Law and Grace form a cycle in the bible. Law drives us to Grace. We know we need grace because of law.
Grace teaches us to love and follow law. We cannot separate the two.
Law without grace is legalism. In fact law increases sin. It is only grace which gives the power to keep the law.
The bible mainly bases law on grace although sometimes the direction is law which drives us to grace.
The power to follow the law is grace. The law has no ability apart from grace.
We must first trust in Christ’s righteousness and then only then try to follow the works the bible has for us to do.
Showing posts with label Christ's righteousness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Christ's righteousness. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 1, 2013
Wednesday, June 15, 2005
Answering the Question: "If all our actions are to some degree sinful then why should we even try for righteousness?"
A response I have made to a good question about what I wrote. Basically the point in question is if all our actions are to some degree sinful then why should we even try for righteousness and why shouldn't we be hopeless. The answer to this is the doctrine of Justification by faith alone apart from works of the law.
Well the reason is that there are degrees of success and failure. The Calvinist, well at least anyone who actually knows some theology, will say that even man's best actions are flawed.
Take for example John Calvin's prayer: "We are poor sinners conceived and born in iniquity. Prone to do evil, incapable of any good. And in our depravity we transgress Gods holy commandments without end or ceasing."
You would be quite wrong in thinking that Calvin would feel a need to lay down and give up. He cannot keep the law for one second! That's the point: he has to put his faith in Christ he has nothing in his credit to show to God. Love is the only correct response to such a free gift from God. Thus the Christian life will be one of loving God and brokenhearted humility that God chose me while I had no good actions no not one to my credit. But, the point is that we have Christ's righteousness in our account, no sin credited to our name.
Well the reason is that there are degrees of success and failure. The Calvinist, well at least anyone who actually knows some theology, will say that even man's best actions are flawed.
Take for example John Calvin's prayer: "We are poor sinners conceived and born in iniquity. Prone to do evil, incapable of any good. And in our depravity we transgress Gods holy commandments without end or ceasing."
You would be quite wrong in thinking that Calvin would feel a need to lay down and give up. He cannot keep the law for one second! That's the point: he has to put his faith in Christ he has nothing in his credit to show to God. Love is the only correct response to such a free gift from God. Thus the Christian life will be one of loving God and brokenhearted humility that God chose me while I had no good actions no not one to my credit. But, the point is that we have Christ's righteousness in our account, no sin credited to our name.
Romans 3:10-12:We have nothing to give to God and nothing to commend ourselves to him. Because of his gracious gift to us while we had absolutely nothing to merit it our hearts turn in love to him. The question you ask though is why we shouldn't give up since all our actions are flawed. Well God calls us to the task of following his commands and if he calls us to an impossible task because we love him we should do it. The Calvinists sees degrees of success and failure. Sincere heartfelt prayers are truly pleasing to God despite their falseness. As Jesus puts it: "if you love me you will do what I command." Doing what he commands of course has no effect on our salvation, because we have Christ's righteousness in us and no sin to our account. God in the bible is often written about as looking upon his servants with favor. This does not negate in the least the fact of the fact all these men's actions are fallen. Calvinism is often misunderstood because people will say that if we are saved by faith alone why not go on sinning? We reply, no we shall not go on sinning that Grace may abound. (Paul had to deal with this one, in Romans 6 maybe that is a good place to look for your answer.) Basically a life where one rests in the comfort of "I believe in God and am thus saved" and has no sign of works in their lives is suspect. See my entry on June 2 because that is what that entry is about. Basically for the Calvinist our great depravity is not to be something to discourage our effort, but it is always used to magnify the intensity of God's glory.
As it is written, "None is righteous, no, not one;
No one understands;
No one seeks for God;
All have turned aside, together they have become worthless.
Thursday, June 2, 2005
Bearing Good Fruit
A brief piece of writing I composed on a fundamentally important question.
John the Baptist spoke in Luke 3:9, "The axe is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire." Lack of good fruit is proof of a fatal condition in a man's heart. We all tend to brush over such verses carelessly. The reason for this is that God causes fruit to spring forth in the lives of all Christians. We know this because all Christians have the Holy Spirit helping them daily become sweeter and sweeter. And since we are Christians we must have this fruit. We as Christians, however, should check to see that we truly are bearing good fruit. For we may be being deceived by the devil.
Jesus speaks of this deception in Matthew 7:21-23: "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and preform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, I never knew you, away from me you evildoers." This passage should be of great concern for us for Jesus speaks of this group as consisting of many.' These people surely displayed what looked like good fruit and yet they were thrown into the fire for lack of it. For this reason we need to contemplate deeply what truly constitutes good fruit, so that none of us will be thrown into the fire of hell because we were deceived by the devil and our wicked hearts into believing we were saved.
How does a person know if they have good fruits? John the Baptist spoke that the fruits must be good, not any old fruits will do. How can we be sure that the fruits we see showing up in our lives are not the fruits similar to a kind and generous atheist. For our fruits may well look good by human standards, but how can we know that they are the kind that flow from the Holy Spirits infusion of Christs righteousness into our lives. I believe that the answer can be found in our attitude toward God. God demands from us all to love him with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength. We on earth will surely never be able to give him this, but if Christ's righteousness is being given to us in increasing measures we will surely see strides as our love grows for God.
If we see our love for Christ growing daily this will be a sure sign that we are saved. But, if our love to Christ is very similar to what it was five or ten years ago we should begin to wonder what is going on in our lives. In Jesus's parable of the sower the good see that produced fruit multiplied thirty or sixty or even a hundred times. Since the Christian life is meant to multiply in such terms faith that multiplied but a very small crop must be examined carefully. Those who the spirit is creating fruit in will naturally have a greater desire and love for God.
John the Baptist spoke in Luke 3:9, "The axe is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire." Lack of good fruit is proof of a fatal condition in a man's heart. We all tend to brush over such verses carelessly. The reason for this is that God causes fruit to spring forth in the lives of all Christians. We know this because all Christians have the Holy Spirit helping them daily become sweeter and sweeter. And since we are Christians we must have this fruit. We as Christians, however, should check to see that we truly are bearing good fruit. For we may be being deceived by the devil.
Jesus speaks of this deception in Matthew 7:21-23: "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and preform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, I never knew you, away from me you evildoers." This passage should be of great concern for us for Jesus speaks of this group as consisting of many.' These people surely displayed what looked like good fruit and yet they were thrown into the fire for lack of it. For this reason we need to contemplate deeply what truly constitutes good fruit, so that none of us will be thrown into the fire of hell because we were deceived by the devil and our wicked hearts into believing we were saved.
How does a person know if they have good fruits? John the Baptist spoke that the fruits must be good, not any old fruits will do. How can we be sure that the fruits we see showing up in our lives are not the fruits similar to a kind and generous atheist. For our fruits may well look good by human standards, but how can we know that they are the kind that flow from the Holy Spirits infusion of Christs righteousness into our lives. I believe that the answer can be found in our attitude toward God. God demands from us all to love him with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength. We on earth will surely never be able to give him this, but if Christ's righteousness is being given to us in increasing measures we will surely see strides as our love grows for God.
If we see our love for Christ growing daily this will be a sure sign that we are saved. But, if our love to Christ is very similar to what it was five or ten years ago we should begin to wonder what is going on in our lives. In Jesus's parable of the sower the good see that produced fruit multiplied thirty or sixty or even a hundred times. Since the Christian life is meant to multiply in such terms faith that multiplied but a very small crop must be examined carefully. Those who the spirit is creating fruit in will naturally have a greater desire and love for God.
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