Dear brothers and sisters:
There is no shortage of spirited discussions when the subject is about God's words and the Christian walk. Fortunately, one shared living principle is that Christ suffered and died to redeem us from the wages of sin; and the common goal we have is to know the heart of our Lord and to seek His perfect glory. This is important to keep in mind even as we do not agree on every point of the Christian belief.
It can be awkward, and even upsetting to argue over aspects of our faith, much of it I am certain are minor ceremonial, administrative or stylistic variations that do not require serious examination. However, when it comes to the doctrine of grace that is the central theme of the New Testament (and I argue, the entire Bible and the plan of God), and how it works in tandem with laws and commandments to bring us closer to our divine Father, I feel we should not spare time nor effort to reach absolute clarity.
Things would have been so much simpler if we were still living in the pre-Christ era. However we choose to live our lives, we get our just deserts in the end. The key to heaven or hell is held in our own grubby little hands, The law given is the bright mirror we cannot escape. It mercilessly seeks out our every imperfection. The rare ones who consider themselves sanctified through perfect obedience can breathe a sigh of relief, and be smug about their grand accomplishment, while those mired in sin and failure remain hopeless, defeated and angry. There is either a prize or punishment meted out for our every behavior -- choosing life or death at every turn and feeling proud or condemned with each round of self-judgment.
Simple but hopelessly impossible...for no rational and humble person can ever be sure if he has done enough good or keep far enough away from sin. But that is the demand of the just God according to His perfect standard. The law cannot save us, it only condemns. It was given to disqualify and the purpose to bring us to the ends of ourselves.
Thankfully our ever-merciful LORD intercedes on our behalf to redeem us from judgment. Only He can fulfill the law; on the cross, the perfect lamb took our rebellion and gave us His obedience. By His death the blood of the Jesus qualifies all, and His mercy embraces us. His ever gracious heart wants only our resting upon His breast like John on the Passover night, and gazing upon His glorious countenance Like Mary in the house of Martha. It is by the sacrificial offering of Jesus Christ that the just wrath of God towards our sins is exhausted upon His beaten and bloodied body. What remains is only our choosing to believe that Christ alone has done everything for us, and prepared a place of shalom peace and rest on earth and in heaven -- to be claimed when we seek His kingdom and speak of and in His name.
No more is our righteousness based on our thoughts and behavior, but His only. "In Christ" means if He is perfect, we are perfect; if He is glorious, we are glorious. God sees us righteous because the glory of Christ is in us and surrounds us. How can we be in water and not be wet? How can we touch grace and not be cleansed? Can we keep ourselves clean? No! But when we are baptized (having bathed), all we need is to have our feet washed by Christ (understanding of redemption through blood) we are clean once and for all times! In Hebrew, the term "money" is actually made up of the words "silver" and "blood." Silver symbolizes redemption, so our saviour literally paid for our redemption (forgiveness) with His blood. Christ dies once and it is sufficient to save every person in the past and in the future. Similarly, His blood continuously washes our sins away yesterday, today and tomorrow, for He is outside time. John in Revelation saw the freshly slain lamb...Christ is our ever suffering servant, faithfully washing us clean once and countless times.
Why then do we need to elevate our thoughts and behaviors to such importance that it is the most mentioned exhortation to self-examine and repent lest we fall short of the glory of God and forfeit our rewards in heaven? Our sins are endless and, if we are to confess each trespass great and small, we will be spending so much time doing just that and getting more dejected and powerless by the minute. For it is an already foregone conclusion (otherwise one is not a born again and repentant Christian) that we are full of sin and can't help from sinning. And we will not keep from sinning by acknowledging/confessing it, but only through the love of Christ we see and feel more and more that we are transformed from the heart that sin no more has dominion over us. For where sin abounds, grace abounds much more!
Instead of writing the laws on the stone tablets of our brains (left and right hemispheres), God wants to write it on our hearts through loving Christ, which means we don't have to think about it anymore, but it becomes a natural part of our being where we wouldn't even know how to sin for the holy spirit so fills our entire being. If we acknowledge that only Christ alone can cleanse us and transform us, why even go through the motion of self-examination? Shouldn't we have faith enough that once we invite Him into our hearts, and our eyes are fixed upon His glory, that he can and will do the work to turn us away from sin? Grace has shattered the cold and impersonal mirror that is the law, and replaced it with the warmth of God's smiling face. Don't pick up the pieces of shards of broken glass that only cuts and distorts and ultimately is only a shadow...for to dust we return, but behold the perfect, real and eternal glory of our Lord Jesus Christ, and never look away.
For an unbeliever, the stone (law) should not be rolled away, for it reveals only the stink of dead flesh; however, once reborn, we are alive and radiant, but trapped if the law is constantly on our minds. Before Lazarus can come forth, the stone must first be rolled away. Trust that Jesus has transformed us, and not be like Martha who is busy caring of this world, but does not see the power of Christ to work miracles although she confesses it.
I agree that if one is not aware of and despise his dark nature, he will not turn to the light. But like redemption, repentance, if genuine, once is sufficient. After all, Christ meant it as a changing of mind (in Hebrew, turn to grace), and not to beat ourselves up every time we trip. "Justification by faith" as Martin Luther proclaimed in the Reformation age, is to release us from the dogmatic formality of Catholic confessions and the practice of "indulgence" or buying redemption with money. Today, isn't it our belief that Christ alone is our justification and propitiation? If there is anything to gain by confessing our sins, to earn (buy) forgiveness or future rewards, then Christ is not given full glory. Instead, our sensitivity to sin should only be a natural extension of the spiritual growth gained by hearing the words of God and experiencing the full measure of His love in everything about Him.
If a person loves cleanliness, she (mostly women because they were not made from dirt!) does not need to be constantly reminded to make sure to wipe dirt off her person for she naturally cannot stand it. Similarly, a Christian full of the love of Christ naturally disdains sin and even in sin has the faith and comfort that Christ has washed it clean, is the strength to fight it, and her standing in Christ will never be compromised. Isn't this where we can truly find peace and rest, and not having a yardstick to constantly measure ourselves -- but especially measuring others -- of living up to and/or falling short of a phantom standard. Jesus Christ is our gold standard, and we can never live up to it, so stop trying and expecting. Instead, let his spirit lead us completely. We are then perfect even imperfect, and the Lord is glorified in our falling short.
Let us be alive in Christ, and be dead to the bondage of law.
James
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