“… As He died to make men holy, let us live to make men free! …” — S. 3, L. 3, Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory, Julia Ward Howe

“Preach the word, be instant in season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine…” — 2 Timothy 4:2-4

LET US tell the Christian the harshest truth: it is obedience that reveals God; not sacrifice, not rituals, or the labours of his arms. Let us tell him, “Obedience is better than sacrifice”. Even as it was with the patriarch of faith¹, that truth is marching on! Let us tell the Christian: obedience is the ultimate sacrifice, the ultimate enlightenment, the ultimate ticket to His glory². For “let no one deceive you. He who practises righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous³”.

Let us tell the Christian the revenant truth: there is godliness, and then, “a form of godliness⁴”; just as there is gold, and then, the merely gold-plated. Oh the latter is enticing, but is never transforming; just as it is enticed, but is never transformed! Let us tell the Christian this—that singing hallelujah everywhere does not prove piety, neither does abiding to ordinances of a temporal realm⁵. None of these reforms; none of these redeems.

Let us tell the Christian what reforms. Let us tell him what redeems, which is the Word of God, his Maker. He shall “study to show himself approved⁶”. He shall encounter Truth in it⁷, and that Truth shall enlighten him. It shall set his heart on fire, forge his soul on the anvil of obedience⁸ and then set him free⁹!

But to be free, or not to be—that is the question: whether ‘tis safer in the mind to hold on to traditions of human complacence¹⁰, or to take arms against a world of rites and by pondering on Christ alone¹¹, nullify them. Oh let us tell the Christian to ponder on Christ alone, for it is by this alone the Christian shall know Christ¹²! It is by this alone the Christian shall see Christ¹³!

Let us tell the Christian the harshest truth: to worship in vain is real¹⁴. To waver in delusion is sin¹⁵. To relax in ignorance is death¹⁶. “The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul¹⁷”; it flows with goodness¹⁸, and with the immortality of its Author’s divine fingers¹⁹. Let us tell the Christian this—that the law of God is the law of love, that what it abolishes is not the authority of obedience²⁰ or its capacity to revive; but, in fact, the law of Moses—the Book of the Law²¹—old covenant rites of old-time Israel—hundreds over—handwritings of ordinances—which Christ “nailed to the cross²²”.

Let us tell the Christian of the two great laws, of their sources, and of their disparities: the Mosaic Law in a book sealed by a young bull’s blood²³ and the Ten Commandment Law in our hearts²⁴ sealed by the blood of Christ. Let us tell the Christian of the mediators, of Moses of the old covenant, and of Christ the new. Let us tell of the government and constitution of the Creator, unchangeable and blessed.

But let us tell the Christian also of grace. Let us tell of its true character, which is found in forgiveness by Christ alone²⁵, and not in anarchy by sin that is willed²⁶; for the wages of love is friendship, and the wages of sin is death. It is grace that nudges to the path of growth. It is grace that endears to the law. It is grace that saves. Let us tell the Christian this is the way it works, but to erase the reality of law is to erase the reality of sin, which—dangerously—is to enthrone a fallacy of hell.

Let us tell. Let us tell. Let us tell the Christian to search the scriptures, to understand its gruesome history, to learn its amazing prophecies. These things point to the existence of the Divine²⁷. These things give faith meaning, intelligent meaning.

Let us tell the Christian to shun fables in teaching²⁸, to eschew vain repetitions in prayer²⁹, to question usurpation in adoration³⁰. Let us tell the Christian that the just shall live by faith, not by the commandments or endowments of mortals, but by “every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord³¹”.

But after we have told the Christian all of these things, we must also tell of the great commission, of the last instruction of the Christ he loves: to set forth to the world, “teaching it to obey everything (He) had commanded³²”. In perpetuation of His ten commandments, this is, perhaps, the eleventh. This is, perhaps, what we must tell the Christian!

References

¹Genesis 26:5, ²Acts 10:34-35, ³1 John 3:7, ⁴2 Timothy 3:5, ⁵Matthew 15:3, ⁶2 Timothy 2:15, ⁷2 Timothy 3:16, ⁸John 14:15, ⁹John 8:36, ¹⁰Mark 7:8, ¹¹John 8:31, ¹²1 John 2:3, ¹³John 14:6, ¹⁴Matthew 15:9, ¹⁵James 4:17, ¹⁶Hosea 4:6, ¹⁷Psalm 19:7, ¹⁸Romans 7:12, ¹⁹Matthew 5:18, ²⁰Romans 3:31, ²¹Galatians 3:10, ²²Colossians 2:14, ²³Exodus 24:8, ²⁴Jeremiah 31:33, ²⁵Ephesians 1:7, ²⁶Romans 6:1, ²⁷Isaiah 41:23, ²⁸1 Timothy 1:4, ²⁹Matthew 6:7, ³⁰Matthew 23:9, ³¹Matthew 4:4, ³²Matthew 28:20… Photo source (thehistoryblog.com)

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Oyin Oludipe lives in Lagos, Nigeria. His poetry and essays have been published in Afapinen, The New Black Magazine, The Kalahari Review, Sentinel Literary Quarterly, The Guardian, and Image Magazine, a journal of creative and critical writings at the University of Ibadan.