[Chapter 1-5] Those Who Suppress the Truth in Unrighteousness (Romans 1:18-25)
(Romans 1:18-25)
“For
the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and
unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness,
because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown
it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes
are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even
His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because,
although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were
thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts
were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools and changed the
glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible
man─and bird and four-footed animals and creeping things. Therefore God
also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to
dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God
for the lie. And worshiped and served the creature rather than the
Creator, who is blessed forever Amen.”
To whom is the wrath of God revealed?
We
can see that Paul the Apostle preached the same gospel as the gospel we
preach. To whom is the wrath of God revealed? The judgment of God is
revealed to sinners who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, namely,
to those who have sins and block the truth with their own thoughts.
Paul
the Apostle clearly says that the wrath of God is revealed, first of
all, to those who block the truth in unrighteousness. Those will be
judged by God. What wrath will the wrath of God be like? The wrath of
God will drop their flesh and spirits to hell.
We
must not think that only the flesh will be judged because men also have
spirits. Therefore, God will judge both the flesh and the spirit. There
are ones who block the truth of God with their earthly thoughts. There
are ones who are against the righteous, possessing sins. The wrath of
God and His judgment are revealed to those with the sin of hardened
hearts, who are not afraid of God.
Paul
the Apostle says in Romans 1:17, “The just shall live by faith.” He
also says that the judgment and wrath of God are revealed to those who
block the truth with their sins.
Unbelievers are under the wrath of God
God
pervasively gave the truth of salvation to the world. The truth and
love of God are pervaded on the earth. Therefore, there is no excuse for
ignoring the truth and the love of God. God will judge all those who
don’t believe in the gospel of the truth and who are against it.
Let’s
think about the people who have not received the love of the true
gospel. We see what God made; namely water, grass, trees, the sky,
birds, etc. How can these things exist without the creation of God? The
Bible says, “For every house is built by someone, but He who built all
things is God (Hebrews 3:4). Isn’t it their fault for not believing in
God and the word of the truth?
Therefore,
it is reasonable for people who don’t believe in the grace of the
forgiveness of sin to be judged by God. They insist in the theory of
evolution. They persist that the universe has naturally evolved itself.
They also say that at first, there was an explosion called the Big Bang
about 15 billion years ago, and that then, a certain living being came
about. They say, this original reality of life changed and it evolved
into fishes, beasts and eventually into humans. If this theory were
right, mankind would have to eventually change into another life form
after one or two thousand years.
“For
since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly
seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal
power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse” (Romans 1:20).
People deny and reject God, although they can apparently see that God is
alive when they look at the wonders and mysteries of nature.
Unbelievers are under the God’s wrath. Many people didn’t glorify God or
were thankful, so they became futile in their thoughts. Their foolish
hearts were darkened; professing themselves to be wise, they became
fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into images of
corruptible men, birds, four-footed beasts, and creeping things. The
judgment of God is apparently waiting for those men. All the people who
have not been born again are under the judgment of God, whether they
believe in Jesus or not.
God gives unbelievers up to uncleanness
“Therefore
God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to
dishonor their bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God
for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the
Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. For this reason God gave them up
to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for
what is against nature. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use
of the woman, burned in their lust of one another, men with men
committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of
their error which was due” (Romans 1:24-27).
What
is this passage trying to say? God leaves the men who worship and serve
creatures to sin as they please. He also gives them up to Satan. God
permits Satan to do as he wishes. Therefore, we must believe in God and
be saved anyway. “For even their women exchanged the natural use for
what is against nature. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use
of the woman, burned in their lust of one another.” This is like denying
God and it is what caused AIDS.
God
gave the natural use. A man should live with a woman. However, the fact
that men have relation with men and women with women shows that they
deny the natural use that God has given. The Book of Romans was written
about 1900 years ago. Paul the Apostle predicted that those who leave
the natural use of their sexes would pay the penalty for their sexual
disorder. God’s word is achieved in reality these days. We know that
AIDS is prevailing especially among the homosexuals.
