Please Lord help us understand Your, Love.

Too many believe that keeping the law is something separate from the love of God and it is not!


I left off yesterday's study with the above sentence and I want to pick up that same train of thought for today's study.

Separating the love of God from His laws- it's IMPOSSIBLE.

Jesus came and revealed God to us and He kept every commandment in love. If we keep the commandments thinking they will somehow save us we are incredibly wrong. Only our Savior's mercy and grace saves us. We are only saved by the thought action it takes to accept Christ. This assent to being saved is the only thing we can do. However…

Php 2:12 ... work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

And…

Eph 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Eph 2:9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Eph 2:10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

Too many people like to stop reading after the 9th verse, continuing on into the 10th we read… we are CREATED in Christ Jesus UNTO GOOD WORKS….WALK IN THEM.

So here we have the admonition to work out our own salvation and then we have the wonderful announcement that we can't save ourselves and it's a gift we receive of God- however…we are CREATED IN CHRIST JESUS UNTO GOOD WORKS. This salvation gift isn't a gift we receive and then walk away and continue our lives as if nothing has changed. Remember this…

Mat 13:18 Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower.
Mat 13:19 When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side.
Mat 13:20 But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it;
Mat 13:21 Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended.
Mat 13:22 He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.
Mat 13:23 But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.

After we receive the word of the gospel- the message of salvation through Jesus Christ we do NOT simply return to our old ways. Those who receive the word HEARETH the word- UNDERSTANDETH the word-BEARETH fruit.

Hear.
Understand.
Bear fruit.

Fruit-
Gal 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
Gal 5:23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

Why is there NO LAW against those who have the fruit of the Spirit? Because THERE is NO LAW prohibiting these things! These are those intangible things we talked about a few days ago. These are the things you can covet because these are NOT possessions, these are not tangible, these are not of the flesh in any way. We are to covet spiritual gifts- it stands to reason we'd desire spiritual fruit.

Gal 5:24 And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
Gal 5:25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
Gal 5:26 Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.

When we claim Christ we claim to CRUCIFY OUR FLESH- crucify our affections and lust- that which desires the earthly possession surrounding us. If we are truly living in the SPIRIT we will live as the SPIRITUAL- desiring the SPIRITUAL- not anything we can possess of the flesh, nothing tangible, nothing we can touch, see, feel.

Imagine LIVING In the SPIRIT, truly living in the SPIRIT. To live in the SPIRIT means living in the LOVE Of GOD fully. Keeping the law of God fully IS living in the SPIRIT and not living in bondage.

We've studied each law and we've seen how not a single one is something our Savior would say is no longer relevant. We've studied and we've seen how our Savior kept the law perfectly- never sinning- never transgressing a single law. We understand that because our Savior remained sinless- never transgressing the law- that He is worthy to save us- He is without sin.

We know that there is no sin without a law, yet there is life with out a written law. The law that was given on Mount Sinai was the unwritten law written. But that wasn't the only law given then- there was a ceremonial law, among other laws to govern life yet those laws were NOT included in the ten commandments, those laws were NOT written by the finger of God, those laws were NOT written in stone. There is a difference, a big difference. For years and years and years since before Adam and Eve sinned- God's ways existed, God's love existed, God's laws of love existed. From Adam and Eve to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph…God's laws existed- how do we know? Because SIN existed. We know that sin existed, we know there were heathen, the God-less, those against God. We know that cities of these God-less people were destroyed! We know that the entire population save eight were destroyed because of sin! And WHAT is sin? Sin is a transgression of the LAW! We cannot get around that though we can try all we want. When people talk about the law being done away with- they are talking about laws that are NOT the ten commandments! Jesus said He did NOT come to destroy the law! How could He, if He destroyed the law He would be destroying love, the love He put into those laws to govern our spiritual lives.

Oh there is soooo much we can talk about with this, so incredibly much. Satan would make this very hard to comprehend - in fact impossible to comprehend but God will not allow that. Those that truly love God will have their understanding opened. We need to have our understanding opened to discern the love of God in the law of God.

There was a reason Jesus said this in clarification--

Mat 5:21 Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment:
Mat 5:22 But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.

The spiritual aspect of the law is what so many try to take out of the law and it is the spiritual aspect that MUST fill every law and Jesus wanted that Spiritual aspect to be well known.

When the Pharisees accused Him of breaking the Sabbath by healing on the Sabbath, Jesus reminded them of the SPIRITUAL aspect of the law!

Over and over Jesus was reminding everyone of the Spiritual aspect of the law because the law is Spiritual given in love which is spiritual NOT tangible, not something you can grasp but something you must have, must believe in spiritually.


Oh please Lord help us..help us understand Your LOVE!


More tomorrow by HIS GRACE.


Amen.