The Special of the Day… From the Orange Moon Cafe
"Ought"
I once heard a preacher suggest there are no "oughts" under God's freely given grace in the Lord Jesus Christ. "Ought was for the law of Moses," he said, "but not for believers under grace."
The Bible does not confirm this notion.
"Furthermore then we beseech you, brethren, and exhort you by the Lord Jesus, that as ye have received of us how ye ought to walk and to please God, so ye would abound more and more" (I Thessalonians 4:1).
The word "ought" is mentioned much more in the pages of the New Testament than the Old (60-40). The reason for this lies in the extent of God's grace given through the Lord Jesus. Our Heavenly Father not only forgave our sins, birthed us into relationship with Himself, and assured us of eternal life with Himself when we believed. He also gave the Holy Spirit to dwell within us as the Life of our lives, and the power to fulfill the 'oughts" of God's will.
"For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required" (Luke 12:48).
It is true that fulfillment of God's "oughts" does not give or maintain our freely bestowed relationship with God through the Lord Jesus - "being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus" (Romans 3:24). It does, however, lead us in the realization of His presence and power, and most importantly, in our capacity to glorify Him and communicate Christ to others. This we ought to do, based on how present and active our Lord is in our hearts and lives. The Apostle Paul perhaps most vividly confirms such enabling in his epistle to the Ephesians:
"Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding, abundantly above all we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, unto Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end, Amen" (Ephesians 3:20-21; emphasis added).
God can justifiably decree our "oughts," based on how abundantly He has provided our capacity to fulfill them. We live for Him by living from Him as He empowers us to walk in faithfulness, rendering us without excuse for failure to do so. Certainly, we view our calling to trust and obey God as a grace-provided privilege and gift. In this sense, we get to do what God calls us to do through Christ. However, we also ought to do so as a solemn responsibility, based on the grace-empowered capacity to live for the glory of God. Our hearts and minds require the sense of duty in order to function properly. Knowing that we are able to do so through "the power that worketh in us" prepares us to do what we ought to do, based on the confidence that we can do so.
"I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service."
(Romans 12:1)
"Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men."
(Acts 5:29)
Weekly Memory Verse
Oh how great is Thy goodness, which Thou hast laid up for them that fear thee, which Thou hast wrought for them that trust in Thee before the sons of men!
(Psalm 31:19)
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