Covered or Gone?

It's funny, the things we remember, isn't it?

I have a younger brother, three years younger.  One of our favorite things to do as children was to jump on the bed, trampoline-style.  It's a wonder we did not break an arm or leg.  The light fixtures were not so fortunate, I will add....
At any rate, one day when he was about 3 years old, he was jumping on the bed in my room.  I took the opportunity to tattle to my father about it.  (Brother knew I was running to rat him out.)  When Daddy and I returned to "the scene of the crime", we could not see my brother, although there was a suspicious lump under the bed covers.  Brent, my brother, thought that since he had covered himself, he was "gone".  In fact, when my father winked at me and called, "Brent....Brent, where are you?", Brent replied, "Brent gone!"

 6So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise,^b she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. 7Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.

8And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool^c of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.9But the LORD God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?”^d 10And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” 11He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?”

Genesis 3:6-11 (ESV)

In both these scenarios the response to a transgression was to hide it.  This is the direct result of sin's deleterious effect: not only does a sin or the general sin condition separate us from a holy God, the situation is usually compounded by our running/hiding from Him.

In both these scenarios the covering was insufficient to take care of the sin.  My earthly father laughingly revealed my brother and dealt with his comparatively minor transgression.  My Heavenly Father dealt with Adam and Eve's transgression as well.  I now want to skip over some verses here and focus on Genesis 3:21 (ESV) - -

21And the LORDGod made for Adam and for his wife garments of skins and clothed them.

This act of God involved Him killing animals and making for Adam and Eve clothing from the animals' skins.  Blood from the animals was spilled in order to cover them.  The lives of the animals were required in order to do this.  This is the first Bible mention of blood being shed to address sins.

The word "atonement" means "to cover".  It is a word used throughout the Old Testament to refer to the sacrificial system instituted by God for the covering of mankind's sins.  In the book of Leviticus alone the word appears 40 times.  However, it never appears in the New Testament in connection with the finished work of Jesus Christ.1

Interestingly, the first time the actual word "atone" appears in the Bible is in connection with the building of Noah's ark.2  In Genesis 6:14, Noah was instructed by God to cover the inside and outside of the wood structure with "a covering".  The word translated "pitch", actually means "to atone", or "to cover".  The pitch on the ark protected the structure by covering the wood, so that the waters of judgment could not seep in or overwhelm, during the months-long journey to safety. Similarly, the Old Testament animal sacrifices protected sinners from the wrath of holy God.  The sins were not removed; they were covered.  Best example in Scripture of this is Psalm 32:1-2, where David exclaimed:

  1Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven,

whose sin is covered.

The finished work of Jesus Christ, to whom the Old Testament sacrifices pointed, is radically different.  His spilled blood does not merely COVER sin; it goes beyond to obliterate the sins as if they had never been committed.  Once again, as foreshadowed in Genesis 3:21, God spilled blood to address sin.  This time, however....by spilling the blood of His Son, this once-for-all time, He dealt sin a death blow.  He provided complete eradication, complete justification to the sinner who, by faith, accepts Jesus' perfect sacrifice.  My pastor explains the meaning of "justification" as "just as if I had never sinned".  So beautiful!

You see...atonement was temporary, fleeting and (ultimately) ineffective at reconciling man to God.  Although it was God's idea, atonement was something man did to approach God, an act to temporarily appease God's anger at sin.  It was "as good as it gets" for that epoch of time.  But, in the end and even back then in the OT, it was still faith that reconciled men and women to God.  Even then (see Hebrews 11), it was impossible to please God through any other method than by faith.

God gave His first hint of the true gospel of Messiah Jesus Christ in Genesis 3:15, a verse commonly referred to as "the protoevangelium"3, or "the first gospel".

15I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring^e and her offspring;
he shall bruise your head,
and you shall bruise his heel.”

