Righteousness Over Death

DEVOTION

2 CORINTHIANS

RIGHTEOUSNES OVER DEATH

2 Cor 3:7-11

7 Now if the ministry that brought death, which was engraved in letters on stone, came with glory, so that the Israelites could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of its glory, fading though it was, 8 will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious? 9 If the ministry that condemns men is glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness! 10 For what was glorious has no glory now in comparison with the surpassing glory. 11 And if what was fading away came with glory, how much greater is the glory of that which lasts!

NIV

Have we ever thought of the Ten Commandments as bringing death? We surely still try to live by them yet it would seem in doing so we are surely condemned to death. Still we cannot say that we should abandon them, giving ourselves over to every whim and fancy of our deceitfully wicked heart. So how do we deal with the truth which is laid for us here? Do they still apply or does the new covenant of the Spirit supersede that which condemns us to death? We have to say yes to the question or we would still be under that law and we would never be able to see the Kingdom of God. It is true that Jesus expanded on these laws, but did so not as a law which condemns but as a point to show us we need a Savior. We can never be good enough. We can never keep all the law one hundred percent all of the time. If we use the law, or even all that Jesus expanded on as a check list, we might find that we would receive a failing grade. Why do we insist on trying to be good enough? Why do we think that we can live according to all the commands of God? It is clear, if we are honest with ourselves, that as much as we want to be good enough, we are not. Death is just there. But, thanks be to God, he did not leave us with the law which brings death to us, but he sent Jesus to fulfill that law, and to bring us life. So we accept Jesus and we live, but then we go right back to attempt to live under the law, checking the list of do’s and don’ts trying to make sure the do’s outweigh the don’ts. We hope that we live good enough to please God so we make it in. But what pleases God is, not our living good enough, although it seems it should, but our accepting his Son as our Lord and Savior. Saying yes to Jesus paying the price for us is ultimately what all the law, all the commands of God points us to. The law is our death, but Jesus is our righteousness. As glorious a moment that must have been when God himself penned those words on stone, it is far more glorious to have the love of God, Jesus, written on our hearts. So we should always choose Jesus. Righteousness over death.