Conditional

2.8.2011

Acts 15:9 9 He made no distinction between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith. NIV

Peter asked a question - Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of the disciples a yoke that neither we nor our fathers have been able to bear? (Acts 15.10) And it was true; they couldn’t keep the burdensome regulations that were laid out for them in the Books of the Law (and all the subsequent amendments to them that we added later on.) In other words, how can you ask them to do something we’ve never been able to do?

Many folks are still caught up in conditional worship of God – that they have to do something in order to be accepted by God. The truth is we all have to do something and it is conditional for all of us; but it is what we have to do that makes the difference. For years I’ve thought the Law was just sort of random until I realized that it was God’s way of saying, “Look, if you want to have relationship with Me you must regularly and routinely do all of the following (The Law) without omitting anything. You must believe that this is the way to have relationship with me according to the way I see it!”

The difference is we today, in Christ, are not held to the Law but are accepted by the gift of faith. And what purifies us (according to Peter above) is not keeping the Law but believing by faith – the only condition is living in love by faith. And that condition is belief in what God has done for us through Jesus Christ.

Faith does lead to works of love, but works of love underscore faith; one doesn’t exist without the other. Today for the first time I saw that the Law was good for it was given by God to His people for a certain time and a certain purpose. But I also saw that what purifies us is not keeping the rules but believing in love. What springs from there are the good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Father in Heaven,
You do nothing random – there is purpose, meaning, and love in all that You do. Thank You for the gift of faith in Christ and thank You for the only condition I face now: doing all I do in faithful love for You and others; through Christ, amen.