ICS Daily Devotions
Avoid the Ditches of Self-Righteousness
Romans 3:20 (NKJV) Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
Galatians 2:21 (NKJV) I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain.
The Apostle Paul was attacking legalism that hindered Christians to see the ultimate work of God’s grace in the lives of people. Imagine that you are a member of a frequent flyer program with an airline. Or you may also be a member of a 5 stars hotel. There are different tiers in membership regardless whether it is a frequent flyer program or hotel loyalty program. There are many privileges when you achieved the Elite or Solitaire status, however, you need to work on it to maintain it. One will naturally feel a sense of achievements, pride, entitlement and convenience in the airport lounges, especially when you have quite a long wait for a connecting flight.
If you do not fly enough or spend more nights in the hotel then your membership can drop from Elite or Platinum to Silver membership very quickly. When we lose our status as the premium customer of the airline then you will also lose some of your privileges as a member. You may feel less favored and at times feel lousy about it when you are no longer an Elite or Platinum holder, if you attached your identity in it. Some people would work very hard to maintain the status but give up when it costs too much. What if your favorite airline were to give you the Elite status permanently without conditions and allow you to access all the lounges across the globe? What a deal. But it won’t happen!
We do feel the same way when we attempt to please God using our own strength. We feel as though we have achieved Elite status if we do enough and drop to normal membership if we slack in some Christian discipline. But you must realize that God has given you a permanent Elite status to enter into His presence. God did it for you. He gave you a status in order for you to have access to Him across the globe, in the depth of the ocean and even in outer space! Will you lose your status in the sight of God just as you are downgraded by the airlines? You will not!
But there are two ditches where one is to attempt God’s acceptance based on the deeds of the law which is self-righteousness and the other is self-righteous indifference where we emphasize on grace and faith without evidence of fruits of righteousness. We should be in neither of the ditches but strive to be in the middle or balanced in our perspective.
James 2:14-17 (NKJV) What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
We might think that the Apostle James was contradicting the teaching of the Apostle Paul whenever we read this passage. But while Paul is attacking self-righteous legalism, James is pointing out self-righteous indifference. Both Paul and James are in line with being balanced. Paul and James agree that the disciples of Christ must bear fruit in life regardless whether it is in the area of godliness or works. We live in the realm of God’s grace but we also practice righteousness based on the love for God and our neighbors.
Sermon Series: An Active Faith
