23)
But before faith came, we
were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be
revealed.
24)
Wherefore the law was our
schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith.
25)
But after that faith is
come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.
26)
For ye are all the
children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.
27)
For as many of you as have
been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
28)
There is neither Jew nor
Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye
are all one in Christ Jesus.
29)
And if ye be Christ's,
then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.
|
I |
n light of the way the importance of
faith is presented to us, it is relatively surprising that so many will readily
acknowledge what they do not have. This is true despite the fact that the child
of God knows that it is not possible to please God except by
faith.
Man must come to the point where he
accepts that his justification is of prime importance. He must further accept
that that justification comes only through faith in the gospel (i.e.
death, burial and resurrection) of Christ. An unwillingness to exercise faith,
then, actually tells one a lot about himself.
The primary reason that the tenets of
God are not followed is because we decide that we do not like God's plan. We do
not consider it out-and-out disobedience because we will often say that "a
man said it and I do not agree with it so I don't have to do it."
Justification is neither understood nor
explained by the Law or flesh. In that the Law and flesh are synonymous and no
man is justified by law in the sight of God, neither can there be justification
in the flesh.
Though the Law was an integral part of
the lives of those who would belong to Jehovah and was that upon which all of
their service was based, it could not ever have controlled flesh. Its function
was to set guidelines for the conduct of its followers and its purpose, to
bring recognition of wrong when that wrong was done.
After this comes faith. What the Law
could not do, faith brings us to—that is, the ability to "do the right
thing." Without faith, we are never brought to salvation, which is the
only source of "right."
Now that man has been given knowledge
of God's expectations and His assessment of right and wrong, he faces a moral
dilemma. If he sees himself "falling short" of that he knows is
expected, he must either admit his shortcoming or attempt to justify it. Most
commonly, he chooses the latter and though the explanation may satisfy him, it
neither satisfies God nor changes His word.
Many redeemed who would
"court" sin try to invoke principles of the Law in their everyday
lives hoping that its penalties will be less severe than the responsibilities
placed upon one by grace. What they find is that the Law is a
"definer" of what one already is. For example, where there is no
"lawlessness," there is no law; where there are no
"lawless," the Law is of none effect. Therefore, one wishing to be
covered by the Law is one who intends to be an enemy of God. After all, not
only would one not need to tell a child of God not to fornicate, smoke, drink,
or anything else, a child of God, led by the Spirit, would not be interested.
When we are "justified," God looks on us "just as if we had never sinned." How, then could one who has been reclaimed by Him ever be enticed to sin again?
Obviously, only a love of God is
able to keep one from sin. Once that is established, He can begin to impress
upon us the power that has been invested in us. When we do not have a clear
understanding of this, we will look for justification else where—and this will
be futile, for only the application of blood of Jesus is able to
accomplish this. You see, nothing man could ever do
and nothing he could ever give would be able to absolve him from sin. Not only
would the deed actually not be done, but the conscience of wrong would
always plague him.
True, unadulterated faith in God teaches
us to praise Him. Praise, in turn, brings our deliverance and after we are
delivered, we realize that not only is the Lord worthy of praise in all situations
but also, our worst problem or situation is not even a challenge for
Him. But then again, one who has been "justified by faith" already
knows this.