Random Thoughts About Gospel

When we die, the earth gives up an irreplaceable individual, unique even if  a monozygotic twin. What makes us unique, even with the odds being we do have a doppelgänger, are the experiences we have stored as memories. No one in the world has the total memory bank of any other individual. Even if we attend the same event, we will tell different stories in different order to any given person. That thought came with I was thinking how many themes run through the Bible, especially the gospels in the New Testament.

Matthew and John, the gospel "bookends" were disciples. Mark was the nephew of Barnabas, Luke a physcian, neither considered among the 12 that called by Jesus and who accompanied Him in His three year ministry.

Each of the four wrote of those three years in such a way that we can see a "Harmony of the Gospels." From the story of Jesus' conception and birth to the final commission to go and teach others, we see God's hand in inspiring four men to write specific events from their own perspective and still include the message God wants us to know. 

Yet - every single moment of every single moment that the sun shines upon the earth, there are hundreds of people (as I am now) taking time out of their lives to tell someone else what Jesus means to them, and encouraging another person to pick up the Bible, prayerfully asking God to provide answers. I assure you He has in the past, is right now, and will in the future.

I'm not including much in the way of scripture today, but I will leave it to you to find out why I believe that the Bible is the inspired word of God. I also believe that Jesus had two specific reasons we know of for living - one was to teach men how best to reach God, the other was to die. It takes both the Old and the New Testament to give the full story. 

There are a couple verses Paul wrote that I ask that you keep in mind: 

I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed. (Galatians 1:6-9 KJV)

If the Bible doesn't match what a person tells you, please study how the other person could be wrong before you start looking for why the Bible would be. Because the four gospels vary in the order of evenets, some omitting an event, or another giving from a different view  point, detractors often deem them incorrect, copies of each other, or incorrectly translated. Try your own experiment with friends or family covering only one event that lasts one afternoon. Ask them to write it out in their own words - without talking to each other while doing it. Oh, yes. That's always interesting, isn't it - even if just talking together over photos of a picnic!

Those four books do declare the life of Christ, which is good news - but so do the Acts of the apostles and the letters to the churches and people. 

Revelation is different. There is an explanation of what we may expect in the future. Just as in the book of Daniel in the Old Testament, we are not given the whole story, or the timing. It still counts as good news, for it promises more than we can comprehend for those who seek God. His promisse is that He can be found by those who seek Him and hear Him. We have to comprehend what is being offered.

I do hope to be an encouragement to someone wondering whether Christianity is for them. Everyone, anyone, whosoever, it means me and you. I believe it was available to Judas. All he had to do was believe Jesus. Perhaps he did believe that Jesus was going to die. Peter did when he denied Christ in the courtyard three times before the cock crowed. There is a huge difference between the two incidents. Learn more about them.

And I must stop rambling - but my mind keeps asking questions. One thing popped into my mind that I haven’t spent much time considering - how many people would would it take to recreate the Bible from memory? How much could you contribute from memory?

God's Plan = Perfection

 

Christus und Nicodemus, by Fritz von Uhde (1848–1911)

There are several good public domain pictures of Jesus and Nicodemus, but I selected this one bringing the discussion ahead a couple of millennia. It was a very important discussion that John recorded of two men who loved and served the same God. One had a marvelous religious education and the other was a human being created by God and carried the Spirit of God. I firmly believe Jesus was God in human form, so if that's a problem, you may not get the rest of the story if I lose you here.  Please, stick around, though.

God created perfection in this world - for reasons we have not been told. Lots of theories, but we are faced with the reality from a book that dozens of men wrote over hundreds of years and were consistent in two facts that didn't change from the beginning to the middle and shouldn't be changed now:

First is God: In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. (Genesis 1:1 KJV)

The second is family: And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. (Genesis 2:23-24 KJV)

God eventually shared His Law with His creation, both in the Old Testament and the New: 

Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. (Matthew 22:35-40 KJV)

Our current society is pretty much rejecting all of the above. The "Is God Dead" headline blared when I was a young, church-going, adult:

"Is God Dead?" was an April 8, 1966, cover story for the news magazine Time. A previous article, from October 1965, had investigated a trend among 1960s theologians to write God out of the field of theology.

