The Lord is my Shepherd...
Believer, the law is not of faith. Trying be godly/get right God by keeping the law is not Christianity. It is Satan's doctrine to deceive. Trying be godly/get right God by keeping the law is how to get cut off from Christ:
“For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God's grace.”
Christ saying we are His sheep and He our Shepherd isn't just for show. Picture a sheep (believer) that is doing its best to clean, shear, bathe and generally fend for itself (law-keeping) in order to be worthy of being a part of the Shepherd (Christ's) flock and remain in His good graces. This sheep even tries to be good to the other sheep so that the Shepherd can be pleased with it and bless it. The sheep has no idea that it cannot do any of these things by itself. It will only make mistakes and hurt itself. Only through the grace of the Good Shepherd can it do or be anything. Christ said in John 15:5-
“Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.”
The sheep has no idea that its being a part of the flock and enjoying the Good Shepherd's benefits is not because of the good or bad things that it did. In the process of trying to do the work of the Shepherd in order to earn His approval, the sheep fails (the arm of flesh will fail) and could get cast. Even a sheep that is not trying to fend for itself can get cast.
A cast sheep looks like the one in the attached picture - all four legs up in the air:
No amount of trying to right itself can get the sheep back up on its feet, just as no amount of trying to obey the law in order to get right with God can make a person who has sinned have right-standing with God - “For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are.” Romans 3:20.
We all need the Good Shepherd to set and keep us aright, all the way to the End; see John 6:43-46–
“Jesus said, “Don’t bicker among yourselves over Me. You’re not in charge here. The Father who sent Me is in charge. He draws people to Me—that’s the only way you’ll ever come. Only then do I do My work, putting people together, setting them on their feet, ready for the End.”
The more the sheep tries to go it alone (get right with God and remain in His good graces by human effort doing what the law commands,) the more it fails. The law only shows us how sinful we are. Remember:
“For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God's grace.”
Finding a sheep (believer) in this cast position — cut off from Christ and fallen away from God's grace because it is trying to get right with God by keeping the law before or after it sinned — is the delight of wild animals, aka devourers. Remember 1 Peter 5:8—
“8 Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 9 Resist him, standing firm in the faith,…”
Now consider Romans 3:28– “So we are made right with God through faith and not by obeying the law.”
Satan is actively looking for anyone who is trying to get right with God by obeying the law so he can devour them. Such are like sheep without Shepherd- cut off from Christ; easy prey. We resist the devourer by standing firm in the faith- by believing what God's word says: Romans 3—
“26…for He Himself is fair and just, and He makes sinners right in His sight when they believe in Jesus. 27 Can we boast, then, that we have done anything to be accepted by God? No, because our acquittal is not based on obeying the law. It is based on faith. 28 So we are made right with God through faith and not by obeying the law.”
The devourer flees not because the sheep, cast or otherwise, has it all together by himself but because of the Good Shepherd who rights and protects His sheep. Our right-standing with God is not dependent on our own useless efforts at keeping the law. We are made right with God through Christ's obedience:
“By one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man's obedience many will be made righteous.” Romans 5:19.
Like sheep whose Shepherd cares for them no matter who, what or how they are so they get to do the right thing at the right time, only when we receive God's abundance of Grace and His gift of righteousness to us in Christ our Shepherd do we get to live in triumph over sin and death through Jesus Christ:
"For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God’s wonderful grace and His gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one Man, Jesus Christ."
The law is not of faith. Trying to get right with God by doing what the law commands is being faithless. It is rejecting God's gift of righteousness to us in Christ. It cuts one off from Christ and makes one easy prey for the devourer.
The evil doctrine that says: "Now that you are born-again, you have to do your best to obey the law in order to be godly, enjoy God's blessings and make it to heaven" is Satan's ploy to get believers cut off from Christ and to put believers under sin's dominion: “For sin shall not have dominion over you for you are not under law but under Grace.” Romans 6:14.
Believer, God Himself made the Way for us to be godly (be like God) and it is through the suffering of our Saviour Jesus Christ. Isaiah prophesied of His suffering for us in Isaiah 53. See the effect of His sacrifice for us in Isaiah 53:11-
"After He has suffered, He will see the light of life. And He will be satisfied. My godly servant will make many people godly because of what He will accomplish. He will be punished for their sins."
Also Romans 5:9—"And there is still much more to say of His unfailing love for us! For through the blood of Jesus we have heard the powerful declaration, “You are now righteous in My sight.” And because of the sacrifice of Jesus, you will never experience the wrath of God."
John 1:12-13 says- “12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.”
In Christ, having Him as our righteousness, He has made us godly (like God,) even with all of our imperfections. God justifies the ungodly, not those that can be godly (be like God) by human effort at keeping the law.
But preachers of what Paul described as “doctrines of demons” in 1 Timothy 4 will tell you: "Now that you are born-again, God's will is for you to do your best to obey the law in order to be godly, escape God's wrath and make it to heaven." Everything that Christ died that we might freely have!
This is the same strategy that Satan used to deceive Eve when he told her that that she would be godly (be like God) if she did something by human effort. But God had already made her godly; just as He has made all who believe in Jesus godly because we believe. See the forbidden fruit as a picture of the law that many are trying to obey in order to be godly (be like God) in Romans 7:8-12 (MSG)-
"The law code started out as an excellent piece of work. What happened, though, was that sin found a way to pervert the command into a temptation, making a piece of “forbidden fruit” out of it. The law code, instead of being used to guide me, was used to seduce me...."
Satan, through his ministers who pretend to be for Christ, is still seducing people to eat of the forbidden fruit aka interpreting God's will as obeying the Law and doing its works in order to be godly. It seemed good to Eve to eat, just as it seems good for many to strive to be godly by depending on their ability to obey the law and even see this as the will of God, afterall what is bad in doing one's best to obey the law in order to be godly? But God's word says "the letter of the law kills."
Proverbs 14:12 counsels us:"There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death."
The people that Jesus counseled to enter through the narrow gate that leads to life were not people who couldn't wait for Him to finish His sermon so that they could go and commit adultery or murder someone. They were people whose sole desire was to "enter" God's kingdom- Jews whose lives depended on their ability to obey the Law of Moses. Christ Himself is the narrow gate. "We are saved by Grace through faith." The law is not of faith. Trying to obey the Law to get right with God is the broad road that leads to destruction. This way seems right to many, "But its end is the way of death."
Galatians 5:4 tells us: "For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God's grace."
Satan's ploy is to keep believers cut off from Christ and under sin's dominion by keeping people focused on doing the "right" thing of trying to obey the law in order to be godly, but the more one does this, the more sin will multiply: "For sin shall not have dominion over you for you are not under law but under Grace." Romans 6:14.
The perpetuation of this false doctrine is also Satan's ploy to keep people under the curse of the law:
"Those who depend on obeying the Law live under a curse. For the scripture says, “Whoever does not always obey everything that is written in the book of the Law is under God's curse!”" Galatians 3:10
Believer, by grace, believe right. Our salvation in Christ is unqualified and without terms and conditions. In Christ, there is no condemnation for the believer. Let's take our blessed brains to church: the gift of no condemnation can only be given to those who have sins that they should be condemned for.
Believer, by grace, ask the Lord to rid your heart and mind of every wrong doctrine. By grace, let go of your puny efforts at obeying the law in order to be godly and let the Lord our Shepherd love you into wholeness and cause you to live right. It is His "Neither do I condemn you" that makes us "go and sin no more."
Right believing always produces right living
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