Cow or Sheep?

In general, cows are driven and sheep are led. Sheep are not easily driven, and when attempted to do so they will often scatter in every which direction. Sheep will follow their masters voice and go wherever he guides them. On the other hand, when trying to lead a herd of cows they will look at you dumbfounded. They will gaze at you wondering what you’re up to and will for the most part move in a desired direction when prodded or driven. Cattle are usually driven by force, while sheep will naturally respond to a vocal command and follow. You lead sheep and you drive cattle. Jesus made it clear that we are to be likened to sheep, not cattle. 

Are you driven like a cow or led like a sheep? For me personally, my first few decades in the Christian faith were lived as a cow. It was a difficult life filled with ambiguity, skepticism, and doubt as I wandered in and out of the faith. It wasn’t until I discovered the life of the sheep that lifted me up and out of the pit. The sheep’s life was always there calling me to tap into it. And finally, when I embraced its reality, I immediately sprang to life and was filled with joy, peace, and faith. As for the cow that remains an ever-present reality in my life, he is now largely overshadowed by the sheep-led life. If you are living the cow’s life as I once did for many years, I pray that the sheep’s life will become a reality for you as well. 

The characteristic nature of the cow is one who is driven by the Law and leans upon his own efforts and abilities, his flesh, to live out the Christian life. “You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh?” Galatians 3:1-3 NIV.

By nature, the cow seeks to work out his salvation as he is compelled to keep the Law all the while living in doubt and fear. Many living this guilt driven life are left wondering if they've done enough for Christ, if they are practicing enough spiritual disciplines, if they really have enough faith, or if they are even a Christian at all. It's this life under the Law that burdens one to live out a performance-based salvation. Always doubting weather they've done enough to be a Christian or even if they really are one. Many who seek to justify or sanctify themselves by way of the Law will be driven to despair, and will end up either: checking out of the faith all together, claiming no religion at all, or associating themselves with one that is easier to manage. Others, will simply tamper with the measuring stick. Meaning that they will soften the harsh reality of the Law and turn it into something that is more manageable and doable. When sin is no longer considered sin, they can now take comfort in their own efforts believing in themselves that they are actually working it out, that is keeping the Law. “know that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ.” Galatians 2:16 NIV.

If you think that you can be led by the strong arm of the Law for spiritual gain, you have been gravely misled. You see, the Law can only reveal and accuse us of our sin. “I would not have known what sin was had it not been for the law.” Romans 7:7NIV. Believe it or not, the Law as well has the effect of amplifying our sin. It reveals and exposes sin in places we never imagined. The more I hear the Law, the more sin I find that I have. The bad news is that the Law demands perfect obedience from us, and in the end it finds us all guilty of breaking it at some point. It ultimately pronounces a death sentence upon all, because nobody can keep up with its harsh demands. The Law offers no power of its own to help us keep it, and even in our own best efforts we don't even come close. A word to those who actually think that they are pulling it off, "For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse, as it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.” Galatians 3:10 NIV.

The function of the Law is not to make us better people, nor is it a means to earn God’s favor and get us right with Him. Rather, quite the opposite is true. The Law makes things worse for us by exposing and amplifying our sin. As well, the Law accuses us and declares us guilty of violating God’s holy standard. Under the firm teaching of the Law, the sinner is simply left with bad news and driven into a state despair and hopelessness. This is the work of the Law bringing about contrition in the sinner. Once he is in a contrite state, a feeling of anguish and sorrow over his sin, he is then prepared and ready to hear some good news, the Gospel. 

The Law is a paidagaigos (a harsh schoolmaster) that drives us and turns us away from our own self efforts, accomplishments, and sin. The Law must first turn us away from ourselves and our sin before the Gospel can turn us toward God in faith. A good dose of the Law is needed to bring one to the realization that he cannot save himself or even improve upon himself before God. When the Law has done it’s work, it’s preaching must stop. The broken and contrite sinner is now ready to hear the Gospel that rescues him from himself and the Law, the Good News of Christ's saving work on the cross in His dying and rising from the dead on the third day to save sinners. “that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures” 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 NIV.

