Romans 10: 1 Brothers, but not according to knowledge. 3 For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness. 4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.
In reading through his commentary on these verses, Dr. James Montgomery Boice used a number of illustrations, one of which particularly caught my attention:
“… a platoon of American soldiers is captured by soldiers from the north during the Vietnam War and put in a prisoner of war camp. The American soldiers have no money and have to barter for whatever one soldier has and another soldier wants, which is not a very satisfactory arrangement. But one day a CARE package arrives, and in it is a game of Monopoly. The soldiers are delighted, not because of the game but because of the money. They divide it up, each man getting an equal number of white, pink, green, blue, beige, and gold bills (except for the sergeant, who gets an extra $500). Now, whenever one soldier has an extra cigarette and a second soldier wants it, the first can sell it to him for $100, or whatever. The money is very useful.
In any group of Americans there is always one who is a born capitalist, and this group is no exception. The capitalistic soldier knows how to buy low and sell high, and as a result of his dealing it is not long before he has accumulated nearly all the money in the camp.
About this time there is a prisoner of war exchange, and this platoon of soldiers is air-lifted to Danang and then to a base in the Hawaiian Islands. Now long after this, our capitalistic solider arrives home in San Francisco. The first thing he does after greeting his family is go downtown to the Wells Fargo Bank, make his way to the clerk dealing with new accounts, and tell her that he wants to open an account in the bank. “That’s good,’ the teller says. “We like to see servicemen coming to the Wells Fargo. How much money would you like to start your account with?”
The soldier responds by pushing his Monopoly money across the counter. “1,534,281,” he says. The teller takes one look at it and calls the manager, because it is obvious to her that the soldier is suffering brain damage from his confinement.
The Monopoly money might have helped this man get along very well in the prisoner of war camp, and even in America it could be used to play games. But it is no use at all in the world of American commerce. In that world you need genuine American greenbacks from the U.S. Treasury.”
… the righteousness of God and the righteousness of human beings are different things… Yet I admit that I worry about one thing… Illustrations like this tend to trivialize the issue. They even make the distinction seem fun, when actually the matter is deadly serious, and the failure to distinguish our righteousness has fatal consequences.”
– Romans Commentary, Volume 3, p. 1159-1161
Selah!