1Corinthians 1:23 But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness;
Christ crucified is to the Jews a stumblingblock and to the Greeks foolishness. These are two groups of people that reject the gospel. The first person I will focus on is the Jew. This was a person that was very respected as a person. He went to the temple very devoutly. He tithed all he had, right down to the mint and cummin (down to the spice rack). You would see him fasting twice a week with a face full of sadness and sorrow. He would wear these robes which were long and flowing and would pray on the street corners so that all could see. He had the law of Moses written between his eyes and came from a pure Hebrew bloodline. If he saw a "Gentile dog" walking in his direction he would cross to the other side of the street so he would not dirty him self by coming in too close proximity. He was the religious of his day and he considered him self to be superior in every way. Not only in bloodline or tradition, but in everything about his lifestyle. He was a "good man". He loved the law and the righteousness he got from obeying it. When he heard of Jesus, that he was a lowly carpenter, he scoffed. When he heard that this Messiah was a Nazarene, he laughed. Would he forsake his father's religion and bow down to a carpenter? Would he he reject his religion and all the effort and work that he put into it, and now put his faith in this supposed deliverer? NEVER! Here he was obeying the laws of God, getting recognition from his peers and gaining in righteousness, and now he was to throw it all away for a Man? Absolutely absurd! Christ crucified was a stumblingblock to him. The Jew could not accept it.
Perhaps there is a "Jew" reading this today. Let me introduce you to yourself. Perhaps you come from a real pious family who are well thought of in your community. You love the "church". You love it right down to the stain glass windows, the arched doorway, the red carpet and the glass chandeliers. You love the life, the aura of it, the people, and even the positive messages that make you feel so wonderful. You love it when the preacher takes a cute story from the bible and gleans some wisdom from it that you can apply to your life to make it better and better. You are so proud to be a member of the one true denomination and you thumb your nose at everyone else. Christ will be to you a stumblingblock. You get real uncomfortable when you hear talk of such things as Jesus dying for the ungodly. When you hear a song sung like "There is power in the blood", it makes you shudder. It is all just a doctrine to you. It's not real. If I were to tell you that all your going to the "house of God" is for nothing... If I tell you that all your singing and praying, pass for nothing in the sight of God because you are a hypocrite, dead in your trespasses and sins... If I tell you unless you get your heart right, all the externals will do you no good... You would tell me to get lost. If I preached to you the externals, like reading your bible, fasting, having daily devotions, you would gladly hear me. If I had told you that you needed to do this or that to be saved, you would gladly had listened to me. If I took a week to tell you all that you must DO to be saved, you would heard me with eagerness. If I had told you that you must take your socks off and walk fifty miles in your bare feet, you would have started off first thing in the morning. But to hear that Salvation is a free gift and it is only offered to the ungodly sinner, you won't have any of it. If I tell you that it is Christ's righteousness that saves you and not your own, you dismiss it immediately. If I tell you that Christ on the cross, was a statement from God, of what you deserve, but that He took your place, you would turn and walk away. Let me ask you a question, "Jew". When you stare death in the face, will your religion save you? When you stand before the throne of God, will you take comfort that finally all your efforts and good works will pay off? Christ crucified is to you a stumblingblock.
The other person I will deal with is the Greek. The Greek loves wisdom. He either despises all religion or he thinks that they all have something good to offer. He is found everywhere. In the work place, in the university or college dorm, on television or radio. He loves little quaint expressions and wise sayings from the great philosophers. Ask him a question and he knows it all. Whatever it might be, politics, economics, religion, but as soon as you talk to him of Christ, it is foolishness to him and he won't hear of it. Ask him about "New Age" or Buddhism, he will talk your ear off, but Jesus bleeding on a cross for his sins is foolishness.
