Wednesday: Law and Faith
As we saw yesterday, Paul showed that God’s dealings with Abraham proved that salvation comes through the promise of grace and not through law. Therefore, if the Jews wished to be saved, they would have to abandon trust in their works for salvation and accept the Abrahamic promise, now fulfilled in the coming of the Messiah.
Image © Lars Justinin Goodsalt.com
It’s the same, really, for everyone, Jew or Gentile, who thinks that their “good” deeds are all that it takes to make them right with God.
“The principle that man can save himself by his own works lay at the foundation of every heathen religion. . . . Wherever it is held, men have no barrier against sin.” – Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, pp. 35, 36. What does this mean? Why does the idea that we can save ourselves through our works leave us so open to sin?
How did Paul explain the relationship between law and faith in Galatians? Gal. 3:21-23.
If there had been a law that could impart life, it certainly would have been God’s law. And yet, Paul says that no law can give life, not even God’s, because all have violated that law, and so all are condemned by it.
But the promise of faith, more fully revealed through Christ, frees all who believe from being “under the law”; that is, from being condemned and burdened by trying to earn salvation through it. The law becomes a burden when it’s presented without faith, without grace, because without faith, without grace, without the righteousness that comes by faith, being under the law means being under the burden and the condemnation of sin.
| How central is righteousness by faith to your walk with God? That is, what can you do to make sure it doesn’t get blurred by other aspects of truth to the point where you lose sight of this crucial teaching? After all, what good are these other teachings without this one? |
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The law, of which the 10 commandments etc are but specific expressions, comprises the principles upon which reality exists. Hence the law is ALWAYS of relevance because without it reality would cease to exist.
The law does not change - what changes is the law's orientation or function in relation to me depending on my particular situation. If I violate an aspect of law, I come under the 'condemnation' of that law so to speak - I experience a consequence. If I live in harmony with the law, I align myself with that which promotes and supports life and, in so doing, enable God to impart life to me. That is, I live in cooperation with God's design for creation.
Because of what sin has done to humanity via the first Adam, even if I were to live in perfect harmony with the law, I would still be doomed to death rather than entering eternal life (see Rom 5:14). So, living in harmony with the law ALONE cannot save me. I absolutely need what the second Adam has achieved to be saved (see Rom 5:19) - but I need this in conjunction with living in harmony with the law because that's how life/reality works.
To illustrate, the law of respiration is just as much a part of the law as is the 10th (or any other) commandment. Will living in harmony with the law of respiration ALONE save me? No. But what will happen if I don't live in harmony with (ie, obey) the law of respiration? So I gladly 'obey' the law of respiration because I understand that's how life/reality works. And why do I want to do this - to earn something or to boast? No, simply because I want to partake of the life that God has created me to experience/share in and I understand that breathing is just a necessary part of that.
When I understand the true nature of God's/reality law, a whole lot of issues - that are often the subject of debate - just vanish. If I want to live, I need to live in harmony with all the principles that enable life - that is, I need to obey the law because that's how life is designed to work. I'm not trying to earn anything - I'm just doing what is necessary.
And this understanding reminds me of the need to be continually vigalent against sin - because sin impairs the quality of life I experience. So I am constantly reminded of my need to depend upon and draw upon the empowering of the Holy Spirit to live in harmony with reality law. In this way, I develop a 'barrier against sin' via drawing upon the provision that God has made for me to do so.
And why do I do all of this? Because I want to bring glory and happiness to God by responding to and living in accordance with the life he designed and created me to live. That's just the way it works!
I am finding the comments very interesting and informative.
Phil, on what you said in your second paragraph, "Even if I were to live in perfect harmony with the law..." First of all this is an impossibility for any human after Adams sin. And I do not think that the Apostle Paul in Romans 5:14 was in any way inferring that there were those who had not sinned like Adam therefore they were in perfect harmony with the law. I think that Paul here was just indicating that after Adam's sin of eating the forbidden fruit, all humanity nevertheless sins, not because they also eat of the forbidden fruit of the tree that Adam ate but because they as well as we have the genetics of sin in our very natures because of our Father Adam's first sin after he ate the forbidden fruit of that tree.
Jesus had the "genetics" of sin and yet lived without sin by the work of the Holy Spirit which was involved in His conception. The Holy Spirit can be involved in our conception if we choose Him.
