Even Grace Has Limits
In Numbers 21, the people of Israel murmured against God, and God sent serpents to bite them.
Num21:5 And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread.
Num21:6 And the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died.
Num21:7 Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD, and against thee; pray unto the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people.
Num21:8 And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live.
Num21:9 And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.
God had given the people manna, a gift to them from heaven. This gift they did not appreciate but despised it. So the Lord allowed serpents to come in the camp and bite the people. Of course, the people were dying of the serpent bites. Somehow they made a connection between the serpents and their Sin. So, they asked Moses to pray to God for delivery. So, God tells Moses to build a brazen serpent and put it on a pole, those who looked at the serpent on the pole would not die.
God did not get rid of the serpents or even stopped the serpents from biting. God wanted the people to exercise faith. The issue was: would they believe that by looking at the brazen serpent the poison would not be effective? If they looked, they would live. (There is no mention of what would happen with the bite marks. It is possible that the bite marks would remain.)
The brazen serpent was for all the people in the camp. But, only those who looked when bitten were delivered. Did they deserve it? No, not one person in the camp deserved to be delivered (Romans 3: 10 – 12). God did this because He loved the people. This gesture toward them displayed God's grace. He gave all of them this gift of life, even when they did not deserve it. But, just because God gave this gift to all, it did not mean that all would be spared of the effects of the poison in their bodies. Those who chose not to believe would not look therefore they would die. In this case, God's grace could not deliver those bitten from dying. There was no remedy for rejecting the remedy. Suddenly Grace has limits. Those who reject the grace that can save them will find that there is no grace for rejecting the grace.
We may get the impression from Romans 5:20 to 6:2 that grace covers all sin. But that is not the case. Let us read it the passage,
Rom5:20 Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound:
Rom5:21 That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.
Rom6:1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?
Rom6:2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?
Those who are of the belief that the more they sin, the more grace abounds - if they continue in that path - forget that at some point they will commit the unpardonable Sin. Jesus talks about this Matthew 12: 31 -32,
Matthew 12:31-32 (King James Version)
31Wherefore I say unto you, All manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men.
32And whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come.
This verse refers to the point where you have gone beyond repentance. You no longer will respond the Holy Spirit's invitation for you to open the door to Him. Christ did not die for that Sin. And, while the law may expose that Sin, grace will not abound as far. This Sin is rejecting the grace that can save you. Put in different words: there is no remedy for rejecting the remedy.
| RR |
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