Daily Devotional June 22 - You Reap What You Sow

This is good teaching.  Please leave a comment if you read this.

"Wherefore he saith also in another Psalm, Thou shalt not suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. For David, after he had served his own generation by the will of God, fell on sleep, and was laid unto his fathers, and saw corruption. But He, whom God raised again, saw no corruption. Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins: And by Him all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses."  Acts 13:35-39

What great theology. Jesus Christ saw no corruption. Jesus is the justifier, above the law. You have to catch this. Until Jesus established the law of faith, the law of Moses and the prophets prevailed. But at the cross Jesus put an end to the law of Moses as far as the law having power over us to justify us by the law. It's not that the law is of no effect, it's just that the penalty for breaking the law has been paid. It's not that the law is of no uses, for the law of Moses sets the precedence for all law, foreign and domestic, but the eternal consequences of breaking that law have already been paid by Jesus.

"And by Him all that believe are justified from all things." I know it is hard to believe and many religions have alternate rules concerning this matter, but Paul is clear; Your sins have been paid for and you are justified, no matter what your denomination says or what you have come to know as truth over the years, your sins have been forgiven. That means that right now, if you are a believer, if you were to die you would stand before God innocent, welcomed into the beloved.

Sometimes it's harder to accept the truth if it doesn't have strings attached than if it does. We just don't operate like this. We don't forgive and forget like God does. We should, but we don't. The new law that Jesus established is the law of faith. This law requires/demands that you believe that Jesus is the Christ the very Son of God. Beyond that, the commandments of Jesus are for us to advance the kingdom, for the betterment of our lives and for the benefit of others.

• You will not be judged by the law of Moses.
• You will never stand before God and have God read off the lost of transgressions that you have made throughout your life.
• You will not be judged by your works to enter the kingdom of God; you have already entered into the kingdom of God when you accepted the vicarious work of Christ on the cross as payment for your sin/sins.
• You will not be scolded by God as you pass through the pearly gates.
• Peter will not be handing a lost of things you must do in order to go to the next level.
• Moses will not be shaking a finger at you like you are a heavenly second class citizen.

Where some people get mixed up is that they think that if they are born again they won't suffer the natural consequences of their actions while here on earth. That's just not true. God doesn't promise to wipe the slate clean on earth, however don't get the idea that you are going through it alone. Even though you may have chosen to go against God and do something that was ungodly, God did not abandon you to suffer the consequences alone. God's mercy goes beyond the gates of heaven.

To sum this up.

• The gift of eternal life is free and you cannot earn it.
• This gift starts while you are on earth.
• You are already pardoned for your sins so that your life beyond the grave is unaffected by your actions.
• You will reap what you sow on the earth, with the exception that God intervenes on earth to buffer the consequences that you really deserve.