The balance between holiness and grace

The life lived in the word of God is a solid life, it is a life that advances and grows. Let's go, brothers, to the word of the Lord. I am going to be judicious in the use of time because we have done many things since they are a blessing but that is precisely what it is about; we want to be a church that honors the word of God and recognizes its importance. And we have been doing this tour through the letter to the Romans that has shown us the mystery of life lived on the grace of God.

There is a central recognition throughout this epistle to the Romans that man cannot be saved by his own righteousness. Paul is in charge, time and time again, of showing us that no one can be justified before God by his good works. No human being can say that I am going to enter heaven because I behaved perfectly, as God expected. We have all failed and will fail. And Paul put it very well, "...for all have sinned and fall short of the grace of God...."

And the entire epistle to the Romans, in one way or another, gives revolves around that central truth. And Paul's purpose is to rivet that idea, establish it well, so that there is no doubt that every human being can only be saved through the person of Jesus Christ. And all the other things that he discusses in one way or another are related to that truth.

The Apostle Paul tries on several occasions to refine details, to clarify possible confusions, to answer questions that he, in his mind, anticipates that he will be asked regarding the statements he makes about the importance of grace at all times. So he talks about baptism, he talks about death, he talks about Abraham, he talks about the new Adam; all those things are related to the same theme: that salvation is by grace.

In Chapter 7 where we are today, he continues to develop some ideas, as a good theologian, as a good scholar, he is refining, qualifying things, fine-tuning, as some say there.

He introduced in Chapter 6 the subject of death. Do you remember that last Sunday we talked about death and life. By identifying with death and with life, through the resurrection of Jesus, there are some benefits that we obtain. By identifying ourselves with death, through baptism, we identify ourselves with death to sin and also death to the law. There are two things to which we die: the dictatorship of sin that keeps us always enslaved and tied to sin, sin, sin, living a life of continuous violation of God's law; and death to the law too, because it is as if we disappeared from the map and the law is already looking for us to condemn us and can't find us, because we already died. We are hidden.

Paul says in another passage that our life is hidden together with Christ. That is, that is the aspect of death in the defensive sense of the word. But there is also life, there is resurrection. Over and over again you will find that concept throughout all of Scripture and that is why we insist on these concepts because they will help you navigate the Bible. Every time you find these references to dying and rising in Christ, you will understand what Paul is saying.

We rise with Christ when we come out of the baptismal waters, symbolically, and that gives us power, as we said to overcome ties, power to overcome circumstances, problems in life, it gives us authority. It says that the Lord raised us up and seated us together with Christ in heavenly places.

Remember all that? So it is not only death, it is not only running away from things, but it is also going towards very positive things. So in Chapter 7, the Apostle Paul continues to develop those ideas. He approaches them from different perspectives and clarifies them.

For example, in Chapter 7, he in the first 6 verses, he does a judicial illustration about why identifying with death with Christ is beneficial to us. He says here:

“...Are you ignorant, brothers, that the law rules over man as long as he lives? For a married woman is bound by law to her husband as long as he lives, but if the husband dies, she is released from the husband's law....”

What is he doing? here? He is doing an illustration and the central idea is this. When there is death in a person, the law ceases to be relevant, ceases to be valid.

For example, let's say you brothers, do you know that if you die you will be free of Visa and MasterCard debts? Say glory to God. Hallelujah!

The banks will no longer be able to find it. What's more, I have even better news, neither the IRS, nor internal revenue, you are not going to have to pay more taxes, or anything. Glory to the Lord. They begin to speak in tongues. Say Hallelujah! Father, thank you!

Why? Because you died. When one dies, the law already all the traffic tickets are no longer relevant, all those things have completely disappeared from the map. There is no child support, there is nothing. It gets better, the more I say, one kind of wants to die then, right?

But, the idea is that death sort of puts up a barrier of impediment between the person who has died and the law. And Paul uses that illustration to say, it is likewise, when we identify with death with Christ, it is as if effectively, judicially, before the eyes of God, we have died to all the debts that we had with God. The death of Christ becomes our death and then there is no longer any condemnation through the law.

That's essentially all he says in that aspect of verses 1 through 6. He says in verse 4, for example, “... so you also, my brethren, have died to the law through the body of Christ so that you may belong to another, to him who rose from the dead so that we might bear fruit for God...”

