God is purely about His will that I believe there’s nothing he won’t do or forgive for it to be done. If you have a problem with that, please bear with me and read till the end then we can talk about it in the comments. Deal?
I don’t think God is as strict as some people think, I think He’s quite understanding of the weakness of humanity. He has to be, if not, why has grace been made available on our behalf? (See #1 below)
I think this grace was available to those under the old covenant as well. I believe faith was very much a thing for them; they believed in a promise that was to come, they didn’t know exactly what it was yet they trusted the goodness and greatness of Yahweh enough to allow the promise shape their decisions, thoughts and lives (Hebrews 11). They had faith in the promise to come and it was accounted to them as righteousness just we have faith in the promise fulfilled and more to come and it is accounted to us as righteousness.
You know how the Bible says that “love covers a multitude of sins”? I believe God showed His love and grace a good number of times in the old testament and I saw it quite clearly today in Genesis 38.
When I got to the part where Onan was killed for spilling his seeds on the floor I was curious why it was such a great sin? Why did he have to die for it? I know that people in present times use this method of contraception and possibly even Godly married couples so I wondered why it was such an atrocious thing. So I searched about it and found an article that made me remember that there had been sexual sin scattered around scriptures and some of them went without a death penalty so why?
Long story short, it’s because Onan’s actions interrupted the lineage that would lead to Jesus. And at that time, God’s will was for Jesus to be born and finish His work. If Onan stayed alive, he would continue to spill seeds on the floor till either of them died or Tamar couldn’t carry children anymore. But there’s an even bigger picture I’m trying to show you here. Tamar dressed up as a prostitution, deceived Judah (her father in law) into sleeping with her and she got pregnant. Why wasn’t she killed? Go back and read my very first sentence.
God knows that mankind had fallen. Wouldn’t it be unfair for Him to expect them to do everything the ideal perfect way? If God’s will must be done on the earth and the only way is through men, it would either mean that He gives up His will or He does it without man- both contradict His nature, further necessitating a Saviour, some kind of grace! If God gives up His will, someone else’s will prevails and what good does that do for humanity? If God does it some other way then He isn’t a God of His word because He handed earth over to mankind.
As a believer, your spirit is renewed and declared righteous, your mind undergoes daily renewal but your flesh is still in its fallen state and will always tempt you and fight against the ways of the Lord. There is always the possibility (no matter how small) to fall into sin, to not do it exactly in righteousness’ preferred way and I believe God’s grace covers that. While I meditated on these things my mind went to one of my favorite scriptures:
”And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.“
Romans 8:28 NKJV
As I write this, another scripture comes to mind:
”If you love Me, keep My commandments.“
John 14:15 NKJV
”He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.”
John 14:21 NKJV
We fulfill the will of God by following His commandments and leading. What I’m saying is, while we’re on that path of living for the will of God, there is grace made available should we succumb to temptations of the flesh. This doesn’t always mean conventional sin (lying, killing, stealing etc) but the times you waited an extra day when you shouldn’t have, the times God told you to lead with love but you gave into lust, the times where He told you to rest but you allowed anxiety make you take unnecessary steps. Grace is sufficient for that.
I think people have missed it by giving their own myopic meaning of “good” in Romans 8:38. I don’t believe good is limited to the fact that you eventually conceived or that you ended up getting a better job or opportunity, I think good is that you have fulfilled your role in God’s plan as He intended; what is better, sweeter and more satisfying than that? I think that that scripture means that although circumstances weren’t easy or that you made a mistake, God is still able to work it out so you remain on a path that leads to His intended destination for you which is always in accordance to His will.
God is thoroughly serious about His business and I’ve come to believe that that is why when a man makes a vow to God that concerns soul winning and kingdom expansion He always answers speedily. Don’t run with this with an impure heart because God sees it. If God is serious about such vows imagine what happens when we give our lives to the Lord for the establishment of His will.
”But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.“
Matthew 6:33 NKJV
#1: Romans 5:20-22, 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, Hebrews 4:15-16.
The Penthouse 