The life of a believer is called a walk. You do not live the Christian life but walk the Christian life because you can live and be static. But you cannot walk and be static at the same time. To walk the Christian life indicates that the believer’s life must be progressive and must be on the move.
Solomon said, “The path of the just is like the shining sun, that shines ever brighter unto a perfect day” (Proverbs 4:18, NKJV, emphasis added).
The path of the Christian shines brighter and brighter. If you are living in yesterday’s light today, you are in danger of becoming a backslider!
Walking in the steps of Abraham
Abraham had a unique calling. Abraham is the “father of all who believe” (Romans 4:11). Through faith in Jesus Christ, the seed of Abraham, we have become children of Abraham.
Paul said, “Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham” (Gal. 3:7, NKJV).
We are children of Abraham if we walk in the steps of the faith of Abraham our father (Romans 4:12). Therefore, being a child of Abraham means you walk the way Abraham walked. Therefore, by studying Abraham’s walk of faith we have a good idea how a believer should walk.
A Christian’s Commitment
The progressive commitment of Abraham gives us a clear picture how we should commit ourselves to God in our Christian walk. Our spiritual progress and growth depend on our level of commitment to God. Let us study the steps of faith taken by Abraham from the time God called him until he came to Canaan. Each step was a further commitment to God. Similarly, each step we take in our Christian walk should be a further commitment to God. Commitment to God means relinquishing something human – something from our freshly desire. This means giving up something precious. The point is, if we cease giving up something we also cease in our spiritual progress.
1. Call of Abraham to leave Er, his country
“Now the Lord had said to Abram: ‘Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing’” (Gen. 12:1, NKJV, emphasis added).
Stephen addressed the council, “The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Haran, and said to him, ‘Get out of your country and from your relatives, and came to a land that I will show you.’ Then he came out of the land of the Chaldeans and dwelt in Haran. And from there, when his father was dead, He moved him to this land in which you now dwell” (Acts 7:2 – 4, emphasis added).
God commanded Abraham to leave three things behind him – His country (Er), his family (father included) and his relatives. Notice that Abraham did not disobey God totally, but his obedience was progressive. He did not meet all the conditions immediately. But, his progress only continued as he met the conditions. He left his country but he took his father with him.
Similarly, when God calls us to leave our family and to serve Him in a different locality we are likely to bring our family members along with us and carry other extra “baggage”.
2. Call to leave his father and Haran
As long as his father was alive and with him, Abraham could not go the complete journey to the promised land. He was half way at Haran. When his father died obstacle No. 1 was removed and he left Haran and journeyed on.
Many of us are called by God to serve God in our God-given “promised land”. But if we take our “father” along we might stall half way! Our “father” could be a whole lot of different things from the past – such as certain religious tradition, certain religious association, certain denominational affiliation, business and social affiliation and the love of money and so on.
3. Call to leave Lot, his relative (nephew)
There is another unfulfilled condition before Abraham could inherit the promised land. Lot, who was not part of God’s covenant, was with him. In Old Testament Hebrew the word “lot” means a veil. Therefore when Lot was with Abraham he simply could not see the inheritance God had provided for him. God did not intend Lot to remain with Abraham. So God arranged the circumstances when they had to come to a confrontation and caused them to part (Gen. 13:5 – 17).
Notice the meekness of Abraham. He learned how to bend or yield under pressure and allowed Lot to make the first choice of which part of the land he would like to dwell. I believe Abraham had total confidence in God that He would use Lot’s choice to work God’s will for him! Abraham believed that:
“A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven” (John 3:17).
It is same with our spiritual life. We need to have the meekness and gentleness of Abraham and willing to bend or yield under pressure. Sometimes we fail to listen to God and make up our mind to do things that God does not want us to do. We are too stubborn to heed God’s counsel. Meekness is not weakness. In fact meekness is a mark of great spiritual strength. Only a strong Christian can be meek.
But, Lot made the wrong choice. His heart was not right. He was looking for the material before the spiritual. As a result he dwelled in an evil and corrupted environment.
The moment Lot was separated from Abraham the veil over his eyes was removed!
“And the Lord said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him: ‘Lift your eyes now and look from the place where you are – northward, southward, eastward, and westward; for all the land which you see I give to you and your descendants forever” (Gen. 13:14).
Abraham did not have to move; he just had to look. Any direction he look it is going to be his and his descendants!
4. The coming and departure of Ishmael
After 12 years of waiting and there was no sign of the promised heir, Abraham and Sarah decided to help God. If ever Abraham made a disastrous mistake it was Ishmael. Not merely Ishmael turned against the promised heir Isaac but the descendants of Ishmael had stood in the way of the descendants of Isaac for 4000 years – and still do today. Shouldn’t it teach us that Ishmael is very costly?
Someone has said, “The child of expediency is always an Ishmael”. How many Ishmael’s have we brought forth in today’s Churches? Many Church programs and projects are Ishmael. They are children of expediency. The Church does what seems good to the Pastors and leaders.
Abraham made another serious blunder. He abdicated his right and let the initiative passed from him as head of the home and let Sarah made the decision. Sarah said go into her maid – he did! Some years later Sarah said get rid of her maid – he had to because of his first mistake!
Notice that Abraham committed the same blunder that Adam committed. Adam allowed Eve to speak to the serpent who had no right to be in the Garden in the first place!
Do we commit the same blunder in the Church? How many times women Pastors and women Church leaders brought forth Ishmael?
When Ishmael was 13 years old the promised heir Isaac – he came God’s way. He came not by manipulation, not by helping God, but by God’s initiative!
Jesus Christ is the Bridegroom of the Church; the true Church is His Bride. The same relationship applies here. The Bridegroom takes the initiative to make decisions. Therefore Jesus does not want the Church to take any initiative. Jesus is fully prepared to accept the responsibility for taking the initiative. What He wants the Church to do is to respond. But most of the Churches today have little or no concept of letting the Lord to take the initiative.
