Religion is not a substitute for relationship. The people of Jeremiah’s day were more
interested in the practice of religion, the offering of sacrifices for sin,
than they were in obedience. They were
financially affluent and could, therefore, afford the price of sin. The Lord reminds them that the original idea
was obedience to His voice, the sacrificial system was not instituted to deal
with deliberate sinful behavior but for sin that was not premeditated. The notion of sin is cheapened when it
becomes a calculation of what I get away with.
The danger of the cross as the answer is that it can become a means of
cheap grace which is no grace at all.
Our obedience reveals that we agree with Him on what constitutes
evil. If we persist in sinning, we are
saying that evil is something else and that, therefore, holiness is an
insignificant concept, and then, that the cross is empty of meaning and
significance. Judgment will fall on such
a nation.
The last day of the feast is a day for faith. It comes at what should be the end of the dry
season and water is poured out as a sign of faith that the Lord will provide
new water in the rain He has promised.
Jesus stands in the midst of this ceremony and offers that if they will
come to Him, rivers of living water will issue from their hearts. The question He is asking is, is this real
faith or only religious ceremony. As per
usual, the debate devolves to a question of origins, Nazareth and Galilee
aren’t where the Messiah comes from.
They are not paying attention to the signs He is giving because of what
they think they know. Nicodemus challenges the prevailing “wisdom” of the
leaders and for his trouble gets nothing more than a sarcastic insult. At least he tried.
Religion is doing the right things in order to obtain
rewards. The reward of life, however, is
only for those who, like Abraham, have faith.
Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness, he
didn’t do anything except believe and he and Sarah had a son based on his
faith. He received all the rest, nations
coming from him, his children inheriting the land, and the resulting nation
being the covenant chosen people of God, because of faith. When we substitute confidence in our own
performance for the finished work of Jesus we practice religion and it is
meaningless. When we glory in the cross
and the One who died there to make atonement for our sins, we practice faith
and receive the reward of the faithful.
We also are true worshippers when we glory in Him and practice
obedience.
No comments:
Post a Comment