Jesus does it for me. . . .

 

This week a man was found not guilty and released from prison after being locked up several years for something he did not do. Imagine a twist to this story; the man was guilty but released because another person was willing to serve his sentence for him. This twist illustrates the gospel and the grace of God.

Just as our laws require obedience and punishment for those who break them, God’s laws are even more exacting. The law must be fulfilled. Both its requirements of righteousness and justice must be satisfied. The only way fallen, sinful men can ever fulfill the law and be saved is by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, the sinner’s Substitute.

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 for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you. (Romans 8:3–11)

This passage is for those who believe the gospel and trust Christ, our Substitute as our law-keeper. Yet how easily this is overlooked. The church at Galatia did that, either through simply forgetting, but more likely because false teaching made a strong appeal to their pride.

Put it this way: Christ is my righteousness. I cannot save myself or do anything that warrants His amazing grace. My pride balks at this. I have some goodness, don’t I? So I begin an effort to be righeous without depending on the righteousness of Jesus Christ. That fails, but spiritual blindness can make me think I’m doing just fine as I walk in the flesh, ignoring what I’d once learned, or just not seeing my efforts as fleshy. Reread the above passage!

So Paul wrote to the Galatians, and his words are for anyone who falls prey to the idea that there is some goodness in that old nature. . . .  

O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? (Galatians 3:1–3)

If this happens, along with it comes the rating of sin. Some are totally intolerable, like most of the lists in Scripture, but God put in enough for me to realize that simply ignoring Him and doing my own thing, as good as it might seem, is sin. I might even start telling Almighty God how He should rule the universe, or at least the events of my life, as if I know better than He does. It may take years for some of us who trust Christ to realize the meaning of “in everything” and actually do it in everything.

PRAY: Father, I know that all believers struggle with the noisy demands of our hostile flesh and I know how much I need a daily reminder to trust You with everything, the messiness of the world and the trials that keep popping up in my world. Thank You for Jesus. When I fail and listen to the flesh, You are listening to my Savior and Substitute interceding for me. Like a prisoner set free, I’m deeply thankful that Jesus stands for me and for the grace and love that motivated Him to take my place and do what I cannot do.

Don’t Forget!

2 Samuel 23; Psalm 78:40–72; Ezekiel 30; Galatians 3

 

Rules and boundaries have an attractiveness to many people. On the road, most of us want speed limits, lane lines, passing rules and other laws intended to keep us safe. In school, teachers have rules to keep order in the classroom and help students learn. There are laws and rules in most societies to prevent harm to the defenseless and keep order for public safety. Even most quilters like patterns rather than tackle the process known as impromptu quilting where the design is made up as the pieces are sewn.

Christian living is not about rules yet the church at Galatia began thinking it was. Instead of believing they could live and grow as God’s people through the life and power of the Holy Spirit, they turned to observing or trying to observe the Laws of God. Paul told them they were “foolish” to listen to those who had “bewitched” them with false notions of spirituality that tore them away from Jesus:

“O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?” (Galatians 3:1–3)

He later explains to them how to tell the difference by listing the results; the fruit of the Spirit is so entirely different than the results of living in the flesh. They were on a slippery slope by thinking their own efforts apart from relying on the Spirit would get them there.

Like making an impromptu quilt, God does not follow a predictable pattern. While He never departs from the truth in His Word, His spiritual guidance is not a list of rules. Instead, it comes through a moment by moment listening and by obedience in faith.

Not only that, this has always been true. Salvation has never been through rule-keeping but by believing what God says. Growing in grace is just like salvation; it comes through believing what God says as we daily, even moment by moment commune with Him.

Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith— just as Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”? Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.” So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith. (Galatians 3:5–9)

This is not easy yet it is easy. Up front, having a list of rules seems safer, more predictable, the way to live, but this is a sinful idea based on the idea that “I can do it.” It is so strong in the human heart that God gave the Law that we might realize we cannot construct our lives that way and please Him. We need the guidance and power of Jesus Christ.

The Law of Moses was given not to overturn the principles already established at the time of Abraham, nor to offer an alternative path to salvation. Rather, it made human sin clear and undeniable, pointing them toward a Savior who would redeem them. Faith in that promise was their justification yet they struggled against sin by striving and failing rather than believing God. In Galatians, Paul’s understanding of their history and how the Bible fits together is different from those who pressured people to keep the Law. He realized that it was temporary, not intended to save but to show the need for salvation.

Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law, imprisoned until the coming faith would be revealed. So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, for in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise. (Galatians 3:23–29)

APPLY: Faith isn’t about race, status, gender or anything else but trusting Christ alone for my justification. This trust makes me a “child of Abraham” and is “counted to me as righteousness” — I am saved because of Jesus Christ and I live for God because He lives in me. Rules push Him aside to make things tidy, predictable, safe — or so it seems — but all they do is reveal my inability to create the glory of God by myself; I need Jesus. Without Jesus, the relative security of Law becomes drudgery yet with Him, as unpredictable and impromptu as Spirit-filled living life is, life becomes a great adventure.

 

Humility like a child

When my children were small and wanted to help, I learned two things. One was never to say “you are too little” — to them, that sounded demeaning. The second was to let them try. If they were too little, they soon realized and often said so. After thinking about this, it seems this ability to admit that ‘I can’t’ is what Jesus was talking about in these verses . . .

At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 18:1–4)

To enter the kingdom of heaven, I must realize and admit that I cannot do it; I need Jesus Christ. Salvation and conversion are the work of God, not anything that I can do . . .

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. (Ephesians 2:8–9)

After that initial salvation where God saved me from the penalty of sin, the process of being delivered from its power continues. However, this process is not what many Christians think it is, nor is it like the church at Galatia thought . . .

O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? (Galatians 3:1–3)

Several times I’ve said ‘I can’t’ to others and been told to ‘try harder’ or given encouragement like, ‘Sure you can; you are smart and can do anything you put your mind to.’ The diagram in yesterday’s post illustrates a truth that eludes many people, even Christians. We are saved by grace through faith, but we are also perfected or made mature by grace through faith . . .

Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. (Colossians 2:6–7)

Growing in grace is the same as being saved by grace. It is also the opposite of taking the bull by the horns and trying to conquer sin by bringing that old nature into subjection. This can only be done by the same process by which I received Christ. In my conversion, He came to me, He spoke to me, He changed my life. My part was to confess my sin and need, trusting Him to do the rest. I soon realized that even the faith to believe is a gift from God, not my own doing.

I’ve often claimed that 1 John 1:9 is the most important verse in the Bible for Christian growth and life. It says: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9)

Jesus might have said the same thing this way: “Whoever humbles himself like a child, confessing ‘I cannot do it’ will be the one who can do it, who can overcome sin — because that person is trusting Me to do it for them!”

Subtle self-effort

Christians believe that we are helpless to earn or deserve our salvation or receive any mercy from God. Why then do we also say we must do this or that, as if we have the strength in ourselves to please God and live up to a Christian standard? The Galatians fell into this trap.

O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? (Galatians 3:1–3)

I began my Christian life by receiving Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior, but like the Galatians, I sometimes fall into this trap of trying to save myself from sin. It is subtle. I might think that because I have Christ, then everything that I do is in His power, but as the above verses say, I start thinking that the flesh is capable of trying to bring me to maturity. It cannot do it, but I will try.

 
The key is knowing the difference between the flesh operating in its own power and the Spirit of Christ motivating me to live for Jesus. At first, this seems plain; the flesh does sinful things like gossip and hate, envy and lies, and the spirit is kind, loving, full of truth and righteousness. But as I walk this path with Jesus, I am finding that the flesh is so determined to have some part in my salvation (so it can glory) that it tries to become very subtly involved in the process.

When this happens, I will spend a lot of time and effort to change myself, either in the way I think, or talk, or act. After becoming stressed over no change and being bombarded with temptations to keep on thinking, talking, or acting the same as always, I finally give up and say something like, “Jesus, You are the Savior; save me.”

Today’s devotional focuses again on the fact that God gave Jesus everything. It is to Him I must go for He is the source of all goodness and spiritual growth. Try as I might, all things were given to Him, not directly to me.

The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand. (John 3:35)

And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him (the Messiah), the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. (Isaiah 11:2)

It isn’t that “all things” are unavailable. The Bible says all things are mine (1 Corinthians 3:21), but for the power and possessions of Christ to be released into my life, I need to stop trying to make it happen. Walking by faith is trusting Him to give me all that I need, just as He trusted the Father to give Him all that He needed as He walked this earth.

To be practical, this means saying no to self-effort and trusting Jesus to put godly thoughts into my head, edifying words on my lips, and loving actions into my life. While this can be intimidating, what vanity to think that I can do a better job of it than He can.