The Failed Messenger and the Infallible Message

Boy....I think there are more question marks for punctuation in this portion of scripture than I've seen up to this point! And they are very much the leading-type. Did you ever watch Matlock? My Grandma Cowart did, and I can still hear the theme music. Like Matlock, our apologist, Paul, doesn't waste any time getting right to the point. The questions he asks are all leading to one truth, each one building to a climax that will cause the gavel to fall in justice. It's much like the faith is on trial, here. Only, God doesn't need a defense attorney, as we will soon see.

Chapter 1 opens with Paul's greetings of grace to and longing for fellowship with fellow believers in Rome. He gets right to the point with the sinfulness of man, even listing some of the grievous sins we commit. Chapter 2 confirms that we are without excuse when it comes to answering for our sin to our righteous God. The most poignant part to me is "because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourselves"...yikes! Paul then pretty much nullifies any reasoning that Jews are better than Gentiles. So, chapter 3 opens with the "where do we go from here" portion, where we apply what we have just learned. I'd like to reflect on this portion of Paul's instruction.

God is Righteous. Paul speaks of the unfaithful messenger here. This stirs a pot of emotions deep inside of me that threatens to spill if stirred for long. Paul reminds his listeners that the Jews have been trusted with the very word of God. Now what if they fail? God is still trustworthy. What if those you trust to deliver the word of God fail you? God is still trustworthy. What if the ministry you supported for years is found to be corrupt? God is still righteous. Oh, damage is done! We do know that! For, as Nathan said to David, "you have given great occasion to the enemy for the Lord to be blasphemed." God help us not to cause others to doubt His faithfulness to us; the faithfulness to His covenant promise!

Man Is Not Righteous. Paul was leading to this point. He asks us if we are better than those leaders who failed us because we didn't lie. Ummm, "no." We are each guilty in our own sin. There are none righteous, no not one. The "religious" leaders of Paul's day were attacking him falsely, and were most likely convinced they were right all the while. But, they were wrong. Funny thing about the Law, it closes every mouth, doesn't it? God's word allows us to rightly divide the truth.

Faith is How We Can Be Righteous. Many try to be perfect by keeping the law, but it is the law itself that shows us how imperfect we really are! This makes my brain hurt. Thankfully, we won't camp there long, because Paul reminds us right away that righteousness is only achieved through faith in Christ. Whew! I remember my youth leader drawing lines on the parking lot when I was in high school. He had us all to line up and jump as far as we could. He then explained that although some could jump further than others, none could jump far enough to be found righteous by the Law's standards. We all fall short. We can only be justified by Christ. We teach our children that justified means "just-as-if-i'd"....as in, just as if I'd never sinned. We can only be made righteous by the grace of God, not by anything we do ourselves. What a relief that is! Oh, praise Him!

In a nutshell? None are righteous, all have fallen short. But, the failed messenger does not nullify the infallible Message. Amen, and amen.