A Parable of Law and Grace
Walking by the Spirit - A True Story of How I Learned To Walk With God.
A man is dropped into a maze, with walls all around him, blindfolded. His teacher tells him: "Okay so you need to walk by the Spirit and you'll get out of the maze."
He takes a step and bashes his face into a wall. He starts to lift up his blindfold. The teacher says: "STOP!!!".
"What?"
"If you start looking at the walls you're not walking by the Spirit, you'd be walking by your own power."
"So? If there's a wall there I'd like to not run into it."
"But see that just means you'll run into it more."
"How so?"
"Just trust me that's how it works."
So he takes another step. Whack! A bruised shin. The teacher says "Oh yeah, there's random bars sticking out around knee height too."
"Wait a minute, this doesn't make any sense. I want to get out of the maze, right?"
"Yes."
"And I can see the walls if I look."
"Yes."
"But somehow I'm not supposed to look."
"Right."
"But how will I know which way to go?"
"Ah! You see that's the second use of the law. Running into a wall shows you how lost you are."
"And that helps me how?"
"Well you call out for help and the Spirit will help you walk."
"Without looking?"
"Yes."
"But-" he asks, holding up a Bible (which he's allowed to look at). "This has a map of the walls and God says all over the place, hey, there's a wall here don't run into it."
"That's a trick. If you try to follow that map you'll just get more lost."
"But the map shows the way out."
"Right but you can't make it without the Spirit."
"How do I get the Spirit?"
"Have faith."
"Okay I have faith, can I look now?"
"No if you have faith, you don't need to look."
He takes another step. Whack! There's an overhang that he brains himself on. "Now look, this is just silly."
The teacher sighs, "I think you just didn't have enough faith."
"That's stupid, if I had just looked I would be able to see the walls. Why can't I follow the map through faith?"
"Because it doesn't work."
"Am I supposed to just forget what the map looks like?"
"Right just set your mind on Jesus."
7 Years Later…
He spends the next 7 years of his life whacking into walls all over the place and taking long periods just sitting down in the middle of the room weeping that he can't get anywhere without knocking into the walls. Every time he sits down the teacher goes "Hey! What the heck are you doing? You need to get your butt up and get to walking out of the maze."
"But I can't get out of the maze, I keep hitting my head."
"That's what grace is for. Even though you hit your head you'll still get out of the maze eventually."
"But it hurts to hit my head."
"Do you think it didn't hurt Jesus on the cross?"
"I'm not trying to compare my hurts to Jesus, I just am sick of running into walls because you won't let me take this stupid blindfold off."
Another voice: "Hey guy, what are you doing sitting there in the middle of this maze? You know God gave you a map to the maze right?"
"Yeah but that lady said I'm not supposed to use it."
"But God says all over the place: 'Use my map'."
"Sure, but she told me that I'm not supposed to use the map."
"Why did she say that?"
"Because that's not faith."
"Look, faith is trusting that the map God gave you is a real map and can really help. You'll have enough trouble following it with your eyes open without handicapping yourself."
He takes the blindfold off and sees that while the room is filled with challenges, he sees a small path through.
He takes a step.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING??" yells the teacher.
"I'm getting my butt out of this maze."
"BUT YOU CAN'T DO THAT BY LOOKING!!!! YOU'LL JUST RUN INTO THE WALLS!!!!"
"Well that's what was happening with the blindfold anyway, so what's the harm?"
He takes a step and knocks his knee on an outcropping. It smarts.
"SEEE I TOOOOLLLLDDD YOU!!!!" says the teacher.
The other voice chimes in. "Hey man, don't worry about it. Just take another step, this time a bit higher, you'll get through this."
He looks carefully and steps over the outcropping.
"WHERE ARE YOU GOING?? YOU'RE FALLING FROM GRACE!!!!"
He calls back to the other voice. "Is she right? Is this path away from grace?"
"Do you trust your bible?"
"Yes."
"Do you think God would give you a map that leads away from him?"
"No."
"Grace is taking the second step when you miss the first step, not wearing a blindfold and trying to feel your way out of a maze."
"Thanks, friend."
The man takes a lot more steps, and finds that as he goes there are less and less walls and outcroppings. Instead there are oases of joy and pleasant places to lay down.
"WHERE ARE YOU GOING? WHAT ARE YOU FOLLOWING?" says the teacher, now fading into the distance.
"I think that's the Spirit I've been following," says the man.
The end.