Made Right!

Made Right!

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. Romans 3:23‭-‬24 NIV

God gave Moses the law, but He knew the law could not compel the righteousness He was seeking for. The law laid down the model of behaviour for all who followed it, but it could compel the kind of life that God intended. That is why there is an emphasis on the 'works of the law'. That is all the law had: works. Had nothing about the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of a man, bringing out change from within and manifesting on the outside. That is what the law just couldn't do, because it was not empowered to do so. And you know, when you refer to it as 'the law', it means it takes prisoners and bends people who are under it to its will. 

In comes the righteousness that God wants, and it is the one that Jesus has come to establish, and which is only received by faith in Christ. It is free for all men, and it is a requirement for all who would please God, irrespective of their past or present mess. This is the crux of today's extract: ALL men have sinned. We inherited the nature through the first man Adam, and nothing a man does changes that fact until there is an inner work done in a man's life that only the Source of that work can do. All have sinned; has nothing to do with where you are now, or where you are going, but about where we all came from. Until the foundation is addressed, we will keep knocking our heads against the wall, seeking solutions where none existed. And this is another law, one that says that for you to enjoy all that is on offer, you have to submit totally to the dictates of this new law. One big difference though: under the law that made us conscious of sin, we didn't have a choice. We were under it by virtue of natural birth, but for the law that brings redemption, we need to take a step of faith and submit to it. 

By faith in Jesus, I get all that God intended when He sent his Son to die for the sins of the whole world. I get the total forgiveness that the law could not provide and I get the total cleansing from my wretched past which the law constantly reminded me of. So I have two verses today with two different and competing messages: one speaks to the finality of the natural man, and the other speaks to the finality of the man saved by grace. Both are eternal realities, and only one option is safe. God already laid down the eternal reality of dying without Christ, and he says it is eternal death in hell. He also makes it clear that by faith in Him, I get the eternal reality of reigning with Him forever and ever. 

Now, there is a choice to be made, and it has to be made today: which law would you submit to? Remember, both laws are in operation down here on earth, and men are daily submitting to one and denying the other. There is no fence on this one; you are either on the side of the law of death, or the law of life. And remember also that the law in operation in your life when the Lord returns for you, either at His second appearing or at physical death, becomes the basis of your eternal destination. Make sure it is the right place before it is too late. His time of favour is here.