Challenge

I found yesterday evening's sermon made quite a challenge. It was based on Jesus' Teaching on the law, on Murder, Adultery and Divorce. These are things that are not permited under old testament law. A lot of people don't take the old testament law as being important, and yet Jesus was issuing a challenge in his own words right there that we must be more righteous than the pharasies when it comes to this law.

This is where the challenge comes, in how we are more righteous. It is in going beyond actions, which the world may see, and looking to the roots of those actions, and the very feelings, which God can see. If we murder, then the whole world sees this, but if we hate, the world can turn a blind eye. God however sees this, and wants us to sort this out. The same goes for Adultery; the world can turn a blind eye too our lust, but God sees, and asks that we repent. I think though, that the challenge goes deeper than these particular points, and goes to our whole attitude. God knows our thoughts and wants them to be purified even more than our actions.

This is not to say that grace do not play a part. All our sins are cast asside by grace at the end. But the most powerful thing grace does, is go beyond wiping sins off our record, by changing us and our sinful natures to be more holy, that we may not be as shackled by the chains of sin, even in this life.