Straight and Narrow part 3
The straight and narrow path... the straight gate and the narrow way that IS Jesus... the highway of holiness... does NOT come from trying (and inevitably failing) to keep the Law of Moses. The Apostle Paul put it like this, "For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace" (Romans 6:14). Really think about that for a second: When you're under the Law... sin has dominion over you! Some "religious" people seem to think that if you follow the Law you'll be free from sin. But in actuality, the opposite is true! Because the Law can only point out what you do wrong. It can't help you do right. It's the government of condemnation. And there is NO condemnation in Christ! Why? Because we are not called to try to live Jesus' life by following the Law. As a matter of fact--and I know this is a big can of worms to open--Jesus didn't even keep the Law! And isn't it interesting that Jesus, who broke the Law by healing people on the Sabbath (among other things) is referred to as Him, "...who knew no sin..." (2 Corinthians 5:21)? Jesus KNEW no sin because He KNEW who He was! Sin is unbelief. Sin is the erronous belief that God will only love me if I do the right things. And Jesus knew that His heavenly Father loved Him... not because of what He DID, but because of WHO HE IS. That's the New Covenant in a nutshell. God no longer remembers our sins and iniquities. He washed us clean with His blood. He made us new. He fulfilled the Law and put it away, establishing a New Covenant that isn't about Laws you keep... but IS about a life that keeps you! So the question is: If God is NOT an angry taskmaster punishing us for every mistake we make... what keeps us on this straight and narrow path? The answer is found in 2 Corinthians 5:14-15, "For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again." Why do we do what we do? Because God loves us! The LOVE of God constrains us. Not the fear of God's punishment. The GOODNESS of God leads to repentance. Not the meaness. Let me say it this way: We stay on the straight and narrow path because we know it's a more excellent way. Like the love slave in Deuteronomy 15:16 we know it's better to live in Daddy's house than to live anywhere else! So we nail our ear to the door--like John did when he laid his head on Jesus' bosom--and we begin to hear the heartbeat of God! We begin to hear the message of the Holy Spirit from the inside-out: "I love you, I love you, I love you." And that love constrains us. That life keeps us. We don't TRY to walk the straight and narrow. We simply respond to the Way (of Grace) that Jesus made for us (and as us) on the cross. And we respond to that Way with the Walk of Faith! Not by how we act, but by what we believe. Because we act OUT of our beliefs. We believe we are loved... and then we love!