Living Water 2 - Romans - 4:16-25

Going back to the water on the hill in the desert analogy, all three of the options given yesterday play into the life saving as a whole. Ultimately, on a cellular level, only the water can save you regardless of how much you believe or how much you walk to the hill. This is an excellent illustration of how we are completely and totally dependent on the atonement for our salvation, it is truly the only way back to God.

This analogy also answers a lot of the questions as far as spiritual “currency” that is used to pay justice. Our belief and our personal efforts can not create water, and water is the only thing that our cells can use to nourish themselves and stay alive. We can not create the water, no matter what we do or believe, we can not do it. Likewise, we can not pay our own debt to justice.
Well, that’s not true, we know that those who refuse to repent will have to pay for their own sins, but they still won’t be worthy to be in God’s presence. That is because the payment of the sins is not the only requirement; we have to be perfected in Christ to be celestial. Suffering for our own sins is not how we become perfected, that process comes through repentance. So it would be more accurate to say that we can not perfect ourselves.
And really, the atonement is not just payment of sins, it is enduring hardships, it is enabling power, and it is about the overall perfection of our spirits. So the water analogy is still accurate, we can not hydrate our own cells and we can not perfect ourselves alone either. We must believe that Jesus can save us, and we have to be willing to do what he says in order for receive that salvation.
It’s kind of like seatbelts. If we believe that wearing a seatbelt can save our lives, then we buckle up so that the power of the seatbelt can be applied to us. Likewise, if we believe that Jesus can save us, then we do what he says so that his power can be applied to us as well. Like the desert analogy, just because the water can save us, doesn’t mean that it automatically will. If it did, we would never be in the position of dying of thirst in the first place, there is even a saying about it, “you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink.”
I feel like the first 3 chapters of Romans was about why we need the gospel, like Paul was explaining just how much trouble we are in without it. Kind of like him telling us just how dire our situation is stuck in the desert without water. It seems like in chapter 4, Paul is explaining how we can be saved by the water, contrary to our previous belief that walking to the water source would be enough.
Continuing with the desert analogy, “faith” is the part where we believe that the water will save us and “works” is the part where we walk to the water and drink it. Verse 16 says, “therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace.” A straight forward reading of this verse might lead one to understand that it is through sheer faith alone that we are saved. This is missing the vital step of both reaching the water and being perfected. If we believe that the water will save us, that doesn’t mean that the water naturally flies through the air and dumps down our throats. Likewise, if we believe Christ can save us, that doesn’t mean that we are granted a free pass to perfection regardless of what we do.
The IM says that this verse alone might cause a “misreading that faith is merely a passive belief, resulting in no changes to one’s behavior, loyalty, or character.” This is like those who believe that they can live life however they want and be saved because they believe. But that flies in the face of the atonement. We don’t become perfected only through our beliefs, we must obey.
The JST of verse 16 says “therefore ye are justified of faith and works, through grace.” This changes the whole connotation of the verse because it adds in the requirement for “works” as well. I guess the whole thing kind of comes down to who goes where. If we believe in Christ but don’t walk towards the hill with the water, we are assuming that He will bring the water down to us, with no effort on our part. But that’s not why we are here. Jesus and Heavenly Father are already perfect, they don’t need anything else to become “more perfect.”
Our whole purpose for coming to this earth is to become like God, that was the explicit goal and we all agreed to it, therefore in order to gain our own perfection, we must put in our own efforts. Jesus has made the water available to us, and will even do all he can to help us climb up that hill, but we have to make that effort, like obedience in real life.
The IM points out that the Greek words for “faith” that Paul used “both imply a deep conviction that results in personal commitment and action. The words have connotations like trust, confidence, faithfulness, and obedience. Thus, Paul wrote of ‘obedience to the faith’ or the obedience that comes from faith, ‘obey(ing) the gospel’ and even ‘obedience unto righteousness.’”
Paul returns to the subject of Abraham to demonstrate the concept of faith. Not only did Abraham have faith without the law of Moses, but he also had faith sufficient to obtain promises from God. But the way that God’s promises were fulfilled surely were not the way that Abraham expected them to be. God promised Abraham that he would “become the father of many nations.” But Paul points out that Abraham still had faith in that promise even when he was a hundred years old and “his own body now dead,” as well as that of his wife’s childbearing years.
Paul reminds the saints that even though it went against logic, Abraham “staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God.” How do we “stagger” in our faith? For me personally, I stagger when I don’t give time and attention to the important parts of my spirituality. For instance, when I neglect my scripture study or family prayers or family home evening, I notice a decrease in my ability to feel the Spirit.
I feel like myself and so many other people get frustrated because we want so many blessings, and even if they are righteous desires, it should be a no brainer, but the longer that it goes without receiving those blessings, the more it seems to make sense to give up. I think that I’m going to write a blog post about how to be single and ok with it. I think that that’s one of the biggest difficulties that comes with this life, being alone. I’m pretty ok with it, but I know that it’s a difficult concept to come to terms with. But I am not worried for one second about it. I’ve got Jesus and I fully expect to be with an amazing man who cherishes me eventually, even if it is in the next life.
The IM quotes a talk by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland which is simply amazing and really made a big difference for me. It’s long but here is goes: “To any who may be struggling…, I say: Hold on. Keep trying. God loves you. Things will improve. Christ comes to you in His ‘more excellent ministry’ with a future of ‘better promises.’ He is your ‘high priest of good things to come.’
I think of newly called missionaries leaving family and friends to face, on occasion, some rejection and some discouragement and, at least in the beginning, a moment or two of homesickness and perhaps a little fear.
I think of young mothers and fathers who are faithfully having their families while still in school- or just newly out- trying to make ends meet even as they hope for a brighter financial future someday…
I think of those who want to be married and aren’t, those who desire to have children and cannot, those who have acquaintances but very few friends, those who are grieving over the death of a loved one or are themselves ill with disease. I think of those who suffer from sin- their own or someone else’s- who need to know there is a way back and that happiness can be restored. I think of the disconsolate and downtrodden who fell lie has passed them by, or now wish that it would pass them by. To all of these and so many more, I say: Cling to your faith. Hold on to your hope. ‘Pray always, and be believing.’
Indeed, as Paul wrote of Abraham, he ‘against (all) hope believed in hope’ and ‘staggered not… through unbelief.’ He was ‘strong in faith’ and was ‘fully persuaded that, what (God) had promised, he was able… to perform…’ Some blessings come soon, some come late, and some don’t come until heaven; but for those who embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ, they come.”