For the Kingdom of Heaven is Like…

20 11 2008

Our pastor has been preaching a sermon series on what the kingdom of heaven is like, using as his text, inter alia, the parables in the book of Matthew. At the end of one of his sermons, he asked us to write our own parable using our occupations, capacities as parents, or grandparents, etc. as the basis for our own parable.

For example, a teacher’s might begin, “For the kingdom of heaven is like a classroom…” Naturally, I thought, “Church assignment…blog post.” And thus, a snippet of the gospel according to Peter (red-letter edition):

Satan Smiting Job, William Blake

Satan Smiting Job, William Blake

…and Jesus said, “For the kingdom of heaven is like a court of law, where the accuser very thoroughly and convincingly builds a case against the accused. He presents the evidence to the jury bit by bit, witness after witness.

Pointing to the one on trial, the prosecutor boastfully argues to the jury:

‘Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, this poor excuse for a human being has committed heinous violations of the most holy law.

He has placed other gods before the one true God, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

He has made idols of innumerable persons and things.

He has taken the Lord’s Name in vain countless times.

He has never kept the Sabbath holy, defiling it at every opportunity.

He has dishonored his father and mother all of his life.

According to the very words of God’s own Son, he has committed murder and adultery. Repeatedly!

This man is a thief, a liar, and a coveter. A worse human being has never been created. This man is guilty! Guilty! Guilty!

And justice requires that he be punished!’

There is no defense to present. The jury, horrified by the actions of the accused, quickly returns a verdict of ‘guilty,’ fully expecting the Judge to impose the stiffest sentence possible: an eternity in the lake of fire.

The Judge turns to the accused and says, ‘Is there anything you have to say for yourself before sentence is imposed?’

The accused, still bound and shackled, bows his head in shame knowing there is nothing he can say in defense of these accusations.

But, quietly and confidently, the advocate for the accused stands, and, placing his hand on the accused’s shoulder, says:

‘Your Honor, I stepped out of heaven and became flesh. I was born to a human mother. I was raised by a human father. I spent my life teaching humanity about You.

I was hated. Mocked. Spat upon. I was imprisoned, scourged, and tried before a sham court. I was convicted, sentenced to death, and crucified, all so that this man and others like him would not have to endure the same.

Three days later I rose again, having paid in full the price for all human sin. It is true, this man is guilty of all of those things. And more.

But, what you have required of this man is this: that he believe in Me and what I did for him and others like him, that it would not have been done in vain.

Your Honor, the only thing I can say in defense of this man is that he believes.

I have paid his debt. I have endured his punishment. His sentence has been imposed, his time has been served.

Ought not this man, being a son of Abraham, whom this accuser has bound, be acquitted and loosed from this bondage? Ought not this man be set free?’

The Judge, robed in pristine white, leans forward, looks at the accused, smiles, and says, ‘You are free.’”


Comments : 2 Comments »
Tags : , , , , , , , , ,
Categories : Bible, Christianity, God, Grace, Heaven, Jesus, Sin

The Salvation of “the earth”

19 08 2008

When I first began writing this blog, I began by showing Genesis 1:1 in the ancient Hebrew pictographs and the beauty revealed therein. I showed that Jesus’ redemptive work on the cross was revealed from “In the beginning…” The last such entry was about “the heavens” and the various revelations made about Noah, Moses, etc. There is much more in “the heavens,” but I will develop that more later.

For those who began reading since then, and for a quick recap here is a brief summary of what we have seen in Genesis 1:1 to this point (and the links to those earlier posts):

In the beginning - The Son of God would be destroyed on a cross.

God - Psalm 23: The Lord is my shepherd…

created - Jesus as the creator.

the heavens - Noah and the flood (Part 1).

the heavens (cont.) - The story of Moses (Part 2).

Now, “and the earth.” I realize it has taken several months to conclude what I began several months ago, but that is, in part, because I wasn’t satisfied that I had finished “the heavens” or “the earth.” Well, there is plenty more in “the heavens,” and I know there is more in “the earth,” but I doubt I will ever be able to exhaust either. That is no reason to prolong sharing what I know is there, so here it is.

