Today we commemorate Melitios of Antioch

1 Kingdoms (1 Samuel) 12:16-25

¹⁶ “Now therefore, stand and see this great thing which the LORD will do before your eyes: ¹⁷ Is today not the wheat harvest? I will call to the LORD, and He will send thunder and rain, that you may perceive and see that your wickedness is great, which you have done in the sight of the LORD, in asking a king for yourselves.”
¹⁸ So Samuel called to the LORD, and the LORD sent thunder and rain that day; and all the people greatly feared the LORD and Samuel.
¹⁹ And all the people said to Samuel, “Pray for your servants to the LORD your God, that we may not die; for we have added to all our sins the evil of asking a king for ourselves.”
²⁰ Then Samuel said to the people, “Do not fear. You have done all this wickedness; yet do not turn aside from following the LORD, but serve the LORD with all your heart. ²¹ And do not turn aside; for then you would go after empty things which cannot profit or deliver, for they are nothing. ²² For the LORD will not forsake His people, for His great name’s sake, because it has pleased the LORD to make you His people. ²³ Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD in ceasing to pray for you; but I will teach you the good and the right way. ²⁴ Only fear the LORD, and serve Him in truth with all your heart; for consider what great things He has done for you. ²⁵ But if you still do wickedly, you shall be swept away, both you and your king.”

The message is still the same: repent and turn from your wickedness.  The Lord is merciful.

1 John 1:8-2:6

⁸ If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. ⁹ If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. ¹⁰ If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us. ¹ My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. ² And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.
³ Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. ⁴ He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. ⁵ But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him. ⁶ He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.

“John addresses three false gnostic teachings on “sin.” Their intertwined errors are that: (1) union with God is indifferent to sin; (2) sin does not exist; (3) one in union with God cannot sin.

John answers by saying: (1) Faith must be seen in works, that is, it must produce moral purity. To have a right relationship with God includes living a holy and righteous life. And faith must seek forgiveness and cleansing for sin. (2) Sin does exist, and teh practice of confession is the established basis for growth toward righteousness. (3) Though we do sin, we should strive not to sin. Salvation in Christ is a process of growth into sinlessness.”

I thank God that the Church has the office of Confession.

Mark 13:31-14:2

³¹ Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away.
³² “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. ³³ Take heed, watch and pray; for you do not know when the time is. ³⁴ It is like a man going to a far country, who left his house and gave authority to his servants, and to each his work, and commanded the doorkeeper to watch. ³⁵ Watch therefore, for you do not know when the master of the house is coming—in the evening, at midnight, at the crowing of the rooster, or in the morning— ³⁶ lest, coming suddenly, he find you sleeping. ³⁷ And what I say to you, I say to all: Watch!” ¹ After two days it was the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. And the chief priests and the scribes sought how they might take Him by trickery and put Him to death. ² But they said, “Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar of the people.”

Summary: be a faithful Christian. 

Romans 9: part 2

14 What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not! 15 For He says to Moses, “I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion.”^[f] 16 So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy. 17 For the Scripture says to the Pharaoh, “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth.”^[g] 18 Therefore He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He hardens.
19 You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault? For who has resisted His will?” 20 But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, “Why have you made me like this?” 21 Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor?
22 What if God, wanting to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, 23 and that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had prepared beforehand for glory, 24 even us whom He called, not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?
25 As He says also in Hosea:

“ I will call them My people, who were not My people,
And her beloved, who was not beloved.”^[h]
26 “ And it shall come to pass in the place where it was said to them,
‘ You are not My people,’
There they shall be called sons of the living God.”^[i]

27 Isaiah also cries out concerning Israel:^[j]

“ Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea,
The remnant will be saved.
28 For He will finish the work and cut it short in righteousness,
Because the LORD will make a short work upon the earth.”^[k]

29 And as Isaiah said before:

“ Unless the LORD of Sabaoth^[l]had left us a seed,
We would have become like Sodom,
And we would have been made like Gomorrah.”^[m]

I was reading a note on these verses, and was surprised to find something I had never thought of before.  The vessels of mercy are the believing Jews and Gentiles, and the vessels of wrath are the unbelieving Jews.  Now that I think about it, that makes a whole lot more sense than thinking that each individual person is elected to go to heaven or hell (vessels of mercy and wrath respectively).

