So, Why Can't We Do It?
In Deuteronomy God says that His laws are not too hard for us.(Deut. 30:11-15)
"For this commandment which I command thee this day, it is not hidden from thee, neither is it far off.
It
is not in heaven, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go up for us to
heaven, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it? Neither
is it beyond the sea, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go over the
sea for us, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it? But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it. See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil;"
Why does He say this?
Because He wants us to see that there is something wrong with us. We have a corrupted nature from Adam. God did not create us this way. We have fallen. (Gen. Chapter 3, Romans 1:16-32, Romans 3:10-31)
He tells us truth. "It is not hidden from you or far off."
God says we can keep His law. It's not hard. He knows our capabilities. He created us. He did not make His law impossible.
But we do not do it.
Why?
Because after the Fall, we became corrupt, and NOW His law is impossible for us. Because we are fallen.
We changed. Not His law. His law is eternal, it changes not. Just like God doesn't change.
The Apostle Paul cries out "O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" (Romans Chapter 7)
We have to come to the conclusion on our own that we cannot obey God's Law. We cannot please Him. We can't do it. This is us realizing we are sinners, and need God.
We try to do right. We fail. Our lives are in shambles and we cannot please God or anyone. Then, we say "I can't do it! I quit!" Then the Holy Spirit comes and speaks to our heart. "Maybe God can help? Maybe God can save you and fix you?"
That is when we have that "Aha!" moment and realize the truth of the Word given to us, and turn to God for His salvation and help. This is Grace and Faith. We put our trust in Him, and He accepts us because we received it in Faith and Truth.
We must come to this conclusion. This helps us to realize that we need
Him. We have three choices. We can keep trying to obey the laws and rules under our
own power, even though we can't. (Religion) Or we can throw in the towel, and
quit. Turning away from God. (Rebellion) Or we can turn to Him and let Him save us
and grow us. (Submission and Relationship)
We hear His call and turn to Him. We must awaken in Him. We come to life in Him. We die to sin and come to life in Christ. (Romans Chapter 6-7)
God knew we would fail to keep His laws. That's why He set up a sacrificial system to take care of us, when we fail. Why say "It's not too hard..." but yet give us a means to fix it when we fail?
Because
He knows we will fail. It's part of the law He designed. The entire
thing is designed to cause us to fail, wake up, turn to Him, and let Him
save us, cleanse us and grow us. This is the relationship. This is knowing Him,
and being known of Him.
The sacrifices in the law are a picture of Jesus Christ, coming to save us and cleanse us of all sin. He is our savior.
The law shows us that we fail, and need a savior.
We turn to Him and He saves us and grows us.
The law becomes dead to us because we die with Christ, then come to life again in Him. The eternal consequences of sin do not impact us. Notice I said "Eternal". We are often impacted in this life by the things we do. But, it is not held against us in eternity, we are saved.
We now live to love God and others. But, we do this by His Holy Spirit. Not our own. Our flesh cannot do it.
It's not too hard for us, because God Himself does it for us. It's not too far from us, because Jesus Christ brought it down for us.
That's His Grace and Love. We just need to abide and have a relationship with Him.
If we are saved, the laws and rules, now exist to help us have a better life and to know what to confess to the Lord for cleansing. We are free from the eternal consequences of the law.
Jesus paid the price.
It is finished!
-----
No comments:
Post a Comment