Tag Archives: Law

Day 276: Take the high-road

Esther 7-10; Galatians 5

Esther concludes in dramatic fashion as she reveals Haman’s evil plot to destroy the Jews to the king. One of my favorite aspects of this story is how the foolishness of evil is revealed – especially in the ironic relationship between Haman and Mordecai. In the end, evil is defeated in the most humiliating of ways – as all of Haman’s evil plans come back on him!

But let’s turn our attention to Galatians 5, where Paul is continuing to persuade the Gentile Christians to not look to the law for salvation…

Look: I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. […] For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love (Galatians 5:2; 6).

And then Paul clarifies himself…

For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another (Galatians 5:13).

Paul then paints a vivid picture of how to live by faith. He instructs the Gentile Christians in Galatia to walk in the Spirit. He lists all the ways to live in the “flesh” and contrasts them with the fruit of living in the Spirit. The fascinating thing about these two lists is that they contrast the “works” we are able to accomplish in our own power with the “works” that the Spirit can accomplish through us. Do you see the difference? One list represents “our effort” and the other list represents “God’s effort.”

This is what we are able to accomplish with our sin nature at the helm: impurity, idolatry, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, dissensions, divisions, envy (5:19-21). I took out the “bad” sins just so we can more easily identify with this list…because all of this list – even the “bad” sins I omitted – are present in our churches today.

Contrast this with what God can produce in us by the power of His Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, self-control (5:22-23)….This is the way of faith.

When Paul says that we are “free from the law,” he is not saying we are no longer under moral obligation…No! We are to live a life surrendered to the Spirit – so that our lives can no longer be condemned by the law.

In a way, it’s a higher calling – made possible only by the Spirit’s working in our life!

Day 275: A false gospel

Esther 4-6; Galatians 4

The situation in Galatia is intriguing. Paul was originally detained in Galatia because of an unknown illness (4:13-14), so he took the opportunity to preach to the pagan Gentiles in the region. They received the gospel with joy and faith, and Paul left to continue his missionary journey. Then false teachers, trying to please the Jewish authorities, began to teach the new Gentile Christians in Galatia that they needed to also obey aspects of the Jewish law – such as circumcision and observing the holy days and festivals (4:10).

Paul was outraged! If the Galatian Christians received salvation through faith alone, then they should continue to live by faith alone! Adding requirements to the gospel makes it a false gospel… in essence, it is teaching that we are justified through works – which is impossible!

Paul continues to counter the false teachers by giving examples from the Old Testament that prove that justification has always been by faith and never by works (or the law). In Chapter 3, he pointed back to Abraham’s faith as an example (3:6) and also quoted from Habakkuk 2:4, “The righteous shall live by faith” (3:11). And in today’s reading, Paul contrasts the two sons of Abraham – saying that Ishmael represented slavery under the law, but Isaac was a child of the promise…he represented faith.

And then Paul does something extraordinary… he tells the Gentile Galatians – those who used to worship pagan gods – that they are also children of the promise; consequently, they are not under the law (4:28)! This is amazing! And a truth that should set us free from works-righteousness and help us to embrace the gospel of grace.

But we mustn’t think that God has forsaken those of Jewish heritage. ABSOLUTELY NOT! God has opened the gates of heaven to all who turn to Him in faith!

We see a picture of extraordinary faith in today’s reading from the Old Testament, as Esther, puts her life in God’s hands and acts on behalf of the Jewish people…

Then Esther told them to reply to Mordecai, “Go, gather all the Jews to be found in Susa, and hold a fast on my behalf, and do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my young women will also fast as you do. Then I will go to the king, though it is against the law, and if I perish, I perish” (Esther 4:15-16).

This is the kind of faith that pleases God… a self-sacrificing sort of faith, that surrenders everything into God’s hands. Self-justification through good works is an arrogant affront to God. The love of Christ is what compels us to good deeds because our salvation has been accomplished through his perfect work on the cross! When we add anything to the gospel, it becomes a false gospel!

Day 274: Faith & Law

Esther 1-3; Galatians 3

Today, we move on to the book of Esther – which is unique in the fact that it is the only book in the Bible which never mentions God by name. But God’s hand is woven throughout its pages – in the faith of the main characters as they trust Him for their very survival.

