If you’re following along in the through-the-Bible reading plan I am, you’ve read Romans 2 recently and been confused about such paragraphs as this one, which sounds a lot like you can earn your salvation through good works:

He will render to each one according to his works: to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. For God shows no partiality. (Romans 2.6 – 11, ESV)

But it can’t mean we can earn our salvation because just a few paragraphs later, Paul is clear:

For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it—the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. (Romans 3.20 – 24, ESV)

So what is Romans 2 about? It’s Paul talking to religious people and explaining that their religion is not enough. Specifically:

• Knowledge without action is not enough. (verses 12 – 16)

For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified. (Romans 2.13, ESV)

• Teaching without lifestyle is not enough. (verses 17 – 24)

You who teach others, do you not teach yourself? (Romans 2.21, ESV)

• Ceremony without heart change is not enough. (verses 25 – 29)

For circumcision indeed is of value if you obey the law, but if you break the law, your circumcision becomes uncircumcision. (Romans 2.25, ESV)

• Heritage without obedience is not enough. (Romans 3.1 – 8)

Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision? Much in every way. To begin with, the Jews were entrusted with the oracles of God. What if some were unfaithful? Does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God? (Romans 3.1 – 3, ESV)

I think these four points are worth a deeper look so we’ll spend time exploring over the next few days.

Those people are on a dark spiral downward. But if you think that leaves you on the high ground where you can point your finger at others, think again. Every time you criticize someone, you condemn yourself. It takes one to know one. Judgmental criticism of others is a well-known way of escaping detection in your own crimes and misdemeanors. But God isn’t so easily diverted. He sees right through all such smoke screens and holds you to what you’ve done. (Romans 2.1, 2, MSG)

Yesterday I shared the observation from a young high school student about Jesus’ leadership style:

Jesus wasn’t looking for change in the moment; he was setting the foundation for change to come long-term. – Quinton Williams, high school junior, March 2021.

By contrast, Jesus condemned the Pharisees, the conservative religious leaders of his day for doing just the opposite: focusing on the externals to the exclusion of transformation in their own lives:

Then Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat.” He answered them, “And why do you break the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition?” (Matthew 15.1 – 3, ESV)

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness. So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. (Matthew 23.23 – 28, ESV)

I was talking with my young friend Quinton Williams, who now lives in California. Quinton is a junior in high school, and usually, we talk about mathematics. Although right before he moved from Colorado Springs to Sacramento, I gave him a copy of my latest book Everyone on the Wall.

Out of the clear blue a few days ago, Quinton told me he had read the book and shared some of the things he had gotten out of it, including the message in Part 4: Everyone a Disciple-maker. He was fascinated by the idea of one person helping another helping another. “This would start a chain reaction.” Yes!

And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others. (2 Timothy 2.2, NIV)

But then we started talking about leadership, and I recommended he read the Gospel of Mark and look for examples or principles involving Jesus’ leadership. He made this profound observation (which he did NOT get from my book!):

Jesus wasn’t looking for change in the moment; he was setting the foundation for change to come long-term. – Quinton Williams, high school junior, March 2021.

I couldn’t agree more. The Pharisees, about whom I wrote yesterday, were more interested in specific behaviors in the moment. They were interested in the externals. I’ll write more about that tomorrow.

Jesus, on the other hand, was about exactly what Quinton had observed: setting the foundation for long-term change. The word is…transformation.

Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked them: “Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not see or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Do you have eyes but fail to see, and ears but fail to hear? And don’t you remember? When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?” “Twelve,” they replied. “And when I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?” They answered, “Seven.” He said to them, “Do you still not understand?” (Mark 8.17 – 21, NIV)

And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” (Matthew 4.19, ESV)

Jerusalem…the town where no good deed goes unpunished:

Then the blind and the crippled came into the temple courts, and Jesus healed them all. And the children circled around him shouting out, “Blessings and praises to the Son of David!” But when the chief priests and religious scholars heard the children shouting and saw all the wonderful miracles of healing, they were furious. (Matthew 21.14, 15, TPT)

Maybe this is too obvious, but there’s something wrong with religious people who get “furious” when they see “all the wonderful miracles of healing.” Jesus confronts these killjoys with the parables of The Two Sons and the Rejected Son (Matthew 21.28 – 42) ending with:

“This is why I say to you that the kingdom realm of God will be taken from you and given to a people who will bear its fruit…” When the leading priests and the Pharisees realized that the parable was referring to them, they were outraged and wanted to arrest him at once… (Matthew 21.43 – 46, TPT)

Outraged, indeed. It’s all about fruit. Who is bearing the fruit? Often, not the religious leaders who are “having a form of godliness but denying its power.” (1 Timothy 3.5) What is the fruit? Scripture is clear. It’s NOT doing all the religious things and avoiding some arbitrary list of behaviors.

