Recognizing grace through the law

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"For Moses writes about the righteousness that is based on the law, that the person who does the commandments shall live by them. 6 But the righteousness based on faith says, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’” (that is, to bring Christ down) 7 “or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). 8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); 9 because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved."  Romans 10: 5-9 (ESV)

The apostle Paul is actually making a simple analogy here.  First Paul points out that the Jews, who look for righteousness through obedience to the law, have the law written on their hearts (see Romans 2:15).  Paul does not mean that we will be righteous because we obey the law.  Paul means that through obedience to the law, God's love for us becomes written on our hearts.  For example, when we consciously try to be honest in all of our interactions, we will grow to have honesty ingrained in our hearts.  We will not be honest just so that others will praise our honesty, we will be honest because we want to please God.

Next, Paul compares righteousness through the law with righteousness based on faith.  Paul says that righteousness based on faith is similar to righteousness based on law that is written on our hearts.  When we trust God for our righteousness, we do not have to ascend to heaven and bring Christ down to us, nor do we have to descend to hell and bring Christ up to us.  We do not have to do anything.  Christ is in our mouth (in what we do) and in our hearts (what we believe). 

God's law has paved the way for grace.  When we know in our hearts what is righteous, we can then recognize the grace that justifies our lives in the eyes of God.   

Grace that allows us to walk with God

"For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do: By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and to deal with sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, so that the just requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the spirit." Romans 8:3-4 (NRSV)

The Apostle Paul, sums up God's grace in this one sentence. God sent His son as a full human being to this sin filled earth to accept our punishment for sin so that we can stand before God justified, even though we are sinners.

The full impact of what God has done for all of us should fall new upon us every day. Each day and each moment of our lives requires us to give up our flesh and seek to walk according to the spirit. This walk reminds us of our indebtedness to Jesus for taking the punishment for our sins.

We simply need to walk according to the spirit. Even though our days are filled with much worry, responsibility, and problems, we need to keep our focus on this wonderful grace that God has given to us.  

Grace rules!

“Therefore, do not let sin exercise dominion in your mortal bodies, to make you obey their passions. No longer present your members to sin as instruments of wickedness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and present your members to God as instruments of righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.” Romans 6:12-14 (NRSV)

 We are all under the rule of something. This is as true for modern Christians as it was for Adam and Eve. Even our belief that we are free to think and choose for ourselves is tainted by the governance of sin in our lives. Is there anyone who would openly admit that he/she is perfect and makes every correct decision for themselves and society? We hide behind sin to excuse our imperfect behavior. We say things like “Hey, I am only human” or “Please excuse me, I am not perfect.”

 In the scripture above, Paul is telling us that even though sin is the present condition of our mortal bodies, it does not have to govern us. For example, even though abortion is legalized, this does not mean that we have to practice abortion. Christians who live in countries that practice intolerance toward religion do not have to give up their faith. In fact, they stubbornly cling to their faith. Why? Because when we allow grace to rule in our lives, we do not have to obey the rule of sin.

 We often think that the rule of sin is permissive and the rule of grace is restrictive, but this is not true. In actuality, the rule of sin boils down to one condition, which is putting ourselves before God, and conversely, we live under the rule of grace when we put God first in everything. The rule of grace is not a set of regulations, behaviors and habits. It is active favor on behalf of God, but passive acceptance of that favor on the part of man. Once we accept God’s grace, our efforts are aimed at putting God first. Grace rules!

Grace and dying to self

“What then are we to say? Should we continue in sin in order that grace may abound? ² By no means! How can we who died to sin go on living in it? ³ Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? ⁴ Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.” Romans 6:1-4 (NRSV)
 

Paul uses death to sin as a metaphor for striving to live a new life.  This is a good metaphor because bodily death is a fact of life over which we have little control, and the same goes for sin.  Sin is a fact of our human condition that we cannot eradicate.  We all are sinners. Romans 3:20, says that all sin stems from this: Not putting God first.

    

There are more similarities between death and sin.  For example, there are things that we can do to help prevent premature death.  We can eat in a healthy way, exercise, get plenty of sleep, and visit the doctor regularly.  In a similar way, there are things we can do to help prevent sin in our lives, such as praying and striving to learn more about God.  However, no matter how hard we try, we can never prevent death, and similarly, we can never remove our own sin.

