ii. We will feel and behave like slaves (under the curse of the law) to the extent that we fail to believe the gospel promises are for us when we struggle with sin.
When we struggle with sin, and we all do, and we fail to remember the gospel promises are for us then we begin to think that we are under the condemnation of the law. When I say struggle with sin, I mean struggling with it not living in it. And when I say believing the gospel promises, I include in that belief, turning in real repentance back to the Cross and recognizing that Christ has paid the debt for that sin.
This is where I have the most difficulty with feeling like I am still a slave under the curse of the law. Sometimes I really get into the rut of thinking that I am on probation again. I don’t mean that I have ever been arrested. But I mean probation in the theological sense. What I mean is that Adam was on probation (or under a time of testing in the garden). After the fall, Man is in a state of reprobation (or rejection). But in Christ, we are in a state of approbation (or a state of acceptance). Some think that after we become Christians, we go back to a state of probation like Adam in the garden. And every time we sin we go back to a state of reprobation till we repent and rededicate our lives to Christ again. And in this theology you had better hope you don’t die with unconfessed sin.
But, in Christ we are accepted by virtue of His perfect righteousness. We don’t go back to a state of probation.
When we, in practice, begin to think that we are back on probation with God, we live a defeated life. We are again living in fear. When we sin, God is just an angry judge and not a loving father. And it is in this state that we behave like the slave under the curse of the law and fall more easily into more sin. Because Paul tells us in Romans 7 that through the law comes the knowledge of sin. And when we try to live under the law, sin seizes the opportunity and brings forth death.
For example, we set out to live by a set of good Christian disciplines in order to be good spiritual Christians. And the first time we fail to get up to that 4:30 alarm. Or we fail to keep up with our prescribed daily Bible reading. We begin to kick ourselves for not doing better. We say “I’ll just try harder.” And we become discouraged and think that God doesn’t love us much, or He won’t bless our ministry because we’re failures. Now, this example really belongs with judging your Christian life by performance. But, what about when we sin? We do the same thing. We kick ourselves because we’re failures. We think that a real Christian would have been stronger. So, what do we do? We try to be stronger, we try harder. It’s like falling into a deep hole and trying to dig your self out. But, you can’t dig yourself out of this hole. Actually, I’ve always thought that digging yourself out of a hole was a strange expression. What is the usual product of digging? :a deeper hole, right? So, if you’re in a hole and you begin digging, what are you going to get? :deeper. That is exactly what happens when we try to dig ourselves out of sin.
The only solution is Christ.
It is only through trusting in what Christ Jesus accomplished for us that we will live a life of holiness. Christ in His passive obedience, His sacrificial death on the cross, paid the debt of our sin, and in His active obedience, of living a perfectly righteous life, He secured perfect righteousness for us. So, it is only through faith in Christ that we can live righteous lives. By this I mean two things 1) That we are righteous in Christ’s imputed righteousness. And 2) that as we are gripped by the knowledge that God loves us so much that He sent Jesus to accomplish for us what we could not do for ourselves, then our personal righteousness will flow out of a heart of thankfulness and love for Christ. The second is built on the first. That we are righteous by virtue of Christ’s imputed righteousness. And then as we are gripped by the knowledge that God loves us so much that He sent His Son to redeem us without any view to our merit, then our personal righteousness will flow out of a heart of thankfulness and love for Christ. This is why we obey his commands: because we love Him. Not out of fear of reprisal or rejection (See Romans 8:14-15). When we sin there may certainly be consequences. But, if we are His children, we are not rejected, we are dearly loved children. And as such, our heavenly Father will discipline us as needed. But, never confuse the two.
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