It
is completely adequate for them to pay the penalty for their sexual
sins. The wrath of God is revealed against the men who change the
natural uses of their sexuality. They deserve to receive the penalty of
AIDS. This disease is surely caused by the disbelief in God. God gives
over unbelievers to a reprobate mind. In other words, it surely is the
curse of God.
They are opposed to the righteousness of God
Men
who don’t like to retain God in their minds are like the following.
“Being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness,
covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit,
evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, backbiters, haters of God,
violent, proud boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to
parents, undiscerning untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful;
who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such
things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of
those who practice them” (Romans 1:29-32).
What
do ‘those who practice such things’ do to those who practice the same
evil? They ‘approve’ of them. What do men who are against God do to the
righteous, who obey the word of God? They persecute the righteous,
saying, “You are heretics.” The righteous are persecuted for
righteousness’ sake after they believe in Jesus. They are blessed.
People
sympathize with those who wander by the flesh. However, strange to say,
we see that they object and prevent others from believing in Jesus and
becoming righteous by the forgiveness of sin. This is like living as a
servant of sin because they neither believe in God nor obey the word of
the truth.
Therefore,
unbelievers and Satan say that we should neither be perfectly
sanctified nor have the perfect forgiveness of sin, although they permit
us to believe in Jesus Christ. Unbelievers and disobeyers think and say
that they must believe in Jesus in order to go to Heaven even though
they have sins in their hearts. That is why they feel comfortable when
they believe in Jesus as sinners. The ones, who don’t know and believe
in God, although they are Christians, don’t receive God in their
knowledge and oppose Him. They oppose the righteousness of God. They
also worship Satan and all the sins. Those, who are not born again,
although they believe in Jesus, are like that. There are so many nominal
Christians who have not been born again. Those who believe in Jesus
with sins in their hearts don’t obey the word of the truth of God and
oppose born again Christians who have obtain the remission of sin and
got sanctified by believing in the truth of Jesus Christ.
Those who are not born again oppose the born again
Paul
the Apostle says in the Bible that the wrath of God is revealed to men
who suppress the truth in unrighteousness. He also says that the
judgment of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness, and
unrighteousness. Everything is done according to the truth. The truth is
that the Lord has blotted out all our sins. The judgment of God is
revealed to those who are against the truth and block it. We learn
through the word of God that all the believers who are not born again
are going to be judged by Him. God will judge those who are not born
again, even though they believe in Jesus.
Believers
who have not been born again like to slander the born again, with
hearts full of maliciousness. Those will go to hell. God expels them to
hell. They are full of malice and whisper to each other. Sinners who
whisper together against the righteous, who have the forgiveness of sin,
are to be judged. Do you see what I mean? We should sympathize with
them. They oppose God with their sins, not knowing that they are against
Him, whispering, “It’s strange for them not to have sins. It sounds
strange.”
The
judgment of God is revealed to those who are against God with their
evils. Those people take pleasure in those who do so. They admit
whisperers and slanderers to be right. Christians who are not born again
whisper to each other and slander the righteous. They backbite and hate
the righteous, pride themselves, and plot evil things together. Do you
know how they devise evil things? They commit evil acts by uniting with
one another. They oppose the righteous with good slogans such as “Let’s
believe in Jesus well. Let’s have the right kind of faith. Let’s be the
light of the world.” They commit such sins uniting themselves, because
it’s not fun to sin alone.
Therefore,
God says in Psalm 2:4, “He who sits in the heavens shall laugh; The
Lord shall hold them in derision,” because the kings of the earth are
against God. ‘Oh! It’s funny. Nothing will ever happen to Me no matter
what your challenge against Me is. You guys bribe me to be judged.’ God
is waiting for the time of judgment because it is too laughable.
Those who judge the righteous will be judged by God
Those
who are against the truth of God and who have not been born again
commit sins. Those who are born again also have malice and imperfections
in the flesh. However, it’s basically different, in fact. We believe in
God and the truth. We have received the remission of sin through God.
