Thy mercy, my God, is the theme
of my song. The Pharisees were typical of
those whom Paul described as having a zeal of God, but not
according to knowledge. For they, being ignorant of God's
righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness,
have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.
They viewed the law of Moses as a series of codes which they
should implement and observe. They missed the whole purpose
of the giving of that law and being ignorant of true righteousness
thought that they could keep that law and therefore become
acceptable to God. Their understanding lives on
in the minds of those who would make the keeping of Moses' law
to be the ongoing duty of the children of God. That man who
has taught the true nature of that law is made speechless before
its demands and stripped naked and bare in its presence. Rather
than being able to recount his obedience to it or put on a display
of adherence to it, he is humbled in the dust and made to lament
the certainty of his own destruction. By the law is the knowledge of
sin. All those whom the Lord is pleased to instruct in true
righteousness have no hope in being able to keep any part of
his law, regardless of how simple it may appear. This is illustrated
in the account of the lawyer who asked the Lord how he might
inherit eternal life. And behold, a certain lawyer
stood up and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit
eternal life? He said unto him, What's written
in the law? How readest thou? And he answering said, Thou shalt
love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul,
with all thy strength, and with all thy mind, and thy neighbor
as thyself. And he said unto him, Thou hast
answered right. This doing thou shalt live. But
he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my
neighbor? He was smitten by the law, yet
sought to mitigate its blow by supposing a difficulty in defining
who his neighbor was. Who has loved the Lord with his
whole heart, soul, and strength? Or who has loved his neighbor
as himself? He that has not kept one part of the law is guilty
of it all, and stands condemned before the judgment seat of the
law. Well-meaning men, but with weak understanding, seek to lay
the burden of duty works upon the backs of those whom God has
forever set free, disregarding the very principle upon which
the righteousness of the sons of God is established. For the
law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free
from the law of sin and death. Here in his own words, Christ
is pleased to deliver a new commandment to his children, which is not
conditional, but rather built upon the promises of God and
fulfilled by Christ himself. For thou art a holy people unto
the Lord thy God. The Lord thy God hath chosen
thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that
are upon the face of the earth. The Lord did not set his love
upon you nor choose you, because you were more in number than
any people, for you were the fewest of all people. But because
the Lord loved you, and because He would keep the oath which
He had sworn unto your fathers, hath the Lord brought you out
with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondmen.
We are taught to love one another, not as we love ourselves, but
even as Christ has loved us. The design of this commandment
is not to lay another impossible burden upon the backs of God's
children, but to establish once and for all that our love to
one another is upon the same basis as that with which He has
always loved us. This is a love which has its
origins in God. We love Him because He first
loved us, and we have known and believed the love that God hath
to us. God is love, and he that dwelleth
in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. This love is the
fruit of the Spirit of God, in the people of God, and for the
people of God. We know that we have passed from
death unto life because we love the brethren. He that loveth
not his brother abideth in death. This love constrains the children
of God to Him and is the manifestation of His conformity to them, to
His image. This love is not the product
of the flesh, nor can it be enhanced by anything which men can perform.
My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue,
but indeed in truth. And this is His commandment,
that we should believe on the name of His Son, Jesus Christ,
and love one another as He gave us commandment. This love is
constant. Bear ye one another's burdens
and so fulfill the law of Christ. Let nothing be done through strife
or vain glory, but in loneliness of mind let each esteem other
better than themselves. We then that are strong ought
to bear the infirmities of the weak and not to please ourselves. Do you delight in his promise
or seek to earn his favor? If you would like a free transcript
of this broadcast, email us at forthepoor at windstream.net.