This is not just a one-time event in the life of the believer. It is an ongoing reality in the life of the SinnerSaint living in tension between both the Law and the Gospel. The new life of the believer is born in baptism as the Old Man sinner is drowned beneath the water, and the New Man saint in Christ is raised up in the forgiveness of sins and newness of life. The Old Man sinner does not die easily and must continue to be killed off. We return to our baptism daily in the hearing of God’s Word, and we hear and receive the forgiveness of our sins weekly in the Sacraments of Absolution and The Lord’s Supper. We must daily hear God’s holy Law to remind us of the continued presence of sin in our lives. And, in the same breath, we must hear the Word of the Gospel, your sins are now forgiven you in Christ. This is how true spirituality takes place in the life of the Christian. 

Let us clarify lest we be accused of antinomianism, that is being against the Law. The Law must be taught primarily to accuse us, expose and amplify our sin. When one teaches the Law primarily for moral improvement or behavior modification giving us the impression that we are meriting or earning God’s favor, he is a false teacher. Our works and our spiritual disciplines and practices, so far as they line up with Scripture, are all fine and good so continue to do them because that's what we are called to do. That's what Christians do. But, remember they merit nor gain us anything before God. 

The Gospel, on the other hand, declares us guilty sinners now as innocent. Though we are rendered guilty of our sin under the Law, we are now pronounced innocent in Christ by the Gospel. Christ bore in Himself, in His body, and by His death the full punishment the law demanded for our sin. He became the biggest sinner that ever lived. He took upon Himself all the sins of the whole world. And in exchange we get His perfect righteousness, His work of perfectly keeping the Law and never sinning. Luther called it the "Happy exchange" or the “Sweet Swap”. He gets all our sin and its due punishment, and we get His perfect righteousness and all its blessings. “God made him who had no sin to be sinfor us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” 2 Corinthians 5:21 NIV.

Jesus overcame death with His life. His body was broken and His blood was shed to atone for our sin. He has removed the sting of death that has overshadowed all of humanity. We too have overcome death in His life given for us. Through baptism, we have been buried with Him in His death and raised to life with Him in His resurrection. Even so, God has adopted us into His family and made us His very own children. He has eclipsed our own self-righteousness with His own that was earned and won by His perfect adherence to the Law, His sinless life, and His death on the cross. We are now seen as holy and righteous in God’s sight and wear it like a well-worn garment all on account of Christ. This is the work of the Gospel.

The characteristic nature of the sheep, on the other hand, is one who is led by the Holy Spirit and leans not upon his own understanding to live out the Christian life. Sheep trust that Christ’s work alone is sufficient to save them and keep them saved. By faith sheep rely upon their master’s voice. Sheep are those living in God’s grace by the Gospel. “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand.” John 10:27-28 NIV.         

By nature, the sheep seeks to work out his salvation in the comfort of the Gospel. He is set free from the coercive personality of the Law with its stifling constraints and harsh demands. The Law demands works and lots of them all to be performed with absolute perfection. “For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.” James 2:10 NIV. Sheep are no longer reliant upon their own performance. Rather, their hope now rests in the assurance of Christ's performance not their own, His work on the cross in His death burial and resurrection for the forgiveness of their sins. “For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.” Romans 1:17 NIV.

Here is how sheep carry-on and conduct themselves. It’s a life of faith, believing and trusting in what God has promised them in Christ is true, the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation. The sheep is born anew, born from above. He is a new creation and has the mind of Christ. The Sheep is now freed from the Law and is now led by the Spirit of Christ. He lives according to the will of God and does it freely with a cheerful and glad heart. He delights in God’s Law, meditates upon it day and night, and receives it as good instruction. His works are those of the natural flowing fruits of the Spirit not those mandated under the coercion of the Law. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” Galatians 5:22-23 NIV.

