2014.07.27_Defeat Death

The Factor Which Hinders the Harmony with Righteousness

God is the righteous God. The righteousness of God is not only His nature but also the purpose of everything He does. God’s righteousness is the standard of order given to the creations as well as the standard of happiness and peace. The perfect state of creations is when they obey and be in harmony with God’s righteousness and have unity. Whether angels, man or other creations, if they are in harmony with God, then they could be in the standard and perfect state.

Man cannot be in harmony with God with what he has because his spirit is dead and bound under the rule of death. Man has to first be able to commune with God in order to be in harmony with Him but even that is not possible for man. Concerning this 2 Samuel 22:6 says, “The sorrows of Sheol surrounded me; the snares of death confronted me,” and Psalm 116:3 says, “The pains of death surrounded me, and the pangs of Sheol laid hold of me; I found trouble and sorrow.” Likewise, the Old Testament uses the words ‘death’ or ‘Sheol’ to describe the present state of man.

            Even if man’s condition changes for the better so that communication with God is possible, he is still far from having harmony with God. Previously, we had spiritually died due to sin but now, brought back to life through the spirit of Christ. However, we still have a serious problem; the flesh still continues to do what is sinful. The flesh is uninterested in the spirit and only seeks to satisfy its own desires.

            The problem caused by the desires of the flesh is detrimental to man and at the same time, very difficult to resolve. Romans 7:5 says, “For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were aroused by the law were at work in our members to bear fruit to death.” Our flesh’s desires lead us to bear fruits – fruits of death. That is why Apostle Paul was grieved and said, “O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” (Rom 7:24).

            There was a time in the past when the wrath of God punished the earth. During the days of Noah, God destroyed every living thing that had breath through a flood. The cause of this was again man’s carnal mind. God saw that every intention of man was always evil and grieved the fact that He had created man on the earth (Gen 6:5-6). The evil thoughts stemming from man had ultimately caused the flood; however, this carnal mind has not disappeared and still works inside man. Regarding this Apostle Paul said, “Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be” (Rom 8:7). The ‘thoughts of the flesh’ refer to the ‘man of carnal desires.’ This, which could not be trained or improved, causes man to not only oppose God and sin, but also works inside the believers so that they cannot be holy and lose the spiritual happiness.

The Two Functions of the Law

            God is the righteous God who desires to save us. His righteousness was manifested in the created world, and this is the truth. Although Jesus Christ is the Son of God, He came in the flesh to the earth filled with men of carnal desires in order to deliver them from the snare of death. The Gospel He brought was the only breakthrough for man to escape the snare of death. The requirement of the Gospel toward us is to get rid of the old self that only lived by the flesh and become God’s possession, that is, God’s people. A ‘people’ is different from a ‘nation’ or ‘citizens.’ A nation has ownership of their country but a people is the king’s possession. We must not be citizens (a nation) but God’s people. The time we have on earth to breathe is fleeting fast. We have to become God’s possession as quickly as possible, while we are going through the valley of the shadow of death. That is the way to escape destruction.

            The function of the Law is vital in this matter. Many people naturally regard the Law as something bad, or excessively emphasize grace that they consider the Law to be insignificant. This is a dangerous way of thinking. The Law is an absolute necessity for man to become a people of God.

            We used to be of the Devil and had to perish together with him. However, God paid the price of our sin and rescued us from the den of the Devil. And that process was like a trial in court. It was no ordinary trial but a cosmic one that drew the attention of every living being in Heaven and on earth, and they all had to accept the outcome without any objection. Thankfully, Jesus has won the trial and purchased us.

            The purpose of God giving the Law to the world was to first of all, make us His people through our obedience to His law. Every person abides by the laws of his country. Although our flesh is living in this world, we are definitely a people of the Kingdom of Heaven. The gods of this world cannot lay a finger on us so easily because we have the mighty authority that only the people of the Kingdom of Heaven can enjoy. We belong to the Kingdom of Heaven and are under the control of its law.

            Another reason why God has given the Law is so that man could be condemned. Everyone needs to be condemned by the Law in order for God to save him. Therefore, it is neither a bad or sad thing to be condemned by the Law. Without the Law, man would perish before God could do anything about it. Since man is going to perish anyway even if he is not condemned by the Law, he needs to stand trial confessing, ‘’God, may you deal with me,” so that he might live.

            The Law could then be deemed good considering that it plays such a vital role in the work of salvation. However, in Romans 8:2, the Law is called the ‘law of sin and death.’ Is it not a bad thing if it is the law of sin and death? In fact, even Romans 7:10 says, “And the commandment, which was to bring life, I found to bring death.” Then, is the Law really good? Or is it bad? To a sinner, the Law cannot seem good. However, we must remember that in Jesus Christ the Law is an extremely good and righteous law.

