Grace is our Teacher, not you or I

Beloved, our job as believers in Christ is to point and keep on pointing the sinner (and ourselves) to Christ as Saviour from sins, earthly ills and death, same way Moses did the Israelites that were bitten by fiery serpents in the wilderness. Christ giving us this typology in John 3 is not by any means meaningless-

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."

The bronze serpent is a type of Christ lifted up for our salvation from sin and its deathly symptoms such as disease, lack, unemployment and every earthly ill. The fiery serpents' sting is a type of the sin nature which all of mankind inherited from Adam-

"For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous." Romans 5:19.

From the above verse, we see that committing acts of sin is not what makes a person a sinner. Adam's sin took care of that for all of his descendants. Sinners will produce sins that lead to death as surely as the Israelites that were infected by the sting of the fiery serpents produced symptoms that lead to death. Only by looking utterly to Christ for salvation are we freed from serpent's sting (sin nature) and its deathly effects (acts of sin that lead to death.) 1 Corinthians 15:56 says:

56 "The sting of death is sin. And the power of sin is the law. 57 But let us give thanks to God! He gives us the victory because of what our Lord Jesus Christ has done."

Trying to obey the law (human effort at curbing sins and doing all sorts to get God to heal or deliver) only shifts one's focus from Christ to self, so no salvation. Even worse, trying to obey the law is what gives the serpent's sting (sin nature) power to produce more deathly symptoms (acts of sin that lead to death.) And Bible death is not just breathing one's last. It is a process. It is translated from the Greek word "Thanatos" which covers every earthly ill and misery and culminates in death in hell.

Pointing out sins, telling the flock that sin is bad and that sins will kill them or telling people to try to stop sinning by human effort in order to be made whole and have life is as useless, wicked and deceitful as Moses telling the Israelites to treat their snakebite symptoms by themselves in order to get well. The sinner already knows that sin is bad and many can even quote Bible more than you or I. 

Telling the flock to go and fast for 70 days or try to be more obedient in order to be free from their "snakebite" symptoms of anxiety, depression, suicidal thoughts, lack, unemployment, demonic oppression,disease, etc is as cruel as advising the Israelites to go and offer burnt offering or fast for 70 days to be free from their symptoms. Until Christ returns for us His saints, beloved, our living the abundant life is utterly dependent on "looking unto Jesus." Then the symptoms of sin and death disappear by His power and we get to live a life that is godly and whole.

Beloved, beware of church leaders whose sermon theme is treating snakebite symptoms (curbing sins by human effort) and not deleting the sin virus that Adam passed on to all of his descendants by looking to Jesus for righteousness. Their doctrine is as useless and deathly as the Israelites thinking that treating their snakebite symptoms or going to fast for 70 days to appease God will save them. It is as wicked and DECEITFUL as telling an HIV carrier that treating his immunodeficiency-driven tuberculosis with his self-made cough mixture will make him well and make his blood (works) acceptable. No matter how healthy (sinless and good) he looks, the virus has to go for death to be averted, for the symptoms (acts of sin) to disappear and for anything that the infected produces to be deemed good.

Christ gave His life to rid us all of that sin virus called the sinful nature which all of mankind inherited from Adam. See Colossians 2-

11"When you came to Christ, you were “circumcised,” but not by a physical procedure. Christ performed a spiritual circumcision—the cutting away of your sinful nature."

All who believe that we are made righteus by Christ's obedience are a new creation in Christ- no longer having the old/sin nature of Adam. We now have Christ's righteousness nature. And thus we get to bear good fruit to God. See this in Romans 7:4--

4 "So, my dear brothers and sisters, this is the point: You died to the power of the law when you died with Christ. And now you are united with the One who was raised from the dead. As a result, we can produce a harvest of good deeds for God."

But the one with the sin/old nature does not believe that he has been made 100% righteous by Christ's blood as evidenced by his useless attempts at obeying the law and doing its works such as 70 days fasts in order to get right with God or get Him to bless. He tries to suppress sins by human effort-- no looking to Christ lifted up like the bronze serpent for salvation from sin and death but trusting in human effort at treating his snakebite symptoms aka sins and their deathly effects. But the arm of flesh will fail. When it does, those suppressed sins will burst forth in a harvest of sinful deeds that lead to death. The hallmark of the sin nature is that its carriers try to keep the law by human effort. But see the effect of clinging to the sin/old nature which tries to be godly (be like God) by human strength in the very next verse after Romans 7:4 above--

5 "When we were controlled by our old nature, sinful desires were at work within us, and the law aroused these evil desires that produced a harvest of sinful deeds, resulting in death." Romans 7:5.

