What Forgiveness Does

Verse of the Week:

Ephesians 4:31-32 Get rid of all bitterness, rage, and anger, brawling, and slander, along with every form of malice.  Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you

What Forgiveness Does

"I am going to have to let you go.  It just isn't working,"  my boss told me.  After 2 years of torture in my job, I was having mixed feelings.  I was relieved it was over, but I was so hurt.  My boss was a tough person, and working with him had been hard.  No matter how hard I tried to please him and do what he asked, I always fell short on meeting his expectations.  Trying to please my boss was like a person with a broken leg trying to run a mile and break the world record in order to please his coach... pretty much impossible.  I was so hurt that even though I thought I had forgiven him for all that I had went through, I found out later that I had not....

Forgiveness is a tough thing for people to do. Perhaps you have heard yourself or friends say, "I am never forgiving so and so!"  Or maybe you said, "Why should I forgive them?  They don't deserve it!"  Or perhaps you were like me and said, "I forgive so and so," but your actions said otherwise.  We cannot do it alone, we must have Christ's help in order to truly forgive others.  

Christ himself talked about forgiveness.  At the end of Luke 6:37 he says, "Forgive, and you will be forgiven."

What does Forgiveness do?

1. Forgiveness takes away bitterness and anger.

I remember a year after the incident with my boss, I was talking with my friend about him.  I was putting him down and remembering every little thing that he had done to me and how awful he was.  My friend had never seen "sweet" Katrina talk that way.  She looked at me all concerned and then said something that shocked me and gave me so much revelation.  She said, "Trina, just let it go."  It was at that moment I saw my heart.  It was full of bitterness and a verse came into my head,  But the things that come out of a person's mouth come from the heart (Matthew 15:18).  I realized that I sounded hateful and bitter when I was talking to my friend and that I had a lot of bitterness left in my heart.  I had not forgiven him like I had said, but instead I had replayed over and over in my head the awful things that had happened,  and I allowed bitterness to take root.  I hadn't "let go" as my friend had told me to do, instead I was clinging to all the hurt and anger that I had bottled up inside of me.  I knew I wanted that to change...so I began to pray.  I prayed for myself,  but, more importantly, I prayed for my boss.  It didn't happen overnight, but slowly, chunks of bitterness that surrounded my heart began to give away. Jesus began to replace my bitter heart with His heart of love and forgiveness.  Jesus knew what he was saying when he said,  "But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,."  When I prayed, I began to see things through God's eyes that I have never seen before.  I began to see how I played a big part on how I had messed up with my boss.  I began to see how my boss could have been frustrated with me. He may not have handled it the best way possible at the time, but I could see the frustrations from his perspective.  I began to see the pain and hurt in my boss (I later learned that he had some painful personal issues going on in his life.), but I also saw how good my boss was at his job and what a good man he was as well.  Praying for someone you want to hate is hard, but it is worth it.  I had to let it go. 

Ephesians 4:31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage, and anger, brawling, and slander, along with every form of malice.  Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

2.  Forgiveness allows to you speak kindly about the person.

During that year that I had allowed bitterness to consume me, I would talk about all the bad things my boss had done.  I constantly slandered his name.  I caused other people to look down at him because I constantly put him down. I tainted his good name. Titus 3:2a says, "To speak evil of no one [...]."  No one deserves to have their name ruined.  I can remember a time when I heard of people talking bad about me.  It hurt so much because what they were saying was not the whole story, but only half of the story.  No one took the time to hear my side.    

When I began to forgive, the things I said about my boss changed dramatically.  I began to share with people what an amazing job he does in his profession.  I would share that he is tough, but he is tough for a reason; it is what makes him successful.  Speaking kindly about him also brought healing to my heart.

Ephesians 4:31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage, and anger, brawling, and slander, along with every form of malice.  Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

3.  Forgiveness allows you to show kindness and compassion.

Because God had been working on my heart, I no longer hated my boss but was able to be kind towards him.  I knew I would see him off and on in the future.  Avoiding him in my current profession was impossible, but when I did see him, we were both able to converse easily and kindly towards each other.  No, I was not ready to go out and be his best friend, and I know God wasn't asking me to, but I still wanted to be kind and compassionate towards him.  Later on, I found out that my boss had cancer.  I immediately sent him a "Get Well Soon" card telling him I was praying for him and that I hoped he would feel better soon.  If I had allowed bitterness to reign in my heart, I do not believe I could have done that.  It is easy to show love to people you like, but it is hard to show love to those who have hurt you.  Jesus himself says, "But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,"  It is impossible to love your enemies without Christ. However, because He lives inside of me, He changed my heart and gave me His love and compassion.