However, they don’t believe in God at all. These people are against ‘the
righteousness and the truth of God.’ “Therefore you are inexcusable, O
man, whoever you are who judge, for in whatever you judge another you
condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things” (Romans
2:1).
Paul
the Apostle talks to the Jews and Christians who have not been born
again and only stuck to the law. They judge others, saying, “Don’t
murder, don’t commit adultery, don’t steal, and only serve God”, while
they themselves don’t keep the law. Only God justly judges, and only His
children, who have been born again, can judge according to the word of
God.
These
kinds of people are to be judged because they judge the righteous
arbitrarily. God will judge all of those who have not been born again,
that is to say, the Jews and the legalist-Christians. The wrath of God
is revealed to those who lead religious lives by keeping the law, while
not being born again, and who believe that they will go to hell if they
don’t obey God and that they will go to heaven if they do as God has
said. A person of faith is one who becomes righteous after he/she
believes in Jesus Christ. We must be discriminate. Those who can believe
in God and lead pious lives without being born again judge the
righteous according to their own criterion.
However,
God will surely judge them. They don’t know they are judging themselves
according to their own criterion. Oh, you men who judge the righteous
without having the forgiveness of sin, with wrong faiths, not receiving
the grace of the truth of God, do you think that you can escape the
judgment of God? These people are going to be judged by God.
The judgment of God is righteous
“But
we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth, against
them which commit such things” (Romans 2:2). We are sure that the
judgment of God is according to truth, against those who judge other
people while not being born again, even though they believe in Jesus. We
must know that God sends these people to hell and that He judges them
according to His truth.
God
sends sinners to hell because His truth is right, and because the
judgment of God is accurate. Whether one goes to hell or not doesn’t
depend on the Doctrine of Predestination that preaches, ‘God loves some,
but hates others unconditionally.’ God chose all men in Jesus Christ
before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4).
Whoever
believes that Jesus Christ blotted out all his/her sins receive the
remission of sin. God predestined this. Therefore, all of those who have
not been born again, even though they believe in Jesus, will go to
hell. They will go to hell according to the judgment of God and this is
the truth.
The
judgment of God, which sends sinners to hell, is right. Why? Because
they rejected the great love of God and neither received the salvation
of God nor believed in Him. It’s proper for Him, according to the truth,
to send those who are not born again to hell.
Some
would say, “Why didn’t God preach the gospel to me?” Didn’t He? God
preached the gospel to you so many times. Try to obtain salvation by
widely opening your eyes. There are a few churches that preach the true
gospel in this world. However, you can meet the truth if you really
search for it. In my case, I really tried to find it! After preaching a
sermon, when I was not born again yet, I prayed, “Oh, Lord. I’m a sinner
before God, even though I have preached Your word to people like this.
What I told people were things I was saying to myself. I’m a sinner.
Please meet me. Please save me.”
I
don’t know how much I have tried to find the truth. God wants to meet
whoever seeks Him. God wants to redeem even those people who didn’t seek
Him. “I will call them My people, who were not My people, And her
beloved, who was not beloved” (Romans 9:25). God says that He is our
Savior who came to this world to save us. People who have sought God
earnestly will surely meet Him. Some others haven’t sought God, but come
to get an opportunity to meet the Lord when the gospel preachers come
to them and preached the gospel. Some would be interested in the gospel,
but others would not. Men who will go to hell will end up there because
they rejected the good news.
It
is proper for those who deserve to go to hell to end up in hell
according to the truth of God. Those who deserve to go to the Kingdom of
Heaven reach it by believing in Jesus according to the right
discrimination, even though they don’t have any outstanding exploits. It
happens through the right judgment of God.
