Ruled or Released?

Some mornings I wake up carrying the heavy load of knowing what God wants from His people, wants from me, and knowing how far short we fall. I related to Paul’s words to the church in Galatia. They were believers, but instead of living by faith they had fallen back into living by law or rules.

These days we call it legalism. One pastor jokes, “I don’t smoke, and I don’t chew, and I don’t run with girls that do.” Joking aside, many are turned off by any so-called rules for being a Christian.

Paul’s first concern is the distortion of the gospel. Turning life in Christ into a system of rules is not only going backwards into old thinking, it is sinful.

We ourselves are Jews by birth and not Gentile sinners; yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified. But if, in our endeavor to be justified in Christ, we too were found to be sinners, is Christ then a servant of sin? Certainly not! For if I rebuild what I tore down, I prove myself to be a transgressor. For through the law I died to the law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose. (Galatians 2:15–21)

The words are blunt and the contrast is sharply defined. Those who fall into legalism or a list of rules are foolish. They saw Jesus die. They suffered for their faith. Was living by rules going to make things easier?

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? Did you suffer so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain? 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”? (Galatians 3:1–6)

No doubt these words caught their attention. Then he switches to a logical appeal:

Is the law then contrary to the promises of God? Certainly not! For if a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law. But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. 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 3:21–29)

My load slips off as God makes it His load and not mine. Those who burden me with rules and laws for life are the ones who are burdened. I am free in Christ. I am His child, and the things that bother me now will vanish in the glory that is to come:

For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. (Romans 8:14–18)

PRAY: Jesus, lead me through this day in the freedom I have in You. Amen.

Victory over sin and death

The Old Testament is a long illustration of God’s law of sin and death. God lays down the way His people must live, and they repeatedly give it their best shot but fail over and over. There is nothing wrong with the law; as the NT says, the laws of God are good and right. They make a wonderful promise. Here is an example:

“Again, though I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ yet if he turns from his sin and does what is just and right, if the wicked restores the pledge, gives back what he has taken by robbery, and walks in the statutes of life, not doing injustice, he shall surely live; he shall not die. None of the sins that he has committed shall be remembered against him. He has done what is just and right; he shall surely live.” (Ezekiel 33:14–16)

The problem with the law (which basically says if you do good, you shall live) is that no one kept the law. No one could do the good that God told them to do. They failed miserably.

Why would God give impossible orders to His people, to anyone? This is puzzling. Even the early Christians in Galatia were confused over the issue. They struggled to live by faith and were being drawn back into the OT laws because they thought they could become better people by doing so. However, the law was not given to make anyone righteous.

“Is the law then contrary to the promises of God? Certainly not! For if a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law. But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. 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.” (Galatians 3:21–26)

Simply put, the law shows us that we are sinners, held captive by our own inability to conquer sin. How else would we learn that except by trying and failing?

One of our children was eager to help in the kitchen. From the two older ones, I learned not to say, “You are too little” for that destroyed their desire to help. Instead, I let him try. He eventually realized he could not stir the batter or knead the bread dough, but this understanding did not destroy his desire to help. He’d say he could not do it and was willing to keep trying.

We are like children who need to realize our limitations. The law of God does that. By trying to be godly people, we eventually sense that His bar is too high and we fall short. My sin is stronger than my resolve.

Not only that, thinking I can earn God’s favor by my own effort is a mistake. This does not mean ignoring goodness, but it does mean that falling short should humble me and drive me to the cross. Only the righteousness of Jesus Christ satisfies a holy God. I need Him, I need a personal relationship with Him to achieve victory over sin by sharing in His righteousness.

“In Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them . . .  For our sake (God) made (Jesus) to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:19–21)

Peace with God and righteousness comes by a trade-off. Jesus took my sin on Himself and paid my penalty for it. He never sinned yet submitted to the law of sin and death for my sake. And in return, He gives me His righteousness. An unfair trade? You better believe it. This is God’s solution to the impossible laws that no one can keep. Jesus kept all of them and He gives sinners Himself so that we can be justified by faith, not by works.

