The older I get, the simpler it gets. Being a follower of Jesus Christ, that is. Because of His death and resurrection, I am forgiven and am being transformed by His persistent Lordship at a far deeper level than any self-help program can reach. Self-help programs fail for the same reason that the Old Testament law failed...both depend upon me to get it right.
The Old Testament law has a lot in common with modern self-help programs, especially when the self-help is taught from the pulpit. They both depend upon my sin-management skills, my "pull myself up by my bootstraps" skills. Some folks have more personal discipline than others and so are better at sin-management, but sin-management won't work in eternity, not even for the very best among us. Fully replacing the sin-nature with God-nature is the only thing that will work in the long long-term.
God's intends to transform His children so completely on the inside that sin-management becomes a thing of the past. Don't get me wrong; I'm not putting down sin-management. Sin-management is far better than sin run amok. Sin-management is good, but it's not the long-term solution. What God wants for us and from us goes far beyond sin-management.
The Old Testament law has a lot in common with modern self-help programs, especially when the self-help is taught from the pulpit. They both depend upon my sin-management skills, my "pull myself up by my bootstraps" skills. Some folks have more personal discipline than others and so are better at sin-management, but sin-management won't work in eternity, not even for the very best among us. Fully replacing the sin-nature with God-nature is the only thing that will work in the long long-term.
God's intends to transform His children so completely on the inside that sin-management becomes a thing of the past. Don't get me wrong; I'm not putting down sin-management. Sin-management is far better than sin run amok. Sin-management is good, but it's not the long-term solution. What God wants for us and from us goes far beyond sin-management.
