2018-08-03
Good Morning Dear Ones,
You’ll remember that last week in our discussion on sin, we ended with JAS 2: 10, 12-14, and 17, “Whoever breaks one commandment breaks them all… Speak and act as people who will be judged by the law that sets us free. For God will not show mercy when He judges the person who has not been merciful; but mercy triumphs over judgment…faith without actions is dead.” Christ’s half-brother, James, who didn’t come to faith until after the crucifixion was given a deep understanding of the subject matter here! That’s sometimes how the Holy Spirit works. The law referred to here is the Ten Commandments. As for setting believers free, Jesus said, in JS 8: 32, “You shall know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” It’s not enough for us to “talk the talk, but we must also walk the walk” is not only a trite and common adage, but it is the truth.
Let’s look at sin or the lack of it from another perspective. GA 3: 10 and 13, “Those who depend on obeying the law live under a curse…But by becoming a curse for us, Christ redeemed us from the curse the law brings.” As the Scriptures [DT 27: 26 and JER 11: 3] say. This is the same notion expressed in GA 3: 10. Now, let’s see what this curse is all about: DT 21: 23, “It [the body hung on a post or tree] is not to remain there overnight. It must be buried the same day, because a corpse hanging on a tree brings God’s curse on the land. But bury the body, so that you will not defile the land that the Lord your God is giving you.” GA 3: 13b tells us, “…Anyone who is hanged on a tree is under God’s curse.” Certainly, Jesus was under that curse when He was hung on the cross. That’s how His great sacrifice of His physical life became a way we are redeemed. What great love He has for us, because “the greatest expression of love is giving one’s life for a friend,” JN 15: 13. When we view the law and Christ’s sacrifice of His life, we can now see that the Ten Commandments are the law, which tell us what God wants of us, and Christ’s death on the cross and subsequent resurrection are the way of our redemption.
Because we are part of Christ’s body, we too have died to the law (legalism of traditional Judaism) and are now alive in Christ (raised from death, so that you can be useful in His service of God. When we lived led by the desires of the body, we were on a road to certain spiritual death. However, now that we are alive in Christ, we can anticipate a joyful fellowship with Him for eternity. We do not have to endure spiritual death [RO 7: 4-6]. RO 7: 6, “Now, however, we are free from the law, because we died to that which once held us prisoners. No longer do we serve in the old way of a written Law, but in the new way of the Spirit.” A revealing passage, in GA 2: 19b-20, even deepens our understanding of our relationship with Christ. “I have been put to death with Christ on His cross, so that it is no longer I who live, but it is Christ Who lives in me. This life that I live now, I live by faith in the Son of God, Who loved me and gave His life for me.” This notion, expressed in numerous ways, is the very heart of what this “Christ and Believers” segment of my “Knowing God” messages is saying. We must understand that if a person is put right with God through the law, it means Christ died for nothing. The truth is we are put right with God through Christ.
Can a true believer live a lawless life, breaking God’s commandments? RO 8: 3-4, helps us to answer this question. “God did what the law couldn’t do, because humans are weak. He condemned the sinfulness of human nature by sending Christ, Who came with a nature like humans to do away with sin. God did this, so the righteous demands of the law might be fully satisfied in us, who live according to the Spirit and not human nature.” No one said living this way would be easy, but it definitely has its worthwhile reward. We must also ask: What is the “certificate of debt” that Christ took out of the way and nailed to the cross? It is all of our past sin committed before we came to faith in Christ. It helps to recall COL 2: 11-14. “In union with Christ you were circumcised, not with the circumcision that is made by human beings, but with the circumcision made by Christ, which consists of being freed from the power of this sinful self” (11). When we are baptized with Christ, we are symbolically raised with Him through our faith in Him and were also raised from spiritual death. This means that while we must all experience physical death, we are protected from spiritual death just as Christ is. In case you’ve forgotten what spiritual death is, it is conscious and eternal torment in hell, from which there is no escape. And that, Dear Ones, is a fate none of us wants to experience! It is tied with the unforgivable sin of serial rejection of God [Christ and the Holy Spirit] mentioned in LK 12: 10. The crux of this message is that God forgave all our past sins when we came to faith in Christ for the reasons already discussed here. And yes, I am compelled to leave you with one of my favorite verses, COL 3: 3-4, “For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. Your real life is Christ and when He appears, then you too will appear with Him and share His glory!” Enjoy meditating on that.
PRAYER: O Lord, we are so grateful that You have such wonderful teaching for us. Your generosity is unparalleled. You deserve all the praise and thanks for helping us understand our sin and how You provided a way out for us through Your Son, Jesus Christ and our faith in Him. None of us wants to die and experience spiritual death. He and He alone protected us from that, so we can be free from the fear of death. Physical death is a fact of our lives, and we all ask that our passage from our earthly to our heavenly lives can be pain free. Even if it isn’t pain free, we can take heart in knowing confidently we will eventually be freed from that pain and will have a sweet and eternal fellowship with You in the end. Your teaching is eternal and not just for our earthly lives. That is why we must learn to think in terms of eternal life when we make decisions and take actions. We express our heartfelt love and gratitude for You in the holy/mighty name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
NEXT WEEK: JN 12: 27-33 asks the question: Should Christ have said to God, let Me avoid my cup of suffering? The discussion of this question continues our verses and passages that support the teaching in Colossians. This allows us to look at the larger perspective on God’s intervention to save us from the wages of sinfulness. I’m quite aware that some of these teachings I’ve been discussing bear some deep thought, and I testify that God knows this too. That is why we should read these devotions with some appreciation for the love our Lord Jesus has for us and the impact for good on our lives that this has. I write these messages as much for myself as for each of my readers. This is because I have experienced the richness and good quality these teachings have had in my life. The Scriptures are written out of the love our God’s heart for His human creation. How blessed we are that He loves us enough to take this kind of time and effort for us. I leave you this week with some questions that apply to each of us, myself included. How much does our faith drive our actions and what we do in service to God? What do we do in service to God? And from where do the talents we share come? Are you feeling God’s love for you today? Hopefully, you do, and if not, I will pray for you to sense that God really does love us-all of us. Praise and thanks be to Him!
Grace Be With You Always, Lynn
JS 24: 15
© Lynn Johnson 2018. All Rights Reserved.
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