This is no mere "covering" described here.  A more accurate rendering of "bruise" in "he shall bruise your head" is a decisive crushing.  The perfectly-delivered work of Jesus Christ has decisively crushed the rule of sin and satan forever.  The eternal, spiritual death that is the legacy of unrepentant, uncured sin no longer is merely "covered" from God's anger.  Through Christ, that sin is GONE.

The verbiage used in the New Testament is radically different from the Old in this regard.  Atonement is nowhere near propitiation, a word used in the New Testament to describe the final appeasement of God's anger over our sin, appeasement provided through Jesus' death, burial and resurrection. The New speaks of Christ's eternal sacrifice - - the emphasis is on its completeness and permanence.  Read through the book of Hebrews, for instance, and you will see this language used throughout.  I love Hebrews 10:1-18, where the writer states that the Old Testament sacrificial system was a "shadow" of the perfect work of Messiah, which was, under the pre-Christ system of animal sacrifices, a future promise, still to come.  Read it and rejoice in your salvation, Christian!

1The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. 2Otherwise, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. 3But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins. 4It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

5Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said:

“Sacrifice and offering you did not desire,

but a body you prepared for me;

6with burnt offerings and sin offerings

you were not pleased.

7Then I said, ‘Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll—

I have come to do your will, my God.’ ”^a

8First he said, “Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them”—though they were offered in accordance with the law. 9Then he said, “Here I am, I have come to do your will.” He sets aside the first to establish the second. 10And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

11Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, 13and since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool. 14For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.

15The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First he says:

16“This is the covenant I will make with them

after that time, says the Lord.

I will put my laws in their hearts,

and I will write them on their minds.”^b

17Then he adds:

“Their sins and lawless acts

I will remember no more.”^c

18And where these have been forgiven, sacrifice for sin is no longer necessary.

Hebrews 10:1-18 (NIV)

Hallelujah!  All praise to the Ever-Loving One, who immediately provided a remedy for man's sin condition in Genesis, Who did not leave man to languish in separation from Him.  He is The WayMaker!  And, then, through Jesus Christ His Son, He provided a perfect, eternal path to Him!  Behold, how GOOD God is!


Notes and Sources:

1    Some would argue Romans 3:25 uses "atonement", but other translations use "propitiation". When you view the original Greek, "hilasterion"{"propitiation"}, is the more accurate rendering. There are a handful of other NT scriptures where the authors quote the OT uses of atonement to prove the insufficiency of that man-initiated act.  Examples: Romans 4:7, 1 Peter 4:8, James 5:20.

2    http://www.judev3.co.uk/1SinsCoveredOrGone.htm

3    https://www.gotquestions.org/protoevangelium.html

Done, Not Done

It is an inescapable truth of this earthly existence:

what gets done doesn't usually remain done.  

A young mother posted on Facebook the other day - - - she felt the satisfaction of her laundry being done and her house clean.  She felt that for a brief, shining few moments.  Then, the other family members returned home, and the cycle began again.

Earlier this month, I filed my household's taxes, after weeks of hunting, gathering, organizing and tallying....lots of tallying.  April 15th looms each year.  On January 1st, the record-keeping begins again.

You can probably think of a similar process in your own life.  It may produce a certain amount of comfort - - that sameness, that repetition.  On the other hand, it may be like tax prep, producing extreme dread and angst.

Some have said, "Nothing is certain but death and taxes."  I've had an abundance of both this month.
But, there is one thing on which I never again have to take action, and that is to prepare for my own death.  Oh, I'm not talking about wills or trusts or funeral arrangements.  In fact, I'm not even talking about physical death.

We recently studied here about the layout and meaning of items in the ancient Hebrew Tabernacle and Temple.  The ritual sacrifices to address the sins of the Hebrew people went on and on and on, day after day, until Jesus Christ cried from the cross, "It is finished!" (John 19:30).

Today, we are in Hebrews 10:11-14 (ESV), with verse 14 being the key verse.

11And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12But when Christ^b had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, 13waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. 14For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.