Shall we say that the Holy Spirit is involved in the conception of our new life? See Gal 6:15, Ro 6:4
Absolutely! There is some good evidence that he new life we receive even affects our genetic expression.
Yes, we are resurrected the same way Jesus was-- involving God the Holy Spirit.
Romans 8:10-11 KJV
[10] And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. [11] But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies BY HIS SPIRIT that dwelleth in you. …
Hi Don
Would you mind elaborating on what you mean by "Jesus had the "genetics" of sin"?
Thanks
Yes, Phil. Jesus was fully human and of the lineage of David. He was also God in human flesh. I think this means that He had only the thoughts and feelings of God, the Great I AM in His human mind. He said of Himself that He was the I AM and that He did nothing of His human self, but that the Father taught Him everything that He said. In this He owned human flesh and the mind of the Father.
He was also our example of how to live in our human flesh. We are told to have the Mind that also was in Christ Jesus which He said was also the Mind of the Father who owned Him as His Son in whom He was well pleased.
He and we can do this with the Holy Spirit in us in charge of our thoughts and feelings.
Hi Pete
Thank you for your comment. I am in agreement with you that Paul was not making that point in Romans 5:14.
The topic of whether or not it is possible for a human to live in perfect harmony with the law is beyond the scope of what my post was about - hence why I used the words "even if I were to...". Consequently I will leave this topic to another time so as to not detract from the main point that I was raising in this instance.
Respectfully,
Phil
Faith is the instrument, a gift of God, by which we receive, take hold of, the promised blessings from God. Faith does not give life. Faith takes hold of life. A gift receives a gift (Phil 1:29; Rom 10:17). Faith comes by hearing the word of God. But none can *hear* the word of God except God gives or opens the ear to hear (Jn 8:45-47; 18:37; 1 Jn 4:6). The principle is “He who has ears to hear, let him hear (Matt 11:15; Mk 4:9). How eager is Christ to give faith to His people.
“It is the Spirit that gives life… the words that I have spoken to you are Spirit and are Life.” Jn 6:63. “For the Law of the Spirit of Life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the Law of sin and death. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.”(Rom 8:2,11). “Who made us adequate servants of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit, for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.”(2 Cor 3:6). The Spirit, who alone knows the mind of God (1 Cor 2:7,10-13), is given to the believer and in this way the Law of God is “written” in/on the heart. It is the Spirits presence that sheds abroad the love(the Law) of God in the heart.
Justification are righteousness connected. From the scripture it is clear that these words were concerned with conformity to a set standard of right. It is equally correct to say that righteousness is basically a legal term. Ellen White notes that " Righteousness is obedience to tbe law". The law that matters is, of course, the law of God, so that righteousness signified conformity to the law of God. We see Jesus speaking of people giving account on the day of judgment: "by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned" (Matt 12:37) NIV.This word translated "acquitted" in the NIV is the one Paul normally uses for"justified"). Those acquitted on the day of judgment are spoken of as "the righteous" (Matt 25:37). They go into "eternal life, " v. 46). This is expounded by Paul in Romans 3:19 where he says the law is to hold the whole world accountable to God. He apostle Paul speaks of God "who justifies the wicked" (Rom 4:5): it is not people who have merited their salvation by their own righteousness but people who had no claim on salvation because "our righteousness are like filthy rags". He writes "while we were still sinners" Christ died for us (Rom 5:8). The effect of Christ's saving work is that now all believers are "made righteous, ""accepted by God as righteous." Paul insists that people are not justified by what they themselves do. The only way in which we can attain righteousness is through faith in Christ whose perfect obedience to the law is accounted to us by God." By faith the sinner brings to God the merits of Christ, and the Lord place the obedience of Son to the sinner's account" says Ellen White. Mrs White notes that there is not any virtue in faith whereby salvation is merited. But faith lay hold of Christ's merits - the only remedy for sin. It should be noted that Paul does not suggests that faith is a meritorious act whereof in itself it brings about justification. He is not saying that believers can somehow get rid of their sins. True faith is trusting in God and when we trust God the repentant person is open to the divine power that works in him to fashions him to the person he ought to be and to accomplish the divine purpose. This is the relationship between law and faith.
I am wondering - is salvation a legal process, or is it an accounting process?
Or was the use of legal and accounting metaphors something that the writer used to try to convey an aspect of the salvation reality to their original intended audience?
