Do you
feel a tension in your gut? Is anger now in your heart? If you are a
servant to obedience, what I have to say will likely cause you some
stress. That's ok. Stress helps us grow.
Swallow one or two times, and then come on.
Faith
is the only form of obedience that God recognizes. All other forms of
obedience are but the works of a dead flesh, and Jehovah is the God of
the living. It is from faith to faith that the righteousness of God is
made manifest, and it is by faith that just men live before a holy God.
If you have set out to establish a personal righteousness before
Almighty God, you lack true understanding of who you are and who He is.
"By
faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by
which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his
gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh. By faith Enoch was
translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God
had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony,
that he pleased God. But without faith it is impossible to please him:
for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a
rewarder of them that diligently seek him," (Hebrews 11:4-6).
Now
these men, and all the many others who are listed in the eleventh
chapter of Hebrews, had works that followed their faith. They also had
failures, great moments of disobedience, selfishness, and
hardheadedness. Yet God's favor remained upon them and all that they
touched: not because of their perfect behavior, neither for their sorrow
over getting it wrong, but rather because the promises and purposes of
God will not be altered.
There are many men like this, men who
lived before the time of law and men who came during the time of law:
Joshua, Caleb, David, and more. To look at these leaders, and the life
they lived; to see the strength in their heart makes clear their walk as
one of faith.
Yes. We know that they fell short, sometimes
exceedingly. We know also that they sometimes professed great deeds and
labors. But we also know that their walk was based upon faith in God not
in themselves. Not a faith that God would honor their personal goodness
and obedience, but rather that God would be merciful to those he has
chosen.
The apostle Paul called those who lived by the rule of
righteousness through law "Foolish," (Gal. 3:1). "The law is not of
faith:" he wrote, in quoting from the Book of the Law, "but, The man
that doeth them shall live in them," (Gal. 3:12). The law is not
established as a three strikes type situation, nor even as a million
strikes arrangement. It is a one strike and you are out deal.
Many
Christians understand the purpose and intend of Paul's words on this
matter. They also grasp the points made in the book of Romans when he
wrote that it was either law or faith, never both. Yet most fail to
perceive the full power of faith, so they end up going back to the law
in some other form, rebuilding, as Paul further wrote, those things that
have been torn down and disposed of.
Indeed, a very special
problem has developed in modern Christianity. For sake of understanding,
I will call it the concept of opinion as identified as an obedience to
an inner voice.
Now do not take me wrong. God often speaks to his
children through the inner voice of reason and truth. But this is not
what has happened in today's world. You see, rather than practicing
obedience to the written words of scripture, we have turned to a freedom
of the inner witness, so called. By this I mean that we now count
ourselves right before God based upon how well we follow a perceived
inner voice. So even as we walk in known sins, we proclaim rightness
with God that is based upon how well we follow our vain imaginations. In
effect, we make the truth of known scripture to no effect when we say
that God can only bless us if we are fully obedient to that supposed
inner speaking.
We are taught opinion rather than scripture, man's
doctrine rather than truth. We end up either fully bound to the law, or
fully bound to our own self-works. Yet righteous is by Christ and Him
alone. So to is justification. God looks not at the heart of self-works,
but rather at the heart of faith.
Save through this one single
act of obedience, that of believing in Jesus Christ as our sole source
of righteousness, can a man stand before God without fear of rejection.
When an honest man comes face to face with Almighty God, there is no
proclamation of right standing through works and obedience. There is
only a humble acceptance of grace and mercy. Here is the proper response
of man before God:
"Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone;
because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people
of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts,"
(Isaiah 6:5).
When I was lost, and completely ignorant to the
grace and goodness of God through Jesus Christ our redeemer, he came to
me. Now, as weak and feeble as are my best efforts, I seek to know the
God that liberated me from myself. Day by day, I live in his blessings,
never once being so foolish as to believe that I have merited his love.
Now
understand: I strive to be submission to God's will. I seek always to
follow his directions and instructions. But before I count myself right
because of obedience to the inner voice, I look at the known truths of
scripture. When I do this, I see that I am never in God's favor due to
my own right ways of living and doing. Indeed, but for the sacrifice of
Jesus, I am cursed as is any sinner.
Those who think they earn
God's grace are self-deceived, or perhaps deliberately wicked. The bible
says that none are good save God. Who can count themselves in the
center of God's will while thinking they got there themselves? Such
viewpoints lead into three sins: that of pride, frustration, or
self-deception.
There are works, and there are right ways that a
Christian should live. There is an ongoing moving toward full
sanctification. There are rules of harvest, sometimes bearing out in
this life, and sometimes bearing out in the next life. There are bible
truths that work, for the most part, even for unbelievers. Yet good
works, right living, obedience to the inner voice, and a goal of
holiness are but the expected behaviors of a servant. Before boasting of
obedience, one must stop and honestly examine the points of
disobedience that ever remain in their life.
As for me, I stand
with Paul when he writes: "I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if
righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain," (Gal.
2:21).
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