16)
Knowing that a man is not justified by the
works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in
Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the
works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.
17)
But if, while we seek to be justified by
Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister
of sin? God forbid.
18)
For if I build again the things which I
destroyed, I make myself a transgressor.
19)
For I through the law am dead to the law,
that I might live unto God.
20)
I am crucified with Christ: neverthless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I
live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.
21)
I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if
righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in
vain.
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vidently,
it is easier to recognize that Christ, rather than we, have died. Even though
we know the significance of death in the scriptures, we continue to regard it
with fear and apprehension.
The
death of Jesus lead to another world, able to be
realized only through the appropriation of that death to the life of the
individual. Only if we are willing to die with Him, we are resurrected to live
with Him.
What
the Lord was able to accomplish on
Let's
examine something: Jesus has done all that He has done and yet, some of us are
no "better" off. At the least, this suggests a refusal to do the very
least in His behalf. When one compares what he is asked to do; indeed, what
little he can do, we can readily see how "pitiful" we are.
In
general, when confronted with any type of problem, we fail to utilize our first
"resource" (Jesus Christ) and almost automatically, resort to the
systems of the world. When we look to ourselves (or some other "arm of
flesh"), we can know that we will end up "behind" (as usual),
yet, still insist upon our own behavior. For one thing, we have in our minds
that it takes the Lord "time" to do things. Some of us have yet to
accept that whatever the Lord is going to do for us is already done. This means
that we need never wait for God to do anything! This is neither a "theory,"
nor a "dream," but rather, a truth. This truth is given to us that
rather than "struggle" through this life, we
can have our backs "covered" so that, in turn, we can cover the
Lord's!
Increasingly,
preachers of today are encouraging their "subjects" to
"wallow" in their past hurts, disappointments and in many cases,
"humiliations." Of course, it is not presented this way, but it is
made clear that we have a "right" to face our hurt and our
"transgressors" and "work through" our pain. Thoroughly humanistic
in nature, this denies the supernatural help that is conferred upon us through
Jesus Christ. This denies His deity, divinity, omniscience and omnipotence.
The
people of God are being pulled away from the truth of the gospel through the
offering of sympathy. Sympathy is not the same thing as empathy. While sympathy
keeps one dependent and "needy," empathy impresses upon one that yes,
another has experienced what you have, but has been able to overcome it and is,
in fact, better for it. All the sympathy in the world will never be able to
solve even one problem, but the empathy that Jesus expresses to us solves all
problems.
A
major benefit of being crucified with the Lord is that one no longer has to
rely upon himself or his own wisdom to get through life. Never again need he
"guess" at what is "right" or "wrong." Once one
becomes united with Him in death, he has access to the mind of God. Since God
is good and right, "right" is determined through Him. As long as one
follows this mind, our actions will be based in righteousness and point us
toward heaven.
"(We
are) crucified with Christ" not that we might die and stay dead, but
rather, that we might have abundant life. The sooner we face the fact that we
can do nothing to change our own destiny, the better.
Once we have been "put to death," we can no longer try to pretend that the "corpse" can be resurrected. How could we ever be required to give up some things upon salvation and then, when we feel like it, decide to take them back and not be plagued by problems?