See? The author of Hebrews contrasts the seemingly endless actions of Levitical priests over the centuries with the once-for-all-time work of our High Priest, Jesus.  He came to be that "single offering" of verse 14. He has purchased with His blood all who will receive Him as Savior.  His blood does what (verse 4) the blood of bulls and goats could never do!  It also does what I, myself, on my own power, could never do.

One offering.  One time.  And now, it is finished, forever.

My pastor preached on 1 Peter 1:8-9 this morning, but reached out and grabbed this verse, Hebrews 10:14.  I want to share this point he made.  This eternal sacrifice Jesus made is inexhaustible!  It never runs out.

Have you ever waited in line for something wonderful only to find that when it was your turn....there was no more?  Perhaps at the potluck, after enjoying the entrees and sides you lumbered over to the dessert table only to find....that banana pudding you had had your eye on....was all gone.

Oh hallelujah! There is always room at the cross!  Jesus will never turn away anyone who comes to Him in repentance for salvation.  His blood is always enough, always sufficient to cleanse EVERY sin, always available up until the moment of physical death.

This is why I sorrow at the loss of my loved ones this month, but not as those who have no certain assurance.  Both of my loved ones died having been justified by the blood of their Savior.  I'm so grateful that God gave them grace, gave me grace so that I, too, have been cleansed, redeemed, justified through Jesus' once-for-all sacrifice.

While I will likely know physical death (unless Jesus returns to Earth in my lifetime) I will never know spiritual death.  As Hebrews 10:23 says, "He who promised is faithful."  It is the faithfulness of God that assures my eternal salvation, not my own faithfulness (thank God!)
Let's take up the Scriptures again, this time starting with our key verse, the last verse from the earlier passage.
Hebrews 10:14-17 (ESV).

14For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.

15And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us; for after saying,

16“This is the covenant that I will make with them

after those days, declares the Lord:

I will put my laws on their hearts,

and write them on their minds,"

17then he adds,

“I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.”

Believers in Jesus Christ, listen to me:  your enemy, that old serpent, the devil wants you to believe that you can fall from grace, that you weren't truly saved, that you aren't "good enough" to serve Him....and any number of other lies ... because he was a liar, a deceiver (and a murderer from the beginning, according to Jesus).  Don't you dare listen to that accuser who wants more than anything to steal your peace and joy!

Beloved brothers and sisters in Christ - - - our God only sees Jesus' blood when He looks at us.  He "remembers your sins and your lawless deeds no more".  You are forgiven.  It is finished.

However, He loves you too much to allow you to wallow around in unconfessed sin, day after day.
He loves you too much to leave you bound up in the snares, the traps that old devil sets for you and into which you frequently fall.  Because of His great love, He calls you to confess your sins regularly, because that confession is part of His sanctification process...the process where He more and more writes His words from the Bible on your heart and in your mind. The Holy Spirit longs to rule and reign in your life, making you day-by-day, as you confess your daily sins, more and more like your Savior.

Done, yet not done.  Finished, yet a work in progress.

There is a commercial running currently.  It's for Clorox bleach.  The little boy is so excited to show his mama that he has "gone potty" successfully.  Only problem is....he has gone in the bathtub.  The camera cuts from the mother's horrified face to a jug of Clorox bleach slamming down onto a surface. I'm reminded of that when I think of confession and sanctification.

Every Believer's salvation is secure.  It is forever finished, complete, flawlessly executed.  But, our sanctification begins at the moment of our salvation.  From the inside out, God's Spirit moves in us, molding us, shaping us more and more into His image, the One who died for us, the One we adore. How glorious!

Father, as this evening closes, I am humbly grateful for my eternal salvation, which You and only You gave me so many years ago.  And, I am deeply sorry for the ways I have fallen short of your standard today. While I know that all my sins, past, present and future, are forgiven, I surely do hate to disappoint you through my sinful choices, as well as by my unintentional lurches into a ditch of sin.   Thank you for allowing me to apologize and for continuing to create in me a clean heart, day by day. I know and strongly affirm that only You, Holy Spirit, can accomplish salvation and then sanctification, can produce holiness of any sort in this sin-beleaguered soul.  It is because of this truth that I give You, my God, ALL the glory for any good thing that arises out of me.  The only resplendence that could be attributed to me ... is because of You, my Savior.  And, that is why it is so easy for me to give You all the glory and honor and praise for what You have done and for what You are continuing to do in me and in this world.
In Jesus' name, amen.

You Didn't Build That!

Our current president, in an unscripted moment on the campaign trail a few years ago, dealt himself a minor setback by telling a small business owner, "You didn't build that!"  (It is obvious that President Obama has never owned a small business or built anything of virtue, for that matter.  But, I digress.)

I thought of this bit of recent U.S. History when meditating on today's verses --- Ephesians 2:8-10.

8For by grace you are saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9it is not from works, so that no one can boast. 10For we are his workmanship, having been created in Christ Jesus for good works that God prepared beforehand so we may do them.

These are some of the most famous verses quoted by Protestant Christians, and for good reason. Within these three short verses, we see the following themes presented:  redemption, mercy, grace, sanctification, election.  Such a power-packed passage!

In these three short verses, Paul explains the relationship of our "good works" to our salvation.

1.  You didn't build that!
There was once a young man of high position who was told whom he would marry.  The designated bride was "suitable".  In order to do what was "right" and to please others, he followed through with the marriage.  He remained faithful to his wife over the years, coming to feel kindly toward her, although their love was a facade.  He also worked diligently to please her and to provide her with everything she could ever want in the hopes that it would be "enough".  And, as the years rolled on, he became a "success" in the eyes of others, often boasting of what he had done, even though his heart was empty.
Many people approach God this way.
Because of family upbringing or societal expectations, they "do what is expected".  They attend church somewhat regularly.  They slog through their church's requirements/regulations.  They behave in a moral way toward others.  They do everything they know to do to please God, in the hopes that He will be accept them ... yet their hearts are not in it.  They become successful in the eyes of those who surround them, but their souls are hungry for more.
The reason this approach is unfulfilling and often frustrating is because it is not what God intended. It's an approach in which the cart is pulling the horses, a strategy in which folks try to "build" their own salvation.
Paul tells us, by the inspiration of God's own Spirit, that only HE saves by gifting us with salvation. All we need to do is to ask for it, and it is ours!  The simplicity of this truth is stupefying to those who are weary from "working" to earn God's favor.  It can't be earned!  It can only be received; this receiving is our faith response.  We exercise saving faith when we receive what He has already accomplished.
He paid a debt He did not owe so that we could receive a salvation we did not earn.

2.  He built (and builds) us.
When we receive the salvation that God gives, that is, when His Spirit comes to live inside us and possesses us, we are forever made right with God ("justified") and simultaneously "set apart" - - (sanctified) - - to serve Him.  But, that "work", that service, is not to earn any extra favor with God!  I saw a meme on Twitter this morning which said it well..."Nothing you do today can make God love you any more and nothing you do can make Him love you less." 
Staggering, isn't it?
But, as our love grows, in response to His perfect love, "good works" billow out of us!  We then want to serve, to give witness, to love....as Jesus loved us.  We eagerly sign on to His mission as we live out our days!  This is the ongoing work of the Holy Spirit in our spirits, our souls, our lives.
"We are His workmanship..."  The Message version says it like this:

Saving is all his idea, and all his work. All we do is trust him enough to let him do it. It’s God’s gift from start to finish! We don’t play the major role. If we did, we’d probably go around bragging that we’d done the whole thing! No, we neither make nor save ourselves. God does both the making and saving. He creates each of us by Christ Jesus to join him in the work he does, the good work he has gotten ready for us to do, work we had better be doing.

Yes, HE built that...and it is glorious!  Praise His name forever!

