2 Corinthians 3:7-11
"But if the ministry of death, written and engraved on stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of the glory of his countenance, which glory was passing away, how will the ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious? For if the ministry of the condemnation had glory, the ministry of righteousness exceeds much more in glory. For even what was made glorious had not glory in this respect, because of the glory that excels. For if what is passing away was glorious, what remains is much more glorious."
That last sentence is a pretty good summary of the point Paul is making to those holding to the fence of morality built over the centuries around the Old Testament law. While the law was glorious, it has passed away with the coming of Christ, leaving a ministry even more glorious in its place.
In today's vernacular, Paul says, "Why settle for a hotdog when you can have a steak?" The latter is surely superior to the first, and while there is nothing wrong with a hotdog, it doesn't match the glory of the steak. And while the Old Testament law was glorious in its purpose of revealing God's heart and point to our need for salvation, with the coming of the Savior, we need reside in the more glorious ministry of the Spirit's touch on our lives.
While most of us don't find ourselves looking back into the Old Testament law much beyond the Ten Commandments, we must remain wary that we aren't holding on to other edicts other than those given by the Spirit's ministry in our lives. Whenever we come up with our own list of things one must do or must not do to be honoring to Christ, we face these types of dangers.
While these lists of does and don't are often for the good, and may even be of the Spirit's will, the danger is that we'll hold on to these so tightly that the Spirit is no longer be able to truly direct our lives. Once we have the list, we quit looking to God, since we've heard it all already.
Also, with our list in hand, there is the danger of wrongly judging ourselves right in terms of our relationship with God. In reality, it may be that all we've done is mastered God's will for us at one moment in time, with the Lord's heart now wanting us to draw even closer to him as a more mature believer. But thinking we're already right with God, we fail to hear the Lord's voice calling us to a higher plane of intimacy with the Savior.
There is also the danger we'll begin to think more highly of ourselves than we should, judging that we've arrived with God because of conforming to our lists. This is the tendency to judge ourselves based on man's standards of morality, forgetting that the true test of morality is of the Spirit, and more often than not, we have failures of the heart which are not really seen by others.
Finally, I readily see a danger of thinking that God's specific will for my life applies equally to others. When we do this, we often find ourselves looking down on others when they are not yet been led in the same direction by the Spirit. Every believer needs time to hear from the Lord and grow in their faith, and we'd do well to give the Spirit room to work out his grace in their lives.
Sure, there is a lot of room for equal ground when it comes to the Spirit's ministry in our lives, for God will not contradict his revealed word nor lead his people into sin. Regardless of the freedom which is ours in Christ, there are things which should not be compromised, but let's let God reveal these to us in his time and by his Spirit.
LORD JESUS
Lord, I thank you for the more glorious ministry of your Spirit, leading believers to know the direction of your heart. We give you this freedom to speak to our spirits, committing our lives to following after you. Amen.
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