How the Law is Applied

            We now need to understand the way the Law is applied to the people of God. This is very important considering how the Jews and especially their leaders – the scribes and Pharisees – had a misunderstanding about the Law, just as Jesus observed. The scribes and Pharisees were focused on the requirements of the Law that they had to observe, contrary to the purpose of God giving the Law. They thought they were diligently keeping the numerous requirements of the Law and thus believed that they could be justified by their own efforts. Their hearts did not have any room for the savior to enter; they did not wait for the savior. And concerning them Jesus said, “These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me” (Matt 15:8). He then raised the standard of the Law saying, “For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matt 5:20).

            Until Jesus Christ came, the Law was seen as an evil law. Yet, in Jesus Christ, the Law thoroughly manifested its characteristics as the Law of the Spirit of life. Whereas in the past, it had only showed half of its attributes, the Law displayed all of its true features in Jesus Christ. We need to clearly understand how the Law, which Jesus has fulfilled, is applied to the people of God.

            The requirements of the Law are countless. For convenience’s sake, let’s say that there are one hundred different types of commandments. For instance, a person kept ninety-nine of them but violated one. That person will be counted as one who has violated the other ninety-nine as well. God said, ‘do not murder!’ but if someone hates a brother, he is deemed a murderer even if he did not physically commit murder. God said, ‘do not commit adultery!’ but if anyone had lustful thoughts, he would be considered an adulterer though he did not actually commit adultery. So if a person keeps one command but breaks another, he is considered to have broken the former as well.

            Despite this issue, people were only focused on observing each requirement of the Law and did not think about God, who had given them the Law and the fact that He was watching them. Deep down they thought they could get away with violating one or two commandments because they had met all the other numerous requirements of Law. However, because of that one or two violations, they committed the grave sin of disobedience towards God who had given them the Law. It is nothing but an unconvincing excuse to try to argue by saying, “Since I’ve kept all the other commandments, shouldn’t I be able to get away with this one?” Transgressing against even one of the requirements of the Law will nullify all the past acts of obedience and that person would become a lawbreaker.

            For example, there is a fine bone china tea set but one of the cups became chipped. People might simply look at the rest of the cup which is undamaged and think that it is fine, ignoring the chip. Yet, that cup is no longer complete regardless of how intact the rest of the cup may be. We could even say that the one chip has made the whole tea set unusable. In the same way, even if someone kept ninety-nine out of a hundred law requirements, all of his works are nullified by breaking just one.

            It is difficult for man to obey all the requirements of the Law due to the weakness of his flesh. Therefore, God sent Jesus Christ and supplemented man’s weakness, that is, his inability to keep all of the Law, and hence the Law’s requirement towards man was fully met. This is the same as completely restoring the chipped cup which was previously useless. While the other intact parts of the cup had to be thrown away due to the chip before, it can now really shine and show its true value the moment the chipped cup is restored. Man cannot escape eternal punishment because of transgressing against one commandment despite having the righteousness of obeying the other ninety-nine commandments of the Law. But Jesus Christ paid the heavy price of man’s sin through the shedding of His blood and death. Consequently, that disobedience against one commandment out of one hundred was deemed as obedience, and the obedience to the ninety-nine commandments, which was almost rendered invalid, was suddenly brought to life and shined brightly.

            Let’s now consider this example inversely. There was a certain person who had only obeyed one out of a hundred commandments and violated against the remaining ninety-nine. This person would have to perish since he has not kept as many as ninety-nine commandments. Yet, Jesus died on the cross and paid the price of his transgression against the ninety-nine commandments. As a result, that person became freed from death and justified for even the ninety-nine commandments that he did not keep. Although he had only obeyed one of the commandments, by the merits of Jesus Christ he was justified and deemed righteous for all one hundred commandments.

            Likewise, God has fulfilled what man could not accomplish due to the weakness of his flesh. God allowed man to be condemned by the Law first, then sent His Son into the world and paid the price of man’s sin. No matter how hard man tries to obey God’s law, that is just a poor struggle in God’s sight. By the blood of His Son, God covered the weakness of man who had so struggled to obey God’s Law, and allowed the righteousness of faith to be revealed in those who endeavor to follow the spirit.

The Condition to Rely on the Merits of Christ

Some people might ask, “isn’t it unfair for the person who obeyed ninety-nine commandments if another person who only obeyed one is justified the same? Isn’t is unfair to be treated the same as everyone else when he has worked so hard?” What would you do? Would you be satisfied at obeying just one since you are going to relying the merits of Jesus Christ anyway, or would you strive to obey all of the ninety-nine?

            One can still receive much of Christ’s grace by obeying just one, so in that sense it is not too bad. However, we must remember that the righteousness of the faith that such a person has will be significantly small. On the last day, everyone has to stand before Christ the Judge, present his works and settle accounts with Him. Each person’s work will be tested by fire on that day, and whoever’s work is burned up will suffer loss. Such a person will stand before Christ, yet as one saved through fire and he will be ashamed. Anyone that cannot receive the rewards of the righteousness of his faith could be driven outside into the darkness and gnash his teeth in regret even though he has entered Heaven.