After Isaac was weaned, Sarah took the initiative to have Hagar and her son Ishmael sent away (Gen. 21:9 – 14). Abraham was troubled but God helped him to handle his mistake. Likewise, all men-of-God should learn how to handle mistakes. God will help them when their hearts are right.
5. Call to let go of Isaac
The final test of Abraham’s faith was the letting go of Isaac, his only promised son (Gen 22:1 – 18).
Notice that whenever God asked Abraham to do anything he got up early in the morning to do it. I believe if he hadn’t got up early but stayed in bed and thought about it he would not have agreed to offer Isaac as a burnt offering. This would have changed the course of history!
Because of Abraham faithfulness and obedience God provided a Ram for the burnt offering in place of Isaac. Ram is a princely animal and in this context signifies Jesus. “Horns” (of the ram) speaks of God’s strength – Jesus’ strength comes from His obedience to the Father.
After Abraham’s faith had been tested and confirmed the Angel of the Lord said, “Blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice” (Gen. 22:17, 18, NKJV, emphasis added).
The key to all these blessings is “hearing and obeying God’s voice”.
I believe whatever God gives us one day He will ask for it back. Our faith and commitment will be tested. Our response to God’s demand determines the measure of blessing He will bless us with.
Conclusion
Every one of the above steps of commitment is a renunciation – a letting go and yielding to God’s demand.
An important spiritual principle revealed by studying Abraham’s walk with God is:
Whatever you hold on to dwindles; whatever you yield is multiplied. The things you give is what God multiples. God blesses you but he multiples what you have yielded to him!
Wednesday, July 26, 2006
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
True Christians and the Law
According to the apostle Paul every person has a choice – To bear fruit to God or to bear fruit to death.
“Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another – to Him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God. For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were aroused by the law were at work in our member to bear fruit to death” (Romans 7:4, 5, NKJV, emphasis added).
Here are some observations:
1. Paul was writing to the Christians (called to be saints) in Rome (Romans 1:7). He called them “my brethren”. Yet some of them were still not “dead to the law” and still lived in the flesh – a legalistic “Christian” life. They failed to understand that “a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ” (Galatians 2:16).
2. When a person is united (married) to Christ, sharing His life and walking “in newness of life” (Romans 6:4) he would bear fruit to God. This is only possible if a person is dead to the law. Every true Christian is dead to the law and so bears fruit to God.
3. When a person is still in the flesh (with a corrupt nature of an unsaved person) he is living the old life of sin. As a result he would bear fruit to death. Therefore he is not a true Christian.
4. There is a close relationship between righteousness and life; sin and death.
Paul put it this way, “The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death” (Romans 8:2).
“The righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit”
5. To walk according to the flesh is to walk according to the law. Therefore to walk according to the law would bear fruit to death.
6. Sin is aroused by the law and therefore no one could obtain righteousness through the law.
The Ministry and Functions of the Law (Romans 7:7 – 13)
In Paul’s time new converts were asking, “What good is the Law if we don’t need it any more?”
Roman 7:7 – 13 is Paul’s answer. Many other Scripture verses also support Paul’s explanations.
1. The Law reveals sin (Romans 7:7)
“Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin” (Romans 3:20, NKJV, emphasis added).
“…. For where there is no law there is no transgression” (Romans 4:15).
The Ten Commandments are part of the Law. The last of the Ten Commandments concerns “covetousness” – “You shall not covet …” (Exodus 20:17) which differs from the other nine Commandments that it is an inward attitude and not an outward action. Covetousness leads to the breaking of the other commandments. It is an insidious sin that most people never recognize in their own lives, but God’s Law reveals it.
A perfect example of the use of the Law to reveal sin and show a man’s need for a savior is the story of the Rich Young Ruler (Mark 10:17 – 22). The young man was morally right outwardly, but he had never faced the sins within. When Jesus told him to sell his goods and give to the pour, the man went away in great sorrow. The Commandment “You shall not covet” had revealed to him what a sinner he really was! Instead of admitting his sin, he rejected Christ and went away unconverted.
2. The Law arouses sin (Romans 7:8, 9)
Paul, a devout Pharisee was seeking righteousness by obeying the Law before his encounter with Jesus.
But, after his conversion he said, “… that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; …” (Philippians 3:8, 9).
Paul also said, “The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law” (2 Cor. 15:56).
In other words, the law gives strength to sin or the law arouses sin. We are born with a sinful nature and the natural tendency of everyone is to disobey any given law. Something in the fallen human nature wants to rebel whenever a law is given. Here is an illustration:
A mother was telling her little girl not to touch her lipstick when she is away. But the moment the mother was not around the first thing the little girl wanted to do was to mess herself up with her mother’s lipstick! The sinful desire in the little girl was aroused by the law of her mother!
3. The Law kills (Romans 7:10, 11)
The Law kills and cannot give life; it can only show the sinner that he is guilty and condemned:
Paul said, “For if there had been a law given which could have given life, truly righteousness would have been by the law” (Gal. 3:21).
This explains why legalistic Christians and local Churches do not grow and bear spiritual fruit. Churchgoers are living by their own man-made laws and standard which make them feel guilty and condemned when they break their own laws!
Paul said, “But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law” (Gal. 5:18).
So, if a Christian finds himself under the law, the Spirit takes no part in his Christian walk!
There are many Pastors and Preachers who preach their sermons based on books of human philosophies and psychology and wisdom of men. The Internet is full of doubtful Christian materials. We have no lack of information, but what the Church lacks is revelation! If we are not careful we will start to follow a human leader or a “great man of God” and accept his teachings as law. This practice is a very subtle form of legalism, and it kills spiritual growth. No human teacher can take the place of Christ; no book can take the place of the Bible. Men can give us information, but only the Spirit of God can give us illumination and help us understand spiritual truths.
4. The Law shows the sinfulness of sin (Romans 7:12, 13)
Unsaved people and the so-called Christians know that there is such a thing as sin; but they do not realize the sinfulness of sin or the true nature of sin. We excuse our sins with words like “mistakes” or “weaknesses”. But God condemns our sins and tries to get us to see that they are “exceedingly sinful” (Verse 13). Until we realize how wicked sin really is, we will never want to oppose it and live in victory.