Believe it or not, the “and” is quite significant on its own and probably deserves its own post, but for sake of time, I will combine the two. The Hebrew word v’at translated “and” is comprised of the Hebrew letters VAV, ALEPH, and TAV. If you will recall from earlier posts, the ancient Hebrew alphabet was made up of pictographs that represented a letter of the alphabet, a number, and had a symbolic meaning.

The letter VAV was pictured as a tent peg, hook or a nail. Specifically, the VAV was the tent peg or hook that held the curtains of the tabernacle of Moses together. The symbolic meaning of the VAV was to bind together or hook, and represented the connection between heaven and earth. The ALEPH was pictured as the head of an ox and symbolized strength or God, as in the Lord is my strength. The TAV was pictured as two crossed sticks and symbolized a cross, mark or covenant.

Interestingly, the VAV in v’at (and) is the first VAV in the Bible and connects “the heavens” and “the earth” as is symbolized by VAV. As I have written before, I believe “the heavens” symbolically represent God’s Old Testament Covenants. I also believe “the earth” symbolically represents God’s New Covenant in Christ Jesus. The “and” reveals this relationship. The NAIL or VAV is GOD’S COVENANT.

v'at / and

The “and” also is a reassurance that GOD is BOUND by His COVENANTS. Without this reassurance, what is revealed in “the earth” would be meaningless. “The earth” is comprised of the Hebrew letters HEY, ALEPH, RESH and TSADE. The letter HEY was pictured as a man with outstretched arms and means to behold. The letter HEY is also representative of God’s gift or grace. The ALEPH, as I mentioned before, was pictured as an ox head and represented strength or God. The letter RESH is pictured as the head of a man and means the first or highest man, or first born. The TSADE is pictured as a man lying on his side or bent at the knees, or pictured as a fish hook. The symbolic meaning of the letter TSADE was to hunt or fish.

Therefore, GOD’S COVENANT by which He is BOUND is the GRACE or GIFT of GOD which is His FIRST BORN. The conclusion, or TSADE, is even more remarkable. It is our great commission, to GO FISHING/HUNTING. This was and is God’s promise to the world, “Behold, I am going to send for many fishermen,” declares the LORD, “and they will fish for them; and afterwards I will send for many hunters, and they will hunt them from every mountain and every hill and from the clefts of the rocks…” Jeremiah 16:16. Moreover, Jesus first chose fishermen to be His disciples, and He told them He would make them fishers of men.

Let’s go a little deeper. There are five Hebrew letters which have a sofit form which is used when one of these five letters concludes a word, such as the TSADE in “the earth.” The traditional form of the TSADE is a man on bent knees or laying down, representing humility, as in to kneel before or to lay down one’s life. The sofit form is the righteous man upright with hands held high (the Hebrew word tzadik means righteous person). If this is not a picture of Christ Jesus, I don’t know what is. The humble servant laying down his life and rising again. So, “the earth” is the GRACE of GOD in JESUS (HIS SON) who died and rose again, now go FISHING.

As rich and full as some literature is, the beauty of the Bible is beyond human capability and comprehension. Genesis 1:1 alone is fuller and richer in symbolism and meaning that any written work of man…and this is without touching on the numbers and gematria, which I will leave to others far more qualified than I. I used to think that you could devote a lifetime to studying the Bible and never get it all, and I still believe that, but I now think you could spend a lifetime studying Genesis 1:1 and still not get it all.

But it’s going to be fun trying.


Comments : No Comments »
Tags : , , , , , , , ,
Categories : Ancient Hebrew, Bible, Christianity, Faith, Genesis, God, Grace, Hebrew, Jesus, Religion

Sharing in Spiritual AND Material Things

28 07 2008

As many of you may know, I also write guest posts for Eved of Hashem, the blog of Gilal Burgos, a Messianic Sephardi Jew from New York. Gil is the founder of the Lion of Judah Fellowship (LOJF) which ministers in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Florida.

I recently published Sharing in Spiritual AND Material Things wherein I wrote about Romans 15:27, and Paul’s reminder that we as Gentiles are indebted to the “poor among the saints in Jerusalem.”

If you have a minute, I encourage you check it out and respond however the Spirit leads you.


