Progress Is Relative

Do not think that I have come to abolish the law (Matthew 5:17).

Although Christ Jesus left all the “Thou shalt not…”s in the Moral Law, He made it clear that no one could be His disciple by merely avoiding the omission of wrong acts.

Do we, then, nullify the law by faith? Not at all! Rather we uphold the law (Romans 3:31).

The role of the law was to point out the way to holiness, and in so doing pointed out man’s sin tendencies! Man must have a law to live by, since our tendencies are always to look out for self above all other things. But the commandments in the Old Covenant Law only sufficed for dealing with external acts.

“You have heard that it was said… But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you (Matthew 5:43-44).

Jesus redirected the commandments of the law into the heart instead of the head. We are to think of the other person first, not just what is “right” and “wrong” according to the written code; not just following rules but living with a direction. Then He summed it all up in a new commandment.

A new command I give you: Love one another (John 13:34).

Here is the whole Christian ethic in a nutshell. All of our relationships are to be governed by love for those we relate to [on any level]. But just as before, none of us can do this with any degree of success under our own stream.

The Counselor, the Holy Spirit… will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said (John 14:26). When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all truth (John 16:13).

If we learn to rely entirely on the indwelling Spirit of Christ to supply the loving-kindness and concern for others which we know we lack, we will be amazed at how many good things God can accomplish for others through us.

The question that really matters isn’t whether we are farther along than others, but how far we ourselves have progressed since yesterday.