Hey Kid,
We left off in chapter 4 with Paul making it clear that God’s thumbs-up only comes from trusting
Him in what He’s said. That’s how we get into God’s family—by trusting Him that He meant it when He said He would count Jesus’ death as payment for my sin. But what does life look like after that? Do I just trust God and then move on?
Obviously, you have kind of a heads up from my last letter that the answer to that second question is a fat no. Chapter 5 starts to deal with those questions, with what being in God’s family actually looks like. The chapter starts out by telling us exactly what we get when we join God’s family: peace with
God (because when we were out of His family, we were always going to be hostile with Him, but now things are different), grace (that’s God’s thumbs-up to me, because Jesus deserves God’s thumbs-up and gives it to me), confidently and joyfully looking forward to looking good with God because He changes me to be like Him, the ability to be joyful when life gets tough, and the assurance that I will never be disappointed that I joined God’s family.
A little further on, Paul talks about our fickle feelings. We get worried (or at least I know I have) that God might decide to get rid of us. But, Kid! He sent Jesus to die for everyone WHILE everyone hated Him, while people were His enemies. Now that I’m in His family, there’s no way He’ll get rid of me! Imagine the amazing things He’ll do for His family when He did incredible things for His enemies! Just wow.
Pretty soon after that, Paul reaches a transition point in the letter. He moves on to talk about Christian living. He recaps a lot of what we talked about in chapter 1, with the main point that Adam’s original sin (taking from the tree in the Garden of Eden to try to be like God) affected everyone, making everyone die, BUT Jesus made one payment for everyone’s sin to make joining God’s family available to everyone. And that, my dear sister, is what we’ll talk about in Chapter 6.
So what do I do with what we’ve talked about in the last chapter? One of the things that struck
me the most was how Paul deals with our feelings of fear about God possibly deciding He doesn’t want us anymore. You know from my last two letters that I for sure struggled with those thoughts for a long time, and I love the way Paul smacks those thoughts into the garbage. He’s all like, “Listen, God sent the Person He loves most to die for you while you still hated Him. He wanted you then. What makes you think that, now that you love Him and accept His love, He’ll decide He doesn’t want you anymore? THAT IS NOT HOW IT WORKS!” And it just makes my mind rest easy, you know?
I love you, Kiddo.
Viv
Saturday, February 23, 2019
New Pictures
(My CM Leadership ladies 💛)
(Our after school program had a district-wide sled race. My 1st and 2nd graders made the second fastest sled over all!)
(This is a late picture from Christmas break, but Tan hobbled around the Cobleskill reservoir with me on his barely repaired meniscus.)
(My dad sent me Valentine’s flowers!)
Wednesday, February 13, 2019
Letter No. 4
Hey Kid,
We went through Romans chapter 4 over the past few days, and it was a lot. One of the
questions Romans 3 left off on was, “Why did God give the Law in the first place? And are we getting rid of the Law now that we understand God’s grace through Jesus’ death? How does New Testament salvation work with the Old Testament Law system?”
In order to answer that, I want to do two things. The first thing is looking at Abraham and David, the most famous Jews of all time, which is exactly what Paul does, too. Paul reminds his readers that Abraham technically wasn’t a Jew when God made promises to him and said, “Abraham, I like that you’re trusting Me; you don’t deserve My thumbs up, but I’m going to give it to you because you believe I will do what I said would.” God said that when Abe was about 85 years old; God didn’t give Abraham the sign of circumcision until he was like 99. That blows any idea of circumcision or Jewish heritage giving you God’s thumbs up completely out of the water. Abraham also definitely received God’s thumbs up way before God gave the Torah to Moses, so hat gets rid of the idea that having the Law puts you in God’s good books, either.
King David, on the other hand, was for sure Jewish, for sure circumcised when he was a baby, and for sure knew the Torah. But in Psalm 32, David acknowledges his sin, but God says the same thing He said to Abraham, “You’re trusting all of the things I’ve told you, so you get My thumbs up, just like Abe!” The point is, even though David had all of the things the Jews thought made them better than everyone else, he still met God’s standard just by God taking his trust and giving him grace.
