apathy

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For further study, read Romans 1:1-7.

We get to ring the bell to call everyone to this Gospel.  Rich, poor, hungry, content, beautiful, plain, educated, uneducated—all of us are summoned to the table of forgiveness to participate in the family of God.  No one is excluded from the offer of reconciliation with God.

Questions to think about: 

1. So why don’t more people take advantage of it?
2. How does self-reliance get in the way?
3. How are Christians often viewed by the world?

As a general rule, we spend plenty of time in self-reflection, typically about things that don’t matter.

I’d like to offer a brief word about Lent and the devotional series beginning Ash Wednesday (February 13, 2013): Lent is a time of self-reflection as we ponder our need for a Savior. 

Lent is different than just thinking about ourselves because our focus is on the most important decision we will ever make: to admit both our spiritual poverty and our need for God to save us out of it.

It is this reason I chose The Letter to the Romans for this year’s series.  It is Paul’s Masterpiece as a presentation of the Gospel, addressing our spiritual poverty, our great need for a Savior, and the magnificent grace of God extended to us in Jesus Christ.

Given the depth of the book, each day’s devotional will only scratch the surface of the passage.  They have been written to be approachable for people who know little about Jesus because I’m an evangelist at heart.

But there are also questions for further study aimed at satisfying those looking for the depth Romans has to offer.  I’d encourage you to read the entire passage via the link provided (or using your own Bible) and let God’s Word minister to you fully.  Since we bless God more by giving up sinful human behaviors, each day’s devotional will also feature a “Give It Up For Lent” idea that goes beyond butter, beef, and chocolate.  I hope the devotionals will bless you toward a meaningful Lenten season.

In His Grace, Barbara <><