His Strength is Made Perfect in Our Weakness- One hard lesson

"And he hath said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my power is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest upon me."
2 Corinthians 12:9

How very different  the new covenant of God is from the old! In the old covenant of the law of commands, God simply laid out the expected results and said, now do it.

"Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you.."
Jeremiah 7:23

Yet even a brief overview of the history of Israel reveals how ineffective this commandment was. Israel and Judah lived in a constant state of backsliding, calling on the Lord again only when their safety was threatened. God would lovingly rescue them, only to see the same pattern repeat again and again.

But not so in the new covenant, the covenant of grace thru faith. God knew what was in the heart of man, and realized the new covenant, in order to be effective, had to change our hearts. For us to obey, we must be given a strenght not found in ourselves.

"Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:  Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD"
Jeremiah 31:31-32

Here is the problem with the old covenant of law. It tells us what to do. It even gives us the desire to do it. But it cannot give us the ability to perform what we want to do, so the result is condemnation, not walking pleasing to God.

Is this not what we find in Romans 7? Many Christians mistakenly assume that this was Paul's testimony. Let's clarify that. It was, when he was Saul.

Paul had been a pharisee of the pharisees, and his righteousness was at one time by the law. But Paul had a come-to-Jesus meeting with God face to face on the road to Damascus, and all changed in an instant.

Look at Romans 7:1. Paul has just finished telling us in chapter 6 who we are in Christ, new  creatures, and that sin shall NOT have dominion over us. He then says, now conversely, what I am about to describe is one who tries to obey God under the law of commandments.

And what did he share with us? The result is death. The things this man tries to do good, he does not do, The sins he hates? He has no power to resist and he falls, again and again. This was not theory to Paul. This had been his testimony.

Where does it bring one who truly wants to obey God, love Him with all his heart and love his neighbor as himself?  It leaves him a hopeless mess, crying out "O wretched man that I am!"

This is man under the law. This is not Christianity. This is not our birthright. But how many, multitudes today, have accepted the lie from Satan that they are in good company living in this state, and so they have no conviction to move from this place, even though it is clear that the result of serving God under the law is death. They that are in the flesh cannot please God. Our Father has made that perfectly clear.

How blessed is a man who refuses to move the line even a little that "without holiness, no man shall see the Lord", even if it means it condemns the very ground he finds himself standing on!

If we find ourselves living examples of Romans 7, does it mean we are not His? Not at all! This is the wilderness of self effort and self confidence we all must pass through in order to enter the promised land of rest from our own efforts. The wilderness for the Israelites was meant to be a three week journey, not a 40 year wandering, ever learning and never coming to the knowledge of the truth.

How we must read the next verses Paul says:

"O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?"

How many have never arrived here and instead lowered the standard of holiness God has laid out for us and gotten satisfied on the leeks and the onions of Egypt. How many have never learned the lesson Romans 7, and the law was to teach us. And what was the lesson? It was simply   "Without me, you can do nothing."
The law was not to lead us to life, but to break us of all hope that some day, we can be changed to be like Jesus if we just try hard enough! Our self confidence in the flesh, in our diligence, in our resolve, in our self control, must be broken to the point of despair.

How God wants his people to see His goodness towards them, but he cannot until they see the depths of the flesh and its inability to ever truly obey with a pure heart.

Dear brother in Christ. O my dear sister. If you are weary, if your heart pants after Christ, longing to walk pleasing to Him but you find you cannot, take hope. There is an answer. In brokenness, ask Him for Hos strength, and believe He longs to give it to you.

"unto them that have NO strength, He increaseth might."