The following is an interpretation of the scriptures as it was written for our learning.

As you know the law—the written code—was given to increase the sin by revealing it to those who would fall under it.  But there is still more to reveal than the sin. The law was given to reveal the inability of man to erase the sin completely from the life of the sinner. Only the Cross can accomplish this.

Once the message of the Cross has been made clear to an individual by the grace of God through the power of the Holy Spirit, then the law enters the context of love.  It is then that the law becomes the means by which Christ is to be revealed in one’s life as the Father instructs the Son as He did during the ministry of Jesus on earth.

Remember, Jesus only did what the Father told Him to do and said what the Father told Him to say.  This becomes the evidence of God using His own word to direct the “footsteps” of His own people.  And this is so important to understand because neither the sinful nature of man in general nor the flesh of a Christian (leftover humanity after the crucifixion and death of the sinful nature through water baptism) could ever meet the requirement of perfection which is the character of holiness.

The end result of God’s plan then has nothing to do with the attempts of man to fulfill the will of God by man’s work as if He, God needed anything, including man’s help.  Rather it is as the apostle Paul wrote, “for it is God who works in you to WILL and to ACT according to His good [Godly] purpose.” (Phil. 2:13)  And this by the way, is the only means of fulfilling the words of the Lord’s Prayer when it says “your will be done on earth as it is in heaven”.  God’s will on earth cannot be accomplished unless God does it Himself as Christ, who lives in us, is the obedient force of our lives.

Of course this is all a matter of faith.  And I ask you please do not use faith as though it were a part of the law.  Faith is not only a gift of God but also a gift from God.  If you are at all like St. Paul knowing the Godly thing to do but cannot do it because the evil you also know gets first shot at what happens next in your life because of the flesh, then you will understand why the Bible tells us that Christ is our life. He is the only means of removing the sting from failures that happens to us all the time.  It is as He said, “I am the WAY and the TRUTH and the LIFE.

And so, grace is really sufficient.  Where sin abounds grace abounds much more.  You know we boast sometimes about our own strength and our own power to stand up against the temptations of this world, but as a matter of truth, our power is made perfect in our weaknesses, not in our power to be a good Christian. There is no such thing. Think of that.  “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and are justified freely by His grace”….” (Rom. 3:23-24)

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