If this describes you let me ask you a few questions. When death stares you in the face, will your wisdom mean anything then? When tribulation comes, will wisdom give you comfort? When you begin to drown in misery, depression and guilt, will your wisdom cheer you up? Will your philosophy give you eternal life? No sir! Without the promises of God to hold you up, all your learning and wisdom will do you no good. It will only make your path a little slipperier as you slide down into the pit of hell.
1Co 1:24 But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God
Here is the wisdom of God. God viewed humanity with all their ungodliness and sin, and saw that something needed to be done. He knew that the judgment must fall because of sin and He saw all their religion and self effort was insufficient and was sick of it. What did He do? Even while we (mankind) were still enemies of God, sinning at every opportunity, God showed His great love and when the time was right, God sent forth His Son, born of a virgin, to live amongst us so that He could feel with our infirmities and taste death for every man. His name was Jesus and He lived like us and was tempted in every way as we are, but without sin. He had every desire as we have. He was fully man, yet fully God and He lived perfectly. Someone had to pay for our sin... Either we who committed the sin or someone to take our place. Jesus qualified as a perfect substitute and God laid the sin of the world on Him and He died on the cross as if He were all the sinners on earth. He went into the depths of the earth for three days and then resurrected in a glorified body, ascended to heaven and is currently seated at the right hand of God, waiting until His enemies are made His footstool. One day soon He is coming back for all those that believe this, to take them with Him to heaven where there will be a great big family reunion, with singing and dancing! If you noticed, this is God's righteousness not ours. The gospel is all God's righteousness and He reserved salvation for those that are ungodly sinners who work not! That is who salvation is for. Why? Because God will not have some man glory in His presence. God will not have man say to Him, "I did it, or I deserve it". All that is required is faith. You can see how this poses a problem for the self righteous man. It is very humbling to know that all your right doing and self effort will never be enough to get to heaven but that one must rely completely on the right doing of another, which is God Himself. Absolutely beautiful! Marvelous! Oh the wisdom of God! To those that are saved, it is the power and wisdom of God.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Friday, December 11, 2009
Quest For Glory
Romans 10:2 For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge.
Romans 10:3 For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.
Romans 10:4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.
This passage is loaded with doctrine that is very applicable to our times. All non believers and many professing Christians are almost totally ignorant of God's righteousness. People are running around seeking glory, establishing their own righteousness being totally ignorant of God's. Why is that?
This goes to the root of who we are as a depraved human race according to biblical teaching. The first man, Adam, was made in the image of God and crowned with His glory. He was also made in fellowship with God and therefore rightly related to Him. When Adam sinned sought his own self interests and stepped out of fellowship with God, God took His glory away. Since that time, we the human race been without the glory of God and have this deep desire for glory, and there is nothing wrong with that, except that we we seek it in the wrong place and for the wrong reason. IN OUR NATURAL STATE, OUR QUEST FOR GLORY IS DEEPLY SEEDED IN "SELF", and therein lies the root of all our problems.
Romans 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
The result is when we seeking our own glory, apart from God, whether it be in material wealth, sports, fancy cars, an important position in a company, or RELIGION, the itch never gets sufficiently scratched. There is no lasting satisfaction. The empty hole where the glory and fellowship with God should be, is still empty. Men seek religion as a way to fill that empty void, but it is only a continuation of the problem because it will still never satisfy for it still stems from purely selfish motives. It is still a vain attempt to attain glory and establish our own righteousness, that will forever be insufficient. We may join a "church", get baptized, volunteer at a soup kitchen, join a cause, witness, read our bibles, donate to charity etc, to try to fill that need for glory, but it is still just dead works and filth in God's eye. Without faith it is impossible to please God and it is through this channel of faith in His righteousness that all of our actions must emanate from.
