HOLINESS AND GRACE

 

HOLINESS AND GRACE

Num. 15:30-31 But those who brazenly violate the LORD’s will, whether native Israelites or foreigners, blaspheme the LORD, and they must be cut off from the community. Since they have treated the LORD’s word with contempt and deliberately disobeyed his commands, they must be completely cut off and suffer the consequences of their guilt. NLT

Does grace nullify the law? Can we say that it is okay to do some things that God forbade the Israelites to do simply because we live under grace and not the law? While there are things God commanded His people to do in the Old Testament that we do not have to do under grace, we must be wise and discerning in determining what they are. There are some things that are universally applicable for all God’s children for all time. I believe violating God’s will for us to be a holy people and blaspheming the Lord are two of them.

It is not acceptable to God for His children to ignore His command to be a holy people. We are to always strive for greater integrity of faith. We are to strive to live free from sinfulness. We are to be conscious of sin and strive to overcome it in our lives with God’s help. The consequences for our not caring and brazenly living contrary to God’s will leads to certain alienation from God and His people. We cannot ignore God’s Word and expect God to condone it. We are made holy in Christ, most of us don’t act like we are. We seemingly do not consider it to be something we need to be too concerned about. Yet, God has always put a lot of emphasis on the holiness of his people, and I believe we need to do likewise.

It is not acceptable for God’s children to blaspheme the Lord. We blaspheme Him when we fail to show proper respect for Him in how we live and talk. It is blasphemy to use His name as if it were a common name. It is blasphemy to treat the Lord as if He were like one of us, common and ordinary. It is blasphemy to have divided loyalties before Him. It is blasphemy to not obey or take seriously our need for God to have all of our heart, mind, and soul. Why do we call Him Lord and live like He isn’t Lord of our lives?

Living in grace is not a license to take God off His throne and act as if He were not God.