He Paid My Debt

Today I was drawn to read through the whole chapter of Romans 3. Normally, when referring to this chapter, we read only verse 23 and I wanted to refresh my mind of what the whole chapter says. Currently, I am studying with the Complete Jewish Study Bible. This is mainly because it has lots of facts about the Jewish tradition and has helped me, in many ways, to better understand why certain details were placed in scripture. It is harder to understand the scripture when trying to think/apply it according to our generations traditions and habits. Everything in scripture is relevant to our day and Age, however, we do need to do some digging to understand the old traditions so we can see where it is found today.

One key phrase that is repeated in this chapter is: "For in his sight no one alive will be considered righteous on the ground of legalistic observance of Torah commands [the law], because what Torah really does is show people how sinful they are." (3:20, 28).

One thing we can understand is that the Jews and the Gentiles (the two groups of people that Paul is speaking to) are still trying to take care of their sin by atonement and the law. At this point, Christ has already died on the cross; and yet, there are still many who do not understand what has happened and what the Messiah did for them. I hope that you, dear Reader, will be able to understand. If you do already understand, may this study encourage you to continue to understand and to lift up praise to the One who paid it all!

Paul begins to explain to the people that the law could only show them how sinful they were (3:20). It had no power to not sin. It could only expose what was sin and where it was. Sin, as Romans 3:23 clearly explains it, is "falling short of the Glory of God" [KJV] and Paul clearly states that everyone has sinned and falls short. Never, in the history, had their been record of a man who was without sin, until now. Jesus Christ, the one true Son of God (John 3:16), has changed history for them. Salvation, forgiveness of sin, and the power over sin could now be "...accomplished by the Messiah Jesus." (3:24).

This next verse is the one I mainly am going to focus on since it was the verse that opened up afresh to me: Romans 3:25, "God put Yeshua [Jesus] forward as the kapparah for sin through his faithfulness in respect to his bloody sacrificial death. This vindicated God's righteousness; because in his forbearance, he had passed over [with neither punishment nor remission] the sins people had committed in the past;" The key word is "kapparah". Now, many translations use the word "propitiation" and I feel that it does not do this verse justice. "Kapparah" is a key word that both the Jews and the Gentiles were able to understand. The Gentiles, who were either Greeks or served Greek gods, understand this word because it was a ritual they used to appease an angry Greek god (found in the study notes in my CJ Bible). The Jews understood this word also because this was a form of atonement: they would wave a chicken over the persons head and then slaughter and sacrifice it according to the Jewish rules for sacrifice. Now that we understand how meaningful this one word was for both groups of people, we can also better understand the fullness of what Paul was telling these people. He's basically saying, Don't you people get it!?! Christ, the Messiah, He was the "kapparah" for you and me! He "passed over the sins people had committed" He is righteous, faithful, and without blemish and God used Him to wave over all our heads and then sacrificed Him to pay the debt for our sins'. Wow! I was blown back when I finally understand the fullness of the message Paul was trying to say to these people.

We may not practice this ritual and sacrifice chickens for our sins', but maybe there is something else we are doing that causes us to believe that "if I do this or say this, then I can have my sins' erased"? Dear Reader, I want you to understand that Jesus Christ already paid the debt. All we need to do is come to Jesus and accept Him into our heart. Then, the righteousness [doing what is right in the eyes of God] of Jesus comes into our heart. Over time that righteousness becomes apart of us and we then do what is right because we want to. There is no tradition/ritual you or I can do to have our sins' forgiven or erased. You must simply come to Jesus (wherever you are) and say, "I am a sinner. Please forgive me of my sins. I know you paid the debt for me and I ask you to come into my heart today." He will come in and He will change your life for the good!

Please leave a comment below of what God has spoken to you about this chapter.

God bless!

The Ministry of Bitter Trials

1. Entering into the Bitter Waters: Ruth 1:19-22, "So the two of them went on until they came to Bethlehem. When they arrived in Bethlehem, the whole city was stirred with excitement over them. The women asked, “Can this be Naomi?” “Don’t call me Naomi [pleasant],” she answered them; “call me Marah [bitter], because Shaddai has made my life very bitter. I went out full, and Adonai has brought me back empty. Why call me Naomi? Adonai has testified against me, Shaddai has afflicted me.” This is how Naomi returned, with Rut the woman from Mo’av, her daughter-in-law, accompanying her from the plain of Mo’av. They arrived in Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest."

