Letter or Intent

If you are like me, when I was younger in my faith and understanding, I believed that the New Testament showed God's grace and the Old showed His wrath and the Law. Since then, I have learned more about what the scriptures really do teach and what they don't. I have learned that in reality the Old Testament is filled with example after example of God's grace. Many of the Jews erroneously believed that it was following the letter of the Law which brought the pleasure of the Lord. I read a great example this morning that God's intent was something entirely different.

The next good king in Judah's line of kings was Hezekiah. His story begins in 2 Chronicles 29 and continues for several chapters. Now, Hezekiah was a king of great reform. He called together the priests to renovate and restore the temple to prepare it for worship. Once complete, he issued an invitation to all who would come and worship the true Lord, even those Jews who were in the now pagan northern kingdom of Israel and many came enduring scorn and ridicule. They prepared to celebrate the Passover; however, it was not in the right time of year but they desired to worship God with their whole heart. It is clear that his motivation was to honor God.

The thing that jumped out to me is that not all those who came from far and near had followed the letter of the Law in preparation to participate in the festival, but their hearts had been captivated by God and they desired to be restored to the God of their fathers. Hezekiah realized they had not been consecrated, and he lifted up an awesome prayer on behalf of these wayward followers of God. "'May the LORD, who is good, pardon everyone who sets his heart on seeking God—the LORD, the God of his fathers—even if he is not clean according to the rules of the sanctuary.'" (2 Chron. 30:18b-19) This is in stark contrast to Uzziah's attempt to skirt the rules. And watch God's response in verse 20, "And the LORD heard Hezekiah and healed the people." WOW, the poeple realized that God is what made them right, not the law!

David, the man after God's own heart knew well what it was all about. After his fall with Bathsheba was revealed, he threw himself on the mercy of God, "You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise." (Psalm 51:16-17) I believe that the first step to a transformed life is brokenness. We must come to the end of ourselves. Sometimes this comes at the expense of tragedy. For others the light just comes on. Make no mistake, God wants your heart, and He is willing to do anything for it. Even send His only perfect Son to take the punishment that we deserve. It's only by grace. It was always by grace alone. Once the light came on for me, I began the journey of really beginning to understand how depraved I really am, and how awesome God 's grace is. And now, that is my motivation. Paul tells Titus this in chapter 3 of his letter to him. I really like the way Eugene Petersen renders this passage:

"It wasn't so long ago that we ourselves were stupid and stubborn, dupes of sin, ordered every which way by our glands, going around with a chip on our shoulder, hated and hating back. But when God, our kind and loving Savior God, stepped in, he saved us from all that. It was all his doing; we had nothing to do with it. He gave us a good bath, and we came out of it new people, washed inside and out by the Holy Spirit. Our Savior Jesus poured out new life so generously. God's gift has restored our relationship with him and given us back our lives. And there's more life to come—an eternity of life! You can count on this."

We can NEVER be good enough, it is only by grace, that is His intent.