Reliance, Part IV

Paul says that Christ is the end of the law to all them that believe. He credits His righteousness onto me by way of grace and promise. It has nothing to do with me and I have no part in the matter except to accept this freedom and free gift by faith. Through simple belief in Him as the Son of God and believing that God raised Him from the dead is the day we receive this gift.

We rely on Him for all things. We rely on His promises, His word, His testimony, His death, His resurrection, and all else that is spoken of Him. However, just because we rely on Him for His credit of righteousness and salvation through faith, we still obey Him as king.

Paul talks over and over in his writings about our freedom from the law and how we are not to live (or better yet, not required) to fulfill the law. We are not under the law but instead we are free and under grace but we have now made Him king of our lives. We must serve Him in obedience to His commandment of love. My reliance is in Him and not in me. As we may find that so many other things have very little to do with us, even salvation has nothing to do with us... and then again it has everything to do with His love for us.

John 1:15-17

15John testifies concerning him. He cries out, saying, "This was he of whom I said, 'He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.' " 16From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. 17For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

Reliance, Part III

To rely on God and not self for salvation is what we are discussing in these posts on reliance. My salvation is imparted to me by way of promise not by way of my own actions. So that God can have mercy on me... a sinner. However, I am not to act like a sinner but to submit to His ways and the spirit of His law. To be like Jesus in character which is my duty to my king.

I have to be committed to Him and walk a straight path and it can be extremely difficult to do that some days. When I speak of duty, I am reminded of a scripture that deals with it and in this scripture and parable I find that doing right is not about getting reward but is about obligation to God as we serve Him in love.

Luke 17:7-10

7"Suppose one of you had a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Would he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, 'Come along now and sit down to eat'? 8Would he not rather say, 'Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink'? 9Would he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? 10So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, 'We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.' "

Therefore, are we unworthy? Yes. Are we made worthy by way of Christ? Yes, but we are still unworthy because our worth was provided as a gift and grace is the only thing that can save us. Is it our duty to walk a straight path before Him? Yes, it is our duty to obey the one we serve and to rely on Him for all else.

Reliance, Part II

We rely on the righteousness credited to us by way of faith. We do not rely on our own merit or righteousness to save us. It is through Christ's righteousness that we are saved and not our own. It is in this that we trust, in this that we have faith. As always, we should desire and strive for righteousness but we only do this, as Christians, because we love Him and His ways seem good to us. We do so to honor and respect the God who purchased us but make no mistake, it has nothing to do with what we have done or not done.

Grace is supplied to those who believe in such things. Yes, I should live my life as right as possible for His glory and to bear fruit for His name but these are the only reasons for our right actions. To serve Him in love. In this way, righteousness and right living (or obedience) is now about our love for God instead of living by the written code for our own sake and salvation. We do it for Him, not us.

Psalm 143:1-2

1 O LORD, hear my prayer,
listen to my cry for mercy;
in your faithfulness and righteousness
come to my relief.

2 Do not bring your servant into judgment,
for no one living is righteous before you.

Psalm 143:10-11

10 Teach me to do your will,
for you are my God;
may your good Spirit
lead me on level ground.

11 For your name's sake, O LORD, preserve my life;
in your righteousness, bring me out of trouble.

Reliance

Am I good enough? No. Will I ever be? No. Yet I am through Jesus. We must rely on Jesus and His righteousness. We are saved by Him and through Him; not by anything that we might do. Paul declares in Romans that no one is justified by fulfilling the law and being obedient. We are justified by faith in Jesus Christ and His ability to save us, not our own.

It is not for us to seek out our own righteousness but rely and trust in his gift of righteousness. Freely given to us through accepting God's testimony about His Son. God promised us salvation through Christ. God does not break his promises no matter what. We can have confidence with joy before him. We are weak. He is strong. We are not worthy. He is. We are imperfect. He is the perfect picture of love.

We must trust and rely on Him, His provision, His power, His salvation, and His mercy. Our actions do not matter and our actions do not determine our worth or value in the eyes of God. Our actions serve no purpose in getting us into heaven. Is that a cop out? No. Now our actions (meaning nothing) mean everything! Now that there is no reward or punishment for what we do in life (for we are saved by grace not by the law) what we do is so much MORE important. Now that you are free from the law and free from sin, what you do with your freedom is now the most important question of all.

We must make every attempt to obey Jesus and his teachings, ever striving to be like Him. Fall down and get up again and again. Let us never be satisfied, let us never give up. To obey Him is to obey His commandment of love. For love is what we will be measured by and measured against. Our sincerity and our love for God and our fellow man is on trial.

There are many voices in the world that tell us how to live and what standard we should live by but on that great day when all of mankind is judged (you will be there too) the only thing that will be important is not your accomplishments, wealth, intelligence, fame, power, or how much you possessed but whether or not you understood love and put it into practice. Rely on him and trust in him for your salvation and provision but in word and deed honor him with love.

1 John 4:7-12

7Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

1 John 4:16-17 

       16God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. 17In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him.