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One of the things that is hard for many to understand is how God, if he
exists, can place any demands on us and tell us that we need Jesus to
forgive our sins. Most people think that they are quite good and live a
good life, so what do they need Jesus for? Assuming God exists, what have
they done that's so wrong?
Well let's look at that for a few moments.
If God exists and He made you then He has the right to say how you should
live. He made the product, he also writes the manual. And, if you are
looking at life in terms of good and evil or right and wrong then the
holy, righteous God of the bible has perfect, righteous standards.
The holy, righteous standard is the law. Paul tells us that the law is holy,
righteous and good. And the Law says in the section in EX 20....
Ex 20:1-17
So judged by the law are YOU good?
Have you ever coveted anything that belonged to someone else?
If you have done any of those things then you are a sinner. And when
God, the righteous judge, judges you there can only be one judgment -
GUILTY! And the penalty is DEATH! ETERNAL DEATH!
It does not matter how 'good' you think that you have been otherwise.
A righteous judge can only bring in one verdict - GUILTY!
So what can be done to avert your paying the price for your sins? If
someone who does not deserve to die (is sinless) were to volunteer to
die in place of you, then 'you' could be spared! There is no other
way to free you and at the same time have God stay righteous.
Jesus died a horrible death on the cross taking all your sins into
his body and what is more taking your punishment and God's wrath
against those sins on your behalf. ALL of God's wrath against ALL
sin was absorbed by Jesus and then He cried, "It is finished!"
Knowing that He had a plan to save us from ourselves, God from the
beginning acted by His grace when dealing with mankind and their part
was to live by faith in Him.
If you look at the course of the world from Adam to Sinai you will
see God operated under His default position of Grace through Faith
and no-one that he was working with was condemned and then executed.
Not one!
Then at Sinai the Children of Israel boasted that they could handle
things themselves; That whatever God said they would obey! If you
have a right understanding of what this means, you'd realise that
given the fact that they had been rebellious throughout the journey from
Egypt, breaking the Sabbath and other commands, then to make this
statement shows an arrogance and belief in themselves that's simply
breath-taking!
So God in effect said, "Show Me!"
And after God gave them the ten commandments to obey, their first action
was to make a golden calf to worship instead of the true God.
Three thousand people died as a result, and every time that there was
rebellion in the camp some of God's people died. They died by the sword,
by plagues, by the earth opening up and swallowing them, by serpents
biting them, by other nations defeating them and by being taken into
captivity. All because THEY said God could judge them by THEIR performance.
In fact, just to make sure that they did not forget that they brought
this on themselves and it's not what God originally had in mind, Moses
points this out to them in Deuteronomy, Chapter 5, verses 2-3.
Deu 5:2-3 Jehovah our God made a covenant with us in Horeb. Jehovah did
not make this covenant with our fathers, but with us, even us, all of
us here, alive today.
The result of putting faith in oneself to keep the Law is so marked that
it's no wonder that this ministry that the Children of Israel brought
on themselves is called, "the ministry of death!"
2Co 3:7-9 Now if the ministry of death, carved in letters on stone,
came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at Moses'
face because of its glory, which was being brought to an end, will
not the ministry of the Spirit have even more glory? For if there
was glory in the ministry of condemnation, the ministry of
righteousness must far exceed it in glory.
Paul also calls it "the ministry of condemnation!"
But this condemnation and death and ultimate eternal death does not have to
apply to us, provided we accept Jesus' death on the cross as payment
for our sins and receive Him as Saviour and Lord.
We live by putting faith in Jesus - Gal 3:11 "The just shall live by faith".
For those who do this, just as in the days of grace from Adam to
Sinai, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ.
Rom 8:1-2 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are
in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free
in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.
We live by faith in Jesus, not faith in ourselves. He and the Father
dwell in us and live through us by the Holy Spirit.
Joh 14:23 Jesus answered him, "If anyone loves me, he will keep my
word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make
our home with him.
Php 2:13 for it is God who is working in you, both to will and to do
for His good pleasure.
What a wonderful God we love and worship who died for us and put in place
a way whereby we can have everlasting life with Him and a fullfilled life
now as we put faith in Him and follow His guidance through the Holy Spirit
in us.
His grace is super-abundant. Great is His faithfullness.
Attlee.
Grace and Law in Ancient Israel. Click Here.
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