“...what does the Lord require of you...?” Answers from Micah 6.
Beloved, of God, Romans 15:14 tells us:
“For whatsoever things were written in times past, were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.”
The Scriptures/Old Testament were written to comfort us and to give us hope. In the Christian sense, hope is not just a “maybe.” Bible “hope" is a “joyful and confident expectation of eternal salvation."
Summarizing the Gospel of Christ and our salvation in Him to mean striving for godliness/perfection by human strength or trying to not have one's hand in the cookie jar upon Christ's return for His saints does not give any comfort, make us joyful or bring a confident expectation of eternal salvation. If anything, that false summary puts one under the pressure of trying to be good/perfect (be like God) and makes us all pretty hopeless because always, we are imperfect of ourselves. Even right now. "There is none good but God" says Christ.
Christ Himself was the First to preach His gospel after His resurrection. He shows us in Luke 24 that the Scriptures/Old Testament are all about Himself and our salvation in Him; so don't let anyone deceive you into thinking that being under Grace means ignoring the Old Testament. In fact, I'd say that more than 70% of my proclamation of Christ and Him crucified is from the Old Testament. So let's find comfort by seeing and believing Christ in the Scriptures which are written for us in Micah 6:8--
"what does the Lord require of you..."
What really does the Lord require of us? The prophet Micah pondered and received answers to this question from the Lord as it is written for our learning and comfort in Micah 6:
“6 With what should I come before the Lord,
and bow down before God on high?
Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings,
with calves a year old?
7 Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,
with ten thousand rivers of oil?
Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,
the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”
8 He has told you, O man, what is good—
and what does the Lord require of you,
but to do justice and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God?"
So,
- To do justice
- To love kindness
- To walk humbly with your God
These are the three-fold things that the Lord requires of man, but not in the sense that man thinks or reasons! Man's definition of JUSTICE entails giving people what they truly deserve for their actions. Man's definition of KINDNESS entails doing nice things for others. Man's definition of HUMILITY entails knowing that you are "more than that" but bringing yourself down to the level of the "little people."
But God's definition of JUSTICE, KINDNESS and HUMILITY when it comes to our salvation in Christ is utterly different from man's logical inferences-
"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." 1 Corinthians 1:18.
The Lord's ways and thoughts are higher than that of man. What man's logical reasoning sees and desires as JUSTICE from God will only bring him death preceded by its symptoms of earthly ills as we will see shortly. Recall Micah 6:
"He has told you, O man, what is good—
and what does the Lord require of you,
but to do JUSTICE and to love KINDNESS,
and to walk HUMBLY with your God?"
So let's start with JUSTICE.
Man's logical reasoning defines God's justice (pertaining to salvation for man) pretty much the same way Job did before his travails aka God giving man good for his human effort-driven good works -- until the Lord answered his attempts to present his self-righteous works as why he should not experience trouble. This Job's description of justice is what is being peddled from many church pulpits:
"Do good, get good from God; do bad, get beat by God."
This definition means death for all who follow it because no man can meet EVER meet God's righteous standard of justice aka using one's ability to keep the law and good deeds as a benchmark for justification before God--
"20 For no person will be justified [freed of guilt and declared righteous] in His sight by [trying to do] the works of the Law. For through the Law we become conscious of sin [and the recognition of sin directs us toward repentance, but provides no remedy for sin]." Romans 3:20.
But let's look at God's definition of JUSTICE as it pertains to our being saved in Christ Jesus in the same Romans 3--
"26 And when the season of tolerance came to an end, there was only one possible way for God to give away His righteousness and still be true to both His JUSTICE and His mercy—to offer up His own Son. So now, because we stand on the faithfulness of Jesus, God declares us righteous in His eyes!"
God's definition of JUSTICE when it comes to salvation for man is God offering up His own Son to die in our place SO THAT we might be righteous in His sight and SO THAT the blessing of Abraham might be upon us who are Christ's seed. Nothing to do with man's obedience or good works. Rather, we are justified before God SO THAT we might be able to obey and to good works-
"8 God saved you by His grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. 9 Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. 10 For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago." Ephesians 2.
But man puts the cart (good works) before the horse (Christ's strength) and even totally removes Christ from his own equation of JUSTIfication before God.
For the one who thinks it is his 70 days fasts and arm of flesh-driven efforts at obedience that puts him on the favourable side of God's JUSTICE, that one is like Job before his travails. Job was hedged in by God SO THAT he was prosperous, protected and able to do good works, but he thought that it was his sacrifices to God on behalf of his children that kept them safe; he thought that God's JUSTICE should mean preserving him from trouble and prospering him based on his obedience, charitable deeds and his being "eyes to the blind." He had no idea that ALL of man's righteous works which he thought God should take into consideration in keeping him blessed amounted to an abomination in the sight of God as it is written in Isaiah 64:6--
"We are all like one who is unclean, all our so-called righteous acts are like a menstrual rag in Your sight."
Following this example of expecting God to give one good because of one's works is the definition of coming before the Lord with what is written in Micah 6:6-7-
“6 With what should I come before the Lord,
and bow down before God on high?
Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings,
with calves a year old?
7 Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,
with ten thousand rivers of oil?
Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,
the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?”
Understand that "body" above is from the Hebrew word "belly," “so called as being hollow and empty,” and "especially a corpse" according to Bible lexicon. Whatever fruit/works man produces and tries to give to God from his body is like getting something from a corpse. None of those things please Him. In fact, Isaiah 64:6 tells us what He thinks of them:
"We are all like one who is unclean, all our so-called righteous acts are like a menstrual rag in Your sight."
Whatever righteous works man does by his human might/flesh and attempts to give to the Lord in return for His justice will only get man the justice that he deserves: Death preceded by its symptoms earthly ills according to the travails of Job. Only Christ suffices.
Beloved, for we who have Christ as our Righteousness and Strength, the Lord's JUSTice for us is found in Him offering His own Son to die for us to give us His righteousness without which no man can enjoy the blessing of Abraham. In Christ, TO DO JUSTICE as it is written in Micah is to know, believe and preach God's justice for us in Christ Jesus- Him offering His own Son to make us righteous/justify us in His sight. And this we do by Grace- undeserved, unearned, unmerited favour.
Recall there are three things which Micah 6 tells us that the Lord requires of us?
- To do justice
- To love kindness
- To walk humbly with your God
So what about KINDNESS?
Man sees kindness as being nice to others and generally trying to be good aka "be like God" by human might aka the flesh in which dwells no good thing. We can see that this is the doctrine of the world and the same message that Satan the ruler of this world used to deceive Eve in Eden. As it is with man's definition of Justice, this man's logical definition of kindness also leads to sin and death having dominion over one as it did Adam and Eve. So what is God's definition of Kindness in--
"He has told you, O man, what is good—
and what does the Lord require of you,
but to do justice and to love KINDNESS,
and to walk humbly with your God?"
See other Bible translations of the word KINDNESS in the verse above :
- “and to love GOODNESS" (DARBY)
- "to love [and to diligently practice] kindness (COMPASSION)," (AMP)
- "embrace FAITHFUL LOVE" (CEB)
- "Love kindness and LOYALTY," (ERV)
- “to treasure the Lord’s GRACIOUS LOVE," (ISV)
- “to love MERCY," (KJV)
- "no more than to act justly, love GRACE" (Complete Jewish Bible)
- "to treasure the Lord’s GRACIOUS LOVE," (ISV)
- "do mishpat, and ahavat CHESED," (Orthodox Jewish Bible)
Beloved, KINDNESS in Micah 6 is translated from the Greek word "CHESED." The word is so rich that it cannot be contained in a box of man's grammar: Kindness, Lovingkindness, Faithful Love, Mercy, Goodness, Benevolence, Compassion, Love, GRACE. Wherever "Grace" appears in the English versions of the New Testament, the Hebrew versions use the word "Chesed." E.g. John 1:17-
"For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ."
The Hebrew text translates "Grace and Truth" as "Chesed v'Emet."
We all know who "the Way, the TRUTH and the Life" is- Christ Himself is the Truth.
Beloved, KINDNESS or GRACE whom we are to love in Micah 6's "to love kindness" is not a deed or action. Beloved of God, God's Grace is a Person. His name is Jesus Christ. Titus 2:11 says of Him:
"God’s marvelous grace has manifested in person, bringing salvation for everyone."
Verse 14 of the same Titus 2 says: "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."
To love kindness/Grace is to love Christ. He Himself is Kindness/Grace and Truth. And only when we know that we are loved by Him can we love Him back and love others too:
“We love because He first loved us.”
