The law came through Moses;
grace and truth through Jesus Christ (John 1).
The law of Moses has to do with behavior: Thou shalt not....
The law of Christ, the Sermon on the Mount, has to do with character: Blessed are the poor in spirit...the pure of heart....those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.....
St. Paul reminds us that the purpose of the law was to convince us that we could not "do" it, to show us where we fall short of who God is---for all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. If this is true of behavior, how much more true is it of the attitudes of the heart. We can no more "do" the law of Christ than we can "Be perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect." Even the supreme law, "Love one another as I have loved you," is not achievable for us. We cannot make ourselves pure in heart or poor in spirit---God must do it in us, transforming our inner man through the Spirit He places in us.
The one who truly loves others, the one who is truly poor in spirit, has not done this by "trying," but only by emptying himself that Christ might live in him. It is Christ within us who lives to the glory of God; it is Christ within us who loves others, who is pure of heart and poor in spirit.
In a way, this is a great relief and a burden lifted from us. No longer do we need to think ourselves into perfection, but only allow Jesus in us to accomplish the work given to Him by the Father. Our "task" is to bring Him our imperfection, our sins, and our poor attitudes and trust Him to do the work in us that needs to be done. Psalm 139 is a great place to begin.
I was not familiar with Psalm 139. Thank you for pointing it out.
ReplyDeleteHow much Jesus changed the way we sought unity with the Spirit of Holiness! He showed us that the way to defend our faith was not in the slaying of those who chose to pervert or destroy it, but in joining hands with those who also are strong in the Spirit until we encircle the world and all in it with the awesome light of Wholeness.
I read a poem yesterday that speaks to this. It's called Renunciation by Ameen Rihani, and it was in that American Religious Poems book you loaned me. I printed it out to bring to you next time I see you. Love you,
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