Holding difficult Bible verses together
While reading through Romans 10, I found myself going over the same 3 verses again and again.
11 As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.” 12 For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, 13 for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
The phrase "never be put to shame" echoed in my mind. Is this a truth I have experienced and can defend? How can Paul confidently write this when a few chapters before in Romans 8, he also wrote about how we face hardship and even death?
35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written:
“For your sake we face death all day long;
we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”
Are not sheep considered to be slaughtered put to shame?
I believe that we are too focused on the world to understand these verses and the joy they bring. The Gospel, while good news, is far grander than many of us believe it to be. "Jesus loves you" is thrown around more like a motivational catch phrase than a life-changing revelation. Receiving this love is sadly seen more like receiving a participation award than the greatest prize of all. "Jesus loves the world after all, so what’s so special about his love for me?" "You say God loves me, but what does it mean? “phrases I have sadly heard too many times.
God’s love for you is not empty words, but goes beyond the material and what we can see and process in this life. Consider the parable Jesus tells of a rich man and a poor beggar named Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31). In it, he details how these two men’s lives are reversed after death. This pointing to life after death was a key teaching of Jesus throughout his ministry. The miracle that we see on the cross is made evident in the empty grave. That we serve a God who raises people from the dead. Our hope is in the resurrection, and as we know, Jesus being united with him.
This life is passing away. There is eternity beyond it.
Death is not the end.
This knowledge that death is not the end is what gives us Christians our hope. Paul, writing to this persecuted church, was emphasising that the present sufferings they were facing were not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed!
This is the call of the Christian life. To live by faith, not by sight. God calls us to pick up our cross and follow him. To live for the glory to come, instead of straddling the lines between God’s kingdom and the world.
We’re promised difficulty, and we’re promised blessings. Difficulty and pain, and persecution from the world, even to the point of death. Blessings, honor and salvation, and forgiveness from God as we enter into his kingdom.
Death comes for us all, and when we meet God face to face, and have to give an account of our lives and are judged for our actions, those putting their faith in Jesus will not be put to shame for it.
So, how does this change your life? Does it embolden you to live life by faith, and if not, why? Does it encourage you to hold the things of this world with an open hand and instead hold on to the glory yet to be revealed? God’s words have to change us; they are not empty but instead bring life.
Perhaps, you have never put your faith in Jesus, and this all sounds new to you. If so, allow me to encourage you to call out to him. After all, no one who does will be put to shame.
God loves you.