Beloved, He suffered and died to wipe away our entire lifetime of sins. At the cross, God's righteousness which demands that every sin be punished to the uttermost and that same God's Justice of death which we all deserved literally met with His Mercy/Grace and Truth (Christ Himself,) culminating in the greatest expression of love. If you believe this, if you believe in Him, God sees you as eternally righteous and is righteous in not holding your ENTIRE lifetime of sins against you; He will never punish/be wrathful with you for your sins:
"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." Romans 5:9
And because Grace came to free us from every kind of sin and much more (Titus 2:14,) we who wholly follow/trust in Him cannot continue to wallow in sins. We cannot be be lacking in good works or expect God's punishment/wrath to fall on us as antichrist pastors who challenge God's word, expose their trust in the arm of flesh/human effort and display their unbelief in Christ's power to do what He came to do (save from sins) love to imply.
Let's not forget Micah's third thing that the Lord requires of us:
"To walk HUMBLY with your God"
We see an example in Peter's lack of humility aka pride in self before he fell flat on his face with his three time denial of Christ. Peter's thoughts were that his Maker was wrong about his then upcoming denials! He thought that Jesus did not know what He was saying. No better definition of "everything that exalts itself against the knowledge of God" than this. After his failure, Peter was humbled to see what Christ had been saying -- the same thing He said to the rich, young ruler who thought he could inherit eternal life by doing anything at all; and the same thing He is still saying to you and I today:
"... No one is good except the one God." Mark 10:18.
Judas in whose flesh/human effort dwells no good thing sinned, plodded on in his arm of flesh/human effort to make things right with God and for his efforts, ended up depressed and suicidal, just like many in the world and even churchgoers who challenge God's Word — "There is none good but God" — by following Judas' example of trusting man's ability to produce even an iota of good by their own power.
But Peter was HUMBLED before God by his experience, making him the perfect candidate for being exalted through God's Grace- undeserved, unearned, unmerited favour. Peter realised that there is no good in man of himself. He was humbled by his trial to see that God's mercy is the "skeleton" that keeps man from devolving into the sins-ridden mass of flesh that man is of himself. None can stand in man's strength. So much to say here. Paul addressed this truth 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…"
Remember Job and the "hedge"? Hedge is translated from the Hebrew word "suwk" which also means "Restraint." If God lifted off His restraining hand which restrains us all from devolving into committing heinous sins and going through the Job experience; if He judged and gave us what we deserved based on our "menstrual rag" human effort and will-power at keeping the law or doing good works to prove our faith or for whatever reason, well, there is none good but God:
No matter how good one thinks he is or his level of fasting, Bible reading or writing posts about God on the Internet that he thinks should make God accept him, like Peter who pridefully trusted himself before falling flat on his face three times, but for God's restraint, all will devolve into sin and see how utterly lacking in works man is of himself. Only in Christ the Beloved are we accepted.
But like Peter who must have thought "but at least a person should at least try to be good and sensible and not deny Jesus," man with his own hands/arm of flesh keeps on sabotaging his own walk with God with that prideful trust in his non-existent ability to be good when God's word says man cannot aka--
"God will not come down from heaven to bathe your child and read your Bible for you. At least we still have to try to do xyx now that we know Christ."
The one here can give himself a pat on the back for reading his Bible. Christ gets no glory. As if man can do anything apart from Christ. No friend, we GET TO love spending time in the word BECAUSE Christ lives in us. It is one of the evidences of our salvation. Christ in us does it all. We no longer live. That attitude of challenging God aka "every thought that exalts itself against the knowledge of God" is the definition of ZERO HUMILITY aka PRIDE.
With his denials, Peter got a glimpse of life outside the restraint of God's mighty hand. Little wonder he wrote the oft misinterpreted 1 Peter 5--
“5 Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for
“God resists the proud,
But gives grace to the humble.”
“6 Therefore HUMBLE yourselves under the MIGHTY HAND of God, that He may exalt you in due time, 7 casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. 8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. 9 Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. 10 But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. 11 To Him be the glory and the dominion forever.”
These verses have been given a lot of false interpretations, including- “Do your best to live a godly life, be sinless by obeying the law and be right with God so that the devil won’t catch you napping in sins and devour you.” We can see how well that worked out for Judas. But Peter who committed a sin of betrayal similar to that of Judas was writing from experience! Remember Christ told Peter before the denials-
"31 And the Lord said, “Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. 32 But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.” 33 But he said to Him, “Lord, I am ready to go with You, both to prison and to death.”"