So continuing on, the root of the problem is this, that we (the human race) are going about establishing our own righteousness without submitting ourselves to the righteousness of God. To clarify, IT IS NOT GOOD WORKS THAT GOD HATES, IT IS GOOD WORKS THAT IGNORE HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS, THAT GOD HATES. When we do good works that come out of a heart without faith, whose only motivation is to fulfill selfish desires, it's those works that God calls filth. It is personal works of righteousness that manifest out of a sense of guilt, out of a sense of duty, where the motivation is as the relationship between a slave and his master, and based completely on legal motives and not love. A truly born again Christian is motivated by the love of Christ which is manifested in His righteousness (in the gospel), not in legal motives. Why? Because a Christian is not under the law (or covenant of works) but under grace. This verse perfectly illustrates it...
Romans 10:4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.
What that verse says is that when a person gets saved, there is no more need for that person to seek personal righteousness to get in right standing with God and inherit eternal life. When a person gets saved they have all the righteousness needed to get to heaven, which is Christ's. For the rest of that individual's life, all of the good works that he or she does, should come out of a thankful and loving heart because of what God has done for them (ie. God's righteousness). God's righteousness is now the motivation for everything in that believers life. Any act he does, springs forth from the faith he has in God's righteousness, which is what He did when He sent His Son Jesus to this earth and made Him to be sin for us and shed His blood on that tree. When a person gets born again, and finally sees the enormity of God's righteousness manifested in the Gospel, it absolutely melts his heart. Just the thought that God would justify ungodly heathen sinners, while they are still in their sins, is beyond human understanding. The tremendous gap between the ungodly life of the individual coupled with the hell they deserve, contrasted against God's awesome love that comes from His righteousness, motivates the new believer to act out of love and thanksgiving, finally glorifying God the rightful Owner of all glory. At the point where the sinner believes God and submits to His righteousness, that sinner is again crowned with the glory. That empty hole that the sinner used to fill with pleasure seeking, material wealth, religion etc. is now forever filled because of this. That continuous feeling that there is something missing, is gone. In its place is only joy, thanksgiving, and love because of finally submitting to the right righteousness and getting the glory back, both of which are God's.
So to get in right standing with God again (like Adam was before he sinned), we must be in God's kingdom, and to be in His kingdom we must be born again. How do we get born again? By rejecting any personal righteousness, or any offering out of our souls to God for the purpose of getting in right standing with Him, and simply turning to God and believing that Jesus got right with God for us. It is in trusting that His sinless life, His blood, His dying, His resurrection is enough to get us rightly related to God and into heaven.
Romans 10:3 For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.
Romans 10:4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.
This passage is loaded with doctrine that is very applicable to our times. All non believers and many professing Christians are almost totally ignorant of God's righteousness. People are running around seeking glory, establishing their own righteousness being totally ignorant of God's. Why is that?
This goes to the root of who we are as a depraved human race according to biblical teaching. The first man, Adam, was made in the image of God and crowned with His glory. He was also made in fellowship with God and therefore rightly related to Him. When Adam sinned sought his own self interests and stepped out of fellowship with God, God took His glory away. Since that time, we the human race been without the glory of God and have this deep desire for glory, and there is nothing wrong with that, except that we we seek it in the wrong place and for the wrong reason. IN OUR NATURAL STATE, OUR QUEST FOR GLORY IS DEEPLY SEEDED IN "SELF", and therein lies the root of all our problems.
Romans 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
The result is when we seeking our own glory, apart from God, whether it be in material wealth, sports, fancy cars, an important position in a company, or RELIGION, the itch never gets sufficiently scratched. There is no lasting satisfaction. The empty hole where the glory and fellowship with God should be, is still empty. Men seek religion as a way to fill that empty void, but it is only a continuation of the problem because it will still never satisfy for it still stems from purely selfish motives. It is still a vain attempt to attain glory and establish our own righteousness, that will forever be insufficient. We may join a "church", get baptized, volunteer at a soup kitchen, join a cause, witness, read our bibles, donate to charity etc, to try to fill that need for glory, but it is still just dead works and filth in God's eye. Without faith it is impossible to please God and it is through this channel of faith in His righteousness that all of our actions must emanate from.
