legalism

Gone ’round the bend

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I know some of you think I’ve “gone ’round the bend”, because I keep posting about this “new” or “fresh” encounter I’ve had with God’s love. It is an encounter with the finished work on the Cross by Jesus. It is the love of Jesus that has changed me.

But some of you think I’ve gone crazy. You think I’m nuts because I keep posting stuff like:

“Because Jesus won, I’m free to lose.
… because Jesus was strong, I’m free to be weak.
… because Jesus was someone, I’m free to be no one.
… because Jesus was the ultimate leader, I’m free and content to be a follower.
… because Jesus was (is) extraordinary, I’m free and content to be ordinary.
… because Jesus succeeded, I am free to fail.
… because ‘It is finished’, the work is done.
There is such freedom in those words, but there’s more. I’ve said it before but I have to say it again and again because it is such Good News: There’s nothing I can do to make God love me more and nothing I can do to make God love me less. There is nothing I can do to repay God. There is nothing I can do to curry God’s favor, including surrendering more.” (Posted May 3rd)

And…

“All of us so easily fall into a trap of measuring our own righteousness. We measure it by how much we pray. We measure it by how much we read our Bibles. We measure it by our behavior day-by-day. We measure how we talk, what we drink, and even by how much or what we eat. We measure ourselves against others. But when we measure, by definition, we are self-righteous. We become legalists. We become like the Pharisees in Jesus’ day.” (Posted May 15)

Because I said these things, those of you who know me think I’ve fallen off the doctrinal wagon. Some may think that I’m espousing some kind of radical license to sin or to be lazy. Some may even think that I have fallen into some kind of sin; otherwise why would I talk about grace so often?!?

I’m not saying:

Don’t pray.
Don’t read your Bible.
Don’t go to church.
Don’t serve in the Kingdom somewhere.
Don’t be grieved when you sin because you’re going to heaven anyway.

What I am saying is that my (and your) only hope is Jesus. If we truly understand what Jesus has accomplished on the Cross, we are set free from the pressure of striving and trying so hard to “be a Christian.”

Once we really understand the love that God has for us in Jesus, we are free to fully and completely trust Him. We pray because we want to know Him more. We read our Bible to know His character (John 1:1, Hebrews 1:1), His truth (John 14:17), His instruction and His correction (2 Tim 3:16). We go to church because that is where we find community with like-minded Jesus-followers. We serve because that is how we show the love of God to those outside our community who so desperately need it.

We don’t do those things because it’s our duty or we need to repay God, but in doing them, we know God more fully. And knowing God more fully is what you WANT to do when you truly understand what God has accomplished just for you and me in Christ at the Cross. Desiring to know God more fully just simply flows from a life which understands the freedom and victory the Cross has brought.

Lastly, some may think that I’ve adopted some form of “once-saved, always-saved” doctrine. Those four words have come to mean something else than what was originally intended. They’ve come to negatively portray a theology of license. In other words, once you’re saved by grace, you’re free to live any way you want, because God’s grace will forgive you in the end. The apostle Paul makes it clear that simply isn’t true in Romans 5:20-6:7. Instead, those four words “once-saved, always-saved” or the words, “eternal security” should bring freedom and take the pressure off. Once you truly understand the love of God in Christ and truly embrace the work done there, you don’t want to live any way you want. You want to live any way GOD wants. If you or I are living another way, then I wonder if we truly understand God’s love.

So… have I gone ’round the bend? Yep.
Have I gone crazy? You better believe it.

I have encountered the good news of the Good News. If you find that you feel worse leaving church than when you entered, something’s wrong. You need the Gospel. It brings freedom. It takes the pressure off. It’s brings joy and peace like never before.

And you’ll want to tell everyone.

May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. (Galatians 6:14, NIV)

If it seems we are crazy, it is to bring glory to God. And if we are in our right minds, it is for your benefit. Either way, Christ’s love controls us. Since we believe that Christ died for all, we also believe that we have all died to our old life. He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them. (2 Corinthians 5:13-15, NLT)

Cut Yourself Some Slack

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I was meeting with a guy some time ago who said he wanted his spiritual life to grow. He wanted to get serious about his spirituality but felt stuck in neutral, so to speak. He was frustrated by his apathy and wanted to take following Jesus to the next level.

My mind immediately began to go into action as he was talking, thinking of ways he could increase the intensity of his devoutness (is that even a word??). I thought of ways he could pray more. I thought of ways he could dig into God’s Word. Maybe a Bible-reading plan would help? I thought that sometimes the best way to break out of a funk is to serve others… how could he do that? Thankfully, in that flurry of thought, I caught myself.

