Love Over Law  (Goes with the Sermon "The Mortgage WE Never Pay Off"):  http://tbcmarion.org/index.php?option=com_preachit&tmpl=component&id=75&view=audiopopup

One of the common misconceptions, when discussing the relationship between Law and Grace, is the belief that those who emphasize grace are only offering people a license to sin. The problem with those who say this is that they have both misunderstood the place the Law occupies in Scripture, and the means by which true transformation of people takes place. The setting aside of the Law is a necessary thing, theologically speaking, for it is clear that no Law has or can be given that will bring about either salvation or genuine transformation. If such a Law existed, the author of Hebrews reminds us, there would have been no need for the cross. (See Hebrews 7,8 especially) The cross of Christ, though certainly finding its ultimate purpose in the forgiveness of sins, is also quite more than just the way of atonement for a lost world. The cross also points us toward the futility of human effort in terms of turning ourselves into "good people", as if making us good is God's ultimate goal. C. S. Lewis used to speak of this by saying that God did not send Christ to this world to make us into good people, but instead to turn us into “new people”. It is not about taking humans and making them better humans. It is more like turning horses into winged creatures, which are so different from the original that we can hardly even recognize the end result.

The Law is a measure, not of our goodness, but of our futility. The Cross is a measure, not of our sin, but of the length God is willing to go to eradicate our sin. The Person who does this is the Spirit. And the means He uses is Love. In actual fact, the standard by which we are measured, as God moves the Law aside, has been raised not lowered. It is a higher standard God holds us to, not a lower one. The Law would never have taken us deep enough into the heart of God. The Law would never have transformed us into the winged creatures God desires us to become. The Law of Love that Jesus sets in place of the Law of Moses is a higher standard to live by, and dwarfs the Law of Moses in terms of a standard of righteousness for God’s people. Romans 13 makes this clear, for every part of the Law of Moses is fulfilled and completed in the living out of the Law of Love. The Law of Moses is swallowed up by the Law of Love, for the Law of Love is as superior to the Law of Moses as Christ Jesus is superior to the very best person you can think of.

God is interested in how we love, not how we live. God is interested in our ability to show others His love, not how many credits we can accumulate through our “good works”. God is interested in shedding His love abroad in our hearts, not how many times we can quote a Bible verse as we highlight the sin of those who we think have gone astray. God is interested in our efforts to love our enemy, not how many times we can highlight the sin of our enemy. God is interested in whether or not we are living the Law of Love, not whether or not we can recite the Ten Commandments. It never ceases to amaze me how often people can read the Scriptures, in some cases studying them their entire life, and miss the very essence of the gospel – “God is in Christ reconciling the world to Himself” so that we might become the very vehicle of God’s love in the highways and byways of this world. The Pharisees missed the love of God standing right in front of them, in favor of The Law. And we continue to miss the gospel embracing all of us, in favor of moral measuring sticks governed by our New Testament versions of The Law.

For example, ask yourself one question when comparing the Law of Moses to the Way of Love, brought to our world in the person of Jesus. Which is easier: To reject a person who dos not live their life by your standard of morality, or to love a person who does not live by your standard of morality and who you count an enemy? Is it easier to reject the sinner in your life, or love the sinner in spite of how they may have hurt or harmed you? Which is easier? IN ten out of ten cases, we are forced to conclude that the easier thing is to judge a person and reject them out of hand. It’s fairly easy to do this, for there are always other churches that embrace a version of the faith which is more in line with our particular rendition of the gospel. The problem lies in our believing that the easier way of the Law is the better way in terms of our choices. The harder challenge, the Christ like challenge, the challenge of Love, is to find a way to love a person who we find most difficult or impossible to love. And please don’t cop out by suggesting that moving away from a person, abandoning them as your brother or sister or friend, is still an expression of love for them. Jesus washed Judas’ feet. He did not leave him to himself to discover his betrayal while he found a new group to worship with. He loved him until the very last day, washing his feet as he did every other disciple. In other words, he loved him, and not for one second did he pretend he could continue to love Judas in truth by loving him with words alone. It would have been an easy thing for Jesus to take a moral stand and separate himself from this thief and traitor, but Jesus’ concern was truly loving this fallen disciple. Just as he would Peter and Me and You.

As you can see, the standard has been raised. The Love we find in Jesus swallows up the righteousness found in the Law. And it is my contention that people migrate toward the Law (often called high moral standards or moral integrity in our churches today) because it is much easier to pretend we can meet this standard than to admit that we fall so very short when it comes to the Way of Love.  Who do we want to be: A Disciple of Christ known as such because of the way we love people, all people, including those we would much rather reject and abandon? Or would you prefer being known as a good person who surrounded yourself with other like minded good people as you worked your way toward the trophies that you believe Jesus holds in reserve just for you? When you begin to understand the difference in these two lifestyles you will truly begin to understand the difference between a life lived according to the Law, and a life lived by the Higher Standard, which the New Testament calls the Love of God as seen through Jesus His Beloved Son.  Don’t believe me? Try living your life today, even for one single day, by the words of 1 Corinthians 13, then ask yourself how you did. I think you will discover with me that we as God’s people fall woefully short of the standard God has set for us. A Better way, a Higher way, but a much more difficult road to travel. But most certainly not a license to sin.