Oh, there were plenty of people in the United States of America who had ignored God for centuries, but there hadn't been a movement to completely toss God out of society until this. Others had written of their disbelieve in any deity (i.e. "God is dead" was a statement made by the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche in his 1881 book), and there were many other religions around the world who rejected this concept of Judiasm and Christianity. However, The USA as a nation and society grew up from roots of migrants who wished to worship this very God that some have declared dead.

In less than a month, it will be 57 years since that article, and society is answering that question. The Moody Church Media introduces an article with:

The ideas of philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche are pervasive throughout our culture. While critics of Christianity say, “God is dead,” history tells the tale of a diminishing view of God.

Some websites offer:

7 Ways Church Leaders Must Change To Keep Members

11 Powerful Strategies to Grow Your Church

How to bring about change in your church (without getting fired)

Why Do Churches Stop Growing? - How To Drive Church Growth

Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; (2 Thessalonians 2:1-3 KJV)

All that background just to tell you that Nicodemus had the same problem that exists in our society today. The Jewish religious leaders had congregations, too. Yet people were following a man who told them their leadership was wrong.  Very specifically in Matthew 23 and Luke 11, where we read "Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!" Or the same words in different order.

It wasn't against God that Jesus was pointing out errors and woes - it was the religious leaders who were more interested in secular activities or the compliance with mankind's traditions that were the problem. It was a societal problem, for God was diminished in their world view, too, which caused Nicodemus to come to Jesus with questions - and got questions in return:

 Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be? Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things? Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness. (John 3:9-11 KJV)

In verses 5-31, Jesus gives Nicodemus the plan of salvation that Paul writes in his letter, that Peter speaks of in Acts, that is laid out from the beginning to the future's end in the Bible. Nicodemus led his congregation - and did not realize Micah 6:8 meant what it said for him and for every person that desires to know if God is real.

It is not the size of the church. It is not grand theological studies or theories. The King James Version of the Bible tells us what pure (καθαρός - katharos - clean (literally or figuratively): - clean, clear, pure) religion (θρησκεία - thrēskeia - ceremonial observance: - worshipping, religion) really is in James 1:27. All of the letters to the churches, and people, in the New Testament are testimonies to what Jesus Christ taught. For me, the most important lessons are about the first/greatest commandment, and the second commandment is possible when we understand:

He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God? (Micah 6:8 KJV)

Bottom line, God is real and created mankind for a specific relationship with Him. It's up to each one of us to decide if we want that - or not. We have the option to say either way, and accept the consequences of our decision - which are very well laid out in the Bible

Like A Tree

 

Samantha Levang, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

This is a picture of a tree in Lahaina, Maui, Hawaii. The photographer included:

The tendrils hanging down are part of the tree's root system. If the maintenance crew didn't trim them, they would grow down to the ground and plant themselves, eventually growing like a new trunk from the original tree.

 From a Hawaiian tourism site:

Cool down in the shade under one of the largest banyan trees in the United States. Imported from India and planted in front of the Lāhainā Courthouse and Lāhainā Harbor on 1873, this sprawling tree along Front Street is the size of an entire city block and stands more than 60-feet high. If you need to cool down a bit, you can walk for two-thirds of an acre under the shadow of its sweeping branches. Many events and art exhibits are held beneath this popular gathering place. At Art in the Park, which takes place every second and fourth weekend of the month, browse for affordable paintings, limited edition prints and a wealth of crafts under the dangling vines and twelve major trunks of this Lāhainā landmark.