• Naomi has the confession of life no longer being "pleasant" [Naomi], but now it is "bitter" [Marah].

Exodus 15:22-25: "Moshe led Isra’el onward from the Sea of Suf. They went out into the Shur Desert; but after traveling three days in the desert, they had found no water. They arrived at Marah but couldn’t drink the water there, because it was bitter. This is why they called it Marah [bitterness]. The people grumbled against Moshe and asked, “What are we to drink?” Moshe cried to Adonai; and Adonai showed him a certain piece of wood, which, when he threw it into the water, made the water taste good."

• Two key words to make note of: “Marah” = bitterness & "Wood” = humanity 

• The Lord uses each one of us to minister and be ministered to--many times we are not even aware that we are doing so. 

• It was not sin, I believe, for Naomi to make this confession because she was in the will of the Lord. However, she remained out of sin because she allowed God to move her through the bitter waters. 

2. Finding the Purpose of  the Bitter Waters: Ruth 3:1, "Naomi her mother-in-law said to her, "My daughter, I should be seeking security for you; so that things will go well with you." 

• Naomi saw that Ruth needed to be taken care of (security). Ruth, not a Jew, needed things to be put in order in her life for the Lord’s will for her life to be fulfilled. This could only happen through Naomi.

• If Naomi remained in isolation (refusing to allow her daughters-in-law to come along); then, not only would she have missed God, but Ruth would have struggled unnecessarily. God may have used another people to fulfill His will for Ruth. But, as it is said of Esther, Naomi was created for such a time as this! Naomi was brought into the bitter waters to bring Ruth into her calling. 

• Now was not the time for Naomi to wallow in her sorrows and live daily in a pity party. It was time for Naomi to be the voice of the Holy Spirit to Ruth and guide her to know the Lord’s will and ways. We must realize that to love someone we must allow ourselves to be brought to a low point to lift them up. Ruth, though we might now realize it, was also at a low point. Here she is in a foreign land--different culture, different God, different mentalities, etc... If Naomi had returned with a rejoicing spirit, then she probably would have completely overlooked Ruth's need. The bitterness was not to destroy Naomi, if I could be bold enough to say, it was to humble this woman of God. She was a well-known and loved woman; and yet, God saw fit to humble her so that she could see the need of her daughter-in-law.

• So, if you are brought to the bitter waters, remember, God saw it fit to humble Naomi so that she could see the need of someone already in a low state and lift her up into new waters.

3. The Fruit of Enduring the Bitter Waters: Ruth 4:13-15, "...Adonai enabled her to conceive, and she gave birth to a son. Then the women said to Naomi, “Blessed be Adonai, who today has provided you a redeemer! May his name be renowned in Israel. May he restore your life and provide for your old age; for your daughter-in-law, who loves you and is better to you than seven sons, has given birth to him.” 

• Because Naomi endured this long trial and allowed Ruth to be the wood tossed into her life, she has found the sweet sweet waters again. 

•  “Open your mouth and taste, open your eyes and see how good God is. Blessed are you who run to him. Worship God if you want the best; worship open doors to all his goodness.” – Psalm 34:8-9 MSG 

• Her daughter-in-law has now produced an heir who will continue the family line (the Davidic line which Christ would be born of). What once was impossible, we now can clearly see is possible and has happened. 

• There are children, young men, and parents in the kingdom of God. Spiritually, we are given children to mature, young men to become fathers, and fathers to be a covering. Ruth was fruit to Naomi and she was fruit the produced more fruit and that fruit would produce much more fruit (more heirs). Spiritually, we must apply this to our own life. There is fruit in our life that is waiting to be produced: a calling, a people, etc...

Conclusion

• If you feel that you are trying to drink the water in your life and it tastes bitter; don’t be discouraged or angry at God. Pay attention to what wood He is bringing into your life. Proverbs 27:4 tells us that iron sharpens iron and that applies to the water and wood situation. The wood/iron is doing a work to bring us to a new level of fruitfulness in our life along with others. If you are praying, “Lord, I want to be more fruitful for your kingdom”, then don’t be discouraged when things become bitter and unpleasant. He is answering your prayer. Just take one day at a time and observe all the things that He is doing to bring you to a point of fruitfulness. Hold fast and do not give up because you are indeed created for such a time as this—even if you may not know what “this” is yet.