Paul’s conclusion is the Law is not sinful – it is holy, just, good and spiritual. The problem is not with the Law; the problem is with our sinful nature!
What the Law fails to do (Romans 7:14 – 25)
Having explained what the Law is supposed to do, Paul went on to explain what the Law cannot do.
1. The Law cannot change us (Romans 7:14)
Paul said the Law is “spiritual” because it deals with the inner man, the heart of man or the spiritual part of man.
We must not forget that in the original giving of the Law in Exodus, the emphasis was on the outward actions. But when Moses restated the Law in Deuteronomy, he emphasized the inner quality of the Law as it relates to man’s heart. This spiritual emphasis is stated clearly in Deuteronomy 10:12 – 13 by the use of the word “love”.
Our old nature is fleshly or carnal; but the Law’s nature is spiritual. This explains why the old nature respond as it does to the Law. Someone has said, “The old nature knows no Law, the new nature needs no Law”. The Law cannot transform the old nature; it can only reveal how sinful that old nature is. The believer who tries to live under Law will only activate the old nature; he will not eradicate it.
2. The Law cannot enable us to do good (Romans 7:15 – 21)
Paul repeatedly said that because of sin which dwells in our old nature we are not able to do the good that we want to do; but to do the evil that we do not want to do.
Paul was saying that of himself he could not obey God’s Law; and that even when he did, evil was still present with him. No matter what he did, his deeds were tainted by sin.
The truth is, it impossible for us to obey the Law because we have a sinful nature that rebels against the Law. Even if we think we have done good, we know that evil is present. The Law is good, but by nature, we are bad!
3. The Law cannot set us free (Romans 7:21 – 24)
The believer has an old nature that wants to keep him in the bondage of sin. He tries to overcome his old nature with the Law, but the Law cannot deliver him from the old nature.
The fact is that the inward man may delight in the Law of God:
“Make me walk in the path of Your commandments, for I delight in it” (Psalm 119:35).
But, the old nature delights in breaking the Law of God!
That is the reason why Paul said, “O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death” (Romans 7:24).
What could be more wretched than exerting all our energy and effort to try to live a godly and blameless life, only to discover that the best we can do is still not good enough?
The Way out
Deliverance comes in Roman 8:
“There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit” (Romans 8:1, NKJV, emphasis added).
Those who are “in Christ Jesus” are true Christians who “walk according to the Spirit”.
“And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit” (Gal. 5:24, 25).
In other words, those who are still in the flesh do not belong to Christ!
“Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another – to Him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God. For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were aroused by the law were at work in our member to bear fruit to death” (Romans 7:4, 5, NKJV, emphasis added).
Here are some observations:
1. Paul was writing to the Christians (called to be saints) in Rome (Romans 1:7). He called them “my brethren”. Yet some of them were still not “dead to the law” and still lived in the flesh – a legalistic “Christian” life. They failed to understand that “a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ” (Galatians 2:16).
2. When a person is united (married) to Christ, sharing His life and walking “in newness of life” (Romans 6:4) he would bear fruit to God. This is only possible if a person is dead to the law. Every true Christian is dead to the law and so bears fruit to God.
3. When a person is still in the flesh (with a corrupt nature of an unsaved person) he is living the old life of sin. As a result he would bear fruit to death. Therefore he is not a true Christian.
4. There is a close relationship between righteousness and life; sin and death.
Paul put it this way, “The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death” (Romans 8:2).
“The righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit”
5. To walk according to the flesh is to walk according to the law. Therefore to walk according to the law would bear fruit to death.
6. Sin is aroused by the law and therefore no one could obtain righteousness through the law.
The Ministry and Functions of the Law (Romans 7:7 – 13)
In Paul’s time new converts were asking, “What good is the Law if we don’t need it any more?”
Roman 7:7 – 13 is Paul’s answer. Many other Scripture verses also support Paul’s explanations.
1. The Law reveals sin (Romans 7:7)
“Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin” (Romans 3:20, NKJV, emphasis added).
“…. For where there is no law there is no transgression” (Romans 4:15).
The Ten Commandments are part of the Law. The last of the Ten Commandments concerns “covetousness” – “You shall not covet …” (Exodus 20:17) which differs from the other nine Commandments that it is an inward attitude and not an outward action. Covetousness leads to the breaking of the other commandments. It is an insidious sin that most people never recognize in their own lives, but God’s Law reveals it.
A perfect example of the use of the Law to reveal sin and show a man’s need for a savior is the story of the Rich Young Ruler (Mark 10:17 – 22). The young man was morally right outwardly, but he had never faced the sins within. When Jesus told him to sell his goods and give to the pour, the man went away in great sorrow. The Commandment “You shall not covet” had revealed to him what a sinner he really was! Instead of admitting his sin, he rejected Christ and went away unconverted.
2. The Law arouses sin (Romans 7:8, 9)
Paul, a devout Pharisee was seeking righteousness by obeying the Law before his encounter with Jesus.
But, after his conversion he said, “… that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; …” (Philippians 3:8, 9).
Paul also said, “The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law” (2 Cor. 15:56).
In other words, the law gives strength to sin or the law arouses sin. We are born with a sinful nature and the natural tendency of everyone is to disobey any given law. Something in the fallen human nature wants to rebel whenever a law is given. Here is an illustration:
A mother was telling her little girl not to touch her lipstick when she is away. But the moment the mother was not around the first thing the little girl wanted to do was to mess herself up with her mother’s lipstick! The sinful desire in the little girl was aroused by the law of her mother!
3. The Law kills (Romans 7:10, 11)
The Law kills and cannot give life; it can only show the sinner that he is guilty and condemned:
Paul said, “For if there had been a law given which could have given life, truly righteousness would have been by the law” (Gal. 3:21).
This explains why legalistic Christians and local Churches do not grow and bear spiritual fruit. Churchgoers are living by their own man-made laws and standard which make them feel guilty and condemned when they break their own laws!
Paul said, “But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law” (Gal. 5:18).
So, if a Christian finds himself under the law, the Spirit takes no part in his Christian walk!
