Saturday, August 23, 2014

Law Fulfilled in Christ

The ceremonial law was fulfilled in Christ. The whole sacrificial system and system of ritual purity was made obsolete as Jesus perfectly kept the entirety of the law and gave himself up for us.

Jesus' perfect life, death, and resurrection marked the end of the need for the keeping of the sacrificial and ritual law. In fact the New Testament goes further saying that it is a sin to suggest others need to keep the ritual law as part of a walk of faith. It is a stumbling block which minimizes the absolute nature of Jesus' victory over death.

In Jesus we are a new creation awaiting the eternal joy of fellowship with God in heaven. We should not doubt our salvation as if our sin can keep us from God. Our righteousness is Jesus who is in heaven seated at the right hand of God.

Our works flow from faith through the world of the Spirit of God in us. Our works are acts which naturally flow from our salvation, not part of our salvation.

We can trust in Jesus' saving blood and then move to works. Focusing on works without a focus on grace is foolish. Because works flow from grace, it is our union with Christ which produces works.

Often it is easy to look at our life and try to think how we can be better followers of God. There is some truth to the approach, but often it is better simply to look to God and be transformed by his nature and grace.

Good works naturally flow from a transformed heart. Often the approach of looking at our life and thinking how we can live better has little effect because it does not change the fundamental issues in our heart. If we look to God and his nature and love, this changes us and often has more affect than simply looking at our life and asking how we might live better.

No comments: