Sunday, March 16 - The Second Sunday in Lent: Dwight Russell

Romans 4:1-5,13-17. For the promise that he would inherit the world did not come to Abraham or to his descendants through the law but through the righteousness of faith.”

The Law (Commandments) were given to humankind by God, through Moses, as a code of behavior and existence which would apply not only to the Israelites of that age but to succeeding generations “ad infinitum”, including us today. Biblical history illustrates that, time after time, the Israelites failed to follow God’s instructions and suffered because of a lack of faith, worship of other gods, etc. However, we also see examples of God keeping his covenants and promises when the Israelites kept the faith and adhered to His commandments.

So, what do we make of this all too familiar “human condition” as it relates to Abraham? The simple answer is that the law is concrete and human beings are abstract. The law doesn’t think or have the capacity to reason, but we do, and thence comes our opportunity to relate to God by faith, worship, and following His commandments to the best of our ability. This also, was all Abraham could do. He had to understand that first came God, and then the law from God. By logic his subjective reaction was to have faith in God first, using the law as a guideline for his faith and the righteousness therein. It is significant that faith was reckoned to Abraham before he was circumcised; his circumcision was a “sign or seal” of the righteousness which he had by faith prior to that act.  He continued to believe that God would make of him a great nation, and remained faithful until he died at a very old age – a good lesson for us all.

This is an interesting passage as it relates to Jesus Christ. He gave us a new two-part covenant, teaching us to “Love God with all our hearts and souls, and love our neighbors as ourselves”. He did not come to establish a new religion, but rather to fulfill the law. The new covenant gives us guidance for our lives and supersedes the old, but the Commandments continue to be a foundation for us. Faith was not reckoned as righteousness for Abraham’s sake alone, but for ours also, manifested in our belief in the Christ.

I could write about the danger of “becoming stuck in the law” but that is for another time. In the meantime, on this and every day, “Let us bless the Lord.”

— Dwight Russell