Pt. 3 The Law

This one will be short and sweet.

Many see the law, as some sort of opposite to grace, but it is not. The law is a part of grace and vice-versa.

We are under grace, "Yet that does not mean that we need not keep the law. We are not under the law in the sense that it condemns us; it no longer pronounces judgment or condemnation on us. No! but we are meant to live it, and we are even meant to go beyond it." - Studies in the sermon on the mount.

I have been absorbing this book slowly, Studies in the sermon on the mount, by Martyn Loyd-Jones. I have been pondering this dichotomy for a while, and then this book plops into my hands one day, and finaly clears some things up for me.

"But let me put it this way. Is it not true to say of many of us that in actual practice, our view of the doctrine of grace is such that we scarcely ever take the plain teaching of the Lord Jesus Christ seriously? We have so emphasized the teaching that all is of grace and, that we ought not to try to imitate His example in order to make ourselves Christian, that we are virtually in the position of ignoring His teaching altogether and, of saying that it is nothing to do with us because we are under grace. Now I wonder how seriously we take the gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." - Studies in the sermon on the mount.

As the final thought I will leave you with this idea.

The law is not something you do to be/become Christian. Because you are Christian you will live the law, because that is how you ought to live; and that is how you are meant to live.

"If my heart has been broken in the presence of God I cannot refuse to forgive; and, therefor, I say to any man who is imagining fondly that his sins are to be forgiven by Christ, though he does not forgive anybody else, Beware, my friend, lest you wake up in eternity and find Him saying to you, 'depart from me; I never knew you.'" - Studies in the sermon on the mount.

Harsh.

Pt. 2 Grace

As a Christian how can I deny the awesomeness that is Grace? To put it simply I can't.

My favorite story regarding grace is the prodigal son. I think if my son were to act that way, if he came back, I would probably scold him and give him a swift kick in the pants, before grudgingly letting back into my house. But, the parable is not about humans. It is about how God loves us, even thought we spit in His face, tell him we wish He was dead, and turn our backs on him, the second we glimpse back we see that He is still there waiting for us. This is something I think a lot of people have a problem with.

Just because God loves you, doesn't mean he makes us love Him. We choose to turn our backs on him. We choose to walk away.

The prodigal son thought he had it so good. He partied it up, spent all his money, had a bunch of fun and BOOM! Crash back down to earth. He was treated like garbage by his friends, got sick and when all seemed lost he started heading back home.

As soon as his father saw him, the father started running to great him. As soon as you turn to face God He is there to great you. All you have to do is turn around, God does the running.

So there you are facing God. He ran up to you, hugs you. Do you hug him back?

He gets the best cow and has it butchered for you. Do you smile and thank him?

He throws a party for you, and defends your betrayal to your resentful brother. Do you bow down and repent?

Just because God has grace does that mean we have earned it or deserved it? Does that mean we can rest on our larals and just sit around claiming we are righteous? Is grace an everlasting girt, or something we need to constantly ask for?

More in part 3. The Law.

Law vs. Grace. No longer a debate.

Something I have been thinking about for a while now is a "Christian Problem". The question of Following the Law, and the grace that is given freely from Jesus Christ. Some people see this as one of the major dilemmas of Christianity. In other words, why do I have to do anything, when Jesus has done it for me already? Why should I have to be/do good when I am already accepted by Jesus? This is my central theme. Read on if you are interested.

Do you have to do something in order to be Christian?

Some would say yes, others no. Let me use an analogy to illustrate.

You have a problem. You broke your leg. You go into the emergency room and after the inevitable wait, a doctor comes into the room. He asks you a bunch of questions. Slowly the questions start to become a little odd.

"Do you cook much?"
"What's your specialty?"
"OOH sounds good, can I have the recipe?"

You ask if he can get to the leg, it really hurts. He smiles and starts looking around the room, he looks a little lost.

You ask how long has he worked there. He says this is is first day... as a doctor. He just finished going to chef school, and he got a job in the hospital as a doctor. Sounds a little absurd I hope.

If you call yourself a doctor are you one? What about a lawyer, accountant or dentist? Just because you say or think you are, does that make you that thing? Just because I claim to be a tree does that make me a tree? No.

So if someone claims to be saved by Christ, does that mean they are? Is a Christian different than your average Joe? Is Christianity merely a moral code? I don't have the answers nessisarily, but I think these are important questions.

So point number one would be: Just because you claim to be something doesn't mean you are.

I will delve deeper soon, think of this as part one of a bigger idea. Until next time.