The effect of trying to obey the law (be sins-free and have life by human effort) is no different from what would have happened to the Israelites had they tried to treat their wounds or rushed off to fast for 70 days to get God to deliver them from death and its symptoms of earthly ills such as lack, disease and unemployment. Recall Christ Himself gives us this typology of our salvation from sin and death. In Him, we are not under Law but under Grace, not so that we should continue to wallow in sins as antichrist pastors love to imply, but that we should live life in the Spirit-- bearing fruit to God--

 6 "But now we have been released from the law, for we died to it and are no longer captive to its power. Now we can serve God, not in the old way of obeying the letter of the law, but in the new way of living in the Spirit." Romans 7:6.

Beloved, Jesus did not come to tell bad people to try to be good or sinless. He knows that man cannot. He came to raise the dead to life in Himself. It is right believing in Jesus that produces right living, not scampering about trying to be good like God as Satan deceived Eve into believing or presenting God with "menstrual rag" human credentials in exchange for His salvation that is free for all and found in Christ alone.

Grace (Christ Himself) is our Teacher, not you or I or human effort at not sinning which is as useless as Peter boasting that he would stand by Christ during His passion. See God's word telling us that Jesus Christ who is Grace-personified is our Teacher in Titus 2--

11 "God’s marvelous grace has manifested in person, bringing salvation for everyone. 12 This same grace teaches us how to live each day as we turn our backs on ungodliness and indulgent lifestyles, and it equips us to live self-controlled, upright, godly lives in this present age. 13 For we continue to look forward to the joyful fulfillment of our hope in the dawning splendor of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus, the Anointed One. 14 He sacrificed Himself for us that He might purchase our freedom from every lawless deed and to purify for Himself a people who are his very own, passionate to do what is beautiful in His eyes."

Without Grace, an abundance of it, there is no salvation from sins. 

Understand that sin is a prison and only the blood of Jesus suffices to purchase our freedom/redeem man from sin. Anyone that thinks he is good or not that bad by himself because he is not sinning copiously, that one is merely like an HIV carrier that is not showing symptoms- deceiving himself and not knowing that whatever he has to offer from his flesh is just as unacceptable and deathly to everyone as that of the one with full-blown AIDS. Only in Christ as our utter righteousness do we stand, beloved. Only in the Beloved are we accepted.

Most importantly, Grace is our Teacher, not you or I or the Ten Commandments that kill. Preach Grace (Jesus Christ and Him crucified) and He will do the work of transforming the sinner who believes to godliness and right living. Plus consider the verse that comes immediately after Titus 2:11-14 where we see that Grace is our Teacher. See verse 15-

"Teach these things and use your full authority as you encourage and rebuke your hearers. Let none of them look down on you."

Why would Paul tell Titus not to let anyone look down on him for what he counseled him to teach? 

Why would any of the Christ-rejecting Pharisees and religious Jews who rejected Christ and persecuted His followers look down on Titus if he was preaching the same doctrine that they followed which, by the way, is no different from the "do good, get good; do bad, God will punish you" doctrine that is being passed off as Christianity in many places of worship today? Beloved, the same thing is still happening today. Religious people who think they can be godly (be like God) by human striving and using the knowledge of good and evil still look down on such who follow Grace and have surrendered their entire will to Christ, knowing that we can do nothing apart from Him. Count yourself blessed if this is you, beloved. If not, our heavenly Father's open arms are just waiting to embrace you and love you into wholeness through Christ Jesus, beloved. Only when our eyes are on Christ lifted up and not our silly efforts to save ourselves are we saved from sin and its deathly effects of earthly ills and death in hell. So ask our heavenly Father to open your eyes to see His Grace today, beloved of God. He is willing and able to make you whole. Freely.

When your believing in Christ is right, right living will follow.