Is it possible that salvation is much broader than merely a legal or accounting process?
I don't know about anyone else, but when I read the bible from cover to cover I am struck that the concept of healing and setting free from bondage appears to be more widespread description of God's/Jesus saving work - yet I don't as often see salvation referred to as a setting free and healing/restoring process compared with legal declaration or crediting of accounts. Or am I missing something????
The salvation metaphor that makes the most sense to me is the idea of the restoration or repair of a broken relationship. Jesus weeping over Jerusalem is a prayer for all of humanity:
I agree with Anele that justification and righteousness are connected. Thus I believe this paragraph from Thoughts from the Mount of Blessings, p. 18:
Did you get that? "We receive righteousness by receiving Him."
AMEN, Inge. God's Love dispels the darkness of our selfishness! In His Love we walk with Him. If we meet the devil he will flee from us because we are going the opposite direction of the devil. He motivates by selfishness always in need of repentance but never finding it.
Don
I do not know if I would agree that Jesus had the "genetics" of sin.
Jesus never had the sin nature. He had the weaknesses of the flesh which could "cause" Him to sin if He chose to. He always had the Divine nature combined with the weakness of the flesh. If He sinned, it would not have been because of having a sin nature, but because He would have chosen the pull of the weak flesh. There is a big difference between the two - the sin nature and the flesh.
When we are born, we have both the sin nature and the weakness of the flesh. So sin comes naturally to us. When we are born again - note the term "born again." That means that something dies, and something else comes to life. The sin nature dies, and we are given the divine nature - all the while still having the weakness of the flesh. However the old man of sin - the sin nature - has died.
Rom 6:2-11 puts it this way - How shall we who DIED to sin live any longer in it? Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our OLD MAN was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be DONE AWAY with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been FREED from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
What an awesome gift and provision of God!!
Fred, I think it is important to realize that the Holy Spirit is the key to righteousness in this genetic body that is prone to sin on its own. This is the common factor in the new life and victory even to one who has been dead in trespasses and sin.
Even though Jesus didn't sin. He still had the genetics of David and all the bad men in His lineage, but it was His Spirit that brought the thoughts and feelings of the Father into Him that profuced the righteousness of the Father in Him and not the sin that is common to the flesh He was given.
I think that we can have a sinless life when we die and are born again of the Holy Spirit as Jesus was originally, even in human flesh with degenerative genes.
We are told that Jesus was the "second Adam." While it is true that He had the Holy Spirit to bring the things of God into His Mind from conception throughout life (as did Adam in the beginning), it is also true that His physical body was ravaged by sin genetically as ours is. This would seem a great disadvantage, but His choice to allow the Holy Spirit to be His motivation was key to His success as God's favored, only begotten Son and His worthiness to be our atoning sacrifice and our example for living a sinless life.
Jesus had a handicap in His genetics, but His motivating Spirit was able to help Him to overcome the flesh, and this same Spirit can give us that same motivation that Jesus had.
Don, it’s not easy to describe/define Christ’s ‘humaness’. We must be aware, however, that Christ was/is not a mere man. He is the Word, God, become flesh. It’s not like a boy becoming a man and thus not a boy anymore. In the fullness of time He comes to reclaim his inheritance ceded to Satan by His steward, Adam. Christ is described as separated from sinners although He wore/bore sinful flesh (Heb 7:26) He was related to David through Joseph who had nothing to do with His conception. God does that, not easy for us to comprehend. God says it Christians believe it. His nature is Son of God, holy, sinless, having been conceived of the Holy Spirit. He had Life in Himself, he was a life-giving Spirit(Jn 5:26; 1 Cor 15:45-47). Adam was a man, perfect as a man; he did not have life in himself - two distinct, different beings, who will produce seed after their kind. If we can explain Christ’s humanity without diminishing His divinity one bit, we do well.
When God gave Adam the authority to be fruitful and multiply it meant that his progeny actually belonged to him, they are of his body. All that God gave him stewardship over belonged to God, and was actually Christ’s inheritance. God did not have to die to recover the inanimate creation and the animals. Adam had decided for himself and his progeny to serve anyone but God.
I ask, what claim, if any, did God have on Adam and his progeny after Adam’s decision - from the Scripture? Why did he die or have to die?
