Since rules stimulate us to sin (Romans 7:5), what is the believer to do with the commandments of the New Testament? Didn’t Jesus say that if we love him, we will keep His commandments? (See John 14:15) He did indeed. Yet when grace rules one’s life, he will approach the commandments of the New Testament with a totally different attitude than the legalist. Legalism presents the commandments as divine ultimatums coming from a harsh Judge. When law rules a person, the tone of the words of Jesus are heard like this: “If you love me, you had better keep my commandments.” A grace walk causes the Christian to face the commandments with eager anticipation, not with fear and intimidation. This believer understands the words of Jesus when he said, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” When we love Jesus, we will keep His commandments. Obedience is the natural response of the Christian who loves Jesus. We have already learned that without love, the only thing we have to offer is lifeless compliance. Love is the basis for our obedience, not laws.
John stressed the relationship between love and our obedience to God’s commandments when he said, “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome” (1 John 5:3). It’s not a strain for a Christian who is walking in grace to obey the commandments of God. It is a pleasure to be obedient!
As I write this, I am in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where I will spend the whole week. Suppose I were to ask for your advice concerning my responsibilities to my wife when I return home. How would you respond if I asked you whether or not I must kiss my wife when she picks me up at the airport on Saturday? What would you think if I were to seriously ask you what I should do when she greets me at the airport? You would probably assume that, since I asked a question like that, something must be wrong with my relationship to my wife. In a healthy marriage, a man wouldn’t ask such a foolish question. The fact is that when I see Melanie on Saturday I will kiss her. I can assure you that it won’t be duty which motivates me. My love for my wife will animate my actions at that moment.
The commandments of the New Testament do have a place in a life of grace. They present a beautiful blueprint which illustrates what a lifestyle looks like when it is empowered with the divine expression of the life of Jesus. When grace rules, we approach the Bible saying, “Lord, show me in Your Word all the ways that Jesus can express His life through me.” Then when we come across commandments, we may exclaim with excitement, “Great! Here’s a way that Christ can express His life through my lifestyle!” So the commandments are not a burden, but instead are a great blessing.
Grace causes our motivation toward obedience to be love and desire. There was a time before we were saved when we had no inner desire to live a godly lifestyle. “ But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter” (Romans 7:6). In this newness of the Spirit, we remind ourselves that we died to the law and are no longer obligated to religious rules. Finally we are free to serve God because we want to, not because we have to do it. Legalists aren’t free to serve the Lord, they are obligated to do it.
“Ought to” is the ammunition for the legalist’s gun. It will kill your joy every time it hits you. Is your life built around rules? Are you fulfilled in life? Sin’s secret weapon is the power of the law, but our weapon against legalism is our love for Jesus Christ. While laws ultimately lead to certain failure, grace always produces the victory that only Christ can give.
(This article is an excerpt from my book Grace Rules. For more information on the book, click this link: Buy Grace Rules Here
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This is so true Steve. The line of demarcation is found in gratitude not obligation this is hard for some to grasp. One comes out of sonship and the other out of slavery. The fruit can often be seen in the emotion it generates. To a son a pleasure in the Father’s company - to a servant a duty performed with no lasting satisfaction but a dreary expectation of the next set of orders.
ReplyDeleteI think it is so important that one understands that God found fault with the 1st covenant and that it was made obsolete and that this is not the law that is written on our hearts, but rather the very nature of God is written on our hearts crying out ABBA.
Obedience may be the natural impulse or desire of the heart *IN* response, but it cannot be the natural response itself, because obedience must be learned. Scripture states even Christ had to LEARN obedience (Hebrews 5:8) through the things He suffered. Obedience can spring up in the desire immediately, the desire to submit to God and please Him can be so overwhelming as to make you swoon with ecstasy, but translating that powerful passion into practical action may take time, especially for those of us who have been controlled by dark forces for a very long time. We need continual encouragement that God sees our hearts and will bring forth the fruit of that desire in His time, or we can easily fall into despair hearing that legalistic voice inside. Thank you for listening.
ReplyDeleteFreedom to follow my Lord's inclination to life and situations to my best does come from love and gratitude that runs more deeply that I have words to explain. When I need to follow but don't want to, I am free to wait and trust Jesus to lead me into it. I was redesigned for that purpose. Knowing that the power of sin will try to psych my mind also helps me relax. Jesus has all the bases covered. What a saviour.
ReplyDelete(NT commands) "present a beautiful blueprint which illustrates what a lifestyle looks like when it is empowered with the divine expression of the life of Jesus. When grace rules, we approach the Bible saying, “Lord, show me in Your Word all the ways that Jesus can express His life through me.” Then when we come across commandments, we may exclaim with excitement, “Great! Here’s a way that Christ can express His life through my lifestyle!” So the commandments are not a burden, but instead are a great blessing."
ReplyDeleteThis is awesome grace inspiring language in grace walk. We abide in Jesus Christ and the NT commands pour off of us into a Holy Ghost mold that fits a Jesus likeness lifestyle Christian testimony! Inner witness of the Holy Spirit leads us as sons of God to be partaker of God's Divine Nature by God's Divine Power and glory and excellence through the true knowledge of God Who calls us II Peter 1:1-4. We flow in obedience to God in grace walk because we supernaturally have grace to do the NT commands having read them in a love walk. As God-lovers we tend to intuitively do them with godly intents because we respect the revelation of the Son to us more and more without behaving unseemly as love does (more and more I Cor. 13.) Animated by Christ to obey what they are: re: the blueprints, they become real and not burdensome. They fit like hand in glove to that new nature and grace revolution.
"Were that right Man not on our side, our winning would be losing." - Luther
Rom 8:31
Its Christ's obedience that is our motivation.
Deletemarshn you write beautiful every word with grace seasoned with salt in it!
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