Comments : No Comments »
Tags : , , , , , , , , ,
Categories : Bible, Blessing, Christianity, Genesis, God, Grace, Israel, Jesus, Messianic Jews, Religion

To Which Well Are We Drawn?

4 06 2008

My wife, my mother and I were returning from a trip to Dallas a couple of weeks ago, and we began discussing John 4. The question was posed, “Why do we still thirst?” It’s clear from the text of John 4 that if we drink of the water provided by Christ, we will not thirst.

John 4:1 Therefore when the Lord knew that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John 2 (although Jesus Himself was not baptizing, but His disciples were), 3 He left Judea and went away again into Galilee. 4 And He had to pass through Samaria.

5 So He came to a city of Samaria called Sychar, near the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph; 6 and Jacob’s well was there. So Jesus, being wearied from His journey, was sitting thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour.

7 There came a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give Me a drink.” 8 For His disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. 9 Therefore the Samaritan woman said to Him, “How is it that You, being a Jew, ask me for a drink since I am a Samaritan woman?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.)

10 Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”

11 She said to Him, “Sir, You have nothing to draw with and the well is deep; where then do You get that living water? 12 “You are not greater than our father Jacob, are You, who gave us the well, and drank of it himself and his sons and his cattle?”

13 Jesus answered and said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.”

15 The woman said to Him, “Sir, give me this water, so I will not be thirsty nor come all the way here to draw.”

It has been my experience that most Christians I know try quite hard drink of the water Jesus claims to provide, yet they still thirst (myself included). Therein lies the problem. We try really, really hard to drink of the right water, but our very effort indicates that we are trying to drink from the wrong well.

John 4 is so rich in symbolism and meaning, it’s easy to get lost in it, and it would take a whole series of posts to begin to cover it, but one point is key to the question posed (Why do we thirst?). And that point is this, we need to drink of the water that is freely given, not that we have to go and draw for ourselves.

This story of one Samaritan woman’s encounter with the Jewish Messiah is a beautiful portrait of law and grace. Here we have Jesus telling a Samaritan woman that she will never be completely satisfied by drinking from Jacob’s well, but only by drinking from the water that He will freely give.

How often do we retreat to drinking from Jacob’s well? Probably more often we would like, and certainly more often than is necessary. It is almost incomprehensible, especially to those of us who grew up in America, that we can never satisfy our thirst by our own efforts. We instill in children from a very early age to work hard, make good grades, and do the best that they possibly can, and I will do the same with my children. But, the lesson in our constant return to Jacob’s well is that we can never attain through our own efforts what we can attain through God’s gift of grace.

This truth is not limited to our efforts to achieve righteousness through obedience to the law, we simply cannot. It is through the gift of grace that we are made righteous and enabled to live righteously. This principle is applicable to every aspect of our lives.

It is no different for the study of God’s word. You can spend hours, days, or even years reading the Bible, commentaries, and researching and never comprehend a simple passage better than you will with a tiny drop of God’s grace in revelation. I often find myself praying about scripture after several days of struggling with something, only to find that a simple prayer for God’s help was all that was required. I wonder how much better my study would be if I intentionally begin by doing what I will most likely end up doing anyway.

If we all apply this principle of receiving freely before we begin doing, the doing part might get a whole lot easier and the receiving a whole lot better.


Comments : 8 Comments »
Tags : , , , , , , ,
Categories : Bible, Christianity, Faith, God, Grace, Israel, Jesus, Law, New Testament, Old Testament, Religion, Sin

The Lesson of Nicodemus Continued.

11 03 2008

Last time, we began The Lesson of Nicodemus and learned that there’s a little of Nicodemus in all of us. We also learned that Nicodemus didn’t quite get what Jesus was trying to teach him about the “victory of the people” not coming through the “ruler of the people.” Do you think he ever got it? Let’s explore.

Near the end of this conversation with Nicodemus, Jesus tried one last example. I don’t think it was so much to make him understand, that clearly wasn’t going to happen, but to simplify and tell him what to do. For example, I desperately want to learn more about the internet, code, programming, and web design, but for the time being I rely on tutorials that simply tell me where to input text and which buttons to click. I think what Jesus finally did was say to Nicodemus, “Okay, look, you don’t have to understand it all, just do this.”

