Every person was created to be in relationship with God and with others. Relationships, therefore, are meaningful, satisfying and essential to our everyday lives. However, given that we take most good things for granted, the value of relationships is best illustrated negatively - that is, we understand their value, not while we have them, but when we don't. The gratitude we express while we're in relationship pales in comparison to the loneliness we feel when we're not.
It is essential (and loving) therefore, to clearly communicate the guidelines that serve to protect the relationship from fracture. The Bible calls these guidelines commandments. His commandments communicate to us what pleases and displeases Him. When we know and do that which is pleasing to Him, we can be confident that our relationship with Him is safe and secure. This is what the Bible calls freedom.
Breaking a commandment is called sin. The consequence of sin is loss of relationship, which the Bible calls death, slavery, and/or exile. The symptoms of which are fear, anxiety, depression and despair. Regaining life - or, restoring the relationship - is now frustrated by what the Bible calls the "dividing wall of hostility" (Eph 2:14).
We feel the effects of this wall in our own personal relationships as well. Try hugging someone you have offended. Approaching them as if nothing happened is wholly out of the question until the "wall" comes down.
But that raises the essential question, "How do we get the wall to come down?" In our efforts to be free from death, as well as to be satisfied in life, we often turn to the commandments to "work" our way back to where things used to be. We want our life back and we, in our arrogance, try to do all of the things the person likes as well as stay away from the things they do not like.
We try and pay our own debt. The only problem is, the debt is more than we can ever pay. This is why Hell is forever (contra., Rob Bell).
Following the commandments perfectly is what the Bible calls righteousness. It secures right relationship. But because our record is already fractured by sin, this righteousness through the law is impossible. To use the law to bring the wall down is to use it unlawfully. For the unrighteous, the law is not a means to deliver from death, nor is it a formula to enter into life.
God graciously gives His law to those whom He has delivered (cf. Exod 20). He does not give the law in order to be delivered. The difference is essential.
Righteousness, therefore, must come to sinners apart from the law. The Good News is that it has! But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart form the law (Rom 3:21). Sinners now have hope to be restored and reconciled to God, by faith in Jesus Christ, who alone is righteous (1John 2:1). Jesus Christ was exiled instead of us (Matt 27:46). He brought the wall down (Eph 2:14). He also gave us His righteousness (Rom 4:5) - reconciling us to God (Rom 5:10).
There is perhaps no better way to diagnose the human condition than St. Augustine's famous quote: You have made us for Yourself, therefore our hearts are restless until they find their rest in You. Faith in Christ alone is the only way to find our rest in God.
Just a question...if the debt we incur is more than we can ever repay; would we not all, in turn end up in hell??? And is not attempting to repay our debt a sign of worthiness?
ReplyDeleteAnonymous,
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment. In an effort to answer your questions, here are a few thoughts.
First, our debt is more than we can pay. This is the truth. It is impossible to pay our moral debt to God. We simply do not have the resources. The amount owed is a "divine" amount b/c we have offended the Divine. But we are mortal and cannot pay a divine amount.
Second, therefore, to try and pay is to actively say that 1) the amount we owe is not divine (that is to bring God down) or 2) the amount we can pay is divine (that is to raise us up). Both are terribly wrong.
Third, this does not mean that we are not responsible or obligated under the just punishment of God. This is why Hell exists. This is also why Christ died - to pay our ransom.
Finally, those who are obligated to pay a debt they are unable to pay, must seek payment for their debt elsewhere - from someone who has the ability (a Divine) as well as someone who can identify with the one obligated (a Man). God has offered the solution in His Son - the God-Man Jesus Christ.
Therefore - to answer your question, the debt we incur is not more than Christ can pay. Those who trust in Him will not end up in hell - not b/c they paid their debt, but b/c He paid it for them. Second, attempting to pay our debt is foolish. It has already been paid. That's why Jesus said, "It is finished." We obey out of gratitude not because we are indebted.