SOWING AND REAPING – Part 2

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding. (Proverbs 9:10)
How often do we hear that the fear (not reverence!) of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. What is being emphasized today is love! love! love! This is an imbalance. The American believers, for example, think of God as the great Santa Claus in the sky; a kindly old gentlemen who is wringing his hands while his boys behave like the sons of Eli. Compare this concept with the Fire that flamed from the Most Holy Place and slew the two sons of Aaron.

There always is Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal, the blessing and the curse. To ignore Ebal while we stress Gerizim results in tragedy. If we would bear a true testimony of God we must tell of His unfathomable love and also the terror of His wrath.(Deut 27:12,13)
There is a problem that arises when we seek to balance the necessity for godly behavior with a continual stress on God's love, mercy, and grace. Some preachers and teachers of today are bringing into view the numerous passages of the Scriptures that speak of the necessity for moral change in the believer. Immediately the warning is issued that we must balance any preaching of the necessity for moral change with several references to the love, mercy, and grace of God.




Here is an example of the incorrect application of the principle of balance. Let us give a simple example of an incorrect application of the principle of balance so the reader may understand what we are saying.
The Scripture states that the covetous shall not inherit the Kingdom of God.
For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. (Ephesians 5:5)
It would be incorrect and destructive to seek to balance this statement with an appeal to God's love or to New Testament "grace." Such an attempt would parallel Satan's advice, "You shall not surely die." Either the covetous believer will inherit the Kingdom of God or else he will not. Which is it to be?
There is an awesome difference between balancing doctrine and compromising the demands of the Kingdom of God.

We are in error when we attempt to "balance" the necessity for moral transformation with the passages that emphasize the love, mercy, and grace of God. The result is the concept that if we do not obey the laws of God we will receive the Lord's blessing in any case because of God's new-covenant grace.
This is the way the Gospel of the Kingdom of God is taught today and it has produced moral disaster. The Lord Jesus has removed many of the lampstands of the Christian churches. The Divine testimony has been extinguished in many "Christian" nations because the Divine warnings have been removed from Gospel teaching.
The conclusion that is drawn when an attempt is made to balance godliness with grace is that while we ought to try to do good, if we do not God will receive us anyway. To emphasize the importance of godly behavior and then to modify this with the idea of God's forgiveness is to confuse the basic operation of the new covenant.

For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. (Romans 8:13)
The Scripture teaches that if we live in the appetites of the flesh we will die spiritually, we will not inherit the Kingdom of God. The fact is, the rewards we normally associate with being a Christian are reserved for those who through Christ gain victory over the world, Satan, and their own lusts and self-will.
The crown of life is reserved for the overcomer, for no one else. The crown will not be placed on the head of the defeated believer because of God's love, mercy, grace, kindness, or any other Divine attribute or blessing.

The concept that the New Testament emphasis on righteous behavior is somehow modified by God's love and mercy may be the most widely held of all Christian viewpoints. But this idea is flawed.
Let us proceed now to explain why difficulties are encountered when we attempt to balance the necessity for righteous behavior with an emphasis on God's love, mercy, and grace.
Christian teaching is not defining grace according to the way the term is used in the Scriptures.
The Apostles in their writings never diluted their stress on righteous behavior with an appeal to God's love and grace. Grace is never presented in the New Testament as an alternative to righteous personality and conduct, only as an alternative to the Law of Moses.

The Kingdom of God is as a seed that grows until it transforms the individual. It is not a means of attaining escape from Hell and eternal residence in the spirit Paradise.
The law of sowing and reaping is an eternal law that proceeds from God's moral Nature. Not one tiny aspect can be changed by an appeal to mercy and grace. What is sown is always reaped unless God aborts the process because we have responded in the manner set forth in the Scripture.

The Scriptural Definition of Grace

The Christian theology of our day is a wasteland. The chaos is due in large part to the manner in which the word grace is being used.
In the secular realm, grace often is employed to designate a period of time, a "grace period" in which requirements are waived. For example, an insurance policy may remain in effect for a month even though a payment was not made by the date required, in order to give the policy holder an opportunity to make his payment and to keep him protected in the meantime.

Notice that "grace" is a temporary provision. To make the grace period a permanent waiver of payment, in the case of the insurance contract, would be to change the terms of the contract.
In current Christian usage, "grace" is being defined as a permanent alternative to godly behavior instead of an opportunity for the believer to change his behavior while keeping him protected in the meantime. The bypass to be used while the road is under construction has become the main highway. The contract has been changed.
Grace is thought of as lenient, indulgent treatment. God forgives us no matter what we do because of His grace extended toward us.


To be continued.
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