God
doesn’t send one person to hell and the other to the Kingdom of Heaven
at random on account of His favoritism for some people. But instead, He
judges according to the right judgment in truth. Therefore, we must
preach the gospel. “And do you think this, O man, you who judge those
practicing such things, and doing the same, that you will escape the
judgment of God? Or do you despise the riches of His goodness,
forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God
leads you to repentance?” (Romans 2:3-4)
Jesus already blotted out all the sins of the world through His love
Paul
the Apostle says to sinners, the Jews and the legalist-Christians, who
neither receive the love of Jesus nor are born again, that they will be
judged. They are destined to go to hell. But what is the gospel? In
Romans 2:4, God says, “Or do you despise the riches of His goodness,
forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God
leads you to repentance?” The love of God has accurately appeared to all
people and has justly prevailed.
Nobody
is excluded from the grace of the salvation of God. Jesus blotted out
all the sins of the world. Jesus perfectly sanctified us. Does He only
blot out the original sin and forgive us for our daily sins whenever we
pray for forgiveness of them? No. The Lord already blotted out all the
sins of the world once and for all. Nonetheless, those who are against
God ignore His goodness and love. “How did Jesus save us? How can I say,
‘I have no sin’, even though I constantly sin? It’s nonsense. How could
God blot out all my sins while I continuously sin, even though He is
the Savior and Lord God?”
People
think according to the flesh like this, yet God has already washed away
all the sins of the world with His love. The Lord came to the world and
perfectly blotted out all our sins. The Lord knows the imperfections
and infirmities of men (The flesh cannot but sin again and again).
Therefore, He blotted out all the sins of the world once and for all
with His baptism and by shedding His blood on the Cross. The Lord knows
the infirmities of the flesh very well. “I saved you because I knew you
would sin again and again until you die.”
The
Lord washed away the sins of the world. The Lord has accepted all of us
by redeeming us. The Lord paid the wages of sin for sinners and
sanctified them with His power and righteousness (Jesus was baptized by
John the Baptist at the Jordan River). The Lord allowed us to be
blessed, become His children and enabled us to go to the Kingdom of
Heaven by paying the wages of our sins with His life (blood). The Lord
turned sinners into His righteous children.
Unbelievers must repent and turn their hearts to the Lord
“Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?” God sentences those who despise and deny the goodness, riches, forbearance and long-suffering of God to go to hell. It is certain that Jesus Christ washed away all the sins of the world, and that the gospel pervades all over the world. However, people still go to hell because they don’t believe in it. Jesus saved us by washing away all our sins to prevent us from going to hell, even if we wanted to go to hell by despising the forbearance and riches of His goodness. Even if we desired to go to hell, He saved us.
Therefore
we must believe in the water and the blood of Jesus Christ to be saved.
Believe, and be saved. Those who despise the love and salvation of God
will go to hell. Hell is a place that God has prepared for those who
despise the grace of His salvation and the riches of His goodness.
Unbelievers have already bought their tickets to hell. People who are
destined to go to hell must repent and turn their hearts to the Lord.
You also must say good-bye to the Kingdom of Heaven unless you have
faith in the true gospel.
People go to hell because they reject the love of God
“But
in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are
treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of
the righteous judgment of God” (Romans 2:5). Those who have impenitent
hearts and people who don’t repent will go to hell. Some people go to
hell because they have rejected the great love of God. Sinners who
reject the truth with stubborn hearts and pursue their own thoughts will
go to hell, due to the wages of their sin. Those who refuse to receive
God’s love and persist in doing repentance prayers to reach gradual
sanctification will eventually go to hell. To have stored God’s wrath
until the day of revelation and His righteous judgment is due to denying
the Lord’s love.
In
His plan of redemption, God decided to save sinners and make them
righteous, even before Satan corrupted us into sin. God sent His Son to
save and sanctify us. However, sinners have not accepted this. They have
stored His wrath full to the brim by refusing God’s love and will be
judged on the day of wrath and revelation of His righteous judgment. The
righteous judgment of God is to send those who have sins in their
hearts to hell.
Why?
Because God washed away all the sins of the world and made everyone in
the world be saved by faith. Unbelievers will surely go to hell. They
are stubborn and volunteer to go to hell, so they will ultimately regret
their foolishness. Sinners will go to hell if they don’t accept God’s
great love.