Which brings me to point number two: The Law was still important for people to have. God gave the Law as an example of His character, His standard and to explain there is a consequence for not meeting that standard: death. All of this boils down to trusting God to do what He says, even though it is impossible. Just like Abraham trusted God to give him a son when he was 100 years old, we trust God that He has already accepted Jesus’ death for our sins to give us grace to be His children, meeting His standard.
After the last discussion on chapter 4, I had to go and talk to Dave Field, our teacher. I wanted
to ask him to explain exactly why he said the Law was necessary for Jesus to pay our sin debt that we
talked about last time. Like how can the Law be necessary, but I still feel free from having to fulfill it? We’re going to get more in depth with this later on in the letter, but I just want to share what Dave
shared with me, because I just think it’s super important to clarify. Basically, God chose the Law to give humankind an example of His perfection. While the Law and the sacrificial system were in play as a sin credit card, God showed grace to the people who trusted Him because He knew He would send Christ to pay it off. BUT THE LAW STILL BROUGHT DEATH!
So what about the standard? Because it still exists and it wasn’t thrown away, even when Jesus died and rose again. NOW, as a believer, I have the Holy Spirit, God Himself, His living standard, alive inside of me. He lives out the standard through me as I have faith in God like Abraham and David. The rest I find in that, Kid, is amazing.
I love you,
Viv
We went through Romans chapter 4 over the past few days, and it was a lot. One of the
questions Romans 3 left off on was, “Why did God give the Law in the first place? And are we getting rid of the Law now that we understand God’s grace through Jesus’ death? How does New Testament salvation work with the Old Testament Law system?”
In order to answer that, I want to do two things. The first thing is looking at Abraham and David, the most famous Jews of all time, which is exactly what Paul does, too. Paul reminds his readers that Abraham technically wasn’t a Jew when God made promises to him and said, “Abraham, I like that you’re trusting Me; you don’t deserve My thumbs up, but I’m going to give it to you because you believe I will do what I said would.” God said that when Abe was about 85 years old; God didn’t give Abraham the sign of circumcision until he was like 99. That blows any idea of circumcision or Jewish heritage giving you God’s thumbs up completely out of the water. Abraham also definitely received God’s thumbs up way before God gave the Torah to Moses, so hat gets rid of the idea that having the Law puts you in God’s good books, either.
King David, on the other hand, was for sure Jewish, for sure circumcised when he was a baby, and for sure knew the Torah. But in Psalm 32, David acknowledges his sin, but God says the same thing He said to Abraham, “You’re trusting all of the things I’ve told you, so you get My thumbs up, just like Abe!” The point is, even though David had all of the things the Jews thought made them better than everyone else, he still met God’s standard just by God taking his trust and giving him grace.
Which brings me to point number two: The Law was still important for people to have. God gave the Law as an example of His character, His standard and to explain there is a consequence for not meeting that standard: death. All of this boils down to trusting God to do what He says, even though it is impossible. Just like Abraham trusted God to give him a son when he was 100 years old, we trust God that He has already accepted Jesus’ death for our sins to give us grace to be His children, meeting His standard.
After the last discussion on chapter 4, I had to go and talk to Dave Field, our teacher. I wanted
to ask him to explain exactly why he said the Law was necessary for Jesus to pay our sin debt that we
talked about last time. Like how can the Law be necessary, but I still feel free from having to fulfill it? We’re going to get more in depth with this later on in the letter, but I just want to share what Dave
shared with me, because I just think it’s super important to clarify. Basically, God chose the Law to give humankind an example of His perfection. While the Law and the sacrificial system were in play as a sin credit card, God showed grace to the people who trusted Him because He knew He would send Christ to pay it off. BUT THE LAW STILL BROUGHT DEATH!
So what about the standard? Because it still exists and it wasn’t thrown away, even when Jesus died and rose again. NOW, as a believer, I have the Holy Spirit, God Himself, His living standard, alive inside of me. He lives out the standard through me as I have faith in God like Abraham and David. The rest I find in that, Kid, is amazing.