Look, a very important idea is also introduced here. And it is the following: when we die in Christ, symbolically, judicially, spiritually, we die to the condemnation of the law, but it does not stop there, but also in a sense, as we said in this game of death, resurrection, we rise to be of another; like a woman who is widowed but then immediately marries another.

Who do we marry after we die to sin? With Christ. Now, it is as if we are all female and Christ is our husband. In fact, that is why the church is the wife of the Lamb. One day Christ will celebrate the marriage of the Lamb. Her church will symbolically marry her. But now, in a sense when we die to the world, to the flesh, to sin, to the law, we rise to a life under the tutelage, the lordship of Christ Jesus.

Now you know the good stuff, sis? It is the following, perhaps you are not as happy as your husband treats you, but Christ will never treat you badly. say amen Glory to God. Hallelujah!

When we are married in Christ, we now have a Lord who will treat us right. Everything he does is going to be for our blessing. Everything he does is going to be to advance us and bless us. But, that is to say, it is not only that we are dying to negative things: don't do, don't touch, don't say this.

Not if he says now that "...we have risen so that we may bear fruit for God." Now we belong to Christ and before we did works of evil, works of sin and now we are expected to do works of blessing, works of holiness, fruits for the glory of God.

Remember that? God frees you from many things but it is so that you have the freedom to do good things. That's why I don't believe in a spirituality that is always telling people only: don't do this, don't go there, don't say this, don't look, don't think; because that's all as negative. Christ has called us to lead positive lives, productive lives, lives that do good, lives that grow, lives that learn, lives that reach their fullness. It's not just the negative.

I believe that a healthy spirituality is a spirituality where there is balance. And one of the things that I have discovered about the epistle to the Romans is that it is a very balanced epistle: it calls us to a healthy and balanced spirituality. I hope to have the opportunity to work on that a little more.

It is not only running away from the bad but going towards the good. It is not just escaping from death, but going towards life in Christ Jesus. It is interesting in verse 5 it says:

“... because, -and that means that he is explaining what he just said- ....because while we were in the flesh the sinful passions that were by the law they worked in our members bearing fruit unto death...”

Here the Apostle Paul introduces a very interesting concept that arises on several occasions. For example, in the epistle to the Galatians this idea also arises that the law, interestingly, is like a platform that sin uses to manifest itself. Paul wants to make a clarification: the law is not bad, in itself. God used it to catch us and lead us towards grace and towards the salvation that is through Christ Jesus.

You know that God is a God who thinks long term. God is a God who thinks strategically. He is a God who plans and God in his infinite wisdom invented Jewish law and did an experiment with Judaism as a microcosm of humanity, as a representative of humanity, and there he gave laws to the Hebrews so that they would discover something very important and it is that it was impossible for them to be saved simply by their good works that they needed someone, rather, to save them, that they were not the ones who could make their salvation. And God took centuries to set this precedent clearly before mankind, to prepare the way for his Son Jesus Christ and for salvation by grace.

So, the law, there is a concept that occurs several times in Scripture: the law has served as a sign, as we have said before, right? So that it is known there is sin and then in a sense, the law is almost like an instrument. People might say 'well, then an instrument for sin'. But Paul says, 'no, no, it's not like that. It is not that it is an instrument of sin, it is that there are certain conditions in us, a certain inherent nature. In the global human context, there are conditions that point men inevitably towards sin and the law is simply the mirror that points to that human condition. So that's why he says "...the sinful passions that were by law worked in our members -that is, in our bodies-...bearing fruit for death."

It says in verse 6 “.... But now we are freed from the law because we died - see? The concept of death that frees from the law-... for the one in which we were subject so that we now serve under the new regime of the spirit and not under the old regime of the letter”.

Paul, use this concept of law in at least 4 or 5 different ways. There are different connotations when he talks about law. The first connotation of law for Paul is, well, the Jewish law, what we find in Leviticus, in Deuteronomy, in Exodus part, etc. All these statements of law and commandments that had to be obeyed.

But also for Paul, law takes on a broader connotation of dead religion, dead religion, of commandments that do not have the life of God in them, of spiritual sterility, of things that should have life but are lacking. from the presence of the spirit they become something mechanical and compulsive, pure straw, pure legal scaffolding, without the grace of the spirit, without the lubrication of the presence of God. It is dead religiosity, dead religion. That is another connotation when Paul talks about law.

