I am writing concerning the article “The Nature of Man” by Bro. Johnnie Abel (Tidings, Feb 2011).
Most of this article was on target but there were a few concerns with the following phrases: “Life is contingent on obedience”, “obeying God required restraint and discipline”, “but God has promised that He will be with us and assist us IF we follow His commands”, and “cutting off of the flesh (sinful desire)…is the only way to eradicate sin”
I think the emphasis does not reflect the full breath of scripture and while it is perhaps traditional, it is not particularly helpful in our struggle against sin. The implication is that if we exercised restraint and discipline and applied ourselves to eradicating sin so we could obey God’s command, then God would help us out and we could in the end be given a new heart and spirit. It’s really up to us. The contrast is I think more scripturally sound. It is because we trust and believe God that we can be considered righteous (Rom 4) (not because we have won our battle against sin) and despite our failures and weaknesses (while we were yet sinners) we are forgiven. Like Israel, we deserve none of this and have earned none of it. We certainly must not continue in sin that grace may abound but it is in God’s mercy that we trust, not in our valiant efforts. When we look in the mirror each morning and see a person who struggles each day with sin and each day fails in some way big or small, we do not lose heart, we look to Jesus, the author and finisher of our salvation. In him we see a man beset by our same weaknesses and yet without sin. We see him crucified and we know it is each of us that should be there. But for the grace of God, we are not. When we are led to believe that this is what God requires of us, we either become discouraged with our failures and give up, or we become arrogant and prone to search out the splinter in one another’s eye. We need to daily remind ourselves that we live by faith. Life, eternal life, is contingent on faith, our absolute trust in God, not on obedience.
I am writing this to broaden the emphasis and help us to in reverence and awe understand the privileged relationship we have to approach unto the throne of grace in time of need.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One