            As we zealously keep the law of God but fail at times, but Christ supplements our failures with His merits. However, the people who from the start do not have the heart to obey God’s law, will not even rely on the merits of Christ. There has to be the grounding of faith that fervently desires to obey God’s law in order to be empowered by His works. It is not possible to be so empowered if anyone does have the heart to obey God. Thus, unbelievers cannot receive the empowerment of the works of Jesus Christ.

            The purpose of the Law ultimately is to cause man to rely on the works Christ, but first and foremost, to have faith is to obey God. It is a rash judgment for anyone to not seek the righteousness of faith and simply think, “I’ll be saved if I just believe in the works of Christ. I don’t need to make any more efforts since I have His merits. I can do whatever I want after receiving salvation.” Even the person who has already been saved cannot take the righteousness of faith lightly.

            The fact that God has given the Law prior to sending Jesus Christ shows that He demands from us an obedient faith. God desires us to have an obedient faith. He wants our faith to be fervent. He desires there to be people among us who are willing to give up their lives in dedication.

            If someone is truly thankful for Christ’s suffering and meritorious deeds, he ought to have the zeal to actively put his faith in practice. His life should become a testimony in itself. Every day of his life should bear witness to the fact that he has received grace. We must realize that God who has bestowed His grace demands faith from us and rise up anew.

The Desires of the Flesh

            Although we have been empowered by the merits of Jesus Christ, there is still an unsolved problem: the chronic stubbornness lurking in our flesh. As it is written, “Hear, O earth! Behold, I will certainly bring calamity on this people—the fruit of their thoughts, because they have not heeded My words nor My law, but rejected it” (Jer 6:19), the reason people do not abide by God’s law is because of the thoughts of the flesh. The thoughts that stem from the desires of the flesh are contrary to the thoughts of God and oppose His works. Jesus said that it is not what goes inside a man that defiles him but rather what comes out him (Mark 7:15-23).

            The desires of the flesh affect our lives constantly. For example, while we are driving, there are times when we want to run a red light just because there is no pedestrian crossing, even though the green light is signaling for the pedestrians to cross the road. Or, when we read the comments left on online news articles, many of them are alarmingly vicious. Such examples directly show that man’s flesh has a selfish, judgmental and aggressive nature. These characteristics are found even inside the church. Of course, most of the saints are very humble as those who have experienced grace. However, some people have a particularly negative perspective and are quick to criticize the matters of the church and cause difficulties in the church. Such people are unable to contain the negative thoughts that surge inside them, and instantly all of the faith training they had built up is torn down without them even realizing. And when that happens again and again, they become insensible to the fact that they are following the desires of their flesh. In the end, their relationship with God could fall apart.

            The thoughts of the flesh are enmity against God. In other words, there is a nature in our flesh that is an enemy against God. This nature does not submit to God’s will, nor can it face the light of God and it is always sidetracked. And yet it is very effective in causing man to commit sin so grievous. Behind the mask of Christians, it disdains God and is as bold as to challenge God. Our flesh is capable of doing all these things.

            We must not give any opportunity to the enemy. Anyone who does, would be led by the enemy and his relationship with God would consequently fail. We should not be the wretched ones that narrowly escape through the flames, when we attain salvation after having endured every kind of hardship in our heart and body. We need to make a decision in our hearts while we still have the opportunity.

The Righteousness of Faith

            There are saints who regard their faith attitude as their own life. They are very cautious so as to not lose the life they have and earnestly seek the help of the Holy Spirit. They subdue their flesh, constantly obey and work out their salvation with fear and trembling (Phil 2:12). They are always conscious of the fact that God is watching them. Their hearts are filled with the yearning and fervor to please God. In patience, they struggle to accomplish the work that is pleasing to God, and overcome the difficulties through prayer while anticipating the reward from God. They evangelize, give offerings and service, and respect the ministers. They are considerate towards the saints and pray for the church. Moreover, they fully depend on the Holy Spirit in order to overcome all the challenges they face.

            We used to be God’s enemies. But through the death of Jesus Christ on the cross God has supplemented our weakness so that we are able to pass the Law as well as any other laws. God did not allow even the least of the fervor we have in our faith to go down the drain but has revived it through righteousness. Hence we need to show the zeal of our faith with a grateful heart toward God.

            We who had to perish because of the weakness of our flesh have now been revived through the spirit of Jesus, and we are able to harmonize with God’s righteousness. God willed for the righteousness of our faith to shine brightly and now we need to succeed our life of faith according to His plan. No longer should we think little of the righteousness of out faith. In order to fulfill the righteousness of His love toward God, Jesus Christ laid down His own thoughts and sacrificed Himself to the point of shedding His blood, and we ought to imitate Him to build up a sound faith.

            We have to be filled with the Holy Spirit so that we would never fall for the temptation of death. We have come to walk the path of eternal life through the law of the Holy Spirit. The law of the Holy Spirit allows all the works that Jesus has accomplished through His sacrifice to be manifested in our lives as real authority and power. A life of faith cannot exist without the Holy Spirit. He is the law of life. Until the day we leave this flesh and enter Heaven, we must be victorious through the law of the Holy Spirit and succeed in our faith.