What is the “this” Nicodemus was supposed to do? Lift up the Son of Man just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness. John 3:14. Jesus is referencing a short section of the book of Numbers wedged in between war stories. The Israelites had just achieved victory over the Canaanite king of Arad, and they started grumbling against God and Moses because of the “wretched food”. God, perturbed with the Israelites much the way Jesus was perturbed with Nicodemus, sends poisonous snakes among the people. Many were bit and many died.

The Israelites recognized their sin and asked Moses to intercede on their behalf. God instructed Moses to make a bronze snake and mount it atop a pole, and to tell the Israelites that whenever anyone was bit to look at the bronze snake and they would recover. In other words, when the Israelites suffered the consequences of their sin (snake bites), they had to look at a reminder of their sins before their recovery.

By contrast, Jesus refers to the scribes and the Pharisees as the “snakes” and a “brood of vipers”. Matthew 23:33. The new remedy for the snakes and vipers: placing Jesus on a pedestal and keeping your eyes focussed on him. Jesus knew that the condemnation that came from the scribes and Pharisees (the law, the ruler of the people) was venomous, and that He was the antidote (the victory of the people).

There is no escaping Paul’s conclusion that I have now written about three posts running, “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Romans 8:1

So, did Nicodemus ever learn this lesson? When we next hear from Nicodemus he is defending Jesus before the Sanhedrin. John 7:50-51. As we discussed last week, Nicodemus was a Pharisee and a ruler of the people. Essentially he was a high court judge whose interpretation of the law very likely became law. However, when the Sanhedrin is trying to persuade the temple police to arrest Jesus, Nicodemus speaks out in Jesus’ defense. He says, “Our law doesn’t judge a man before it hears from him and knows what he’s doing, does it?”

Imagine, Nicodemus, a first century Pharisee, saying, “Our law doesn’t judge a man…” Nicodemus might not have completely got it by this point, but he was definitely learning. Our last encounter with Nicodemus is when Jesus is about to be entombed. Pontius Pilate has just given Joseph of Arimathea (also a member of the Sanhedrin, but a disciple of Jesus) permission to remove and bury Jesus’ body. Who shows up? Nicodemus, bearing gifts, 75-100 pounds of myrrh and aloes.

Why is this significant? Myrrh was the key ingredient in the holy anointing oil God instructed Moses to make in Exodus 30:23. The anointing oil was reserved for the ark and sacred items only. The only people allowed to be anointed with the oil were Aaron and his sons, the priests. The creation of this oil for any other purpose or for use by any other person was punishable by being cutoff from the people of Israel.

Do we know definitively the myrrh Nicodemus brought to anoint Jesus was of this holy concoction? I cannot say for certain. However, we do know that myrrh was often worth more than its weight in gold, and Nicodemus brought 75-100 pounds of it to anoint Jesus. Whether he offered jugs of this precious oil as an homage, or whether he realized Jesus was a high priest worthy of anointing subjecting himself to the potential for excommunication, Nicodemus was there at the end preparing the body of Christ for its return.

So, either Nicodemus really got it, choosing Jesus (the victory of the people) over the law (the ruler of the people), or he just fixed his eyes on Jesus and followed. Either way, Nicodemus is a lesson for us all, even when we don’t quite get it, we fix our eyes on Jesus and follow.

But, I’m hoping he finally got it. One day we can ask him.


Comments : No Comments »
Tags : , , , , , ,
Categories : Bible, Christianity, Faith, God, Grace, Israel, Jesus, Law, New Testament, Religion

John 3:16: The Lesson of Nicodemus.

28 02 2008

I hope my readers know that I try my best to give fresh, new, if sometimes controversial insight into the most wonderful of texts, which has been around in some form for approximately 4000 years, yet never, ever gets old.

So, it should come as no shock that I felt somewhat surprised to find myself contemplating writing about the most recognized, memorized, and athletic eventized scripture in the history of the world: John 3:16. Actually, I have felt over the last week that my last post, Therefore, there is now no condemnation, was somehow incomplete. I realize it was long, but I think volumes could be and need to be written about condemnation.