He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God? (Micah 6.8, ESV)

Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh? (Isaiah 58.6, 7, ESV)

For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me. (Matthew 25.35 – 36, ESV)

Last Sunday as part of his welcome to the congregation, our pastor said, “Something Bob Ewell told me has really stuck with me. Bob was quoting someone else…” I always wonder at times like these: “What did I say, and is he going to get it right?” It turns out that he was repeating something my friend Ray Bandi told me, and it’s a good word:

At the end of the day, has God heard from you today? And have you heard from God? – Ray Bandi, a pastor-coach in New Hampshire

It’s very simple, and just hearing it again reminded me of something else Ray said:

Just because I’ve heard it before doesn’t mean I’m thinking about it today. That’s why we need reminders. – Ray Bandi (see my blog on July 26, 2020)

My voice You shall hear in the morning, O LORD; In the morning I will direct it to You, And I will look up. (Psalm 5.3, NKJV)

Blessed are those who listen to me, watching daily at my doors, waiting at my doorway. (Proverbs 8.34, NIV)

Steve Cleary of RevelationMedia sent out an email Sunday, February 28. Here’s part of it:

Two weeks ago, I announced that RevelationMedia is standing with Lydia, a 3rd-grade student who was forced to remove her face mask at school because it said “JESUS LOVES ME” on it.

We are committed to continue to support Lydia, her family, and the court case that has been filed against the school district where her religious freedom was taken away from her.

I have to say, I have never received as much hate mail as I have in the last two weeks. I have been called many names I won’t repeat here.

I realize that wearing masks is highly debated, and I am not debating that issue here. The message of Jesus presented by a 3^rd grade student, in my opinion, is precious. And I do not want her right to wear a mask (or t-shirt, or backpack button, or anything else) that says “JESUS LOVES ME” taken away.

I realize that the wearing of masks has offended some… – Steve Cleary, RevelationMedia, emphasis mine

I continue to be shocked on two fronts: first, that mask-wearing is such a contentious issue. Second, that professing Christians (who else would be on his mailing list?) would send hate mail to a fellow believer over any issue. We have lost our minds.

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. (John 13.34, 35, ESV)

Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ. (Ephesians 4.15, ESV)

Sometimes chapter divisions obscure obvious connections. For example, many of us often struggle to make sense of the parable of the workers in the vineyard where the ones who work all day are paid the same amount as those who work only an hour (see Matthew 20.1 – 16). Sure, grace is involved, as well as the generosity of the landowner. But this time I saw a connection I had missed. Namely, without a chapter division, the story goes like this. 

But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first. For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard… When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his foreman, “Call the workers and pay them their wages, beginning with the last ones hired and going on to the first.” (Matthew 19.30 – 20.1…8, NIV)

There it is, a clear example when the first find themselves last. First to go to work, last to be paid. Last to be hired, first to be paid. And, of course, they all get paid the same. 

There are many situations when the “first” work way harder than those who come later. For example, the first Massachusetts colonists, who came over on the Mayflower, suffered terribly and worked very hard just to survive. Once the colony was established, people who came later had it much easier. I’m reminded of the poem The Bridge Builder by Will Allen Dromgoole.

An old man going a lone highway,
Came, at the evening cold and gray,
To a chasm vast and deep and wide.
Through which was flowing a sullen tide
The old man crossed in the twilight dim,
The sullen stream had no fear for him;
But he turned when safe on the other side
And built a bridge to span the tide.

“Old man,” said a fellow pilgrim near,
“You are wasting your strength with building here;
Your journey will end with the ending day,
You never again will pass this way;
You’ve crossed the chasm, deep and wide,
Why build this bridge at evening tide?”

The builder lifted his old gray head;
“Good friend, in the path I have come,” he said,
“There followed after me to-day
A youth whose feet must pass this way.
This chasm that has been as naught to me
To that fair-haired youth may a pitfall be;
He, too, must cross in the twilight dim;
Good friend, I am building this bridge for him!”

The Apostle Paul, the greatest bridge-builder of his day, was first to take the gospel to many places but felt last. Here’s what he said to the Corinthians:

What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it? Already you have all you want! Already you have become rich! Without us you have become kings! And would that you did reign, so that we might share the rule with you! For I think that God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, like men sentenced to death, because we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men. We are fools for Christ’s sake, but you are wise in Christ. We are weak, but you are strong. You are held in honor, but we in disrepute. To the present hour we hunger and thirst, we are poorly dressed and buffeted and homeless, and we labor, working with our own hands. When reviled, we bless; when persecuted, we endure; when slandered, we entreat. We have become, and are still, like the scum of the world, the refuse of all things. (1 Corinthians 4.7 – 13, ESV)

I love the opening of Psalm 46:

God, you’re such a safe and powerful place to find refuge! You’re a proven help in time of trouble—more than enough and always available whenever I need you. So we will never fear even if every structure of support were to crumble away. We will not fear even when the earth quakes and shakes, moving mountains and casting them into the sea. For the raging roar of stormy winds and crashing waves cannot erode our faith in you. (Psalm 46.1 – 3, TPT)

We will never fear even if EVERY structure of support were to crumble away. We will not fear even when the earth quakes and shakes, moving mountains and casting them into the sea.