There are many Pastors and Preachers who preach their sermons based on books of human philosophies and psychology and wisdom of men. The Internet is full of doubtful Christian materials. We have no lack of information, but what the Church lacks is revelation! If we are not careful we will start to follow a human leader or a “great man of God” and accept his teachings as law. This practice is a very subtle form of legalism, and it kills spiritual growth. No human teacher can take the place of Christ; no book can take the place of the Bible. Men can give us information, but only the Spirit of God can give us illumination and help us understand spiritual truths.
4. The Law shows the sinfulness of sin (Romans 7:12, 13)
Unsaved people and the so-called Christians know that there is such a thing as sin; but they do not realize the sinfulness of sin or the true nature of sin. We excuse our sins with words like “mistakes” or “weaknesses”. But God condemns our sins and tries to get us to see that they are “exceedingly sinful” (Verse 13). Until we realize how wicked sin really is, we will never want to oppose it and live in victory.
Paul’s conclusion is the Law is not sinful – it is holy, just, good and spiritual. The problem is not with the Law; the problem is with our sinful nature!
What the Law fails to do (Romans 7:14 – 25)
Having explained what the Law is supposed to do, Paul went on to explain what the Law cannot do.
1. The Law cannot change us (Romans 7:14)
Paul said the Law is “spiritual” because it deals with the inner man, the heart of man or the spiritual part of man.
We must not forget that in the original giving of the Law in Exodus, the emphasis was on the outward actions. But when Moses restated the Law in Deuteronomy, he emphasized the inner quality of the Law as it relates to man’s heart. This spiritual emphasis is stated clearly in Deuteronomy 10:12 – 13 by the use of the word “love”.
Our old nature is fleshly or carnal; but the Law’s nature is spiritual. This explains why the old nature respond as it does to the Law. Someone has said, “The old nature knows no Law, the new nature needs no Law”. The Law cannot transform the old nature; it can only reveal how sinful that old nature is. The believer who tries to live under Law will only activate the old nature; he will not eradicate it.
2. The Law cannot enable us to do good (Romans 7:15 – 21)
Paul repeatedly said that because of sin which dwells in our old nature we are not able to do the good that we want to do; but to do the evil that we do not want to do.
Paul was saying that of himself he could not obey God’s Law; and that even when he did, evil was still present with him. No matter what he did, his deeds were tainted by sin.
The truth is, it impossible for us to obey the Law because we have a sinful nature that rebels against the Law. Even if we think we have done good, we know that evil is present. The Law is good, but by nature, we are bad!
3. The Law cannot set us free (Romans 7:21 – 24)
The believer has an old nature that wants to keep him in the bondage of sin. He tries to overcome his old nature with the Law, but the Law cannot deliver him from the old nature.
The fact is that the inward man may delight in the Law of God:
“Make me walk in the path of Your commandments, for I delight in it” (Psalm 119:35).
But, the old nature delights in breaking the Law of God!
That is the reason why Paul said, “O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death” (Romans 7:24).
What could be more wretched than exerting all our energy and effort to try to live a godly and blameless life, only to discover that the best we can do is still not good enough?
The Way out
Deliverance comes in Roman 8:
“There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit” (Romans 8:1, NKJV, emphasis added).
Those who are “in Christ Jesus” are true Christians who “walk according to the Spirit”.
“And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit” (Gal. 5:24, 25).
In other words, those who are still in the flesh do not belong to Christ!
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
Legalism and a Life of Faith
Paul in his Epistle to the Romans identified two groups of Christians who were living in two opposing extremes. One group said, since they were saved by grace, they were free to live as they please (Romans 6:1, 2, 15). Another group said, even though they were saved by grace they cannot ignore God’s Law. They must live under the Law if they were to please God. Paul answered the first group in Chapter 6; the second group he answered in chapter 7.
This message deals with what Paul said about legalism and a life of faith of individual Christians and the Christian Church.
It is important to note that Christians cannot live a legalistic Christian life and a life of faith in Christ at the some time. It is mutually exclusive; it is one way or the other. Essentially, legalism is the belief that a Christian can become holy and please God by obeying Laws (Old Testament Laws and any man-made laws). It is measuring spirituality by a list of do’s and don’ts. The weakness of legalism is that it sees sins but not the root of sins. It majors on the minor. It judges by outward appearance and not the inward. Furthermore, the legalist fails to understand the real purpose of God’s Law and the relationship between the Law and the Spirit.
In Romans Chapter 7 Paul was contrasting the way of the Law and the way of the Spirit. He used the illustration of the union between a husband and his wife to show that the believer has a new relationship to the Law because of his union with Jesus Christ:
“Or do you not know, brethren (for I speak to those who know the law), that the law has dominion over a man as long as he live? For the woman who has a husband is bound by the law to her husband as long as he lives. But if the husband dies, she is released from the law of her husband. So then if, while her husband lives, she marries another man, she will be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from the law, so that she is no adulteress, though she has married another man. Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another – to Him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God” (Romans 7:1 – 4, NKJV, emphasis added).
Here are some observations:
1. Marriage is a physical union. When a man and a woman marry, they are united for life:
“Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh” (Gen. 2:24, NKJV).
As long as they live, the husband and wife are under the authority of the law of marriage (the Marriage Covenant). If the wife leaves her husband and marries another man, she commits adultery. But if the husband dies, she is free to remarry because she is no longer a wife. It is physical death that has broken the marriage relationship and sets her free.
2. God’s people married to the Law when they were under the Law – in spiritual union, as in the Old Testament. When Christ came we were set free from the bondage of the Law and “married” to the Lord in grace. God’s people were married to the Law only while they were under the Law. The Body of Christ (the Church) is now married to Jesus Christ (the Head of the Christ) and so the Church must not go back to get “married” again to the Law. The Law did not die, because God’s Law still rules over men. We died to the Law (set free from the Law), and it no longer has dominion over us. If we go back to be under the Law again we are like committing spiritual adultery!
