The law is not for you since you're a new
creation (1 Timothy 1:9, 10); it was used by the Lord to convict you of your
hopeless state and thus motivate you to embrace Jesus Christ as your Savior.
Now that the law has served its purpose for you, you are no longer under it
(Romans 6:14). But if you choose to place yourself under it and approach the
Christian walk with the law attitude of “I must, I ought to, I should, I have
to” instead of “I am new, I delight to do God's will, I love Him, His ways are
good,” you are laboring under law; you have not “entered into God's rest,” and
it's just a matter of time until you burn out.
God says, “The power of sin is the law” (1
Corinthians 15:56, emphasis added). Law is the “gasoline” that fuels sin's
engine. That explains why we sometimes see a pastor who hammers away with
law-teaching run off with the church secretary. The Power of Sin in him “fed
itself” on the man's law-teaching and destroyed his ministry with it. You give
the
Power of Sin a law to work with and it will
eventually defeat you, because God's provision for the believer is grace, not
law.
Notice how God polarizes law and grace in
John 1:17: “The law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through
Jesus Christ.” Jesus satisfied the law for all who will appropriate His grace.
Appropriate His finished work for you and you pull the fangs from the Power of
Sin. You drain Sin's gas tank! Tragically, many mentors' major tool for trying
to motivate a believer is law. But God's plan is for us to learn who we now are
and how to appropriate His grace for victory in each day's circumstances, so
Christ gets the glory.
“Thanks be to God, who gives [that's grace]
us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:57).
- Bill Gillham
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