We do good by the power of Christ alone

Believers, preaching moral codes cannot help the world that God so loved attain salvation. Salvation is through preaching Christ who is Grace (undeserved, unearned, unmerited favour)-personified. Titus 2:14 says of Him: "God’s marvelous grace has manifested in person, bringing salvation for everyone."

Many religious people think that those who are living in sins love what they do and are clueless about the consequences of their actions. Such believe that they are the only ones who want to do good and so have to tell "sinners" the "truth." This is the height of Pharisee-ism. The Pharisees wanted to stone the woman that was caught in adultery...until Christ showed them that they were no better than the woman that they had condemned. Everyone outside God's gift of righteousness to us in Christ has the same standing- Wicked. In Christ, having Him as our Righteousness, we all have the same standing in God's sight: Righteous by Faith. The truth is all of us have the same struggle that Paul did: Romans 7:18.

"For I know that nothing good lives within the flesh of my fallen humanity. The longings to do what is right are within me, but will-power is not enough to accomplish it.""

The doing of good is not present in anybody, but many have no idea how fallen humanity is. If you think you are good by your own will-power and determination to do right, by Grace, stop deceiving yourself. The reason why we are not committing particular sins is because we have not been tempted beyond what we can bear in those areas. This is evident in 1 Corinthians 10:12-13:

"12 So beware if you think it could never happen to you, lest your pride becomes your downfall. 13 We all experience times of testing, which is normal for every human being. But God will be faithful to you. He will screen and filter the severity, nature, and timing of every test or trial you face so that you can bear it. And each test is an opportunity to trust Him more, for along with every trial God has provided for you a way of escape that will bring you out of it victoriously."

If God was not screening and filtering our trials, we would all see the extent of the sinfulness of human nature expressed in ourselves. Paul addressed this in Romans 1 where a group who “suppress the truth” of righteousness by faith (verses 16-19) DEVOLVED into sin after “God lifted off His restraining hand…” —

“24 This is why God lifted off His restraining hand and let them have full expression of their sinful and shameful desires…”

If God lifted off His restraining hand that restrains us from devolving into committing heinous sins and let us rely on our human effort and will-power at keeping the law in order to be saved or for whatever reason, we would all devolve into sin. Like Peter who was resolute in his determination to not deny Christ, if temptation comes and it was up to us to save ourselves, we will all do the very things we swore not to do and copiously too, because the arm of flesh will fail. 

Christ made us perfect in the beginning, saw the fall of Adam that brought utter imperfection to mankind and authored what Romans 7:18 says of man- "For I know that nothing good lives within the flesh of my fallen humanity. The longings to do what is right are within me, but will-power is not enough to accomplish it.""

But many of us are surprised at our own "unchristian" thoughts and actions as well as those of others. How many times have we caught ourselves wondering: "How could I/she/he/they do that?" We have no idea that we would do worse but for God's restraining hand:) Thank God that He grants requests that are according to His will or many people would have experienced vehicle breakdowns on my route- I have no idea how many times I've wished for drivers that overtook me in a rude way to experience vehicle trouble just so that I can pass them and do "ntoin" :) 

Christ called the Pharisees and teachers of religious law "brood of vipers" and "white-washed tombs." They thought they were "moral" and much better than the woman that was caught in adultery that they brought to Jesus to test Him- but none of them could cast the first stone. Only Jesus could but He did not; neither did He preach morals to the woman, condemn her or threaten her with judgment. He saved the woman from a death that she deserved and gave her the gift of "neither do I condemn you" that makes us "go and sin no more." He is the same yesterday, today and forever, still saving His people (believers) from their sins.

Preaching morals to a person who is already being crushed by the weight of the law and the burden of his guilt won't help anyone. The unsaved world does not need more lessons on morals or keeping the law. The law is already emblazoned on the hearts of the world. People who are committing murder, theft, adultery or are addicted to porn/drugs already know that their actions are bad and have terrible consequences that lead to death and that is why many commit their sins in secret like the Pharisees. 

Even the Pharisees that thought they had "morals" and judged the sinner woman were condemned by the same law that they depended on- and no one alive can match the level of law-keeping that the Pharisees were on. Remember Christ said in Matthew 5:20-

"You must obey God’s commands better than the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law obey them. If you don’t, I promise you that you will never get into the kingdom of heaven."

This verse is not to get believers scrambling to keep the Law. It is for those who are under Law and not under Grace. Who amongst us can keep the Law like the Pharisees and teachers of the Law? We don't even know most of what the Law says! Christ was showing the Jews the futility of trying to enter heaven through law-keeping and adherence to moral codes. We see this in His word through Paul in Romans 3:20- "For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands..."

Preaching morals aka law-keeping to the sinner is akin to  telling the woman that was caught in adultery to try her best to stop sinning and keep the law in order to escape the death that she deserved. Nothing she did could have saved her from the judgment of death that she deserved. Preaching morals is akin to seeing a sheep that has fallen into a pit and telling the helpless sheep: "Don't fall into a pit." The sheep is already in a pit and needs help getting out. What he needs is the message of Christ, the same message that Zacchaeus, the woman that was caught in adultery, the sinner woman by the well of Jacob and the notorious sinners and tax collectors that followed Christ heard from Him: NO CONDEMNATION AND FREEDOM FROM SINS AND DEATH THROUGH CHRIST.

Believer, this is what our Salvation is about- 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."

Wonderful as preaching "Don't fornicate" is, it cannot save the one who is committing this sin. He already knows that his action is sin and that sin leads to death. What is needful is for him to know the Way out of sin and that the Way does not condemn him. Christ does it all, saving us from the pit of sin and transforming all who believe to live right. Preach the message of Christ and the people will believe right. When the believing is right, right living will follow, not through human effort at keeping the law or doing our best to stop sinning but by Grace- undeserved, unearned, unmerited favour. Titus 2:14 says of Him:

"He gave His life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us His very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds."

Much as we try to be "moral", our best can never be good enough to get us into God's kingdom. Neither is Christ in the business of saving those who think they have some good in them and can free themselves from sins. These ones contradict His word concerning mankind too:

"For I know that nothing good lives within the flesh of my fallen humanity. The longings to do what is right are within me, but will-power is not enough to accomplish it."

The more one hears preaching on morals and law-keeping as the means of attaining righteousness in God's sight and escaping God's wrath, the more sin will have dominion: Romans 6:14-

"For sin shall not have dominion over you for you are not under law but under Grace." 

But many have this verse backwards and are preaching the law as the means of attaining righteousness and escaping God's wrath. No friend. Christ paid the price for our right-standing with God and our escaping God's wrath. See this in 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."

Only when we receive God's abundance of Grace and His gift of righteousness to us in Christ do we get to live in triumph over sin and death:

"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." Romans 5:17.

With the Lord as our Shepherd, we get to be led on the path of righteousness. See the way of a real-life shepherd with his sheep and get a glimpse into Christ's love for us- this Good Shepherd who laid down His life for His sheep! His rod (protecting us from every evil) and His staff (keeping us from going astray, used to keep us in place when we need shearing aka giving - even when the flesh is weak to give; putting us in the right place to be fed with His word and lifting us when we fall, so much more) they comfort us. 

Only like sheep, believe (trust, rely, have faith in and depend utterly) on the Lord Jesus Christ, giving no place to human effort, and even this we do by His grace.