It has been an intensive two weeks for me (and I believe for
everyone attending the class!), with lessons occurring almost everyday and with
other commitments also crying for my attention. The course has definitely been
fruitful, especially learning about the profound theology (2 Pet 3:16) embedded
in Paul’s argument for the salvation of grace for both Jews and Gentiles in his
letter to the Romans.
Coming to God on His terms
For me, one thing is clear throughout the convoluted and
brisk-paced argument of the first eleven chapters – we come to God on His own terms,
not according to ours. At first glance, God’s terms are not difficult to follow
– He desires to reconcile us back to a right relationship with Him, and we need
to believe in His faithfulness towards us and trust in Him to lead us into His
righteousness. Of course, this entails a willingness to walk according to His
Word and obey it. To me, what complicate matters are two things, both of which
are related to sin in us (frustratingly, Paul states the source but does not
elaborate on the nature of this sin!). Firstly, we resist surrendering our will
to God and trust in Him, preferring instead to earn our own righteousness – on
whom we trust (ie. ourselves!) – and so along with it decide to set our own
terms on how to attain a right standing with God (mistakenly). This
self-deception is conceived out of a self-sufficiency rooted in pride. The
second complication is that by nature we are resistant to obeying God
wholeheartedly, so we resort to obeying God in outward form only (which is so
like the Pharisees, whom Jesus denounced as whitewashed tombs in Mat 23:27).
This contrasts strongly with the “genuine love” exhortation which Paul gives in
Romans 12:9. To carry this one step further, we pervert obedience, which is
supposed to be our relational response to God’s love, into a performance and
badge of honour (especially the outward, form-based kind).
Even though it takes some time and deliberate effort to change from
my old mind set of obedience as performance, this perspective is liberating in
that my way to God is not based on how much I managed to obey God – this is still
important as an outflow of my relationship with Him, but not as a way to open
my access to Him.
The Need to Scrutinise the Word
It is good that Brother Casey prompted us with questions of our
interpretation of various words and phrases used by Paul in Romans. One area he
kept reminding us is to note the function of words and phrases. For words in
the genitive case, whether they are subjectively or objectively related to the
modified noun will indicate different meanings, and often makes significant
difference in our interpretation of the Word. Regarding “love of God” in Romans
8:39, for example, understanding God as subjective enables us to trust in the
Lord even in the most difficult times, while interpreting God as objective will
cause us to rely on our own limited strength during times when we are already challenged
in our faith. Another example is the “righteousness of God” in Romans 1:17,
where righteousness can be understood to be distributive, attributive or
salvific (or perhaps a combination?).
Knowing the different nuances that affect the same words when
interpreted differently, I see especially the importance to read the Word of
God carefully and to take more time to reflect on what it means and how it
affects my own life during devotion. It is a refreshing view of the richness of
God’s Word, and an inspiration to delve deeper into it with the enablement of
the Holy Spirit.
Love as a Principle, and Serving God as an Expression of Love
The Romans 12:9-13 passage which we were supposed to base our team
project on looks straightforward at first sight, but a more in depth analysis shows
that there is a richer meaning hidden under the grammatical structures and in
the original Greek. The connection of love with seeking what is good and hating
what is evil exposes the perspective of love as a principle which we live by instead
of just emotional sentimentalism which characterise contemporary understanding.
Hence, it is not capricious and unpredictable, but consistently expressed
through principles based on God’s Word – though of course there is an affective
dimension to it too.
Serving God, subsumed under the theme of genuine love, reveals
ministry as an expression of love being acted out. Having been used to a
culture of busyness both within the church and in secular Singapore, this
understanding certainly injects a deeper significance into my perception of
ministry in the midst of the many activities that we tend to be involved in,
and gives me a meaningful anchor to persevere onwards in the midst of
challenges I would face at times when serving God.
Serving Together… and Spurring Each Other Onwards
We all agree with each other that the team that we have is wonderfully
self-initiated. Certainly, technology helped in our communication – eduencounter,
email, and whatsapp group-chat, but more important is how each person tried to contribute
to the group project without the need for clear assignment of roles and responsibilities.
We might not have a perfect report and presentation, but the team ministry in
action shows what it can be like when everyone does his or her best to support
each other in completing our common goal, and is a good example what ministry
can look like too. Although I am supposed to be the leader of the team, I find
that I did not need to do much to encourage everyone to work together. Learning
from this experience, I can help to spur my teammates on when I am part of a
team, and I can learn to rally the team towards the common goal if I am leading
the team.
The course is coming to an end, and it is time for celebration for
a well-spent two weeks! May we keep in mind the lessons that we have learned
and put them into practice, and may be continue to take opportunity to
encourage one another in the different areas we serve in whenever there is
need.