People
think that God is unreasonable because He sends some people to hell and
others to the Kingdom of Heaven at random according to His own
authority. However, this is not true. God invented hell for those who
are stubborn to deny His love and truth so that there would be an
adequate place for them to go.
The
Bible says that hell is a lake that burns with fire and brimstone.
There are wriggling dirty maggots for those who prefer to have sin. They
may cry, “No, No. I hate this place.” But God would say, “I had washed
away all your sins, but you said that it didn’t matter if you possessed
sin. Therefore, I give you maggots as a gift, as your friends, because
you didn’t like to have the forgiveness of sin.” “No, I hate it, Lord.”
“You’ve
asked for it, even though you hate it. I’m the Lord of righteousness. I
gave you what you wanted. I give hell to all those who like to have sin
in their heart.” It is the right judgment of God. Human beings sin
while they live in this world, yet they should not ignore the gospel of
the salvation of God that has washed away all the sins of the world.
People
go to hell because they are hard-hearted. We should not be stubborn
before God. We should believe that He already washed away all the sins
of the world. You must believe, even if it is not visible.
God tells us that He already loved us
God
tells us that He already loved us. “I already washed away all of your
sins.” You must believe this fact. When God says that He created the
heavens and the earth, we must believe it because the word of God is
true. Faith begins with the belief in God’s word. People believe
something only when they understand it with their small heads and don’t
believe when they can’t understand. Unbelievers who don’t believe that
God saved all sinners from their sins will go to hell. They are the ones
who make up their minds to go to hell.
There
was a prominent Christian who once declared publicly, “I confess before
God that I’m a sinner until I die.” He died and surely went to hell. He
said to God, “I declare that I’m a sinner before God and can never be
righteous before Him.” He persisted in being a sinner until the time of
his death. He rejected God’s love and the truth up to his last breath.
Then the Lord said, “You are so faithful to your own faith! It’s proper
for you to go to hell according to your faith. I send you to hell
because sinners can never enter into the Kingdom of Heaven.”
If I had believed,
The
man who said, “I declare that I’m a sinner until I die,” went to hell.
Even God can’t help these people. Not only have they declared that they
are sinners, though they may end up in hell the day after tomorrow, but
they also taught believers who trusted in them, “We are sinners until we
die and will still be sinners when we stand before God.” Therefore,
many believers also follow the same religious route. God said that
sinners would go to hell. However, innumerable Christians follow this
teaching in today’s Christianity. God said that those sinners would
eternally regret, grinding their teeth in the hot flames of hell,
saying, “If I had believed; if I had only believed it.”
“If
I had believed in the fact that Jesus washed away all my sins and
abandoned my own thoughts, I would have entered into the Kingdom of
Heaven!” “If I had believed; if I had only believed.” There are going to
be many people uttering things like this in hell. They will say, “If,
If, If I had believed, If I had received the truth, I would have been
His son. Why had I been so stubborn....”
We
the righteous will ask God at that time, “Lord, please show us what the
sinners are doing now. They had persecuted us, the righteous.” “No,
it’s not good for you, My children, because you heart will suffer after
seeing your acquaintances among them. Do you really want to see people
you know suffering?” “Please show us just one time!” The Lord may show
it to us someday because He is so generous. So let’s assume that we see
it. There would be a lot of outcries heard such as: “If I had believed,
if I had believed.” We would then wonder, “What is this noise? Are they
singing?” “Listen carefully whether they are singing or regretting.” Men
and women in that flame singing in chorus and regretting, “If I had
believed.”
Stubborn
people will go to hell unless they are stubborn in the right way. We
really need persistence in holding fast to the truth. Man should not be
indecisive. We should be persistent when we have to be persistent. We
all have to be persistent in the right way and we have to break our
persistence when it is needed.
God will render to every man according to his deeds
God
“will render to each one according to his deeds: eternal life to those
who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and
immortality” (Romans 2:6-7). God renders to every person according to
his/her deeds and judges him/her so. ‘Render’ means to ‘reward in
accordance with a deed.’ What kind of a person uses patience to continue
doing good whiling seeking glory, honor, and immortality? He/she is the
one who believes in Jesus’ perfect salvation.
