In the Old Testament, why was Moses not allowed to enter the Promised Land?

There are the obvious reasons in Numbers 20-

7 "Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 8 “Take the rod; you and your brother Aaron gather the congregation together. Speak to the rock before their eyes, and it will yield its water; thus you shall bring water for them out of the rock, and give drink to the congregation and their animals.” 9 So Moses took the rod from before the Lord as He commanded him."

10 "And Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock; and he said to them, “Hear now, you rebels! Must we bring water for you out of this rock?” 11 Then Moses lifted his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod; and water came out abundantly, and the congregation and their animals drank.

12 Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not believe Me, to hallow Me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.”

The Lord said: “speak to the rock...” Instead, Moses spoke (angrily) to the assembly, made it look like he and Aaron were their deliverers, made it look like God was angry with the assembly… and he struck the rock instead of speaking to it.

Plus there's the issue of Moses using his own rod and ignoring “the rod" that the Lord commanded him to take from before Him. Recall - “So Moses took the rod from before the Lord as He commanded him."

“The rod" here was not Moses’ walking stick that turned into a snake when he threw it on the ground. It was not Moses’ rod that turned the Nile river to blood that the Lord asked him to take here. According to God's word, it was a different rod.

And there's a deeper meaning and lesson in this incident for believers in Christ today, particularly for pastors and leaders.

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Remember those two disciples (Cleopas and his companion) on the road to Emmaus in Luke 24? They were sad because they felt all hope was lost since Jesus had been crucified. They did not recognize the Lord Jesus as the one who walked with them on the way. Here's what Christ did as they went:

"27 Then beginning with Moses and with all the prophets, He explained to them the things concerning Himself in all the Scriptures."

That same evening, the two disciples went to Jerusalem to share their experience of Christ with the other disciples. Jesus appeared to them there; check out what He did in verse 45 (MSG)-

“He went on to open their understanding of the Word of God, showing them how to read their Bibles this way.”

There was no New Testament at this time. Christ taught His disciples about Himself from the Old Testament. The Old Testament is filled with faith pictures of our Saviour Jesus Christ and our salvation in Him. Christ teaches us to read the Old Testament by bringing Him out of ALL the Scriptures. In one of the most popular passages of the New Testament -John 3, Christ Himself made one reference to Himself in the Old Testament: the bronze serpent that Moses lifted up in the wilderness is a picture of Christ lifted up to save the world from sin and death.

Warning: This is pretty long:) Back to Moses-

Twice the Lord brought water out of the Rock to satisfy the thirsty Israelites as they wandered in the wilderness. Before we get into the nitty-gritty of the purpose of these incidents and how they impact our lives as believers today, let's see who this Rock is. We see this in 1 Corinthians 10 where Paul writes about the sojourn of the Israelites in the wilderness:

1"I don’t want you to forget, dear brothers and sisters, about our ancestors in the wilderness long ago. All of them were guided by a cloud that moved ahead of them, and all of them walked through the sea on dry ground. 2 In the cloud and in the sea, all of them were baptized as followers of Moses. 3 All of them ate the same spiritual food, 4 and all of them drank the same spiritual water. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that traveled with them, and that Rock was Christ."

That Rock was Christ.

The first time God supplied water to His people from the Rock is recorded in Exodus 17. This happened not too long after their freedom from bondage in Egypt-

3 "And the people thirsted there for water, and the people complained against Moses, and said, “Why is it you have brought us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?”

4 So Moses cried out to the Lord, saying, “What shall I do with this people? They are almost ready to stone me!”

5 And the Lord said to Moses, “Go on before the people, and take with you some of the elders of Israel. Also take in your hand your rod with which you struck the river, and go. 6 Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock in Horeb; and you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may drink.”

Notice the Lord said to Moses "your rod"? He told Moses to strike the Rock (a picture of Christ) with his (Moses) rod - the same rod that became a snake when Moses threw it on the ground; the same rod that was used to turn the Nile into blood. This rod belonged to Moses. It was a rod of God's judgment. It struck Christ the Rock and water flowed freely for the complaint-filled and stiff-necked children of Israel.

