Goooooood Evening!
It's a little chilly outside.... and windy, ooooooo. Heh heh, guess winter is finally hitting. Supposedly it's not going to hit 30 this week up here in Boston.... hmmmmmmm....... HOT CHOCOLATE TIME!!! Aight, on to... da Word!
checkit:
Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works...
- Paul (Romans 9:32)
Awwwww YEAH! Paul is back! In these chapters, Paul drops sooooo much knowledge... yo, you can spend WEEKS on it and STILL not get all the knowledge seeping from these words. So, let's chew on the little bit in the verse above fo' a minute. A lil' background, new testament badmamajamma Paul is lamenting the hardened hearts of his own people (the Jews) while teaching some serious lessons in the process. In the verses previous, he hints that Gentiles (non-Jews) have obtained righteousness but the Jews have not, and this right here is the reason why.
Paul states that his peeps were pursuing a law of righteousness.... and so they missed it yo! Paul is like, "potnas, it ain't by works! it is by faith that righteousness can be attained by the likes of us!" Yo, there ain't no way we can earn righteousness. The minute we think we can earn it, a whole SLEW of evil can creep in: jealousy, pride, arrogance, anger, conceit, deception...... endless list yo. We start to rely upon ourselves rather than the infinite source of righteousness that is Pops above! Naw bruthaz and sistaz, we can't attain righteousness by our own hands, by our own works. It is only by faith that we can attain it. Why? Cuz we stop being absorbed by our own selves and we begin to attain the mind and manner of Pops above.
It's important to note, this idea of faith being the way and not works is repeated a ton throughout da word yo. Usually repetition indicates something mad important. That's not to say, "don't bother with works kid, it'll give ya no play." No, quite the opposite brethren and sistren. It IS to say that works will follow automatically when we pursue a righteousness that is by faith. BAM! Don't you see? We are changed from within and it overflows out.
Aight, gotta bounce. PeACE!
G-bless,
- patrick
Awwwww YEAH! Paul is back! In these chapters, Paul drops sooooo much knowledge... yo, you can spend WEEKS on it and STILL not get all the knowledge seeping from these words. So, let's chew on the little bit in the verse above fo' a minute. A lil' background, new testament badmamajamma Paul is lamenting the hardened hearts of his own people (the Jews) while teaching some serious lessons in the process. In the verses previous, he hints that Gentiles (non-Jews) have obtained righteousness but the Jews have not, and this right here is the reason why.
Paul states that his peeps were pursuing a law of righteousness.... and so they missed it yo! Paul is like, "potnas, it ain't by works! it is by faith that righteousness can be attained by the likes of us!" Yo, there ain't no way we can earn righteousness. The minute we think we can earn it, a whole SLEW of evil can creep in: jealousy, pride, arrogance, anger, conceit, deception...... endless list yo. We start to rely upon ourselves rather than the infinite source of righteousness that is Pops above! Naw bruthaz and sistaz, we can't attain righteousness by our own hands, by our own works. It is only by faith that we can attain it. Why? Cuz we stop being absorbed by our own selves and we begin to attain the mind and manner of Pops above.
It's important to note, this idea of faith being the way and not works is repeated a ton throughout da word yo. Usually repetition indicates something mad important. That's not to say, "don't bother with works kid, it'll give ya no play." No, quite the opposite brethren and sistren. It IS to say that works will follow automatically when we pursue a righteousness that is by faith. BAM! Don't you see? We are changed from within and it overflows out.
Aight, gotta bounce. PeACE!
G-bless,
- patrick
