Law, Grace, and Jesus

Proverbs 29:18

“Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint ; but blessed is he that keeps the law.”

My perspective:

“Where there is no revelation…” means where eyes have not been opened to God’s truth—Jesus is the only way to God the Father.

“…people cast off restraint..” means exactly that, no self-control. Where people lack in reading God’s Word they have no mirror to reflect the depravity of their spirit. They “cast off restraint” and go for the gold in pleasure—what feels good, drunkenness, hate, fits of rage, pride, arrogance, sexual immorality, and on and on and on. Such things are not of God, they are of the world and the ruler of the kingdom of the air—the devil (Ephesians 2).

“…but blessed is he who keeps the law" We are no longer under law,  but under grace through Jesus, so blessed is the one who maintains a personal relationship with Christ. This entails searching intently for wisdom (ability to discern between what is right and true) through God’s Word, bringing about peace of mind, body, and soul. Doesn’t mean suffering and sorrow will dissipate nor riches will be poured over one’s head, but that through the storms of life our sails will be filled with the fruit of the Holy Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control). He will carry us along as a ship in turbulent water if we only learn to rely upon His presence.

“Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passion and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit” (Galatians 5:22-26).

In Ephesians chapter two, Christians are taught we are made alive through Christ like a newborn to its mother. Before Jesus, the law had to be followed to the letter for cleansing and forgiveness of sins. This legalism never established permanence because continual rituals of sacrifice had to be performed to receive righteousness. With every wrong/sin, works had to be performed before God to receive a pardon.

The Messiah put an end to the legalistic era—Jesus has fulfilled the law. Through Him we are cleansed once for all—through Him we, true believers, are alive.

Personally, though I was dead in spirit (hate, rage, depression, etc) through escapism (liquor, drugs, etc), I surrendered to Jesus and now am alive (contented peace). It is by grace I have been saved—the definition of grace being unmerited favor from God that provides salvation. I did nothing to deserve God the Father’s favor—God the Son did it for me. By accepting Jesus’ death on the cross as my eternal sacrifice and believing in His bodily resurrection, I am now more alive than ever before.

No person can go to the Father except through His Son’s life sacrifice.

All I had to do was accept in faith, which is not of ourselves, but a gift from God as well. A gift is freely given not earned. If salvation were based on earnings, it would be based on works and “merited favor." We must soften our hearts and open the ears of our spirit to hear the call of salvation from Jesus. Let go of the pride that deceives one into thinking good deeds/works are sufficient to enter into heaven—they won’t. Good deeds and love are a sign/result of having received Jesus’ Holy Spirit, but in no way do works/deeds in and of themselves provide salvation (James 2:14-26). Let us not be mere listeners of the Word, but doers of the Word (James 1:19-27) and we will be blessed .

Aiming at the Mark

Better.  That seems to be the mantra today.  Why, as Christians, do we have our eyes fixed on the mark of being better?  We are distracted and deluded by this simple, yet malignant word.

To be better is a mark we fall short of daily.  We promise to lead lives devoted to Christ and end each day as failures. Jesus is the mark to which we should live.  He is our role model.  He came as the Suffering Servant (Isaiah 53).  Have any of us ever lingered in thought about that title, Suffering Servant?  It's worth a deep thought or two.

Jesus is the exact representation of God in human form.  He is the stamp of God in the flesh.  He came to sacrifice Himself in order to appease His righteousness.  He did not place Himself in what one would naturally assume God would chose.  No, His choice of substitution was to bear the burdens of life and the rejection of others.  He did not desire to be lavished with wealth and position.

Jesus understands rejection--His own received Him not.  He understands the harshness of life and man.  He knows firsthand absence of fairness--socially, economically, and sadly, spiritually.

In His Sovereignty, God showed us how to be better.  By not concentrating on the 'better me' but by living righteously.  In and of ourselves, impossible--in Christ Jesus, more than possible.   Scripture promises us a participation in the divine nature of God Himself with the indwelling Holy Spirit.  This is an amazing reality to the sincerely saved.

I have heard our lives are to prepare us for eternity,  but I tend to disagree.  True,  we prove our loyalty to Jesus by living this life in faith. However, our lives are more than a preparation.  We exist to glorify God,  to live in such a way that brings our heavenly Father honor. This is not realized by a desire to be better than what we were or even better than what we are--it is only done by imitating Jesus Christ.

Christianity is more than a belief in Jesus or His completed work in Calvary.  Satan himself, along with his minions, believe these truths.  No, Christianity is more than belief--it is surrender. The surrender of one's life by kneeling before the King of Kings, by making Jesus the Head of our lives. This is salvation. This is how we become better, by representing Christ in the power of His Spirit.

Stench of Error

The unsaved have no right to stake claim or recite God’s laws or loosely take Jesus on their lips.

Changing Jesus words, changing Scripture to meet one’s desired way of life, following false teachers, listening to twisted truths, does not predicate salvation. Misled malcontents of God’s instruction are the reason many spurn Him.

How do they do that, you ask? By creating knock-off religions such as The Church of the Latter Day Saints, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Unitarian Universalist, Gnosticism, Worldwide Church of God, Presbyterian USA, The Way International, Chrislam and more. All have different standpoints, but all wreak of error by teaching Christ is but a prophet, or claiming Christ reappeared appointing new apostles, or denying the existence of hell, or accepting homosexuality, or giving creed to interfaithism, or denying Scripture's inerrancy and so on.

I do not plan to get into the logistics of each “religion” and their belief system; I only mention them to show how many false avenues there are incongruent with Scripture. This incomprehensive list doesn’t even include atheism. They flat out deny the existence God, a pattern of thought even demons reject.

God is long-suffering and gives people time to see the error of their ways. The unrighteous and unsaved live out their lives free of punishment thinking God is on their side—wrong! Go to His word, their schemes and practices are of the devil.

Many people accept homosexuality as the norm and sexual immoral behavior as a legitimate lifestyle. Others claim Christianity as a means to financial gain—business contacts through the church or Christ as a career; others are just swindlers, liars, cheats, drunkards, adulterers, and the like. And all this is done under the presumption of Christianity.

They are misled, they are wrong. They will be spurned, chastised, and rebuked in the end—Jesus will accuse them straight to their faces. One cannot love the world and its ways claiming to have Christ as their Savior—simply cannot be done (1 John 1:15-17). Those who ape His truth, those who forget Him, those who deny Him will be torn to shreds with their deeds leveled against them. But those who honor Christ and accept Him will be vindicated of their faith.

Forget worship on face value. God desires and requires heart worship. If our hearts and minds are set upon Jesus, our actions will follow suit. Do not allow the world to dictate God’s stone-set way of salvation. Following the world’s deluded way of being supreme to Jesus will cost you dearly in the end. Don’t be blinded by technology and bad persons living in ease while the saved are persecuted.  Study, know, and live by God’s Word--be imitators of Jesus Christ.

The Bible is truth—the very nature of God is at stake when people twist and contort His absolutes. One must believe the Holy Spirit will reveal more and more to which only believers of Jesus will be tuned in to hear and understand. But many have cast doubt on Scriptures, questioning God’s ability to provide His creations with an infallible text. If you are one of these who promote or permit such actions, know this:

“The mocker seeks wisdom and finds none…” and “There is a way that seems right to man, but in the end it leads to death” (Proverbs 14:6a, 12).

Your way may create avenues for a guilt-free lifestyle, but you will find no life through Jesus, only death through the devil. To cast suspicion on Scripture, is to call God an incompetent trickster who can create the universe, yet is incapable of inspiring His creations to pen the Bible.      If this is your mindset, you had better enjoy life because the other side of time will be hell.