I told him first, “Cut yourself some slack. I’ll bet you are very hard on yourself.” He said he was. It stemmed from his early years in his childhood church and how he learned to follow Jesus growing up. I continued, “God knows your heart. He knows right now that you’re talking to me about knowing Him more deeply. He knows you have that desire. I know He is smiling about that right now. You are not as apathetic as you think or you wouldn’t be having these desires. Cut yourself some slack.”

All of us so easily fall into a trap of measuring our own righteousness. We measure it by how much we pray. We measure it by how much we read our Bibles. We measure it by our behavior day-by-day. We measure how we talk, what we drink, and even by how much or what we eat. We measure ourselves against others. But when we measure, by definition, we are self-righteous. We become legalists. We become like the Pharisees in Jesus’ day.

Our righteousness is found only in Christ. It is not found in what we do, it is found in what He has already done. As God’s Word says:

All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away. (Isaiah 64:6, NIV)

For the Kingdom of God is not a matter of what we eat or drink, but of living a life of goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. (Romans 14:17, NLT)

That is why we need a Savior.

As our meeting ended, I asked my friend to read a book that set me free from this trap. It’s by Billy Graham’s grandson, Tullian Tchividjian. It’s called “One Way Love”. It has been eye-opening and life-changing. I highly recommend it.

The Gospel has come to set us free from the trap of performance-ism. We don’t have to work to please God. When we think upon Him, even just desiring to know Him more, I know it pleases Him.

I know He smiles.

(To find out more about this transforming encounter with God’s grace, read “One Way Love”, available at your favorite bookstore or at Amazon.com HERE.)

Buried Treasure

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Did you hear of the couple in California who were digging in their backyard and found a huge collection of gold coins throught to be worth $10 million? Of course you did. How about the 100-year old baseball card collection found in the attic worth over $500,000? Astounding.

Have you ever found something like that? No, not something worth millions or even several thousands of dollars, but something that you didn’t know was there or forgot was there, and when you found it, it was like you discovered it for the very first time? Maybe some old clothes or old photographs of your children? I found something recently and it was like I discovered it for the very first time.

I was raised by parents who valued acheivement and good grades. They were both high achievers themselves and they instilled a work ethic into me and into my two older brothers. We knew the value of hard work. We still do. But when we wanted to rebel, we would get lazy. I can still remember the first time I purposely didn’t do my homework in 5th grade. What a sick feeling I had in my stomach as the bus approached the school!

Until recently, I still felt sick when I failed. When I failed to live up to expectations – either my self-imposed perfectionism or someone else’s – I still had this empty feeling. Truth-be-told, I imagine there are others out there like me.

But over the past several months, I discovered something that was “buried” in my “attic”. And that something is grace.

It’s not that I’ve been rebellious or have fallen into some pit of sin. I haven’t. It’s just that I’ve discovered grace as if for the very first time. No, I haven’t discovered God’s forgiveness for the very first time; I’ve known that and experienced that and am so thankful for that.

What I’ve discovered is that I don’t have to do ANYTHING to experience God’s acceptance and love. I don’t have to “get my act together.” I don’t have to “get serious” about my faith… I’ve already been plenty serious, believe me. I don’t have to “step-it-up” or “take it up another notch” or “double my efforts” or any other cliche you’ve heard before. Jesus has already done all that’s necessary by (literally) His own blood, sweat, and tears. I don’t have to work for it. The work’s already been done. I’ve discovered my utter dependence on Jesus and this loving grace. And utter dependence IS OKAY. Actually, there’s no better place to be. Again, this flies in the face of “pull yourself up by your own bootstraps” thinking.

This “discovery” or re-discovery has been life-changing. It has been so liberating, especially for the perfectionist like me, always trying to get good grades. And it compels me to live only for Him. It compels me to give my all for Him.

“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.” (Matthew 13:44)

Incidentally, this kind of liberating grace is annoying to the legalists, those who are still trying to measure performance (either their own or someone else’s). If it rubs you the wrong way, ask yourself (as I did), “How do I measure my righteousness?” Is it by something you do – prayer, Bible-reading, serving, etc.? Or is it only by the blood of Jesus? The blood of Jesus is the only thing that makes you righteous. It’s the only thing that matters.

That, in itself, is liberating. I guess that’s why it’s called Good News.