It seems to me that the Holy Spirit is a Divine Person and through the marriage that Jesus spoke of in parable form we are united with Divinity. It would seem to me as Mrs. White stated that this is a combination of Divinity and humanity or Holy Spirit with our humanity.
I think probably this is what Jesus was referring to when He prayed that we be one with God and Jesus through the work of the Holy Spirit in us. This brings the thoughts and feelings of God into us like happened to our example, Jesus, so that we can think and feel like God just as Adam did before he sinned. .
The Holy Spirit motivated Adam in the beginning. He sinned and lost his connection with God via God's Holy Spirit. Then he believed God's promise to restore the lost relationship with God. The Holy Spirit gave him back God's Love to motivate him to righteousness before God. To receive this Love of God Adam had to be willing give up his selfish motivation and accept God's gift of forgiveness and life. God would not force him.
I would caution to be very careful about ascribing "divine nature" to any human. The divine nature belongs to God alone. We have human nature and will never have a "divine nature" - not on this earth and not in heaven itself.
We can, however, submit our human nature to the rule of Christ. And then we can say with Paul, "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me." (Gal 2:20 NASB) Our human nature can be so submitted to Christ that we are united with Him and will do His will in all things. Here's the way Ellen White puts it:
Inge
God is righteous. Yet He has given us the "righteousness" that belongs only to Him. So the bible can say that we are righteous. Gen 7:1, Gen 15:6, Rom 5:19
God is holy. Yet He has given us holiness that belongs only to Him. So the bible can say that we are holy. Heb 12:10, 1 Pet 1:15, 1 Pet 2:9.
Man was made in the image of God. Therefore Adam had the righteousness, holiness and the divine nature directly from God. That was lost at sin, and is restored at the new birth. It is not ours by inheritance through Adam, only by rebirth. 2 Pet 1:4.
Fred, let's take a look at the meaning of these words:
righteous = "acting in accord with divine or moral law :free from guilt or sin." God's character is the standard of righteousness, but I see no evidence in the Bible that it is impossible for His created creatures to be "righteous."
holy (as used in the Bible) usually means "devoted entirely to the deity or the work of the deity." Thus in the Bible, many items, as well as people" are called "holy." It is God's desire that we be "holy," that is "devoted entirely to our Creator and His work." (The sanctuary and most items related to it are deemed to be "holy," that is devoted entirely to God.)
divine, by contrast, is an attribute that belongs only to God. It is actually seldom used in the Bible, but when it is used, it is used of things directly proceeding from God, as "divine" words or dreams. For the purposes of our discussion, the relevant texts in the KJV are Heb 9:1; 2 Peter 1:3-4.
We contrast "divinity" with "humanity," to distinguish between the Creator and His creatures. In the Garden Satan promised Eve that she would become "like God" if she would eat the fruit, and that desire to be "like God," not in character, but in nature and power originated with Lucifer himself. It is currently propagated by modern spiritualism and certain religions that say that humanity will progress through stages to the point of becoming gods.
That is not part of Seventh-day Adventist teachings, and I don't think that's what you mean to say. That's why I suggested to be "cautious" with our words ...
We understand that, by being "in Christ" through the Holy Spirit, we may partake of divinity, that is, through the indwelling Spirit we may do the works of Christ. (It's something we cannot do without Christ.) But the divine nature never belongs to humanity. We can partake of it only through Christ dwelling within. And I believe that's the way it will be through eternity. The redeemed will become ever more like their Creator in character, but they will never actually be God or be divine.
Humanity is humanity and Divinity is Divinity. In Jesus these two were combined to make the person Jesus was. Jesus' prayer for us was that we be one with God also. Our humanity combined with His Divinity is the desire of God. Adam was first created with the Spirit of God as His motivation for his life. This produced a living soul from the dust that made up the body of Adam when God breathed into his nostrils. God made it such that mankind could share His Divine Spirit for his basic motivation. We are called to this destiny. We are still created human beings even though the third Person of our being is a member of the Godhead. What an awesome privilege we have offered to us.
Ellen White tells this about our humanity and His Divinity. "The parable of the wedding garment opens before us a lesson of the highest consequence. By the marriage is represented the union of humanity with divinity; the wedding garment represents the character which all must possess who shall be accounted fit guests for the wedding." COL 307.1
I think our regenerate life is revealed by the whole wedding story.
Yes, I agree.
I gained a lot from this Lesson. But going by this Wednesday's lesson, people may argue that the Philanthropist that do good deeds how will God go with that?
