Whoever shall keep the whole
law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all. —James 2:10
“The moral law does not
consider our weaknesses as human beings; in fact, it does not take into account
our heredity or infirmities. It simply demands that we be absolutely moral. The
moral law never changes, either for the highest of society or for the weakest
in the world. It is enduring and eternally the same. The moral law, ordained by
God, does not make itself weak to the weak by excusing our shortcomings. It
remains absolute for all time and eternity […] the Spirit of God convicts us of
sin. Until a person gets there and sees that there is no hope, the Cross of
Christ remains absurd to him. Conviction of sin always brings a fearful,
confining sense of the law. It makes a person hopeless— “…sold under sin”
(Romans 7:14). I, a guilty sinner, can never work to get right with God— it is
impossible. There is only one way by which I can get right with God, and that
is through the death of Jesus Christ. I must get rid of the underlying idea
that I can ever be right with God because of my obedience. Who of us could ever
obey God to absolute perfection!” CHAMBERS
God never changes. That is something that we count on. The way to eternal life is Jesus. What if God decided to change His mind and
only those that could live without sin by their own effort could be saved? What would be your destination be? I know what mine would be and it would not be
good. The point in our lives that we
understand that we are sinners and we need a savior is a spiritual event. That truth never changes. In Christ, we have a capacity to obey
God. Without Christ, we do not. God prefers obedience to sacrifice, but the
kind of obedience He wants springs out of a spiritual relationship that is established
through His Son and confirmed by His Spirit.
Have you ever carried something with someone and for whatever reason,
they stopped lifting. Suddenly you were
trying to lift the load by yourself and it was too much. That is the way it is with trying to be
righteous .. to be right .. to do right … to stay right … on your own. You cannot no matter how hard you try. If you could do it on your own, Jesus could
have stayed in heaven. But you can’t and
He didn’t. Philippians 2:6-11 “ Who, being in very nature God, did not
consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather,
he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in
human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by
becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to
the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the
name of Jesus every knee should bow, in
heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that
Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
Trying to be good – good enough
– is a viscous cycle. You try to be
good, you sin, you try harder, you sin, and then perhaps you stop trying and
accept your sin as inescapable. So you
live with guilt and a hollow form of the Christian life. John
14:6 “[Jesus] is the way and truth and life. No one comes to the Father except by [Him].” That includes by your determined effort to be
righteous on your own. The closer you
draw to the Lord the better you understand your absolute dependence upon Him. Galatians
2:20 “[You] are crucified with Christ, nevertheless [you] live. Yet not [you] but Christ in [you]. And the life that [you] now live, [you] live
by faith in the Son who loved me and gave Himself up for me.” You cannot live your new life on your
own. You will never overcome your sin
nature on your own. Psalm 121:1-2 “I lift up my
eyes to the mountains— where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of
heaven and earth” ELGIN
Bondye Beni Ou (God Bless You)
Charley Elgin
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