Father God, I often get frustrated in my love offerings to You and sometimes think....if I were trying to earn my salvation by accumulating "good works", I'd be so busted.  There is absolutely no way .... But, because You did the saving, and because it is eternal, I can rest and trust in that certainty.  I love the joy those truths produce in my heart.  Such joy enables me to revel in the work of Your Holy Spirit .... to walk resplendent!  Thank you, thank you, LORD!  In Jesus' name, amen.

Judged: Not Guilty

I remember the first time I felt condemned.  By comparison with others who have lived traumatic childhood, it was "nothing".  As the firstborn child and the firstborn grandchild on both sides of my parents' families, however, I was a "golden child".  I had grown up for approximately 10 years being told how excellent I was.  Even though by the time of this incident I had accepted Christ as Savior, I was a new believer.  I knew I was a sinner, saved by grace.  But, still, in comparison to others of my age and circumstances, I thought I was something special.

Well, one day on the playground I experienced a major "condemnation."  For whatever the reason, the rest of my class had gone on in, and some upperclassmen girls (7th graders) were left on the playground with me.  About 3 of them came up to me and commented on how pretty I was.  This, of course, made my heart soar - - - to be praised by such exalted older girls.  Their "compliment" was quickly followed by the "2" of their 1-2 punch: "she's pretty ugly"!  At this point, they collapsed into peals of laughter over the play-on-words they had made.  Playground, indeed!  If I said anything in return, I don't remember it.  But, I vividly remember their faces and their words that day.  I was condemned as "ugly" by the pretty girls.

When we measure ourselves against others, we are almost always sure to find someone "better".  It's a self-defeating process.  Against whom or what, then, should we measure ourselves?

Against God's standard in the word of God.

Although our species was originally created in God's image, because of mankind's fall into sin, we are all born into sin.  Therefore, we have a stain on our souls that is seemingly inescapable. This truth is reaffirmed by many writers in the Bible, but let's look at the example of David, for one:

Look, I was guilty of sin from birth, a sinner the moment my mother conceived me. 

Psalm 51:5 (NET)

All people innately know this to be true.  The problem is that most deny it.  The way of the world is to run from God's condemnation of sin, to deny it, to hide from it, to shake our fists against it.  This only leads to more enslavement, more despair, more condemnation.  Mankind's rejection of God's answer to our condemnation only leads to greater guilt.

Amid such darkness, Romans 8:1 bursts onto the scene as a ray of brilliant light.

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

What does that mean "no condemnation"?  Those who are "in Christ Jesus" - - who are they?  How do they get rid of their sin curse?  (I wrote expansively about this in a blog post from July 4, 2014, "The Main Thing".)  The only remedy for our sin is Christ's finished work on our behalf: His birth, life, death, burial and triumphant resurrection from the dead.  The blood He spilled out, the life sacrifice He made, satisfied the requirements of God the Father.  Jesus bought our righteousness and gave it to those who take Him as Savior.

He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we may cease from sinning and live for righteousness. By his wounds you were healed.

1 Peter 2:24 (NET)

13For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, 14in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

Colossians 1:13-14 (NET)

Jesus purchased this invaluable gift for all people, but not all will receive it.  Many, the greatest majority, in fact, will not.  Why not?  Many reasons.  Here are a couple:
1.  Sin is seductive and pleasurable.  Most do not want to leave behind their sins and turn to Christ.
2.  Satan's deceptive powers have blinded many to the truth of their condition.  Most somehow believe that, in the end, God will judge their puny efforts to be "good enough".  Although prevalent in our fallen world, this belief is resoundingly refuted, time and time again, in Scripture.

There is only one way to escape God's condemnation of our sin: Jesus Christ, who declared Himself "the way, the truth and the life" (John 14:16).  Notice: He did not say "A way, A truth..." No. One way, THE way.

