I’ve been in a very intense season of seeking the Lord about
a major life decision. Due to my very
analytical nature, sometimes I tend to think myself into a corner, and being
backed into a corner is never a pleasant place to be. One can’t go backward. One can’t go sideways. And one feels like it’s impossible to go
forward, because of all the “what ifs” just ahead. So the only place I REALLY know to go in
those times is up…straight into His embrace.
It’s in that place of seeking that leads to the security in His embrace. It’s not that the seeking is the CAUSE of the
security. It’s the catalyst that makes
me realize I CAN’T figure it out, and thus the need to just rest in Him and His
perfection.
That’s the real purpose of the Law. It points out what we can’t do. This has become a touchy subject in recent
years…the Law versus Grace thing. It’s
messy and it is hard to accept from within the confines of what man has said is
necessary to become Holy and righteous. But
at its most basic level, it is so very simple.
God is brilliant. He
uses the simple things…the foolish things…to confound the wise. His own Word says so, so before I get
lambasted for saying the rest of what I am about to say, please remember. The Lord Himself said in His Word that He
uses foolish things to confound the wise.
Let’s say that you have been instructed to build a
house. It needs to be sturdy, able to
withstand gale force winds, secure from intruders, and of a design standard
that would rival the most beautiful historic Southern mansion. From the moment you receive this charge, you
are excited. Your mind is already
reeling with the possibilities. You can’t
wait to get started. And then you
receive your supply list. To accomplish
this astonishing masterpiece, you have at your disposal ten items: a sheet of plywood, two 2x4s, three nails, one
shingle, a screwdriver and a paintbrush.
Oh, and one stick of Wrigley’s Juicy Fruit chewing gum. Ridiculous, right? But the ones commissioning you to do this
task assure you that they are very serious.
So you set about trying to figure out how to do the best you can. And the best you can do isn’t enough, not
even to build a model. It’s foolish and
you are confounded.
That’s the purpose of the Law…to show us the ridiculosity of
our own attempts at becoming holy and to point us to the One who was to change our
condition. He went easy on us. He only gave us TEN commandments. There are board games with more rules than
that. And yet, not a single person on
earth has ever kept them all…
Except Jesus. He was the ONLY one who was qualified to keep
them all, and by doing so, set us all free from the futile nature of our own
attempts to be holy. Without a way to
show humans their inability to obtain holiness and righteousness, they would
have never known what the beauty of His grace looks like. And even still today, people get it confused.
Please hear me. I am
not saying that it is a bad thing to love God above all, to avoid stealing, to
avoid bearing false witness, and all the other ones. Those are legitimately moral behaviors. So people spend a lifetime trying not to
fail, falling into condemnation when they do, and in worst case scenarios, they
turn from the faith altogether due to their inability to measure up to what
they think they have to be.
The key is in the order, priority and motivation. We do not sin less to become holy in
Christ. Instead, we become holy in
Christ to sin less. We cannot earn
holiness. We first become holy through
the sacrifice of Christ. God KNEW we
couldn’t even play by ten rules in the game of life. He knew it was foolish. So He used it to confound the wise. He showed even wise, moral, educated, and
respected people that they don’t have a leg to stand on alone. So He provided the Way.
Jesus is Grace personified.
When we attempt to keep the Law, we still cannot attain salvation. If we keep trying to be holy first by keeping
the Law, we are subjecting ourselves again to the bondage of slavery. We are trying to earn God’s love. We are trying to obtain what we already
have. But when we acknowledge the
futility of attaining salvation through works, we embrace Grace alone. And as our nature changes, sinning less is a
fruit of that. Grace is not a license TO
sin. He is insurance AGAINST it. Yes, just like with our vehicle insurance, we
have the occasional fender bender. We may
even have a serious crash. In life, as
long as we live in bodies of flesh, we will still fail. But Jesus paid in full for the
restoration. A responsible driver does
not intentionally keep crashing his or her car to get insurance money. The more he or she drives, the more
experience is gained, hopefully leading to even more responsible driving with
fewer and fewer accidents along the way. But they have to be able to start driving
first. By the same token, a person who
has a revelation of the Grace of Christ will not intentionally keep sinning. Through intimacy with Christ and growing in
maturity and love, fruit that comes from the relationship manifests. One who is IN Christ and continues to walk in
Him WILL be transformed. You cannot
have an indwelling of the Holy Spirit and not be changed.
I have come to believe that this is why, at least in part,
that Jesus said we must become like children to enter the Kingdom. Children have no qualms about asking for help,
even for the messy stuff. Sometimes they
aren’t even able to realize the mess they’re in to ask the right question. Who HASN’T seen a child with a sticky, snotty,
runny nose before? Yet an adult helps them
get cleaned up. But at some point, they
do realize their need for help and ask the questions. Will you help me blow my nose? Will you tie my shoe? Will you read me a story? So to enter the Kingdom, we acknowledge that
it is impossible to keep the full Law.
So we become like children and say, “Abba, I can’t do this. I’ve made a big mess of things. This is too hard for me. Will you do it for me?”
And He did. Praise to
Jesus for the gift of Grace. It is
forever finished.