We could say law with a capital L is Jewish law, law with a small 'l' is, we could say it that way perhaps, it is dead religion, religion of commandments. It was the religion of the Pharisees. That is why Christ was so upset with the Pharisees, because the Pharisees were a symbol of what God gave to man but without the spirit, the grace that lubricates and dignifies and gives joy and blessing and life to spiritual life.

The Lord Jesus Christ came, brothers, so that we might have abundant life, you know, so that we might enjoy being Christians. I told you before, brothers, I cannot live with a religion of sterile commandments. I cannot live with a religion of condemnation. I cannot live with a religion that only turns people into automatons, robots. I cannot live with a religion that one has to learn a string of commandments and things to do and not to do. But, instead of that, what God wants is for you to learn to discern the spirit of Christ in every situation in your life.

Do you know what I want from our brothers? It is that the presence of Christ becomes so real in your life, within you, and there is such an affinity between you and the spirit of Jesus Christ that when you find yourself in any situation in life, no matter how complex it is, you can discern exactly what you have to do; if what you are doing or saying is from God or not, because there is a resonance, or a rejection of the spirit of Christ in you and that situation you are facing. Am I explaining myself?

I'm not so interested in giving you a set of commandments for every situation in life. What if they tell you this? What happens if they tell you the other? What happens if at work they offer you this and.....?

There are churches where, to get married, people have to come to the pastor for permission, to see if they can marry so-and-so; to go to a city you have to ask the pastor for permission; to get a job you have to consult with the elderly and this and that. That's nice, up to a point, but you know what? I prefer something better. I prefer that you know the word of God so well and that the word of God has become alive, so powerfully in you that you can discern the will of God in every situation in your life, because Christ lives within you. Amen.

And that is the spirituality that God wants for us; a mature spirituality. God doesn't want to give you a fish so much as to teach you how to fish, in other words. I prefer that my people learn principles of life, of spirituality. A living religion, a living spirituality. I don't even like to talk about religion anymore because that word sounds like an institution and there are many people who come to church and want to stick to the institution, to the commandments, to be told what to do, what not to do. Must do; or live your spiritual life through the pastor or church leaders.

Not so. That is the law. What God wants you to live is the spirit, that the spirit of Christ becomes real within you. If the spirit of Christ is within you, you will find the solution to any problem in your life. These classes that we take and all that, are simply exercises for you to learn to discern the presence of the spirit within you.

That is why Christ said, I understand, when he says "where the spirit is, there is freedom." Because when the spirit is within you, look brother, you can know how to deal with any situation in your life and the spirit will guide you and many times even, if you do not know exactly what you have to do, there will already be doubtful situations in the life. I myself as a pastor sometimes find myself in situations where I don't know what to advise a brother or a sister, because they are such complex situations that I find myself desperately looking for the manual there, what chapter, what verse, and I can't find it, because The situation that they are presenting to me is so strange, and that is where I entrust myself to the spirit of God and say to him 'Father, give me interior discernment. Even if I don't exactly find the answer, I entrust myself to your grace and mercy.'

Because when you don't know what you have to do, there is still one last card that you play, it is to entrust yourself to the grace of God, to the mercy of the Lord and give the spirit time to find the answer you need.

That is what Paul is talking about here, the difference "we have died to that law in which we were bound so that we serve under the new regime of the spirit and not under the old regime of the letter. .”

Every time you see that word 'letter', or 'law', or another word is 'rudiments of the world' as well, it is that sterile, stiff, hard religiosity, without flexibility, without lubrication , without life, that I do not want to know about in spiritual life. We have to look for that religion, that spirituality that breathes, that has windows for light to enter and for air to enter.

That beautiful flexibility that is a sign of a healthy congregation and a healthy spiritual life. I believe that Christians, I don't know why God has me at this point here, I believe that Christians should be the nicest and most attractive people in the world, brothers. We must be people full of emotional and spiritual health because God has already forgiven us our offenses, we already know that we are going to heaven, we already know that even when we water it, as some brothers say around here, the Lord blesses us, forgives us, and then we are like healthy, plump children who have grown up under the approval and love of their parents and that is why they are happy, they laugh, they are contagious, they are healthy, because they have grown up under the benevolent gaze of a fatherly, loving, understanding God who knows the deepest things of our being.