Today’s chapters serve to introduce us to the main players of the story. Mordecai and his cousin Esther, faithful Jews living under the gluttonous Persian king, are foiled by the evil and vain Haman who plots the annihilation of every Jew throughout Persia! This dramatic story will continue tomorrow, but for now let’s turn to Galatians 3…

Remember, Paul is writing to the churches throughout Galatia because even though they accepted the gospel of salvation through faith, they were being tempted by false teachers to add aspects of Jewish law to their new Christianity. We would call this “legalism” in our modern circles. Whatever you call it, it’s wrong!

Paul makes his argument stronger by pointing out the fact that Abraham was justified by faith before the Law was given. In other words, justification by faith trumps the law!

But if it’s impossible to be saved by observing the law, this leads to the question… why did God give the Law? This is a great question because the answer reveals a meaningful truth…

The purpose of the Law is to display the holy character of God and establish the standard for righteousness. So when we compare ourselves to this holy God and this perfect standard, we can respond in one of two ways… self-justification or repentance.

Consider Adam. He had one law. Just one. And Adam had the chance to repent immediately after he had sinned in the garden… But Adam chose self-justification instead of repentance. He made excuses. He did not own his sin and ask for forgiveness.

So what is our response when we break God’s law? Will we justify ourselves and make excuses for our sin? Or, will we own our sin and ask for forgiveness? In other words, will we repent?

Repentance and faith levels the playing field. No nation, gender or race has preferential treatment – for all have sinned, and all need to be saved. The covenant of grace is powerful enough to save anyone.

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise (Galatians 3:28-29).

Day 273: Humble faith

Psalm 132; Psalm 147; Psalm 149; Galatians 2

yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified (Galatians 2:16).

This is the crux of the gospel…and one of the hardest principles to live by – both for the first-century and modern-day Christian.

When Paul uses the word, “justified” he is referring to the legal term, “justification” which means “declared righteous.” Justification is binary… you’re either justified or you’re not, you’re either innocent or guilty. There are no “in-betweens” – no gray areas.

In order to be justified by the law, one would have to keep the whole law perfectly. And the only person to ever do this was Jesus.

When we inevitably fail to keep the law, we can choose one of two responses: Self-justification or humble repentance.

Knowledge of God’s loving-kindness can help us choose the humble path…

The Lord builds up Jerusalem; he gathers the outcasts of Israel. He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. The Lord lifts up the humble; he casts the wicked to the ground (Psalm 147:1-2;6).

The Psalmist doesn’t say, “The Lord lifts up the righteous,” he says, “The Lord lifts up the humble.” It’s interesting that the psalmist chooses the word “humble” as the antithesis to “wicked” in verse 6.

But if you think about it, humility is closely tied with righteousness – the kind of righteousness that comes through faith!

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!” (Galatians 2:20-21, NIV)

We don’t want to make Christ’s death meaningless by trusting in ourselves to obey the Law, do we? No! That’s preposterous! Our only hope is to turn to the Lord in humble faith – trusting that Christ’s perfect life and sacrifice are all we need for the salvation for our souls.

Day 272: Unmerited peace

Psalm 125; Psalm 126; Psalm 128; Psalm 129; Galatians 1

We are continuing our reading through the Psalms that would have been relevant to and/or sung by the restored people of Jerusalem.

These Psalms depict a Jerusalem at peace, secure in the protection of God. The restored community experienced the fulfillment of God’s peace in part. We look to the final and “full” fulfillment of His peace in the new Jerusalem!

This peace is made possible by Jesus, the Son of God, who put on flesh so that he might die in our place and take the penalty for our sin. And because of his resurrection, we too can share in his life. Jesus offers this new life to all who believe, both Jew and Gentile – and because he perfectly obeyed the law on our behalf, we are no longer under the law, but under grace.

It is this concept of grace, or unmerited favor, that has become a stumbling block for the Christians in Galatia. For false teachers were infiltrating the churches in Galatia trying to convince the newly converted Gentile Christians to be circumcised.

This is the context in which Paul is writing to the churches throughout Galatia. He begins by asserting that the gospel he preached is the only gospel and he defends his authority to preach this gospel. This authority was given to him by God, alone – in Christ, alone – by grace, alone!

