No condemnation part 2

This week, we continued the “No Condemnation” series. To further illustrate the meaning of 2 Corinthians 3:6 that says the law kills, but the Spirit brings life, we looked at the contrast of the first miracles of Moses (Law) and Jesus (Grace).  In Exodus 7, God instructs Moses to meet Pharaoh by the Nile and warn him that if he did not let God’s people go that the Moses would strike the Nile River with his staff and turn it to blood. All the fish would die and the river would stink and be undrinkable. Moses does as God commands, and the results are just as God said. This first miracle of “the law” turned water to blood and brought death and stink.

Then, Jesus’ first public miracle is recorded in John 2. Jesus is with His mother at a wedding, and they run out of wine. What we may miss when we read this story is the detail of what kind of jars Jesus used and their state. The jars He had the servants fill were the ones used for ceremonial hand washing. At an event like a wedding feast, there was a lot of washing that was necessary through the Law.  Worse yet, these jars were empty. You see, this miracle Jesus does actually has great spiritual significance. The jars for ceremonial cleaning were empty. The law had done all it could do! Having done all it could, there was still dirt and filth. Hands were still dirty. Jesus had stated that His time had not come. Perhaps He was referring to the fact that the time for the New Covenant had not arrived quite yet.

Cleaning from the outside was ineffective. Going all the way back to Noah, flooding the earth and starting over with just one righteous man and his family still couldn’t clean mankind. We quickly returned to sin and corruption. Jesus came to clean the inside of the vessel. A clean inside will produce a clean outside. No amount of law on the outside ever makes a man truly clean. The law was powerless!

Romans 7 discusses Paul’s struggle between the Spirit alive in him and the old, sinful nature. He points out that the law was good, but that sin uses the law to magnify sin and even create a desire to sin. He says that he did not even know what covetousness was apart from the law. Once he heard of coveting, then everything in him desired to covet. Law defines and magnifies sin and our desire for it.  This is human nature. Put up a sign that says. “Wet paint. Do not touch,” and see how many people walk up and touch. As soon as we are told we can’t do something, the sinful nature desires with every fiber of its being to do that very thing.

In Romans 8, Paul says that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. It begins with a “therefore” which means it is related to what he said in chapter 7. Because this struggle goes on and because we truly are spirit and not flesh, it is not our true self that sins, but the old, sinful nature or the flesh.  Yet, for the born-again spirit, there is no condemnation.  Until we get a realization of the fact that we are no longer condemned before God (through grace) we will have a hard time loving and showing grace to others. Once we freely receive, we will be able to freely give.

 Finally, in Luke 7 we read a story of Jesus being invited to the home of a Pharisee for dinner. While he is there, a prostitute enters and falls at Jesus’ feet, washing His feet with her tears and pouring expensive perfume on Him. The Pharisee, caught up in law, rebukes the woman and Jesus. He says that, if Jesus were the Messiah (God), he would not have contact with such a sinful woman.   Do you ever wonder how a known prostitute was able to walk unencumbered into the house of the Pharisee? Hmmmmm….

Jesus rebukes this Pharisee, Simon, by sharing a story about forgiveness. One master forgives the debt of two servants – one with a huge debt and one with a small debt. He asks Simon which one would be more thankful. Simon correctly answers the one with the large debt.   For us, the debt is actually equal. All have sinned and fall short. One does not need more or less forgiveness. Forgiveness is forgiveness. When we allow ourselves to use the law to make ourselves self-righteous, we are not as thankful for our salvation. This is because we feel we earned it. If I am right before God because I keep all the rules, then what did Jesus do for me?

This Pharisee was an expert in the law and a “keeper” of the law. As such, he had little thankfulness. In contrast, the woman knew full well she had been forgiven and was very thankful. When we receive the grace and His righteousness as a gift, we can be thankful and then, in turn, show love and grace to others.

 

 To listen to the entire sermon go to http://ahwatukeechurch.com/media.php.  To learn more about Living Word Ahwatukee, visit http://ahwatukeechurch.com/.