There
are many people in the world, but God gives eternal lives only to those
who endure for righteousness and believe in His truth, no matter what
other people say. God gives the glory of the eternal Kingdom to those
who want to become the righteous and wish to lead eternally happy lives.
They continue in doing good and seek glory, honor, and immortality;
wanting to be the sons of God. They would endure and continue in doing
good to follow and pursue after the righteousness of God. God gives
those people eternal lives. God allows them to live eternally and makes
them His children. The sons of God are gods in His Kingdom.
“But
to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey
unrighteousness─indignation and wrath” (Romans 2:8). “But to those”
refers to the group of people who are opposite to the blessed. The
indignation and wrath of God are given to those who disobey His
righteousness, are contentious and don’t obey the truth. God sends them
to hell. Those who are not born again and don’t obey the truth are
contentious and against the truth as a group.
Those
who are not born again are contentious and like to form factions.
Throughout Korean history, our ancestors made factions and contended
each other in political problems. The ruling group would be decided
according to the fact who became king. When one of Lee families became
king, men of the Lee family were placed on high social positions while
others were expelled or persecuted. But when the throne changed to the
Kim family, everything was completely changed. People formed factions
for their own advantages, not for achieving just causes.
The
present Christianity is similar to this. They form denominations and
sects. What for? To disobey the truth as a group. They say unanimously
that they have sin, though Jesus washed away the sins of the world. They
pretend to be righteous and saved, but don’t obey the truth. They
condemn the righteous as heretics, saying that they are right to have
sin. The Lord says that sinners who are contentious to the righteous are
wrong and that they must all go to hell.
Those
who obey the truth and God obey the word of the Lord. We, the righteous
believe the judgment of God is according to the truth.
Can Christian denominations send us to the Kingdom of Heaven?
Denominational
bodies cannot send us to the Kingdom of Heaven. My wife provoked her
mother-in-law to fury when she said to her, “A religious body can’t send
you to the Kingdom of Heaven.” Frankly speaking, I don’t know why my
mother got angry at the assertion still now. Do you think a religious
body can send you to the Kingdom of Heaven? We individually get saved
and enter into the Kingdom of Heaven by believing in the word of God.
Can the religious bodies of the Presbyterian Church send you to the
Kingdom of Heaven? Can a denominational body of the Baptist Church send
you? Can the Holiness Church? Can the Seventh-Day Adventist Church? No.
We can enter into the Kingdom of Heaven only when we believe in the
forgiveness of sin that Jesus prepared for us.
We have to abide in the church of God
Paul
the Apostle apparently separated sinners who would go to hell from the
righteous who would enter into the Kingdom of Heaven among all
Christians. The gospel is equal to everybody, to Jews and to Greeks
alike. Here, the Greeks stand for Gentiles and the Jews stand for
Israelites. God does not look at the outward appearance of people. God
looks for a man who believes in the word of God with his heart. Do you
believe that Jesus is God? Do you believe that Jesus is our Savior? We
can go to the Kingdom of Heaven only when we believe that Jesus took
away all the sins of the world with His baptism. We have to believe this
and not betray it. The Holy Spirit within us keeps us from betraying
our faiths and helps defeat our enemies when danger is upon us. We have
to be careful.
In
the Bible, there is a parable of the four kinds of fields, but some
fields imply those who can’t be saved. The seeds sown on those fields
die as soon as they spring up. Such case is the same as being a dead
seed. It has the same result, which is death. Then, can we keep our
faiths by ourselves? No. We can keep our faiths only when the Lord gives
us the strength to endure any trouble and the remedy for every
spiritual sickness while we abide in the true vine.
The
church of God is the vine. The Lord gives us blessings, remedies,
consolations, and the faith to endure persecution while we abide in the
church of God. But what will happen to us if we don’t abide in the vine?
