The Eye Opener

God has provided the scripture so we might know Him, be instructed in righteousness, and convicted of sin so we might repent.  Because of the conscience God has placed within us, both Christians and non-Christians often seem confident in their knowledge of right and wrong.  Premeditated murder, rape, and stealing are obviously wrong.  There might be some who disagree by their actions, but the vast majority of people spanning nations and cultures of the world universally agree.  Laws are created to set limits, protect the innocent, and punish lawbreaking offenders.  The Bible goes way further than providing a list of "do's and don'ts," but ferrets out the sin that breeds in the human heart not governed by man's external laws:  sins like pride, covetousness, envy, and greed.  Unless the Bible had called these natural tendencies sin, I never would have known!

James 2:10 reads, "For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all."  This passage is commonly quoted, but when I read it yesterday I was reminded of the immediate context.  Did you notice that the passage begins with a "for?"  This means the verse is predicated on the prior verse or verses.  James 2:8-9 says, "If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself," you do well; ⁹ but if you show partiality, you commit sin, and are convicted by the law as transgressors."  Showing partiality, favoritism, or nepotism is a sin according to God's righteous standard.  I find it intriguing that partiality is the sin mentioned right before James says, "For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all."  This proves that being partial is just as bad a sin as murder and adultery, sins mentioned in the verses following.  Would you have ever dreamed that favoritism in God's eyes carries the weight of guilt of murder?  Again, without scripture I could not have known this!

It is obvious that none of us is perfect according to God's standard.  Even worse, the law has no power to cleanse or save us from sin.  All it can do is point out my mounting faults and condemn me under divine justice.  God, knowing this, sent His Son Jesus Christ to become a sacrifice for sin and establish a covenant in His own blood.  Containing a promise written in Jeremiah 31, Hebrews 8:6-10 states, "But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises. For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second. Because finding fault with them, He says: "Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah--not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they did not continue in My covenant, and I disregarded them, says the LORD. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people."  The Law can only find fault with us, but grace, peace, and salvation come through Jesus Christ.  The Law is good in that it reveals our sin and desperate need for reconciliation with God.

Our hearts in their natural state are blind guides, leading us into every error imaginable.  But the Bible holds forth with crystal clarity the nature of our hearts, the deceitfulness of sin, that being partial on one occasion is enough to break God's Law for eternity, and the forgiveness and salvation available to all through Christ.  He uses His Word to open our eyes as the Holy Spirit instructs, corrects, and comforts us.  Praise God for the New Covenant and for putting His law into our hearts.  Though we have sinned, God will forgive when we repent and trust in Him.  What good news for sinners this is!