But the second time that God supplied the people with water in the wilderness, the Lord did not tell Moses to take "your rod" neither did He command Moses to strike the Rock. See what the Lord said and what transpired in Numbers 20. This second "water from the Rock" incident happened in their 40th year of wandering, not too long before they entered the promised land:

3 "And the people contended with Moses and spoke, saying: “If only we had died when our brethren died before the Lord! 4 Why have you brought up the assembly of the Lord into this wilderness, that we and our animals should die here? 5 And why have you made us come up out of Egypt, to bring us to this evil place? It is not a place of grain or figs or vines or pomegranates; nor is there any water to drink.”

6 So Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the door of the tabernacle of meeting, and they fell on their faces. And the glory of the Lord appeared to them.

7 Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 8 “Take the rod; you and your brother Aaron gather the congregation together. Speak to the rock before their eyes, and it will yield its water; thus you shall bring water for them out of the rock, and give drink to the congregation and their animals.” 9 So Moses took the rod from before the Lord as He commanded him."

Believer, every single word in the Bible is "God breathed." This "the rod" that Moses took from “before the Lord” was not Moses rod/walking stick. Moses and Aaron had to go into the presence of the Lord to get this "the rod." Know that God is neither frivolous nor careless as to mix up His use of "your rod" and "the rod" in telling Moses which rod to use. The first time He was going to bring water out of the Rock for the people, He told Moses:

"...Also take in your hand your rod with which you struck the river, and go. 6 Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock in Horeb; and you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may drink.” Exodus 17:5-6.

The second time is in Numbers 20: 6 "So Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the door of the tabernacle of meeting, and they fell on their faces. And the glory of the Lord appeared to them. 7 "Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 8 “Take the rod; you and your brother Aaron gather the congregation together. Speak to the rock before their eyes, and it will yield its water; thus you shall bring water for them out of the rock, and give drink to the congregation and their animals.” 9 So Moses took the rod from before the Lord as He commanded him."

There were TWO RODS.

One "your rod" for the striking of the Rock. The other "the rod" where only speaking is necesary.

One - "your rod" - belonging to Moses. The other- "the rod" - taken from before the Lord.

Remember, Numbers 20:9 - "So Moses took the rod from before the Lord as He commanded him."

So where did this "the rod" that Moses took from before the Lord come from? It was Aaron's rod that budded, blossomed and bore fruit after Korah's rebellion (Numbers 16-17.) How do we know this? God's word says so- Aaron's rod that budded was the only rod that was "before the Lord" in the Holy of Holies where the Lord said He would meet with Moses - see Exodus 25 where the Lord gave instructions concerning the making of His tabernacle and about the location of His meetings with Moses:

21 "You shall put the mercy seat on top of the ark, and in the ark you shall put the Testimony that I will give you. 22 And there I will meet with you, and I will speak with you from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are on the ark of the Testimony, about everything which I will give you in commandment to the children of Israel."

The Lord spoke with Moses from above the mercy seat. When the people complained of thirst the second time, Moses and Aaron went before the Lord - before the Mercy Seat in the Tabernacle. Before the Ark of the Covenant. Three things the Lord told Moses to put in the Ark and cover with the Mercy Seat: Hebrews 9:4-

"In that room were a gold incense altar and a wooden chest called the Ark of the Covenant, which was covered with gold on all sides. Inside the Ark were a gold jar containing manna, Aaron’s staff that sprouted leaves, and the stone tablets of the covenant."

For anyone who might need an Old Testament reference for this, see Numbers 17:10. This happened right after Aaron's dead walking stick was found to have sprouted life-

"And the Lord said to Moses: “Place Aaron’s staff permanently before the Ark of the Covenant to serve as a warning to rebels. This should put an end to their complaints against me and prevent any further deaths.”"

Aaron’s rod was "the rod." It was the only rod that was "before the Lord." Just three chapters later in Numbers 20, the Israelites complained of thirst. Moses and Aaron did this after they complained:

6 "So Moses and Aaron went from the presence of the assembly to the door of the tabernacle of meeting, and they fell on their faces. And the glory of the Lord appeared to them.

