There are diagrams to the right of the post that go along with the information. If they seem small on your monitor feel free to right click on them and download them to your computer. This is NOT copyrighted material. Each post will remain here for a week with the respective diagrams. At the beginning of a new week, a new post will appear with new diagrams. The previous post will of course be beneath the new post, but the diagrams for the previous post will be gone.
Again, because this is a blog specifically focused on men - men will be specifically referred to. Yet the information here applies equally to both men and women.
Part Two - Grace and Law.
Okay. So now you're sitting in your big comfy chair. It's Sunday afternoon. You're watching the big game on the big screen with a cold drink, a ham sandwich, and your gift of Grace.
Now what? I don't have to worry about sinning anymore? What does that mean? I don't have to be ashamed of having too many beers on Saturday at the game? I can vent my road rage and not worry about it? Am I free to pursue my golf game regardless of how much time it takes and how much my wife complains about it? Can I do anything I want?
Technically, yes. You have salvation in Jesus Christ and you have the Holy Spirit inside you. You can't lose your salvation. Still, God didn't choose to have his only son sacrifice himself on the cross so you can get drunk, curse other motorists, and neglect your family.
Let's look at some basics.
LAW is defined as the system of performance (or behavior) which God set up to bless those who fulfill its requirements and to curse those who do not. It's based on the 10 commandments.
Dueteronomy 28:1 says If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow al his command I give you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on earth.
This is an achievement based system. All non-Christians operate under this set of standards (Actually, some Christians still operate under this set of standards when, in reality, they don't have to). This is the system of thou shalts and thou shalt nots. If you can do everything right, you gain acceptance - maybe even eternal life.
Here's the problem - you can't. There's no way you can reach perfection on your own. To grab a phrase from my childhood - you're dead meat. As a result we tend to get on this treadmill of the law shown in Figure 1. We try, fail, confess our sins, receive forgiveness, and try again. This will make you crazy! You see, the system based on the law makes you religious, but it keeps the Holy Spirit inside you pressed down and makes you ineffective as a Christian.
This is how the Jews in the New Testament were messed up. Everything was done in order to show others how closely they followed the law. They were deeply religious people but they had no relationship with Jesus Christ. In fact, they murdered him. They were self-righteous - that is trying to be righteous by their own power.
It was this deeply chilling and self-righteous religion that caused God to send his Son to die for us. Let's apply that to you and me. If we try to gain acceptance based on our performance measured against the law of right and wrong a number of character traits are going to float to the top.
- We won't be able to handle rejection or criticism
- We won't be free to fail and to learn from our mistakes.
- We'll be defensive and poor listeners.
- We'll be prideful - happy when someone else fails because it lifts up our standing.
- At the same time we'll have low self-esteem because we know the reality of our failures.
- We'll never be at peace with ourselves.
- We'll constantly find fault with others and be very judgmental.
- We'll be very afraid of God. Our relationship with him will be out of fear of punishment for the wrong we've done. God will be distant and cold because we avoid him out of fear.
This is so NOT what God wants for us. God loves us and wants a close personal relationship with each of us. To accomplish that, he did something radical and new.
Consider this:
Hebrews 7:18, 19 The former regulation is set aside because it was weak and useless (for the law made nothing perfect), and a better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God.
Hebrews 8:13 By calling this covenant "new" He has made the first one obsolete., and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear.
Galatians 3:21 Is the law therefore opposed to the promises of God? Absolutely not! For if a law had been given that could impart life, then righteousness would certainly have come by the law.
When you read that last verse from Galatians you see that simply knowing the difference between right and wrong and banging your head on the wall to do good things doesn't make you alive in the Spirit (Review the diagram in Figure 2).
GRACE is defined as the system of faith (trust, dependence) which God set up to Bless those who are in Christ only because they are in Christ.
Grace is given as a gift - just because you believe - nothing more. It's not based on your performance against the law of right and wrong. It's receiving - not achieving. Any Christian who accepts Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior (born again) can receive this gift.
I know you're thinking "Whoa man! There's got to be more to it than that." Well, yes, there is. Jesus Christ came to earth, was put to death by the Jews, and was brought back to life again by God. When this happened, Jesus Christ made everything you do right for God. He justified you in the eyes of God. As a Christian are you going to live from this point forward never sinning again? No. It's impossible for you to live a sin-less life. But through the lens of Grace through Jesus Christ, you are perfect to God.
Look at this:
Matthew 5:17 Do you think that I have come to abolish the law or the Prophets: I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.
II Corinthians 5:21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
God had Jesus Christ, his son, die for us so that we could be perfect for God. This is so amazing that someone wrote a song about it!
This is the basics of God's Grace through Jesus Christ. This is what it means to be saved. The logical next step for this is how do live this in an every day kind of way. How do I identify myself with Grace? I hate to leave you hanging, but that is what's on tap for next week.
Stay tuned!
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