I love you,
Viv
Thursday, February 7, 2019
Letter No. 3
Hey Kid,
I’m going to be real with you, this is the third letter I’m writing, but the first one isn’t in the mail
yet. It’s a goal for this week is actually to put at least one of them in the mail. Enough excuses, though, I’m about to lay Romans chapter 3 out for you!
The chapter starts out with a hypothetical conversation between Paul and a Jew. They’re
arguing about whether or not the Jew deserves God’s thumbs up (just so you know, NO ONE deserves God’s thumbs up, not even the Jew). To prove his point, Paul reminds his imaginary opponent about Psalm 51, in which David (the best Jew after Abraham) goes to court against God, and God is justified, not David! God is the only One who can ever be announced right. Paul uses a lot of Old Testament quotes to back up this idea, but then it finally gets good, Kid!
Starting in verse 21, Paul announces that now, through Jesus’ death on the cross, God is giving His right status to everyone who believes that what Jesus did was enough. In the Old Testament time period, God had set up for Israel a system of sacrifices that looked forward to what Jesus was going to do on the cross. Those sacrifices didn’t pay for Israel’s sin, it just covered for the sin like a credit card. Then, when Jesus lived the whole Law out and died on the cross, all sin was paid for IN FULL by His blood. Paul also announces that payment wasn’t just for the Jews, it was and is for anyone who will trust that Jesus’ payment is enough! This doesn’t mean the law is dead and gone, it just means that it is fulfilled and now we get to live in Jesus’ fulfillment of it!
How does this apply to my life today? SO MUCH, KID! I used to think that I could only fit into
God’s plan if I followed Jesus’ life exactly and obeyed the Law to its fullest extent. I thought that was the only way God would be happy with me. I trusted Jesus when He said He would save me in the Bible, but I also thought He would save me even though He was angry with me for failing at the Law every day. I love this because it explains what it took so long for me to understand as a teenager. Jesus did everything for everyone; it’s simple. All we have to do is trust Him that He did everything He says He did. Of course, Paul is going to keep explaining the ins and outs of the salvation situation as we go, but I hope this letter encourages you
I love you, Kid.
Viv
I’m going to be real with you, this is the third letter I’m writing, but the first one isn’t in the mail
yet. It’s a goal for this week is actually to put at least one of them in the mail. Enough excuses, though, I’m about to lay Romans chapter 3 out for you!
The chapter starts out with a hypothetical conversation between Paul and a Jew. They’re
arguing about whether or not the Jew deserves God’s thumbs up (just so you know, NO ONE deserves God’s thumbs up, not even the Jew). To prove his point, Paul reminds his imaginary opponent about Psalm 51, in which David (the best Jew after Abraham) goes to court against God, and God is justified, not David! God is the only One who can ever be announced right. Paul uses a lot of Old Testament quotes to back up this idea, but then it finally gets good, Kid!
Starting in verse 21, Paul announces that now, through Jesus’ death on the cross, God is giving His right status to everyone who believes that what Jesus did was enough. In the Old Testament time period, God had set up for Israel a system of sacrifices that looked forward to what Jesus was going to do on the cross. Those sacrifices didn’t pay for Israel’s sin, it just covered for the sin like a credit card. Then, when Jesus lived the whole Law out and died on the cross, all sin was paid for IN FULL by His blood. Paul also announces that payment wasn’t just for the Jews, it was and is for anyone who will trust that Jesus’ payment is enough! This doesn’t mean the law is dead and gone, it just means that it is fulfilled and now we get to live in Jesus’ fulfillment of it!
How does this apply to my life today? SO MUCH, KID! I used to think that I could only fit into
God’s plan if I followed Jesus’ life exactly and obeyed the Law to its fullest extent. I thought that was the only way God would be happy with me. I trusted Jesus when He said He would save me in the Bible, but I also thought He would save me even though He was angry with me for failing at the Law every day. I love this because it explains what it took so long for me to understand as a teenager. Jesus did everything for everyone; it’s simple. All we have to do is trust Him that He did everything He says He did. Of course, Paul is going to keep explaining the ins and outs of the salvation situation as we go, but I hope this letter encourages you
I love you, Kid.
Viv
Saturday, February 2, 2019
Letter No. 2
Hey Kid,
You probably haven’t even received my first letter yet, but I’m here to tell you about Romans
chapter 2—the major points that hit me and how I want to apply them to my life right now.