So, for the believer in Jesus Christ - - for that person who has not only believed intellectually with his or her head but also with a heart belief that involves surrender and repentance - - there is forever NO condemnation for sins.  All are forgiven, past, present and future.  Positionally, God the Father then sees Christ's own as righteous, with all condemnation removed.  Positionally, Christ's followers are then granted status as sons and daughters of God, co-heirs with Jesus Christ in the riches of God's grace and mercy.

Listen to this:  when Christ's blood is applied to our souls, it is the same to God as "just as if she had never sinned".  We may have trouble forgiving ourselves and forgetting our sins, but God does not have that problem.  When we are "justified", made right, with God, He then banishes our former fallen, sin-ridden state as far away from Himself as "the east is from the west" (Psalm 103:12).

I'll never forget that day, that day when He washed all my sins away.  The incredible, incomparable realization: "Judged: Not Guilty".  I can still see in my mind's eye that little nine-year old girl dancing and twirling around the parking lot in the balmy, August evening, arms flung wide, head uplifted - - total freedom and joy.

Does it sound too good to be true?  Too simple?  It's the best thing this earthly life has to offer, the best decision a person can ever make, the most consequential choice of a lifetime, because its implications last forever.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBqUwpCvCL8

Dear Father,  no condemnation!  Thank you for making one way and only one way for me to be reconciled to You, my Father, my Creator, my Savior.  Thank you for removing all my sin, forever. Such love, mercy and grace compel me to serve You with my whole heart, to walk .... resplendent!
In Jesus' name, amen.

He did it. He does it.

Have you ever wanted to be another ethnicity or nationality or even religion?  When I was a little girl, I wanted to be a nun when I grew up.  My mother told me that that would be a stretch since I was being raised in a Baptist family ... But, I was enraptured by that t.v. show, "The Flying Nun", which starred Sally Fields, whose considerable talents were severely underutilized in that series.  I just thought nuns were cool.  As I got older I realized that the nunnery, indeed, did not align with my faith beliefs and so abandoned that "calling".

As a young Baptist chickie, though, I also wished that I could have some Jewish blood flowing through my veins.  Understand that my immediate family is as "garden-variety" as you can get.  (One of these days I want to jump into the ancestry study thing; but, that is probably for my next decade of life, God willing.)

In Galatians 3 Paul talks to the Galatians about the spiritual parentage of  a Christian.  Who can become a child of God, through Jesus Christ?  Lineage was a big thing to Jews of that day.  It's easy to understand why.  For hundreds of years God had drilled into their culture the importance of keeping bloodlines pure.  By this time, a whole lot of "pollution" had occurred.  For example, the 10 tribes of the northern kingdom were characterized as "lost" because they had so intermarried with gentiles.  Now, here the Christian church fathers were proclaiming that this sect of Judaism, this Christianity, was not only for the Jews, but for all people.  Most of the Jews of that day weren't buying it, even some Jewish believers!

Well, they accepted it to a point.  They realized that they could not change the gentile converts' lineage.  But...they could do the next best thing!  They could force them to look and act like Jews by requiring their men to be circumcised and demanding that they keep the dictates of the Law.  I don't know that the gentile believers wanted to be "Jewish"; they were told by the false teachers they had to be... These well-meaning(?) Judaizers sold the Galatians a "bill of goods".  They were obviously quite successful at it, because Paul had to oppose the destructive trend very strongly in this letter.

Paul's point was that all believers in Jesus Christ are already "children of Abraham" (in effect "Jewish").  No amount of circumcision or law-keeping was going to make the Galatians "more Jewish" or "more Christian".  Christ Jesus had done all that needed to be done.  He finished it on the cross.  He did it.

7-8 Is it not obvious to you that persons who put their trust in Christ (not persons who put their trust in the law!) are like Abraham: children of faith? It was all laid out beforehand in Scripture that God would set things right with non-Jews by faith. Scripture anticipated this in the promise to Abraham: “All nations will be blessed in you.”

