Romans 7:7
[ The Law and Sin ] What shall we say, then? Is the law sinful? Certainly not! Nevertheless, I would not have known what sin was had it not been for the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.”
I have a close friend who also teaches Sunday school. He contacted me after the last lesson and told me, “Brother Wayne. You need to more clearly delineate the difference between the law and grace, between legalism and faith.” You see, he’d encountered a couple of people in this past week who, even though they were reading and teaching the same lesson he was (Galatians), were demonstrating in their review of the lesson particulars that they just weren’t getting it. He was frustrated and a little exasperated by what he was hearing. In a very gentle way, he entreated me to come a little harder, to press the point a little more firmly. Personally, I thought I was doing OK but, here goes.
The verse above points to the fact the purpose of the law was to be a mirror. A mirror to the human soul and nothing more. Righteousness cannot come by a mirror. Rather, a mirror should bring condemnation. It does for me anyway. After fifty something years, I don’t find much of what I see in the mirror very flattering. That’s the point. The Old Testament law was a mirror to the nation of Israel and to us that reveals the most unflattering things about us. Things God already knows. What’s God’s purpose in giving us this mirror? He wants us to come into agreement with Him about our need for Him. That’s it. I can’t state it any more simply. The law existed in two tiers. One tier was the do’s and don’ts, the laws and rules by which the nation was to be governed corporately and individually. The second tier was the ceremonial system that brought you to before God at various times for the purpose of sacrifice and repentance or for celebratory purposes. In the law of governance, God exposed our sin and our iniquities. In the ceremonial law, He provided the path toward temporary redemption.
Psalm 50:13
Do I eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats?
Hebrews 10:4
It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.
It was called ‘The Day of Atonement’. Once a year, all the people were gathered together. The high priest would go before the lord with a sacrificial offering to make atonement for the sins of the nation…for the previous year. It did not justify or make righteous. It’s effectiveness before God only lasted for the duration of the ceremony. No longer. After all, the ‘atonement’ part of the process, the part where god wiped away your sin was secondary in God’s eyes. The primary purpose of this ceremony and every other ceremony in this system was to reveal the pre-incarnate personage of Christ. Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. God wanted us to know that. Repeatedly, through His word, His law, His ceremonies, He presented to the nation of Israel the Promise. The Promise of a Savior, a Messiah who would come to repair the breach that sin had wrought
Matthew 5:17
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.
Matthew 5:20
For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.
Matthew 5:48
Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
Jesus’ words above cause me to stop and, like Peter, wonder aloud, “Lord, how can I do this? How can I be ‘perfect’? Who can be saved?” The key comes in Jesus’ words to the rich young ruler…
Matthew 19:21
Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
In this one statement Jesus puts forth not one, but two distinct spiritual principles. The first is the law of sowing and reaping. Sell all you have and give to the poor and store up for yourself treasure in Heaven. The second: follow Him. The first principle, applied singularly, has been practiced by philanthropists through out history. There is a blessing associated with giving. It is preached and practiced in every culture, religion and at every level of the economic strata. However, in and of itself, giving has no redemptive power. The second principle: following Christ is unique to and a unique privilege of the Redeemed. This is the focal point for how justification by faith is arrived at. The patriarchs of the Old Testament: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Elijah, Joshua, Isaiah, Daniel, David, Enoch, Noah and many others who make up that great cloud of witnesses mentioned in Hebrews were able to see, by faith, the coming of the Day of the Lord: The Messiah. A day when God would forever remove our guilt and shame, write His law upon our heats and make us one with Him. A day when we could look up at the cross and live. A day where we would be able to behold Jesus, full of grace and truth: the very personification of Love.
Numbers 21:9
So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, they lived.
Is it really this simple? Look up and live? It’s absolutely that simple. If you can simply accept that when Jesus died on the cross, that was enough to make you completely righteous before God, you will be saved. God simply asks that we hold on to that singular ‘belief’ and not add the burden of a performance based system that takes the focus off of His ‘gift’ and puts the focus on us and what we’re doing to earn His favor. Paul warned the Galatians that to do so would be the equivalent of being ‘bewitched’; Paul’s words, not mine’s. In The Book of Hebrews, the writer warns that to rely on performance rather than Jesus alone was to descend into ‘unbelief’. Beloved, Christ alone: our hope of Glory.
One last thing:
1 John 1:9
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
I misunderstood this verse for a good part of my Christian journey. Most Christians have. Most of us believe, at some level, that when we sin, each time we sin, we somehow fall from Grace.. and that we must, before time runs out, get before God and say, “I’m sorry.” To extend this thought to it’s illogical conclusion and to hasten the argument, in essence, we’re only as ‘good’ as our last, “I’m sorry.” Did you catch that? This takes us back to the principle of atonement’ and it’s inevitable insufficiency.
Beloved, this verse is me standing in the mirror and coming to agreement with God about my insufficiency, my ineptness, my shortcomings, my missing the mark. This is me standing in the mirror and agreeing with God (looking over my shoulder in the person of the Holy Spirit) about my need for a Savior: Jesus. When I stand before Him and confess that I am a sinner in need of a Savior, I acknowledge that Jesus was, Is and always will be the single reason why I can stand in the Presence of a Holy God. One word: “Jesus”. That’s my confession. Without Jesus, I am nothing. With Him, I live. While there is a place for the acknowledgement and confession in individual sins, God’s righteousness does not come and go with my ups and downs. He cleansed me when I accepted His Son. That cleansing is both continual and everlasting. And it is constant, just like God. He gives His gifts without repentance. He’s not looking to take it back. Blessed be the Name of the Lord: Jesus.
Blessings,
.wb
(I hope this was clear enough :) )
Romans 10:9
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 10:10
For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
Romans 10:13
For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
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Clear enough for me lol well done Paw Paw
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