Tuesday: Faith and the Law
The dominant theme in Scripture is simple: God is love. God’s love is most potently demonstrated in His grace. With His unlimited power, He could easily have wiped humanity from the face of the earth, but instead He chose to exercise patience and give all a chance to experience the fullness of life in His eternal kingdom. Even more so, His love is revealed in the price that He Himself paid at the Cross.
Image © Lars Justinen from GoodSalt.com
God’s love is also directly related to His justice. Having provided countless opportunities for people to choose their own destiny, the God of love will not force them into a kingdom that they have rejected. When the wicked stand before God’s throne in the judgment, they are condemned by their own testimony. No one who stands before the throne can truthfully say that he was unaware of God’s requirements. Whether through written or natural revelation, all have been exposed to the basic principles of the law of God (Rom. 1:19-20; Rom. 2:12-16).
Read 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 and Revelation 22:14-15. Who gets into God’s kingdom, who stays out, and why? What role does God’s law play here? Also, notice the stark contrast between the two groups!
What’s fascinating is that if you put 1 Corinthians 6:11 together with Revelation 22:14, you get faithful Christians who are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ; that is, they are justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law (Rom. 3:28, NKJV); yet, they also keep that law.
It is no arbitrary decree on the part of God that excludes the wicked from heaven: they are shut out by their own unfitness for its companionship. The glory of God would be to them a consuming fire. They would welcome destruction, that they might be hidden from the face of Him who died to redeem them.-Ellen G. White, Steps to Christ, p. 18. How do these words better help us to understand the painful topic about the fate of the lost?
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To miss out on eternity is a personal choice, God is not a tyrant deity that forces his subjects to will but His loving character is based on freedom of choice .And so,those who have been justified by faith, whose daily lives are guided by the law have proven their candidature to eternity.
The way we show we are saved is obeying the commandments of God. Justification does not mean we do as we please and make it into the kingdom anyhow. The Bible makes it clear those who will make it into the kingdom of God. By the way, what do people mean when they say Christ did away with the law? I am not sure they mean the Ten commandments. Does it mean we are now free to steal?commit adultery and the rest? No it cannot be.
Steps to Christ page 18 will tell us the saddest part of being lost. The terrible consequence of transgression. Just like how our first parent felt when they ate the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
Genesis 3:8 And they heard the voice of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God amongst the trees.
Same thing when we are sinning. We hide ourselves in the presence of our sinless Father in Heaven. We will not be able to look at He's purity because of the dark part inside our heart. We will be uncomfortable because we knew inside we are not fitted for His presence. And it's really painful fate if were not able to make it in heaven and be with Him.
May we all accept God's love. God bless
"God's mercy bears long with the transgressor, there is a limit beyond which men may not go on in sin. When that limit is reached, then the offers of mercy are withdrawn, and the ministration of judgements begins." Patriarchs and Prophets page 217
God is love and that is His nature. From Adam down to our generation He's always extending His grace so all of us will be save. The freedom of choice that was given to Adam and to all of us from the very beginning is also an expression of His great love for us. He don't want to force us to give ourself to Him. God will not be happy with automation. He wants us to choice Him out of love because He first love us.
But the extention of mercy will also have an end. And sin must be put to end as well. Just like what happen during the time of Noah and the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. God will not be happy seeing you and me into the fire. That's why till now, He's been knocking all the time in our heart. May the freedom of choice that was given to us be use accordingly. And may we all fight the force of evil around us here on earth through the power of our heavenly Father above. God bless us all.
The power of choice is of profound importance and should never be viewed as superflous. In the book "Message to young people" it is clearly stated that Lot had a choice to make and he chose to dwell near Sodom and Gommorrah and Abraham then lived at another place. like wise the 4 Hebrew boys Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and azariah chose wisely not to feast on the King's table but to eat healthier food because of this there were ten times wisier that the others who had chose to eat from the King's table. My point is let us pray that God the Almight helps us even in our decisiom making process because on our own we are feeble.