No More Works for Salvation
OPENING PRAYER:
Lord, help me to fully understand the freedom I have through faith in Christ. Amen
READ:
“Now the first covenant had regulations for worship and also an earthly sanctuary. A tabernacle was set up. In its first room were the lampstand and the table with its consecrated bread; this was called the Holy Place. Behind the second curtain was a room called the Most Holy Place, which had the golden altar of incense and the gold-covered ark of the covenant. This ark contained the gold jar of manna, Aaron’s staff that had budded, and the stone tablets of the covenant. When everything had been arranged like this, the priests entered regularly into the outer room to carry on their ministry. But only the high priest entered the inner room, and that only once a year, and never without blood, which he offered for himself and for the sins the people had committed in ignorance. The Holy Spirit was showing, by this, that the way into the Most Holy Place had not yet been disclosed as long as the first tabernacle was still functioning. This is an illustration for the present time, indicating that the gifts and sacrifices being offered were not able to clear the conscience of the worshiper.”
Hebrews 9:1-4, 6-9 NIV
“I am the Lord your God; consecrate yourselves and be holy because I am holy. Do not make yourselves unclean by any creature that moves along the ground. I am the Lord, who brought you up out of Egypt to be your God; therefore, be holy, because I am holy.”
Leviticus 11:44-45 NIV
“You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh? So, again I ask, does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you by the works of the law, or by your believing what you heard?”
Galatians 3:1-3, 5 NIV
REFLECT:
I have just finished reading Leviticus in my 2021 journey through the Bible and the theme throughout is God’s desire that we “be holy, because he is holy.” Every page of Leviticus is covered by the rules, regulations, and sacrifices the Israelites had to follow or do to attempt to be holy as God is holy. As the Hebrews passage above indicates, this attempt was an unpayable debt that could not be satisfied. The only way that we can become holy is through the blood of Christ and the torn curtain discussed yesterday.
Intellectually, I know that I am saved by faith in the Lord Jesus, but periodically I find myself slipping into the legalistic mode like the Galatians did. No, I do not turn back to the legalistic Jewish laws and rituals as the Galatians, but I have a more subtle way of doing it. I have my own measuring stick to see if I am good enough to be holy before God. Pastor Carter calls it checking the boxes. None of the activities on my check list are bad but it is my legalistic attitude toward doing them. Often, I will feel real guilt if I fail to make a church meeting or do my daily Bible reading. When I start worrying this way, I must do as Paul states in Galatians 3:5, “So again I ask, does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you by the works of the law, or by your believing what you heard?”
APPLY:
Ask yourself if you are trying to make yourself holy enough for God by checking the boxes or by relying on your faith in the blood of Jesus. If your answer is that you feel a real guilt when you fail to check a box one week, you are probably being legalistic, trying to make yourself good enough. If you are, follow Paul’s advice in Galatians 3:5.
CLOSING PRAYER:
Lord Jesus, help me fully understand that the debt I owe for my sins is an unpayable debt owed to a totally righteous God and can only be covered by accepting the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and his righteousness. Amen
WORSHIP: