Actually, I don't know if Twain ever read Romans, but we've been studying this passage in which Paul relentlessly deconstructs all attempts to find security apart from Christ. People try to convince themselves that 1) God doesn't exist (1:18-23); 2) He won't judge sin (1:19-32); 3) He grades on a curve and nice people like us are A-OK (2:1-16 with 3:10-20); 4) My religion will save me (2:17-3:9) .
It's all been very negative, but necessary. If we wish to find real security, we first have to let go of any sense of false security. Or, as Twain put it:
"It ain't what you don't know that gets you into trouble. It's what you know for sure that just ain't so."
(For real security, note the introduction (1:16-17) and conclusion (3:21ff).
3 comments:
Thanks for the respite from the bad news of the good news in your aside on Romans 1:16-17 and 3:21ff. Of course, Paul doesn't let us off the hook with Romans 3:23, which not only tells us that we are sinners but that in sinning we fall short of the required standard. And that standard is nothing less than " the glory of God ," that is, the sinless perfection that only Jesus Christ displayed.
It is the insecure that look for security.
"It is the insecure that look for security."
Like the fellow who once said, "I am really skilled at expecting the worst"?
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