Ephesians 4:31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage, and anger, brawling, and slander, along with every form of malice.  Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

4.  Forgiveness provides freedom.

I have once heard the the following saying, "Forgiveness frees two people, the person who hurts you and yourself."  I do agree that forgiveness does free one person and that is yourself.  However, forgiveness does not necessarily free the other person. The reality is that most of the time people are unaware that they have even hurt you.  If that is the case, they are not in bondage, but you are.  I do not know if my boss knows how much he hurt me, but that does not matter; what matters is that I have received freedom from bitterness, anger, and hurt.  It didn't happen overnight.  Forgiveness is not always a one time thing that once we do it, it automatically brings healing.  Sometimes it can take years for God to change a person's heart and allow allow them to truly forgive fully.  Whenever I felt bitterness take hold of me, I immediately went into prayer and asked Jesus to help take it away and to provide me with His heart of forgiveness.  I am amazed when I think about how hard it is for us to forgive others, and, yet, Jesus forgave the very person we struggle to forgive.  We all experience rejection, hurt, slander, bitterness, and hate from others, but Jesus experienced the exact same thing when He died on the cross. The amazing thing is that He chose to forgive! During his last moments he said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." We have a God of compassion and love, and He has given us freedom by forgiving us.  What a beautiful God we serve!

Allow him to change your heart and replace it with His heart.

Ephesians 4:31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage, and anger, brawling, and slander, along with every form of malice.  Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

  

The Heart of God

Verse of the Week:

Jonah 4:2b  "I knew that you are a GRACIOUS AND COMPASSIONATE GOD, SLOW TO ANGER AND ABOUNDING IN LOVE, A GOD WHO RELENTS FROM SENDING CALAMITY."

The Heart of God

My heart breaks over the tragedies that have taken place the past few months with the Boston Marathon bombing, Sandy Hook Elementary school shooting, and even the Colorado movie theater shooting. People's bright futures were taken away from them through death, and other people's lives were changed dramatically due to the violence of four men.  Shame on these evil men for causing so much pain, fear, and heart-ache.  What were they thinking?  God will judge them for what they have done!  They do not deserve mercy! Right?.....

Every day I see something bad plastered on facebook about Obama, our politicians, liberals, homosexuals, abortionists, etc.  Those people deserve put downs because of all the things they do that are against the Bible. God has no place in their immoral lives! Right?.....

I talk to friends all the time about the hurt and  pain their family or back-stabbing friends have brought them. "I am never going to forgive them for how they treated me!" "If they don't treat me right, then I won't treat them right!"  "They have caused me too much pain, they don't deserve to be happy after they way they treated me!" Right?....

What does God think?  

Lets look at a common Bible story that most of us heard growing up...the story of Jonah.  God had ask Jonah to go to Nineveh  a Gentile city, to preach because the city was growing very wicked.  You have to understand, Jews during those days, NEVER associated with the Gentiles, it simply wasn't done!  The Gentiles were considered an unclean race, and Jews by law were required not to associate with them. So Jonah decided to flee by boat so that he wouldn't have to go to Nineveh and associate with unclean people. However, God, caring so much for the people in Nineveh, sent a great storm on the boat to bring Jonah back.  Jonah was dumped overboard, and a great big fish swallowed him and spit him back up on shore.  

After much resistance, Jonah finally went to Nineveh to preach.  While he was there, he began to proclaim that God was going to destroy Nineveh in 40 days.  The Ninevites heard the message and began to fast and call upon God while giving up their evil ways.  God, seeing that the Ninevites were turning from their evil ways and were asking Him for mercy, had compassion and did not destroy them. This angered Jonah.  Jonah 4: 2 says this, "He prayed to the Lord, 'O Lord, is this not what I said when I was still at home? That is why I was so quick to flee Tarshish.  I knew that you are a GRACIOUS AND COMPASSIONATE GOD, SLOW TO ANGER AND ABOUNDING IN LOVE, A GOD WHO RELENTS FROM SENDING CALAMITY." Jonah knew God's motive wasn't to destroy Nineveh but to give them mercy and love.  God doesn't want anyone to perish.  In 2 Peter 3:9 we hear of God's desire of wanting everyone to be saved, not condemned. ⁹ The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. God doesn't want anyone to perish or condemned. Jesus came not to condemn the world but to save it.  ¹⁷ For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. John 3:17

God has a heart for sinners.... 

