“Do we then make void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law.”
(Romans 3:31 NKJV)
I both believe and I intellectually hold that God is self-evident. Meaning His creative and omnipresent Power is around us and in us at all times, and He is obvious about it. What is more, I both believe and I intellectually hold that He loves us. This,
of course, seems like church speak; we all know that God is love.
Our inherent human problem when we say God is love is that we really want it to mean that love is god. Each of us must be honest here, we desperately want the fact that we love our significant other, our friends, our families, our home, and our state to be counted as righteousness. And I do hold that God certainly smiles upon these things. Yet, all of these things seem easy and natural. The Bible suggests that God loving us is often not easy or based in our natural desires.
This is so because His Love is something much more. He gave His people His Law because it is His righteousness. Being a doer of the Law has always been much more difficult than doing what is natural (dare I say more difficult than following one’s heart?). Yet it is so much better.
He sent His Son to save those who could not and cannot live up to His righteousness. Scripture certainly suggests that Jesus was joyful in obedience to God’s Will but It does not suggest it was easy for Him. He was often disappointed, lonely, and even mad. Yet, He stayed the course and walked out of that tomb! Our faith is not in our perception of love, our faith is in God loving us. And there is an eternity of difference.
Grace be with you,
Jason
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