Chapter 1 ended with the idea that God gave all of humankind over to the darkness, because they chose it over Him. Remember this is a letter that didn’t have chapters when Paul wrote it, so chapter 2 follows in a similar vein. Paul now focuses his attention on the guy that is going to be like, “Hey, I’m not as bad as these remote tribal people who worship demons. I’m pretty good and I agree with God that those other people are bad, so God won’t punish me, right?” Wrong.
Paul tells that guy straight out, “You aren’t good all the time, so you miss God’s standard of right-ness, too. You’re just as bad as the other guy.” Through a number of hypothetical questions, Paul forces the “good-enough” guy to see that he isn’t good enough at all.
Finally, Paul talks straight at God’s chosen person, the Jew. The Jew thinks that, between the Torah, the fact that he is circumcised (I know, weird), and his lineage from Abraham, he has enough to deserve a pass from God. Paul smacks all of that into the garbage. He says, “Nope. You have the Torah, and you teach it, but you don’t actually do it. You fail to reach God’s standard, too!”
The main focus toward the end of the chapter is that God doesn’t care tiddlywinks for the rules you follow if your heart doesn’t match up with your actions. You can fool people into giving you a “good job” all you want; the reality is that only God’s “good job” matters. This all seems pretty dark, right? It feels like we’re all in a ship that is sinking fast, and for most of humanity that’s true. Kid, we can’t touch God’s right-ness on our own, but we both know how this story ends.
Keep reading these letters. I promise that it gets brighter.
The only question left is how to apply this to my life. I think the main thing for me is that, with our background, I know a lot. I know the rules, I know what this is supposed to look like, and I know that, in the past, I've stood on a soapbox to preach something I'm not living. My prayer tonight is that God would keep softening my heart to recognize every effort of my own to reach His right-ness is pointless. Like I said, this is a lot of talk about failure, but I know you know the solution for failure, too, and I'm about to write about it next time.
I love you, Kiddo
Viv
You probably haven’t even received my first letter yet, but I’m here to tell you about Romans
chapter 2—the major points that hit me and how I want to apply them to my life right now.
Chapter 1 ended with the idea that God gave all of humankind over to the darkness, because they chose it over Him. Remember this is a letter that didn’t have chapters when Paul wrote it, so chapter 2 follows in a similar vein. Paul now focuses his attention on the guy that is going to be like, “Hey, I’m not as bad as these remote tribal people who worship demons. I’m pretty good and I agree with God that those other people are bad, so God won’t punish me, right?” Wrong.
Paul tells that guy straight out, “You aren’t good all the time, so you miss God’s standard of right-ness, too. You’re just as bad as the other guy.” Through a number of hypothetical questions, Paul forces the “good-enough” guy to see that he isn’t good enough at all.
Finally, Paul talks straight at God’s chosen person, the Jew. The Jew thinks that, between the Torah, the fact that he is circumcised (I know, weird), and his lineage from Abraham, he has enough to deserve a pass from God. Paul smacks all of that into the garbage. He says, “Nope. You have the Torah, and you teach it, but you don’t actually do it. You fail to reach God’s standard, too!”
The main focus toward the end of the chapter is that God doesn’t care tiddlywinks for the rules you follow if your heart doesn’t match up with your actions. You can fool people into giving you a “good job” all you want; the reality is that only God’s “good job” matters. This all seems pretty dark, right? It feels like we’re all in a ship that is sinking fast, and for most of humanity that’s true. Kid, we can’t touch God’s right-ness on our own, but we both know how this story ends.
Keep reading these letters. I promise that it gets brighter.
The only question left is how to apply this to my life. I think the main thing for me is that, with our background, I know a lot. I know the rules, I know what this is supposed to look like, and I know that, in the past, I've stood on a soapbox to preach something I'm not living. My prayer tonight is that God would keep softening my heart to recognize every effort of my own to reach His right-ness is pointless. Like I said, this is a lot of talk about failure, but I know you know the solution for failure, too, and I'm about to write about it next time.
I love you, Kiddo
Viv
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