A Painful Faith
An Epistle to Susan On Faith, Works, and the Refusal to Give Up
Dear Susan
By your argument, why would the ungodly be justified when they are imperfect?
Are you suggesting that the godly — those who put their faith in Christ — will somehow be passed over because they are godly,
while the ungodly who put their faith in Christ will be justified because they are ungodly?
I confess, I do not fully understand why Paul felt the need to go to such extremes to make this point.
Scripture and the Question of Holiness
“Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.”
— 1 Peter 1:16 (KJV)
The Beatitudes say nothing like,
“Blessed are the ungodly, for they shall be justified.”
And let us remember — Paul’s Letter to the Romans was written nearly ten years before the Gospel of Mark, the very first of the Gospels.
So while not casting aspersions on Paul’s writing,
shall I throw away Christ’s simple, uncluttered teachings
for one which seems counterintuitive and beyond my ken?
No.
And if it is beyond your ken, dear Susan,
why belabor yourself with it?
What Paul Might Have Meant
Perhaps the answer lies in Paul’s own lament —
his confession of inner conflict:
“What I want to do, I do not do,
but what I hate, I do.
Oh wretched man that I am!
Who shall deliver me from this body of death?”
That is not the boast of a righteous man.
It is the cry of a broken one —
a man aware of his sin,
yet resolute not to give up on God.
This, I believe,
is what Paul meant when he spoke of
“the justification of the ungodly.”
It is not encouragement
for sinners who wallow in their sinfulness.
It is comfort for those who,
despite repeated failure,
refuse to give up on God.
I may be one of them.
Perhaps Paul was too.
A Painful Faith
To refuse to give up on Christ
is excruciating.
Why?
Because the Lord will turn His face away —
He cannot bear to look upon your sinful visage.
Your walk with Christ becomes
a walk behind Christ —
a one-sided love affair.
You follow,
reaching forward,
trudging and tagging along,
refusing to “go away.”
For in your heart you echo Peter’s cry:
“Lord, to whom shall I go?
You have the words of life.”
That, I believe,
is the faith Paul spoke of.
It is not a passive faith.
It is an active, aching, persistent faith.
A faith that propels you
to follow One
who seems to have little affection for you.
It is, in truth,
a painful faith.
When the Lord Feels the Pull
Here is the mystery:
Even when you do not touch His garment
like the woman with the issue of blood,
He still feels the pull of your heart.
He feels His grace flowing out
to one who will not give up.
And always, in such moments,
the Lord is overwhelmed with compassion.
Overwhelmed,
He gives in.
Remember the woman He called a dog?
Her humility moved Him
to grant her request.
The Embrace That Justifies
When the Lord turns and embraces you,
that embrace —
that is what justifies you.
And when you are justified,
your sinful nature begins to die.
And when your sinful nature dies,
once again the Lord looks upon your face,
and can tolerate your presence
in His holy company.
Faith, Works, and the Refusal to Give Up
Does this help, Susan?
You must count the ungodly man’s refusal to give up
as works —
for in this example,
it truly is work.
Literal, exhausting
labor of the soul.
So then, we return
to where we began:
Faith without works is dead.
Final Question
Did Paul, at the time of writing Romans, see himself as an ungodly man?
That, dear Susan, is a question for you.
I rest my case.
Don Kenobi
Dec-8-2024
#Faith #Grace #Romans #Paul #Justification #Christianity #Works #Perseverance #DonKenobi #MolueMonologue #BeStill
