03/19/3021
Do we live in the fear of failing to adhere to the old written law, or have we grasped hold of the new message of Christ, that is... we are to live in the hope and love of God by serving Him in the way of the Spirit? Woe are we who depend on our own abilities by attempting to follow the letters of the law rather than by partaking of God’s grace through Jesus Christ who has fulfilled the law, and through whom we are now the children of God.
“But now we are released from the law, having died to that which held us captive, so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit and not in the old way of the written code.”
Romans 7:6 ESV
The fall of Adam and Eve left us hobbled by a knowledge of good and evil, this was our forefather’s legacy to us, a sinful nature, and through the written law we learned that we could not bridge the gap between our own fallen nature, and the Holy nature of God. We were left wanting by our imperfection, but God loved us, and made provision through His Son Jesus that by grace which flows through Him our sinful nature could be resolved. In Jesus we come to know the power of the Holy Spirit because it remains on Him, and as we are in Christ the Spirit is thus on us.
“And John bore witness: “I saw the Spirit descend from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him.”
John 1:32 ESV
The early Jews wrestled with this new reality, and how it was that Jesus could free them from their bondage to the law. We saw evidence of this in the way that they feverishly debated whether the Gentiles would to be required to circumcise themselves, and what food laws they would be told to follow. This debate still raises its head today as some believers consider falling back into the law where they will depend on their ability to earn salvation by adhering to their own efforts. In this way they are trusting more on their own strengths than on the grace of God. Preachers have had to warn their flocks about the danger inherent in this. Over the millennia they have written and preached this message. Listen to Andrew Murray in the 1800s...
“Nothing good lives in the sinful nature of man; there is redemption only through submission to the power of the Holy Spirit who releases us from our sinful nature. The demands of the law are thereby fulfilled in the power of Christ.” - Andrew Murray
Through God’s love and grace we have been given the perfect redemption for our sinfulness. For this purpose He sent His Son Jesus Christ, and by our belief in Him we are no longer condemned by the law to a life is sin and death. Can you shout Hallelujah?
“There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.”
Romans 8:1-2 ESV
What we were once unable to overcome of our own accord has been overcome for us. God has freed us through His Son Jesus Christ the Messiah. We no longer walk in man’s old sinful nature, but in the perfection of Christ’s redemption according to the Spirit...
“For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”
Romans 8:3-4 ESV
We no longer make sacrifices because Jesus became our perfect sacrifice, and we no longer pilgrimage to the temple to worship because our bodies, in which Jesus abides, have become our temples of the Holy Spirit. Once we worshipped in the law, but now we worship in Spirit and truth.
“Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.””
John 4:21-24 ESV
So, we are not to reclaim the legacy of sin that was left to us by Adam and Eve, nor fall back into the law which was impossible for us to perfect, but instead, we are to worship in Spirit and truth... fully immersed in God’s grace through Jesus Christ. We are to claim a new birthright as we receive God’s adoption as His sons and daughters. Have we done this? Do we call Him “Abba! Father!”? Pray with me that it is so!
“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!””
Romans 8:14-15 ESV
Prayer:
Father, thank you for loving us so much that you sent your Son Jesus Christ to redeem us from our fallen nature of sin, and to defeat death so that we could find eternal life in you. Thank you Father for your Holy Spirit that remains on us just as it remains on Jesus. Help us Lord in our unbelief, and strengthen our faith more with each passing day. Open our eyes to the fallacy of our old nature, and show us how in Christ the law has been fulfilled so that we no longer must stumble in it, but can rejoice in the perfection of your grace! Holy, Holy, Holy, are you our God whose plan and will for us never included being abandoned to sin, or left us to flounder in our fallen nature. Praised be your name for our redemption in Christ, and His perfect sacrifice on Calvary that ushered in the fulfillment of the law, the era of your grace, and our worshipping you in Spirit and truth. Hear our prayers Holy Father as we pray them now from within the temple of our bodies, and await the return of Jesus who will lead us into the New Jerusalem where living water flows without end, and we will abide in your presence forevermore. Hear our worship in Spirit and truth from within the temple which is you and Jesus. Praised be your Holy Name, now and for all eternity!
“And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb.”
Revelation 21:22 ESV
Rich Forbes