Micah 6:6-8 (NIV): With what shall I come before the LORD and bow down before the exalted God? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.
Many today believe that God can be bought off with good deeds – that a certain number of positive actions will make up for the sins that one commits. But God doesn’t trade that way in sins and atonements. Every single sin is an affront to God and His love, and is completely deserving of death. But, in His mercy and grace, God has provided a sacrifice to pay the death penalty for all who live in the world: Jesus Christ, His one and only Son. Because He had no sins of His own to pay for, God accepts the sacrifice of Jesus as the atonement for all who turn to Him. That is a fact.
However, some tend to use Jesus as an ace in the hole. When they sin, and those who think like this tend to sin regularly, they simply point to Jesus and claim forgiveness. In this way they are much like the Israelites who didn’t worry nearly as much about sinning as they should, because they figured that all they had to do was to make a sacrifice to pay for that sin, and all would be well.
But real forgiveness is not just a clean slate that is now available to be dirtied up again. Since Jesus’ death and resurrection, forgiveness is a genuine fresh start – an opportunity to do it right this time. And God’s expectations are few and simple, as He pointed out through Micah, and later on through Jesus Himself. They are achievable by those who want to meet them, especially since they now have the help of God’s indwelling Holy Spirit:
- To act justly – to love others to the point that we treat everyone fairly, and make sure that they are treated fairly by others, too. We must not only do justice, we must not tolerate injustice being done by others. (Encapsulated by Jesus in the second greatest commandment – Matthew 22:39)
- To love mercy – to treat others as we wish to be treated, helping to meet the needs of others as we would want our needs met if we were in their shoes. To feed the hungry, clothe those who lack adequate clothing, visit the sick and lonely. In general, to treat each person with the same love and mercy that we would want show to us if they were us. (Encapsulated by Jesus in The Golden Rule – Matthew 7:12)
- To walk humbly with our God – To love and serve God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, to serve Him only, and to obey His commandments. (Encapsulated by Jesus in the Greatest Commandment – Matthew 22:38)
Those who say that these standards are too high, that they are impossible for real people to actually live up to, just lack the will to live up to them. If anyone will simply commit themselves each day to walk in these ways, they will find God’s Holy Spirit inside of them empowering them to do all of these things and, through them, empowering their witness to a lost and dying world.
Father, thank You for this clear call to those simple things that will allow us to live in Your presence. Forgive us for too often excusing ourselves, reasoning that Your standards are simply so high that we can’t actually be expected to live up to them. And forgive us for overlooking that fact that, when we come to You, that You actually come and live in us, and can do anything in and through us that You want. Amen.