“For if I build again the things which I destroyed, I
make myself a transgressor.” -Galatians 2: 18
The
scripture, Jesus, tells us that they which hunger
and thirst after righteousness shall be filled. It can be difficult, when you are lost in sin
to even imagine a time or place when you would hunger and thirst after
righteousness; until you find it, or rather, it finds you. It could be through a sermon, song,
testimony, somehow or some way; the Spirit of God arrest your heart and soul,
you begin to realize how hungry you really are and how empty your life has
become. This begins the journey to death
and destruction, which ultimately leads to resurrection and new life. A new path, never to return to the old way,
and never to build again, that which has been destroyed.
Paul
the Apostle was a seeker of righteousness.
Even when he was Saul and did such horrible things, his testimony was he
did it ignorantly in unbelief. He was looking to be justified before God, to
be right in God’s sight and until the Damascus road; he firmly believed that
that righteousness was through the law and the works of the law. In the end, the “strength of the law is sin.”
The law could carry them no further than atonement, it could not take
away all sin; it could not deliver. Jesus
brought deliverance and victory to Paul's life; he destroyed the “works of the
law” mentality within him and ushered in “righteousness by faith.” It is by faith that all men are justified
that is, made righteous. It is by faith
that we are turned from darkness to light
and from the power of Satan to that of God.
Since it is faith, than it is no more works of the law. It is no longer Jew and Gentile, bond and free, male and female, but all are one in
Christ. There was a time when Paul
was Saul, and Saul staked his life on the works of the law. Then Jesus came into Paul’s life and total
decimated that man’s: ideals, traditions, wills, ways, and wishes; and Paul
just kept saying “yes, Lord.” This is
evident just two verses later when he writes in Galatians “I am crucified with Christ nevertheless I live yet not I but Christ
liveth in me” What transpired between Peter and James in that second
chapter of Galatians alarmed Paul, because this was something that God had
destroyed, and destroyed in his own heart and life. It was no longer Jew and Gentile; it was no
longer works of the law, but by faith.
It was not enough to simply avoid it, but Paul felt pressed to make it
known that this was not the right way anymore, that he was not going to build
these walls again. What a picture that
must have been, the zealot Pharisaical champion of that day, who once
persecuted Christians and labored to keep the whole Levitical law; now shouting
down the very notion of its return, and standing for Jesus as the fulfillment
of the law.
When
we repent and are converted, it is a wonderful crisis experience. The weight of sin has been lifted and the
flood of forgiveness felt. When we die
out to the world, sin, flesh, and ourselves; then ask Jesus to come into our
heart and sanctify us wholly. There is a
glorious liberty felt at the end of a destructive path. For truly, you will not get the Holy Spirit
unless you first give all. When you do,
you will not go the same places you used to go, you will not do the same things
you used to do; and God will know, your family will know, your friends,
co-workers, and you will know that holiness is not a fairy tale, but a reality
in this life. When you are changed like
that, to “build again the things you once destroyed, would make you a
transgressor.” In other words, “I am
never going back.” This is the testimony
of the Christian; this is what Jesus will do for you. He breaks down so he can build anew.