7 "Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 8 “Take the rod; you and your brother Aaron gather the congregation together. Speak to the rock before their eyes, and it will yield its water; thus you shall bring water for them out of the rock, and give drink to the congregation and their animals.” 9 So Moses took the rod from before the Lord as He commanded him."

This was the second time that God was going to bring water from the Rock for them. "The rod" that the Lord told Moses to take and which Moses took "from before the Lord" was the rod of Aaron that blossomed. Recall Numbers 10:17-

"And the Lord said to Moses: “Place Aaron’s staff permanently before the Ark of the Covenant to serve as a warning to rebels...."

Moses took “the rod” from before the Lord but didn't do with it as the Lord commanded. He jettisoned "the rod" and used "his rod" instead. See Numbers 20-

10 "And Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock; and he said to them, “Hear now, you rebels! Must we bring water for you out of this rock?” 11 Then Moses lifted his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod; and water came out abundantly, and the congregation and their animals drank.

12 Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not believe Me, to hallow Me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.”

The Lord told Moses to take "the rod" aka Aaron's rod that budded and "speak" to the Rock. Moses didn't. Instead, Moses (with Aaron) stood before the Rock, spoke to God's people and called them "rebels," acted like he and Aaron were the ones bringing water from out of the rock, made it look like God was angry with the people and struck the Rock with his own rod!

Moses totally left Aaron the high priest's rod out of the picture - Aaron's rod that budded here is a picture of all believers having Christ as our High Priest who gave Himself as atonement for our sins. Plus, just three chapters after this in Numbers 23, we see that God didn’t see His people as “rebels” the way Moses did, even as Balaam the sorcerer tried to curse Israel-

“He has not observed iniquity in Jacob, nor has He seen wickedness in Israel.” Numbers 23:21

God did not observe iniquity in Jacob nor did He see wickedness in Israel. But wait a minute. Look what Moses told the children of Israel in Deuteronomy 9:6-7 after Balaam failed in his bid to curse them and as they were about to cross the River Jordan into the Promised Land –

“6Therefore understand that the LORD your God is not giving you this good land to possess because of your righteousness, for you are a stiff-necked people. 7Remember! Do not forget how you provoked the LORD your God to wrath in the wilderness. From the day that you departed from the land of Egypt until you came to this place, you have been rebellious against the LORD.”

The children of Israel were rebellious and stiff-necked throughout their journey in the wilderness, including their time in Moab when Balaam tried to curse them, yet the Lord did not observe iniquity or see wickedness in them- and this because of the blood of bulls and goats! This is a shadow of our life in Christ today! God sees us as righteous apart from works because His Son and our Saviour Jesus shed His blood to save us. His word says of how He sees we who believe 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."

But like Moses at the Rock, many preachers and consequently, churchgoers find it hard to believe God's Word. Believers, if the blood of bulls and goats offered continually year by year could cause our Heavenly Father not to observe iniquity in Jacob, how much more us believers in Christ today that have been cleansed once for all (one-time payment!) by the blood of His Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ?! How much more will we who have been blessed with abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness through our Saviour Jesus Christ live in triumph over sin and death through Christ! (Romans 5:17.)

But Moses misrepresented the Lord to the Israelites. And God was angry with Moses.

For all believers, especially pastors and leaders, today, the Lord says: "Take the rod" and "speak to the Rock." Recall 1 Corinthians 10 where Paul writes about the sojourn of the Israelites in the wilderness tells us-

"My dear fellow believers, you need to understand that all of our Jewish ancestors who walked through a wilderness long ago were under the glory cloud and passed through the waters of the sea on both sides. 2 They were all baptized into the cloud of glory, into the fellowship of Moses, and into the sea. 3 They all ate the same heavenly manna 4 and drank water from the same spiritual rock that traveled with them—and that Rock was Christ himself. 5 Yet God was not pleased with most of them, and their dead bodies were scattered around the wilderness.

