BY FAITH NOT WORKS

Sin and the redemption from it sculpt the bosom of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is imperative then to have an extensive comprehension of this behemoth that necessitated the sacrifice of God himself through Jesus Christ, to liberate humanity. God in his own volition and love, created man in his own image and likeness to share in his glory.  Man being a semblance of God was to reflect his essence. As it was by choice that he loved man, it was also by choice that man was to shine back this love as a likeness of him. There cannot be a choice for love without free will hence this innate God-given attribute in man.

The only law upon which a choice of love by man was anchored, is the law of Life and death. The application of free will was to be guided by these two opposites. So great is God’s love that even by giving him a choice, he also offered him counsel on what he ought to choose. It’s like being given an exam with answers. Life and death in the garden of Eden were metaphorically objectified by the Tree of life and the Tree of knowledge of good and evil. This was a choice between God and (self)carnality. Initially, he already had access to the tree of life and to maintain the status quo, he was to abstain from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Abiding by this law was a demonstration of his love for God through faith in his counsel. Obedience through faith in God justified him for the righteousness to enjoy God’s glory.

Disobedience was a clear detour in faith in God. By opting for the tree of knowledge of Good and evil, man was shifting his faith from God to self (Carnality) a choice which would bring death as forewarned. The deception was that in self (carnality), through the fruit of knowledge of good and evil, he would be a god/like God thereby becoming independent of his creator. In this way, he elevated himself to the level of God while simultaneously relegating God to his level. The drift in faith shifted love from God to self (carnality). Naturally, you become a slave of the subject or object of your faith. Through man’s disobedience, carnality replaced God in man’s life as his principal reference.

Choices have consequences and as had been forewarned, carnality restricted access to the tree of life and yielded death. The immediate manifestation of a carnal man was the cognisance of his nakedness. The fall from glory stripped him of that which had shielded him from a dominant awareness and focus on self. Without the influence and consciousness permeated by the glory of God, having put faith in self, carnality seized control of man waking him up to an awareness he wasn’t privy to before. His awareness became more self-centered with limited consciousness of God and immediately noticed the vulnerabilities thereof. Unsurprisingly, the inferior nature of carnality to God and the dissonance between the two is displayed in the solution he applies to cover his nakedness. He opted for fig leaves which God on his arrival substituted for skin. The discord between man and his creator was set in motion.

What then is sin? It is a shift in man’s faith in God that redirects his love from God to anything else whose intention is to gratify man’s carnality. Carnality seeks to replace God in man’s life. Life is only in God’s domain and the works of the flesh can only yield death as had been forewarned. The wages of sin is death. Giving man just one law at creation, was an indication of what was required of him for righteousness. Man was to love God while living by faith in obedience to God’s counsel.

Romans 8:7-8 NKJV

“Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God”.

Genesis 15:6 NIV

”Abram believed the LORD, and he credited to him as righteousness”

From the fallen state of Adam, he brought forth humanity in his own fallen carnal image. In sin, subsequent human beings were born.

Genesis 5:3 NKJV

“And Adam lived one hundred and thirty years, and begot a son in his own likeness, after his image, and named him Seth”.

This marked the long struggle of man in sin; the subterraneous law of carnality encrypted in his being which informs his conscience and way of life against the law of God. From Adam through Moses, the effects of sin are evident in humanity. God being loving and merciful, provided a way back to his glory through the Law of Moses. Comprehensively, the law was an avenue of exposing carnality and its contrast to God’s law and the extent to which it had to be dealt with for one to be justified for righteousness. Sin had to die. Through the disobedience of the initial law, man awakened the carnal mind. In full obedience to the law of Moses, he was to suppress carnality to the extent that faith yielded love in God.

Deuteronomy 30:15-20 NKJV

“See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil, In that, I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments, his statutes, and his judgments, that you may live and multiply; and the LORD your God will bless you in the land you go to possess. But if your heart turns away so that you do not hear, and are drawn away, and worship other gods and serve them, I announce to you today that you shall surely perish; you shall not prolong your days in the land which you cross over the Jordan to go in and possess. I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life that you and your descendants may live; that you may love the LORD your God, that you may obey his voice, and that you may cling to him, For he is your life and the length of your days; and that you may dwell in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them”.

