“And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them. Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.”
Galatians 3:12-14
Too many Christians suffer from lack, sickness, depression and addictions because they have the belief that their blessings are tied to what they have done or will do for God, rather than what Christ has already done for them. As a result, they can get into condemnation when they face trials, thinking that they brought the trial on themselves. If they struggle with addiction, they could be bound with it because they are trying to be delivered by their own self effort, instead of receiving God’s grace and revelation that they’ve already been delivered by what Christ did for them two thousand years ago.
If a person is constantly trying to please God through their works, they will be under constant condemnation, because they know that no matter how good they are in one area, they can completely miss it in another area. We can never be good enough to earn the blessings of God. No matter how great and mature we are in our Christian walk, there are always areas where we need to greatly improve. There sometimes are areas we are not aware of that are failings hidden to us. Others see them, but sometimes we do not. The problem with trying to be justified by the works of the law, is that it leads to two major stumbling blocks:
- Pridefulness
- Condemnation and low self esteem
In the case of pridefulness, if someone is operating under the impression they are blessed entirely because of their own effort in keeping the law, then once they receive major blessings and success, they may become prideful and lose their teachability and ability to receive correction from others. Even worse, they may look down on others who are struggling and assume they are struggling because they have missed it somewhere. This is what Job’s friends got in trouble for when counselling Job. They assumed he had sin somewhere in his life for all the tragedy that he went through. They judged and falsely accused him because of their assumption. The sin of Pride is also why the Pharisees were unable to receive Jesus and His disciples. On the other hand, if people who hold this view are going through various trials and struggles, they could enter into condemnation. They could think they’ve brought these things on themselves and be waiting until they are “perfect” to be able to believe God for His best. This can lead into an endless cycle of lack and frustration.
Jesus told a parable of a Pharisee and a tax collector both going to the Temple. In the story, the Pharisee looked down on the tax collector. He saw the tax collector’s sins and failures and thanked God he was not like him. He then listed all the ways he kept God’s law as to why he himself was justified before God. On the other hand, the tax collector fell down, beat his chest and cried asking God for forgiveness for his sinfulness. Jesus said that the tax collector was justified before God, not the Pharisee. The Pharisee did not even realize his own sinful condition because he was so caught up in how well he thought was keeping the law. He did not realize he was engaging in the sinfulness of pride and self-righteousness.
If being perfect was the way we received God’s blessings; then King David, King Solomon, Abraham and so many others would have been disqualified. Each of them had major areas of weakness and flaws they had to overcome. Yet, God still blessed them.
When we approach our faith walk in the mindset of trying to please God and gain success through the works of the law, we set ourselves up for wrongly accusing ourselves or others for the trials faced. This is why King David was so successful. When he was facing trials, he didn’t get into condemnation. Instead, he praised God all the more. He held fast to God’s promises, being confident that God would give him the victory. At times, when he did commit a major sin, he did not let shame and guilt overwhelm him. Instead, he received the correction with a humble heart. He repented and then he received God’s forgiveness and grace. He trusted in God’s love and mercy for him. He understood that he couldn’t please God through works. He understood that God was pleased with his faith in God’s faithfulness.
Hebrews 11:6: “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.”
God wants us to have faith in His faithfulness. The self-effort God wants us to engage in, is in seeking Him with all of our heart. As we diligently seek Him, spending time in prayer and in His Word, putting Him first in all that we do, then we get to truly know His heart for us. We get a revelation of how much we are loved by Him. We are better able to hear and discern His voice. If you’ve ever seen your child play with their friends, you may notice that the more time they spend together, the more they begin acting and sounding like each other. This is what it is like with the Lord. The more we spend time in His presence, the more we begin acting and sounding like Him. We then get the God kind of results, because we begin operating in the God kind of faith.
When we get the understanding that we are saved by grace and there is nothing we can do to earn God’s love, it sets us up to prosper and walk in God’s blessings every day. It also sets us up to be able to more easily keep His law. All the commandments of God are based on two commandments:
- Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul and spirit
- Love your neighbor as yourself
When you get the revelation how loved and accepted you are by God, right now, even with all you’ve done wrong, it gives you the freedom to receive God’s love. Does this mean we are free to sin? Absolutely not! In fact the Lord says: “Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.” 1 Peter 1:16. He calls us to live a life set a part from sin. Grace is not a license to sin. Grace is the reason not to sin. Then the motivation for why we are keeping God’s commandments changes! You then are empowered and more able to keep the commands of God because you are no longer doing it to earn His love and blessings, but instead you are keeping His laws out of love for God and love for others. You now are no longer motivated to not bear false witness against others out of love for that person and desire to honor God. Now, you no longer are envious or covetous of others, because you know God’s love and plans of blessing for your life. No longer do you desire to steal or take advantage of others, because you love others so much you follow the command to treat them the way you would like to be treated. In fact, you love God so much, you would never want to do anything to dishonor His name. No longer are you motivated by selfish ambition, looking what you can get from others. Instead you are looking for how you can be a blessing.
When you get the revelation of the love of God and grace of God in your life, it frees you to walk in His love and fulfill all the commandments. Your motivation for keeping God’s commandments changes. You are no longer motivated by fear. You are motivated by love. Since Love never fails, then you can never fail when you walk in the revelation of God’s love for you! Once you realize you’ve already been made righteous, washed clean and clothed in a robe of righteousness, you will not desire to get back in the mud. You will realize there are things that you don’t do with God’s temple. You realize you are a living example of Christ in the earth and do not want to do anything to cause reproach against His name. Then, as you prosper and increase, you won’t fall prey to the spirit of pride. You will recognize that everything you have is by God’s grace and what Jesus did for you! When we change our motivation, our behavior will change. When we do things out of love, we will never fail and we will be more able to keep God’s commandments because LOVE NEVER FAILS!
Ephesians 1:16-23, Ephesians 3:14-21, 1 Corinthians 13, Luke 18:9-14, Psalm 107:6-7 &20, Isaiah 54:10-17, Romans 8, 1 John
