Lost
ROMANS 3: 9-31 (July 16)
Have you ever felt lost in a crowd? There are people all around you and they all seem to know each other, yet you are standing on the sidelines of it all, wondering where you fit in.
I have experienced this multiple times over the past year, as I navigate through living in a new place and meeting all new people. So many times, I have longed for the sweet people I moved away from. They knew me. They understood me. I was safe and comfortable with them.
That is how the Jews and the Gentiles must have felt. They knew those who were in the same position as they were, and didn't understand the other group. In their eyes, there was no way one group could be equal to the other, yet in God's eyes, they were all the same. In God's eyes, WE are all the same.
The question we encounter in verse nine is whether or not the Jews were better than the sinful Gentiles. The answer was this ... the Jews were no better or no worse. All are sinners.
There are three main points Paul is trying to get across in this portion of his letter>
What happened to people who lived before Christ came and died for sin? If God condemned them, was he being unfair? If he saved them, was Christ's sacrifice unnecessary?
Paul shows that God forgave the sins of all man when Jesus died on the cross. The faithful of the Old Testament had a great anticipation of Christ's coming. Although they didn't know the name of the Messiah or the details of his earthly life, they were saved because they believed in faith. Believers of the New Testament times had the privilege of knowing specifically about Jesus and choosing to believe accordingly.
2. Why does God save us by faith alone?
Being saved by faith alone eliminates the pride of the deeds we do on earth. Faith is not a deed we do; it is an assuredness we have. Faith honors what GOD has done, not what PEOPLE do. Faith is the certainty that we cannot keep ourselves from sin, and we need help. It is based on our relationship with God, not our performance for God.
3. What is the meaning of Romans 3:31, which reads, "If we emphasize faith, does this mean that we can forget about the law? Of course Not! In fact, only when we have faith do we truly fulfill the law.
The Jewish and Gentiles Christians in Rome did not agree. The Jewish Christians were concerned that faith would wipe out all that Judaism stood for: cancelling out the scriptures, putting an end to the customs, and stating that God no longer worked through them. Paul assured them this was not the case. Faith doesn't wipe out the Old Testament. It makes God's dealings with the Jewish people even more understandable.
The next time you are feeling lost, feeling as if you don't know where you fit in, or feeling like you aren't equal to someone else, remember that in God's eyes we are all equal. We are all worthy. When we choose to believe, our faith will be our saving grace. And with that faith, we no longer have to feel LOST.