FEAR, GRACE, AND REPENTANCE
All Scripture References are from the English Standard
Version.
Eccles. 12:13-14
The end of the matter; all has been heard.
Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment,
with every secret thing, whether good or evil.
This phrase comes at the end of the book of Ecclesiastes, a book in which the author has been trying to search for meaning a purpose in life. He has looked to everything “under the sun” to find out what life is all about. His conclusion is to found in Ecclesiastes 12:13-14. If we really want to know what our duty is in fearing God and keeping His commandments, we must answer some basic questions. Who is this God that will be doing the judging? And what is that judgment based on?
WHAT IS GOD LIKE
Moses, the leader of
Exodus
34:6-7
The Lord passed before him and proclaimed,
"The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and
abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness,
keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and
transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the
iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children, to the
third and the fourth generation."
Here is revealed in just a few verses, a snapshot of the character of God. The first set of characteristics sound good to our ears. He is a merciful, gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love, forgiving iniquity and sin. These make us feel like we have some hope in the judgment to come. After all He is a forgiving God. But just a few verses earlier we learn a vital lesson about God. He dispenses this mercy, grace, and forgiveness as He sees fit.
Exodus 33:19
And
I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I
will show mercy.
That means that God does these things on His terms and in His way. It also means that He does these in line with the rest of His character. A character that can not and does not clear the guilty. That leaves us to wonder. How do we know who is guilty and what happens to them?
WE ARE LAW BREAKERS
Who is guilty? The simple answer is that we are because we do not live up to God’s standard of holiness. His standard can be found through out the entirety of the Bible, but very specifically in Exodus 20 in what is commonly called the Ten Commandments.
Let us look at this standard for a minute. In this standard we are told to have no other Gods, we are told not to make idols, not to take the Lord’s name in vain, and not to misuse the day that is set aside for worship and rest. In short, we are to give God the worship, glory, and praise that He richly desires. We must worship the true God, not a man-made creation. We must give to Him what He is due.
The law continues to speak of out duty toward one another. We are told not to murderers. We may think that we are clear of this charge, yet Jesus speaks to us of the murder in our hearts ”everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, 'You fool!' will be liable to the hell of fire.” ( Matthew 5:22)
The law tells us not to be adulterers. Jesus further explains that by saying. “that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” (Matthew 5:28). The law points out that we are thieves, and liars. The law also instructs us not to covet. This means we are not to long after the things that others have. God desires us to be content with what He has provides us.
Where does that leave us? With the same question of the Psalmist in
Psalm 130:3” If you, O Lord, should mark
iniquities,O Lord, who could stand?”
The answer is none of us, because “all
have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” (Romans
What good is it to know the law? Romans 3:20
For by works of the law no human being will
be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.
WE DESERVE GOD’S WRATH
If we are guilty, then what is our sentence.
Romans
For the wages of sin is death,
Death is more than just physical death. It is separation from God forever. It also involved eternal punishment as we are” liable to the hell of fire.” ( Matthew 5:22)
So where does the mercy, grace, and forgiveness of God come in to the picture. In the person and work of Jesus Christ.
JESUS CHRIST: GOD-MAN
The first part of God’s solution was to become man himself.
John
1:1, 14
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word
was with God, and the Word was God. …
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his
glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
The Apostle John uses the term “word” here to refer to Jesus the Christ. Jesus was God in human flesh. “in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily,” (Colossians 2:9)
As God, Jesus was perfect and without guilt before God the Father. This made Him the perfect one to bear our sin.
JESUS CHRIST: SIN BEARER
The Bible is clear that Jesus bore the penalty that we deserve.
1
Tim. 1:15
The saying is trustworthy and deserving of
full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners,
of whom I am the foremost.
Matthew
20:28
even as the Son of Man came not to be
served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."
John
just as the Father knows me and I know the
Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep.
Not only did Jesus lay down His life in sacrifice on the cross. He rose again from the dead three days later to prove that He accomplished at that He set out to.
REPENT AND BELIEVE
How then do we receive the forgiveness and pardon that Jesus purchased for us? Let us look at Jesus own words.
Mark
and saying, "The time is fulfilled,
and the
We are called to repent and believe. What do these mean?
Repentance means that we are sorry
for having offended God, and turn from our sins and to Him. In 2 Cor.
We are also called on to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
Romans
10:9-10
because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.
True belief involves knowledge and trust. It begins by believing that Jesus Christ is who He claims to be and did what is said of Him in the Bible. But it is more than just and understanding of the facts. It is an act of trust in Him to pay the penalty for us. It is trust that shows itself in the heart and with the lips. Are you ready to confess Him as your Savior and Lord?
NOW WHAT
If you have trusted Jesus Christ, where to you go from there. Here are two places to start.
1. Live for Jesus
2
Cor. 5:14-15
For the love of Christ controls us, because
we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have
died; and he died for all, that those
who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died
and was raised.
Paul’s point is plain. If God has done all of this for us, then we out to live lives of gratitude and love toward Him.
2. Give Up Sin
Exodus
20:20
Moses said to the people, "Do not
fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be
before you, that you may not sin."
Matthew
3:8
Bear fruit in keeping with repentance.
If our sin is what has caused us to deserve God’s wrath and judgment in the first place, then we should want to be rid of it after believe. Think of it this way, before coming to Christ, our sin is offensive to God and unforgiven. After coming to Christ, our sin is still offensive to God but know it is forgiven. This does not give us the right to keep on sinning. It should motivate us to put away our sin out of love for the one who freed us from its penalties.