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Yes! There Is Good News!

Bill Rollins has been publishing each week a column in the local Elk Horn, Iowa paper for the past several years.
Note the original publication date on each blog post

Yes! There is Good News!                              4.9.2016

9/7/2020

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We have been talking (alright, so - I’ve been writing, you’ve been reading) about the topic of “righteousness.” It is a term that means “acting in an upright manner,” and being “faithful to another’s expectations so as to form a good relationship.”

On the one hand, God is perfect in righteousness and is always faithful to fulfill whatever promises He has given to us. (In other words, He is faithful to fulfill our expectations.) The problem here is, as I see it, can we be righteous so as to fulfill what God expects of us?

Perhaps we should look at a couple of scriptures. In Matthew 5:20, Jesus says,“For I tell you, that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the pharisees and the scribes, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of Heaven.” But hey, we all know that the pharisees and scribes were self righteous, and Jesus was always berating them for their hypocrisy. (“Whoa to you scribes and pharisees, you hypocrites ...” See Matthew 23:13, 15, 16, 23, 25, 27 and 29.) So let’s examine ourselves, and check our own hypocrites. Perhaps in that respect, we just might be better than the pharisees.

But in the chapter of Matthew 5:48, Jesus says, “Be perfect, therefore, as your Heavenly Father is perfect.” UH-OH! Really? Are we to be perfect as God is perfect? I think I can speak for all of us in saying that this is way too tall an order. What’s a believer to do?

Well, herein lies our first true view of what we’ve been striving to see, this is our introduction to the “good news!” Because there is no way for us to attain this perfection, as God is perfect. There is no way for us to try and put any of our righteousness up against God’s righteousness. We lose every time, and we lose in a huge way. In Isaiah 64:06, it says, “ All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags.” Indeed, we have no way, in and of ourselves, to stand in the presence of God. We need a redeemer.

What does it mean to redeem? We may take our pop cans, for which we paid a nickel, back to the grocery store to have them redeemed. The store will buy them back. They redeem them. So, redeemed is to buy back. Our lives, wrapped up in sin, are like the empty pop cans. They are not worth anything until they are redeemed! And where do we find redemption? Ephesians 1:07, “In Him, (Jesus Christ) we have redemption through his blood; the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that He lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.” Can I get an Amen?! But wait, there’s more ...

Stay tuned!
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    Bill Rollins resides in Elk Horn, IA, with his wife, Sally, and has pastored the Church of God of Omaha, NE for more than 35 years.

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  • Home
    • FOT 2018 >
      • Feast messages
  • Essays
    • Psalms of Ascent >
      • Psalm 120
      • Psalm 121
      • Psalm 122
      • Psalm 123
      • Psalm 124
      • Psalm 125
      • Psalm 126
      • Psalm 127
      • Psalm 128
      • Psalm 129
      • Psalm 130
      • Psalm 131
      • Psalm 132
      • Psalm 133
      • Psalm 134
      • Psalms of Ascent Chiasm
    • Yes, There Is Good News!
    • Timely Comments - Blog
    • Christian Walk
    • Holy Days >
      • Passover >
        • children's lessons
      • Days of Unleavened Bread >
        • children's lessons
      • Pentecost >
        • children's lessons
      • Trumpets >
        • children's lessons
      • Atonement >
        • children's lessons
      • Feast of Tabernacles >
        • children's lessons
      • Eighth Day >
        • children's lessons
    • Holidays
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