So continuing on, the root of the problem is this, that we (the human race) are going about establishing our own righteousness without submitting ourselves to the righteousness of God. To clarify, IT IS NOT GOOD WORKS THAT GOD HATES, IT IS GOOD WORKS THAT IGNORE HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS, THAT GOD HATES. When we do good works that come out of a heart without faith, whose only motivation is to fulfill selfish desires, it's those works that God calls filth. It is personal works of righteousness that manifest out of a sense of guilt, out of a sense of duty, where the motivation is as the relationship between a slave and his master, and based completely on legal motives and not love. A truly born again Christian is motivated by the love of Christ which is manifested in His righteousness (in the gospel), not in legal motives. Why? Because a Christian is not under the law (or covenant of works) but under grace. This verse perfectly illustrates it...
Romans 10:4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.
What that verse says is that when a person gets saved, there is no more need for that person to seek personal righteousness to get in right standing with God and inherit eternal life. When a person gets saved they have all the righteousness needed to get to heaven, which is Christ's. For the rest of that individual's life, all of the good works that he or she does, should come out of a thankful and loving heart because of what God has done for them (ie. God's righteousness). God's righteousness is now the motivation for everything in that believers life. Any act he does, springs forth from the faith he has in God's righteousness, which is what He did when He sent His Son Jesus to this earth and made Him to be sin for us and shed His blood on that tree. When a person gets born again, and finally sees the enormity of God's righteousness manifested in the Gospel, it absolutely melts his heart. Just the thought that God would justify ungodly heathen sinners, while they are still in their sins, is beyond human understanding. The tremendous gap between the ungodly life of the individual coupled with the hell they deserve, contrasted against God's awesome love that comes from His righteousness, motivates the new believer to act out of love and thanksgiving, finally glorifying God the rightful Owner of all glory. At the point where the sinner believes God and submits to His righteousness, that sinner is again crowned with the glory. That empty hole that the sinner used to fill with pleasure seeking, material wealth, religion etc. is now forever filled because of this. That continuous feeling that there is something missing, is gone. In its place is only joy, thanksgiving, and love because of finally submitting to the right righteousness and getting the glory back, both of which are God's.
So to get in right standing with God again (like Adam was before he sinned), we must be in God's kingdom, and to be in His kingdom we must be born again. How do we get born again? By rejecting any personal righteousness, or any offering out of our souls to God for the purpose of getting in right standing with Him, and simply turning to God and believing that Jesus got right with God for us. It is in trusting that His sinless life, His blood, His dying, His resurrection is enough to get us rightly related to God and into heaven.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Draw Nigh To God
Mt 15:8 This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.
Mt 15:9 But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.
Here is the main point that I would like to focus on that has recently been on my mind. Drawing nigh to God and how one goes about it. If we look at the above verse we see Jesus blasting the scribes and pharisees because they were holding their tradition over the word of God. They were worshiping God in vain because they taught the doctrines and traditions of men and held this over the word of God. In essence, they worshiped each other and themselves, rather than truly worshiping God.
I wonder if we would examine our own institutionalized Christianity, how true Christ's statement would be today. I wonder if we stripped all the traditions away that stand in the way of drawing nigh to God, if we would not experience something much better. Jesus said, "The people draw nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me." Could that be true in our own Christian lives? Isn't much of what is taught on television stations like CBN, or heard on Christian radio, or even from the pulpit, that we just need to do something, and God will draw nigh to us? Perhaps the real question would be, is God found purely in religious acts? Do we limit God to our morning devotional or our daily bible reading? Do we limit our worship to a church meeting on Sunday? Is God found only in a building? Are we limiting Him to certain acts, deeds or places? Is this where God is found? Is there more to this life than the seen? How do we get close to God?
Eph 2:13 But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the BLOOD of Christ.