Just like Paul, we have nothing to boast in apart from our life in Christ. The peace we have in our relationship with God and the peace that we will experience in the new Jerusalem is accomplished by God, alone – in Christ, alone – by grace, alone!!

Day 269: A gospel plan!

Nehemiah 11-13; 2 Corinthians 11

Today we come to the end of Nehemiah and to the end of the historical narratives. We have watched God’s covenant promises unfold to His people from the parting of the Red Sea, to the fall of Jericho, to the rise of David and the fall of the nation… We have seen God preserve a remnant out of the exiles in Babylon and read as they returned to first rebuild the temple and then repair the wall around Jerusalem.

In Nehemiah 12 we read of the people celebrating the completion of the wall. There was much joy in Jerusalem (Neh. 12:43)!

But as soon as Nehemiah left (to attend to the Persian king), everything fell apart. Nehemiah returned to Jerusalem to find that the people did not provide for the Levites, so the Levites had left the temple to work their land. One of the priests had let Nehemiah’s enemy, Tobiah, stay in one of the temple’s chambers. The people were buying and selling in Jerusalem each Sabbath, and worst of all, they were intermarrying with foreign women.

Nehemiah did his best to make things right. But you have to believe that even Nehemiah’s best wasn’t good enough to overcome the people’s sin nature. They needed a Savior – not a political savior – but a savior to change their hearts – to give them a heart of flesh – so as to change them from the inside out!

This is the gospel – that God sent his Son to satisfy the law on our behalf. As we trust in him for our salvation, His Spirit enters and regenerates our hearts. This is the beautiful mystery. This is the gospel!

And it is this gospel that Paul is so fiercely defending in 2 Corinthians 11. For false teachers had infiltrated the church and were turning his flock away from the true gospel. Paul was forced to boast in his qualifications to persuade the Corinthians to not be deceived by the false teachers in their midst.

Ironically, Paul boasts in his weakness as proof of his apostleship! This is the beauty of the gospel!!! We come to God as weak sinners in desperate need to be saved. We come to him as law-breakers and he receives us, and forgives us and breathes His life into our dry bones. We can boast in our weakness, for when we are weak, He can be strong through us.

Poor Nehemiah was fighting an impossible battle. The people would spiral away from the law eventually. It was inevitable…but God had a plan! And it was a gospel plan!!

Day 268: The joy of the Lord

Nehemiah 8-10

These chapters in Nehemiah are a foretaste of the final restoration we will experience in the new heaven and new earth! They depict the beautiful renewed relationship between God and His people. It begins with the people assembling together to hear the reading of the Law.

This was an important occasion. They had even built a platform on which Ezra would stand as he read. And as he read, the Levites were stationed throughout the crowd to ensure the people understood!

They read from the book, from the Law of God, clearly, and they gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading (Nehemiah 8:8).

After hearing and understanding the Law, the people wept over their sin (Neh. 8:9). This response from the people proves that they really understood what was read. Because then they could see how great their sin and the sins of their forefathers really were.

But Ezra and Nehemiah told the people not to weep – it was to be a day of celebration! The people were to rejoice over their renewed relationship with their God. It is in this context that Nehemiah says the well-known verse… “Do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is our strength” (Neh. 8:10).

What was the source of God’s joy? The humble repentance of His people!!

After the priests recounted Israel’s long and troublesome history (Neh. 9), they renewed their covenant relationship with God by committing to uphold the Mosaic Law (Neh. 10).

The gospel is found in the vivid details of this passage. God’s word should cause us to grieve over our sin. But we have a God who really loves us. We can approach His throne to find grace and forgiveness because of the value He places on His relationship with us! He rejoices over our repentance. He is happy to renew and restore us… And from God’s joy, we are given the strength to stand – forgiven – in His presence! 

May our penitent hearts be his joy, and may His grace be our strength!

Day 263: Leadership (Biblical-style), pt. 1

Ezra 7-8; 2 Corinthians 6:1-13

Ezra and Paul – both were amazing leaders…

Today’s passage in Ezra fast-forwards 57 years from the building of the temple to describe Ezra, the priest, coming to Jerusalem. We learn from the text that Ezra wasn’t just any priest…he could trace his lineage all the way back to Aaron. He also had authority from the king of Persia AND extensive knowledge of the law of Moses. But in addition to all of his earthly qualifications, he dedicated himself to serving God and studying His law (Ezra 7:10). He was uniquely qualified to lead the people of God. 