9-10 So those now who live by faith are blessed along with Abraham, who lived by faith—this is no new doctrine! And that means that anyone who tries to live by his own effort, independent of God, is doomed to failure. Scripture backs this up: “Utterly cursed is every person who fails to carry out every detail written in the Book of the law.”

11-12 The obvious impossibility of carrying out such a moral program should make it plain that no one can sustain a relationship with God that way. The person who lives in right relationship with God does it by embracing what God arranges for him. Doing things for God is the opposite of entering into what God does for you. Habakkuk had it right: “The person who believes God, is set right by God—and that’s the real life.” Rule-keeping does not naturally evolve into living by faith, but only perpetuates itself in more and more rule-keeping, a fact observed in Scripture: “The one who does these things [rule-keeping] continues to live by them.”

Galatians 3:7-12 (The Message)

In one of the Star Wars movies it was observed, "The Force is strong with that one."  Well, I'll tell you that one of the strongest forces in me is that I'm prone to keep the focus on MY ability to live for God. This is sin...sin that achieves the exact opposite of what my spirit desires.  We have got to realize that spiritual victory comes from embracing what God wants to do in and through us!  The shift in emphasis is world-changing!  It is not about I.  It is about He. (Mother will be proud; that's correct grammatical usage.)  He has already made those who have accepted Jesus Christ by faith to be His spiritual offspring: "children of Abraham".  When that instantaneous transaction and transformation occur, it is only the beginning of the life of faith, the walk of faith, the resplendent walk.

Get this:  the resplendent walk is not resplendent because you or I are resplendent.  The life of faith is resplendent because HE is resplendent, and that resplendence shines through us, (often in spite of us!) Growing in faith means growing in yieldedness to Him, in relationship with Him, nothing more.  As we surrender to Him, He produces the fruit of His righteousness (not ours) IN us.  He does it.

Father, I know that I am yours and that that eternal fact is not of my own doing.  You did it.  I still don't think that I fully understand either the miracle of my justification any more than I understand the process of sanctification.  Oh, I understand it academically.  It's the "letting you do your sanctifying work in me" part that I fail to comprehend in actual practice.  I pray for greater faith, deeper relationship so that You can do what You want to do, in me.  In Jesus' name, amen.

No Longer a Law-Girl?

I'm sure that, as a modern person, I greatly underestimate the potential for spiritual warfare that was present at the Council of Jerusalem, the first scene in Galatians 2, today's text.  This meeting took place nearly 20 years after Jesus' ascension, around 50 A.D. The key players were the Gentile evangelists and the Jewish evangelists, that is, those who evangelized the Gentiles and those whose ministry was to the Jews.  Truly, this meeting could have blown the whole thing wide open.  I am sure that there were many impassioned arguments that went back and forth.  It is a testimony to the reality of the changed life, the power of the Holy Spirit, that these men realized the gospel of Jesus Christ: salvation by faith and by grace.

In a month or so, we will have at my church something called GIC (Global Impact Conference).  It is a missions conference. Missionaries our church supports, from various corners of the US and the world, will be attending. Some of them will look different from our church people.  Some of them will act different. Their methods of evangelization will not all be revealed as the same.  However, the gospel they preach is one, and only one.

I am grateful for Galatians 2.  This chapter shows how prone we are to devolve back to reliance on our own "self-righteousness".  It is our "default setting" as humans.  We love to pursue righteousness that comes from following a set of rules because this appeals to our sinful, human pride. (False) righteousness makes us feel good!  This type of righteousness is glorified in our American culture. We are surrounded by it; so, it's no wonder that, as Christians, we tend to get tainted by it.

When you read Galatians 2, you realize why God did not choose a Moses to do the job of a Paul. Moses, if you recall, was not a persuasive or even a good speaker.  Paul, on the other hand, excelled at persuasive argument; he had been "schooled" in it.  The Holy Spirit used Paul to clearly articulate the methods used to share the gospel with the Gentiles.  By the end of the Council at Jerusalem, the group of "pillars" of Christianity parted ways in brotherhood and with a renewed commitment to share Jesus with the world.

