The “do nots” are the many statements made in both Old and New Testament alike that will tell us what not to do. In essence, they started with the Ten Commandments though not all are “do nots.’ Two of them said, “Remember the Sabbath” and “Honor your father and mother.” The other eight were actually “shall nots.”
Anyway, is it not true that we are now under grace and that the law, or the “do nots,” is not something to which we are in bondage? Yes, we are saved by grace through faith and that not of ourselves. But does that now mean we are free to do the “do nots?” Certainly not. Paul, the great preacher of grace, said, “…the law is holy, and the commandments holy and just and good.” He himself added several “do nots” in his writings to the churches, namely, do not quench the Spirit, do not despise prophecies, do not lie to one another, do not be drunk with wine. Other “do nots” in the New Testament include: do not imitate what is evil, do not be carried away with strange doctrines, do not forsake assembling yourselves together and many others. Jesus recorded several “do nots” Himself: do not be angry with your brother without a cause, do not lust, do not hate your enemies, do not fast and pray hypocritically, do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, do not worry, etc.
You might ask, “But didn’t Paul say in First Corinthians that ‘the strength of sin is the law’ and therefore the more ‘do nots’ there are the stronger sin becomes?” Yes, and he affirmed that with his comments in Romans 7, “I would not have known sin except through the law. I would not have known covetousness unless the law said, ‘You shall not covet.'” It is true that with more “do nots” sin finds more strength to express itself.
In the same spirit that Paul is expressing here it can also be said, “I would not have known the sin of not being with the saints at the church meetings unless the “do not” said, ‘(Do) not forsake the assembling of yourselves together.’” So now the sin of neglect of fellowship is strengthened. But where sin does abound grace does much more abound. So that every time I show up for church it is not a testimony of my ability to get there, nor of my right to do what I want. It is a testimony of the grace of God working in me that empowers me to do what I ought. This way God gets all the glory and we get the blessings of obedience.
The good news is that where sin abounds, strengthened by the “do nots,” grace, which originates in and flows from Jesus, does much more abound. Now that I have been made free by grace, I do not have the right to do what I want, I have the power to do what I ought. In other words, we should not be intimidated whatsoever with the “do nots,” for no matter how hard they may seem and no matter how many there may be in Old and New Testament alike, we now have the power from God to do them.
Before grace came along we didn’t have the power within ourselves to accomplish such holiness, but now we can welcome the “do nots.” Not so I can be saved by them, but that my life might be an ongoing testimony of God’s grace working in me, the grace that saved me initially.
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