I stand to be corrected that on this discussion. Even the devil does good thing but where the faith lies is what Jesus is after. Remember, you cannot serve God and mammon.Even if you are the most generous being, with faith in Jesus Christ you are not saved.
Now on our church leaders who seem to be more legalistic than Spiritual, you can eat you cake and have it back. Stop blaming members for wrong doing. Yes they did wrong, the church may have standards but don't let the standard compromise the Love one another message. Punish in Love not be too legalistic about everything.
We are saving souls through the Holy Spirit. Remember Self Righteousness cannot take one to heaven, only our dependency on the Saviour
Thank. & remain Blessed
Don
What I think I am missing in your posts on the subject is that there is "something" that has to die and "something" that has to be born again.
That which dies is the sinful nature - the old man - which we all have from birth and which Jesus never had.
What does not die and is with us forever in this life, because of the weaknesses over time, is the flesh. That is where all the inherited and cultivated tendencies "reside." Jesus had to deal with that and make choices to not yield to the flesh.
The Holy Spirit cannot work though our sinful nature to produce righteousness. He can convict us of sin, draw us to God, lead us to repentance, show us our need of a Savior, but until that old sinful nature dies, we cannot have eternal life. You cannot superimpose life on a lifeless nature. There has to be a "removal" of one and a giving of life to the new.
Until there is that death, there is no freedom from sin. Rom 6:4-11 is very clear on this. Jesus DID NOT have the sinful nature, because He was born of the Holy Spirit. When we are born again we obtain that new nature born of the Spirit. We become on the same footing with Christ in that we now have the "choice" to sin or not to sin. Before that, we had no choice.
There is a subtle but substantial difference between what you are saying and what I am saying. Please read that Romans passage again slowly and carefully.
Fred, one of the mistakes I have made in the past is believing that once I die to self my selfishness is over with for eternity, my choice has been made and I am home free. This produced a big problem for me because I realized that as soon as the venue changed I found my old selfishness back again.
Eventually I realized that there is a war that must be fought for my soul. The war seemed to be between me and God (between selfishness and Love). Selfish has been so natural to me I was caught unawares on many occasions.
When a new issue came to me it was like having to put the old me to death over again. When I found that I could choose Jesus' Spirit to motivate me through the battle with self I found that God's Love motivated me to victory and solved unsolvable problems in my life.
It seems to me that selfishness is like darkness and God's Love is like light in the soul. When I invite God's Love to rule, selfishness vanishes as the motivation.
Habits of thoughts and feelings are what character is made of. God's ideal for us is to have all our habits motivated by His Love and we live a life in His Character as Jesus showed us in His example. We must choose to live in the light of God's Love always. In this state, we are His adopted children living like He would live in our circumstances.
The only way we can fail is to let our natural selfishly motivated habits motivate us instead of the Spirit of God. We always have a choice as to who will drive our life in any particular issue. Jesus said to "watch and pray" lest we fall.
The choice to die to selfish motivation is the death to self. The new life is to be motivated by the Holy Spirit of God's Love.
Fred, in relation to Jesus having a sinful nature, I do not believe that He had a sinful nature the way you put it. I do believe He had a body with bad genes like we do. But His motivation was Love and not selfishness. This is what we are invited to have as our motivation for our degenerate bodies also. We can have the same power to stop any sin and every sin in our lives as Jesus did to live rightly in the will of His Father. Love helps to regulate our bad genes and motivates us to the Righreousness of Christ.
I think we need to be very careful when we try to describe the incarnation of God in humanity. I do believe that sinful tendencies are connected with our bodies, which include our minds. So what is meant by "sinful nature"? When I read the following, I conclude that there is much we do not understand and had best not try to explain any further than Scripture explains it.
God told Abraham in Genesis 17:9 And God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep my covenant therefore, thou, and thy seed after thee in their generations. Abraham was not a Jew - but the command was specific. As this practice continued until the Jewish race was born. The word 'Jew' originates with the ancient Israelite kingdom of Judah. This could be the reason why the Jews were emphasizing that one had to be circumcised to be "saved" as they were following God's covenant given to Abraham. Simply put, they refused "new light" that God gave when His Son died on the cross, which is now we are saved by faith alone. Ephesians 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast. We must be careful not to fall into similar sorts of traps prepared by the enemy.