This is an especially good promise with the U.S. House having just passed the Equality Act which affords Civil Rights protections to transgender people. Here’s part of the text:

An individual shall not be denied access to a shared facility, including a restroom, a locker room and a dressing room, that is in accordance with the individual’s gender identity. – From Breakpoint, February 24, 2021

As a friend of mine likes to say, “The world has lost its mind.” I am not usually given to fear, but this scares me… But it shouldn’t, according to Psalm 46.

Best we pray. I’m asking for one, just one, Democratic Senator to vote against. Surely there’s someone who values what’s right over one’s party.

First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. (1 Timothy 2.1, 2, ESV)

But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare. (Jeremiah 29.7, ESV)

So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. (Genesis 1.27, NIV)

“Haven’t you read,” [Jesus] replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female.’” (Matthew 19.4, NIV)

What’s wrong with this picture? 

According to an article in our local paper, members of a large church in our area are alleging that the lead pastor is “shaming” them for not attending church in person, saying things like:

• You can’t serve Christ from your couch.

• “Cowards” are hated by God and will not enter heaven.

The members of this church who brought this issue to the attention of the newspaper felt as if their church had only one play: Sunday morning worship where the pastor gets to hold forth as the teacher-in-chief. It’s almost like, “I’m the pastor, and if you’re not here on Sunday morning, I can’t do my job.”

By contrast, another church with which I’m very familiar is “taking what the defense gives them” to use a football analogy. For example, when the church wanted to give the members a Lenten devotional book, they didn’t say, “We have this book for you. Be sure you’re at the church to pick it up!” No. Volunteers delivered the books to the members’ houses in a little gift bag.

This church is also doubling down on personal discipleship and mission outside the walls of the church. Here’s some of what they wrote in the annual report:

Ministry is the responsibility of the entire membership of the church, not a special group set apart from the rest…We are all called to be disciples, not just those who are pastors and ruling elders…We each are called to “full-time” Christian work where God has placed us. And when we are all involved, the ministry of the church will be capable of providing more—more care, more service, more ministry, more witness, more examples of Christian love. When we take on this attitude, our discipleship will be less passive and inward and more active in our individual corner of the world…Why now? There is change everywhere we look—in our nation’s divisiveness, in our systems, in our institutions. More apparently, the Covid-19 pandemic has impacted our ability to be together, to worship, to grow, to serve our community. And there is this nagging sense that things may never return to the way they were. We have been forced into a smaller world and we long for connection.

It’s a completely different view of church and a completely different set of responsibilities for members. In fact, if I’m a member, and I don’t think I am quite up to “full-time” Christian work where God has placed me, maybe I’ll be motivated to…wait for it…attend church (either in person or by Zoom). I’ll attend, not because I’ve been shamed into it, but because the church is promising to help me live into my calling.

And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,… (Ephesians 4.11, 12, ESV)

And let our people learn to devote themselves to good works, so as to help cases of urgent need, and not be unfruitful. (Titus 3.14, ESV)

As I’ve written before, I am using the Discipleship Journal Bible Reading Plan this year – it’s the best system I know of for actually getting through the whole Bible in a year. But there is an unlimited number of other plans and ways to read the Bible.

Some folks like to read the Psalms and Proverbs in a month, for example, or every month. My wife, June, was just asking about how we used to do that so I thought the answer would be worth sharing.

Proverbs is a no-brainer. There are 31 of them, so if you read the chapter in Proverbs corresponding to the day of the month, you’re in business.

One could read the Psalms consecutively: there are 150 psalms, and with 30 days in the month, that’s five psalms a day – 1 – 5, 6 – 10, and so on. But the late Jim Downing, “Navigator #6,” who passed away in 2018 at the age of 104 1/2, had another plan, which I really like. It goes like this:

• On day 1, read Psalm 1, 31, 61, 91, 121
• On day 2, read Psalm 2, 32, 62, 92, 122
• That’s not rocket science, and you’ll know which Psalms to read fairly easily. Just start with the day of the month for the first reading. Then add 30, for the next four readings.
• You might know that Psalm 119 has 176 verses! No problem…it’s divided into 22 sections of 8 verses each, so the first 22 days of the month, add a section of Psalm 119.

There’s your plan. Tomorrow is the first of March (maybe today if you’re in the habit of reading this the morning after it’s published!). If you don’t have a regular plan, give this one a try.

And when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself in a book a copy of this law, approved by the Levitical priests. And it shall be with him, and he shall read in it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the LORD his God by keeping all the words of this law and these statutes, and doing them, that his heart may not be lifted up above his brothers, and that he may not turn aside from the commandment, either to the right hand or to the left, so that he may continue long in his kingdom, he and his children, in Israel. (Deuteronomy 17.18 – 20, ESV)

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. (Psalm 1.1 – 3, ESV)