Banish Boasting

"Where [is] boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith.” (Ro 3:27 AV)

The context of Paul’s statement is salvation.  In particular, he is admonishing the Jews for trying to earn salvation through obedience to the law while excluding the Gentiles from attaining it.  The theme of Romans is the equality of all men in condemnation and the offer of salvation.  There is no difference.  All people and cultures are equally depraved and lost.  Jesus died for all.  Grace is to all people.  The principal idea we would like to consider is boasting.  In particular, boasting outside of what the LORD has done is excluded.  It doesn’t matter if we are boasting about our means of salvation or some other attainment, there is no boasting outside of God’s grace.

We are in the midst of the NLCS and the ALCS.  The winners go to the World Series.  Living in Milwaukee, there are plenty of fans around.  One cannot go to any public place without seeing a t-shirt, hat, or jersey with the team’s logo on it.  Why not?  I have a jersey from a player who will always remind me of what someone nearing retirement can accomplish.  Ross was in the seventh game of the world series.  It was his last at bat.  He would be retiring after the season was over.  The series was tied 6-6.  Bottom of the seventh.  Ross launched a home run over the outfield wall and walked off a winner.  What follows is the athlete’s measure of character.  Will he recognize the LORD Jesus Christ in his accomplishment?  I watch a lot of golf.  I the forty or fifty years I have watched, there comes to mind no one who glorified the LORD in his accomplishments.  Football players are perhaps the most faithful in giving God the glory.  It is not uncommon to hear a play-maker thank the LORD above for his ability to do that which he did.

Compared to the LORD, there is no boasting.  Perhaps our feats have outdone something another person has done.  But compared to God, nothing we do can even come close to what God is capable of.  Where should boasting be permitted?  It is excluded.  There should be none.  God created us, sustains us, and gives all that we need to do all that we do.  By Him, all things consist.  We have our halls of human accomplishment.  We have our trophies and awards.  We have numbers on a page or words to a song.  The parade of human accomplishment is ever before our faces.  But the LORD is the one who enables it all.  He has Created our limbs to run and leap.  He has created our minds to think, write, invent, and discover.  The LORD has created order by which notes on a page are written, arranged, and become a song that many generations recognize and sing.  All the busts in the world could not be compared to what God has and is doing.  Last night, as I prayed and meditated upon my bed, the Spirit reminded me how vast God’s creation is and how He keeps it all in balance.  It was overwhelming.  If mankind could create a universe, then perhaps there could be boasting.  Outside of boasting in the LORD, boasting should be banished.