Nobody’s Perfect

I hope you are enjoying your studies in our 104-day challenge!  There is so much to be learned about God and His Word!

Question 7 asks, “What does the law of God require?”  The answer is not at all encouraging.   It requires perfection.  Perpetual obedience.  Generally following God’s commands is not good enough.  Doing what is right most of the time is not enough.  And in Romans, we find that the punishment for this lack of perfection is death.

That seems harsh, or as our culture would exclaim, “INTOLERABLE!  We must have tolerance.  We must accept the fact that people are not perfect and be patient as they journey toward knowing their true selves.”

This could not be further from the truth.  God created all that exists.  God is the God of all things.  He, and only He has the right to set the rules, and He has decided that His law requires perfection.  Obedience without end.  When we can grasp this concept, and submit to His authority, then we have come to a place where we can accept His solution.

What is the solution to the law?  Grace.  God knows that it is impossible for us to attain perfection, therefore, He does not expect perfection…from us.  Rather, He has provided a perfect substitute in Jesus Christ.

If you are reading this blog and participating in our 104-day challenge, I hope you have continued to read to this point because this is probably old news to you.  First, let me say that we should never get bored with the Gospel message, but second, let me ask you this question.

If God didn’t expect you to be perfect to obtain salvation, why do we live like He expects perfection after salvation?

For so much of my Christian life, I lived with guilt and shame.  I could never seem to get it all right, aka, I could never be perfect.  I worked and worked.  I worked hard!  I was most certainly a perfectionist.  Yet, I could never attain what I felt was sufficient obedience as a Christian.  My environment did not help much.  I was in a place where legalism was rampant.  There were so many do’s and don’ts I could not keep them all straight.

But listen to this truth from Hebrews 12.  It is well said in so many translations, but I would like to use the NLT here:

Hebrews 12:1-7
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. ² We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne. ³ Think of all the hostility he endured from sinful people; then you won’t become weary and give up. ⁴ After all, you have not yet given your lives in your struggle against sin.  5And have you forgotten the encouraging words God spoke to you as his children? He said, “My child, don’t make light of the Lord’s discipline, and don’t give up when he corrects you.⁶ For the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes each one he accepts as his child.” ⁷ As you endure this divine discipline, remember that God is treating you as his own children.

Here are the principles that stand out to me today as I contemplate the question, “What does the law of God require?”

1. We must persevere by being obedient.

There are many who have gone before us (that is the “huge crowd of witnesses”) who have set the example, and none of them (except for Jesus, of course) was perfect.  As a matter of fact, if you read the Bible, especially the Old Testament, you will find that they were far from perfect.

2. Jesus initiates and perfects our faith.  All we do is look to Him.

We get the part where Jesus initiates our faith.  But Hebrews tells us that He also perfects our faith.  He is the perfect substitute for us.  Because of Him, we stand before God with personal, perfect, perpetual obedience.

AND BECAUSE OF HIM, WE REMAIN THERE.

3. We keep our eyes on Jesus by remembering what He did for us.

I love how it is said here.  “Think of all the hostility he endured from sinful people; then you won’t become weary and give up.”

Earlier this year my husband and daughter were trying to best each other.  The topic was “who does the most around the house.”  They went back and forth, and honestly, I was just tired from a long day.  I wanted to join the conversation and say, “I ‘m the mom, so I beat you both!”  Realizing how arrogant of a response that was, I paused before I said it, and instead said, “Well, Jesus died for you both.”  There was a moment of silence, and then they both agree that enough had been said.

If you are like me and my family, you get caught up, as we did, in sharing our woes.  We focus on how difficult we have it in this life.  It is then when we begin to stray away from obedience.  That is what makes verse 3 so amazing.  When we think of the hostility Jesus endured, we won’t become weary and give up.  All of us can regularly reflect on Jesus sacrifice for us.

4. God’s law gives us a standard, and when we stray He will discipline us because He loves us.

God’s discipline is not to satisfy some desire to flaunt His authority and power.  It is to make us more like Christ, and it lets us know that we are His children.  We have been made righteous, through Christ.

Take a moment to reflect on what Christ did for us, and thank Him for giving His life so that we could be made perfect before God.