Thy mercy, my God, is the theme
of my song. If any man takes comfort of any
sort in his own ability to perform that which the Lord requires,
then that man is a stranger to grace, and is yet in his sins,
regardless of how outwardly conformed he may be to the letter of that
which he might describe as the law. We have seen a rise in the
last few years of multitudes who crusade to have the Ten Commandments
plastered in their yards, courthouses, and wherever they feel is an
appropriate place. They are generally convinced
that the societal evils we see all around us can be remedied
by reminding men of these Ten Commandments. They entertain
this notion because they, in general, consider themselves
to be keepers of these laws and hope that they can somehow bring
about reform in others to match their own keeping of such. We're
certainly not opposed to the scriptures being displayed anywhere,
someone which is to print or place them. However, we do not
entertain the notion that the Ten Commandments are the essence
of God's law, any more than we think that inundating men with
them will in any wise cause them to keep them. We are certain
that perfection does not come by the keeping of those laws,
since the Lord never denied the rich young ruler's claims of
having kept those laws from his youth up, yet he told them that
he was not yet perfect. Neither do we find anything but
condemnation when we read the law of God and are confronted
with our utter disregard of it and reminded of our disobedience
to its most simple of precepts by the convincing power of the
Holy Ghost, who is constantly at work in those whom he has
awakened to see their own depravity. When one of the Pharisees asked
the Lord to state the greatest commandment, he replied, Thou
shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy soul,
and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment.
And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbors
thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
This is that which will shut the mouth of all erstwhile law-keepers,
when the Lord is pleased to reveal to them how little regard they
have to either. This is the exact place which
the Apostle Paul found himself when he said, For I was alive
without the law once, but when the commandment came, sin revived,
and I died. And the commandment which was
ordained to life I found to be unto death. For sin, taking occasion
by the commandment, deceived me, and by it slew me. Wherefore
the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good. Was
then that which is good made death unto me? God forbid. But
sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which
is good, that sin by the commandment might become exceedingly sinful.
For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold unto sin. When the Spirit of God showed
him what the law was, he was slain by it. So while duty demands
that we fulfill these requirements, it offers no help or support
in doing so. Who can deny that the law demands
perfect obedience, yet who can render it unto him who will accept
no less than this perfection? Knowing what we should do or
even must do is no consolation to the man who knows himself
to be a sinner through and through and completely incapable of delivering
such obedience. When the Spirit of God is pleased
to awaken a dead sinner and reveal to him the complete righteousness
of Jesus Christ as the substitute for sin, that child of grace
can no longer seek to be found righteous in the sight of God
by the performance of any duty or the presentation of personal
merit. He is satisfied with that which Christ has performed for
him, fulfilling the law in his behalf and declaring him just
before God as one who has never sinned. Such a man is reconciled
to God, for it pleased the Father that in him should all fullness
dwell. and having made peace through the blood of his cross
by him to reconcile all things unto himself. By him, I say,
whether they be things in earth or things in heaven, and you
that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked
works, yet now hath he reconciled in the body of his flesh through
death to present you holy and unblameable and unreprovable
in his sight. But now in Christ Jesus, ye who
sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ,
for he is our peace. Just as surely as Jesus Christ
is their performer in providing for them a perfect righteousness
and the satisfaction of the law, so is he their very present performer
in constraining his people to walk before him in love. For
it is God which worketh in you both the will and to do of his
good pleasure. If you love me, keep my commandments.
By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you
have love one to another." Do you love the law or the perfect
law keeper? If you would like a free transcript
of this broadcast, email us at forthepoor at windstream.net.