2002-01-01
Good Morning Dear Ones,
This series of messages began with the story of the original sin of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. It is fitting that it should culminate with the way out from under the bondage to sin given us by the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Look at RO10: 4, an often misunderstood citation that warrants some explanation. “For Christ is the fulfillment of the Law, so that everyone who believes in Him is justified.” When I first read this citation, it confused me, until I read it in the version of the Bible that use often. Here it is again from the Good News Bible: “For Christ has brought the Law to an end, so that everyone who believes is put right with God.” This is not an invitation to break the laws of our land. Instead, this is a statement that Christ’s sacrifice on the cross and your faith in Him now means you don’t have to sin. This goes back to our understanding of what the purpose of the law is from RO 7: 7, “…But it was the Law that me know what sin is. If the Law had not said, ‘Do not desire what belongs to someone else,’ I would not have known such a desire.”
Let me back up to RO 7: 4-6 to give us a deeper understanding of what God is revealing about this through Paul. “That is how it is with you, my brothers. As far as the Law is concerned, you also have died because you are part of the body of Christ; and now you belong to Him who was raised from death in order that we might be useful in the service of God. For when we lived according to our human nature, the sinful desires stirred up by the Law were at work in our bodies, and we were useful in the service of death. 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.” This is part of what was meant in 2 COR 5: 16-17, “No longer, then, do we judge anyone by human standards. Even if at one time we judged Christ according to human standards, we now long do so. When anyone is joined to Christ, he is a new being; the old is gone, the new has come.” For even more profound understanding look at GA 2: 19-20. “So far as the Law is concerned, however, I am dead-killed by the Law itself-in order that I might live for God, 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.”
Please believe me that when our Lord leads me to repeat citations in more than one message it is because He has good reasons for it. Such is the case in discussing RO 6: 3,5-6. “For surely you know that when we were baptized into union with Christ Jesus, we were baptized into union with His death. For since we have become one with Him in dying as He did, in the same way we shall be one with Him by being raised to life as He was. And we know that our old being has been put to death with Christ on His cross, in order that the power of the sinful self might be destroyed, so that we should no longer be the slaves to sin.”
Let me explain this the way I understand it using the metaphor of an electrical circuit. You all know that for electrons to flow, the circuit must be completed. This is a closed circuit with no way to interrupt the flow of electrons, no way to turn it off. If anything interrupts a circuit, then electrons can’t flow, and no work can be done. When we were born, our “sin-circuit” was closed, and we had no way to interrupt it-to stop sinning. However, our loving Abba didn’t want things to stay that way. That is why He sent Christ to die on the cross, providing us with a new, revised “God-circuit.” This one had a way to stop the flow of sin by the act of our coming to faith in Jesus Christ. We now have a choice to either sin or not sin. Because righteousness is imputed to our account when we are put right with God (justified by our faith), the desire to interrupt the sin flow in our “God-circuits” is there. That doesn’t mean we never commit a sin; it means that when we do, we have the desire to stop sinning and to take up a lifestyle patterned after our model for the ideal, Jesus Christ. This is a major paradigm shift from the old “sin-circuits” that controlled our lives before we came to faith. When our “God-circuits” are being used correctly, we want to do good deeds and live righteously.
If there is any confusion in our minds about the relationship of living under the law versus living under grace, it gets clarified in HE 10: 1-4 & 9-10. “The Jewish Law is not a full and faithful model of the real things; it is only a faint outline of the good things to come. The same sacrifices are offered forever, year after year. How can the Law, then, by means of these sacrifices make perfect the people who come to God? If the people worshipping God had really been purified from their sins, they would not feel guilty of sin any more, and all sacrifices would stop. As it is, however, the sacrifices serve year after year to remind people of their sins. For the blood of bulls and goats can never take away sins.” [It is interesting to note that traditional Jews in Israel are planning to build a third temple right where the Dome of the Rock stands today on the Temple Mount. Their plan is to resume animal sacrifices in it]. “Then, [Christ] said, ‘Here I am, O God, to do Your will.’ So God does away with all the old sacrifices and puts the sacrifice of Christ in their place. Because Jesus Christ did what God wanted Him to do, we are all purified from sin by the offering that He made of His own body once and for all.” The implications for us of this are huge. With our “God-circuits” in place thanks to Christ’s Atonement and our faith in Him, we no longer have to feel that we are hopelessly trapped into sinning which leads to spiritual death. We now have the choice to act righteously and to work on extricating whatever sin no matter how subtle it might be from our lives. As if that isn’t enough, we have the Holy Spirit indwelt within us to encourage us to get rid of sin in our lives and want to make God’s agenda our own.
PRAYER: O Lord, You never tire of hearing us praise and thank You for what You have done for us. It was You who initiated the love relationship with You that we are to seek. You have invited us to join You in Your work. There are times when You bring us to a crisis of belief, requiring us to make major adjustments in our lives to conform to Your teaching. This means we are called to faith and to take action in making them. In Your righteousness and love for us, You never ask us to do anything that is not in our best interests. So, once again, Dear Lord, in humble adoration, we offer You the thanks and praise You so richly deserve. In Christ’s name, amen.
I hope you know that God showers you with His blessings every day. There is no greater love than the love He has for you. For that reason, I hope your faith is strengthened today and remains strong always. Peter and I also send you our love.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn