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July 21

Scripture for today: 2 Chronicles 4:1-6:11; Romans 7:1-13; Psalm 17:1-15; Proverbs 19:22-23

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‘Well then, am I suggesting that the law of God is sinful? Of course not! In fact, it was the law that showed me my sin. I would never have known that coveting is wrong if the law had not said, “You must not covet.”’ (Romans 7:7 NLT).

From: July 21, 2018

SINCE GOD’S LAW CANNOT SAVE, WHAT GOOD IS IT?
Sin is aroused to further rebellion by God’s law. Does this mean that God’s law is itself sinful? Certainly not! If a mother tells her toddler not to touch the hot stove, she has given the child her law. Yet, the sin nature within the child is immediately activated to do the very thing she was commanded by her mother not to do. She feels the overwhelming urge to touch it! So, the mother’s law was good, but it did not have the power to affect the child’s desire.
 
If God’s law cannot save, what good is it? There are at least three good purposes for God’s law. In Romans 7:7, Paul has named the first purpose, which is to mirror our sinful condition by naming what is sinful, thus reflecting our guilty condition. Paul used as his example the one who covets and is proven sinful by the tenth command of God’s Decalogue, “Thou shalt not covet.” What are the three purposes of the law?
 
THREE “R”s OF THE LAW: (OR THREE “P”s)
1) Reflect our guilty condition (Like a perfect mirror).


2) Restrain our sinful behavior (Like a prison guard).

3) Reveal our need for a Savior (Like a pedagogue).

 
The law is good and useful, but it cannot save. Only faith in Christ saves and empowers us to produce a harvest of righteousness in His name.

“As for me, I will see Your face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied when I awake in Your likeness” (Psalm 17:15 NKJV).

From: July 21, 2017

David’s psalm anticipated the reality of going to sleep in this world and awaking to the righteous face of the Lord in the next. The Spirit inspired him with expectation of a day when he would be fully “satisfied” to be found in the Lord’s “likeness,” made righteous and fit for living in His presence.
 
This “face” and this “likeness” belongs to none other than the Lord Jesus. For as the apostle Paul wrote, “Now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face” (1 Cor. 13:12). And as the apostle John revealed, “Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is” (1 John 3:2).
 
Can you join with David in saying, “As for me…”?

‘Then Solomon prayed, “O Lord, you have said that you would live in a thick cloud of darkness.'” (2 Chronicles 6:1 ESV)

From: July 21, 2016

Solomon’s prayer of dedication for the Temple opened with an acknowledgement that God was already present. For as the Lord had manifested His presence in the form of a cloud to Moses and the Israelites in the wilderness (Lev.16:2), so had His glorious presence filled the Temple at its dedication. Solomon’s detailed attention to the building of the Temple, its furnishings and implements, showed his intimate knowledge of the Scriptures concerning these things. The acknowledgment of the cloud as the manifest presence of the Lord in his prayer further proved his Bible knowledge. The cloud was God’s way of showing His approval of Solomon’s Temple by indwelling it with His glory. Today, the Lord indwells those whose body has become His temple through faith in Christ (1 Cor. 6:19-20).

But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter” (Romans 7:6 NKJV)

From: July 21, 2015

We don’t serve God by following a checklist, but by living under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Legalism does not please God as it only reveals more of our unrighteousness and prideful hearts. This “newness” of serving God in the Spirit is not about effort or earning, but believing and receiving. Those who have identified with Christ’s death and resurrection have the law once inscribed in stone, now written on their hearts. They now are able to “serve,” to worship God, in Spirit and truth in newness of heart.

“…Now we can serve God, not in the old way of obeying the letter of the law, but in the new way of living in the Spirit” (Romans 7:6b NLT)

From: July 21, 2014

We don’t serve God by following a checklist, but by living under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Legalism does not please God as it only reveals our unrighteousness and prideful hearts. This “new way” of living is not about effort or earning, but believing and receiving. Those who have found the “new way” have the law once inscribed in stone, now written on their hearts. This “new way” frees us to truly serve God.