The law and grace.
Usually Christians (including myself) end of thinking like this...
The law= bad
Grace= good
But consider these verses that almost tripped me up this morning, "From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ." (John 1: 16-17)
At first, this is what I wrote in the "What does it say?" column in my notebook, "God's fullness of grace gives us the blessing of being under the grace of Jesus instead of the law of Moses."
But I had a little check in my heart, and I made myself go back and read the verses again. That's not at all what those verses said. They actually say that both the law as well as grace are blessings---"one blessing after another."
So I changed my notes to say, "God's fullness of grace gives us the blessing both of the grace and truth of Jesus and the law of Moses. How can the unattainable law be a blessing? Suzie Eller's devotion this morning cast light on that for me. It's the place that makes me face my sin. Facing my sin is a blessing when I then turn to Jesus for His grace as the remedy.
One blessing after another.
Conviction is sweet when it precedes repentance and the receiving of grace.
Thank you, Jesus ,for giving us a place to bring our sin as we face it. Thank you for being the One and Only.
(Ya'll, I'm having trouble with Blogger. If there is no spacing in this, I apologize. I'm going to try one more time to fix it, and then I'm moving on with my day. Blessings!)
Friday, April 15, 2011
The One and Only
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4 comments:
What a great reminder!
The law of Moses - which we cannot keep on our own - shows us our need for grace/Jesus.
In that way it is a blessing - followed by the blessing of grace!
God is so good! And it was sure good to spend some time with you this week.
Hugs ~ Rachel
This Scripture I want to share with you: For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor; no good things does He withhold from those whose walk is blameless. Psalms 84:11
This one "hit" me today as I continue to "job search". Oh how I need HIS grace!!!
Amy, this is a great post. I love that distinction between "one blessing after another."
As a rule-follower, I often struggle with balancing following the rules and extending and receiving grace. This post and those verses are powerful.
My husband and I have talked about why there were so many detailed laws in the Old Testament (like the specific directions on treating skin rashes). My husband brought up a thought that the people were such that needed those laws, coming from generations of slavery to now learning to live "on their own" yet following God wholeheartedly.
I love the clarity of this: "Facing my sin is a blessing when I then turn to Jesus for His grace as the remedy."
Thank you, thank you for these freeing thoughts.
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