Legalism is Spiritual adultery
Paul realized that there was temptation for Christians who were brought into the liberty of the Spirit by faith to soon slip back into the Law – into a legalistic way of living the Christian life. He addressed this important issue in many of his epistles:
“…. a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for the works of the law no flesh shall be justified” (Gal. 2:16).
“Therefore, if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to regulations – do not touch, do not taste, do not handle, ….” (Col. 2:20, 21).
There are many denominational Churches that demand their members to follow the legalistic way Church life – you must not speak in tongue, you must re-baptize, you must not take the Holy Communion in any other Church, you must do this and do that and you must not do this or that. They have the same pattern of worship service every week, in spite of the fact that we are liberated and freed by the Spirit to be led by the Spirit. Paul said we must not to be under the bondage of any legalism.
Legalism will not please God
The trouble is some Churchgoers find great security in their legalistic attitude. They find great safety in all the tradition of their Church life. People are so easily comforted by which is secured and known. So, if you have a written law – this is what you have to do, and this is what you are not to do, you will know what the Church wants you to do. All you need to know are nicely tabulated. Whether you will do it or not is another matter. But at least you know what you are supposed to be doing. A structured type of worship service is a form of legalism. The Holy Spirit is not allowed to have any freedom at all.
A certain amount of form or structure is needed in Church services and living our own daily life in our own home. But the structure is such that it allows liberty and freedom of the Spirit – and not to contain and restrict the move of the Spirit of God.
Paul said, “Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty” (2 Cor. 3:17).
Paul points out two major facts about the presence and influence of the Holy Spirit in a congregation. The first is that the Holy Spirit is Lord. The second is that where the lordship of Holy Spirit in the Church is acknowledged, the result in a congregation is “liberty” or “freedom”.
However, Paul is not teaching or proclaiming go-and-do-as-you-like attitude. That is not what freedom means. True freedom is being set free by the Holy Spirit who is the Lord. Paul said, do not let your life becomes structured by legalism. If it is, you will be falling back to the bondage of the old. You cannot please God through a legalistic form of Christianity. You cannot please God by imagining that He sent His Holy Spirit into your life in order that you might now try to please Him! Paul said God sent His Holy Spirit into your life in order that you might follow the way of the Spirit
Why can’t we please God with a legalistic form of worship? Well, simply because the way of the law does not allow faith to operate! You do not need faith to follow a legalistic structure. You do not need to trust the Holy Spirit. You just have to do exactly what the Law (or any man-made law) says!
The writer of Hebrews said, without faith it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6).
Therefore it is not possible for anyone to please God with legalism. Therefore a Church with legalistic structure cannot please God!
God wants us to “walk on water”
If we are to have faith then we need to be liberated from the Old in order to trust in the New. This is what “Renewal of Faith” really means. To say, “Lord, I need more faith” is not the answer. God wants us to show him we have the faith to “walk on water” with our eyes fixed upon Him!
Matthew 14:22 – 33 tells the story concerning the failure of Peter when he attempted to walk on the water.
In the beginning Peter stepped out of the boat onto the water when he heard Jesus said, “come”. He fixed his eyes on the Lord as he began to walk on the water. Then he began to listen to his fear and he became conscious of the waves and the wind. The moment he took his eyes from the Lord he began to sink.
“But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, ‘Lord, save me!’ And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, ‘O you of little faith, why did you doubt?’” (Matt. 14:30, 31)
My comment is that if Peter who took the initiative to walk on water was a person of little faith, what about the faith of the rest of disciples who were on the boat?
God wants us to live by faith and not by sight (2 Cor. 5:7). To live by faith is to step out from the security of our legalistic Christian life and to begin to walk on water – on that which we do not know to be saved except that it is what the Lord God said. If we put our trust in what He said it will not be on water, but on the Rock!
The Church needs to be liberated from the “security” of traditionalism, from the “security” of her legalistic structure, in order that we might live in the freedom God has already done in delivering us from the Law and bringing us into a walk of faith. If we fail to fixed our eyes upon Jesus who is the “author and finisher of our faith” (Hebrews 12:2) we are going to sink like Peter!
This message deals with what Paul said about legalism and a life of faith of individual Christians and the Christian Church.
It is important to note that Christians cannot live a legalistic Christian life and a life of faith in Christ at the some time. It is mutually exclusive; it is one way or the other. Essentially, legalism is the belief that a Christian can become holy and please God by obeying Laws (Old Testament Laws and any man-made laws). It is measuring spirituality by a list of do’s and don’ts. The weakness of legalism is that it sees sins but not the root of sins. It majors on the minor. It judges by outward appearance and not the inward. Furthermore, the legalist fails to understand the real purpose of God’s Law and the relationship between the Law and the Spirit.
In Romans Chapter 7 Paul was contrasting the way of the Law and the way of the Spirit. He used the illustration of the union between a husband and his wife to show that the believer has a new relationship to the Law because of his union with Jesus Christ:
“Or do you not know, brethren (for I speak to those who know the law), that the law has dominion over a man as long as he live? For the woman who has a husband is bound by the law to her husband as long as he lives. But if the husband dies, she is released from the law of her husband. So then if, while her husband lives, she marries another man, she will be called an adulteress; but if her husband dies, she is free from the law, so that she is no adulteress, though she has married another man. Therefore, my brethren, you also have become dead to the law through the body of Christ, that you may be married to another – to Him who was raised from the dead, that we should bear fruit to God” (Romans 7:1 – 4, NKJV, emphasis added).
Here are some observations:
1. Marriage is a physical union. When a man and a woman marry, they are united for life:
“Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh” (Gen. 2:24, NKJV).
As long as they live, the husband and wife are under the authority of the law of marriage (the Marriage Covenant). If the wife leaves her husband and marries another man, she commits adultery. But if the husband dies, she is free to remarry because she is no longer a wife. It is physical death that has broken the marriage relationship and sets her free.
