Romans 3:20 For no person will be justified (made righteous, acquitted, and judged acceptable) in His sight by observing the works prescribed by the Law. For [the real function of] the Law is to make men recognize and be conscious of sin [not mere perception, but an acquaintance with sin which works toward repentance, faith, and holy character]. AMP
For as long as there have been chosen ones who have proclaimed the message of John 3 and Romans 10. There have been those who are unable to receive the message. People who remain steadfast that we have to earn our salvation and righteousness. As if our feeble actions could impress and sway The great and Almighty God. That our actions could be great enough to annul our sins, no matter the severity or minisculness of them. For thousands of years this mindset has rooted itself in all of humanity not just in the church. These twisted ideologies that come naturally to the fallen man, and when are combined with God and His word breed religion.
It is a hard fact to receive after all, that all God wants from us is to simply receive and believe in the actions He through Jesus have already accomplished, just as is states in Acts 13:37-39 “37 But he, whom God raised again, saw no corruption. 38 Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: 39 And by him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses.” And again in John 5:24 “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.” God himself has accomplished all the God himself required for us to come into His righteousness, the ability and the permission to stand before and with the Trinity. Just as Paul spoke of in Rom 5:1 “Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ:”
How then do we convince ourselves that there is work and trials when it come to our divine salvation. Is there any work or good deed that can cancel out any sin? Is there a prescribed number of certain prayers that will abolish the sentence of death rightly placed on the traveler of the broad path? What great gesture could we possibly conceive to erase our trespasses? How loudly would one have to cry out on a city street to impress enough the Master to overlook our stench? Do you see a pattern here all of these ways focus on our ability, our strength, our way. Have we forgotten Ephesians 2:8-9 “8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.”
No, if it were by our own strength, then His sacrifice was in vain and worthless (Gal 2:21). He wasted His time if we already had the ability to atone for our own sins. We forget that the penalty for sin is death, that according to the Law blood was called on to cover over the blemish against God. We are bound to death by blood. And our feeble sin stained blood can never atone, the lives and sacrifices of animals and crops in the olden days could never purify anyone, merely perfume to mask the smell. The Law is the divine instrument of God which makes us aware that we are sinners and that nothing in it will save us. In Galatians 3:24 it is called out school master, and rightfully so, it teaches us how we offend God and the punishments resulting from the offences. Yet through the law came the knowledge of sin yet in Christ comes the cure to the disease As is says in 1 Corinthians 15:56-57 56 “The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” I realize that most of us today in our society did not grow up under the Old Testement legal structure yet we are bound to the words of Romans 2:12-16 “12 For as many as have sinned without law shall also perish without law: and as many as have sinned in the law shall be judged by the law; 13 (For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified. 14 For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves: 15 Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;) 16 In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel.” There is no place where we may hide from the Holiness of Righteous God. And there is no offering or action that can bend Almighty God, except one.
For God himself offered himself to himself on our behalf that we may Know Him. That we may be washed clean in His eyes, the great piercing eyes that see through the mirage of intent and action. The eyes that cannot be hidden from. Yes he by his power and mercy has called us to himself and requires only one thing, one simple small thing. To believe in his Christ’s birth, death, and ressurection. Yet for many our pride interferes crying out “it’s too easy, I have to do it in my own power.” For no matter how loudly it may scream it will always be confronted with Galatians 2:16 “Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.”
The only action we can do is to look up and cry out “I believe that Jesus is Lord, that he came, died and rose again and that only by his power and mercy. I can be forgiven of all my sins, that I am made righteous and that I am adopted into His family for all of eternity
All this begins by me accepting this and believing I will be forgiven from sin delivered from death and liberated from the Law. That he will make me righteous by the acts He has done by His supreme strength alone.
Remember
Titus 3:5-7 5 “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; 6 Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; 7 That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”
By Cameron Conway
http://revolutionarysrant.blogspot.com