We were made nigh by the Blood of Christ. Without the blood of Christ we don't draw nigh to God. It is by faith in the blood which we draw nigh. But how, you say is that practical in our experience? The next verse says that without faith it is impossible to please God. Jesus Christ has made peace for us by His blood. That is how we come nigh to God. Believing that His blood is sufficient for us to come right through the veil, into the holiest of all and boldly approach the throne of grace. Why boldly? Because His blood not only covers all our sin but takes it away so that we are acceptable in His sight. Because Christ's robe of righteousness covers us so that God views us (His children) as He does His precious Son. It is faith in that, that we draw nigh to God.
Heb 11:6 But without FAITH it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
A profound statement. Without faith it is impossible to please him. A person can go around and do everything that they ought to do. Read scripture, daily devotions, church meeting on Sunday, whatever it may be, and their heart can be far from God. Without faith that God is who He says He is and that He is a rewarder of those that diligently seek Him, it is impossible to please Him. It saddens me when we limit our worship and our relationship with God to certain tasks or deeds with as much enthusiasm as a slave to his master, ignoring God's righteousness, mercy and grace and focusing only on ourselves.
Heb 7:19 For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better HOPE did; by the which we draw nigh unto God.
"The bringing in of a better hope", is contrasted to the law here and the better hope that is meant here is this new salvation and righteousness and blood that is revealed in the Man Christ Jesus. Faith and hope are very similar in the bible. Hope that Christ is coming soon and hope that we will soon have our new bodies and will dwell with Christ for eternity. Hope that His righteousness and not our own will be sufficient to inherit eternal life. We draw nigh to God through the means of what Jesus Christ did for us.
So I would like to conclude with these thoughts. Scripture says that we have been made nigh by the blood of Christ and we draw nigh to God by Hope and Faith. My main point that I would like to get across is that God is always nigh to us who are saved, by faith in the finished work of Christ. Christ lives in us! We limit him to certain activities throughout the day, when He is there all the time! He is there when we mow the lawn. He is there when we are at work. He is there when we wash the dishes or when we go for a walk. The best times we can have with God are those times when the roar of the lawn mower drowns out all other noises, or seeing the flash of lightning and hear the thunder crashing. Or meditating on Isaiah ch6 or Ezekiel ch 1 over the hum of a diesel engine. Or thinking about Revelation ch 19 over the profanity laced lunch room at work. Even then God is nigh.
Mt 15:9 But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.
Here is the main point that I would like to focus on that has recently been on my mind. Drawing nigh to God and how one goes about it. If we look at the above verse we see Jesus blasting the scribes and pharisees because they were holding their tradition over the word of God. They were worshiping God in vain because they taught the doctrines and traditions of men and held this over the word of God. In essence, they worshiped each other and themselves, rather than truly worshiping God.
I wonder if we would examine our own institutionalized Christianity, how true Christ's statement would be today. I wonder if we stripped all the traditions away that stand in the way of drawing nigh to God, if we would not experience something much better. Jesus said, "The people draw nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me." Could that be true in our own Christian lives? Isn't much of what is taught on television stations like CBN, or heard on Christian radio, or even from the pulpit, that we just need to do something, and God will draw nigh to us? Perhaps the real question would be, is God found purely in religious acts? Do we limit God to our morning devotional or our daily bible reading? Do we limit our worship to a church meeting on Sunday? Is God found only in a building? Are we limiting Him to certain acts, deeds or places? Is this where God is found? Is there more to this life than the seen? How do we get close to God?
Eph 2:13 But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the BLOOD of Christ.
We were made nigh by the Blood of Christ. Without the blood of Christ we don't draw nigh to God. It is by faith in the blood which we draw nigh. But how, you say is that practical in our experience? The next verse says that without faith it is impossible to please God. Jesus Christ has made peace for us by His blood. That is how we come nigh to God. Believing that His blood is sufficient for us to come right through the veil, into the holiest of all and boldly approach the throne of grace. Why boldly? Because His blood not only covers all our sin but takes it away so that we are acceptable in His sight. Because Christ's robe of righteousness covers us so that God views us (His children) as He does His precious Son. It is faith in that, that we draw nigh to God.