30 What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness of faith; 31 but Israel, pursuing the law of righteousness, has not attained to the law of righteousness.^[n] 32 Why? Because they did not seek it by faith, but as it were, by the works of the law.^[o] For they stumbled at that stumbling stone. 33 As it is written:

“ Behold, I lay in Zion a stumbling stone and rock of offense,
And whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.”^[p]

“The first answer to the paradox of Jewish unbelief is from God’s standpoint: His sovereign will. The second answer to the paradox is from humanity’s standpoint: faith. For “the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith”, equally for Jews and Gentiles. The Gentiles, who had been unconcerned about righteousness, now attain it by their faith in Christ. God mercifully overlooks their former unrighteousness practiced in ignorance. By contrast the Jews fail to attain even the righteousness of the law, for they do not pursue the law by faith but by works. Seeing only the letter of the law, not its spirit, they miss Christ in the law and try to keep the commandments apart from Him. They substitute what was “shadow” for substance. Jesus Christ becomes their stumbling block.”

Romans 6: part 2

15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not! 16 Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? 17 But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. 18 And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness. 19 I speak in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves of uncleanness, and of lawlessness leading to more lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves of righteousness for holiness.

“Baptism frees us from being slaves of sin and makes us servants of God if we continue with a willing spirit and submissiveness to God. For (1) the form of doctrine, the basic teach of the Church, calls us to love God and to obey from the heart. But (2) without the assistance of God, to whom we were delivered, we could neither understand doctrine nor do virtuous deeds.”

20 For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness. 21 What fruit did you have then in the things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of those things is death. 22 But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

“Slavery to God, initiated in baptism, is true freedom. The fruit of baptism is holiness, or sanctification, and it ends in everlasting life. Thus salvation is a process of transformation from sinner to saint. We are saved through baptism, and we are being saved, that is, being transformed by the uncreated grace of God to be like Him, in anticipation of eternal life…. We cannot earn eternal life. We do, however, participate in it, and must not become listless in our Christian life.”

Oh Lord, let my will be conformed to yours.

Romans 4

 1 What then shall we say that Abraham our father has found according to the flesh?^[a] 2 For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. 3 For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.”^[b] 4 Now to him who works, the wages are not counted as grace but as debt. 5 But to him who does not work but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is accounted for righteousness, 6 just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works:
       7 “ Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven,
      And whose sins are covered;
       8 Blessed is the man to whom the LORD shall not impute sin.”^[c]

9 Does this blessedness then come upon the circumcised only, or upon the uncircumcised also? For we say that faith was accounted to Abraham for righteousness. 10 How then was it accounted? While he was circumcised, or uncircumcised? Not while circumcised, but while uncircumcised. 11 And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while still uncircumcised, that he might be the father of all those who believe, though they are uncircumcised, that righteousness might be imputed to them also, 12 and the father of circumcision to those who not only are of the circumcision, but who also walk in the steps of the faith which our father Abraham had while still uncircumcised.

 There is a lot of stuff here, but I will continue on with some things about imputation.  It was included in a note in my Orthodox Study Bible.  “Imputed (v.11) means “reckoned” or “rendered.” This is not merely juridicial or external for true righteousness transcends the law, as shown with boeht Abraham and David. Rather, by faith we actively participate in God’s grace given to us, His righteousness. By continuing in it we are gradually transformed internally and externally into His likeness. Those who relegate God’s righteousness to seomthing external and “spiritual” by saying righteousness is not really ours, but only “imputed” to us, miss the truth.  They externalize God’s righteousness as much as did many Jews. Faith and righteousness lead to the greater reality of internal circumcision, the life of faith, of the Spirit in us, the walk in the steps of the faith (v.12).”

13 For the promise that he would be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. 14 For if those who are of the law are heirs, faith is made void and the promise made of no effect, 15 because the law brings about wrath; for where there is no law there is no transgression.
16 Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all 17 (as it is written, “I have made you a father of many nations”^[d]) in the presence of Him whom he believed—God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did; 18 who, contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations, according to what was spoken, “So shall your descendants be.”^[e] 19 And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. 20 He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, 21 and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform. 22 And therefore “it was accounted to him for righteousness.”^[f]
23 Now it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him, 24 but also for us. It shall be imputed to us who believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead, 25 who was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification.