6 Now, all these things serve as types and pictures for us—lessons that teach us not to fail in the same way by callously craving worthless things"

Believer, these things are types and pictures for us. They are lessons to keep us from making the same mistakes as the Israelites died in the wilderness - their mistake of unbelief in the goodness of God. Also Moses who is an example of pastors and church leaders today- but we'll get to Moses sin in a bit.

Christ is the Rock. From Him flows God's abundance of Grace and His endless blessings that refresh our lives. Grace is undeserved, unearned, unmerited favour. The Israelites deserved to die of thirst for their sins. But God freely poured out His abundance of Grace (undeserved, unearned, unmerited favour) on them, as He does on all who believe in Jesus Christ the Rock today.

Moses' rod represents God's judgment for our inability to keep the Law of Moses. Christ has been struck with this rod of God's judgment for our sake ONCE. The wages of sin is death. One death. Christ died that death ONCE for ALL. He died the death that the Law demanded of us, fulfilling every single demand that the Law made of us. Hebrews 9 tells us:

"27 And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, 28 so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. ..."

Believer, Jesus is not going to come and die again, be angry with you or demand payment for sins that you might commit in the future. All of our lifetime of sins have been fully paid by Him. This is Grace- undeserved, unearned unmerited favour.

Moses here is a picture of pastors and leaders who are still wielding the rod of Moses - a picture of God's judgment that Christ bore for our sake - over their congregation, including the judgment of generational and other curses. Like Moses did, such leaders put aside Aaron's rod (Jesus Christ as our High Priest and Bearer of sins) and present God to the people as an angry Taskmaster who angrily sees us as rebels and is just waiting to catch His people in sin so that He can punish us and unleash the devourer on we His own children. What then is the purpose of John 3:16- “For God so loved the world…”

Such strike the Rock with Moses' rod of judgment again when the word of the Lord to all who have Jesus Christ as our High Priest is "take the rod" and "speak to the Rock." These are church leaders who tell their congregation that God demands seeds, fasts, tithe, obedience to the Ten Commandments, penance and all sorts of will-power/human effort aka arm of flesh-driven activites before He will meet your needs or unleash His abundance of Grace on you through the Rock that is Jesus Christ! None of these things did the Israelites have to do before the Lord abundantly met their need with water from the Rock.

But many leaders crucify Christ again by striking the Rock with their own rod of Law, misrepresenting our heavenly Father in Christ to the assembly by threatening His people with judgment for the punishment of sins that Christ our Rock was struck with to save and bless us. Such see as 'rebels' God's people who are being transformed by His Spirit, tell you that God is angry with you and turns His back on you when you sin and levy the flock with all sorts of demands for the “water” that God freely gives to us in Christ. Christ says in John 7-

37 Then on the most important day of the feast, the last day, Jesus stood and shouted out to the crowds—“All you thirsty ones, come to Me! Come to Me and drink! 38 Believe in Me so that rivers of living water will burst out from within you, flowing from your innermost being, just like the Scripture says!”

But like the Pharisees who put the judgment of the Law between Christ and the woman that was caught in adultery and was thirsty for salvation from her sin and impending death, many pastors and leaders are like Moses with his rod of judgment- first placing the yoke of the Law and the burden of guilt for your sins on the flock before you can drink of Christ and making it look like you (or they on your behalf) have to appease God on your behalf each time you have a need- striking the Rock again and again. Even Moses has left that ground as we see in Christ's conversation with Moses and Elijah at Christ's transfiguration.

God was angry with Moses for wrongly presenting Him to the Israelites in this manner. He said to Moses and Aaron in Numbers 20:12-

"Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not believe Me, to hallow Me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them.”

See the New Living Translation: "But the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust Me enough to demonstrate My holiness to the people of Israel, you will not lead them into the land I am giving them!”"

Moses was like many church leaders today: having confidence in the rod of judgment (law) but skeptical about trusting God to demonstrate His power without human effort (law-keeping and judgment for failure) involved and without making the assembly bear some guilt by themselves.

