“One
who turns away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer is an
abomination.” Proverb 28:9
“John
Wesley believed that the law and the gospel are two sides of the same
coin. When behaviors are commanded, they are law; when promised by God, they
are gospel. So the law has three uses: convicting people of sin, bringing
them to Christ, and then guiding them in their Christian life”
(Commentary, Wesley Study Bible, pg 93).
In
Christianity too much is made about the Church being “under grace” rather than
under law. It is true enough that the Lord’s mercy is abundant, but
divine grace cannot be used as a reason or an excuse for being altogether
removed from the law based on one statement by one writer. The Law of
Moses teaches people of faith how to live and work and worship WITH one another
in God; it is how the people of the Lord are distinguished from
those who have no time or desire for the Lord. Besides this, how can we
claim Jesus as “savior” if we completely disconnect Him from His eternal
Source; the Holy Father? Jesus is the Law fulfilled (that is, perfected);
this does not mean the Law is over and done with. Remember that a “house
divided against itself cannot stand”. If this is true under one
situation, surely it must be true altogether under any situation.
So
the proverb expresses a spiritual reality for the people of the Lord; if we
will not listen to God (ironically in the name of Jesus, the Son of God), how
would we come to believe our Lord will listen to us? When we pray, we
should be mindful that we are asking for an audience with our Lord, whether
alone or with the congregation of the faithful. We claim to live within
an Eternal Covenant with our God, but we can never assume this Covenant lacks
terms.
We
are honor-bound to observe all that the Lord has commanded us to observe, from
the beginning to the very end of our time on this earth. In this
observation, reverence, and respect, we will discover in this journey not that
we had been duped or tricked or hindered in any way. Rather we will
discover blessings we have yet to experience when we fully and completely
submit ourselves to our Lord, the King of endless Glory and the very Author of
Life itself. We cannot “take” these blessings; they are only given by the
One who is worshiped, adored, and obeyed in adoration – for His purposes, not
our own.
Blessings,
Michael
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