Romans Part 2 - FaithSample

THE CROSS EXALTS GOD'S GRACE AND CONFIRMS GOD'S LAW

Before the cross, there was the law, The Torah. The law was given to show men the perfect standard of God's righteousness. God knew that men would never be able to meet these standards under their own power. So, what was the purpose of the law?

It was to drive us to faith in God, to cause us to recognize how sinful we truly are.

Jesus explained, in the Sermon on the Mount, that the law is broken, not only by our sinful actions but also by our sinful thoughts. We sin, not just by murdering, for example, but by hating! We fail, not just by committing adultery, but by having lustful thoughts. James 2:10, says that the person who keeps all of the laws, except one, is as guilty as a person who has broken all of God's laws. How, then, do we qualify as righteous through the law!? We don't, or more accurately, we can't, under our own power.

It is through our faith in Jesus Christ, alone, that we are able to fulfill the requirements of the law.

God fulfilled the law through His perfect Son, Jesus Christ, and then invited us into partnership with His Son. Jesus satisfied the penalty of death and, through the cross, provided us with the potential of fulfilling it. This doesn't mean we are to be like the Pharisees and become hyper-religious and legalistic, but it also doesn't mean we are given free rein to willfully sin. John MacArthur said it this way:

"The greatest lie in the world is that by doing certain works of their own doing, men are able to make themselves acceptable to God. The greatest error in that belief is its sheer impossibility. But the greatest evil of that belief is that it robs God of His glory."

Self-love, self-interest, and selfish motivations are death to spiritual fruit and drive us further from God's grace and therefore, further from salvation. Through Jesus, we have God's grace in abundance to grow and learn through His Word. Our heart experiences conviction of sin, magnified by our knowledge of His law. Working in harmony with the Holy Spirit, the fruit of this process is evident (our righteousness) because Jesus Changes Everything.

-Ardena Hamill

Family Corner Devotional Questions

Because Jesus forgives us of our sins, do we have the freedom to do whatever we want?