Later on, however, "the rubber met the road".  God put those who evangelized the Jews in a position to see just how dependent they still were on the Law.  When they actually met and fellowshipped with an actual group of Gentile believers, the Jerusalem guys fell back to their position of the Law's power over them.  It was their safety zone.  The Antioch experience was a sanctifying, growth opportunity for them because it opened their eyes in a new way to their justification, the centrality of God's grace and salvation by faith alone.  Sometimes, it takes a change of scenery to reveal our most closely-held prejudices.

Probably the most famous verse of Galatians 2 is verse 20.  Here it is, in context:

19“For through the Law I died to the Law, so that I might live to God. 20“I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. 21“I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly.”

Galatians 2:19-21 (NASB)

I also love it from The Message version.  Take a read.

19-21 What actually took place is this: I tried keeping rules and working my head off to please God, and it didn’t work. So I quit being a “law man” so that I could be God’s man. Christ’s life showed me how, and enabled me to do it. I identified myself completely with him. Indeed, I have been crucified with Christ. My ego is no longer central. It is no longer important that I appear righteous before you or have your good opinion, and I am no longer driven to impress God. Christ lives in me. The life you see me living is not “mine,” but it is lived by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I am not going to go back on that.

Is it not clear to you that to go back to that old rule-keeping, peer-pleasing religion would be an abandonment of everything personal and free in my relationship with God? I refuse to do that, to repudiate God’s grace. If a living relationship with God could come by rule-keeping, then Christ died unnecessarily.

No longer a "Law Man"!

The Law, here, refers to the set of rules and regulations God gave the Israelites hundreds of years earlier.  But, in our lives today, "law" can be any set of religious rules that we glorify above the truth of the gospel.  "Law" can be religious rituals that we do out of habit to make ourselves feel more holy.  Striving to impress God with our goodness "frustrates" His grace (2:21 KJV)

When I was a teenager, one of the Christian fads was to "claim" a "life verse".  It's laughable to me now.  At any rate, the one that resonated with me was Galatians 2:20. (I've always been sort of a 190 proof person ...190 proof whiskey is the highest alcohol content which can exist without the spirit evaporating.  I looked it up!)  The crazy thing that spoke to me this morning, after carefully reading this chapter is that I had made that verse all about sanctification.  Now, sanctification is great, indispensable to the resplendent walk.  But, Galatians 2:20 is first about justification!

Crucifixion typifies a one-time, irreversible act.  "I am crucified with Christ" says that my old, law-loving self has been killed by His justification of my soul.  This is the very source of Christ living in me!  Paul's statement proclaims my eternal justification.  There can be no sanctification unless there is first justification.

"Nevertheless, I live.  Yet, not I, but Christ lives in me."  I live, but I don't reign.  Here comes the sanctification part, you see?  The justification has been settled.  The Law is dead to me.  It is Christ reigning in me Who produces good works, who produces beauty, who works His love through me to the world.

All that sounds so precious.  Then, like the leaders of the Jerusalem church visiting Antioch (2:11-13), I fall down.  I don't know about you, Galatians 2:20 clashes horrifically with my frequent lost battles to sin.  What do we do with that?!  Paul says that we should come back to faith.  Look again.

"...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."

Every time I mess up, my prayer of confession should be closely followed by, "Lord Jesus, increase my faith in You."  Every time something "unplanned" or "unwanted" occurs, my prayer should be "Lord, increase my faith."  We read elsewhere (Hebrews 11:6), all throughout scripture actually, that it is our faith which pleases Him.  Our faith is our love offering to Him and the only source, the exclusive well-spring of our sanctification.

I wish I could tell you that I do this perfectly, even regularly.  Today's post was spectacularly difficult for me to write; I cannot even express to you...

Whaddya know?  After approximately 32 years, that magnificent verse bursts from the heart of God, to speak to me yet again.