Heb 11:6 But without FAITH it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
A profound statement. Without faith it is impossible to please him. A person can go around and do everything that they ought to do. Read scripture, daily devotions, church meeting on Sunday, whatever it may be, and their heart can be far from God. Without faith that God is who He says He is and that He is a rewarder of those that diligently seek Him, it is impossible to please Him. It saddens me when we limit our worship and our relationship with God to certain tasks or deeds with as much enthusiasm as a slave to his master, ignoring God's righteousness, mercy and grace and focusing only on ourselves.
Heb 7:19 For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better HOPE did; by the which we draw nigh unto God.
"The bringing in of a better hope", is contrasted to the law here and the better hope that is meant here is this new salvation and righteousness and blood that is revealed in the Man Christ Jesus. Faith and hope are very similar in the bible. Hope that Christ is coming soon and hope that we will soon have our new bodies and will dwell with Christ for eternity. Hope that His righteousness and not our own will be sufficient to inherit eternal life. We draw nigh to God through the means of what Jesus Christ did for us.
So I would like to conclude with these thoughts. Scripture says that we have been made nigh by the blood of Christ and we draw nigh to God by Hope and Faith. My main point that I would like to get across is that God is always nigh to us who are saved, by faith in the finished work of Christ. Christ lives in us! We limit him to certain activities throughout the day, when He is there all the time! He is there when we mow the lawn. He is there when we are at work. He is there when we wash the dishes or when we go for a walk. The best times we can have with God are those times when the roar of the lawn mower drowns out all other noises, or seeing the flash of lightning and hear the thunder crashing. Or meditating on Isaiah ch6 or Ezekiel ch 1 over the hum of a diesel engine. Or thinking about Revelation ch 19 over the profanity laced lunch room at work. Even then God is nigh.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Under the Law vs Under Grace
This topic is what separates the saved from the unsaved. It separates Christian from non Christian.
Romans 6:14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.
Ga 3:10 For as many as are of the works of the law (or under the law) are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.
Ga 3:23 But before faith came, we were kept UNDER THE LAW, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed.
Ga 4:4 But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made UNDER THE LAW,
Ga 4:5 To redeem them that were UNDER THE LAW, that we might receive the adoption of sons.
It seems that being under this state of being under the law is not a desirable state to be in. It seems that Christ redeemed us from under the law. In fact, being under the law is called a curse because a person must do the law perfectly in order to be justified by it, and if you fail to keep it just once, you are condemned for all eternity. Here is what Charles Finney says about what it means to be under the law...
To be under the law is to be subject to the law as a covenant of works. In other words, to be under the law is to be under the necessity of perfectly fulfilling the law in order to obtain salvation. To be under the law is to be influenced by legal motives or considerations, to be constrained by the fear of punishment or influenced by the hope of reward. To be under the law is to be constrained by conscience and a sense of duty, instead of by love. Individuals seem to go painfully about their duty under the biddings of conscience, and submit with about as much pain and reluctance as a slave to his master.
To be under the law is to be under the condemning sentence of the law, like a state criminal, and of course shut out from communion with God. A state criminal, under sentence, is legally shut out from all friendly intercourse with the government, and is considered and treated like an outlaw. Just so with a sinner, under the sentence of Gods law. While the sinner remains in a state of spiritual death and alienation from God, the sentence of eternal death is out against him. He is shut out of communion with God, and consequently sin will have dominion over him.
I can not say it any better than that. Beautiful peace of writing. So in contrast, let us look at what it means to be under grace. To be under grace means that a person accepts the gift of salvation freely without any offering of good works or anything from his or her soul. To be under grace means to be united to Jesus by faith and receive continual life and influence from Him. Through faith I mean simply believing that what Jesus did on the cross is enough to get you into heaven. To be under grace means that a person is motivated by love, and is excited and moved by grace not a sense of duty or legal motives. How marvelous it is to be under grace! How true it is what Jesus meant when He said that the Truth shall set you free.
