Day 66 "When Fear Prevents Love From Being Our Primary Motivator"

I confess. I got into a rather, heated discussion last night over the phone with one of my closest friends that I have known for many, many years. Okay, to be really honest, at its peak, most people would have considered it to be a heated argument. Just ask my wife. "So, what was that all about?" she asked me when I finally came back upstairs. I didn't really have a ready answer for her as it seems that the conversation with my friend just seemed to escalate, unintentionally , and before I could reign it in on my part, I found myself knee deep in frustration and exasperation. But as I sit here this morning at my computer, somewhat more clear-headed, thinking and replaying through the conversation that I had with my friend, I think the key issue boiled down to what one understands about grace- in particular God's grace.

Several years ago, I had given my friend a copy of the book Grace Walk by Steve McVey. For me, the book completely revolutionized my understanding of God's love for each of us and completely changed the course of my life and how I interact with God. I sent my friend a copy hoping that he, too, would find the freedom in God's love that I had found. Since that time, we have discussed the book on several occasions. We come from similar backgrounds, grew up in the same town, and suffered some of the same symptoms from having grown up in dysfunctional families. But where I saw freedom, my friend saw deceit by the author as if to say the author was trying to throw out the entire Bible and embrace nothing but grace. And for about an hour and a half, my friend tried to reign me back to Jesus' comment found in Matthew 5:17-20. His point was that Jesus said the law would continue until heaven and earth disappears. I told him I agreed with him. But, I disagreed that the law still had implications to us as believers. Yes, Jesus fulfilled the perfect requirement of the law which we could not. But in doing so, he paid the penalty for all of our sins and our righteousness is established by faith and not by our performance and works which consists of legalism as trying to live by the law. His fear and concern was that others, myself included, would discard the moral law that he insisted still existed. I tried to assure my friend that no such thing occurs because of grace. In fact, when considering the standard of morality, the bar of the moral law has actually been lifted even higher by Jesus:

Then Peter came to Jesus and asked," How many times shall I forgive my brother when he sin against me? Up to seven times?" Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times by seventy-seven times." Matthew 18:21-22

"You have heard that it was said to the people long ago,"Do not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgement. But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgement." Matthew 5:21-22

"You have heard that it was said, "Do not commit adultery." But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart." Matthew 5:27-28

I believe that what Jesus was seeking to instill into his disciple was not a blind foll0wing to the written law but an adherence to the spiritual intent of the law. In each of the examples above, the motive to commit such acts arose out of placing one's interest above the interest of others. There is only one motive great enough to rise above the written law and the implied moral laws. What is it? The answer is: to love! Love is the exact antithesis to self-interest and selfishness.

"This is the covenant I will establish with the people of Israel after that time, declares

the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be

their God, and they will be my people." Hebrews 8:10

"A new commandment I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." John 13:34-35

But my friend continued to press on about what Jesus said in Matthew 5 about the moral law not passing away until heaven and earth pass away. I countered, "If Jesus was so concerned about trying to live to the written code, why did he blast and condemn the Sadducess and Pharisees as he did:

"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Parisees, you hypocrites!" Matthew 23:13

"Woe to you, blind guides!" Matthew 23:16

"You blind guides! You strain out the gnat but swallow a camel." Matthew 23:24

"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisees! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, then the outside also will be clean." Matthew 23:25-26

"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but the inside are full of dead men's bones and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness." Matthew 5:27-28

What Jesus was concerned about was the heart of man. And truth be told, none of us can live up to God's moral standards- written or implied.

"for all have fallen short of the glory of God," Romans 3:23

So, if we don't have the ability to live righteously by the law, why was the law given to us?

"Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather through the law we become conscious of our sins." Romans 3:30

"The law was added so that the trespass might increase. But where sin increased, grace increased all the more," Romans 5:20

"If perfection could have been attained through the Levitical priesthood (for on the basis of it the law was given to the people), why was there still need for another priest to come-one in the order of Melchizedek, not in the order of Aaron? For when their is a change in priesthood, there must also be a change of the law."

Hebrews 7:11-12

"The former regulation was set aside because it was weak and useless (for the law made nothing perfect), and a better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God." Hebrews 7:18-19

"For if there had been nothing wrong with that first covenant, no place would have been sought for another. But God found fault with the the people and said, "The time is coming", declares the Lord, "When I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah." Hebrews 8:7-8

"This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts."

Hebrews 8:10

In other words, what God seems to be doing is seeking a way to internalize our desire to follow his ways and eliminate the external law and requirements which man showed that he could not keep. Thus, Jesus becomes a new mediator for a new covenant:

"For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance - now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant." Hebrews 9:15

"The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming- not the realities themselves." Hebrews 10:1

"He set aside the first to establish the second. And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all." Hebrews 10:10

What the law could not do in bringing about a holiness to mankind, Jesus died by laying down his perfect life as an atoning sacrifice to pay the penalty of our sins and to make us holy before the Heavenly Father- all sins forgiven past, present, and future.

Thus, as a result of what Jesus did, we now live our lives before God out of faith and not out of performance-trying to earn our way into heaven and God's favor. What Jesus did for us abolishes our need to live up to the written code and its regulations:

"When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross." Colossians 2:13-14

"But now a righteous from God, apart from the law, has been made known, to which the law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus." Romans 3:21-24

"For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law." Romans 3:28

"It was not through the law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes by faith." Romans 4:13

Having been set free from the written law, how are we, now, to proceed and live out our lives here on earth?

"No, a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code." Romans 2:29

"A new commandment I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another." John 13:24

"So, my brothers, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit to God." Romans 7:4

"But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we may serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code." Romans 7:6

"For Christ's love compel us." 2 Corinthians 5:14

"Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his brother has fulfilled the law. The commandments,"Do not commit adultery", "Do not murder," "Do not steal," "Do not covet," and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: "Love your neighbor as yourself. Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law." John 13:8-10

When Jesus was asked by the religious leaders of his time to which is the greatest commandment in the law, Jesus responded, "Love the Lord your God with all your

heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." Matthew 22:36-40

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run the race marked out before us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." Hebrews 12:1-2

"Follow the way of love." 1 Corinthians 14:1

"Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be men of courage; be strong. Do everything in love."

What is at the heart of love? It is about being "otherly-concerned", putting the interest of others before your own.

"But God demonstrated his own love for us in this: While we were yet still sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:8

"This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins."

1 John 4:9-10

What God's word says is that we have been released from the powerless and impotent law that was incapable of making anyone holy in order to live our lives to a different and higher calling: to live our lives by God's love, by faith, and the leading of the Holy Spirit.

"And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us.

All the sermons ever preached or written works ever written about our faith can be summarized succinctly: Believe and have faith in Christ to save you, and spend your lifetime on earth learning how to love others. 1 John 3:23) The only thing that stands in our way is fear, the fear of things being taken out of our control. But when we come to realize that we are no longer defined or accepted by our performance, control is no longer needed. In Jesus, you are already completely and fully accepted by God just as you are. The fear of not making a passing grade with God is not longer a pressing concern. Jesus gave his all for us, so that you and I can give our all for him. And that, my friends, is love!

"Perfect love casts out all fear." 1 John 4:18

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"We love because he first loved us." 1 John 4:19

In his love, see you tomorrow,..

"Carpe Momentum in Love." (Seize the moment in love)