Like any good, law-abiding citizen, I always do my best to follow the traffic laws. As a result, I haven’t received a traffic ticket in — let’s say — 15 years? And that last ticket was actually for an accident — one that wasn’t even my fault — not for a traffic violation. Pretty good, hey? Of course, you might say that this is because I just never get caught . . . But in all honesty I can tell you that I always TRY to not break the traffic laws. I don’t speed, and I use cruise control constantly to make sure of this! I don’t pass a double yellow line. I just “poke” behind the slow ones until it is legal to pass. I come to a complete stop at red lights before turning right. I use my blinkers. I don’t drive with my horn. I check all my mirrors before changing lanes, and I ALWAYS wear my seatbelt! Not bad, if I do say so myself. And of course, I have received my just reward. I haven’t had a ticket in 15 years! Mind if I pat myself on the back??? But wait a minute . . . maybe I do remember the time I forgot my wallet at home and ended up driving without my drivers license . . . And there was that time at work when I went out over lunch to bring the car up into a closer parking spot. It was such a short trip . . . I’m not completely sure I put my seat belt on . . . And the last time I was in Quebec, I did turn right on red a couple of times before I found out that is illegal there. And I suppose I have forgotten my blinkers a time or two. Not on purpose, mind you, but I seem to recall completing a turn or two lately and realizing I hadn’t put them on. Then there was the time I was passing someone in a passing lane, only to have the passing lane run out before I completely my pass. And you know those corners? The ones that are always posted “50 km/hr”? Of course, nobody ever takes them that slowly–except on icy roads, that is–and I really think they are posted so slowly just for the dangerous occasions. And as hard as I try to hold the car at 80 km/hr (standard limit for country roads in Ontario, Canada), there has been a very few times when I’ve glanced down and found the speed had crept up, unawares, to 90 . . . And even when I use the cruise control, it sometimes allows the speed to get up as high as 83 or 84 . . . Hum. Now that I look at it this way, I’m starting to feel a little less smug . . . But then, I haven’t had a ticket in 15 years . . . Maybe you’re right. Maybe I was just lucky that I didn’t get caught . . . Maybe. But what if . . . What if my car had a special recording system that would record each and every “mistake” I made? What if this special record was forwarded to the local police station on a minutely basis? What if each time the police station received a record of my disobeying the traffic laws, they would issue a ticket? What if breaking the law by going even 1 km over the speed limit was punished the same as driving 140 km/hr? What if . . . not this is a bit far-fetched, but I’ll put it down anyway . . . What if breaking traffic laws was punishable by death? If all these things were true, I guess you might say that I would try REALLY hard to not break any of the traffic laws! But I already try not to break any of the traffic laws, but something always creeps in, unawares . . . Does any of this sound familiar to you? Everyone who drives a car is subject to traffic laws. And everyone is also subject to another very important set of laws: God’s laws! The 10 commandments! But there are a few problems with this! ** First: The Bible tells us that we can keep 9 of the laws without fail, but if we fall short, even a little bit, in the 10th, we are guilty of having broken the whole law (James 2:10: “For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.”).
** Second: We are told that God sees each and every one of our sins! (Job 34:21-22: “His eyes are on the ways of men; he sees their every step. There is no dark place, no deep shadow, where evildoers can hide.” and Heb 4:13: “Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.”) This is like having a computer in the car that records each and every time we turn without a signal, each time we don’t put on our seatbelts, each time we go even 1 km over the speed limit! ** Third: The Bible tells us that the punishment for breaking the law is death. (Rom 6:23: “For the wages of sin is death . . .”). ** Fourth: The Bible tells us that no one has ever been able to keep these laws (Rom 3:23-24: “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God . . .” and Acts 15:10-11: “Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of the disciples a yoke that neither we nor our fathers have been able to bear?”)! In fact, Paul makes reference to the 10 commandments themselves as bringing about death: “Now if the ministry that brought death, which was engraved in letters on stone . . .” (2 Cor 3:7).
You don’t need a fancy translation to see where I’m going with this! If we can’t keep the law even when we try, if God sees our every move, and if breaking the law is punishable by death, then we are all doomed for destruction, friends! Every last one of us! We can’t do it. It’s not possible. We’re doomed to die. You see, God’s laws are a bit like traffic laws! I try to follow the traffic laws, but sometimes I become distracted and am unaware of what those laws are! Or sometimes, I am not paying attention well enough to monitor my speedometer. And sometimes I am unsure if those speed limits (for sharp turns) are even put there for normal driving! My friends, I spent 35 years of my life trying to follow God’s laws as diligently as I try to follow the traffic laws. And for a time, I thought I was doing a pretty good job! But the closer I got to Jesus, the more inadequate I realized my efforts to keep God’s laws really were! For example, I have never killed anyone in my life, and I try hard to forgive most people who have wronged me. But sometimes I don’t forgive immediately . . . Sabbath-keeping was another problem. I tried to neither buy nor sell on the Sabbath. I tried to not make others work on my behalf. And I tried not to work myself. But something as common as picking up the telephone and turning on the lights require that someone be working! And what about cooking? I could pre-prepare my meals. I could leave the dishes sitting in the kitchen until after sunset. But I still had to heat the meals and put them on the table! I was still working! It couldn’t be done. As it stood, I was doomed to death, despite how hard I tried to keep the law of God! The law had become a burden, a yoke, just like the one described by Paul: “a yoke that neither we nor our fathers have been able to bear“ (Acts 15:10)! But praise be to our Everlasting Father and His Eternal Son, Jesus Christ, there is another way: “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Rom 6:23) God’s Gift. God’s grace, through Jesus Christ: “This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” (Rom 3:22-24) It’s as simple as that, my friends! The law of God does not need to bring us death, even though no matter how hard we try, we cannot keep the law, for God has provided a better way! All we have to do is accept God’s gift of Salvation through Jesus: “I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved.” (John 10:9). All we have to do is proclaim the name of the Lord: “And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” (Acts 2:21) and “That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Rom 10:9-10). Whew! That’s good news, my friends! It doesn’t matter if I fall short of the law. It doesn’t matter if God sees me. It doesn’t matter that my actions merit death. I am covered by the blood of the lamb, and I am saved! I no longer need to bear the yoke of slavery (“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.” Gal 5:1) Does this mean I have license to sin? No. “What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means!” (Rom 6:15-16) “What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.” (Rom 6:1-4) What does it mean then? It means that I am not under the burden of the law. I am under grace! “For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.” (Rom 6:14). I am free of the burden of the letters engraved in stone that only brought death. In Christ, I am free, for “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.: (Gal 5:1) Have you confessed “with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord”, and “believed “in your heart that God raised Him from the dead”? If so, then you, like me have no need to worry about that little computer in the car that reads each and every traffic violation! But if you have not done so, if you have not accepted His gift of Salvation and invited Him to be the “boss” of your life, why wait another minute? Why not do it now?
To answer the Savior’s Call, Click here
Love in Christ,
Lyn
Lyn Chaffart, Moderator, The Nugget, Scriptural Nuggets ( www.scripturalnuggets.org), Answers2Prayer Ministries, www.Answers2Prayer.org