How wonderful it is to know that there is never one act of righteousness required for me to inherit eternal life! How wonderful to know that ones sins are forgiven! How marvelous to know that not one sin will be put to ones account! It is great to be under grace!
Romans 6:14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.
Ga 3:10 For as many as are of the works of the law (or under the law) are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them.
Ga 3:23 But before faith came, we were kept UNDER THE LAW, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed.
Ga 4:4 But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made UNDER THE LAW,
Ga 4:5 To redeem them that were UNDER THE LAW, that we might receive the adoption of sons.
It seems that being under this state of being under the law is not a desirable state to be in. It seems that Christ redeemed us from under the law. In fact, being under the law is called a curse because a person must do the law perfectly in order to be justified by it, and if you fail to keep it just once, you are condemned for all eternity. Here is what Charles Finney says about what it means to be under the law...
To be under the law is to be subject to the law as a covenant of works. In other words, to be under the law is to be under the necessity of perfectly fulfilling the law in order to obtain salvation. To be under the law is to be influenced by legal motives or considerations, to be constrained by the fear of punishment or influenced by the hope of reward. To be under the law is to be constrained by conscience and a sense of duty, instead of by love. Individuals seem to go painfully about their duty under the biddings of conscience, and submit with about as much pain and reluctance as a slave to his master.
To be under the law is to be under the condemning sentence of the law, like a state criminal, and of course shut out from communion with God. A state criminal, under sentence, is legally shut out from all friendly intercourse with the government, and is considered and treated like an outlaw. Just so with a sinner, under the sentence of Gods law. While the sinner remains in a state of spiritual death and alienation from God, the sentence of eternal death is out against him. He is shut out of communion with God, and consequently sin will have dominion over him.
I can not say it any better than that. Beautiful peace of writing. So in contrast, let us look at what it means to be under grace. To be under grace means that a person accepts the gift of salvation freely without any offering of good works or anything from his or her soul. To be under grace means to be united to Jesus by faith and receive continual life and influence from Him. Through faith I mean simply believing that what Jesus did on the cross is enough to get you into heaven. To be under grace means that a person is motivated by love, and is excited and moved by grace not a sense of duty or legal motives. How marvelous it is to be under grace! How true it is what Jesus meant when He said that the Truth shall set you free.
How wonderful it is to know that there is never one act of righteousness required for me to inherit eternal life! How wonderful to know that ones sins are forgiven! How marvelous to know that not one sin will be put to ones account! It is great to be under grace!
Christianity a Religion?
Christianity is not a religion. It is not a belief system. It is not a covenant of works. In other words, it is not a system where one obeys set rules or laws in order to obtain salvation. This is how Christianity differs from all religion because in true Christianity you cannot get to heaven by doing what you ought to do.
Romans 3:20 Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
Galations 2:16 Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.
Ga 2:21 I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.
These are some profound passages. By doing the things in the law, you cannot be saved. That is what it means. By doing what you know that you ought to do, you cannot inherit eternal life or stand justified before God. Why is that? Because all people after the first time they sin, already are in a condemned state. Just as if they were on death row at the federal prison. In the last passage Paul says that if a person could earn salvation by doing good works, than Christ died for nothing. Pretty blunt words. If you can stand justified before God by your own good works, the Jesus died in vain. No sir, this is not just another religion. This is the anti-religion. As we see from scripture, true Christianity is not mankind seeking to please God in order to please Him or justify themselves.
So what is Christianity? Again, true Christianity is not man living under a covenant of works to please God. True Christianity is God taking on a body like ours (Jesus Christ) born of a virgin, who lives with the same temptations and desire as we do, yet without sin, He lives perfect and dies on a cross, taking on Himself all of our sin, goes to the grave and resurrects three days later, ascends to heaven and is seated at the right hand of God. The important thing is, God now has one righteous MAN that succeeded where Adam failed. God now has righteous blood that can pay, not just for one person's sin, but for all the sins of every person ever born, past, present and future. We know that without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin and nothing can make an atonement for the soul except blood. So now God has a just basis to forgive any sinner that simply believes that what Jesus did is enough to inherit eternal life. Completely free of all human effort. As well, God can now be completely just in the act of forgiving any and all who believe.
