2015-07-10
Good Morning Dear Ones,
Last week, the issue of a covenant not being possible to come from both works and grace was raised. The promise given to Abraham, for example, was given by God’s grace; it was not through anything that Abraham did (other than putting God first). GA 3: 17-18, “What I mean is this: The law, introduced 430 years later, does not set aside the covenant previously established by God and thus do away with the promise. For if the inheritance depends on the law, then it no longer depends on a promise; but God in His grace gave it to Abraham through a promise.” The 430 years was the exact time the Jews suffered through slavery in Egypt. Shortly after the first Passover was the time when the Jews were given the Covenant of the Law [EX 24: 7-11]. For review purposes, you will find the story of the Passover in EX 12: 1-42. The promise given through God’s grace is just as applicable, viable, and powerful after the Passover as before when it was first given. EPH 2: 8-10 clarifies the whole issue of grace, and gives us God’s perspective on faith through works. “For it is by grace you have been saved through faith, not by works. It is a gift from God---and this not from yourselves; so that no one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Clearly, one can’t “work” his way to heaven; the hope of the resurrection comes to us through grace.
Faith + nothing = salvation! It is by God’s grace that we are given faith. God had to have known that 430 years would be the time of Jewish slavery in Egypt. EX 12: 40-42, “Now the length of time the Israelite people lived in Egypt was 430 years. At the end of the 430 years to the very day, all the Lord’s divisions left Egypt. Because the Lord kept vigil that night to bring them out of Egypt, on this night [Passover] all the Israelites are to keep vigil to honor the Lord for the generations to come.”
We must remember the covenantal nature of this relationship between God and His people. God heard their groaning under the weight of slavery and never forgot His end of the two-way promise. He made good on their freedom, just has He had promised back in EX 2: 23-25 [also AC 7: 33-34]. The Jews were to commemorate the Passover every year and still do. That was their end of the promise along with complying with the Covenant of the Law, given in EX 24: 7-11. While the law was given to allow people to know what is right with God and what isn’t, it would not provide justification, salvation, and eternal forgiveness. Those things would have to wait until Christ’s Atonement and the Covenant of Grace. One covenant was based on the law; the other is based on God’s grace arising out of His promise. Sadly, traditional Jews don’t recognize Who the Lord Jesus is and what He has accomplished for us by His death on the cross. As a result of their emphasizing the format over the content of God’s teaching, they are hopelessly mired in legalism. God knew only His Son, Jesus, could provide a way out of this by His sacrifice on the cross and people’s faith in Him.
When the law was given, it didn’t replace the Abrahamic Covenant [GN 12: 1-3]. There was still the need for people, a land, and a King. From GA 3: 16. We learned that the promise was spoken to Abraham and his Seed, the singular form of the latter applying specifically to Jesus Christ. We have since understood that belief in Jesus means we are justified [RO 4: 3], saved [JN 3: 16; RO 3: 24-25], and eternally forgiven for our past sin [1 JN 1: 9]. We also needed to learn how Christ relates to the law. RO 10: 4, “Christ is the end of the law for everyone who believes.” This means He is the fulfillment of the law. He is both the cessation and the goal of the law. He fulfilled both the law’s types and prophecies by obeying it perfectly, something no ordinary man can do. He is liberated by the Holy Spirit to its moral demands, and thus, is wholly righteous. He thrust open from top to bottom the veil that separated the heavenly Holy of Holies from the Holy Place, making access to God available to all who believe in Him [HE 9: 11-12]. Christ’s Atonement provides a measuring rod for righteousness and is revealed in His own words in JN 15: 13, “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” In that same paragraph He goes on to say that He shares all His Father has told Him with us, not holding back anything.
Now that we’ve looked so carefully into law, we must understand it’s relationship to sin. RO 3: 23, “All of us have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” We inherited sin from Adam and Eve, and we ourselves have sinned. God justified us when we came to faith in Jesus, but He didn’t prevent us from committing our own sins. Sometimes the law brings the idea to sin into one’s mind. The struggle to overcome sinning, which begins with an idea, leading to wrongful action. The root of it all is turning our own way and away from God [IS 53: 6]. The more we sin, the more distance we put between ourselves and God. JN 15: 5, “I am the Vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in Me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing.” This viewed in its fullness, reveals that it is our faith in Christ that allows us to choose to stop sinning or to not sin in the first place! Christ is our way out of sin. We have a forgiving God, Who wants us to confess sins we uncover genuinely and to stop the behavior. He of thus, willing to forgive all but the most heinous sin—that against the Holy Spirit of serial unbelief. Moreover, we are urged to remember COL 3: 13, “Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.”
PRAYER: O Lord, we come before You having heard Your will with regard to being forgiving. There has never been a constructive outcome of holding grudges. Being more interested in the format of our covenant relationship with You over the content of Your teaching has never made sense. It has led people to guilt, unhealthy control over others, and general disarray. What really matters here is that we get to know You better—both You (Your attributes and deeds) and Your will for our lives. These things come from studying Your word –both the OT and NT [2 TIM 3: 16-17], praying often, asking for Your help and remembering to acknowledge Who You are and what You do for us, and being active in Christ-led congregations. The latter base all they do on Your word and prayer, offer many ways to worship You (both corporately and privately), educate us (through sermons, Bible studies, and classes), and offer us many chances to serve our fellow man while we serve You. We accept the responsibility of evangelism, that of sharing Your truth with as many people as will listen, so they too can be given faith by the Holy Spirit. We not only learn what pleases You and what doesn’t, but we acknowledge the greatest gifts of all, gifts which come from Your grace, of justification, salvation, and eternal forgiveness. We believe in the Lord Jesus and accept that it is through His Atonement and our faith in Him, that we will one day return to You for a blissful eternity of fellowship with You in heaven. We thank and praise You for the many blessings You have given us, in the holy/mighty name of Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.
NEXT WEEK: We will finish up on the relationship between the law and sin. Then, I’m called to write about living righteously-how this can be done. Faith comes by the Holy Spirit. It is He that allows us to “be sure of the things we can’t see and certain of that for which we hope” [HE 11: 1]. If one reading this message isn’t feeling encouraged, then I haven’t written it well. The encouragement comes from knowing that believers are indwelt by the Holy Spirit 14/7 [RO 8: 14-16, 26-27]. They are never abandoned [PS 9: 9-10]. If we have faith, it was given to us by our God, Who loves us very much. He also has given us ways to continually strengthen that faith in His Son, and to make lasting friendships which lend texture to our lives, making them better. It is why God has said, in ECCL 4: 9-10, “Two are better than one. If one falls down, his friend can help him up.” The promises God made involve our justification [being deemed acceptable to God], sanctification [God’s work in the on-going process to perfect/purify human believers], and eternal forgiveness of sin have been kept. We can be encouraged that if we cooperate with our Covenant Partner in sanctification, we can eagerly anticipate our glorification [going home to God for eternity in heaven] in God’s perfect time and way. Yes, Dear Readers, our God loves us with every inch of His being. Praise and thanks to Him forever!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn
JS 24: 15
© Lynn Johnson 2015. All Rights Reserved.
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