Ninevah was a very wicked city.  In fact, God said that they "cannot tell their right hand from their left..." (Jonah 4:11) In other words, they didn't even understand their wickedness, yet God wanted them saved.  

Lets look at the human heart...

In Chapter 4, Jonah made a place for himself outside of the city of Nineveh to see if God would still destroy the city.  He is so happy when God grew a vine to provide shade and protect him from the scorching heat of the desert sun. However, later, God allowed a worm to destroy the vine, and this angered Jonah.  Lets see what God said in response to Jonah's attitude.  

¹⁰ But the Lord said, “You have been concerned about this plant, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. ¹¹ And should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left—and also many animals?”
(Jonah 4:10-11)

Jonah cared more about a plant than the souls of 120,000 people. WOW!  He cared more about his own comfort than the destruction of 120,000 people.  

People can be very selfish.  We are quick to accept God's grace and forgiveness, but slow to forgive others.  We put down other sinners  and place judgment on them.  If anyone hurts us, we refuse to be merciful because they caused us pain.  We are kind and loving to those who are kind and loving to us, but hateful and mean to those who hurt others or ourselves.
Sometimes we want God to place judgement on people who hurt us or people we think are just plain bad, but God loves sinners and wants all of them to come to know Him.  

I feel so bad for the victims who lost their lives in the Boston Marathon bombing, the Sandy Hook shooting, and the Colorado shooting, but there are 4 other victims in those events that people never think about. One of these men has sadly passed away, but may the three other men learn of God's great love and forgiveness.


God has a heart for sinners, if He didn't, then we would never know of His grace and love. If we truly understand God's heart, we will want what He wants and that is for others to come to know of his love, grace, and forgiveness. If we truly understand God's love, we will stop judging others, and love them.  Every politician, homosexual, murderer, abortionist, and terrorist need our prayers and love, not our judgement.  Every person who had caused us pain and sorrow needs our forgiveness, not our punishment.  Lets be quick to love, and slow to judge.

God has a heart for sinners....



This blog is based off of an amazing sermon I heard from Pastor Andrew Herbert of Taylor Memorial Baptist in Hobbs NM.  To hear his sermons about God and his Grace, go to: http://taylormemorial.com/sermons 

Forgiveness

Verse of the Week: 

"There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” Romans 8:1

Forgiveness

I spent a long time in guilt over something I had done.  It wasn't anything major according to the world's standards, but every time I thought of it, guilt would consume my emotions.  I desperately wanted to ask that person for forgiveness, but the opportunity never came.  The chances of seeing that person again was slim.  For over a year, sometimes something someone said or something I saw would trigger what I had done, and once again, I would swim in a sea of guilt over what I had done.  I would CONSTANTLY be asking God to forgive me for what I did. Sound familiar?  Can anyone relate?

About a year later, I started studying something  amazing, God's forgiveness and grace. I love grace.  Simply believe that Jesus died on the cross for our sins and that through Him we now can go to heaven to be with God.  That part is simple and true and is amazing, but over the years people have made grace more complicated;  people would say that in order to receive God's blessings and approval, that you need to make sure that no sin is hindering your relationship with Him.  You need to keep asking Him for forgiveness to make sure you are right with Him. People would say that God loves you so much, but when you do wrong, he is displeased with you.  Now, when we sin, we will have to face the earthly consequences,  but does it change the way God views us?  When we sin, God may seem far off, because our focus is not on Him but on the things of the flesh, but has God turned his back on us? Has sin created a wall between believers and God?  Is God really ready to pounce on us and condemn us when we mess up?  Is he displeased with us when we sin? 

Lets see what the Bible says:  Isaiah 59:2 says, "But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear."  When you read this verse, it sounds like God does turn his back on us when we sin. Here is the problem; this verse is part of the Old Testament and the OLD COVENANT.  For those of you that are not familiar with the old covenant, here is a brief background on it.  Through Moses, God made a covenant with the Israelites.   If you follow my laws, I will bless you; however, if you don't follow my laws, then I will punish you and turn my back on you.  That was the old covenant, and, as we know, God is faithful in all that he says and does. Psalm 33:4 says, "For the word of the LORD is right and true; he is faithful in all he does."  Therefore, whatever God says He is going to do, He will do.  So in the old covenant, even though God desires to bless the Israelites, He also is going to be true to his word and punish them if they do not follow his laws. God will not be unfaithful in His part of the agreement with the Israelites.   Unfortunately, the Israelites failed over and over to follow God's laws; as a result, we see a God in the Old Testament who seems unloving and full of condemnation.  

