Saturday, January 21, 2017

The law saves?

The Law does not save us in the legal sense (for we could not and cannot perfectly keep it, and never will).

But it absolutely *saves us in the practical sense by giving us clear direction on how to operate to the maximum of our capacity and design, and fully participate in the purpose we were created for. Without clear direction, we are a rudderless ship, driven by our fickle emotions and tossed in the storms of life, ready to be cast onto the rocks.

The law is a problem for us legally (which only Christ can and did satisfy), but not practically.

Practically, it guides us and delivers us from mediocrity, guiding us toward maximum flourishing. It provides us with clear direction in our pursuit of excellence for the glory of God.

Legally, it's impossible to fulfill in our own strength.

Our problem is not the law but complete trust in the lawgiver; a trust created by God himself by fulfilling the legal obligation of obedience to the law i.e. when we understand how Christ fulfilled the law so we might be fully restored to the Father, we trust him.

It is Christ's provision of perfect obedience that already perfectly satisfied our legal obligation to the law and delivers us from suffering the just consequences for violating it.

And 

The law gives us clear guidance on how to best live according to his will and our design (practically) for us.

"There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 

in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us

who walk not according to the flesh but according to the SpiritRom 8:1-4

Because Christ fulfilled the legal demands of obedience to the law, we no longer have to and can no longer be condemned for not doing so. Christ bore our condemnation for us, for our lack of faithful obedience, past, present, and future. If we are "in Christ," we are dead to sin's claim on us.

Now we are free to pursue God solely out of love - i.e. by or according to the Spirit - not out of the threat of rejection, condemnation, and judgment i.e. not according to the flesh. 

Perfect obedience is no longer an obligation to meet, satisfy, or fulfill to avoid rejection. Faithfulness to God - obedience - is now a passion within us driven by love i.e. by the Spirit

Living according to the law in order to be accepted and approved by God is no longer applicable. In Christ, we are already fully and perfectly accepted. We now seek to live "according to the law" to honor God, partake of him to the maximum of our design and potential as His image bearer.

For more discussion on the meaning of "according to the Spirit" and related terms or phrases, click here

For a further discussion on excellence, click here

For more discussion on what drives obedience, click here

For more discussion on "working out your salvation," click here
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*not directly but as a means or vehicle by which God guides and directs us. 






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Grace to you
Jim Deal