 

In the scripture passage above, Paul is reminding the Romans that dying to sin is like a mortal death.  Once we have died, we do not go on living in our mortal body.  We will live anew in an immortal body.  We will not even want to go back to the mortal body.    This compares to our life in sin.  Once we have died to sin by striving to put God first, we do not continue to strive to put ourselves first.  We cannot do both.

 

And this is where the work of grace comes in.  As we strive to put God first, the old condition, sin, is always present.  God’s grace, through Christ, pours over us as we strive toward God, covering our sin so that God sees it no more.  Praise God for His mercy!  Praise God for His grace!      

Glory flowing through us (by grace, of course)

"As the glory of the Lord entered the temple by the gate facing east, the spirit lifted me up, and brought me into the inner court; and the glory of the Lord filled the temple." Ezekiel 43:4-5 (NRSV)

"Now let them put away their idolatry and the corpses of their kings far from me, and I will reside among them forever." Ezekiel 43:9 (NRSV)

Does any one of us want to live forever with someone who disrespects us, hurts us, and can only focus on self-gratification?  God does.  He wants sinners to live forever with Him.  The grace that God extends to us cleanses us and empties us from sin.  God longs to fill us with His glory, and He asks only one thing of us, and that is to put Him first.  

We cannot contain the glory of God, but God can pour through us like a channel.  When we empty ourselves of our self-centered ways, we can become a channel for God's glory to pour through us easily.  Below is an excerpt from an old hymn that illustrates this concept.

 
Channels Only

How I praise Thee, precious Savior,

That Thy love laid hold of me;

Thou hast saved and cleansed and filled me

That I might Thy channel be.
 
Channels only, blessed Master,

But with all Thy wondrous power

Flowing through us, Thou can use us

Every day and every hour.

Grace in the order of creation

Great Egret photographed by Brian Goff

"The Lord is king! Let the earth rejoice;
    let the many coastlands be glad!" Psalm 97: 1
 
"For the Lord is a great God,
    and a great King above all gods.
⁴ In his hand are the depths of the earth;
    the heights of the mountains are his also.
⁵ The sea is his, for he made it,
    and the dry land, which his hands have formed." Psalm 95: 3-5

This thing called life is huge.  We witness God's majesty in nature, but that is not all there is to life.  Life overflows abundantly from every atom in the universe.  God created and ordered it, and it is in the order of life that God's true majesty is revealed.  

By using radio telescopes, we are able to actually witness the vast universe, and its immensity is mind boggling.  Even though we have speculated that  there may be other worlds in the universe similar to ours, we have yet to actually find any. The most barren and desolate place on earth contains more life than any planet we have found yet.  Even though living creatures cannot survive in an environment such as the sun, the environment of the entire universe is still an orchestrated part of life as we know it on earth. 

This order of life flows from God according to His great grace and mercy.  He somehow orchestrates the specific diet, habitat, and climate needs of the Great Egret in relationship to every other component of life on the earth and in the universe. The egret lives because everything works together to support its life.  If God orchestrated all of this for the egret, then His design for humans is astounding.

Just when we think that we can begin to understand the expanding greatness of God, we are faced with the minutiae of His love and grace.  Praise God!    

 

Grace and dying to sin

“What then are we to say? Should we continue in sin in order that grace may abound? 2 By no means! How can we who died to sin go on living in it? 3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.” Romans 6:1-4 (NRSV)

Paul uses death to sin as a metaphor for striving to live a new life. This is a good metaphor because bodily death is a fact of life over which we have little control, and the same goes for sin. Sin is a fact of our human condition that we cannot eradicate. We all are sinners. Romans 3:20, says that all sin stems from this: Not putting God first.   

There are more similarities between death and sin. For example, there are things that we can do to help prevent premature death. We can eat in a healthy way, exercise, get plenty of sleep, and visit the doctor regularly. In a similar way, there are things we can do to help prevent sin in our lives, such as praying and striving to learn more about God. However, no matter how hard we try, we can never prevent death, and similarly, we can never remove our own sin. 

In the scripture passage above, Paul is reminding the Romans that dying to sin is like a mortal death. Once we have died, we do not go on living in our mortal body. We will live anew in an immortal body. We will not even want to go back to the mortal body. This compares to our life in sin. Once we have died to sin by striving to put God first, we do not continue to strive to put ourselves first. We cannot do both. 

 And this is where the work of grace comes in. As we strive to put God first, the old condition, sin, is ever present. God’s grace, through Christ, pours over us as we strive toward God, covering our sin so that God sees it no more. Praise God for His mercy! Praise God for His grace!