I ask the Lord to make us people of joy, people of joy, people of hope, people who can overflow that abundant life of which Christ spoke. That is why the Lord liked parties. The Pharisees were annoyed that the Lord liked to be where there were parties. Look how many times, in fact, he says that he was accused of being a eater and a drinker, imagine.

Look, the first public miracle he does, where does he do it? At some weddings. Do you believe that the Lord was stuck in the desert all the time just praying. Yes, he liked to pray, but from time to time he also liked to go to a party and be with people and talk. I believe that the Lord was the type of pastor or spiritual leader that people, instead of fleeing from him because he reminded them of all their sins, wanted to be with him so that he could advise them, talk. And what's more, I believe that Jesus' conversation was not always spiritual, I believe that the ones they put here are spiritual because they are the relevant ones, but I believe that the Lord liked to talk about baseball, airplanes and all things. Amen. I'm exaggerating a bit, but you get the gist, right?

He liked to talk about everything, and he knew about agriculture, he knew about economics, lots of things. He was a well informed man. I believe that Christians should, and I'm getting a little off here, but, glory to God, we should read magazines, we should read newspapers, we should watch television, we should be informed about the culture in which we live, we should be people who have a good conversation. Brothers, why not? Let's take our little vacation from time to time and go to the beach, and yes, we do wear some suitable bathing suits, but we go to the beach, anyway, we're going to enjoy life. Glory to God.

Christ has set us free. We are going to heaven. Hallelujah! We have to get rid of that pseudo-spiritual face because the only one you are deceiving is yourself, because neither the devil nor God nor others, because they know what you truly are. So better, once and for all, confess what you are and live life freely in Christ Jesus. Enjoy life. Take away that need to always appear spiritual, that's the law. That is the law.

I think that the congregations that always have to appear as if they are well ironed, right? and that when there is a situation, shhhh, don't talk, don't say that, we don't want people to think that León de Judá is a carnal and liberal church. No, brothers, a church where God is manifesting, look, there will be sin everywhere. Let me tell you like this. Understand what I am saying, I am saying that a church where people from outside are coming to know the Lord and are being treated with God is not going to smell like lilies all the time.

Who said that a hospital....? Brothers, where there is a hospital, you have seen... what is in the hospitals? There is blood, there are bad smells, there are dirty and unpleasant fluids, there are screams, there are ugly things, yes or no? Because? Because a hospital is where people are being healed, they are being cured of their illnesses. A church that is doing work to bring people from abroad to know the Lord is going to have everything: it is going to have couples who are not married and who are fixing their affairs, it is going to have people with spiritual ties that God is healing and treating; there are going to be people with grudges that God is teaching them how to get rid of them; You are going to have people with problems of sexual, mental and emotional ties that God is working on.

Now, I hope that these people are in progress, they are dealing. But let's not be scandalized that these things are seen in a church where God is working in lives.

Let me tell you: a church where there is no sin is a church that is either hypocritical or dead, because where the vitality of life is, there will be all those needs. And that is why we have to free ourselves from that dictatorship. There are people who are afraid that people will know that they have marital problems, or that the children in their family are not perfectly behaved. And we always walk with that dictatorship of seeming like we're always in control.

How are you, brothers? Glory to God. Hallelujah! In victory! No? And inside our life is a complete disaster. I prefer to denounce myself, so that people know that I am being treated by God and that this gives me the freedom to live freely and to share with my brothers. God is looking for churches with a healthy and balanced spirituality where the sinner can come and sit next to another sinner and feel that he is at home and that God can deal with him and work with him. We have to be an honest church.

I believe that we are at a time in human history in which fragility and transparency are becoming more important than ever, because we are seeing moral, ethical and spiritual viruses in this 21st century culture that does not They saw each other before, I think. Because sin has become so rampant in this society and the devilish capacity to create bondage in the human race is so great that the healing that mutual confession brings, that humility brings, that acknowledgment brings, is needed more than ever. of sin, which brings the sinner's need to say 'yes, I need you to pray for me. I have a problem and for someone who has a similar problem to come and say, "Don't worry, I'm also struggling, let's move forward in faith together," because a church that is a sanctimonious church and under the dictatorship of the law he will not be able to minister to this society in which we are.

