Recap: We have gotten ourselves into an eternal mess. We are unable to stop sinning. And even if we try many ways and many good works to save ourselves, we realize that we are unable to do so. In God's word, we read Jesus calling us to believe in Him to be saved.
It still is difficult for us to understand why we can't save ourselves by doing something. We've done the bad things, so shouldn't we be doing the good things to balance it out and prove that we can be good and then be saved? But think of this scenario: Let's say a pervert comes to you and asks you what he should do to spend some time with your daughter, what would you say? If he gives you an offering or charity of a million dollars, would you say yes? If he says that he has 10 other girls in mind to whom he will do wicked things, but be kind and good to 20 girls including your daughter, would that be ok? If he saves 100 people from a grave accident, would you say yes? Nothing he does or even promises will make us say yes. For it is not just what he does but who he is - his very nature, that is the problem. He should cease to be a pervert and be a good man for there to be any possibility of him having the permission to spend time with a young girl. So it is with us. We are sinful by nature. Whatever we do can't undo who we are. Unless by some transformation we can put on godliness, there is no way that God would allow us to enter into His eternal kingdom. So, how does believing in Jesus make this transformation possible? Let us read the conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus.
John 3:5,6,9,14-16 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. “How can this be?” Nicodemus asked. (Jesus replied) Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.” For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
All of us may accept that it is not just what we do, but who we are that matters, and agree that transformation is required. The next question would be about why it is not possible to transform ourselves with our own strength and conviction, and why believing in Jesus is the only way. Let us go to a Biblical analogy here. In Matthew 7: 17, 18 Jesus says 'Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit' [link].
The nutrients and the taste of a fruit are determined by the information encoded (DNA) in the seed of the tree. If the seed does not have the information to produce good fruit, it never can and never will produce good fruit. A thorny bush that normally produces piercingly sharp thorns can be made to produce blunt thorns, or at best no thorns at all. However, unless the DNA of the plant, the very nature of it is changed, a thorny bush can never produce good fruits. So is the fallen state of humanity. There is nothing good in us. Our spirit is dead, in the sense that there is no goodness in it. There is no communion with God. The flesh on its own can produce only evil (thorns). At the most, evil that doesn’t hurt too much (blunt thorns), or no evil against humans or animals (ascetic). There is no way, none, whatsoever to produce goodness within ourselves. The flesh can only give birth to flesh.
When Jesus was crucified, He was lifted up on the cross. He brought reconciliation between God and us and opened a way for communion with God. When we believe in Jesus and accept the reconciliation that He offers, the Spirit of God can now, once again dwell with man. And the Spirit gives birth to spirit. He changes our very being, our very nature, our spiritual DNA. It is truly like being born again.
We have life in us now. The life that has goodness in it. If we truly believe that Jesus was lifted up for us, that He gave His body and blood for us, we abide close to Him and He in us. His Spirit that dwells in us will manifest good fruits. However, we still retain a part of our sinful DNA. So now we have two opposing forces at work within us (according to Rom 7). There is the law of God desired by the Spirit of God, and there is the law of the flesh. When we choose to obey the law of the Spirit of God, we manifest good fruits. When we choose to obey the flesh, we manifest evil works.
So what is the law of the Spirit that we need to obey? Is it some rituals? Or acts of devotion, charity, sacrifice? Or acts of violence against those who disbelieve? What is the law that God wants us to obey? We shall read about that tomorrow.
Link to the previous article: What should I do to be saved? Link to the next article: Which command is the most important?
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