Powerless

                For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. (Romans 8:3-4)

                Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness (Genesis 15:6)

“See, the enemy is puffed up; his desires are not upright— but the righteous person will live by his faithfulness—(Habakkuk 2:4)

            Today’s verses say exactly what I’ve been saying. Most religions – perhaps all other religions except Biblical Judaism and Christianity teach that if we are good people and do all the right things, we will earn our way to heaven. All we need to do is keep the law, whatever the law happens to be. But the verses above all make it clear that it is not by works that we are saved.

                We aren’t strong enough to earn our salvation.  As a result, we might be tempted to feel guilty or see ourselves as failures. We might decide to resent God (or some god) because He doesn’t make it easier for us to earn salvation. It’s frustrating to us to not be able to be “like God,” which is what salvation seems to require, according to Scripture. But what these passages say is that the Law isn’t strong enough either. It’s not capable of steeling us against temptation. Temptations are too strong. Sin is too strong. And perhaps that is the whole point of Scripture, the Law, and of history, to make it clear to us that nothing outside of God is able to save us. It’s not a personal failure on our individual parts, even though it is a failure on our individual parts. No one except God can do it because only God is God.