JDL - Direction Thirty-six - Good feel good stories (law) vs. Gospel

What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” (Romans 7:7 (ESV))

There is no end to the plethora of e-mail one receives today. Some e-mail is good. Perhaps you have heard from people you would never have heard from via the e-mail rather than though paper, envelope and stamp. E-mail is a way to get messages out very quickly. Yet, along with the good, there comes the bad.

Certainly in your e-mail box along with the unwanted spam is a group of “religious” e-mails. Most of these “religious” e-mails drip with sentimental sap. And although the sender is perhaps thinking of you (putting the best construction on this practice) and is wanting to share an encouraging bit of sentiment, most of the time it is religious spam. Most of this type of e-mail reeks with poor and even false doctrine playing on one’s emotions and guilt. The kicker is the chain sentimental religious spam which threatens you with bad luck if you do not pass it on (forward it) or good luck to those who have fallen prey to believe it. How far from God’s word can that word be?

So, what is good e-mail, and what is not so good e-mail? A simple test of what to keep and forward and what to delete is this: check to see who is doing what? Who is running the message, the emoting? Is God doing His thing, or are we doing our thing even provoking God to do His thing? Is the e-mail Christ-centered (Christiocentric) or man-centered (anthropocentric)? Are you being made to feel guilty because of your inability to do what God demands of you? Are you pushed to believe that there is more that you can do and should do in order to get something from God Himself? Or are you being told what God has done for you, that God has done everything for you and that there is nothing left to do except respond with shouts of praise and thanksgiving?

Do yourself a favor, and do the person whom you wish to send or forward some greetings a favor. If the message is pointing to anyone beside Christ, if the message provokes feelings of guilt because of your own inadequacies, if the message gives you any sense that you can do something, anything, even any little thing to make yourself and your situation and life right with God, please, delete these such messages, and do not forward them.

However, if the message you received is one that points to Christ that tells of His great deeds, that tells of His suffering, death and resurrection, that points you to Him and encourages you to cling to Him, by all means pass it on.

Remember, the Law shows our sin. The Law tells us how we have not lived as we should. The Law makes us feel guilty. The Law does not save; it only leads to despair (or in some few cases to works righteousness). It is the Gospel that frees us from the curse of the Law. It is the Gospel that motivates us to repent and be given the gifts that our Lord has to give. It is these Gospel messages (that are few and far between) that we will want to read and forward as words of encouragement, which they are and which work not only to lead us in a Jesus-directed life but also to lead those to whom we forward them in being lead in a Jesus-directed life as well.

Think About
Are the e-mails you receive Law or Gospel? Are you moved more to forward the ones of Law or Gospel? Please, discerningly forward on the Gospel e-mails!

Prayer
Heavenly Father, thank You for Your Word which shows our sins and shows our Savior. Forgive us when we think we might imagine that we can in anyway earn or deserve Your forgiveness and salvation and especially if we attempt to give this impression to others. Help us to be more discerning in what we read and in what we speak, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.