Closet Calvinist

~ The not so secret thoughts of a Closet Calvinist

Closet Calvinist

Tag Archives: James

The Law

18 Tuesday Oct 2011

Posted by cc_ in Forgiveness, Grace, Law

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Gospel, James, law, Law of God, Ten Commandments

God has blessed me with the amazing privilege of teaching junior high and high school students the bible once a week. Over the last month this opportunity has been used to expose the students to the book of James.

While grace is touted in many churches, it seems the law is often ignored. Or, at least it isn’t used for what it was meant to be used for. The law can’t make us righteous, because we can’t keep it perfectly. In fact, we can’t keep it at all.

In the book of James one is shown the law, and one is practically beat up by it, or even killed by it as the bible says, if they consider the consequences of what James has to say regarding the law. He compares the law to a mirror. We can use the law to see what we look like spiritually, just as a mirror shows us what we look like physically. Paul says elsewhere that it is by the law that we come to a knowledge of sin.

The Ten Commandments

Looking at the commandments we can see ourselves as we are before God’s eyes. We are idolaters, blasphemers, adulterers, thieves, liars, covetous, and even murderers. Lest we think we are somehow okay with some of them Jesus explained that to look upon a woman lustfully makes one guilty of adultery, and to be falsely angry with someone makes us murderers. To make matters worse, James says that to break even one of the commandments is to make us accountable for the whole law. It is clear, we are sinful, and that we have no hope of keeping the law ourselves. The bible says that we are dead in sin.

But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in transgressions, made us alive together with Christ. God provided the offering needed to pay for our sin and to cleanse us from it. And then He even gifts us with the faith to trust in His Son whom He provided for us.

We are nothing but sinners dead in sin, already condemned, but God provided the way out. A healthy view of the law gives us a basis to understand God’s wrath against sin, and against us, sinners. And the law helps us to understand just how much we need God’s grace and mercy to set us free.

♣ Subscribe

  • Entries (RSS)
  • Comments (RSS)

♣ Books

♣ Subscribe via Email

Enter your email address to receive notifications of new posts by email.

♣ Archives

  • December 2014
  • March 2014
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011

♣ Categories

  • Book Review
  • Church
  • Ecclesiology
  • Forgiveness
  • Funny
  • Government
  • Grace
  • Historical
  • Law
  • Persecution
  • Personal
  • Political
  • Preaching
  • Quotes
  • Satire
  • Seeker Sensitivity
  • Sigh
  • Theology
  • Uncategorized
  • Youth Ministry

♣ Hosting

Looking for web hosting, I'm fond of DreamHost. Lots of features for the inner nerd, unlimited bandwidth, and unlimited storage. They also don't mind hosting multiple domains! It is only $9 a month, so its good for Christians, who as you know are cheap. If you use this link to register I get a portion of the amount spent.

♣ Tags

abortion Albert Mohler Apocrypha Bethel Church Redding California Bill Johnson boycott Calvin Calvinism Chick-fil-A church marketing churchmarketingsucks church signs Doctrines of Grace Elephant Room evangelism forgiveness gay marriage gay rights Gospel grace heretic Herman Cain Homosexuality Institutes James MacDonald Joel Osteen law Mark Driscoll Mormonism Nooma Obama pastor Pelagianism persecution Presidential Election Rob Bell sermon sinner's prayer Steven Furtick Todd Friel universalist Velvet Elvis video Wretched Radio YouTube
Looking for web hosting, I'm fond of DreamHost. Lots of features, unlimited bandwidth, and unlimited storage. They also don't mind hosting multiple domains! It is only $9 a month. If you use this link to register I get a portion of the amount spent.

Proudly powered by WordPress Theme: Chateau by Ignacio Ricci.