“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)

Only then do I have any hope of keeping God’s laws, not by my efforts but by the work of the Holy Spirit who blesses me with His power by grace, not because I’ve earned it. I’m a sinner and cannot do it, but He does it on my behalf.

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Jesus, sometimes the reality of the Gospel puts me in trembling awe. I’m so blessed to be Your child, Your friend, Yours in every way. How can I say thanks? By willingly admitting my sin and gladly allowing You to live in me.

No debt to pay

I use a popular software to keep track of my income and spending. Without an accountant’s mind, this helps me with accuracy and the simple reality that if spending exceeds income, the numbers turn red.

The New Testament uses accounting language in a few places. For instance, I’m to consider myself dead to sin and alive to God. That means putting my old life in the debit column and my new life in the credit column. These two verses hint at the same idea:

“But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:22–23)

However, the way we keep track of money is not quite the same. It only gives a visual picture of what is gone and what is now ours. Tozer puts it this way: Counting is not the language of poetry or sentiment but of cold, unerring calculation. It adds up the columns thus: sorrow, temptation, difficulty, opposition, depression, desertion, danger, discouragement . . . but at the bottom of the column God’s presence, God’s will, God’s joy, God’s promise, God’s recompense.

A sinful life fills the death column. The gift of God fills the life column. Yet as Tozer says, no Christian can boast about what they gave up to become a follower of Jesus Christ. Anything I had, or was, or possessed is nothing compared to what the Lord has called me to, has gifted me in the column called life.

Some Christians have trouble speaking of their old life, as if they have lost or forsaken a good thing for a better thing. How can that be? How can we not realize the wonder of salvation, the wonder of knowing Almighty God and walking with Him? How can anything be compared to fellowship with Him and His family? I would be a fool to lament the loss of all things to gain Christ. Paul wrote the same idea:

“If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.” (Philippians 3:4–11)

Paul went from a life of religious zeal to living in the power of Christ. For those who God calls, this reality is mind-blowing, an adventure beyond human imagination. Even without a calling like Paul’s, the humblest believer enjoys the blessings of grace, forgiveness and peace that cannot be compared with the best that this world has to offer.

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Jesus, I am so thankful for my salvation, for the wonder of those assets You have written into my ‘credit’ column, and the grace for those debits You have cleared from my record. I owe God nothing for You have paid it all. Considering anything as loss is in reality a bill no longer outstanding. You have paid all my debts and I have been set free.

A no-brainer

Today’s devotional reading begins with a great question: “What has sin ever done for you?”

Sin brought death and sorrow into the world, into my world. It has made me unhappy, fearful, guilty and sleepless. It fills my heart with wrong desires that can never be satisfied. It makes me want to hide from God and from others. It also makes me afraid of facing God even with a prayer of confession and asking forgiveness. The only “good” thing I can think of that comes from sin is mentioned in these verses,

By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward. (Hebrews 11:24–26)

Sin brings pleasure, but it is fleeting. Some would say that is not so, for they have lived a lifetime of sin and enjoyed every minute. However, compare a lifetime to eternity; it is fleeting. I am here a short time compared to my reward for refusing sin and choosing Christ. In that choice, I might suffer loss in some ways, but those losses are nothing compared to the eternal gain.

Is this pie in the sky? It would be if it were not for the promises of God of His faithful presence and power. No matter what this life might put me through, walking with Christ means joy and peace.

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. (Matthew 11:28–30)

Sin is heavy. It creates burdens I cannot bear, burdens that rob me of energy and dampen my love of life. Worse, sin made necessary the death of Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God. He took the burden of sin, with a weight so heavy that it killed Him.

The good news is that He did this so sinners like me can share His life. In that relationship, He bids me to come to Him. As I lay my burdens at His feet, He shares with me His burden, measured out so I do not experience a yoke that is too heavy for me, and He gives me His peace and a joy that surpasses human comprehension.

Sin gives fleeting pleasure, fun for a moment. Jesus offers eternal life, joy for now and forever. Come, take, learn, and find rest in Him.