Inevitable Rules

S

(Romans 5:21) So that, as sin reigned unto death, so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.

O

Bad news for indecisive people: both sin and grace are personified as warring kings fighting over souls, and we inevitably choose only one as our liege--only one wins our allegiance. Sin establishes his own laws with which to rule and dominate us, and more importantly, to deliver us to Hell instead of Heaven. That king wins our hearts by our deliberate default. When we receive the amnesty that Grace offers us, Grace then begins establishing different rules in our hearts--Jesus Christ's. Under His lordship, Grace delivers us from Sin's dominion of death and frees us to choose life instead.

A (Personal)

When I submit to Jesus Christ, Grace not only teaches and equips me, but also prepares for me a crown of righteousness (2 Timothy 4:6-8). As thrilling as that is, I have a nagging personal difficulty: it is one thing to offer myself to Jesus, my new Lord, it is another to rid myself of the bogus rules that I believed when I was loyal to my previous king, Sin. Old relational rules promised security but produced fear. They promised satisfaction, but produced anxiety. They promised relationship but produced isolation. Rules offered by Grace are different in that they really do produce security, satisfaction, and relationship. Grace has taught me new rules, such as: "Realize that with your new, redeemed nature you are loved, lovable, and loving" and "Trust that God that He has good plans for you, plans to give you a hope and a future" and "Seek God's kingdom first and all these things will be added in as well." I'm learning that these rules are in fact reliable!

A (Psychological)

Minuchin and Fishman (Family Therapy Techniques, 1981, p. 71) said, "Patients come to therapy because reality, as they have constructed it, is unworkable." Indeed, the identification of personal rules and belief systems are core features of the most successful psychological models, not just Minuchin's systemic model. The cognitive restructuring interventions that Ellis and Beck promoted are dependent on patients identifying their faulty thinking patterns--their own faulty rules for reality that need to be challenged and reconstructed. In his work with addicts, Michael Dye requires his clients to also identify the survival vows they created and imposed on themselves: "I'll never trust [a man, or a woman] again" or "I'll never allow myself to have an intimate or committed relationship with anyone." In contrast, Biblical principles, if applied with ever-increasing correction and insight from the Holy Spirit, within the education of private relationship with Christ as well as humble, loving interactions with people, can produce the new, healthy "rules" that Paul inferred in this analogy and that psychological models tend to mimic.

P

Thank You, My Lord, for teaching me how far reaching and deeply embedded Sin's rules have been in my life. David learned that even though some moral transgressions might not be illegal, all neglect of the relationship You offer or the love You require are sins primarily against You (Psalm 51). So many things I do and believe seem profitable and logical at the time, but aren't necessarily so, and I admit that I need to find my rest in Your Word. You perfectly discern my thoughts and the intentions of my heart (Hebrews 4:11-13). I prefer Your kingdom of Grace, and long to go deeper into Your dominion.