So what is the sum of my note? Christianity is not a religion or belief system. Christianity is not about man doing something to please God. Christianity is not even about man's righteousness. Christianity is God revealing His righteousness through one MAN, THE MAN CHRIST JESUS, and faith in that MAN is how we can stand completely justified before God. Christianity again is not mankind living by rules, laws, principles but by faith in Jesus Christ. Faith that He lived the life that we should have, but didn't, faith that He fulfilled the law for us, faith that He took the full wrath of God that should of been directed at us. Faith that it is His doing, His righteousness, His reign, His glory, His power, His grace, His mercy . It is all about Jesus! It's about the reign of a Supreme Potentate. It is about the rule of the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. It's about Jesus Christ who is the express image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature. It is about Him, by whom were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by Him, and for Him, and He is the head of all. It is about Him who was before all things. It is about Jesus who is TRUTH. It is from Him that All truth emanates from. He is life and He is the light of the world, not a religious system. Not a covenant of works to be obeyed. Something God did in His Son and it is belief in Him that makes it effectual for us, not in doing religious acts or deeds.
Romans 3:20 Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
Galations 2:16 Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.
Ga 2:21 I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.
These are some profound passages. By doing the things in the law, you cannot be saved. That is what it means. By doing what you know that you ought to do, you cannot inherit eternal life or stand justified before God. Why is that? Because all people after the first time they sin, already are in a condemned state. Just as if they were on death row at the federal prison. In the last passage Paul says that if a person could earn salvation by doing good works, than Christ died for nothing. Pretty blunt words. If you can stand justified before God by your own good works, the Jesus died in vain. No sir, this is not just another religion. This is the anti-religion. As we see from scripture, true Christianity is not mankind seeking to please God in order to please Him or justify themselves.
So what is Christianity? Again, true Christianity is not man living under a covenant of works to please God. True Christianity is God taking on a body like ours (Jesus Christ) born of a virgin, who lives with the same temptations and desire as we do, yet without sin, He lives perfect and dies on a cross, taking on Himself all of our sin, goes to the grave and resurrects three days later, ascends to heaven and is seated at the right hand of God. The important thing is, God now has one righteous MAN that succeeded where Adam failed. God now has righteous blood that can pay, not just for one person's sin, but for all the sins of every person ever born, past, present and future. We know that without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sin and nothing can make an atonement for the soul except blood. So now God has a just basis to forgive any sinner that simply believes that what Jesus did is enough to inherit eternal life. Completely free of all human effort. As well, God can now be completely just in the act of forgiving any and all who believe.
So what is the sum of my note? Christianity is not a religion or belief system. Christianity is not about man doing something to please God. Christianity is not even about man's righteousness. Christianity is God revealing His righteousness through one MAN, THE MAN CHRIST JESUS, and faith in that MAN is how we can stand completely justified before God. Christianity again is not mankind living by rules, laws, principles but by faith in Jesus Christ. Faith that He lived the life that we should have, but didn't, faith that He fulfilled the law for us, faith that He took the full wrath of God that should of been directed at us. Faith that it is His doing, His righteousness, His reign, His glory, His power, His grace, His mercy . It is all about Jesus! It's about the reign of a Supreme Potentate. It is about the rule of the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. It's about Jesus Christ who is the express image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature. It is about Him, by whom were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by Him, and for Him, and He is the head of all. It is about Him who was before all things. It is about Jesus who is TRUTH. It is from Him that All truth emanates from. He is life and He is the light of the world, not a religious system. Not a covenant of works to be obeyed. Something God did in His Son and it is belief in Him that makes it effectual for us, not in doing religious acts or deeds.
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