Hello my friend Dr. Brad Miller here with the Daily Bible Refresh.

This is your daily reading of the Bible from a progressive point of view.

In a bit I will read the New Testament lessons selected from the Revised Common Lectionary for this very day.

The reading is understandable.

I use the message version relatable.

Please listen to the points to ponder and applicable with action steps you can take.

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Here's today's reading.

We're reading today from Romans 4, 6, 15.

From the message David confirms this way of looking at it, saying that the one who trusts God to do the putting everything right without insisting on having a say is the one fortunate man.

Fortunate those whose crimes are whisked away, whose sins are wiped clean from the slate fortune of the person against whom the Lord does not keep score.

Do you think for a minute that this blessing is only pronounced over those of us who keep our religious ways and are circumcised?

Or do you think it's possible that the blessing could be given to those who never even heard of our ways, who are never brought up into disciples of God?

We all agree, don't we, that it was by embracing what God did for him that Abraham was declared fit before God.

Now think, was that declaration made before or after he was marked by the covenant rite of circumcision?

That's right, before he was marked.

That means that he underwent circumcision as evidence and confirmation of what God had done long before to bring him into this acceptable standing with himself, an act of God he had embraced his whole life.

And it means further, that Abraham is father of all people who embrace what God does for them while they were still on the outs with God, as yet unidentified, as God's in an uncircumcised condition.

It is precisely these people in the condition who are called set right by God and with God.

Abraham is also, of course, father of those who have undergone the religious rite of circumcision, not just because of the ritual, but because they're willing to live in the risky faith embrace of God's actions for theirs, the way Abraham long lived before he was marked by circumcision.

That famous promise God gave Abraham that he and his children would possess the earth was not given because of something Abraham did or would do.

It was based on God's decision to put everything together for him, which God then entered when he believed.

If those who get what God gives them only get it by doing everything they are told to do and filling it all out, the right forms properly signed, that eliminates personal trust completely and turns the promise into an ironclad contract.

That's not a holy promise, that's a business deal.

A contract drawn up by hard nosed lawyer with plenty of fine print.

Only make sure that you will never be able to collect.

But if there is no contract in the first place, simply a promise and God's promise of that you can't break it.

Well friends, let's get into this, this episode here, this, this teaching here today.

And I just would, I'm reading from the message translation by Eugene Peterson and he really has a way of just cutting through all the religious nonsense, the fog and getting right to the heart of things.

And I, I love that.

So let's get into it.

Paul's making this really compelling argument in Romans 4.

He's pointing back to Abraham and to David and he's asking the question, I still think it matters today.

He says, look, when God declared Abraham right and good and accepted, was that before or after Abraham had done the religious things?

Before or after circumcision?

And the answer is before God embraced Abraham, before Abraham had checked a single religious box.

So then Paul drives the point further.

He says God's famous promise to Abraham that he and his children would possess the earth wasn't based on anything Abraham did or would do.

It was based on God's decision.

Then Paul drops this line that kind of gets to me.

He goes, if those who get what God gives them only get it by doing everything they are told to do and filling out all the right forms properly sign, that eliminates personal trust completely and turns the promise to do an ironclad contract.

He says that's not a holy promise, that's a business deal.

So that's what we're going to unpack for a couple points to ponder.

The first one is this.

God's grace has always been wider than our categories.

Paul is writing to a community that was deeply divided over who was in and who was out, who had the right credentials, who followed the right rituals.

And Paul says, look at Abraham, the father of the whole faith.

And God accepted him before any of that.

You know, I think about this in my own life.

My wife and I have raised three children who've grown into the amazing adults.

And one thing we learned about raising our kids is that love is not conditional on their performance or when I see my granddaughters performing in a dance recital or something.

And and there's a lot of fun with that.

I'm not thinking whether they've earned perfection on their performance.

What they all they have is my affection.

That's what it's all about.

God's love is never meant to be gated behind Credentials the right background, the right religious pedigree.

Grace by definition, arise before we're ready for it.

A second point to ponder Promise is not the same as contract and this might be the most liberating thing about this whole passage.

Paul draws a sharp line between the promise and a contract.

A contract says you perform and I'll deliver.

A promise says I've already decided.

Come as you are.

I do a weekly podcast helping people impacted by cancer cope with hope and humor and I can tell you when someone is sitting in a chemo chair or waiting for a scan.

The last thing they need is a God who's checking the fine print.

They need a God who's already decided to be with them.

That's the God that Paul is describing here.

Not a hard nosed lawyer with an ironclad contract, but a promise maker whose word doesn't depend on our ability to hold up our end.

When we turn faith into a checklist, we believe the right things.

We say the right words, follow the right rules.

We've turned the promise into a business deal and Paul says that actually eliminates trust.

Remember, real faith is the risky, open handed embrace of a God who's already moved towards us.

Now let's talk about an actions tip.

Identify one area of your life where you've been treating it.

Your relation with God.

Like a contract instead of a promise.

Maybe it's feel like you kind of have to earn God's love.

Or maybe it's a place where you're keeping scorn yourself or someone else.

Name it, write it down and then deliberately release it.

Say it out loud if you need to.

This is a promise, not a contract.

And then let the truth settle in about whatever anxiety or shame or score keeping you might be doing you'll be carrying around.

Just let it go.

It's a promise, not a contract.

Come back and have a prayer in just a second.

I did want you to know that we have a great resource for you.

It's called the ABC1 2,3 Bible Study Method Please head over to our website voiceofgoddaily.com Pick it up right there.

Let's pray.

God, thank you that you're not a hard nosed lawyer.

And thank you that your grace shows up in our lives before we had any idea of what to do with it.

For those of us who spent years trying to earn what you've already freely given, would you loosen that grip today?

For those of us who feel like we're on the outs, Too messy, too doubtful, Too far from the religious center, would you remind us that Abraham was right there too and you called him yours?

Anyway, meet us in the chemo chairs, on the hiking trails, in living rooms where grandkids are laughing, in quiet places where we're not sure we're enough.

We trust your promise today, not because we fill out the right forms, but because you've already decided that's more than enough.

Amen.

My friend, I am delighted you chose to join me for today's reading.

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My name is Dr. Brad Miller and I'll be right here tomorrow with your Daily Bible Refresh.

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Remember, God's loyal love doesn't run out.

His merciful love hasn't dried up, it's created new every morning.