God is Just and consistent with humanity. Both laws given to Adam and Moses are similar in principle; Life and death. The focal point and the spirit of the Law of both Moses and Adam was faith in God which yields love. Even with the law of Moses, which exposed sin, they still fell short of the glory of God. Carnality again came into play. They over-emphasized the letter of the Law suppressing the spirit thus still falling short of God’s glory. Obliging to the Law in works without Faith-the spirit of the Law, the Jews still fell short of the ultimate law of love accomplished through faith. With the law, they were no different from the gentiles who were without the law.

Psalms 14:1-3, Romans 3:10-12, NKJV

“The fool has said in his heart, there is no God, they are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none who does good. The LORD looks down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there are any who understand, who seek God, They have all turned aside, they have together become corrupt; there is none who does good, no, not one”.

Part of the Law of Moses included remedial actions for atonement in case of transgressions. A sin offering was to be made in repentance for atonement. Sin offerings depending on the nature of transgression are well elaborated in Leviticus chapters four to six. A bull, a ram, a lamb, etc without blemish was to be sacrificed. The wages of sin is death. The concept was that of transference of sin through faith, from the sinner to the lamb, and in its death, sin also died freeing the transgressor from sin. Again, this was misconceived by the Jews who failed to see the spirit of it which was by faith. Killing a lamb in itself had no power to redeem one from sin. It was the faith in God embedded in the whole exercise that was of significance.

Psalms 51:16-17 NLT

“You do not desire a sacrifice, or I would offer one. You do not want a burnt offering. The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit. You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God”.

Isaiah 1:11-15 NKJV

“To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices to me? Says the LORD. I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fed cattle. I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs or goats. When you come to appear before me, who has required this from your hand, to trample my courts? Bring no more futile sacrifices; Incense is an abomination to me. The new moons, Sabbaths, and the calling of assemblies I cannot endure iniquity and the sacred meeting. Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hates; They are a trouble to me, I am weary of bearing them. When you spread out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; Even though you make many prayers, I will not hear. Your hands are full of blood”.

God in his loving and merciful nature has always had man’s interests at heart. From Adam to Moses, he has shown how he wished life for human beings. As men kept faltering, he still offered humanity redemption through Jesus Christ. The coming of Christ did not abolish the law. Rather, he was the very embodiment of the law, being the word of God personified. In him was the substance of all law. Abiding by him was synonymous to keeping the law.

John 1:1-5 NKJV

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him, nothing was made that was made. In him was life and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.”

John 3:16-17 NKJV

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.”

He was born into this world under the law and maintained righteousness thereby becoming the ultimate Lamb without a blemish for the sin offering that would free the world from sin. As in the law of Moses where a lamb had to die with the sins of the transgressor, so was Jesus for the sin of the world. The same impression of transference of sin by faith to the subject of the sacrifice was still at play. To those who repent, believe and have faith in him, their sins are deemed to have been crucified with Jesus at his death thus setting them free.

John 1:29 NKJV

The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said,” Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”

In repentance by faith, sin is dead in the crucifixion and a believer is born again of the spirit in the resurrection. By shifting faith from God to self, through Adam, man became a slave to sin. By embracing God’s sin offering on behalf of humanity by faith in Jesus Christ at the crucifixion, Man is freed from sin. In the Law of Moses, without faith, the death of a lamb in a sin offering was a nullity. Likewise, the crucifixion of Jesus was in vain to those without faith in the remittance of sin through him. What greater sacrifice can one offer God for the remittance of sin?

Romans 3:21-22 NLT

“But now God has shown us a way to be made right with him without keeping the requirements of the Law, as was promised in the writings of Moses and the prophets long ago. We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are”.

Romans 8:1-2 NIV

“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death”.

Since man’s creation, there has always been one Law governing the relationship between him and God; The Law of love. In all his dealings with man, God has always met his end in compliance with this law. For God to see a likeness of himself in man, man must reflect love which is God’s nature. By faith through obedience, Man demonstrates love. By love, a semblance of God is projected. You are because of his love. What you owe therefore is love. Since the beginning, the choice for humanity has always been the same; a choice between life and death. Put faith in his counsel; choose life.

Hebrews 11:6 NIV

“And without faith, it is impossible to please God because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him”

John 14:6 NKJV

Jesus said to him,” I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me”.

Amen.