Because of the way that they presented the Lord to the people of Israel, God was angry with Moses and Aaron. Understand that God was angry with them because of the people. See this in the words of Moses concerning this incident in Deuteronomy 3:26-

23“At that time I pleaded with the Lord and said? 24 ‘O Sovereign Lord, You have only begun to show Your greatness and the strength of Your hand to me, Your servant. Is there any god in heaven or on earth who can perform such great and mighty deeds as You do? 25 Please let me cross the Jordan to see the wonderful land on the other side, the beautiful hill country and the Lebanon mountains.’

26 “But the Lord was angry with me because of you, and He would not listen to me. ‘That’s enough!’ He declared. ‘Speak of it no more. 27 But go up to Pisgah Peak, and look over the land in every direction. Take a good look, but you may not cross the Jordan River. 28 Instead, commission Joshua and encourage and strengthen him, for he will lead the people across the Jordan. He will give them all the land you now see before you as their possession.’"

Notice the Lord was angry with Moses because of the same people that Moses called "rebels" in anger.

But wait. Moses was also angry when he came down from the mountain to find the people with the golden calf. He broke the two tablets of stone on which the Law was written in anger. God was not angry with Him then. How come God was angry when he called the people "rebels"? It is because there was no high priest's "the rod" involved during the golden calf episode. Moses anger was in line with God's anger. There was no rod belonging to the high priest who makes atonement for the people involved. Three thousand people died.

At the first provision of water from the Rock, the Rock Himself was struck with the rod of judgment instead of the people. At the second provision of water from the Rock, "the rod" of the high priest had entered the picture. For we who believe in Jesus, Christ Himself is our High Priest. Isaiah 53 tells of His suffering and death for us while Isaiah 54 chronicles the benefits that we have as a result of His sacrifice. See one such blessing in Isaiah 54:9-

"Just as I swore in the time of Noah that I would never again let a flood cover the earth, so now I swear that I will never again be angry and punish you."

This blessing is not reflected in teachings in many places where people are looking to the Rock for salvation from their thirst today. At the second provision, Moses made the people think that God was still angry with them for their sins when God was not, just as many church leaders today make their congregation believe that God is still angry with believers whose sins God has utterly punished in the body of His own beloved Son - Jesus Christ our High Priest.

But God is merciful- even though Moses struck the Rock with the rod of judgment when he was not supposed to (Christ has already been struck for us,) the water still gushed out of the Rock to quench the thirst of the people and their animals. God's provision still flows in places of worship where people are being taught that one striking of the Rock is not enough, where pastors threaten their congregation with God's wrath for their sins and addictions and where obedience to the Law of Moses is being wielded as the means of getting God to bless and quench thirst. God's provision flows in spite of the actions of pastors and leaders who misrepresent Him to the assembly of the brethren aka believers in Christ.

But just as He did after Moses and Aaron misrepresented Him to the assembly of Israel, the Lord is removing His people from under the leadership of Moses (a picture of the Law) and moving us to follow Joshua (a picture of Jesus Christ who is Grace-personified) through whom we enter God's Rest (our promised land.)

So Joshua led the people into the promised land. Joshua in Hebrew is the name "Yeshua" meaning "Salvation." The name "Yeshua" is what we know as "Jesus" in the English bible. It is the name of our Lord Jesus Christ our Rock and our Salvation through whom every blessing of God flows FREELY to all who believe Him. Romans 8:32 says of God's heart towards all who believe in Jesus:

"He who did not spare His own Son but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?"

Pastors and leaders, by God's grace, there is no need to strike the Rock again like Moses did or call God's people “rebels" because of our weaknesses that Christ gave His life to free us from. 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.”

Preaching moral codes cannot save anybody just as they could not save even the well-meaning Peter from denying Christ. The arm of flesh (human effort at obedience/being godly) will fail. What the sinner needs is the Saviour from sins. Saviour from sins is Christ's job description. The one who trusts himself to beat sin (no such person exists) does not need Jesus. We all need God's saving Grace- Christ Himself.

