The Law given to the nation of Israel was is a necessary precursor to the law of the Spirit.
“But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” (Galatians 5:22-23)
The Spirit does what the Law could never do.
The law is exterior to us. It imposes a standard for us to follow, but it does not give us the desire or the power to follow it. The Spirit gives us both.
Continue reading “The Law Foreshadows the Spirit”
“Now we see as if in a mirror dimly… but then we will see face to face.”
Corinthians 13:12 (ESV)
The filter through which we see God is the physical, spiritual, emotional and conscious person we see staring back at us in the mirror. Our perspective of God comes filtered through our own selves.
Think about that for a moment….
If our sense of who we are is distorted, our view of God is distorted. If we don’t see ourselves accurately, we can’t see God accurately. Having an accurate view of God requires us to have an accurate view of who we are.
Continue reading “Viewing God in the Mirror of Our Lives”
“For it is God who works in you….” (Phil. 2:13)
When we think in terms of being obedient to God and living for God, we tend to think about results. Results are achievement oriented. Our whole world in Western society is ordered that way. It’s no wonder that we think in those terms about our spiritual lives.
The results we recall tend to be the accomplishments we have achieved.
God’s perspective is wholly different than ours. He doesn’t consider what we have accomplished, but what HE has been allowed to accomplish in us. We are participants in that accomplishment, but only as the ground receives the rain that falls upon it. Continue reading “As the Ground Receives the Rain”
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Every action, every decision we make in our lives has eternal consequence.
Do you believe that is true? Do you live like that is true? Think about it for a moment:
“For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil.” (Ecclesiastes 12:14)
God will bring every act to judgment.
Even the hidden things, the things that no one but I (you) know about is exposed to God. We cannot go anywhere that God is not present. (Psalm 139)
God knows our thoughts too. (Psalm 139:2) Jesus made it clear that anyone who is angry with his brother is guilty of murder (Matthew 5:21-22); and anyone who lusts after a woman is guilty of adultery (Matthew 5:27-28). Our thoughts are subject to the scrutiny of God as well as our actions.
If we would follow the example of Paul, we need to “take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.” (2 Corinthians 10:5)
Every action, every thought, has an eternal consequence. It should be no surprise, therefore, that inaction also has eternal consequence. Indeed, “to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin.” (James 4:17)
Believers who live by faith are not living under condemnation. “There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ.” (Romans 8:1) But that is no license to go on sinning. (Romans 6:1) As Paul said, “How shall we who died to sin still live in it?” (Romans 6:2)
We have been set free from sin, but where is the fruit? It is the fruit of this freedom that leads to sanctification and results in eternal life (Romans 6:22); if indeed we are attached to the vine that bears this fruit, we will bear fruit. Jesus sacrificed Himself and rose from the dead precisely so that we may bear fruit for God. (Romans 7:4)
God is looking for fruit from us.
Consider the parable of the talents in Matthew 25:14-30 God does not give the same measure of talents to all of us, but he is looking for us to use what He gave us and not bury it in the ground. What we do with this time God has allotted us has eternal consequences.
“Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.” (Ephesians 5:15-17)
“[W]alk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.” (Colossians 1:10)
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