The Gospel says that the Law is good, yet the perfect standards which the Law presents point out our sin. Jesus Christ not only met these perfect standards; Romans 7:4 through the body of Christ we ourselves have died to the Law (i.e. set free from meeting the perfect standards of the Law).
The Gospel says through the same verse that we did not stay dead, but we have been brought into Christ, and as He was raised from the dead, so we were raised from the dead, 'in order that we may bear fruit to God'.
The Gospel defines the fruit in Galatians 5, as the fruit of the Holy Spirit: Love, peace, patience, joy, faithfulness, kindness, goodness, and self-control. Take note, they are not the 'fruits', as if they were separate categories to be studied and practiced, bringing the focus back to our performance instead of them naturally occurring in and through us by the Holy Spirit which dwells in us, when we were raised from the dead.
Galatians 5 continues by saying that there is no law against such fruit. Christ, as the vine (John 15:1), bears these fruits through us, whom He calls the branches. Christ produces love, and we bear this love as the love that causes us to love one another - therefore, we adhere to the Law, and we fulfill the new Commandment that Christ gave us, because He Himself is fulfilling it in us, as we are in Him!
The Gospel is not the Law, nor is it an opportunity for us to practice licentiousness: Legalism slaps us against the wall of rules and forces imperfection to attain perfection, while licentiousness says there are no rules, and that we could do whatever we want
Perfect love casts out all fear; in other words, in place of fear, we now have perfect love in Christ. Christ is our perfect love. God loves us perfectly because of Christ and His finished work.
Perfect love casts out all fear. We now operate from all that is associated with this perfect and everlasting love. It is in CHRIST that we move and we have our being, and no longer do we act and react from trepidation and a sense of condemnation.
The Gospel inspires us to be all we could be, moving in love and not out of fear. The Gospel teaches us to be and do everything we were created to do in Christ, NOT just for us to do anything we want.
The Gospel respects the goodness and the perfection of the Law, but introduces us to a new and more excellent way in Christ - a life of freedom, yet a life that is royal - a life that is abundant, which meets the perfection of the Law as Christ met its standards.
This is a far cry from those who bash the Gospel by saying that we claim that we don't have to do anything anymore, or that we claim we can do anything we want, according to our senses. We move and overcome and conquer without fear, knowing that Christ will never leave nor forsake us, driven by the perfect and everlasting love that is always in us, and that we are always in.
Not that we don't make mistakes; but when we fall, we should not focus on our conduct, but on our immovable and eternal position in Christ, for our conduct and our actions to follow suit. Licentiousness will never be the trait of a person in Christ, because when faith comes by hearing, and as Christ is the author of our faith, we are made new.
We are made new. We are made compatible to God, and incompatible to sin. We have a new heart, and a new mind, which appreciates the Spirit, and is foreign to the flesh, or the mindset of the world without Christ.
The Gospel is the fulfillment of the Law, and it presents us with an adventure eternally with our Savior, our Father, and our Teacher. The Gospel is Christ, the Word made flesh, that dwelt among us, and is now alive in us, as close as He could ever be to us, and us to Him.
Because of Christ, we are no longer afraid to die.
Because of Christ, we are forever excited to live.
The exciting adventure, the great journey of a thousand steps does not begin with a simple step, before it begins with believing in Jesus Christ. - Jonas Ajonye
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email me at jibee@rocketmail.com.
May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift His countenance upon you and give you His Shalom. - Numbers 6:24-26