I've been blessed to be there and see how the tree does cover such a large area. Out my back door is a Live Oak tree that has been shown to be older than this banyan tree. It qualifies to be included in the  Live Oak Society, and its spread is 65 feet, with a girth of 9+ feet before the split, though not nearly 60 feet tall. Unlike this Banyan tree, ours doesn't put out limbs, then roots to start a new trunk on the ground, but it sheds acorns to start new live oak trees.

The Bible uses trees as examples in maniy verses, but one of my favorites is:

Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish. (Psalms 1:1-6 KJV)

According to people who keep track, there is a question about the oldest tree in the world:

In eastern California, a Great Basin bristlecone pine known as Methuselah has long been considered Earth’s oldest living thing. According to tree-ring data, it is 4,853 years old — meaning that Methuselah was well established by time ancient Egyptians built the pyramids at Giza. But wait — a challenger has emerged to vie for Methuselah’s record, reports National Geographic’s Craig Welch. In Chile, a Patagonian cypress known as the Alerce Milenario or Gran Abuelo (great-grandfather) could be 500 years older than the current reigning champion.

These two trees existed at the time the psalmist wrote about a righteous man being planted. There is a sense of continuity even in the story of Johnny Appleseed, a man who planted apple trees a couple of centuries ago. So what brought all this to my mind? Pastor's sermon Sunday from Philippians:

Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: that whether I come and see you, or else be absent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel; (Philippians 1:27 KJV)

The slide for Pastor's sermon was a photo he took of the Lahaina Banyan tree. It reminded me of the one request of spoken of before - that our Lord allow time for a picnic under the Tree of Life beside the River of Life where a number of people could visit - all of those in the line that brought the gospel news down to me through the ages, and the people I've spoken/written to sharing the Good News that:

Salvation is God's plan and was given for all mankind to understand;

Sanctification is explained in God's word through the life, death and resurrection of His Son;

Service in God's plan is available to each and every one of us who has faith in His grace.

There have been multiple millions of trees on earth. What beautiful examples of bringing forth fruit in their seasons. Nature itself speaks of God. Read this in context, but  "them" are the unrighteous who should see God around themselves:

Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: (Romans 1:19-20 KJV)

It is preceeded by those who do have faith:

For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith. (Romans 1:17 KJV)

The Gospel Message

 It's as simple as that, and as "true blue.' The gospel is: The teaching or revelation of Christ. You can find four different viewpoints in the first four books of the New Testament: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Matthew and John were disciples of Christ, Mark was a convert and the nephew to Barnabas, Luke was a physician, a convert, and a companion to Paul.

Luke also wrote the book of Acts, or Acts of the Apostles, which follows his gospel with the spread of Christianity during that first century. While the first four books tell of Jesus' life, there are some differences in what the writer deemed important. Since we believe these are scripture and that:

All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: (2 Timothy 3:16 KJV)

Here Paul is explaining to Timothy how important scripture is. Did Paul know that his two letters to Timothy would be deemed worthy to be included in the Holy Scriptures Paul studied as a Pharisee - only God knows, but those two and others were studied, source verified, and presented to churches as scripture inspired by God.

There are 104 matches for "gospel" in 98 verses in the King James Bible, from Matthew to Revelation. It is not found in  John, Titus, James, 2 Peter, 1st, 2nd, 3rd John, nor Jude.

The first use, Matthew 4:23 tells us Jesus preached the gospel in synagogues. The Greek word used was Strong's G2098 εὐαγγέλιον defined as God's good news. The entire Bible is God's good news to mankind. in verse 23, we learn:

And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people. (Matthew 4:23 KJV)

The gospel - the truthfully good news - was of the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom is reached through Jesus, thus the messengers eventually were called Christians:

And when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch. And it came to pass, that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church, and taught much people. And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch. (Acts 11:26 KJV)

My favorite "gospel" story is Paul, standing before Agrippa, reciting his religious background, acknowledging Agrippa's, giving Jesus' story quickly, his own conversion, and Agrippa/s response, followed by Paul's:

Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian. And Paul said, I would to God, that not only thou, but also all that hear me this day, were both almost, and altogether such as I am, except these bonds. (Acts 26:28-29 KJV)

Acts 25 and 26 are awesome to read - in fact, the whole Bible is a lot to read, but is worth the time to do it again and again. You see, the gospel, God's good news, covers lifetimes. There's always an opportunitiy for applicability to our own lives, and opportunities to share with others. Sharing is part of Jesus' words to His disciples:

Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen. (Matthew 28:19-20 KJV)

Here, on this blog to encourage Bible reading, I've done a tiny part. Jesus used words at the end of His parable of the Good Samaritan that I'd like to pass on to you, once you know Jesus as Lord and Savior:

Go, and do thou likewise. (Luke 10:37c KJV)

I Want That

 

Do you really want your life to be as a rainbow, with pots of gold at each end? Sounds wonderful, doesn't it - until you realize the biblical story about rainbows comes at the end of a flood neither you nor I want to face. It comes after days of being inside with door and windows closed, and the first look for a sign of life was a failure.

Or do you see the rainbow as a promise from God, as the biblical story continues. There was no pot of gold, but there was a renewal and God's promise that floods would not cover the earth at one time again:

And God said, This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth. And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud: And I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh. (Genesis 9:12-15 KJV)

God has made other covenants - promises - and He has kept them. Mankind has a way of making promises, and not keeping them. Native Americans, or First Nations, can name several that were signed, but later broken. It takes a strong desire to want something strong enough to make promises and keep them. To believe strongly enough to point at a specific goal and state, "I want that."

As an example, I met a gentleman who believed his sinfulness was such that he was not acceptable to God. He fully understood:

For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; (Romans 3:23 KJV)

As all of us who come to God, he knew he had fallen short and deserved condemnation. God, however, knew he didn't:

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. (John 3:16-18 KJV)

The gentleman had reached the point where he believed Jesus is the Son of God - but did not understand that Jesus came that through Him we, individually, might be saved. By believing Jesus, we no longer stand condemned as we did when we did not believe. We can reach our goal of life with God by saying, "I WANT THAT!"

Maybe not with such emphasis, but with a desire strong enough to want the salvation God is freely giving to everyone who will accept. There is nothing but condemnation for not believing. God said so.

What did that gentlemen, and me, give up? Nothing, really. We accepted God's promise and His way of looking at the world:

But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:8-9 KJV)

Paul finally understood, after condemning those who followed Jesus, after being complicit in the death of Stephen; after obtaining orders to imprison and kill Christians, it took a personal encounter with the risen savior for Paul to understand he could have what he had wanted all his religious life - the ability to be with God for eternity.

Have you ever wanted that? Wanted it enough to wonder what you would have to give up to achieve it? Wanted it enough to say to God: "I want what you offer. I believe you exist and I need to learn more to understand"? You have the time, and the Bible tells us:

(For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.) (2 Corinthians 6:2 KJV)

What Goes Before and After Hearing?

Saint Paul by El Greco (public domain)

 

Evangelism is not proselytizing within Christianity. To "evangel," as I mentioned in Tuesday's post, is:

Did you know in American English "evangel" is defined as "the good tidings of the redemption of the world through Jesus Christ; the gospel." 

