Our Incurable Addiction

"[F]or in his own eyes he flatters himself too much to discover and hate his own sin" (Psalm 36:2, HCSB).     

Man insists upon presenting Himself to God in the most favorable light in regards to his deeds, thinking that the good ones outweigh the bad ones and that he has some merit before a "just" God who will have mercy on him.   He should realize that Job One is repentance and that he must realize he's a lost sinner in need of God and cannot save himself.  The chief problem with man is that he doesn't see his own sin or unworthiness--he believes in the basic or inherent goodness of man and of himself; however, our do-goodery amounts to zilch in God's estimation and He doesn't grade on a curve--He leveled the playing field and we're all in the same boat (totally depraved with nothing good to claim).

If God were just to all of us, we'd all be judged worthy of damnation!  We can be thankful God tempers His justice with mercy (cf. Habukkuk 3:2) We would hope God is not just, and not only merciful (keeping us from getting our just due) but also gracious (giving us what we don't deserve, cannot pay back, and cannot even earn).

The difference between what the common man in view of his religiosity thinks and Christianity is that he is incurably addicted to doing something for his salvation and doesn't seem to have the mindset to realize that it's a gift to be received.  It's not about "Do!" but "Done!"  In Christ, it's a done deal and there's nothing we can do to improve upon God's plan!  To add to God's work is an insult to our Maker like painting a mustache on the Mona Lisa!   God doesn't need our efforts to impress Him, for we cannot.  Put it this way:  If we had to do something for salvation, we'd fail!

Salvation must be seen as something we cannot earn by anything we do, and we have no merit before God--that's the definition of grace (unmerited favor!). This is the only way to make salvation available to all  (the outward, general call is to all per Titus 2:11) because it's the only way that everyone has equal chance and no one is excluded, since anyone can believe!  If God had said we had to run the mile in under four minutes, you'd see every earnest believer taking up jogging and joining track teams!

But faith is not what we see, it's evidence of that something being real to us; however, we want to do something because we cannot conceive of this abstract thought of faith.  The Jews asked Jesus what they must do to do the works of God and He told them:  "The work of God is this:  to believe in the one he has sent" (cf. John 6:29, NIV).  You can read at least two doctrines into this verse:  Our faith is solely God's work in our heart and a gift that only God can accomplish; and the only thing that pleases God is faith and our works in the flesh amount to nothing..   But James (cf. James 2:24) said that we are not saved by faith alone but by works!  What he was getting at was that faith must be proved by works and Paul would say that works must spring from faith.

We dare not divorce faith and works for a faith without works as evidence is dead faith and cannot save.  ("faith without works is dead" according to James 2:26).  The Reformers reconciled all this by their famous formula of salvation:  We are saved by faith alone, but not by a faith that is alone!  It just makes sense that anyone can just say they have faith or even believe they have faith, but if there's no fruit, there's no reality of faith.  Our works become a "therefore," not an "in order to."

There's a difference between a profession of faith and a reality of faith.  Just as Christ said that we shall know them by their fruits, and know fruit means no faith, the whole point of salvation is a changed and transformed life from the inside out due to a living relationship with God through Jesus. We must realize that true faith expresses itself, it's the evidence that gives us credibility and witness to the lost.

We are not saved by our good deeds or behavior, but unto them, likewise, we are not saved by good deeds, but not without them either (CAVEAT:  Beware the doctrine of the antinomians who adhere to a faith that is alone and doesn't need produce works; i.e., once saved you can live lawless or without restraint).

In sum, we must turn that creed into deeds, letting it show, giving it away to keep it, just as Titus 2:14, NIV,  says so plainly:  "... purify for  himself a people, that is his very own, eager to do what is good."       Soli Deo Gloria!

Walking Worthy Of Our Lord

"The eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him" (2 Chron. 16:9, NIV).   

Just because we're saved doesn't guarantee we'll act it.  In some cases Christians fall short of the ideals and morals of the infidel, who is solely motivated by selfish pride and impressing others--as people-pleasers.   The Spirit-led, controlled, directed, filled believer has put on the new self-created in Christ's image, called the new man. He has found the Enabler, the Holy Spirit as the dynamic for living.  It's not a matter of how much of the Spirit one has, but how much of you He has.  The new life in Christ is all about surrender and it's not just a once-for-all, completed event.   He doesn't have an ulterior motive for good but wants to serve God from gratitude.

We're all works in progress and should humbly ask others to be patient with us as God isn't finished with us yet.  But we can rejoice that God doesn't deal with us as our sins deserve and He corrects us when we err.  It is said that the closer we get to God, the more we see our imperfections.   As we progress in our sensitivity to the Spirit, we strive to seek the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace and not attention to us.  Just like the Spirit seeks not to bring attention to Himself, but to Christ, so also, as believers we seek God's glory and rejoice when God uses us for it.

It is said quite wisely that the mature believer is not divisive, contentious, argumentative, nor judgmental, but leaves room for God's judgment or gives the benefit of the doubt.   As it says in Scripture, the man of God must not strive or quarrel!  But we're all human too and this temptation will come as our pride gets in the way and we succumb to Satan's Anfectung or attack.  But we should beware of the devil's schemes and not get fooled--he's always playing mind games with psychological warfare (e.g., 'divide and conquer').  He just loves to strike at our pride because that seems to be his specialty and his evil.

Only when we walk in the Spirit, always in fellowship and in constant prayer and confession are we worthy of our Lord, but this involves applying the Word, being a witness to others, and growing in faith and its application as we do walk in the presence of God.  There are no short-cuts, easy paths, or formulae to follow; the only way is the O.J.T. of the trench warfare of real-life--the school of hard knocks of putting God's Word into practice.  We must all realize that hardship and Reality 101 are part of the divine curriculum when we matriculated in the school of Christ, and that God sends us adversity for our growth opportunities--to test our faith for our sake.  We will all have a different pilgrimage and spiritual journey to complete.  God has selected each man's work and purpose--finding it is the secret because many never do. 

Those who serve God wholeheartedly can be said to be walking worthily.  God frowns upon the lackadaisical disciple who doesn't commit or follow through.  David pleased God in that he served Him with all his heart.  Joshua and Caleb likewise "wholly followed the Lord."  In other words, they were gung-ho and had gusto and spunk!  The world may count the spiritual man as out of his mind, a fool, or demented, but this is for God's glory.  We must own Him as Lord and this always includes confessing Him as Lord.

The worthy believer has not divorced faith and faithfulness. They are two sides of the same coin!  He realizes the importance of endurance and perseverance as God preserves us.   Faithfulness implies that we apply our faith with good works to prove its worth or value.  We progress from faith to faith and grow by our faithfulness.  The righteous man shall live by his faithfulness according to Romans 1:17 which also means by his faith, for the two words are the same in Hebrew (cf. Hab. 2:4). 

In sum, the believer who has a healthy relationship and/or fellowship with his Lord is without duplicity or hypocrisy to others--he makes no parade of his spirituality or false impressions but is in earnest with all integrity, even if a sin is obvious, he can be pleasing to God, though the sin displeased Him.    But his testimony is not jeopardized by acting contrary to what pleases the Lord.  One must acknowledge his sins, no matter how great and confess them with all sincerity and this doesn't mean he won't ever sin or offend others--he's both sinner and saint--a justified saint!  In other words:  What you see is what you get (no pretense)!      Soli Deo Gloria!