2. God’s people married to the Law when they were under the Law – in spiritual union, as in the Old Testament. When Christ came we were set free from the bondage of the Law and “married” to the Lord in grace. God’s people were married to the Law only while they were under the Law. The Body of Christ (the Church) is now married to Jesus Christ (the Head of the Christ) and so the Church must not go back to get “married” again to the Law. The Law did not die, because God’s Law still rules over men. We died to the Law (set free from the Law), and it no longer has dominion over us. If we go back to be under the Law again we are like committing spiritual adultery!
Legalism is Spiritual adultery
Paul realized that there was temptation for Christians who were brought into the liberty of the Spirit by faith to soon slip back into the Law – into a legalistic way of living the Christian life. He addressed this important issue in many of his epistles:
“…. a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for the works of the law no flesh shall be justified” (Gal. 2:16).
“Therefore, if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to regulations – do not touch, do not taste, do not handle, ….” (Col. 2:20, 21).
There are many denominational Churches that demand their members to follow the legalistic way Church life – you must not speak in tongue, you must re-baptize, you must not take the Holy Communion in any other Church, you must do this and do that and you must not do this or that. They have the same pattern of worship service every week, in spite of the fact that we are liberated and freed by the Spirit to be led by the Spirit. Paul said we must not to be under the bondage of any legalism.
Legalism will not please God
The trouble is some Churchgoers find great security in their legalistic attitude. They find great safety in all the tradition of their Church life. People are so easily comforted by which is secured and known. So, if you have a written law – this is what you have to do, and this is what you are not to do, you will know what the Church wants you to do. All you need to know are nicely tabulated. Whether you will do it or not is another matter. But at least you know what you are supposed to be doing. A structured type of worship service is a form of legalism. The Holy Spirit is not allowed to have any freedom at all.
A certain amount of form or structure is needed in Church services and living our own daily life in our own home. But the structure is such that it allows liberty and freedom of the Spirit – and not to contain and restrict the move of the Spirit of God.
Paul said, “Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty” (2 Cor. 3:17).
Paul points out two major facts about the presence and influence of the Holy Spirit in a congregation. The first is that the Holy Spirit is Lord. The second is that where the lordship of Holy Spirit in the Church is acknowledged, the result in a congregation is “liberty” or “freedom”.
However, Paul is not teaching or proclaiming go-and-do-as-you-like attitude. That is not what freedom means. True freedom is being set free by the Holy Spirit who is the Lord. Paul said, do not let your life becomes structured by legalism. If it is, you will be falling back to the bondage of the old. You cannot please God through a legalistic form of Christianity. You cannot please God by imagining that He sent His Holy Spirit into your life in order that you might now try to please Him! Paul said God sent His Holy Spirit into your life in order that you might follow the way of the Spirit
Why can’t we please God with a legalistic form of worship? Well, simply because the way of the law does not allow faith to operate! You do not need faith to follow a legalistic structure. You do not need to trust the Holy Spirit. You just have to do exactly what the Law (or any man-made law) says!
The writer of Hebrews said, without faith it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6).
Therefore it is not possible for anyone to please God with legalism. Therefore a Church with legalistic structure cannot please God!
God wants us to “walk on water”
If we are to have faith then we need to be liberated from the Old in order to trust in the New. This is what “Renewal of Faith” really means. To say, “Lord, I need more faith” is not the answer. God wants us to show him we have the faith to “walk on water” with our eyes fixed upon Him!
Matthew 14:22 – 33 tells the story concerning the failure of Peter when he attempted to walk on the water.
In the beginning Peter stepped out of the boat onto the water when he heard Jesus said, “come”. He fixed his eyes on the Lord as he began to walk on the water. Then he began to listen to his fear and he became conscious of the waves and the wind. The moment he took his eyes from the Lord he began to sink.
“But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, ‘Lord, save me!’ And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, ‘O you of little faith, why did you doubt?’” (Matt. 14:30, 31)
My comment is that if Peter who took the initiative to walk on water was a person of little faith, what about the faith of the rest of disciples who were on the boat?
God wants us to live by faith and not by sight (2 Cor. 5:7). To live by faith is to step out from the security of our legalistic Christian life and to begin to walk on water – on that which we do not know to be saved except that it is what the Lord God said. If we put our trust in what He said it will not be on water, but on the Rock!
The Church needs to be liberated from the “security” of traditionalism, from the “security” of her legalistic structure, in order that we might live in the freedom God has already done in delivering us from the Law and bringing us into a walk of faith. If we fail to fixed our eyes upon Jesus who is the “author and finisher of our faith” (Hebrews 12:2) we are going to sink like Peter!
Wednesday, July 05, 2006
The Righteous Requirement of the Law
The theme of Paul’s Epistle to the Romans is righteousness. In this Epistle Paul explained to the Christians in Rome how to achieve righteousness without observing Moses Law.
Paul said, “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, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to but according to the Spirit” (Romans 8:3, 4, NKJV, emphasis added).
Here are some observations:
1. Because of the sinful nature of the natural man it is not possible for anyone to achieve righteousness by keeping Moses Law. The Law was given by God and therefore perfect (Rom 7:12). But, the fault was not in the Law; the fault is in us. God has never expected us to achieve righteousness by keeping the Law of Moses.
2. Therefore, God has provided an alternative way through the sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross. Jesus gave His life as an atonement for the sins of all those who have broken the Law and also for the sins of those who have not been under the Law.
3. For those who believed and are walking in the Spirit the righteous requirement of the law is fulfilled.
The Scripture revealed that even Old Testament saints were concerned about righteousness.
Job asked the question, “Truly I know it is so, but how can a man be righteous before God” (Job 9:2)?
Hundreds of years later God gave the answer in Paul’s Epistle to the Romans (Romans 8).
Love is the Righteous Requirement of the Law
The following verses of Scripture confirmed that “LOVE” is the righteous requirement of the Law.
1. A lawyer was testing Jesus by asking Him which was the great commandment in the law.
“Jesus said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind’. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets’” (Matthew 22:36 – 40, NKJV, emphasis added).
The Law and the Prophets represent the entire Old Testament Scripture. Jesus indicated that the first two of the ten commandments of loving God and loving our neighbors as ourselves fulfilled the Old Testament righteousness.
