I love the letters of Apostle Paul to the saints at Rome and
Corinth, written indeed to all that are called to be saints wherever they may
be found. Paul,
formerly a zealous persecutor of the Christian faith, and brilliant teacher of
the law and
later called by God to preach the gospel (1 Corinthians 117),
makes an interesting proposition on the subject of grace.
He addresses his
letters to the saints (Jews and Greeks) in such manner that gives us a profound
revelation on the subject of grace, justification, sanctification,
righteousness and so on, more than any other author of the books of the Bible.
Rightly so because that is what God called him to preach! Hence the Pauline
teachings remain an indispensable tool in our quest to understanding the gospel
of grace.
The Church at the time of his writings were made up of
Greeks who were at the centre of world civilization and therefore found it
difficult to accept that Salvation according to the gospel of Paul could come
from a man who died on a cross. The Greeks were more sophisticated; they sought
for wisdom (1 Corinthians 122) and incurred the wrath of God upon
themselves by their abuse of nature. Paul said they “profess to be wise yet
become fools” (Romans 118-32).
The Jews on the other hand, were more
of the religious creed who believed that Salvation was a product of the works
of the laws of Moses, and took pride in their knowledge of God to the scorn of
the gentile world. They boasted in their works by the law and attempted to make
themselves judges over the Greeks, but Paul said they were just as inexcusable
from the judgement of God because they did not keep the law (Romans 2). Paul’s
doctrine of grace rather sought to unite both Jews and Greeks in the fact that
the cross of Jesus and faith in His finished work of redemption was indeed the
only way to salvation and total wellbeing.
I believe these people were very much like the saints in
today’s Church. We have divided ourselves into various sects based on our
perception of what the cross of Jesus means and the grace it richly supplies.
We may all agree that we believe in Jesus, and are recipients of His grace, yet
we keep devising methods of receiving that grace.
There is a grave danger in looking away from the cross and
pointing to ourselves and our works as the way to God’s grace. We will always
be found guilty if we seek a right standing before God outside the gospel of
grace, that friends is a profound truth. Grace is not a product of works,
otherwise it won’t be grace. Grace is the unmerited favour of God towards man
on the basis of faith in what Jesus did for us.
The general conception of the law is usually that of dos and don’ts (moral laws or the Ten Commandments), sacrifices and ceremonial laws. But in the context with which the Apostle writes by the inspiration of the Mighty Holy Spirit, the ideology of the law is that of works or anything that can earn us a right standing (righteousness) before God, blameless and worthy to receive from Him.
Now we know that what
things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law (Romans
319).
You will understand from this passage that the law wasn’t
given to the entire world but to the Jewish people as a covenant between them
and God. The Jews believed therefore that in order for the gentile world to
have a relationship with God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, they must convert to
Judaism and observe the laws. There could be no better definition of religion
than this.
Yet the concluding part of Romans 319 clearly
defines the purpose of the law; that
every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.
The law wasn’t given to justify anyone! Phew!!! That is a
radical statement! The law was given to hush every mouth (Amplified Version),
and make the world guilty before the presence of God. Yet the law is holy for
they are commandments of God. How then does something that is holy make us
guilty before God? The Bible even goes as far as telling that the strength of
sin is the law (1 Corinthians 1556), and that without the law sin is
dead (Romans 78)!
Most people who preach the law advocate that “extreme grace
will lead to sin”, but the Bible says it is the law that gives life and
strength to sin. The gospel of Grace is the power of God for your deliverance
from the dominion of sin, because under the law sin has dominion over you
(Romans 614). Therefore the idea that the preaching of grace will
lead to sin is nothing but a lie from hell and the Church needs to wake up.
Before you encounter the truth that will set you free you must know the lie
that held you bound. Whether grace leads to sin or not will come up in the next
article in this series, we’ll for now preoccupy ourselves with the study of the
law.
For the law is
spiritual: but I am carnal sold under sin. (Romans 714)
Now the law did not birth sin, neither was it given for sin
to continue. It was given to deal with the acts of sin, but because man has a
nature of sin that is not subject to the law, all the law could do was reveal
the dominion of sin over sin. Don’t ever forget that. This is whole point of
Paul’s writing in Romans 7.
No one can claim he or she has what it takes to fulfill the
standard of God’s requirements of holiness, we were all sold into sin by Adam.
It doesn’t matter how nice and good you think you are, your goodness when placed side by side with the holiness of God
as contained in the law is nothing but filthy rags before God (Isaiah 646).
One of the greatest errors in the Church today is our
measurement of righteousness. Paul reckons that we have zeal after God that is
not according to knowledge; we have become so ignorant of God’s standard of
righteousness that we have tried to establish our own righteousness not
submitting ourselves to God’s righteousness (Romans 101-3). How do
you measure your righteousness? Is it by the fact that you don’t lie, steal,
commit adultery and murder? Yet if you miss the mark at any other point, let’s
say you commit a “smaller” sin, the law will hold you guilty of lying,
stealing, adultery and murder! The law has a composite hold on people, if you
keep all and fail in one you will be held guilty of all (James 210).
Therefore by the deeds
of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his (God’s) sight: for by the law is the knowledge of
sin. (Romans 319)
Friends, the law was given to bring every one of us to our
knees, and cry out to God “save us!”, it was to make us come to the awareness
of our helpless estate under the stronghold of a sin nature that produced the
works of sins (Romans 75). This dominion of sin must of a necessity
point us to a Saviour—Jesus Christ.
Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. (Galatians 324)
The law was given as a schoolmaster or instructor to guide
us to a Saviour who will deliver us from its demands; it came to reveal sin in
order to point the sinner to Jesus Christ. The law itself and the prophets who
gave the law, all testified and gave witness to the coming of a Saviour, one in
whom we can put our faith in to be declared righteous before God (Romans 320-22),
based on His merit and regardless of our guilt! An absolute act of grace, praise
God!
The law was given to point the sinner to his or her Saviour,
for what we could not do (keeping the law to be righteous), Jesus did. He
fulfilled all the righteous demands of the law (Matthew 517; Romans 83-4).
He lived a life of total obedience to God, hence becoming the perfect sacrifice
for the atonement of our sins by the shedding of His blood. When on the cross
He hung, our guilt and condemnation was placed on Him that we should receive
His righteousness (2 Corinthians 521), to the end that though the
law wasn’t fulfilled by us, it has been fulfilled in us!
For Christ is the end
of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth. (Romans 104)
Jesus Christ, the Son of God, accepted the punishment for
our sins; He is the Saviour of the world. The Angel said to Joseph, you will
call Him Jesus for He will save His people from their sins (Matthew 121).
If you haven’t received Him into your heart as your Lord and
Saviour you are not under grace; Jew, Greek, African, Asian, American, whoever
you may be, having the law or having the intuitive knowledge of right and
wrong, we all accountable to the righteous demands of a Holy God without Jesus
Christ as our Saviour. Yet though guilty, you have been set free by the grace
of God through Jesus, this is why the gospel is good news. A simple child-like
faith in Jesus is all it
would take to receive this grace.
In closing, grace is a gift because when we were all weighed
in the balance, we were found wanting, guilty, and condemned by the law, God,
because of the great love He has for you and I, gave His Son as the punishment
for our lawlessness so we could go free. Why God did it remains a mystery to
me. Such love is not human, it is divine, grace is divine.
If you have received Jesus in your
heart as your Saviour, do not try to mix grace with the works of the law to
earn right standing before God, otherwise, Christ will be made of no effect in
your life. Paul describes it as falling from grace (Galatians 54).
Jesus is more than enough, God’s grace is sufficient.
This does not imply that we should
live in sin because we are no more under the law. This article represents
nothing but the truth of God’s word, and the lack of such knowledge will give
sin and Satan an edge over us. God wants you to know that He has made a way for
you to have a relationship with Him that is not based on your efforts to please
Him. Because of Jesus He is already pleased with you, and in His good pleasure He
wants to show you His goodness.
He loves you so much that He gave
Jesus just to have you. Receive that love right now, receive Jesus, receive
grace, and find your rest in Him alone.
Dear Reader,
If you want to come into right standing and have peace and an intimate relationship with God, Jesus Christ paid the price. All you have to do is make this confession with faith in your heart:
Lord Jesus, I acknowledge you as the Son of God who died for my sins, and on the third day you were raised again for my justification. I ask you to come into my heart, even as you cleanse me from my sins with your precious blood. Thank you Lord, Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment