1. Submission to Authority
2. The Devil made me do it!
3. God loves his people
4. Law versus Grace
5. Right and Wrong
6. Freedom in Christ

Submission to Authority

Of the many unpopular teachings of the Bible , one that gets much criticism from both believers and unbelievers is that of submission to authority. Wives are told to submit to husbands, children to parents, slaves to masters, citizens to rulers, and all of us to God. Many do not appreciate that this principle of authority is for our own good. The desire to be independent and totally free from authority sounds good in theory, but the reality is that we are simply too weak and ill-equipped to rule ourselves apart from God. Both ancient history books and the daily news provide plenty of examples of the failure of humans to govern themselves well.

The Devil made me do it!

Does the devil make you sin? Or does your own evil heart make you do it? Blaming the devil is actually not biblical. The devil doesn’t make you do bad things, but he does lie to us and tempt us. The challenge for us, then, is to obediently live by the truth of God rather than the lies of the world and the devil.

We do have the ability to resist. Humans have the potential for evil inside their hearts at birth because of our fallen nature. The sin of Adam and Eve caused them to ‘know good and evil’. Up to that point they only knew good. But they had free will which they used to disobey God’s command. They chose their own will over obeying God’s will. Willfulness shows up very early when we are toddlers and begin to say No! But even the most obedient child will eventually be tempted and faced with choosing to do the right thing or not.

The devil is in the same predicament we are: he is going to be judged by God. The desire to do whatever we want is not independence, it is the spirit of rebellion. God allows us much freedom, but he also has rules that are for our good and his glory. Jesus came to save us from slavery to sin and make us ‘free indeed’. Real freedom comes from knowing and following Jesus. That’s why the Lord’s prayer says “Thy will be done.” It is the prayer of the repentant sinner.

God loves his people

God has always been a god of mercy because He loves his people that he created. Even after the Fall, God has always sought a relationship with us. He provided a series of lessons to humans to demonstrate both his power and his mercy. In the days before Christ came, God forgave sinners, like Noah and Abraham, who demonstrated their faith in Him by their obedience. After He gave the Law to Moses, the people knew exactly what God expected from them. He gave them a very specific sacrificial system for the remission of sins. The law and the sacrifices created a separateness from the pagan nations who worshipped other gods.

God told the Israelites that if they obeyed him faithfully that He would bless them and provide for them. They mostly failed, and the consequence was wars and plagues. But some were given grace, such as King David, because of their repentance and faithful obedience.

Law versus Grace

When Jesus lived, he fulfilled the Law by keeping it perfectly and then gave himself as the perfect sacrificial lamb ( according to the law) to remove the sins of the world. The way to be saved from the penalty of sin now is by putting our faith in what Jesus did for us. Since the earliest days of the Church, people have argued over whether believers should follow the law or not. Jesus said, if you love me, you will keep my commandments. But he meant that this would be the proof of real faith. The Apostle Paul explained repeatedly that trying to follow the Mosaic law showed both a lack of faith in Christ’s redemptive work and pride in our own works. In the law versus grace battle, we have two religious groups who acknowledge and want to obey God but disagree on how to do it. Only one way shows humble faith and trust.

Galatians 5:1 1] For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

Right and Wrong

Even people who do not believe in God can do good things in this world. This is because humans were made in the image of God and we carry in our hearts the knowledge of right and wrong. In today’s world, many people have been taught that God is not real, sin is relative, morals are social constructs, or that God is love and does not punish sin. This is actually cruel because people naturally feel guilty when they do things that violate their sense of right and wrong. Without God, there is no one to turn to for forgiveness and people carry their guilt around with them like a suitcase. Psychologists try to eliminate guilt with various methods of justification or psychoanalysis or critical theory. Philosophers and social scientists have attempted to replace God with moralism based on cultural standards of right and wrong, but this is like building your house on the sand. The only way to lasting peace and freedom from guilt is by humbly confessing your need for forgiveness to God himself.

Freedom in Christ

God, our creator, sent his fully man and fully God son, Jesus Christ, to give us abundant life. Because of God’s grace, believers are now free to live without worrying about whether we have keep the law perfectly. We are also free to live according to God’s good plan for us, meaning we are no longer a slave to our sinful desires. We also have freedom from guilty and shame because we know our sins have been forgiven by our merciful, loving Father. And we have freedom and the power of God to LOVE others as God loved us. We are also freed from the fear of death because we know that death is simply passing from this world into God’s presence.

Have you accepted God’s free gift of grace and received true freedom through his mercy and love? Do you have any questions about salvation? Please feel free to ask.