Letter to a Jewish Friend Part 4

The Bible stresses there is an incredible price to pay for sin, and nowhere does it say that keeping the law earns you a ticket into heaven, not only because it’s impossible for anyone to keep the law going all the way back to the Garden of Eden, but more importantly, to deny any of us the ability to claim that our works make us worthy of it.  David writes in Psalm 14:3, “They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one.”  This is a recurring theme throughout the Scriptures.

Now look at Leviticus 24:11 and Matt. 12:31.  These verses deal with blaspheming God.  If God hates blasphemy and killed a child because of it, why wouldn’t God wipe Jesus right off the map for claiming to be “I AM”?  Even though Jesus claimed to be God’s Son, the Bible says he didn’t consider himself equal with God, nor did He demand royal treatment.  He was God’s humble servant and yet WAS and IS God.  Do you know how many bragging rights Jesus had?  Imagine if one of us were in such a role.    

We humans are all about consumerism and, from the beginning have been rebellious against God.  We love to customize everything to fit our needs, including God and the conditions upon which we’ll obey Him.  So, as an example, let’s use a smorgasbord of food.  We stroll through taking what we like and don’t like.  I’ll use myself as an example.  I tend to put healthy veggies on my plate because I know they’re good for me, but 99% of the time don’t eat them because I don’t like them.  It makes me “feel good” having them there even though, in the end, I don’t acknowledge them. 

So applying that spiritually, we want a double portion of God’s blessings, but we don’t want God’s discipline.  We want forgiveness of sins, but we don’t want Christ.  Maybe we put God on our plate (like my veggies) because it makes us “feel good,” but never acknowledge Him.  He’s a prop.  So we dictate to a holy and righteous God and give him our conditions.  “God, I like your salvation.  I’ll take that, but I’ll obey you when it works for me.  Don’t ask me to move out of my boyfriend’s house.  I know I’m living out of your will and it’s a sin, but I love Him too much.  It just feels too good.”  “God, I’ll do this, this, and this for you, if you do this, this, and this for me, but DON’T ask me to do THAT because I won’t.  Here’s where I draw the line.”  “God, I’ll obey your commandments because I want to look good in man’s eyes, and it makes me feel like a good person.”  We all need to be careful and not forget that at the end of the smorgasbord, there’s a price to pay for what we’ve taken, and none of us can afford to pay the tab.

There’s only one way to get past the cashier without paying because someone, who loves us very much, came through ahead of us and paid our tab, and was God’s Son, Jesus Christ.  God realized no one could afford the tab because we’re bankrupt, spiritually bankrupt, ruined by sin according to the law.  A person can only get through with JESUS CHRIST and JESUS CHRIST alone.  Nothing else will suffice, not Jesus PLUS something else, not good works, and not religion.  You could say that Jesus is our “Get out of Hell Free” card.  Jesus is God’s gift to everyone.  There’s nothing we can do to earn it, deserve it, and it can’t be bought, stolen, inherited, or shared.  It’s given freely to all, but it’s only good upon redemption by an individual placing their faith and trust in Jesus Christ as their Redeemer and Savior.

⇛ continue reading Letter to a Jewish Friend Part 5
⇛ return to Jew-Israel