If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.(John 15:10)
We live in a world of immorality and rebellion and many times we in the church take grace to the point of allowing all types of behavior. Clearly, Jesus has summed up all the commandments in two, love God and love your neighbor as yourself. Jesus Himself said to keep His commandments which sums up all of the ten, it does not remove them! We are not saved by keeping His commandments, we are saved by grace through faith. We close the door to the enemy when we stay within God’s parameters by honoring the moral code of God, which are His commandments.
So much heartache and suffering could be avoided if we just listen to God. He has our best interest in His heart for us. If we love Him we will obey Him. There is a balance with grace, we can not use it to live the way we want and expect to escape being chastened. The Lord chastens those He loves. God is good and the fear of the Lord is the foundation for wisdom. When God does chasten or discipline or punish, it is because He loves us. In the book of Hebrews it clearly states, “those whom I love, I chasten”.
Jesus did not come to remove or abolish the law, but rather to fulfill or uphold it. In fulfilling it, we now have the power to keep His ways through His grace. Grace is the empowerment not to live in sin. When we read in the new testament that we are not under the law, we also see verses that say to keep God’s commandments. How do we interpret both? Firstly, we misunderstand the fact that the laws that we are no longer to adhere to are the ceremonial, dietary and ritual laws. We no longer need to make burnt offerings or peace offerings. We never again need to sacrifice goats or sheep for our sins. We no longer need to wear certain garments or have someone else enter the Holy place to atone for our sins. We now have Jesus who is our High Priest forever. However, that does not make His moral commands void. His commands are just that, commands. They are not requests, nor are they the great suggestions. They are a guide for us here on earth and they are a protection from danger.
The only way to salvation is through Jesus Christ, not the law! In saying that, if you truly have received Jesus and you have a relationship with Him, you will not live in murder, you will not live committing adultery, you will not live bowing before other gods. If you know Jesus and find yourself in temporary disobedience, it will not be that you are living in that sin, everyone falls into temptation to a sin, but the Holy Spirit will convict and you will repent and turn from your sin. We are not perfect as followers of Jesus, but we are striving for perfection to be like Him. Living in sin with no remorse is proof of a commitment to Christ that has no relationship attached to it. Therefore it is a form of godliness, but with no power. A form of godliness doesn’t save us, a relationship with Him does.
Revalue where you are in your walk with God and visit your foundation. Is your foundation built on intimacy with Jesus? Let a man examine himself, and in examining, if something needs to change, ask the Holy Spirit to help you change today. God is building our foundation in strength, for a strong foundation will allow the house to weather the storm.
His love is unmatched! His salvation is extra-ordinary! His mercy is new every morning! His faithfulness is great! His kindness is like no other! There is no god, like our God and He is building strong foundations!
The Teaching Ministry of Michael Cannatello
TMMC
