Faith First
I really think this concept of faith is very simple, but yet it’s a profound thought. I am called to believe in Jesus as the One and only Son of God. I believe that He came to earth as a baby, grew up to be a man without sin. He lived His life with respect and honor to His earthly parents. I also believed He worked in the carpenter shop until His ministry began at age 30. He spent 3 years teaching, healing and restoring people. He was born at a time when the “Law of Moses” was the ruling document that mandated behavior of all kinds. Jesus came to overshadow that law. The law could mandate behavior, but it could not save anyone. Jesus came to bring salvation into being. When I believe in Jesus, there is a call to modify my actions. I can no longer live for me, but for something significantly bigger than me. Check this out…
16 Yet we know that a person is made right with God by faith in Jesus Christ, not by obeying the law. And we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we might be made right with God because of our faith in Christ, not because we have obeyed the law. For no one will ever be made right with God by obeying the law.”
19 For when I tried to keep the law, it condemned me. So I died to the law—I stopped trying to meet all its requirements—so that I might live for God. 20 My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21 I do not treat the grace of God as meaningless. For if keeping the law could make us right with God, then there was no need for Christ to die. (Galatians 2:16,19-21 NLT)
I grew up in a church that preached Jesus as Lord, but there were still a ton of rules attached to it. As a kid, I needed the boundaries put around me to keep from hurting myself or someone else. My parents had a lot of rules that were designed to build me into a well-mannered adult. As I reflect back, I realize that I heard a lot of “behaviorism” taught as if God was more interested in my behavior than my heart. I realize that my behavior reflects my heart, but my behavior doesn’t change my heart – only the Lord can do that. The Lord wants my heart so that He can change my behavior. If my concern is only behaviorism, then I will fail miserably and miss the point of why Jesus came in the first place. He trumped the Law by offering to save my soul. I want to live for God because of my gratitude for Him and my love for Him. I don’t want to live for Him merely out of fear of hell. I’m so thankful for His mercy and grace that came from the cross when Jesus surrendered to death on behalf of all mankind. The only way we can be restored to our Creator God is through His Son Jesus. It is not me living in my body, but Christ in me. The old Dwayne who did some really stupid stuff, over and over, is dead and now Christ lives in me and through me. The pressure is not on my behavior anymore. The surrendered heart is all He asked of me. My behavior follows my heart, NOT the other way around.
Pressing On!
Dwayne