- For if the inheritance comes by the law, it no longer comes by promise; but God gave it to Abraham by a promise.
If the blessings of God came to us by the law, that means we can do something with our self-exerted effort to receive the blessings of God.
We can keep the law so as to receive the blessings of God. Therefore, if the blessings of God came to us by the law, there is a transaction that occurs between man and God.
Man works hard to earn the blessings of God and receive what is due. We would boast in our own strength, moral purity and perseverance. We'd firmly believe that we deserve the blessings of God because we worked for them.
We would be proud of ourselves because we would be "good" people. We are the ones who are morally upright and pure and those who don't keep the law are "bad" people. We'd firmly believe that we are the people who deserve the blessings of God while those who don't keep the law do not deserve the blessings of God.
But what does the Bible say? If we hate someone, we sin. If we lust after someone in our mind, we sin. If we steal something, we sin, and that includes those of us who download songs off the internet and watch movies on the internet without paying for them.
If we dishonour our parents even in our heart, we sin. If we are jealous of other people's success, we sin. If we covet other people's spouses, houses, cars and money, we sin.
Those of us who give their time to serve others, we may easily think that we are "good" because we've done something "good." However, we get the respect and glory from other people and we are satisfied that we are highly esteemed by others (just like the Pharisees), we sin because we glorified ourselves rather than thanking God who truly serves us every second of our lives.
So, we sin. We sin because we are born in sin and in sin mother conceived us (Psalm 51:5).
The only thing that we ever deserved was death because the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23).
But the same verse also says, "but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."
So, our salvation originates from God and depends on God. God's salvation is by promise. God's salvation is by unmerited grace. God's salvation is a gift.
We cannot boast in anything we think we have such as our own strength, wisdom, beauty, wealth and supposed "goodness". They all come from God and they are not the basis of our salvation at all. Because all our supposed "goodness" is inherently selfish. Everything is we do is inherently selfish. Even if we give our money away and serve with our time, there's always a nagging sense of our self demanding recompense from others such as their respect and good opinions, and foolishly believing that we deserve fame above others somehow someday if not now (completely forgetting and neglecting the fact that Jesus is to be respected and famous above all created beings. Remember Satan wanted to be more respected and famous than God, and that is idolatry).
Therefore, we need Jesus. We must be found in Jesus who precisely died for our ugly sins that cling to us so closely. That is why we need Jesus to die on the cross for our sins and actually spiritually we died with Jesus on the cross. In the unseen world, we have already died when Jesus died.
We now live with the Holy Spirit in us to look at Jesus and follow Him by knowing that we are nothing and that Jesus is everything.
If we miss that truth, we miss everything.
If we get that truth, we gain everything because in Jesus we are complete. We are deficient and ugly, and worst sinner just as Paul said (1 Timothy 1:15).
Then we realise, there is a reason why we needed to know the truth that we are nothing and less than nothing, because then, and only then, do we realise "Yes, I get it now. Jesus is really, actually, truly everything."
Romans 11:36
- For from him and through him and for him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen.
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