Keeping the law of God
has created all kinds of confusion in the Church. There are some who insist on living by the
letter of the law. There are some who
want to discard the law altogether. And
there are those who are somewhere in-between.
How do we resolve this issue that so often divides the Church?
Much of our confusion
stems from the fact that we don’t properly understand the relationship that the
law has with grace. The law was given to
show us our need for grace. In the law
we discover that we are all sinners and that we cannot be good enough to save
our souls. It is impossible for anyone
to live totally obediently to the law.
We all fall short and the sooner that we admit it, the better off we
will be.
Grace is God doing
something to help us meet the demands of the law. We are saved by grace, not by keeping the
law. There is saving merit only in the
life, death and resurrection of Christ, not in the law. The law shows us what holy living is like and
Christ makes living holy lives possible.
The law is very
useful for showing us how God expects us to live. The standards of God are high and
unattainable without Christ living in us.
Jesus gave us the Holy Spirit after He went back to heaven to guide us,
instruct us, and enable us to live holy lives.
He helps us to be able to apply the law to daily living. Christ met the demands of the law and now He
is with us to live by it without the bondage and condemnation it brings to
those who fail to live by it.
You will never get to
heaven on the shirttail of the law.
Jesus is the only one who can get us into heaven. There is no alternative to repentance. Live in Christ and you will meet all the
demands of the law for holiness and you will make it to heaven when you
die.
No comments:
Post a Comment