Most people do not understand or recognize that the law and grace are polar opposites. The law emphasizes man’s responsibility to God, while grace emphasizes God’s efforts toward man. The law’s purpose shows man his sin and points him to God for help (Romans 3:20). Additionally, the law condemns man and sheds light upon the fact that he has no hope. Interestingly, the first five books of the Bible (commonly called the books of the Law) make no reference to the word hope. Some might ask why? Because the law simply reveals that man has no hope apart from God. As such, the Lord Jesus brought in a “better hope . . . by the which we draw nigh unto God.” Any man who places his hope and trust in what he can do or must do for God has lost sight of what God must do for him.
If you bite and chew your food enough times it will break down into small pieces and disappear into your stomach. In our passage, the apostle Paul informs us that our relationships with others bear the same truth. If we bite and devour one another, we will eventually consume each other. Many believers have quit attending the house of God and given up on serving the Lord because Christians have allowed their words to devour and consume. Just as food can only withstand so many bites before it is fully consumed, other believers can only take so much backbiting before weakened beyond their willingness to withstand. As the people of God, we are responsible for strengthening each other and surely will answer to God for any backbiting.
The words that so flippantly slip from our tongues are often used by the Devil as weapons to wound others. When we think of biting something, we think of using our teeth; yet backbiting employs the tongue. Backbiting is the act of saying something disparaging about someone without regard to the harm caused to that person. Today’s passage demonstrates that the Lord considers backbiting a detestable act; so much so, that David said the backbiter would not abide in the Lord’s tabernacle. According to James chapter 3, the tongue kindles a great fire (James 3:5) and is a world of iniquity (James 3:6). The Bible proves that the quaint phrase used as a child, “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me” is both untrue and unscriptural. Instead, the tongue is “full of deadly poison” (James 3:8). Backbiting wounds its victims – wounds which sometimes fester for years under the surface!
