Saturday, March 3, 2007

The Law

Last Monday after supper (Joyce cooked a roast) we were listening to the most recent Denton Bible Church sermon. The pastor (Tommy Nelson) asked, “What’s wrong with the Mosaic Law? Didn’t God give it at Sinai? Why do we need to be free from Law and be under Grace?” He then gave an analogy that a seminary professor once shared with him. Tommy Nelson called it possibly the worst analogy ever, but I have to disagree. I think it’s inspired, especially in light of the fact that Joyce had just cooked a roast.

Pastor Nelson said, “Whenever you get a roast out of the oven, you don’t stick a spit into it to pick it up. Because, if you do, the flesh will tear and fall apart. Instead of a spit, you use a spatula, so that all the supporting work is done by the spatula. Grace is like the spatula, Law is like the spit, and we are like the meat. Grace will lift you up where the Law can’t. The problem isn’t the Law. The Law (like the spit) is strong enough to hold us, but it can’t because we (in our flesh) aren’t strong enough to adhere to it. You see, ‘The spit is willing but the flesh is weak.’

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