We Uphold The Law

Romans 3:28-31 (ESV Strong's)

28 For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law. 29 Or is God the God of Jews only? Is he not the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, 30 since God is one—who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith. 31 Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law.

Faith has become the means of the circumcision of the New Covenant. The Old Covenant Law reveals our sinfulness in the flesh, and it is the flesh that is circumcised. It is the mark of the light that reveals the darkness of man. Circumcision of the heart is the mark of the light of one who has found the light of life. It is the mark of the New Covenant which appears in a spirit made alive in Christ. 

The law is comprised of both Covenants. There is one law as there is one God. 

Knowledge Of Sin

Romans 3:19-20 (ESV Strong's)

19 Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. 20 For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.

Through the law comes knowledge of sin. Through that knowledge, we behold the darkness which surrounds us. Our eyes are opened to our true state and we become accountable to God. 

Sin reflects the insurmountable distance between our life and His. We find all our efforts to cross that expanse are futile. This becomes the first step in the way of salvation. We must be aware of our sins before we can repent of them. The longest journey begins with a single step. 

I Form Light

Isaiah 45:6-7

that people may know, from the rising of the sun

and from the west, that there is none besides me;

I am the Lord, and there is no other.

I form light and create darkness,

I make well-being and create calamity,

I am the Lord, who does all these things.

The Lord created two places a place in the cosmos. One was home for His light. The other reflected the absence of His light. We know that state as darkness. 

Mankind begins in darkness so that we might find the light. The word is spoken and light enters that darkness. 

The light of the world shines in the darkness of mankind. 

It manifests in the Man Jesus Christ and then in the body of those who become His disciples. They become the light of the world. 

The Power Of Repentance

Luke 17:1-4 (ESV Strong's)

1 And he said to his disciples, “Temptations to sin are sure to come, but woe to the one through whom they come! 2 It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were cast into the sea than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin. 3 Pay attention to yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him, 4 and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.”

Temptations to sin are sure to come, to us and through us. We have been justified by the blood of Jesus, but we will continue to sin. We remain in bodies of the natural flesh until our spirits find release in the presence of the Lord. We are no longer chained to this body of death, for we have been made alive in His Spirit. It’s a freedom that is truly free, to daily choose Him and His life. 

We repent to enter the kingdom of heaven. We repent and ask for forgiveness because we are in the kingdom of heaven. 

We are not sinners when we confess our sins and repent before the Lord. He will forgive us because His grace has no bounds. We are cleansed from all unrighteousness. We have His word on it. 

Matthew 18:21-22

Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times.

1 John 1:9-10 (ESV Strong's)

9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

Has Blessed Us

Ephesians 1:3-6 (ESV Strong's)

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.

The purpose and will of God for us is at the beginning and the end of creation. Jesus was coming for us before the fall of man. The grace of Christ was predestined before the first bite of forbidden fruit was swallowed. The blessings of heaven have been waiting for us before the beginning of time. 

He is there for all who would seek Him. Come and see. 

According To His Works

Romans 2:6-11 (ESV Strong's)

6 He will render to each one according to his works: 7 to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; 8 but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. 9 There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, 10 but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. 11 For God shows no partiality.

We are not able to earn our salvation by our own works. Our salvation rests on the finished work of Christ, and His alone. 

Our future, however, does depend on our works, on how we live today. We can’t earn salvation, but we must choose to be saved. Our salvation work is believing Christ, and placing our faith in Him. This is an ongoing process that takes us from glory to glory. It is life that leads to life and we are perfected in the image of God. 

While we are not able to do any work to earn our salvation, nevertheless we will be judged according to our works. What we do or don’t do with Jesus and His word will determine our future. 

Salvation comes by faith in Jesus Christ. 

We will be judged by how we live in relation to Christ. Creation revolves around the Creator. He is at the center of everything. 

Futile In Their Thinking

Romans 1:21-25 (ESV Strong's)

21 For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.

Man is made in the image of God. That is because God took man’s image for Himself. We are perfected in that image when we receive the Spirit and nature of Jesus Christ. We become sons of God. 

To remain in the lust and desire of man is to choose the foolishness of the world over the glory of God.

One cannot reason with futile thinking. God will not contend with the darkness forever.