When those homosexuals God speaks to them and touches them, I know he is going to make them one day, and they begin to come to our churches, it will be better that there be a people of God full of mercy, love, aware of his own sins, to say 'Come, we love you and let's work together, let's get to the goal that is in Christ Jesus', instead of going around with a false spirituality. That is, brothers, I believe, that freedom from the law of which the Apostle Paul speaks.

I love the balance in the life of the Apostle Paul. In this same epistle in Chapter 6 he has just told us that sin will not enslave us. We have died to sin. Sin will not rule over us. It tells us that we cannot live in sin if we have been set free through Christ Jesus.

Now in Chapter 7 he talks about living in the spirit and also recognizes that the human being is inherently built to sin. Look at what he says in Chapter 7, beginning in verse 14, right there where he is talking about one thing he also enters the other.

He says, ".... Because we know that the law is spiritual but I am carnal..."

We have said that 'I' is a 'rhetorical I', that in part the Apostle Paul is being autobiographical. He is talking about himself, but he is also putting himself in the place of all humanity, he is a 'universal self'. Like when you say 'one', right? One can put 'one' "......because we know that the law is spiritual plus one is carnal sold to sin", because what one does does not understand, since one does not do what what he wants, but what he hates, that's what he does.

But he puts himself in the spot. I love that about the Apostle Paul. Pablo was a transparent man. The great Apostle Paul was never afraid to admit that not everything was perfectly ironed out in his life. He speaks, for example, that he was the worst of sinners. Here he includes himself with his congregation and says 'I too am sold under sin'. I discover something, when I want to do good, I discover that there is another law within me that leads me to do evil.

And the things, what's more, the good things that I want to do, I discover that there is another law within me that I want to do something well, but for now I discover that something has taken control and I find myself doing what contrary.

How many have taken vows on the first of January? This year I will always drive within the speed limits. And you're there driving on the highway just fine, 'I'm going to stay at 65 or I'm going to stay at 55, and when it comes to seeing the needle kind of magically go to 70 or 67 or 80 sometimes, God forbid to hell. And he says, 'but where did this come from?'

Other siblings say 'I'm not going to yell at my children anymore,' and when they come to see, the sister is there yelling at the top of her voice in the house and it's like there's a little devil inside of you as it has possession within one.

And Paul says, 'Brothers, we are always going to offend God because there is a part within us that inevitably drags us towards sin, so no one thinks that they will be able to get to heaven by their own behavior. , because it is that constitutionally, inherently there is in our body, this flesh that has contact, our biology, today we would say, is destined to rebel against the law of God.'

So, that's why we need a savior, an propitiator who stands where we are and says, 'Don't worry, I'm going to pay the price for your sin.'

That is why at the end of that terrible passage, where Paul talks about I know that in me this is in my flesh, good does not dwell, ".....because willing what is good is in me , but not doing it, because I do not do the good that I want -verse 19- but the evil that I do not want, that is what I do and if I do what I do not want, I no longer do it, but the sin that dwells in me.... ”

It's like sin has a life of its own almost inside of us, right? And I believe that a healthy church, brethren, has to be painfully aware of the sinfulness that is in the human being as well as painfully aware of God's call to holiness. It's a balance between those two things.

And I would like simultaneously when I say one thing, to say the other. God wants us to be a holy people and God requires holiness. Holiness is a protection for us, to live lives that are pleasing to God, that stay within God's law, you know? That is for our good.

How many plagues and how many terrible things humanity suffers would be avoided if we adhered to God's commandments? We would live better, more productive lives, our children would not be marked by our sins. Our marriages would be harmonious and healthy, our human relationships would be much more lasting and bearable. In our emotional, mental, inner life, it would be much healthier and more balanced. Our sleep would be calmer, we would enjoy our meals more, fewer ulcers, fewer psychosomatic problems, less back pain, less guilt, less anxiety, less depression.

Wherever there is neurosis, psychiatrists and psychologists say, there is something that is not resolved, there is something that is not being processed. There is a positive energy that is knotted and concentrated and that finds no place to express itself. So sin has terrible consequences within ourselves. We ourselves carry the consequences of sin in our lives or in the lives of those around us.

That is, getting rid of our sinful behavior is for our good, and that is why God says, 'I want you to be holy. I want you to be able to live a life where I can bless you and cover you and protect you, and the devil can't come accusing you, and bring harm to your life.'