2. Paul said, “For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself’” (Gal 5:14, emphasis added).
The one word is “love”.
3. Jesus said, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13: 34, 35, emphasis added).
“To love one another” is the only New Testament commandment to fulfill all the ten commandments. By loving one another Christians are showing the world that we are His disciple. This is the testimony Christians will reach the whole world for Christ!
4. Paul wrote to Timothy, “But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. For some men, straying from these things, have turned aside to fruitless discussion” (1 Timothy 1:5, 6, NAS, emphasis added).
God is seeking “love” in His people which expresses in three ways – through a pure heart, good conscience and sincere faith. This is the kind of love that Paul expected Timothy to express through his instructions (teaching and preaching) to Christians believers.
In my opinion if you are a Pastor you must aim at producing love in the people who listen to you. If you are not aiming to producing love everything else is just idle talk or vain discussion and empty words! The goal of all Christian ministry is love. The will of God for Christian living is the consistent expression of divine love.
The Evidence of Being Born Again
Most apostles said the evidence of being born again is “love”.
1. Peter wrote to the Jewish believers who had been born again but were struggling in the midst of persecution:
“Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart, having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever” (1 Peter 1:22, 23, NKJV, emphasis added).
It is clear that the primary evidence of being born again is to love one another fervently with a pure heart. Being born again is therefore a total life transformation.
2. John said, “We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides in death. Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him” (1 John 3:14, 15, emphasis added).
Clearly, a person who is born again has passed from death to life.
3. Paul wrote to the Church in Thessalonians, “But concerning brotherly love you have no need that I should write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another” (1 Thess. 4:9, emphasis added).
4. Paul said, “Therefore be imitators of God dear children. And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma” (Ephesians 5:1, 2).
As God’s children if we are imitators of God we will walk in love because “God is love” (1 John 4:16).
In my opinion, in the contemporary Church many people who claim to be born again do not want to undergo any radical life transformation. They just want to be respected as being born again Christians. They only think of themselves as nice people who go to Church and are heading to heaven. To them Christianity becomes a cliche and no more than a passport to heaven. Their relationship with God is not secured but shaky.
The Evidence of Knowing God
The primary evidence of a person who claims to know God is “love”. This is logical, because as God is love (1 John 4:16), a person who does not know God does not know what “love” is!
John said, “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God, for God is love. In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him” (1 John 4:7 – 9).
Notice that the “love” that John spoke about is “love of the brethren” or “brotherly kindness” referred to in 2 Peter 1:7. This is different from the “natural affection” that Paul referred to in 2 Timothy 3:3 which is the type of natural love shown by both the natural man (unconverted man) and Christian toward his family members.
How God imparts love to His people?
“Love” is not one of nine gifts of the Spirit, but nevertheless it originates from God and it is a gift of God for His people. The Scripture reveals two ways by which God imparts love to us.
1. By the Holy Spirit
“Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us” (Romans 5:5, emphasis added).
Paul was talking about divine love here. The word for “love” is the Greek word “agape” which is God’s own love. Agape love is not humanly achievable except by the Holy Spirit. We can never produce agape love in our natural man.
After the new birth, in the new nature that is produced by the new birth, the Holy Spirit pours out the totality of God’s love into our heart. There is no limit of this love, but the limit is our receiving it (Read John 7:37 – 39).
2. By His Word
Genesis Chapter One shows that creation took place when God spoke His Word in the presence of the Holy Spirit (Genesis 1:2, 3). Similarly, love being a creation of God, created in us also by His Word and the Holy Spirit.
Divine Love is the Fruit of the Holy Spirit
As mentioned earlier, God poured out His divine love in us without measure by the Holy Spirit. But, most of us are unable to receive the full measure of His love even when we are baptized in the Holy Spirit. Divine love, like all the rest of the Fruit of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22, 23), takes time to grow. As we grow in the knowledge of Him, His divine power in us causes us to grow in “all thing that pertain to life and godliness” (2 Peter 1:3).
Peter continued to say:
“But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, the self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love (2 Peter 1:5 – 7, NKJV, emphasis added).
Peter wrote about the progress in the Christian life. There is an up-building of the Christian character; the climax is divine love. It takes six steps to get there. We need to add these steps to our walk of faith in Him.
1. Virtue – or excellence. The first thing you do when you have been saved is to become excellent. When you are a doctor before you are saved then you become an excellent doctor. When you are a slave before you are saved then you become an excellent slave.
2. Knowledge – the knowledge of God. The knowledge of God is revealed through His Word. So, we have to read the Scripture “Till we come to the unity of faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:13).
3. Self-Control. Without self-control you’ll give in to lust, excessive appetite, yield to ungodly emotion and lose your temper. Without self-control you’ll fail to make progress in your Christian life.
4. Perseverance – endurance. In the process of maturing as a Christian you’ll encounter tests, trials and obstacles. Without perseverance you’ll give up. But Jesus said, “He who endures to the end shall be saved” (Mark 13:13).
5. Godliness. A godly person carries the presence of God with him wherever he goes. When he enters the room God enters with him.
6. Brotherly kindness – brotherly love. This is your love for your brethren. It means loving your fellow-believers. We need to admit that not all Christians are easy to love!
7. Love – divine or agape love. This is the climax of the Christian walk. This is the kind of love that helps us to love our enemies; love the people who persecute us, who don’t understand us, who are difficult to reason with.
Paul said, “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, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to but according to the Spirit” (Romans 8:3, 4, NKJV, emphasis added).
Here are some observations:
1. Because of the sinful nature of the natural man it is not possible for anyone to achieve righteousness by keeping Moses Law. The Law was given by God and therefore perfect (Rom 7:12). But, the fault was not in the Law; the fault is in us. God has never expected us to achieve righteousness by keeping the Law of Moses.
2. Therefore, God has provided an alternative way through the sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross. Jesus gave His life as an atonement for the sins of all those who have broken the Law and also for the sins of those who have not been under the Law.
3. For those who believed and are walking in the Spirit the righteous requirement of the law is fulfilled.
The Scripture revealed that even Old Testament saints were concerned about righteousness.
