Romans 10 -- geregtigheid (doğruluk)

Any time you study a new language, you encounter new sounds. English in particular is rich in phonemes -- more than 40, last time I checked. But that is a small subset out of the myriad of tones and intonations we can produce using throat, lips, and tongue. Try to say geregtigheid -- and the English-speaker has to exert substantial effort to pronounce each g. That Afrikaans throat-clearing phoneme is apparently similar to the gh we still include in the written English, in words like light, dough, through, enough -- but have not actually pronounced for several centuries.

Geregtigheid is also a major concern in this chapter. We are hard-wired to seek it, and people who take God seriously also take geregtigheid seriously. Or should I say δικαιοσύνην. giustizia. iustitiam. doğruluk. Americans who count Turkish Muslims among their friends encounter people who know their lives are lived under divine scrutiny. People who want to live lives that please their Maker. People who, as Jesus said, "hunger and thirst for righteousness."

The sad part is, these wonderful and delightful people, like the Jews Paul wrote about, often confused the means with the end, the effect with the cause:

Rom 10:2 Onlara ilişkin tanıklık ederim ki, Tanrı için gayretlidirler; ama bu bilinçli bir gayret değildir.
Rom 10:3 Tanrı'nın öngördüğü doğruluğu anlamadıkları ve kendi doğruluklarını yerleştirmeye çalıştıkları için Tanrı'nın öngördüğü doğruluğa boyun eğmediler.
Rom 10:4 Oysa her iman edenin aklanması için Mesih, Kutsal Yasa'nın sonudur.

Let's unpack vs. 4:

• Oysa -- thus to
  
• her -- every
  
• iman edenin -- one who is believing
  
• aklanması için -- is accounted (on the basis of that faith)
  
• Mesih -- Christ
  
• Kutsal Yasa'nın -- of the Holy Law
  
• sonudur -- the goal is.
  

As a hero of the faith in America, J. Gresham Machen, wrote early in the last century,

Here is found the most fundamental difference between liberalism and Christianity—liberalism is altogether in the imperative mood, while Christianity begins with a triumphant indicative; liberalism appeals to man's will, while Christianity announces, first, a gracious act of God.