So, there is a side to faith. that calls us towards holiness, towards a behavior conforming to the character of God. But God says 'You are going to sin and if you do sin, you have an attorney with Christ Jesus.' So, the wise church, the wise and healthy spirituality is a spirituality that strives in the spirit to please God but also has insurance that says, 'if I don't reach the goal perfectly, Christ will pay what is missing, and he will complete what is missing'.

So, the healthy Christian is one who aspires to please God in everything he can and in everything he does, but who is also possessed of a certainty that if he does not reach the goal, there is no problem because your Heavenly Father understands and settles the debt.

I love what the psalmist David says in the Old Testament, not in the New, but in the Old Testament, he says, '... as the father has compassion on children, Jehovah pities those who fear him because he knows our condition –listen to that- because he knows our condition, he remembers that we are dust...”

In English the word 'condition' is translated 'frame 'It's like the frame, it's the structure, the texture of the human being as God knows what material you're made of, he has compassion on you and feels sorry for you like a father feels sorry for a son. When a son breaks a cup or makes a mistake, the father does not kick him and say 'Get out of the house', a generous and balanced father does not say, 'Since you broke that cup now, go away I don't want to see you more here at home'.

The loving father, the compassionate father, says 'Okay son, you made a mistake but you are my son, I love you, stay in my house.' Yes or no? And God is like that. God does not throw us off his lap because we offend him. "A contrite and humiliated heart you will not despise, O God."

If I have a child with a mobility problem, let's say, who was born with a problem with his legs, he can't move, do you think I'm going to criticize him and abuse him because he doesn't Can I run a mile in 4 minutes or less? No, I am going to say, 'My son cannot do that, because the poor man has a physical limitation', and I am going to accommodate my treatment of my son according to his limitation.

Brothers, I have good news for you. So God deals with you and me. When we talk about the law, when we talk about the call to holiness, God tells us, 'Look, I want you to do your best. I want you to behave well to me, to glorify me, to imitate me, to honor me, but I know that there are limitations in you that will prevent you from reaching the goal one hundred percent and that is why I have provided the blood of my son Jesus Christ to cleanse you and wash you from all sin'. Glory to the Lord.

That allows us to sleep peacefully. I want to encourage you, my beloved brothers, to maintain that balance in your lives. Aspire for the best. Aim high in the Christian life. Don't settle for a mediocre, sloppy Christian life. He always says, 'ah, that doesn't matter, I know who I am. God knows a, how come they say out there? An old dog is not taught new tricks that I know what.

There are many people who make excuses too easily and live sloppy lives. They do not study the word of God. It does not grow in the knowledge of God. They do not serve the Lord. They do not give more to the Lord. They are mediocre because they are taking refuge in the mercy of God.

And Paul says, 'Don't take advantage of the doctrine of grace. Aim for the best every day. I show you a better way.

But once we've done that, what prevents us from becoming compulsive people, people full of guilt and people psychologically trying to do good things so that God will approve us, God accept us, is knowing that God already accepted us, forgave us, raised us up and seated us with Christ in heavenly places, and blessed us with every spiritual blessing.

And he said, "No one can snatch them out of my hand." Chapter 8 speaks later we will see it, precisely about the security that there is in the life of the son of God. There is a tension there then, between those two extremes, called to holiness and life insurance, when we fail.

I leave you with this illustration. And I think maybe I've shared it before. Many of us in our checking accounts have a provision that is like an open line of credit that if you write more check than you have money to cover, what happens? That line of credit covers your balance so that you are not charged for overdrafting and your financial record is not ruined. Yes or no? There is that provision. That line is a security mesh. When you overdraw, when you go over what you're entitled to write a check, that line comes, boom! and covers the balance.

Guess what? That is the blood of Jesus Christ. When you sin, when you fall, when you fail God, when you go beyond what you have a right to do, the blood of Christ cleanses you from all sin. Always that blood of Jesus is running through your life, cleansing you.

And how interesting, it occurs to me that biologically, there is a parallel as well. Do you know that your blood is continually rushing through your circulatory system? Blood does two things: blood delivers oxygen to the body, and it picks up impurities and distributes them for disposal. The blood has two functions: when the blood leaves and is pumped from the chambers of the heart, it leaves oxygenated to communicate oxygen and supply to the body; when it returns it is a dirty blood, so to speak, which is then cleansed and purified by removing all impurity. It is a system of blessing and also of cleaning.