Peter meant well. He knew 100% that he could never deny Jesus. He seemed to be making good on his resolve to stand as he slashed off the ear of Malchus the high priest's servant in Gethsemane when the soldiers came to arrest Jesus- a work that Christ didn't want. Peter had no idea that he could do so only because Christ was with him. The arm of flesh (will-power/human effort at obedience) will fail.
When Peter saw that Christ his Strength had been taken away and Satan came a-sifting, Peter lied three times. See what God's word says about the non-existent good in man and that useless will-power that some churchgoers depend on to obey the law in their quest to live godly lives (be like God) as was Peter's and Paul's experience in 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."
God's word says human effort (the arm of flesh) will fail, is powerless and cannot. But Satan appeals to Pride in the arm of flesh (human effort at obedience) that will fail and causes man to think:
"No, I can. God must be wrong. I still have some good in me. I can keep the law, read the Bible, starve myself to get God (your own heavenly Father!) to help me and resist temptation to commit sin by my will-power. I can and I must do works to be godly or (as it was with Judas) do some kind of restitution to prove to God that I am truly sorry for my sins. Others should too. Those that don't are just plain lazy.”
Peter pridefully trusted in his own strength. He thought that the sin of denying Christ (bearing false witness) was beneath him. No HUMILITY here. He thought God was wrong, as do some in the church today who still depend on their will-power/human effort to keep the Ten Commandments, curb sins or obtain godly characteristics (be like God.) This is the very same false and deathly doctrine that Satan preached to Eve in Eden.
Point to note here: our adversary the devil goes about like a roaring lion seeking sheep who pridefully boast in their own human strength to obey the law and be godly (be like God) so he can sift them like wheat. All who trust in their willpower/arm of flesh to obey will fail. Plodding on in self-help at getting right with God is what produces the Judas mode of depression and suicidal thoughts.
Those who, like Judas, fail and still look to the law (human effort at obedience) to restore themselves or get back into God's good graces are devourable. Because the arm of flesh (human effort at being godly) will fail, more accusation followed by guilt, condemnation, depression and even suicide (like Judas) is the result. What do we think is the major cause of depression and suicide today, even among unbelievers? It is guilt for sins, fear, anxiety, hopelessness and sorrow in the heart for sins aka not being able to measure up to particular standards - no different from what happened to Judas who was full of remorse for his sin.
The law is not of faith. Recall that we “Resist him, steadfast in the faith,” Dependence on human effort or will-power in the quest to live right or attain godliness (trying to keep the Law) is being faithless and the definition of Pride. Satan can only devour the faithless. None can stand by human might here because the arm of flesh will fail. Only through God's gift of righteousness to us in Christ are we overcomers.
The reason why many churchgoers think that they have some good in them to obey the law is because God did not allow them to get tempted beyond what they can bear. The potential to commit heinous crimes is in everybody. God sees this potential and how favourable circumstances can make some churchgoers think that some sins are beneath them, just as Peter did before Satan sifted him like wheat and his eyes were opened to see how coarse he was of himself. All that man has of himself are good intentions. The road to hell is really paved with these. Proverbs 16:18 counsels us-
"Your boast becomes a prophecy of a future failure. The higher you lift up yourself in pride, the harder you’ll fall in disgrace."
Peter fell three times as Christ said he would because he prided himself in his own strength to stand, but his faith did not fail. Peter didn't try to make his situation worse as Judas did by going to confess the truth to his accusers in order to restore himself before God or to prove a point to Jesus. He would have if he could. It wasn't as if he restrained himself from going to confess the truth. The disciples were still in hiding on resurrection day. He could not. He was weak, broken, contrite and powerless.
He was humbled- the perfect candidate for God's Grace- undeserved, unearned, unmerited favour. He saw what many churchgoers today are yet to realise- that there is no good in man of himself; that no sin is beneath anybody; that the reason why we are not committing particular sins is because God did not allow us to get tempted beyond what we can bear. He experienced 1 Corinthians 10-
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 temptations/trials, even those ones where we fail like Peter did, we would all see the extent of the sinfulness of human nature expressed in ourselves. As it was with Peter, our failures should teach us the futility of pridefully trusting in "no good" flesh (human effort) and to utterly trust in Christ for salvation, even salvation from sins.
And that, beloved of God, is God's definition of "to walk humbly with your God" as it is written in Micah 6.
Beloved of God, why don't you ask the Lord to make you know and believe the Truth that makes free today? He is willing and eager to help you today. He is Love and finds satisfaction in freely giving to us all good things in Christ. So ask.
When your believing is right, right living will follow.
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