We tend to think then that in the New Covenant of Grace, that God is still going to be upset with us if we mess up; after all, He was that way in the old covenant.  We think we are still under the written code of the law and are punished or blessed when we follow or fail to follow the law, but we find the opposite. Colossians 2:14 (NLV) says,  ^"We had broken the Law many ways. Those sins were held against us by the Law. That Law had writings which said we were sinners. But now He has destroyed that writing by nailing it to the cross." 1 John 1:9 says, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."  Once we confess our sins, God has forgiven us once and for all.  We are no longer condemned by the law; the cross is finished, and Jesus is alive!  The debt has been paid in full.  When you are forgiven, you are forgiven!  "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 8:1) God is not going to condemn you if you mess up!  

So when we mess up, there is no wall between a believer and God; the Law of the old covenant is what put a wall between us and God.  But in the new covanent, the law is out, and is replaced with God's grace and forgiveness through Christ Jesus. God is not displeased and ready to condemn us; He loves us!  But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8) We are forgiven!

Back to my story above.  A year later, I once again was asking God to forgive me for what I had done so long ago.  Then it hit me.  I am already forgiven, I didn't need to keep asking Him for forgiveness over and over. Jesus paid for all my sins in full, so why am I asking God to do something he already did for me?  Jesus forgave me on the cross.  According to the law, I should be punished, but according to Jesus, I am forgiven. The devil loves to make us feel guilty and filled with condemnation when we mess up, but God isn't full of condemnation; he is full of forgiveness. I began to thank God for his grace and forgiveness. When I thanked him for the fact that I am already forgiven, the guilt began to disappear.  Even though I have to face the consequences for my sins, I have realized that I do not have to keep begging Him for forgiveness, that is what you do when you are under the law of the old covenant. Instead, I am going to THANK Him that I am already forgiven.  A long time ago I confessed my sins to Jesus, and I became a Child of God; I only have to do that once, not over and over.  I am His, and no future mess ups will ever separate me from Him.  Thank you Lord for forgiveness!  I am in AWE of it all!

Love

Verse of the Week:

For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: "Love your neighbor as yourself." Galatians 5:14

Love

I remember one time seeing a pastor carry a backpack full of weights during his sermon.  While on stage he was talking about how without Christ, life can be a burden.  Cool concept; however, sometimes I think some Christians feel that LIVING FOR CHRIST can actually be a BURDEN!  I know I have felt that way before, but after understanding the message of grace and love, I begin to realize how Christ  truly does give us abundant life.

If we really truly UNDERSTAND God’s grace and love, serving God will not be a burden, but a JOY and a privilege to do.  You see, a lot of people believe that when Christians receive grace,  that many Christians, not truly understanding what God did for them, will continue to sin. After all, they are forgiven for all their sins, so why not keep sinning?  So in order to make sure that Christians actually do what God has in store for them, teachers go right back around and hammer the law and commands back into their lives as a measure of control to make sure they really do follow God.  They insist that sacrifices have to be made to follow God in the Christian life and is necessary to receive God's blessings and approval. As a result, Christians feel disappointed when they mess up and guilt is heaped upon them when they do not do everything perfectly. I myself felt the heavy burden of trying to do the right thing and never succeeding. Here is a secret... laws and commands do not keep us from sinning;  in fact the law increases sin;  “[…] the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in our bodies […]” (Romans 7:5)  We must understand that we are free from the written code of the law.  Colossians 2:13-14 explains it perfectly:

“When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ.  He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code with its regulations that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross.”

You see, the written code of the law is gone, Jesus is in.  God doesn’t want us to be drowning in a heap of guilt because we cannot be obedient to all of the commands of the old covenant.  Here is even better news,  we do not have to do anything to receive God's blessings, He has already blessed us!  

If people truly are saved, then Christ is alive in them.  What we need to relearn in society is that in Christ we are a new creation, Christ lives in us and will continue His good work through us.   I once asked my Dad a long time ago about his salvation experience.  What was the difference between before he was saved, and after he was saved.  He said, “Katrina, after I became a Christian, I didn’t want to sin anymore.”  You see, when we have Christ in us, we do not desire to sin, so why do we keep trying to force the law back on Christians in fear that they will go and start sinning because they can?  I am not saying that Christians won't mess up, but we need to spare ourselves of the guilt trip, and move on. We are saved by grace!

