By: Dale Weckbacher
Romans 3:23
For all have sinned;
all fall short of God's glorious standard.
NLT
The highest standard for living individuals can set for
themselves is the decision to live up to the high standard of God as outlined
in the Bible. The Ten Commandments
(Exodus 20:1-17) is the foundation of the standard for godly living but if each
one of us is honest with ourselves, we must admit to failing at least one of
these standards.
Fortunately for us, the Bible is not about us living up to
this godly standard by our own abilities but about God’s grace providing a way
for us to be seen as righteous or attaining that standard through belief in
God’s Son. God did not send His son into
the world to condemn the world but to, through the death, burial, and
resurrection of His Son, provide a path of reconciliation with God providing
eternal life (John 3:16-17). This does
not negate the need to live according to God’s standard as outlined in the Ten
Commandments but hope that even though we have failed to live up to these
standards, we can have salvation and live eternally with God our creator.
Unfortunately, many justify their failure to live up to
God’s standard by adopting the philosophy of post-modernism which believes in
the absence of any definitive standard of truth and defines truth as what one
believes it to be. (1) While this may have the effect of clearing
ones conscience when it comes to their failures to live up to any standard, it
fails to consider the consequences of failing to live up to this standard. In effect, the belief that removing any
standard in our lives relieves us of any guilt is a lie from Satan because it
leads us away from salvation through Christ.
The Apostle Paul spoke of his own personal struggle with
failure to live up to God’s standard and used it as a way of teaching the
purpose of the Law of God, which we have all failed to live up to in our
lives. Let us take a few moments to look
deeper into this teaching for in so doing, we will discover the purpose of
standards, not just in our relationship with God, but also in other aspects of
our society.
1)
Standards are not evil but instead show us right
from wrong (Romans 7:7-8) – The law, whether it is God’s law or secular law,
shows us what is wrong. Knowledge of
right and wrong is critical to maintaining civility in both our personal lives
and society. However, the law is a
two-edged sword for it also serves to reveal wrong to us and can tempt us to
commit wrong (Romans 7:8). However,
simply sheathing this sword by abandoning any standard, as post-modernism
attempts to do does not solve the problem or rid us of any consequences from
deviating from the standard. Fortunately
for Christians, resisting temptation is not dependent on our own moral
fortitude or strength but comes as we trust God to give us strength to resist these
temptations. Even Jesus was tempted and
resisted temptation by proclaiming the Word of God (Matthew 4:1-11). Therefore, the law shows us right from wrong
and if the wrong revealed by the law tempts us, relies on the Word of God and
our faith in its truth to resist temptation.
2)
The law is brutal and reveals our shortcomings
(Romans 7:9-12) – The penalty for failing to live up to even one of God’s
standards in our lives is death.
However, in spite of this, the law remains right and good. Does this therefore mean that we are all
sentenced to death due to our inability to live up to the right and good
standard of God? The answer would be yes
if it were not for the atoning sacrifice of the sinless man Jesus Christ to
satisfy this death sentence (2 Corinthians 5:21). Therefore, even though the law is brutal and
sentences us to death, it also points us to the source of our salvation and
reconciliation with God, Jesus Christ who took our death penalty.
3)
Standards are not restrictive but liberating
(Romans 7:13) – For those who have not accepted Jesus as their savior, the Law
of God including the Ten Commandments is seen as restrictive. With the exception of remembering the Sabbath
and honoring parents, the Ten Commandments are a list of restricted activities
(Exodus 20:1-17). Post modernism negates
these restrictions by allowing each individual to develop his or her own
standard for truth. However, while the
wording of these commandments is restrictive, they are actually liberating for
they prevent us from engaging in harmful activities. Our own personal failures to live up to these
standards serves to let us know that we need help, help that only comes as we
enter into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and accept his sacrifice
for our sins.
Standards serve a purpose in our lives and society for they
maintain civility. However, when it
comes to God’s standard, we need help; help that only comes through accepting
the sacrifice of God’s son Jesus Christ for our sins. I therefore want to invite anyone reading this
that has not accepted this gift from God to do so by praying with me,
Dear Lord Jesus, I know I have sinned (Romans 3:23) and know
that the penalty for my sin is death (Romans 6:23). I ask you to forgive me of my sin and cleanse
me as you promise in your Word (1 John 1:9).
I believe you died, was buried, and resurrected from the dead and now
declare you Lord of my life.
Congratulations for even though you have failed to live up
to God’s standard in your life, you now have been acquitted of the death
penalty for these failures and instead have the gift of eternal life (John3:16).
1. Penfold, Michael J. Postmodernism. www.webtruth.org.
[Online] WebTruth. [Cited: December 12, 2014.]
www.webtruth.org/cultural-issues/postmodernism/.
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