Religion is man's attempt to do enough to make themselves acceptable to God. The grace of the gospel reveals something different ... and that is ... God did everything necessary to draw us near to Him. It's wrapped inside an eternal inheritance—guaranteed in Jesus Christ.
When feeling overwhelmed by condemnation, know that you will never be able to "do enough" to position yourself to be right with God. Our right standing is based on what Jesus did as the mediator between us and God. Paul put it this way: "For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh."
When the fleshly GPS tries to take you to a dead-end street of doing in order to get a response from God, change direction by simply saying, "God did."
Traditional Christianity has largely taught people to develop a consciousness (or constant awareness) of sin and sinful behavior. When one falls or fails, they have been programmed by empty religion to confess their wrongdoing and seek/beg God for forgiveness yet one more time, vowing to try harder never to do it again. This is like a dark shadow of the obsolete Old Covenant, where there was no escape from such a bondage.
Jesus flipped the Script and was able to free people from a sin consciousness and bring eternal redemption and forgiveness “for all time” through one finished sacrifice. This resulted in no condemnation for anyone who is in Christ Jesus. What a victory for us to learn more about and to grow in our understanding. What about the challenges with the flesh? We talk about it on this week’s program.
In spite of whatever struggles and challenges come our way within this fallen world, God has declared us forgiven and that we have been delivered from the power of darkness. God has transferred us into His kingdom, it’s His blood that resulted in forgiveness, redemption, and has brought us peace.
As we begin to understand that the knowledge of His will was to bring all of these good things to us as an inheritance, we can live within the light of Jesus Christ where the fruit of God abounds. His strength in us is what we reply upon, not our willpower. It’s all about Christ in us—the mystery revealed.
As believers in Christ, there is no condemnation at all, unlike there was for Jewish people who were in a works-based covenant which depended on their (failed) attempts at commandment-keeping. They were stuck in a state of condemnation within a ministry unable to provide life or righteousness. Out of 613 commands within the old law, Paul gave an example from the Ten that God engraved … and how he ended up coveting more when trying to live by the rule of “you shall not covet.” That’s not good news.
Long before the law, Adam was only given one (1) command … and failed to keep it. Paul explained it’s because we’re “In Him” that we have redemption, and it’s through His blood we have an eternal forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace. Everything about this gospel is based on the work of Jesus. Don’t allow religion to plant doubt and fear by making it about you.
In Romans 7 and 8, Paul explains how the Jews had formerly been in a marriage relationship with the law of commandments, where Moses served as the best man at the ceremony. But they were made to die to the law through the body of Christ and became free to marry another (Jesus). The law of works never brought a reduction of sin, but resulted in the arousal of sinful passions, bearing fruit to death. Now having been freed from the law, they could begin serving in the newness of the Spirit and not through the old way of writings and letters. The end result would be no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus.
And yet, many Jewish believers struggled with grasping these truths, wrestling with letting go of a law which couldn’t bring life or righteousness, tempted to pursue the fleshly way of works through a stone tablet ministry which left them in condemnation. And what about Gentiles? How would these (formerly) unclean people fit into the message of Jesus … and would they be required to apply the law? Paul explains the Gentiles would receive righteousness without even pursuing it—because of faith. Whereas the Jews would fall short of righteousness because they were seeking it not by faith, but by works.
Part 3 in our series on the third chapter of 2 Corinthians includes some fantastic cross references related to the former ministry of condemnation (the law and commandments). Whereas the law that came through Moses brought death, condemnation and bondage, we've been transferred into the ministry of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus. The law keeps a veil over hearts, and it can only be taken away when one turns to Christ, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
Although Jesus often ministered despair and hopelessness by elevating the Mosaic law, there were times when He would provide samples of the approaching New Covenant. Even though the "New" would not be in effect until after His death, we see examples of the gospel being served, such as the story of the woman caught in the act of adultery. The purpose of the old commandments was to minister condemnation and death. This woman received a taste of unconditional love mixed with mercy and grace, while her accusers walked away speechless.
Christians tend to be under the mindset that we should keep seeking forgiveness from God, and that He will keep forgiving repeatedly on an as-needed basis. But this diminishes the perfect completion of the finished work of the cross. Jesus came to take away sins and usher in a New Covenant where God would no longer deal with us according to our sins, not count them against us and He would remember them no more. Was Jesus successful with His mission? Of course, the answer is yes and we take a look at what that means for us in Christ.