Job asked the question, “Truly I know it is so, but how can a man be righteous before God” (Job 9:2)?
Hundreds of years later God gave the answer in Paul’s Epistle to the Romans (Romans 8).
Love is the Righteous Requirement of the Law
The following verses of Scripture confirmed that “LOVE” is the righteous requirement of the Law.
1. A lawyer was testing Jesus by asking Him which was the great commandment in the law.
“Jesus said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind’. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets’” (Matthew 22:36 – 40, NKJV, emphasis added).
The Law and the Prophets represent the entire Old Testament Scripture. Jesus indicated that the first two of the ten commandments of loving God and loving our neighbors as ourselves fulfilled the Old Testament righteousness.
2. Paul said, “For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself’” (Gal 5:14, emphasis added).
The one word is “love”.
3. Jesus said, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13: 34, 35, emphasis added).
“To love one another” is the only New Testament commandment to fulfill all the ten commandments. By loving one another Christians are showing the world that we are His disciple. This is the testimony Christians will reach the whole world for Christ!
4. Paul wrote to Timothy, “But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. For some men, straying from these things, have turned aside to fruitless discussion” (1 Timothy 1:5, 6, NAS, emphasis added).
God is seeking “love” in His people which expresses in three ways – through a pure heart, good conscience and sincere faith. This is the kind of love that Paul expected Timothy to express through his instructions (teaching and preaching) to Christians believers.
In my opinion if you are a Pastor you must aim at producing love in the people who listen to you. If you are not aiming to producing love everything else is just idle talk or vain discussion and empty words! The goal of all Christian ministry is love. The will of God for Christian living is the consistent expression of divine love.
The Evidence of Being Born Again
Most apostles said the evidence of being born again is “love”.
1. Peter wrote to the Jewish believers who had been born again but were struggling in the midst of persecution:
“Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart, having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever” (1 Peter 1:22, 23, NKJV, emphasis added).
It is clear that the primary evidence of being born again is to love one another fervently with a pure heart. Being born again is therefore a total life transformation.
2. John said, “We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides in death. Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him” (1 John 3:14, 15, emphasis added).
Clearly, a person who is born again has passed from death to life.
3. Paul wrote to the Church in Thessalonians, “But concerning brotherly love you have no need that I should write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another” (1 Thess. 4:9, emphasis added).
4. Paul said, “Therefore be imitators of God dear children. And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma” (Ephesians 5:1, 2).
As God’s children if we are imitators of God we will walk in love because “God is love” (1 John 4:16).
In my opinion, in the contemporary Church many people who claim to be born again do not want to undergo any radical life transformation. They just want to be respected as being born again Christians. They only think of themselves as nice people who go to Church and are heading to heaven. To them Christianity becomes a cliche and no more than a passport to heaven. Their relationship with God is not secured but shaky.
The Evidence of Knowing God
The primary evidence of a person who claims to know God is “love”. This is logical, because as God is love (1 John 4:16), a person who does not know God does not know what “love” is!
John said, “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God, for God is love. In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him” (1 John 4:7 – 9).
Notice that the “love” that John spoke about is “love of the brethren” or “brotherly kindness” referred to in 2 Peter 1:7. This is different from the “natural affection” that Paul referred to in 2 Timothy 3:3 which is the type of natural love shown by both the natural man (unconverted man) and Christian toward his family members.
How God imparts love to His people?
“Love” is not one of nine gifts of the Spirit, but nevertheless it originates from God and it is a gift of God for His people. The Scripture reveals two ways by which God imparts love to us.
1. By the Holy Spirit
“Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us” (Romans 5:5, emphasis added).
Paul was talking about divine love here. The word for “love” is the Greek word “agape” which is God’s own love. Agape love is not humanly achievable except by the Holy Spirit. We can never produce agape love in our natural man.
After the new birth, in the new nature that is produced by the new birth, the Holy Spirit pours out the totality of God’s love into our heart. There is no limit of this love, but the limit is our receiving it (Read John 7:37 – 39).
2. By His Word
Genesis Chapter One shows that creation took place when God spoke His Word in the presence of the Holy Spirit (Genesis 1:2, 3). Similarly, love being a creation of God, created in us also by His Word and the Holy Spirit.
Divine Love is the Fruit of the Holy Spirit
As mentioned earlier, God poured out His divine love in us without measure by the Holy Spirit. But, most of us are unable to receive the full measure of His love even when we are baptized in the Holy Spirit. Divine love, like all the rest of the Fruit of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22, 23), takes time to grow. As we grow in the knowledge of Him, His divine power in us causes us to grow in “all thing that pertain to life and godliness” (2 Peter 1:3).
Peter continued to say:
“But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, the self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love (2 Peter 1:5 – 7, NKJV, emphasis added).
Peter wrote about the progress in the Christian life. There is an up-building of the Christian character; the climax is divine love. It takes six steps to get there. We need to add these steps to our walk of faith in Him.
1. Virtue – or excellence. The first thing you do when you have been saved is to become excellent. When you are a doctor before you are saved then you become an excellent doctor. When you are a slave before you are saved then you become an excellent slave.
2. Knowledge – the knowledge of God. The knowledge of God is revealed through His Word. So, we have to read the Scripture “Till we come to the unity of faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:13).
3. Self-Control. Without self-control you’ll give in to lust, excessive appetite, yield to ungodly emotion and lose your temper. Without self-control you’ll fail to make progress in your Christian life.
4. Perseverance – endurance. In the process of maturing as a Christian you’ll encounter tests, trials and obstacles. Without perseverance you’ll give up. But Jesus said, “He who endures to the end shall be saved” (Mark 13:13).
5. Godliness. A godly person carries the presence of God with him wherever he goes. When he enters the room God enters with him.
6. Brotherly kindness – brotherly love. This is your love for your brethren. It means loving your fellow-believers. We need to admit that not all Christians are easy to love!
7. Love – divine or agape love. This is the climax of the Christian walk. This is the kind of love that helps us to love our enemies; love the people who persecute us, who don’t understand us, who are difficult to reason with.
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