Abraham is both the father of the Jews, but also of all who believe and are righteous by the grace of God.  May we all act and believe in God’s glory, mercy, and grace.

Warning: next post, romans 5, watch out sola fide!

Romans 3

Saint Paul

Romans 3

1 What advantage then has the Jew, or what is the profit of circumcision? 2 Much in every way! Chiefly because to them were committed the oracles of God. 3 For what if some did not believe? Will their unbelief make the faithfulness of God without effect? 4 Certainly not! Indeed, let God be true but every man a liar. As it is written:

“ That You may be justified in Your words,
And may overcome when You are judged.”^[a]

5 But if our unrighteousness demonstrates the righteousness of God, what shall we say? Is God unjust who inflicts wrath? (I speak as a man.) 6 Certainly not! For then how will God judge the world?
7 For if the truth of God has increased through my lie to His glory, why am I also still judged as a sinner? 8 And why not say, “Let us do evil that good may come”?—as we are slanderously reported and as some affirm that we say. Their condemnation is just.

Verses 1 & 2 demonstrate the validity of the point I made in the last post about the goodness of external piety even if it doesn’t always touch a person deeply.  We can’t scrap everything in the Old Covenant just because there is a new one, after all, the Jews knew God through the Old Covenant.

9 What then? Are we better than they? Not at all. For we have previously charged both Jews and Greeks that they are all under sin.
10 As it is written:

“ There is none righteous, no, not one;
11 There is none who understands;
There is none who seeks after God.
12 They have all turned aside;
They have together become unprofitable;
There is none who does good, no, not one.”^[b]
13 “ Their throat is an open tomb;
With their tongues they have practiced deceit”;^[c]

“ The poison of asps is under their lips”;^[d]
14 “ Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.”^[e]
15 “ Their feet are swift to shed blood;
16 Destruction and misery are in their ways;
17 And the way of peace they have not known.”^[f]
18 “ There is no fear of God before their eyes.”^[g]

19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. 20 Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.

At one time in my life I used this passage to proclaim the bondage of the human will, that it is actively against God.  I no longer hold that position.  This passage shows that we, as humans, are not equal to God and we have not achieved Theosis.  No one can justify themselves.

21 But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets, 22 even the righteousness of God, through faith in Jesus Christ, to all and on all^[h] who believe. For there is no difference; 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, 26 to demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

This note says it better than I could: “The ultimate purpose of man’s existence is to attain the glory of God.  Even if we should keep the law, we would still fall short of God’s glory, for we would still die and need salvation.  The way to God is both perfect righteousness and eternal life.  But how can we attain that?  Jesus Christ alone lived in complete righteousness, He alone was resurrected to eternal life.  Therefore, He alone is our way to God; He is the glory of God.”  This is not to say that I believe in the Imputation of Christ’s Righteousness or Anselm’s Theory of the Substitutionary atonement.  Another note, “Righteousness is not credited, as money to a bank account.  Why?  God’s righteousness is Christ Himself.  To have His righteousness is to have Christ living within us, to be in union with Him, a relationship that is dynamic and substantial.  It is personal: a relationship between Shepherd and sheep, Master and friend, Father and child – not judge and defendant.”

27 Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? Of works? No, but by the law of faith. 28 Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law. 29 Or is He the God of the Jews only? Is He not also the God of the Gentiles? Yes, of the Gentiles also, 30 since there is one God who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. 31 Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law.

Okay, I have to say this note is really good.  This chapter is full of theological distinctives that can and are taken in many non-traditional ways, so I’m just going to quote it.  “What, then, does the law teach us? (1) Attaining righteousness through works, human effort alone, is impossible. (2) Righteousness is attained only on the basis of faith, which is given to man [not an individual, but the whole race]* as a gift. (3) God is impartial; Jews and Gentiles are justified on the same basis, faith in Christ. By faith and through faith are synonymous.  (4) Justification by faith in Christ fulfills the law, for Christ’s faithfulness in doing His works satisfies the law. Those who have true faith in Christ are made truly righteous.”

*insertion mine