Mr. Perfect
“My brothers and sisters, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God.” Romans 7:4
Barbara and I have enjoyed reading Revolution Within with several individuals and couples on Zoom. Dwight Edwards wrote:
“…that you may be married to another…” Being married to the law inevitably leads to despair. It is like living with Mr. Perfect. He never makes a mistake, never has a bad day, never indulges himself, never comes home late, always does the right thing, always knows the right way, etc. The problem is that he expects the very same things of you. He lets you know every time you fail to measure up to his expectations. The only acceptable standard for your performance is perfection. If you do nine out of ten things right, you are still a failure. Beyond this, the law hands you a list of responsibilities but gives you no help in fulfilling them. It is all up to you. Ask for help, and he turns a cold shoulder and tells you to try harder. Your acceptance by him is wholly conditioned by your performance. You feel an abiding sense of hopelessness, for you know that you will never be able to live up to his list (Deuteronomy 28:1-2 & 15).
What a blessed contrast is life married to our Lord! At the very outset he assures you that you can never lose his love and acceptance (Ephesians 1:6). Though sins grieve him; they will never, ever cause him to reject you (Hebrews13:5). He delights in you; in fact, he sings over you (Zephaniah3:17). He makes much over your every effort to please him, even when they fall short (Zechariah 4:10). Anything he asks you to do for him, he fully intends to do through you himself (Philippians 4:13). He makes sure that you never lack for adequate resources (Ephesians1:3). He sympathizes with your weaknesses (Hebrews 4:15) and picks you back up when you fail (John 21:15-17). He loves you with a love you can never lose (Romans 8:38-39) and provides you with an eternally significant purpose for living (Ephesians 2:10). Yours is an abiding sense of hope and joy because of the kind of Husband you are married to (Romans 7:4).
As F.B. Meyer put it, "The love of God is like the Amazon River flowing down to water one daisy." You my friend, are that daisy. Never forget it.
And guess what? Many of the things he requires of you are the exact same things your former husband (the law) required. But now you do them far more freely, joyously, and even better than ever before. Grace always motivates and enables far beyond what the law is able to do. As Reinhold Niebuhr put it so well, “You may be able to compel people to maintain certain minimum standards by stressing duty, but the highest moral and spiritual achievements depend not upon a push but a pull. People must be charmed into righteousness.” And nothing charms like the wild, supra-rational, unquenchable grace of God.
Life was meant to be lived in the warm, tight embrace of our Savior. Don’t exchange it for the cold handshake of mere duty.”
All the references in the blog are cited below.
Deuteronomy 1, 2 & 15 “If you fully obey the Lord your god and carefully follow all his commands I give you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. All these blessings will come on you and accompany you if you obey the Lord your God… However, if you do not obey the Lord your God and do not carefully follow all his commands and decrees, I am giving you today, all these curses will come on you and overtake you.”
Ephesians 1:6 “to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.”
Hebrews 13:5 “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”
Zephaniah 3:17 “The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; and in his love he will no longer rebuke you but will rejoice over you with singing.”
Zechariah 4:10 “Who dares despise the day of small things, since the even eyes of the Lord that range throughout the earth will rejoice when they see the chosen capstone in the hand of Zerubbabel?”
Philippians 4:13 “I can do all this through him who gives me strength.”
Ephesians 1:3 “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.”
Hebrews 4:15 “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have on who has been tempted in every way, just as we are – yet he did not sin.”
John 21:15-17 “When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, ‘Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?’ ‘Yes, Lord,” he said, ‘you know that I love you.’ Jesus said, ‘Feed my lambs.’ Again Jesus said, ‘Simon son of John, do you love me?’ He answered, ‘Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.’ Jesus said, ‘Take care of my sheep.’ The third time he said to him, ‘Simon son of John, do you love me?’ Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, ‘Do you love me?’ He said, ‘Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.’”
Romans 8:38-39 “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus sour Lord.”
Ephesians 2:10 “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”
Romans 7:4 “So my brothers and sisters, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God.”