We would die quickly. The hearts of the righteous can’t endure against
Satan’s attacks and eventually get sick if they don’t willingly unite
with the church, though they may have many abilities and powers. Do you
see it? They gradually fall and become more and more useless. The Bible
says, “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor,
how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown
out and trampled underfoot by men” (Matthew 5:13).
Even
the righteous are good for nothing if they live apart from the church.
They can shine their lights and are blessed when they abide in the
church. But they come to be ruined when they live apart from the church
and can’t overcome the world when they go astray into the world apart
from the church. How long can you uphold your own beliefs? How long can
you stand apart from the church of God? Even the servants of God can’t
prevail. However, if we abide in the vine, our household shall be saved,
and many people can have the remission of sin through us. Where did Lot
go after pursuing a carnal desire? He went to Sodom. He lived well
there. What was the result? He became ruined. The Bible says that all
the descendants of Lot were ruined. The Moabites and the Ammonites came
from Lot’s daughters.
Why
were the descendants who were against God born from a righteous person,
Lot? It was because he departed from the church. The reason why I am
not disappointed in any hard times is that God set up His church. God
blesses the church where the righteous gather together and becomes the
Shepherd and Lord of the church for every single saint. It’s His promise
and assurance.
“For
as many as have sinned without law will also perish without law, and as
many as have sinned in the law will be judged by the law (for not the
hearers of the law are just in the sight of God, but the doers of the
law will be justified; for when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by
nature do the things in the law, these, although not having the law, are
a law to themselves, who show the work of the law written in their
hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves
their thoughts accusing or else excusing them.)” (Romans 2:12-15)
A
person who doesn’t go to church doesn’t know the law these days. Then
his/her conscience becomes the law because he/she doesn’t know the law.
He/she does the evil, though he/she knows it’s right or wrong in his/her
conscience. Then, it is a sin and he/she must seek the Lord to be saved
from sin. God meets whoever really wants to seek Him.
We
must seek His mercy before God and believe in Him. We must believe in
Him while abandoning our pride. We must live by faith. We must not leave
the church of God; we must seek, believe, and abide in the church. God
does not expel us when we abide in the church, even though we are infirm
and weak.
The sin of Jews
Now
the Apostle Paul starts to preach the gospel in full scale to the Jews
after separating them from those who are going to the Kingdom of Heaven.
“Indeed
you are called a Jew, and rest on the law, and make your boast in God,
and know His will, and approve the things that are excellent, being
instructed out of the law, and are confident that you yourself are a
guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, an instructor
of the foolish, a teacher of babes, having the form of knowledge and
truth in the law. You, therefore, who teach another, do you not teach
yourself? You who preach that a man should not steal, do you steal? You
who say, ‘Do not commit adultery,’ do you commit adultery? You who abhor
idols, do you rob temples?” (Romans 2:17-22)
We
must know the following. God originally spoke to the Jews, so they had
the word of God and the sacrificial system. He promised the Messiah
through the Jews and showed His plan through His Jewish servants. So,
Moses and all the prophets were Jews. However, the Jews thought they
understood what would please God and what His law was, diligently
reciting and memorizing the word of God. Nevertheless, Paul the Apostle
said, “Indeed you are called a Jew, and rest on the law, and make your
boast in God.” Jews were not saved, though they boasted of God and
ministered sacrifices earnestly. Those who don’t believe fully in Jesus
as their Savior are the same as unbelievers. It means that they neither
believed God’s promise that He would save them as in the sacrificial
system, nor believed in Jesus, the Savior.
Jews
will go to hell because they don’t believe in Jesus, the Savior. It was
useless for them to lay their hands on the head of sheep again and
again. They didn’t truly believe that ‘Laying on of hands’ meant ‘to
pass sins’ in the time of Malachi, at the end of the Old Testament. They
had believed it well to the time of David, but their faiths had begun
to falter from the time of Solomon. During the age of the divided
Kingdom, they worshiped other gods like Baal and Asherah while they
ministered formalistic sacrifices at the Temple. Ministering formalistic
sacrifices is the same as not believing in God. God is satisfied when
we believe and abide in His word.
