Psalm 88; Jer. 11:1-8,14-20; Rom. 6:1-11; John 8:33-47
Obedience truly is better than sacrifice. There are sins for which sacrifice does not avail. Worshipping and offering sacrifices to other gods like Baal cannot be dealt with by also offering them to Yahweh. They must be His alone, there are to be no other gods and He will not abide this apostasy. How can they offer sacrifices to other gods when He is the one who delivered them from slavery and brought them into this land? Jeremiah is instructed to make no intercession for the people for the Lord will not hear such. It seems also that he has learned of a plot against him as well and he is innocent with respect to these people, simply passing on the word spoken to him by the Lord. We should not be surprised when we are trying to speak God’s word to people that they are offended and the offense becomes personal.
How could anyone not see the irony in “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone.” Have they forgotten the 400 years in Egypt and that the Lord delivered them from slavery into freedom? Have they forgotten their years in exile? What a ridiculous statement and what a sad one, they have denied who they are and whose they are. Jesus, however, is speaking of the bondage of sin. His accusation against them, that they are liars which proves their link with their own father, the devil, the father of lies, is the most stinging rebuke imaginable. So often through the prophets they are told that the Lord is their father and yet here Jesus says these people are proving that they have been sired by another. They are no better than pagans for all their learning. Can you imagine if someone said such things to church people today?
How can we, in this body, consider ourselves dead to sin and alive to Christ? The simple answer is that by the power of the Holy Spirit we have been re-born into a new life if we abide in Him. It is possible for us to never change even though we believe but we are to seek actively that new life and God’s righteousness. CS Lewis said it is like two blades of a scissors working together, our effort and God’s Spirit in us. Dallas Willard has helpfully reminded us that grace is opposed to earning not effort. We must take an active part in our own sanctification, we won’t get there passively. Lent is a time to dust off the spiritual disciplines that are our training tools to see righteousness come to life in us. We need to hear that there is hope for transformation and not only is there hope, there is expectation that it will be observable. We are meant to be new creations.
Save us from weak resignation,
To the evils we deplore.
Let the search for Thy salvation,
Be our glory evermore.
Grant us wisdom, grant us courage,
Serving Thee Whom we adore,
Serving Thee Whom we adore.
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