The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my mind and heart in Luke 4:25-28,
"'I assure you that there were many widows in Israel in Elijah's time, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and there was a severe famine throughout the land. Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow in Zarephath in the region of Sidon. And there were many in Israel with leprosy in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed—only Naaman the Syrian.' All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this."
What were the folks so furious about when Jesus spoke of the widow in Zarephath and the leper, Naaman? Simply, that these two Gentiles were picked by God for the relief of their suffering through two of his prophets: Elijah and Elisha. Apart from these, the many people of Israel were left in their suffering by God. The Jews in Jesus day found this history lesson to be intolerable as they counted on their physical descent from Abraham to bring fulfillment to their own lives of the promises of God. In an exchange with the Jews Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." Their response is instructive into the mindset of the Jews of the day, "We are Abraham's descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?" John 8:31-34. The Jews considered their pedigree as Abraham's offspring to be all they needed to hold God's favor.
It is against this backdrop that Jesus taught. Preparing the world for the message of faith, he necessarily brought conflict into the discussion as he pointed out that God will make his own choices, and the choice he has made is that only those who embrace him in faith will enter into the family of God in the resurrection. It will not be through pedigree and it will not be through law-keeping. As Paul puts it, "In other words, it is not the natural children who are God's children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham's offspring." Romans 9:8.
Earlier in the book of Romans Paul explained, "It was not through law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith. For if those who live by law are heirs, faith has no value and the promise is worthless, because law brings wrath. And where there is no law there is no transgression. Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham's offspring—not only to those who are of the law but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all. As it is written: 'I have made you a father of many nations.' He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed—the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were." Romans 4:13-17.
God's purposes in election will stand. And his choice, his election, is that all who embrace him in faith will become his children. So much of theology still argues this point today. Somehow, someway, it seems, anything but a person embracing God in faith will save him. Salvation is not by appointment and it is not by being a do-gooder. God wants for his own all who want him, who embrace him in faith.
And, he doesn't need my thoughts on it. He has decided for himself.
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share your thoughts of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We'd love to hear from you!
Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com
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