Sad to say the “stay out of the garbage” approach to Christianity dominates many pulpits today. That’s because they haven’t realized that the law was never given to make men right with God. It was given to show men their need for a Savior who could, would and did make them right with God.
Did you hear that? Make them right. Do you know what happens when you use law in the Christian life? First, you actually end up producing exactly what you’re trying to prevent – SIN.
1 Corinthians 15:56 says “The sting of death is sin; and the strength(or power) of sin is the law.” You see, the law not only doesn’t stop us from sinning, it actually stirs up more sin. But right here, here's some Good News. WE ARE NOT UNDER THE LAW, because we are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. "Well then buster, who is the law for?" Well buster, study your bible and you'll find out. It's right there in 1 Timothy 1:9,10. Here it is:
9 Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, BUT for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers,
10 For whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine;. ANY OTHER THING.....contrary to sound doctrine. What's sound doctrine? The almost too good to be true ridiculous, radical, inexhaustible Good News grace of God.
Paul explains it in Romans 7:7,8. “What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid. Nay, I had not known sin, but by the law: for I had not known lust, except the law had said, Thou shalt not covet. But sin, taking occasion by the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead”. Don't forget, the POWER of SIN is in the LAW which does not apply to us.
The law works like this. You are walking down a street past a wooden fence. The fence has knot hole in it. Normally it wouldn’t attract your attention, but there is a big white sign w/red letters that say “Under no circumstances is anyone to look through this knot hole”. That's a rule or law. Now all you can think is “How can I get a look in there without getting caught”?
I know the speed limit is 70 (Law), but just how fast can I go without getting stopped? 72, 73, how fast? You know you’ve done this. Come on be honest. You see, law stirs up rebellion is us. Here's one for right now. Do NOT think about pink elephants. Right now you are thinking about pink elephants.
The problem is not the law. It’s us. I’ve heard it said that if you wave a red flag in front of a bull, the bull will charge. Now I don’t know if that’s true or not, but just for this illustration, let’s say that it is true. You didn’t create that nature in the bull. It was always there. You just brought out the nature. You stirred it up.
It’s the same thing with Christians. The more you try to make them live a performance based, rule keeping, religious Christian life, the more you stir up sinful, rebellious desires in them. The more you deliver seeker friendly sermons to make sure you don't offend anyone with the truth,and thereby reduce the number of people in your church, the more you'll develop weak christians afraid to destroy the works of the devil.
Secondly, the law is useless for producing the life God desires, because it only deals with the externals. God looks on man’s heart, but the law only deals with our actions. If merely shaping up our actions was what God desired, then the Pharisees would have been His favorites. What we see is that Jesus reserved His most harsh statements for them even though they outwardly appeared to be the ultimate in righteousness.
Matt 23:25-28.
25 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. 26 Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also. 27 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness. 28 Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.
AND THAT IS THE BEST THAT THE LAW CAN PRODUCE. These same self-righteous Pharisees were willing to condemn and crucify Jesus on false charges. At the very same time, they refused to enter Pilate’s house for fear of being “defiled”. What a hypocritical attitude.
It’s the same attitude we have today for being a good Christian. “I don’t drink, smoke or chew, or run around with them that do”. So Holy with their noses stuck high up in the air, that they would drown if it started to rain. However, they spend the majority of their time talking behind peoples backs.
"Oh but we must be holy". Avoiding people who are lost, locked into drugs, alcohol, or sexual immorality is not being holy. It has nothing to do with being holy. Was Jesus holy? YES. Did he eat and drink with sinners? YES. Did He attend a drunken party at Matthew's house? YES. "Oh but we must be loving and kind and not speak out about the corruption all around us. We'll just call another useless prayer meeting in one of the class rooms in the church." WAIT A MINUTE!!! Didn't you just see how Jesus reacted to the so called righteous leaders, the Pharisees of His day. Go back up in this blog and study it. Matthew 23:25-28.
Oh but we'll Criticize and talk about people behind their backs because we are are jealous of them. Maybe they upset you at one time. Well, maybe you upset them too. You’re not perfect. Get over yourself. You get that “Bless me if you can attitude” because God gave them an anointing. I’ll show them. They aren’t so great. Your skin just crawls when someone compliments them. They are not so great.
They start little backbiting stories, because they think they ought to have their job. The problem is you want it for your glory not Gods. Better watch it. You’re attacking God’s anointing.
Rant over, back to the lesson. Bible says that without faith it is impossible to please God. As a matter of fact Romans 14:23 says everything that does not come from faith is sin. The law is not based on faith. Where does it say that? I don't make these statements based on my feelings or opinions, I make them based on scripture. So if you don't like what's being stated you can't attack me. I'm just the messenger. You'll need to take up your differences about what is being said with God. He's the author and finisher of our faith.
Galatians 3:12 says “And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them”. A life of faith and a life based on the law are continually presented in scripture as exact opposites. Do we live by faith? What is faith? Do we love anybody? Who cares, just make sure you’re toeing the line. As a result, Christians get better known for what they are against, than for what they are for.
This is a good break point for Part 2 of this study, but don’t miss Part 3. We will continue to destroy the works of the devil who would try to convince us that it is our self righteousness, our ability to do right, our adherence to the law and the rules, and our avoidance of sin that makes God love us. Not so! Come back for Part 3. Grace and Peace.
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