We who believe are like patients in a hospital with Christ as our Physician. We are all in recovery and utterly dependent on Christ to make us whole and save us from sins. The arm of flesh (human attempt at being godly aka “be like God") will fail. There really is no point in speaking to a helpless patient (person struggling with sins) about how terrible her illness is or how she will die if she does not stop being sick (sinning.) She already knows that sins lead to death but is helpless to stop- like a meth addict. Instead, take the rod (take Christ as your High Priest) and speak to the Rock (Jesus Christ) on behalf of this patient and salvation will follow, even salvation from sins and all earthly ills. Matthew 1:21 says of Him:

“She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”

Moses’ sin at the second provision of water was misrepresenting the Lord to the assembly of Israel. He presented the Lord to His people as being angry with them for their sins and rebellion, not a God who knows and sympathises with the weaknesses of His people and who FREELY gives to all who come to Him to quench their thirst.

God must be properly represented to His children in Christ and this happens by Grace alone. He did not send His Son to condemn or wrinkle up His nose in disgust at man's sins no matter how vile they are. Christ Himself says of God in the most popular Bible passage: John 3-

“14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. 16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.”

But saved from what? We see this in Matthew I:21-

“She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”

The arm of flesh (human striving/law-keeping at attaining godliness) will fail so let's utterly depend on the Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ alone for salvation from sin and death and for receiving our abundance of blessings through Christ the Rock. Let's continually ask Him to take charge regarding how He is presented to His assembly of believers. Christ did not call us to be doers of the law. We are called to be doers of the word. The word is the word of faith. The law is not of faith. It is the mindset or what we believe about Christ and how we are doing our works that makes the difference between doers of the law and doers of the word.

The letter (law) kills but the Spirit gives life is a very popular Bible verse. With the Spirit of the Lord, it is neither by human might nor by power. It is impossible for doers of works of the Law to deceive themselves in this matter: if you knew and believed that it is Christ in you doing the works and not your own might and power, it would be difficult for you to point accusing fingers at others who are still struggling with sin and threaten them with judgment if they don't change. Rather, you would see how helpless man is to overcome sins and produce good works and like Moses who pointed the suffering Israelites to the bronze serpent, point such to Christ who saves from sins and transforms the sinner who truly believes to live right and bear much fruit, as you say He is doing for you.

Believers, God is not a hard Taskmaster who is just waiting in the wings to catch us in sin so that He can punish us, let the devil have a go at us, call us "rebels" or yell angrily at us before He brings water out of the Rock for us. He knows how frail and screwed up we can be. He helps us in our weaknesses always. In fact, His strength is made perfect in weakness. Matthew 1:21 says of Him:

“She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”

For we who believe in Jesus, the Lord God Almighty is our Daddy; He is "Abba, Father" who so loved us, even in our sins, that He sent His own Son to die the death that His Law demanded of us for our sins. He corrects and disciplines us but never with earthly ills and death that Christ suffered and died to free us from. Hebrews 12 tells us that His correction is that we might live, for our profit, that we might be partakers of His holiness (we have none of ours) and that we might live right. And all through the finished work of Christ for our salvation. Only through Him do we have God's abundance of grace and His gift of righteousness. Only through Him do we have Rest from sin and death, including all earthly ills.

Due to teachings of antichrist pastors, many churchgoers erroneously believe that God’s abundance of Grace and His gift of righteousness to us in Christ that He freely lavishes on us in our physically imperfect walk will make people go on sinning sprees, but the word of God whose ways and thoughts are infinitely higher than man's says differently in Romans 5:16–17:

“16 And the result of God’s gracious gift is very different from the result of that one man’s sin. For Adam’s sin led to condemnation, but God’s free gift leads to our being made right with God, even though we are guilty of many sins. 17 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.”

This is the message of the cross: Grace- undeserved, unearned, unmerited favour. It is the wisdom of God. It is illogical to human reasoning/intelligence and blasphemy to those who think that they are good by their own power; but it is Good News to the helpless sinner who has been given Grace to believe- 1 Corinthians 1:18-

“For the message of the cross is foolishness [absurd and illogical] to those who are perishing and spiritually dead [because they reject it], but to us who are being saved [by God’s grace] it is [the manifestation of] the power of God.”

Right believing always produces right living.