Sin is
breaking God’s law. “Whosoever committeth sin
transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.” 1
John 3:4.
It is only
by facing the mirror - God's law - that we discover our sin and the deformity
of our characters. The law makes us
realize our need for the Saviour to wash our robes of character in His blood. Paul
says, "I had not known lust, except the law had
said, Thou shalt not covet. But sin, taking occasion by the commandment,
wrought in me all manner of concupiscence. For without the law sin was dead.
For I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin
revived, and I died." Romans
7:7-9.
Keeping God’s
law cannot save us. We can only be saved by believing in the Lamb of God; only
His precious blood can cleanse us from every spot and stain of sin. “Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be
justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin.” “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto
the Father, but by me.” Romans 3:20; John 14:6.
Yet,
receiving God’s free gift of grace (justification) does not mean that we do not
need to overcome sin. “For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is
like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: 24For
he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner
of man he was. 25But whoso looketh into the
perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful
hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed.”
James 1:23-25.
We are all
sinful, and of ourselves are unable to do the words of Christ. But God has made
provision whereby the condemned sinner may be freed from spot and stain. "If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father,
Jesus Christ the righteous." "If we confess our sins, he is faithful
and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness." 1 John 2:1; 1 John 1:9. But while Christ saves
the sinner, He does not do away with the law which condemns the sinner. The law
shows us our sins, as a mirror shows us that our face is not clean. The mirror
has no power to cleanse the face; that is not its office.
Man, who
has corrupted the image of God in his soul by a sinful life, and cannot of
himself, change himself. He must accept all that the gospel has offered him
freely; this will empower him to obey God’s law through faith in Jesus Christ.
Justification does not
depend on our works. “To declare, I say, at this time
his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which
believeth in Jesus.”
Romans 3:26. But works
are the fruit of our faith. “Was not Abraham our father
justified by works, when he had offered Isaac his son upon the altar?”
James 2:21. Genuine faith will be manifested in good works; for good works are
the fruits of faith.
As God
works in the heart through the Holy Spirit, and man surrenders his will to God,
and cooperates with God, there is harmony between the purpose of the heart and
the practice of the life. Every sin is renounced as the hateful thing that
crucified the Lord of life and glory, and the believer has a progressive
experience by continually doing the works of Christ. It is by continual
surrender of the will, by continual obedience, that the blessing of
justification is retained. “I die daily.” 1
Corinthians 15:31.
“Seest
thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?”
James 2:22. Thus, faith works together with works. “Perfect” means complete. Abraham’s faith was made manifest by his works
and his works proved he was justified.
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