Ok I know that's a lot of questions to ask but it's common questions. We had a lecture on Law and Grace today and it was really neat to hear the freedom that is ours fully in Christ. Think about Adam and Eve before the fall: they were naked and unashamed and they just existed in relationship with God. They didn't have to worry about what to do/not to do, he just told them. They had not eaten the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil and so they were not aware of the law, yet they pleased God, just by being there with him. He loved them and that's why he asked them not to eat. Well you know what happened next: Satan came and deceived Eve into eating as Adam stood back and watched and then did the same. Then, BAM! They know good and evil and are ashamed at the fact that they believed they could know good and evil, thus becoming their own gods. (in a warped way of course). God only wanted to be in relationship with them but they chose to believe that living independent of Him is better. And we still see evidence of the fall today... living out of that tree of the knowledge of 'good' (doing all the right things, yet apart from God) and 'evil' (doing the rebellious-looking things which is just as bad b/c it's independent/apart from God). That's what SIN is! IT's separation from God and it's miserable. You have to live up to these standards which are good standards b/c they reflect the perfect nature of God but you quickly find and YOU CANNOT live up to them. (Hey, the speed limit is a law... think about how just seeing that sign makes you go, ooh, about 5-7 miles over. Are you breaking the law? Yep. Why is is so hard?!)
And this is the purpose of the Law: to shows us we CAN'T. We see our dirtiness and imperfection, but the law is like a mirror: it shows us when we are covered in dirt but it can do NOTHING to clean us! God has provided a way out though in the person of Jesus Christ. We are no longer blessed or cursed according to our actions but we are blessed. period. with all the spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus! We are! All we have to do is accept it/ RECEIVE it!
This may seem elementary to most of you but was huge for me:
My faith, my choosing to believe something does not make it true; it is TRUTH, THEREFORE, I believe! Somehow my thinking got twisted to tell me that if i just believed enough it would come true in my life. In all actuallity, let's take my righteousness. I am righteous in Christ. Romans says "in Him all died" so in actuality I for real died with him and rose again to new life before the foundations of time. Is it true? Yes! But not because of my belief but because it's true. I just agree and acknowledge it as true. This river is already flowin' and has been for all time, and I just get to jump in! At that point I enter in to the life of Jesus. His life become mine. His past and his present and His future I share because I am in Him. Now that I know that I get to walk in the truth that I'm in him and He is in me and all His qualities identify me and now i just get to walk in them!
"It's too easy!" you say. Well that's why it's scandalous! "Why dont I have to do anything for it? I have always worked for everything!" Well that's the cool thing about God. He asks us to just accept the free gift of GRACE because Christ has already paid the price for our sin/our living independently of God, and not just that but He gives us HIS life! "And God demonstrates His own LOVE for us in this: While we were STILL sinners Christ died FOR us!"-Rom.5:8. Yep, FOR us. We deserve the wrath of God as creatures in Adam but Jesus paid the debt and gave us his resurrection life. Now our past has nothing to do with us because we "died and our life is hidden with Christ in God"Col.3:3. The law can do nothing but make you sin more: Doing the 'right thing' apart from God is just as bad as doing the 'wrong thing' but with grace you are fully accepted based on the finished work of Christ. Therefore we can rejoice in failures because we are accepted. He doesn't accept us base on what we do or how well we do it because he has already met the requirements. He loves us without condition. Don't step outside truth and try to make it conditional because you love that law. Brothers and sisters, we are under grace! Well how does God set boundaries on behaviour then? I am glad you asked. The answer? You are a NEW CREATION. See the next entry for more info :)
lord i ask for revelation for all believers and nonbelievers alike- help us understand the scandalous grace that you so freely give. let is saturate our lives like never before. show us who we are: new creations, dearly loved children so we can walk in that. align our hearts with this truth that we may experience victory and transformation in you alone. YOU are life!