Now consider Paul’s testimony from our reading in 2 Corinthians…He was beaten, imprisoned and starved (among other afflictions) yet he persevered in his apostolic calling (2 Cor. 6:4-10) . Paul’s leadership was refined through weakness – and because of Paul’s weakness – the power of God was revealed. Paul was also uniquely qualified to lead the people of God.

Both leaders respected and loved the Lord, His word and His people. But above all, they gave their very lives in service to their God. Leadership begins with service and requires great sacrifice. Are you cut out to be a leader in God’s kingdom? If so, get used to being on your knees – in humble reliance on God for all he’s called you to be!

Day 233: The source of salvation

Isaiah 10-12; Romans 14

Consider the context of Isaiah’s writings… Syria and the northern Kingdom of Israel were threatening Judah. King Ahaz reached out to the great world power, Assyria, for help – and then Isaiah looked into the future to see that Assyria was God’s chosen instrument of judgment against the Northern Kingdom of Israel – Assyria would completely destroy Israel – and most of the cities of Judah – but God would not allow them to destroy Jerusalem.

So it is in this context in which Isaiah is writing – he writes that Assyria is just a tool in God’s hands – that this world-super-power would be utterly destroyed – as judgment for the destruction of God’s people.

And then Isaiah looks forward to the day when God would gather his remnant and the Messiah would rule in peace.

There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,
and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.
And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him,
the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and might,
the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord (Isaiah 11:1-2).

Out of the stump… God’s judgment would reduce Israel to a stump, but from this stump would come the Messiah! And from the Messiah would come salvation! This salvation was a supernatural salvation – the kind that King Ahaz scorned for a short-sighted, political savior.

Where do you look for salvation?

Do you look to Christ, alone, for salvation – or, like Ahaz, do you look for help from worldly sources? Our salvation is based on grace that comes through faith. Romans 14 reveals that the gospel of Jesus Christ nullifies many of the Jewish “ceremonial” laws. These laws were sacred to Israel because it gave them a way to be symbolically righteous. In other words, if they adhered to the strict diet, observed the festivals and performed ceremonial washings, they could be clean.

But those things don’t save!!!! Jesus came and set us free from the demands of the law ! We are free to obey by faith – so there is no room for judgment.

For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit (Romans 14:7).

Both Isaiah and Paul were trying to focus the eyes of their readers on the source of salvation. Ahaz was looking to Assyria for help. The Jews were still relying on their laws to gain righteousness. Both pursuits were in vain.

Jesus is the beginning and the end, the source of all things. He is our Salvation. In Him, alone, we will trust!

“Behold, God is my salvation;
I will trust, and will not be afraid;
for the Lord God is my strength and my song,
and he has become my salvation” (Isaiah 12:2).

Day 224: The battle within

2 Chronicles 33-34; Romans 7

We all have a mix of king Manasseh (evil) and king Josiah (faithful) in us. Romans 7 describes the tension between our new, regenerate nature and our old, sinful nature. It is the tension between the now (that we have been saved from the power of sin) and the not yet (that we still live in a sinful body) that causes Paul to cry out at the end of the chapter, “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” (Romans 7:24).

But hear this… Manasseh, the most evil king that ever ruled Judah, the king who placed idols in the temple and sacrificed his children in the fire… when this evil king humbled himself before God and asked for help, God rescued him from his distress.

Manasseh’s apostasy still carried great consequences – as it was his evil influence that led the people so far away from God’s law that God promised to judge them with destruction and exile (2 Kings 21:11-15). The people’s sin was so heinous that not even the faithful King Josiah could turn away God’s judgment. But. The judgment was delayed – first because Manasseh repented, and second, because of Josiah’s faithfulness.

We all struggle with sin. Even Paul struggled with sin! But consider the common thread that runs throughout the Old and New Testaments… If we humble ourselves – that is… if we repent – God is faithful to forgive and restore. (If he restored the evil king Manasseh, then he can forgive anybody!)

But God not only forgives, he works his righteousness into our hearts – like a potter molding his clay. In other words, he sanctifies us. But I’m jumping ahead! Paul teaches about the work of the Spirit in sanctification in Chapter 8, and we’ll get to that… tomorrow :)