And that's what the blood of Christ does in our life as well. The blood of Christ gives us peace with God, gives us justification, gives us hope, gives us reconciliation with the Heavenly Father, and also cleanses us from all sin. Because we are sinning, I believe that 24 hours a day, we are unconsciously sinning. We sin in thought, we sin in our eyes, we sin in speech, we sin in omission, we sin in commission, we sin in our interpersonal relationships, we abuse with words, we abuse with silence. We are always tripping over the law, but the blood of Christ is always cleansing and washing and healing us.

And that allows us to be free, to enjoy life. How good is a balanced spirituality! Christians have always gone one way or the other. The pendulum always goes to one extreme or the other. There are Christian spiritualities that everything is grace. God knows you, God loves you, God affirms you, God accepts you, God forgives you. Don't worry, because God's store is very wide and everything fits there. And everything goes to the side of the acceptability that there is in God. And that is not biblical, because God is a holy God and he is a God who establishes boundaries, and he is a God who establishes laws for our blessing and our defense and our protection from the devil and from the consequences of sin.

But there are other spiritualities that go to the other extreme and everything is God is holy. God requires this of you. God expects this of you. God expects you to do. God hopes you don't eat. God hopes you don't think. God hopes you don't look. And everything is a God that what he has is only a little hole where one or two or perhaps no one can fit and everything is law, law, law, duty, expectations, work, proving to God that we are worth it. And that is also diabolical. That is just as devilish. Because God is a God of love, mercy, forgiveness, grace, patience and compassion for our condition.

How good it is, brothers, when in our spiritual life we can unite the two things! Live in peace, live confident, live resting in the mercy and grace of Jesus and also then free to live lives that please the Lord, because God has already approved and blessed us. Amen.

Stand up. Let's give glory to the Lord then. Thank God that we have Christ Jesus. That's what Paul said right there at the end of his somber meditation on his own sinfulness in Chapter 7, verse 25, he said, "I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord."

We thank God that Christ came into the world. When we were dead in sin, Christ died for us so that we would be free from the curse of the law, which could not save us, which only reminded us, 'I am a sinner.' The Lord lubricated the law, the Lord took a cloth with oil and took that hard leather of the law, and passed it on, passed ointment, and that leather became soft and breathed again. That is what Christ Jesus does. And that is what you have in your life, a lubricant that works 24 hours a day and makes your life easier, and makes communion with the Father possible.

Lord, we ask that you help us to live that balanced life, which balances the call to holiness with the grace that is required for a race condemned in its flesh, in its biology to violate your perfect law and holy and fair.

Help us as a church to be a community that always maintains that balance, Lord, in our teaching, in our disciplines, in our expectations, in our structures, that there is that balance, Father, but also that our brothers In your personal life, you can also have that freedom, not live under condemnation, not live under guilt, not live under the devil's accusations that always want to remind us that we did not reach the goal and that we can be free to enjoy this world.

But, Father, may we also extend that same grace to those around us, to our wives and husbands, to our children, to our friends when they fail us, to the imperfect systems of society in which we live, to our parents who failed us and will fail us, to our spiritual leaders who are not perfect and will not be, that we can extend to the people around us and to the systems in which we live, that same grace that you gave us. you extend to us, Lord. May we never stop being people who aspire to excellence, but may we be people who forgive defects and failures in others and in ourselves as well.

Teach us that balance that you have in your heart, Lord, that perfect balance. We want to be a balanced people, a people of grace and love and a people of high aspirations as well and desires to excel, of excellence in every sense, that we have the fruit of the spirit in us, Lord, as well as the law of God written in our hearts, in our veins, in our muscles, in our very flesh, this inscription, Lord, the law of God and the desire to please our Heavenly Father who is perfect.

We bless you. Thank you because Christ made us free from all condemnation. We love you Lord. Help us to be the church that you want us to be. Blessed be your name in Jesus name we pray. Amen. Amen.

Brothers, may the grace of the Lord, may his peace, his blessing, his care, his protection, his balance, his joy, his prosperity, his hope, his joy, be with each one of you now and always. We bless you in the name of the Lord.

Go out and live balanced lives, lives filled with the joy of the Lord. say hello to someone Bless someone before you go. God bless you.