Summary and Conclusion. We have seen God’s standards; reviewed the pre-eminence of, and the process for, restoring fellowship; examined the link between fellowship and the filling of the Holy Spirit; and cited the role of faith in our walk in the Spirit. We understand the power of God and the weakness of man…His bigness and our smallness. At the same time, we are coming to know what God expects from us, i.e., His standards…and this creates in us a sense of urgency to do what He expects.
We acknowledge the importance of meeting the standards God has given us, but they are daunting and formidable. We see these standards, and know in our inner selves that we can’t meet them, which gives rise to a new question: If we can’t live up to the standards, why would God require them of us? He has set the bar too high for us to clear, and now He is demanding that we jump over it.
Pay attention…We must begin to fathom how fervently God wants us to learn that His way of dealing with us is not through some capability inherent in us…but in bringing us to an understanding that the only way we can clear the bar is for God to lift us over it. All He wants from us is our trust that He can and will do it.
Everything God requires, He provides a way to fulfill. When we read the Bible and see God’s standards, these should be seen as alerts for us to reach out for grace assets. The standards are calls for us to confess and trust.
“Negative” standards call for us to confess our sins. When we see God’s proscriptions (“negative” standards), if we tend to feel a little panicky, it is because we are reverting to a belief that we have to figure out a way to have the courage, the determination, and the initiative to avoid the bad thoughts and behavior that God prohibits. We believe in ourselves, to do what God requires, while the correct response is for us to admit that we cannot live up to God’s standards, and that we are dependent on His mercy.
From a different perspective, when God presents “positive” standards, such as those commanding that we love and rejoice, we can know that these are calls for us to be “filled with the Spirit” and to “walk in the Spirit”, because positive standards are “fruits of the Spirit”. And Who produces God’s fruit? Only God. After we confess, which satisfies the negative standards, we then move toward fulfilling the positive standards by walking in faith, which means trusting His Word, His promises, His power, His love…and, yes…His forgiveness. As we do this, we will be studying His Word and enduring His training, so that our faith will become stronger and stronger.
We understand better now what God wants and how God works. Our path will not be an easy one, and we will often not know where God is taking us, but we can be sure that He wants to give us His best, and that His grace is always sufficient to meet our needs. He guarantees it…in writing.
We acknowledge the importance of meeting the standards God has given us, but they are daunting and formidable. We see these standards, and know in our inner selves that we can’t meet them, which gives rise to a new question: If we can’t live up to the standards, why would God require them of us? He has set the bar too high for us to clear, and now He is demanding that we jump over it.
Pay attention…We must begin to fathom how fervently God wants us to learn that His way of dealing with us is not through some capability inherent in us…but in bringing us to an understanding that the only way we can clear the bar is for God to lift us over it. All He wants from us is our trust that He can and will do it.
Everything God requires, He provides a way to fulfill. When we read the Bible and see God’s standards, these should be seen as alerts for us to reach out for grace assets. The standards are calls for us to confess and trust.
“Negative” standards call for us to confess our sins. When we see God’s proscriptions (“negative” standards), if we tend to feel a little panicky, it is because we are reverting to a belief that we have to figure out a way to have the courage, the determination, and the initiative to avoid the bad thoughts and behavior that God prohibits. We believe in ourselves, to do what God requires, while the correct response is for us to admit that we cannot live up to God’s standards, and that we are dependent on His mercy.
From a different perspective, when God presents “positive” standards, such as those commanding that we love and rejoice, we can know that these are calls for us to be “filled with the Spirit” and to “walk in the Spirit”, because positive standards are “fruits of the Spirit”. And Who produces God’s fruit? Only God. After we confess, which satisfies the negative standards, we then move toward fulfilling the positive standards by walking in faith, which means trusting His Word, His promises, His power, His love…and, yes…His forgiveness. As we do this, we will be studying His Word and enduring His training, so that our faith will become stronger and stronger.
We understand better now what God wants and how God works. Our path will not be an easy one, and we will often not know where God is taking us, but we can be sure that He wants to give us His best, and that His grace is always sufficient to meet our needs. He guarantees it…in writing.
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