So let’s shift gears for a moment, and refer back to how if we truly understand God’s love then it is a JOY to serve Him and not a burden.  God’s love is AMAZING to me!  My heart bursts with joy when I think about the love God has shown me, and my deepest desire is to share it with others.  In the Bible it talks about how there is no greater love than to die for ones friends (John 15:13).  Jesus died not only for friends but for every single person who is held in bondage by sin and is destined to go to hell.  WOW!!!  That is true Agape love!  Agape love is the kind of love that is only focused on another person’s best interest.  Jesus only had our best interests in mind when he went through torture on the cross to save us. Here is what is even more awesome!  All we have to do is receive that free gift of love.  No strings attached!  Jesus paid it all!  

God’s love is unconditional.  In Romans 8:1 it says, “There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,”  Once we have accepted Christ into our hearts, God is not there to condemn us for every single sin we have committed.  His love is unconditional; it does not matter what sin, you have committed,  from murder to adultery to stealing. Jesus washed it away and no longer condemns us for any sins we committed or will commit.   Sadly enough, people in our society both Christians and non-Christians display conditional love at times and turn their back on people if they mess up.  God, however, doesn’t turn his back on us,  He loves us more and His grace increases all the more!  “But where sin increases, Grace increases all the more.”  Thanks you Jesus for GRACE!

We can never be separated from God’s love.  Nothing in this life or the life to come can ever take us away from God’s love. “ ⁸ For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, ³⁹ neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39)  Nothing folks and I mean NOTHING can keep us from God’s love.  Wow!!!

There is so much more to God’s love, but it would take thousands of pages to write about it all.  Keeping God’s love in mind, why would the things we do in Christ be a burden?  What a joy it is to serve a God who loves so deeply! How do we serve the one we love so much because of His outpouring love for us?  For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: "Love your neighbor as yourself." (Galatians 5:14)   I know what you are thinking,  "Wait a minute, Katrina, didn't you just say that we are free from the law and commands?"  You just gave us another law to follow, to love others."  Once again, you have to read the content before and after the verse.  

Before the verse,  Paul is talking about how the law has no value.  He says, "For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision [circumcision was another law the Jews had to follow] has any value. The only thing that counts if faith expressing itself through love."  Therefore the law has no value, but FAITH that shows LOVE does.

Let's also read Galatians 5:13-16, 18:
 ^"You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love. The entire law is summed up in a single command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” If you keep on bitting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.

So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.

But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law."

You see, when by faith we accept Christ and receive forgiveness of our sins, Christ's spirit comes to live inside of us.  If we are led by Christ's spirit, we are not under the law.  Christ's spirit is full of love, therefore, we want to love; it is not an obligation or command.  However, in Galatians Paul is describing how amazing love is.  Love is such an amazing and complex action that it actually fulfills the law if we were actually under the law.

 “And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.” (1 John 4:16)  God’s love is in us ready to be on display for the world to see. I no longer feel burdened to give to others (a law given to us); no, I give freely out of the love in my heart.  I no longer sacrifice in helping those in need (another law); no, I joyfully help those in need because I love them.  I no longer force myself to forgive others (another command), I desire to forgive, because of the one who loved and forgave me. We do these things because of Christ’s love in us not because it is a burden or a command.  Love because he first loved us!

Happy Easter!  May Christ show his AMAZING love to you and your family this season!

Going Crazy With the Law

Verse for the Week:

“Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith APART from the deeds of the law.” Romans 3:28

Going Crazy With the Law....

For years, I have gone to church every Sunday and learned so many different things, like: do not gossip, do not steal, do tithe 10 percent of your income to the church, do not get angry, do forgive others, do have patience,  do take care of the poor, do not have sex before marriage, do not commit adultery, do not lust, do not cuss, do not use God’s name in vain, do make peace with everyone, do love everyone, do not hate,  do serve others, do not lie, do not be jealous, do not divorce, do not be prideful, do not make idols, do not have other gods, do not murder, do not be bitter, do not, do this, do not, do this, do not……..the list goes on and on. 