Unlike the sheep, the cow lives a life of fear and doubt trusting in his own flesh. He is born of Adam possessing a sinful nature and relies upon his own reason and will. The cow is bound by the Law and compelled to perform works. He hates it and does not receive it as good instruction because it demands of him what he cannot do. 

Cows look inward and introspect. They are self-absorbed in looking for ways to improve their outward behavior all the while seeking to improve upon their relationship with God. The cow is uncomfortable and anxious in life never quite knowing where he stands with God.

Sheep, on the other hand, look outward in self-abandon. They are relaxed in themselves comfortable wearing the righteousness of Christ, and look to serve their neighbor and meet him in his need. The sheep with-out a doubt is at rest and at peace in the assurance of his salvation and the forgiveness of his sins in Christ.

This contrast between the cow living under the Law in fear, and the sheep living according to the Gospel by faith clearly describes this life of the Christian as being both sinner and saint at the same time. Yes, the Christian is born anew in Christ and now possesses the gift of the Holy Spirit, but he still retains the baggage of the old sinful nature, the flesh. It is a life born is baptism and fed and sustained by the Word and Sacraments. A life where the Old Man (cow) must be daily killed off as he once was drowned in the waters of baptism, so the New Man (sheep) can rise to newness of life.

In our daily lives, we see others doing great things in the world for humanity: the rich and famous, movie stars, sports heroes and the like. All too often, we think that this is what righteousness looks like, and in turn we see our own efforts as insufficient. We gage righteousness by what we see others doing and measure ourselves by them. Unfortunately, many of us are tempted to look to culture, to the world and then gage ourselves by it. As well, we look to others in the faith and see them as spiritual giants. Even so, we create our own righteousness by what we ourselves consider good and pleasing to God. When in fact, all these works are tainted with sin and have the dirty fingerprints of Adam all over them. These are the works characteristic of the cow feeding off the flesh, the Old Man sinner. “The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God. ”Romans 8:7-8 NIV.

We must look to Christ's righteousness, not others and surely not our own. That’s what sheep do. Christ’s work is perfect, ours is not. In His death and resurrection and by way of the Gospel, His righteousness is credited to our own account. We can now be at rest in Him and assured that His work alone is sufficient to save us and keep us in the faith. “The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace.” Romans 8:6 NIV.

Do you lean on your inner cow looking inward relying upon yourself to live out the Christian life, or do you look outward to your outer sheep and rely upon Christ?

Is your life Law driven by your works, your efforts, and your attempts please God and earn His favor? Or is your life led by faith in the Gospel, Christ’s finished work on the cross to save you and keep you saved? Are you trusting in the Law, works righteousness your own righteousness, or are you trusting in Christ’s work and His righteousness? “One is not righteous who does much, but the one who, without work, believes much in Christ. The law says, 'Do this,' and it is never done. Grace says, 'Believe in this,' and everything is already done.” Martin Luther. 

The Law compels and demands of us out of guilt and fear, yet the Gospel freely gives, provides, and delivers by faith and trust in Christ. “Now to the one who works, wages are not credited as a gift but as an obligation. However, to the one who does not work but trusts God who justifies the ungodly, their faith is credited as righteousness.” Romans 4:4-5 NIV.

Lean not on yourself for it feeds off the flesh which is self-absorbed and seeks its own self-righteousness. This is the Old Man sinner in himself, the cow who is driven by the Law. Rather, lean on Christ in His righteousness and selfless love that comes to us in the Gospel by the Holy Spirit. This is the New Man saint, the sheep in Christ who is led by His master’s voice.“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand.” John 10:27-28 NIV.

Hearing the Law point out the depths of our sin and what we are incapable of doing all the more magnifies what Christ did in living a sinless life and perfectly keeping the Law which is indeed what God requires for our salvation. So, let us be led by the Holy Spirit and rest in Christ’s work the author and finisher of our faith. “And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:1-2 NIV.

Believe it!