In
the sacrificial system of the tabernacle, the sins of a person were
passed onto the head of a sacrificial animal when he laid his hands on
it. But they didn’t believe in it, teaching other people, though they
knew what was wrong and right. It was the sin of the Jews. Not to
believe in the truth of God’s word, knowing His word to the letter, and
preaching the word to other people was the sin of the Jews.
It
is the same as not believing in God. It’s a fatal sin. “Indeed you are
called a Jew, and rest on the law, and make your boast in God, and know
His will, and approve the things that are excellent, being instructed
out of the law, and are confident that you yourself are a guide to the
blind, a light to those who are in darkness, an instructor of the
foolish, a teacher of babes, having the form of knowledge and truth in
the law.” Paul pointed out the sin of disbelief among Jews.
It is to defile God to believe in Jesus with sins in the heart
We
can apply the same blunder of the Jews to most Christians today. Jews
are the same as those who don’t believe that Jesus have sanctified them
by blotting out all their sins. “You who make your boast in the law, do
you dishonor God through breaking the law? For ‘the name of God is
blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you,’ as it is written” (Romans
2:23-24). It is to defile the name of God if we believe in Jesus in the
wrong way. It’s to defile the name of God, if we don’t exactly believe
what Jesus did and if we are not born again.
It
is to defile God to believe in Jesus without being born again. “For
circumcision is indeed profitable if you keep the law; but if you are a
breaker of the law, your circumcision has become uncircumcision.
Therefore, if an uncircumcised man keeps the righteous requirements of
the law, will not his uncircumcision be counted as circumcision? And
will not the physically uncircumcised, if he fulfills the law, judge you
who, even with your written code and circumcision, are a transgressor
of the law? For he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is
circumcision that which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew who is
one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not
in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God” (Romans
2:25-29). We must all receive the word of Jesus with our hearts.
Which one came first, circumcision or the law?
Which
one came first, circumcision or the law? Which one did God give to
Israel first? Circumcision. God told Abraham to be circumcised. Abraham
had no legitimate son, even though he was 99 years old. However, God had
promised Abraham a son when he was 75 years old. God told Abraham,
“Come outside, I will give you as many descendants as the stars in the
sky.” Abraham believed in the word of God and waited for 25 years. The
promise was finally fulfilled after 25 years. Therefore, his son was
given to him when he was 100 years old. He waited 25 years, even though
he was a little disappointed and made many mistakes while he was
waiting. God also promised to give him and his sons the land of promise,
Canaan that implies the Kingdom of Heaven spiritually.
After
promising the Kingdom of Heaven, God told Abraham and every male among
the men of his house to be circumcised. God said that circumcision
should be a sign of the covenant between God and them. Therefore,
Abraham circumcised the flesh of his foreskin. All the male of his
household performed this rite. Circumcision is the same as the faith by
which we believe and receive the gospel of the truth.
Israel denied to be circumcised in the heart
However,
Israel boasted of being the descendants of Abraham and being
circumcised, asked the Gentiles arrogantly, “Have you been circumcised?”
We must be circumcised in the heart. We are saved when we receive the
word that Jesus blotted out the sins of the world and believe it with
our hearts.
No
other country has been invaded more than Israel. They were in deep
grief as a homeless people for nearly two thousand years. God trod on
Israel. Why? Because they didn’t believe.
They
defiled the name of God because they didn’t believe, even though God
loved Israel and wanted them to believe that God washed away all their
sins. He wanted to defeat their enemies as the Shepherd of Israel and
wanted to bless, love, and give glory to them.
God
promised to give glory to all people and make them His children if they
believe in Him with their hearts and have the remission of sin. Through
the example of Israel, God warns all the people of the world that He
will send them to hell, if they don’t receive His promise.
God
has promised that whoever believes the gospel of His truth can receive
all the blessings that Jesus promised, even though he/she is
insufficient in deeds. The only way to avoid the judgment of God is to
believe in the gospel. Believe in it, and you will then be saved and be
able to avoid hell.
I wish for the grace of the Lord to be on all souls.
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