 I look at the law and realize how NO ONE can follow all of the commandments God has given us. God gave the Jewish people over 600 commandments to follow in the Old Testament.  He knew it would be impossible for the Jews to follow them all, but that was the point of the law, to show us exactly how impossible it is to follow all of God's commands.  It is impossible!  Just look at the 10 Commandments alone in Exodus 20 and you will soon realize that if you have broken one, you have broken them all.  For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.( James 1:20)   No wonder people stop going to Church or trying to live for Jesus; they get so caught up trying to follow what is impossible to follow, and after continuous failure, they give up!  It says in Romans 3:23,  “ for ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”  No wonder people get so frustrated because they know failure is unavoidable.  I found out from our Pastor at church that 70% of teenagers leave the church when they go to college.  We have so many rules and regulations heaped upon us that we begin to drown in a pool of commands that we can never keep.  Trapped is the best way to describe how people feel towards the law…

God knew we could never keep the law. Jesus himself demonstrated that to us in Matthew 19:16-26 when he talks to a rich man about how to get to heaven.  Here is the story:

Just then a man came up to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?”

¹⁷ “Why do you ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, keep the commandments.”

¹⁸ “Which ones?” he inquired.

Jesus replied, “‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, ¹⁹ honor your father and mother,’and ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’”

²⁰ “All these I have kept,” the young man said. “What do I still lack?”

²¹ Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

²² When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.

²³ Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly I tell you, it is hard for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven. ²⁴ Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”

²⁵ When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, “Who then can be saved?”

I would have looked at Jesus and asked the same thing.  Who can be saved?  It is impossible! If we don’t follow every command God give us, we are subject to eternal death! But in verse 26 Jesus says something very important.

²⁶ Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

Of course all things are possible with God.  He would never leave us to drown in our sins and be condemned to hell.  God made it possible to have abundant life without the law.  He did it through Jesus.  “But God demonstrated his love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)  God knew we could never keep the law, so he put Jesus who knew no sin to die for our sins.   We are justified by faith in Christ Jesus, not by the law.  In Romans 3:28 it says, “Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith APART from the deeds of the law.”

So here is the question I have to ask.  If we are justified by faith and not the law, why do we keep trying to follow the law? Why do churches keep hammering the law into our brains, and we experience failure over and over when we attempt to follow every command?  I know in my own life, I keep trying over and over to do the “do not’s and do’s” and keep failing.  What people forget is that the law was the first covenant between God and the Jews; the second covenant involves FAITH in Jesus!  The law is out, Jesus is in!  When we go back and try to keep the law of the Old Testament we commit spiritual adultery.  Now, before you claim I am being blasphemous and going against what God says, hear me out. Let’s read, Romans 7:1-6 carefully (don’t skim it!) and I will explain what I mean:

Do you not know, brothers and sisters—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law has authority over someone only as long as that person lives? ² For example, by law a married woman is bound to her husband as long as he is alive, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law that binds her to him. ³ So then, if she has sexual relations with another man while her husband is still alive, she is called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is released from that law and is not an adulteress if she marries another man.

⁴ So, my brothers and sisters, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God. ⁵ For when we were in the realm of the flesh, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in us, so that we bore fruit for death. ⁶ But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.

For years, pastors and teachers have used Romans 7 to teach others about not committing adultery (another “do not”), but if you look at the verses before and after the scripture on adultery, you will see that Paul is using it as an example to make his point about the law and grace.  You see, when a woman’s husband dies, she is free from the law and is allowed to marry again.  When we accept Jesus, we died to the law and now have freedom through Christ. Just like when a woman’s husband dies, she now has freedom to marry; we die to the law and have freedom in Christ.  So why do we keep going back to the law?

I am not in any way saying that because we are free from the law that we should start sinning whenever we want.  Even Paul says, in Romans  6:15,  “What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace?  By no means!” 

You see, when we accept Jesus into our hearts, we are a new creation.  Christ LIVES in us!  So when we re-read Romans 7:6, it begins to make sense:   ⁶ But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.”  We are no longer bound to the written code of the law, we are to serve in a new way…by the Spirit…by Christ reigning inside of us.  Each day, we should be asking Christ how do you want to work through me today?  We need to be looking at Christ, who He is, what he does, how he loves, and allow who He is to be seen through us. 

I no longer criticize myself and call myself a failure whenever I mess up and do the wrong thing.  I am not bound by the law, God LOVES me too much to keep me bound to it.  “But where sin increased, grace increased all the more.” (Romans 5:20)  Instead, I keep moving on and let Christ live in me.  I keep my eyes on Him.  I serve Him with all my heart because of the outpouring love he has given me.  I now want to shower others with His love.  Living your life for Jesus is freedom.  It is Grace!

Follow Jesus, not the Law!