“because law brings wrath. And where there is no law there is no transgression.”
~ Romans 4:15
Hi James and Ellen,
Do you know why there are laws? If there were no laws, what do you think that it would be like living today on planet Earth? If there were no laws, how do you think that guys and gals who are living today on planet Earth would comport themselves? If there were not laws as to how fast guys and gals are allowed to drive their vehicles, how fast do you think that guys and gals will drive? If there were not laws today that do not allow guys and gals to steal, how do you think that some guys and gals will treat the possessions that other guys and gals have? If there were not laws today that do not allow a guy or gal to kill another guy or gal, how do you think that some guys and gals will interact with other guys and gals? Laws define the difference between right and wrong. Laws establish how guys and gals are to live their lives on planet Earth. Laws create sin boundaries. To break a law is to sin. If there were no laws, there would be no way to identify sins. Paul in Romans 4 elaborated on the law enigma in the letter that he sent to the Christ-follower guys and gals in Rome. Paul in verse 15 wrote, “because law brings wrath. And where there is no law there is no transgression.” Transgressions are sins. There are various kinds of laws. There are laws that are governmentally imposed. State and federal agencies and judicial courts decide how guys and gals are to act in their communities, states and countries. There are ethical, moral and fair laws. No country that your grandpaa knows of has a law that says a guy or gal cannot use profane words but . . . your grandpaa believes that the words that come out of the mouth of a guy or gal reflects the condition of the heart of that guy or gal. There are times when being angry about or over something is not a sin but when the feeling of anger overwhelms other emotions – such as love and patience, anger becomes a sin. There are times when passing on a story about another guy or gal is not a sin but when what is being passed on is being done maliciously to put the guy or gal in a bad light, the passing on of a story about another guy or gal becomes gossip, divisive and a sin. Laws lead guys and gals to measure their lives by the good works that they do. Laws are a way for guys and gals to self-determine how moral their lives are without God.
Have you understood anything what your grandpaa has written so far? Your grandpaa sometimes has a hard time understanding what he has written – especially if your grandpaa tries to write something in cursive. Your grandpaa thinks that personality inventories or assessments are helpful for guys and gals to take. A personality inventory study or assessment helps a guy or gal comprehend or internalize how God has hardwired him or her. Performax is a personality inventory that your grandmaa and grandpaa have taken. The Performax personality inventory study helps a guy or gal know whether he or she tends to in a ‘workplace’ lead out and dominate other guys and gals OR whether he or she tends to be integrative and interpersonally inclined to other guys and gals OR whether he or she tends to serve and acquiesce to other guys and gals OR whether he or she tends to be technically and mechanically disposed to doing things with his or her hands. What tendencies do you think that a Performax personality inventory study showed that your grandmaa and grandpaa have? The guys and gals who designed the Performax personality inventory study did the study on a number of Bible characters. Your grandpaa’s results in his Performax personality inventory study are very much like that of the Performax personality inventory study that was done on Paul. Because your grandpaa and Paul have been hardwired similarly by God, your grandpaa can identify with Paul. Your grandpaa does not have trouble tracking with Paul in what Paul did, how Paul did what he did and what Paul said as an apostle and missionary.
When the moment arrived to change a belief paradigm from works to faith in the plan that God conceived before He created planet Earth, a guy by the name of Saul had God smack him right between his eyes with a very bright light. Saul was a mean dude. Saul thought that it was his calling to get rid of all the new Christ-followers by either having them thrown into dungeons or by having them killed by a number of entertaining ways. After getting hit by the bright light wakeup call, Saul got the message. Saul had his name changed to Paul and . . . before Saul had been the nemesis of Christ-followers, Paul had been a student and adherent of Jewish law. Paul knew that God – as God the Spirit, had breathed on guys what was scribed in the Old Testament books. Paul read and studied David’s psalm songs. Paul knew the role that Abraham played in history. God took a works orientated guy – Saul, who was ‘religiously’ following the laws that He had given to His specially chosen guys and gals to obey, to a faith orientated guy – Paul, who now had a mandate from God to ‘religiously’ explain to God’s specially elected guys and gals that He was now judging His specially elected guys and gals by their faith versus by the works that they were doing. Paul ended up being blessed with the task of helping guide God’s specially chosen guys and gals into a new belief paradigm that was faith based versus works based. The mandate that God has given to your grandmaa and grandpaa about 2000 years after Paul lived on planet Earth is the very same mandate that God gave to Paul which is to go to wherever God – as God the Spirit, prompts them to go to help His specially elected guys and gals to have the faith in God as Abraham had when he was alive on planet Earth. Ask your dad and/or ma to tell you how Abraham twice demonstrated his faith in God. Ask your dad and/or ma to tell you how they have demonstrated their faith in God.
Romans 4 (340)