A cord of three strands
Romans 1:18-32 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, 19 because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. 20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. 21 For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. 22 Professing to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.
24 Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. 25 For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
26 For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, 27 and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error.
28 And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, 29 being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; 32 and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.
Paul’s words in today’s text certainly would not be well received in today’s culture and society. Paul would be considered in tolerant, judgmental even unloving. Many today would say that anyone, who spoke a harsh message like Paul, was missing the love of Jesus. It would be said by many that this early church planter, this apostle whose letters to the congregations he helped to establish, make up much of our new testament scripture, had a doctrine that did not line up with the heart of God and Jesus. Yet this same Paul also, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, wrote 1 Corinthians 13, the love chapter, one of the most often quoted and reprinted essays about love ever written. So, was Paul a lover or a hater? Did he proclaim the gospel of the kingdom or a restrictive religious doctrine?
Paul’s ministry and his message were much more than just the words he spoke. Miracles, healing, protection and provision were present in and through Paul’s ministry. In 1 Corinthians 2:1-5, Paul says: And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God. Even if we have a message that is accurate, it is ineffective if it is missing the demonstration of the Spirit and of power. When Jesus commissioned the disciples, and us, He said: “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned. These signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues; they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” (Mark 16:15-18) The gospel of the kingdom will also include evidence of the realities of the kingdom, the power of the Spirit causing things on earth to be as they are in heaven.
God is a triune God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Ecclesiastes 4:12 says: A cord of three strands is not quickly torn apart. Paul’s message and his ministry was also a three stranded cord. It included the uncompromised truth of God’s word, the demonstration of the Spirit and of power and the third strand of love. In 1 Corinthians 13, Paul says: If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing. Nothing we do, whether great spiritual things or great sacrificial acts are profitable if they are void of love. Paul continues: Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. If you are familiar with that passage you might have noticed that I left out a portion of what Paul says love is. It’s a portion many today prefer to leave out when speaking of Christ like love. Paul also says love: does not act unbecomingly, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth.
In Ephesians 4, Paul gives direction about what the true Christian life and ministry should look like. Verse 15 says: Speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ. That really is what Paul’s message was and what it reflected, truth and love accompanied by the power of the Spirit. In 1 Corinthians 9:22-23, Paul says: I have become all things to all men, so that I may by all means save some. I do all things for the sake of the gospel, so that I may become a fellow partaker of it. The one thing though that neither Paul nor we should become to win or save some, is partakers or participants in sin. 2 Corinthians 5:17-21 says: if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God. For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. Jesus Christ, who knew no sin became sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. Only Jesus could take on sin for the sake of righteousness and salvation. If we become participants or fellow partakers in sin, trying to win some, we simply ourselves revert back to our old sin nature.
God’s word, His message, His heart is a three stranded cord. It is uncompromised truth; it is unconditional love and it is power. All three together are the witness and the testimony of Christ.
Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.
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