(Ephesians 2:8, Galatians 3:6, Romans 4:6-8, John 14:15)
We are justified by Yeshua the Messiah, and it is this grace that allows us admittance into the kingdom of God. But does that change the way that God wants us to live?
Abraham was justified by his faith in God (Gen 15:6, Rom 4:3, Gal 3:6) centuries before God gave the law to the Hebrew people. But that didn’t stop God from giving His instructions (His Torah). God, even then, saved the people because of their faith in Him, but He still gave the people instructions as to how He wanted them to live.
David rejoiced that even though he sinned, God would never hold sin against him (Ps 32:1-2). It was David’s faith in God that saved him, not his observance to the Father’s instructions. If it was that observance he would not be able to say, “blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.” The observance of the law is secondary here. God will not count David’s sin against him because of his righteousness. And his righteousness certainly has nothing to do with his works (David wrote this psalm after the whole Bathsheba affair), but everything to do with his faith in Yahweh, just like Abraham. If this is unclear, Paul clears it up when he says about this verse, “David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works…”
So, what does that mean for today?
Well, we have been justified by Jesus, but by our accepting Him as our redeeming Lord and Savior it is inherent that we should follow His commands, right? If we accept Him as Lord of our lives, we are accepting the definition of the word “lord”. According to dictionary.com the primary definition of the word “lord” is, “a person who has authority, control, or power over others; a master, chief, or ruler.” In today’s society the meaning of the word has kind of been lost. We no longer have any real contextual idea of what a lord is because we don’t live in a society where lords are a thing. The only time we even hear the word “lord” anymore is when we’re talking about religious things. So the word “lord” has, at this point, just become synonymous with Jesus or God (on a Christian level, at least.)
We don’t understand that when someone is your “Lord” they have authority over you. If they make commandments, or deliver statutes which you are to live by, well… you’ve got to follow those statutes. If you have accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you have proclaimed that you are going to live by His statutes. The disturbing realization may be that if you have accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior, but your life hasn’t changed from what it was like before your proclamation, then you have to wonder if you’ve ever actually accepted Him as your Lord and Savior. Or did you just say some words and hope that they would work like some sort of spell?
This isn’t to say that if you sin then you’re not saved. But when we invite Christ into our heart (to use some old school Christianese), there should be a noticeable change in us. Because God gave His Son to die for us, so that we no longer have to be slaves to sin, our response should be to set ourselves apart unto God.
I guess the question then becomes, what have you done today to show your love to God? It’s easy to question what it is to show our love to God. Many people over the years have had different answers as to what it is to show your love to God. Rick Warren said that you show your love to God by talking to Him.
Then there was another dude who was besties with Jesus. This is what he said…
For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome. (1Jo 5:3 NKJV)
And then there was Jesus. It appears that Rick Warren is on the wrong side of this one…
"If you love Me, keep My commandments. (Jhn 14:15 NKJV)
*words of Christ in red.
So, as for me, I’m going to attempt to keep God’s commandments to show my love for Him. I’ll leave it up to you to decide what are God’s commandments. But, we should probably note what God, Himself, has to say about His nature…
"For I the LORD do not change... (Mal 3:6 ESV)
We are justified by Yeshua the Messiah, and it is this grace that allows us admittance into the kingdom of God. But does that change the way that God wants us to live?
Abraham was justified by his faith in God (Gen 15:6, Rom 4:3, Gal 3:6) centuries before God gave the law to the Hebrew people. But that didn’t stop God from giving His instructions (His Torah). God, even then, saved the people because of their faith in Him, but He still gave the people instructions as to how He wanted them to live.
David rejoiced that even though he sinned, God would never hold sin against him (Ps 32:1-2). It was David’s faith in God that saved him, not his observance to the Father’s instructions. If it was that observance he would not be able to say, “blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.” The observance of the law is secondary here. God will not count David’s sin against him because of his righteousness. And his righteousness certainly has nothing to do with his works (David wrote this psalm after the whole Bathsheba affair), but everything to do with his faith in Yahweh, just like Abraham. If this is unclear, Paul clears it up when he says about this verse, “David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works…”
So, what does that mean for today?
Well, we have been justified by Jesus, but by our accepting Him as our redeeming Lord and Savior it is inherent that we should follow His commands, right? If we accept Him as Lord of our lives, we are accepting the definition of the word “lord”. According to dictionary.com the primary definition of the word “lord” is, “a person who has authority, control, or power over others; a master, chief, or ruler.” In today’s society the meaning of the word has kind of been lost. We no longer have any real contextual idea of what a lord is because we don’t live in a society where lords are a thing. The only time we even hear the word “lord” anymore is when we’re talking about religious things. So the word “lord” has, at this point, just become synonymous with Jesus or God (on a Christian level, at least.)
We don’t understand that when someone is your “Lord” they have authority over you. If they make commandments, or deliver statutes which you are to live by, well… you’ve got to follow those statutes. If you have accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you have proclaimed that you are going to live by His statutes. The disturbing realization may be that if you have accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior, but your life hasn’t changed from what it was like before your proclamation, then you have to wonder if you’ve ever actually accepted Him as your Lord and Savior. Or did you just say some words and hope that they would work like some sort of spell?
This isn’t to say that if you sin then you’re not saved. But when we invite Christ into our heart (to use some old school Christianese), there should be a noticeable change in us. Because God gave His Son to die for us, so that we no longer have to be slaves to sin, our response should be to set ourselves apart unto God.
I guess the question then becomes, what have you done today to show your love to God? It’s easy to question what it is to show our love to God. Many people over the years have had different answers as to what it is to show your love to God. Rick Warren said that you show your love to God by talking to Him.
Then there was another dude who was besties with Jesus. This is what he said…
For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome. (1Jo 5:3 NKJV)
And then there was Jesus. It appears that Rick Warren is on the wrong side of this one…
"If you love Me, keep My commandments. (Jhn 14:15 NKJV)
*words of Christ in red.
So, as for me, I’m going to attempt to keep God’s commandments to show my love for Him. I’ll leave it up to you to decide what are God’s commandments. But, we should probably note what God, Himself, has to say about His nature…
"For I the LORD do not change... (Mal 3:6 ESV)
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