There were prophets for millennia who spoke of the redemption of the world through believe in a single supreme being, but the longest such belief comes to us in written form through Judaism. Without Judaism we would not be able to do what the Bereans did after hearing Paul's evangel:

 And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews. These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so. Therefore many of them believed; also of honourable women which were Greeks, and of men, not a few. (Acts 17:10-12 KJV)

I do hope I've said it sufficiently - that's what I pray for my readers. Search the scriptures as often as you can, daily is awesome. Seek for yourself  to know if what is in the Old Testament scriptures point to what happened in the New Testament. Is what Jesus said true:

To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears. (Luke 4:19-21 KJV)

Never, ever, take what I write here as scripture. Do not pick up on a single verse out of context and live by it alone. Look up in a Bible to see whether or not it fits into context, determine if it can give great discovery if used alone. Too often we see someone who has chosen these verses to live by:

And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. (Luke 12:16-19 KJV)

In a red-letter Bible it is obvious we are told Jesus spoke those words. Aren't we as Christians supposed to follow His instructions? Well, read the verses before and after to find out the example has consequences:

But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided? So is he that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God. (Luke 12:20-21 KJV)

I have heard Christians from one denomination or another speak of members of any other denomination as being "lost.' To all followers of Christ, "lost" means without Christ as savior. God has no contract with any specific Christian denomination, whether His name is on it or not. We are called Christian because we believe Jesus' words across the gospels that explained He is the promised Savior prophesied by Jewish prophets. Belief is a requirement:

If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things? And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. (John 3:12-15 KJV)

Ask any Christian you know and in my experience they can quote John 3:16:

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16 KJV)

Not all can quote the following two:

For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.  (John 3:17-18 KJV)

Our condemnation is not due to our sins - the condemnation is because we believed not. Paul addresses this in his letter to the Christians at Rome:

. . . that is, the word of faith, which we preach; That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. (Romans 10:8b-9 KJV)

That is Paul encouraging by evangel others to be evangelists, because:

For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things! (Romans 10:13-15 KJV)

That is both the Christmas message and the Easter message: Jesus is Christ, who was born to die as our Savior, and is resurrected in His defeat of death. Now you've heard - want to talk about it, or learn more?

It's The Law

 

University of Michigan law library interior

It's impressive, isn't it? The University of Michigan law library is impressive. However, once a student opens a book, I imagine attention is focused much more on studies than architecture. I know when I open the Bible, I really don't care if the surroundings are timelessly beautiful. I want to know what it tells me.

There are places in the Bible where that focus on the Law given by God takes total commitment. I like the history behind 2 Kings 22:

And Hilkiah the high priest said unto Shaphan the scribe, I have found the book of the law in the house of the LORD. And Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, and he read it. (2 Kings 22:8 KJV)

From Hilkiah to Shaphan to Josiah, who called Ahikam and Achbor and Asahiah and sent them on a mission:

Go ye, enquire of the LORD for me, and for the people, and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that is found: for great is the wrath of the LORD that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not hearkened unto the words of this book, to do according unto all that which is written concerning us. (2 Kings 22:13 KJV)

After consultations, the word was given to the people of Israel:

And the king went up into the house of the LORD, and all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the people, both small and great: and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant which was found in the house of the LORD. And the king stood by a pillar, and made a covenant before the LORD, to walk after the LORD, and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all their heart and all their soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people stood to the covenant. (2 Kings 23:2-3 KJV)

Years pass, kings and priests die and are replaced, again and again. Never does the Law completely disappear - there is always a remnant and a returning to walk after the Lord and to keep His Commandments. Jesus read them in the synagogue one Sabbath and shared more:

To preach the acceptable year of the Lord. And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down. And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him. And he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears. (Luke 4:19-21 KJV)

Jesus said there were two important commandments in Matthew 22:34-40, the foundation of the Law and the prophets of scriptures and Judaism.

Paul studied them intensely and I trust what he says about the Law in Romans:

(For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified. (Romans 2:13 KJV)

Paul wasn't the only Apostle of Jesus who stated this emphatically:

But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed. If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain. Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, 

I  include the longer quote because James not only mentions hearers and doers, but he closes his example with:

To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world. (James 1:22-27 KJV)

Keep your heart and your actions focused on "pure religion" in God's word. We are not sent to change our cities, our counties, our states, our countries. We are sent to make changes in ourselves and show God's pure religion to individuals. How is that working in your life? I need to make changes in mine.