Time for a check up … a spiritual one.   Romans 3.9-18

When was your last physical?  Recently, I read that if you are in your 40s, you should get a physical checkup every two years; 50s and older, once a year . . . Many maladies, which have not exhibited outward manifestations could be successfully treated if they had just been caught earlier.

Wouldn’t it be cool if we also had regular spiritual checkups?  Years ago, almost 28 to be exact, I had an EEG, (electroencephalogram), to examine my skull and brain, following a mysterious seizure and severe headaches.  Now, imagine with me that we could sit down, have little contacts attached to our heads and our hearts, which would report how we are doing, spiritually speaking.  Hmmm . . . What would such a diagnostic tool measure? 

With that in mind, allow me to segue back to Paul’s continuing dialog with would be questioners:

“Well then, should we conclude that we Jews are better than others?  No, not at all, for we have already shown that all people, whether Jews or Gentiles, are under the power of sin. 

As the Scriptures say,

 “No one is righteous—not even one.?

         No one is truly wise;

                  no one is seeking God.? 

                           All have turned away;?all have become useless.?

                                    No one does good, not a single one.”

“Their talk is foul, like the stench from an open grave.?Their tongues are filled with lies.” “Snake venom drips from their lips.”  “Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.” “They rush to commit murder. Destruction and misery always follow them.? They don’t know where to find peace.” “They have no fear of God at all.”   Romans 3.9-18, NLT

This is a brilliant passage.  Paul makes it clear that all of us fall short—Jews and Gentiles alike…he does so by stringing together a number of phrases from the Scriptures with which observant Jews would be familiar—from Psalms, ‘The fool says in his heart, “There is no God” . . . there is no one who does good, not even one.’1‘Not a word from their mouth can be trusted…their throat is an open grave; with their tongue they speak deceit.’2‘…the poison of vipers is on their lips.’2  ‘His mouth is full of curses…’3‘Their feet rush to sin; they are swift to shed innocent blood.  Their thoughts are evil thoughts…the way of peace they do not know…’4 ‘…concerning the sinfulness of the wicked:  There is no fear of God before his eyes.’5

But wait a minute…I thought Psalms was all about David’s singing to the Lord, and stuff that makes us feel good?  Apparently not.  Although God refers to David as a man after his own heart, this man, David, was a sinner.  He understood the sin condition...well.  He remembered how he had run from King Saul’s murderous threats.  Heck, for that matter, he remembered what Saul was like when he was close to God, and when he was not.  When Saul was seeking God, he longed to hear David play his harp and sing praises; when Saul turned away from God, seeking his own glory, he remembered how he craved peace but could find none—how jealous he became of David—so much so, that he wanted him dead.

Oh yes, the Jews to whom Paul was speaking knew from their own sacred Scriptures about the contents of a man’s heart when he does not know God. This form of Rabbinic teaching was called charaz; it literally means stringing pearls.  How I love that!  Paul strings pearls together to help his readers understand their spiritual condition—apart from God.

How about you and me?  How about the spiritual checkup I mentioned?  The groundwork laid, we shall look at that in our next briefing.  

Seek God today, my dear ones.  Stay close to his heart.

Christine

1 – Psalm 14.1-3; Psalm 53.1-3

2 – Psalm 5.9; Psalm 140.3

3 – Psalm 10.7

4 – Isaiah 59.7-8

5 – Psalm 36.1