Doing what is good is not according to each man’s
imagination of what is right and wrong, but according to the good which has
been prepared in advance for us to do. Because, there is a way which seems
right to a man, but the end thereof is the way of death. Therefore, being
justified by grace does not nullify, or make obsolete the way of life which has
been ordained for man to follow.
One very important thing that we
should all bear in mind is the fact that, since the downfall of Adam and Eve in
the Garden of Eden man’s way is diametrically opposite to God’s way and naturally
culminates in death,. Also.it is stated that the way of man is not in himself;
It is not in man who walks to direct his own steps and therefore, for a man to
walk in the way of the Lord he/she must be instructed in the way of the Lord
Hence the reason why when the
Lord introduced Himself to the children of Israel and led them out from the
land of Egypt He warned them not to worship Him the way the Egyptians worship
their gods and not to imitate the way the people were worshiping their gods in
the land where they were going. The way of the Lord is unknown to the world and
has only been introduced to the children of Israel who in turn had to teach it
to other nations.
The
way of the Lord therefore, is the
established way of life ordained by God by which man should live and so the grace of God does not
nullify the way by which man should live; For it is written: “What then? Shall
we sin (disobey the laws of God) because we are not under law but under grace?
By
no means! Do you not know that when you yield yourselves to anyone as obedient
slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either slaves of sin, which
leads to death, or slaves of obedience to the law of God, which leads to
righteousness” (Romans 6:15-16).
God
has ordained one way of life for man to follow. He said, “I gave them My statutes
and made known to them My judgments, which, if a man does, he shall live,
aspire, flourish by them” (Leviticus
18:5, Ezekiel 20:11, 13).
The
Lord said to Moses, “One ordinance shall be for you of the congregation and for
the stranger who sojourns with you, an ordinance forever throughout your
generations; as you are, so shall the stranger be before the Lord. One law and
one custom shall be for you and for the stranger who sojourns with you” (Numbers 15:15-16).
Man
is a slave to either the insatiable desire of the flesh called
sin, or a slave to obedience to the law of righteousness. One should not
misconstrued the statement, “For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness
to everyone who believes,” to mean that He is the end of the law of
righteousness to everyone who believes. For it is written, “Do we then make
void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the
law” (Romans 3:31).
The
reality is, having been made free from the power and master of sin, one becomes
a slave to righteousness; and having been set free from sin, and having become
slaves of God, one has his fruit to holiness, and the end everlasting life.
When it comes to obedience to God, it ought to be according to the laws and
guidelines stipulated by God and not according to one’s own imaginations, what
seems right in one’s own eyes or according to the customs and traditions of
men.
Obedience
to righteousness therefore, is the keeping of God’s commandments which is what
produces holiness, and holiness culminates into everlasting life. When one is a
slave to sin [man’s sinful nature] he is free or far removed in regards to
righteousness. In like manner, when one is a slave to righteousness he is free
or far removed from sin.
https://www.amazon.com/author/luciusjoseph
With brotherly love
Lucius Joseph
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