Anyway, I was thinking about whether to continue the condemnation discussion or just move on. So, I sent a quick wire up to the Lord, “What do You want me to write about today?” Honestly, it was somewhat rhetorical, I wasn’t really expecting an answer, but the answer came almost before I finished the question, “John”. (A lesson for another day: God will answer even the most insignificant of questions, so be careful what you ask.) That was it, “John”. But, it was so clear I knew it wasn’t a mistake.

  • “John what?”
  • “John three.”
  • “John three? John three what?”
  • “Sixteen.”

Okay, so I decided it was just me. I mean, come on, John 3:16. Everybody knows everything there is to know about John 3:16. Or, do they? “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

When Jesus spoke those words, He was answering the questions of a Pharisee named Nicodemus. Nicodemus is referred to in John 3:1 as a ruler of the Jews. The phrase “ruler of the Jews” means Nicodemus was a member of the Sanhedrin, the highest legal or judicial body of the Jewish people. Nicodemus was a teacher and interpreter of the law, and, as a member of the Sanhedrin, Nicodemus’ interpretations of the law could very well have become law. Like a high court judge today, if there is ambiguity in the law, and the court decides the issue in question, the decision becomes the law.

Yet, despite his credentials and knowledge of the law, Nicodemus just didn’t get it.

Nicodemus recognized that Jesus had to be a teacher from God. All this cool stuff Jesus was doing and saying could not have come from anywhere else, but that was as close as Nicodemus got to really getting it. How did Jesus respond? I’m paraphrasing, “You’re a teacher of Israel, you should know this stuff and you don’t get it. You don’t get the earthly things I’m telling you, how are you possibly going to get the heavenly stuff?”

So, what does Jesus do? He cuts to the chase and gives Nicodemus the greatest lesson ever. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” But, that’s only half of it, here’s the best part:

  • For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned… And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. John 3:17-19.

Why does Nicodemus get this lesson when he wasn’t getting the rest of it? Why Nicodemus, when Jesus even said Nicodemus wouldn’t get it? Nicodemus gets this lesson because Nicodemus is the lesson. The Greek name Nicodemus means “victory of the people”. Only God is capable of such wonderful irony: the ruler of the people unable to see the victory of the people, which is within him. You almost get the idea that Jesus must have wanted to bop Nicodemus on the head.

This is Paul’s lesson from Romans that I talked about last week all over again. To be more precise, Paul’s lesson in Romans is the lesson of Nicodemus all over again. Nicodemus was a prisoner to his own knowledge of the law. He could not escape.

But wait, then most of us would need the same bop on the head because we all fall into this trap. God did not send Jesus to condemn, but to save. From what? The condemnation of the law of sin and death. Nicodemus is really a picture of each of us. Nicodemus embodies the law as a ruler of the people. Nicodemus is also a portrait of the victory of the people, that elusive victory that remains just beyond the grasp. The lesson of Nicodemus is that the victory of the people is already a part of you.

Nicodemus didn’t get it. And when we try to see the victory of the people (Jesus) through the lens of the ruler of the people (the law), we don’t get it either. The victory of the people does not come through the ruler of the people. The victory of the people is the liberation of the people from the ruler.

Yes, an important lesson of John 3:16 is that God gave his only begotten Son to save the world, but the more important lesson is what the world was saved from: the ruler of the people, or the condemnation of the law of sin and death.


Comments : No Comments »
Tags : , , , , , , ,
Categories : Bible, Christianity, Faith, God, Grace, Israel, Jesus, Law, New Testament, Old Testament, Prayer, Religion

Therefore, there is now no condemnation…

24 02 2008

I think one of the most difficult concepts for Christians to grasp is that “there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Romans 8:1. Have any of you felt condemned lately? And by lately I mean since you’ve started reading this blog post (shouldn’t you be doing something else instead of playing around on the internet?). I’m sure I haven’t felt condemned in the last 10, 15 minutes anyway.

I suspect we all know people who wake up and go to bed feeling guilty about something. I suspect, too, that we all know people who wake up and go to bed making others feel guilty. In my last two posts, I have discussed forgiveness at length. Condemnation is the companion of unforgiveness. Actually, condemnation is just another form of unforgiveness. It is an unwillingness to forgive yourself, and the consequences of condemnation are just as dire.

