Today's Devotional
July 10, 2009
Subject: Law vs Grace
1 Timothy 1:8-10 "8But we know that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully;
9Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers,
10For whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine."
We had good discussion in bible study last night about the difference between the law and grace. Many of us try to govern our lives by a strict rule of conduct and morality and that is a good thing, but could be problematic. Here's how. If you are a believer then you are not supposed to be a law-adherent.
Romans 6:14 says to believers, "for you are not under law, but under grace."
Galatians 5:18 says, "But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law."
Therefore it is pretty clear that we are not to live under the law, but under grace which is a much better rule for governing our conduct. Why is it better?
It's better because under grace, the "Holy Spirit" is responsible for governing my conduct as I avail myself to Him (be led by Him). Under the law, "I" am responsible for governing my conduct. Now you can see why we so often fall. That's what God did with the commandments. "Thou shalt not this and thou shalt not that..." were rules created to show us that we could not keep the "thou shalt nots."
That same issue exists today for unbelievers. Under the law they use the commandments or establish rules that they can't keep. They don't have the Holy Spirit as a guide so they ultimately will find that they are powerless to keep the commandments, which is the requirement for a Holy God. As for believers, we already know that we can't keep the commandments so we submit ourselves to the Holy Spirit and find that as we submit to Him, He is able to govern our conduct and we can keep the "thou shalt nots" without using them as a rule.
That's how the law is still used today. It is still doing what it always did and what God designed it for and that is to show us that we are unable to do anything, including keep the law, without His Holy Spirit to empower us.
Here is a final analogy. I tell my wife frequently, you don't need a "scale" to tell you how much you weigh. You need the Holy Spirit to guide you in eating and exercising and your weight won't matter. He works the end out when we let Him guide us in the here and now.
Law or Grace? I choose grace because His power is better than mine.
Carlen
