Straight and Narrow part 2
Sometimes in order to understand what IS being said you need to understand what ISN'T being said. So. I'm NOT saying you can do whatever you want and there are no consequences. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction, right? Newton's third law of physics? Everything you do is important and everything you do matters. It effects things. But what I AM saying is that if you focus on trying to "fix" your actions you will always be working and laboring and you will never be able to get where you want to go. Instead of focusing on our actions, we need to focus on our beliefs. Because what we DO flows from what we BELIEVE. That's why I can say, "It's not laws you keep. It's a life that keeps you." See, the Law of Moses (which was never given to Gentiles in the first place) demands perfection without being able to produce perfection. That's why Jesus fulfilled that Old Covenant and established the New Covenant. The Law was never meant to be kept... it was always meant to bring you to Christ. So if you think following the Law, or keeping the Ten Commandments, is the straight and narrow way that leads to life... well, quite frankly you're in the wrong covenant. Now, AGAIN, I'm not saying you can do whatever you want without consequences. But the simple fact is: You CAN do whatever you want. That's the measure of free will that we all possess. We don't have to enter into life. We don't have to receive or release the love of God. The amazing thing about grace is that while I CAN do whatever I want... I no longer HAVE to do "sin." We seem to think "sin" is freedom, but really it's bondage. And it's a bondage that we have been freed from. Jesus IS the door to the sheepfold. He IS the gate that leads to life. But what He does is, He stands at the door and knocks. The door is our heart. Or rather--after the flesh (of human effort) is cut away from our hearts with the circumcision made without hands--God's heart is revealed in our chests. And it beats with love. We can only walk the Walk of Faith (the straight and narrow path) because the One who IS the Way lives inside of us! Look at Isaiah 35:8, "And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein." The Highway of Holiness. But notice it says the unclean shall not pass over over it and fools won't make it. What is a Biblical fool? The one who says in his heart there is no God. Or the one who says, "No, God." What I'm saying is: We can't get there on our own. Through our own effort. We can only walk on this highway because Jesus--who, again, IS the way--made the way for us. The way of grace. The straight and narrow path. Not rules and religion, but love and relationship. That's what everlasting life is: A relationship between a heavenly Father and His beloved Son in whom He is well pleased! Not pleased because of what we do, but pleased because of who we are!