In quoting Romans 8:1 above, I left out the most important word in that verse: “Therefore”. Romans 8:1 actually reads, “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” The great Derek Prince would say, “When you find a therefore you find out what it’s there for.” I couldn’t agree more. One of these days, take a book of the New Testament and underline every “Therefore” and read what is written right before and right after. If you have ever had difficulty understanding portions of the Bible, this is a good way of extracting explanation.

Here is how it works. Romans is great for practicing this because it is packed full of therefore’s. Before the Romans 8:1 “Therefore” the first paragraph following the last paragraph with a “Therefore” is Romans 7:14. Therefore, a new lesson. “For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold into bondage to sin.” Verse 7:21 begins the next paragraph, “I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good.”

Let’s stop for a minute and contemplate this. Paul is describing the internal struggle that goes on in all of us. Paul, in essence, is saying, “I want to do good so badly, but this evil within me just won’t let me. I’m a prisoner to my own sin.” That paragraph concludes, 25“Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin.”

Now, the “Therefore,” 8:1 “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are Christ Jesus.” What??? [Insert head scratch here.] Yeah, I know, it’s a little weird. Paul is saying, “We can’t win this struggle against the flesh, we can’t escape the slavery to sin. Therefore, we shouldn’t worry about it.” It’s one of those things that make you go “hum”?

Actually, that is exactly right. This is why, verse 8:2 says, “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death.” This is key. Paul does not say we are free from sin or death, rather that we are free from the law of sin and death. Even better. We would all like to be without sin and death, but how much better is it be out from under the system of law that fashions sin and death in the first place?

Paul goes on in verse 3, “For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh 4 so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.” Notice, God did not condemn us. He condemned “sin in the flesh so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us…”

The word “For” in verse three is just as important as the “Therefore” in verse one, it is the “because”. You will find this structure repeatedly throughout scripture: concept, conclusion (therefore), explanation (because). Because “the requirement of the Law” is now “fulfilled in us” who walk according to the Spirit, there is no condemnation in Jesus.

We all understand this: If you do the crime, you do the time. As a lawyer, I have heard this countless times. Similarly, we understand the idea that sin has consequences. But, through faith in Christ, we are no longer under the rule that if we do the crime, we do the time. Jesus served our sentence for us. This is not to say that we don’t deserve to do the time. We do, and God knows this, so in order to make sure that justice was served, He sent Jesus to be punished in our place. How much better is it that the law is fulfilled in Jesus than merely abolished (which would have put God in a compromising position since his Law was perfect)?

Jesus said, “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill.” Matthew 5:17. To fulfill means to pay in full. We owed a debt to God, we may still run up the bill from time to time, but our obligation is fulfilled in Christ. It is PAID IN FULL.

Will you continue to pay your bills after they are paid? Will you keep sending the bank or credit card company a check after your debt is paid off? Of course not. Yet, this is exactly what we are doing when it comes to sin. We are still trying to pay for what has already been paid for. However, the currency we try to pay with is good deeds, not sinning too badly, giving a little here and there, and not being as bad as the next guy.

We are still using scales to measure our “goodness” when we can never, ever do enough to make them balance. Does this sound familiar, “I go to church occasionally, I volunteer here and there, I don’t drink or use drugs, and I’ve never hurt anybody, so, I think I’m a pretty good person.” That is a lie from the devil. He wants you thinking like this for a whole host of reasons I’m sure, but two that I know of: (1) so that when you do do something wrong, he can hammer you for it, and (2) so you will continue to be under the bondage of the law. The law of sin and shame is a prison, and you have been set free. Why go back?

God doesn’t measure our “goodness” the way we do. We have got to grab hold of this (and not let go). We are righteous through faith in Jesus. God doesn’t look at us and see dirty, rotten scoundrels. He sees the righteousness of Christ. If we could ever see ourselves as God sees us, there would be no limit to our potential.

Which do you suppose is more distressing to God, that we sin or that we render Christ’s sufferings worthless by walking in condemnation? “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” No condemnation. No condemnation means no condemnation. No condemnation.

It still means no condemnation. No, not yet, still no condemnation.


Comments : No Comments »
Tags : , , , , , , ,
Categories : Bible, Christianity, Faith, God, Grace, Jesus, Law, New Testament, Old Testament, Prayer, Religion, Sin

« Previous Entries