They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not know what they are talking about or what they so confidently affirm.
Summary: The topic of the law opens the door to many related questions. The first one we will deal with has to do with the nature of the law itself.
In our last meditation, we discussed the meaning of the verb “judge.” The Bible instructs us to make good judgments about the things we say and do, but warns us against making moral judgments about other people.
In this passage, Paul begins a review of the law. Is it good? Does it have a purpose? What does the law mean to someone who believes in Jesus Christ?
The reason for the law goes back to the story of original sin. In that story, the serpent promises that eating the forbidden fruit will actually give godlike powers. He says:
“For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (Genesis 3:5)
Keep in mind that Satan, the serpent, is the “father of lies” (John 8:44). He is a deceiver, expert in deception. Lies take many forms, and Eve fell for the lie of omission.
When the serpent says, “… you will be like God, knowing good and evil,” he implies that eating the forbidden fruit would make it possible to tell the difference without God’s help. But that is not what he said.
Just because we can “know” good and evil doesn’t mean we can tell the difference.
For example, imagine that you are in the wilderness following a trail. You come to a fork in the trail, with one path leading to the right and the other to the left. For the sake of our illustration, let’s imagine that one path leads to a good outcome, the other to a bad one.
God, being omniscient, can “know” where each path leads. He knows which path leads to evil and which one leads to good.
We are not omniscient. We can’t “know” where a path leads unless someone tells us or unless we explore it ourselves. The problem is that if we choose the path to evil, we will not only “know” where the path leads, but we will become ensnared in the evil itself.
The law is a signboard by the evil trail that says, “Stay Out! Evil Ahead.”
Application: Use God’s law as a guardrail for keeping on the path of righteousness.
Food for Thought: How does submitting to God’s law affect our sense of “self?” Put another way, how does it impact our pride?
How does submitting to God’s law affect our sense of “self?” Put another way, how does it impact our pride?
I thought about these two questions a lot and to me there is a “disconnect” between them, but I think that is where the answer is.
When I think about “sense of self” I think about identity. I think it is safe to say that pride can cloud our perception of identity. As believers we place our identity in Christ. He is our Lord and we are His followers. As His followers we desire to be transformed into His likeness, with His character, sharing His motives, serving God and one another in love. It is a forward-thinking mindset, not based on temporary things, but in anticipation of eternity. Pride is rooted in temporary things, so it is up one day and down the next. If we allow our pride to define our identity, we are heading for a fall.
To truly submit to God’s law requires a posture of humility. I say posture because the evidence of humility is in the way we conduct our life. We show submission to God’s law by obeying it. In order to do this we must let go of pride. This doesn’t mean we think poorly of ourselves, it means we recognize our dependence on the Spirit of God to lead us back to Him. That letting go of our pride means we can be in His presence. So the impact to our pride by submitting to God’s law is reduction, and in that reduction God’s presence is increased. In His increase we truly begin to understand our identity in His Kingdom. So the effect on our sense of self by submitting God’s law is humility, wisdom, and assurance of God’s presence in our life. Our identity goes from self-sufficient to God-dependent, which is the truth. We are not justified by our submission, our submission is our living faith in Christ, and allows the righteousness of Christ to be our justification, so that we can be redeemed to God.
Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
2 Corinthians 1:21-22 And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.
2 Corinthians 3:5 Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God,
Thank you, Chris!
I appreciate the thought you put into your answer. You write:
“… pride can cloud our perception of identity. ”
That is very perceptive and very true!
How does submitting to God’s law affect our sense of “self?” Put another way, how does it impact our pride?
Matthew 16:24, Jesus says, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.”
Our acts of denying, surrendering self, letting go of all control, submitting to our unseen God are not something to be planned for another time in the future. Jesus tells us, are actions on the part of the called, to be taken now. An act of faith as we receive spiritual life and step into a previously unknown eternal life of a spiritual child of God.
Romans 13:11, Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed.
12. The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.
13. Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy.
14, But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.
We remain unique person we have always been, however we begin the process of dieing to self control and growing in Spiritual guidance of God. We become Christ centered rather than self-centered, retain the power to say no, as we choose rewards of our relationship with God through Jesus Christ over life in our old ways and find pleasure in watching, helping others succeed rather than ourselves.
Thank you Ron!
Well said! Denying our “self” is alien to our natural self, yet by the power of Jesus Christ, we are gifted with the ability to do just that.