Category: Practical

Authority Isn’t A Bad Thing

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Family, Leadership, PracticalLeave a comment

Authority. The first thing most people do when they hear the word is cringe or prepare to reject it at all costs.

Rejecting authority is our natural reaction. It has been ingrained in us since the beginning. Our first parent’s Adam and Eve rejected God’s authority for their own, leading us to do the same ever since. So it is only natural we buck at the idea of authority.

Everyone is Under Authority

While that is our natural reaction, God tells us everyone is under authority.

But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a wife is her husband, and the head of Christ is God (1 Cor. 11:3).

God’s authority structure is arranged so that:

  • The head of every man is Jesus Christ.
  • The head of every wife is her husband.
  • The head of Jesus Christ is God.

An Objection

Immediately, upon reflecting on this list, some, especially those in the feminist movement, look at this structure and say, “God thinks woman are less valuable than men because they are subjected to them.” But that is not true. God’s structure isn’t based on worth, it’s based on roles.

Tax season ended several months ago. I don’t know about you but that is one of two seasons I don’t look forward to — summer in Texas being the other. But, as we all know, those are two seasons you can’t avoid, because they come back year after year.

When you finally sit down to fill out those dreaded tax forms, one question that appears on your form is: Are you the head of the household?

When the IRS asks that question, they don’t mean to imply that your children, or even your spouse, is of lesser value than you. They simple want to know the role you play in your family.

In a similar way, God’s authority structure is also based on the role we play in our family, which means men are not of greater value than women, they just play a different role. A role assigned by God, as the head of the family.

Digging Deeper Into the Structure

As we dig deeper into God’s ordained structure, we learn:

(1) Men must submit to Jesus

Men are not given absolute authority. Instead, men must act under Jesus’ directive because He is our head.

With Jesus as our head, we must allow Him to guide us, to lead us. As well as we must exercise our role of authority as Jesus would.

A good example of how Jesus exercises His authority is found in Ephesians 5:25-30

“Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body.” (Eph 5:25–30)

Ephesians 5 teaches men several things about leadership – how we are supposed to lead and what our role as the head of the family looks like.

According to Ephesians 5, men are to love, sacrifice for, provide for, care for, and protect their families, their wives. We aren’t to dominate them with a heavy hand. Nor are we to abuse, or use them. Instead, we are to love them as Jesus loves the church, giving of ourselves for them. We are to do everything in our power to care for them, protect them, and provide for them. We should also nourish them with the Word of God, leading them spiritually.

We should do all this, while at the same time allowing Jesus to lead us. He should continually be our example of headship, as well as our leader.

(2) Wives must submit to their husbands

I am fully aware that this is a controversial statement, especially in this day and age. But we are going to tackle it anyways.

What does it mean for a wife to submit to her husband?

Let me start with what it doesn’t mean, because I think that will clear up some misunderstanding.

  • It doesn’t mean you are to be dominated by your husband.
  • It doesn’t mean you can’t disagree with or even challenge your husbands ideas.
  • It doesn’t mean your husband can use and abuse you and you must take it willingly.
  • It doesn’t mean you can’t call your husband out on his sin.
  • It can’t mean any of those things because a husband is supposed to lead like Jesus.

Instead, what it means for a wife to submit to her husband is that:

  • She willingly accepts her God give role as her husband’s helper.
  • She willingly allows him to lovingly lead her, as Jesus is leading him.
  • She willingly accepts his decisions, as he seeks to do what is best for his family both physically and spiritually.

We know this is what it means for a wife to submit to her husband because her submission is based on Jesus’ submission to His father.

A wife’s submission is modeled by Jesus 

Even though Jesus is equal with the Father and God Himself, He willingly accepted His position as the Son, submitting to His Father. In doing so:

  • He accepted His role as Christ — the One who died for the sins of mankind.
  • He willingly allowed the Father to lead and guide Him, even to the cross.
  • He willingly accepted the Father’s will, allowing His decisions to be final.

Just as a husband is to be led by Jesus as he leads his family, a wife is to be led by Jesus as she submits to her husband. We are to live in obedience to the roles we are given in God’s authority structure.

Submission As A Reflection of the Gospel & God’s Wisdom

When both husband and wife submit according to God’s good design, two things happen.

(1) We Reflect the Gospel – by sacrificing our will for God’s will, just like Jesus sacrificed His will and His self for us.

(2) We Reflect God’s Wisdom – by showing the world that things go well when we function within our roles.

Before I accepted my first full-time pastorate, I worked for a staffing and recruiting company based out of Atlanta.

Relatively early in my tenure, I had the opportunity to move to Dallas and help open the companies first satellite office. When we moved, the owners did something I would never do. They didn’t appoint a manager for the office. Their thought was that a leader would naturally rise to the top that others in the office would follow. When that happened, they would promote that person to office manager.

In theory, that sounds good. In reality, it didn’t work. The result was an unproductive work environment that kept the office from thriving.

No one knew who “really” was in charge, who they were supposed to take orders from, or even their own role. The result was chaos, conflict, and an office that didn’t run as a well oiled machine.

Likewise, there is chaos and conflict in the family, when individual family members operate outside their God given roles. On the other hand, when we function within our God given roles, things run smoothly.

When we really think hard about it, we realize authority isn’t such a bad thing, it is instead a good thing that shouldn’t be despised, cringed at, or rejected. It’s something that should be embraced as a means of grace by which God provides for His people.

Question for Reflection

  1. Do you think of God’s authority as a means of grace?

Resources

Post adapted from my recent sermon God’s Authority Structure, which can be listened to in its entirety here.

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How Do We Run the Race to Win the Prize?

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Discipleship, Practical2 Comments

In my last post, we learned Christians must not give up. We must keep pressing forward. Despite set backs, road blocks, and distractions, we must, as Paul tells us, run the race of the Christian life to win the prize (1 Cor 9:24). But how? How are we to run?

How Do We Run Race to Win the Prize?

(1) Winning the prize takes assurance and motivation that comes through continued self-control 

In an effort to lose some weight and fit into my clothes better, I have been working out, eating healthy, and cutting the sweets out. The first two aren’t hard for me. I like working out and we generally eat healthy at my house. I, however, have a sweet tooth.

Cutting sweets out of my diet is a battle for me. One sweet that is particularly tough for me to give up is ice cream. If there is ice cream in the freezer, every time I walk by it I want to open it up and indulge. The urge becomes especially strong at night when I am relaxing on the couch watching TV.

Lately, I have been winning the battle, but there are times I lose. There are times when I lack self-control, which is ok every now and again. But if I want to win the diet battle, I have to exercise self-control, self-discipline more often than not. As I continue to exercise self-control and self-discipline, my assurance that I will win the diet battle grows, which motivates me to keep pressing on.

Paul tells us something similar. He tells us that if we want to finish the race of the Christian life and win the prize, we have to exercise self-control and self discipline, as we do our assurance that we will finish the race grows, which provides us with motivation to keep running (1 Cor. 9:25a; 27).

One way we can exercise self-control is by having a greater desire to please God than ourselves. I don’t know about you but my desire for God grows when I remember what Jesus has done for me in the gospel.

The gospel message tells us that Jesus saves us from the wrath of God by absorbing our sins on Himself and dying the death we deserve. As well as it tells us Jesus defeated sin’s reign over our lives, allowing us to resist its temptation and exercise self-control.

As we remind ourselves of the gospel, preaching it to ourselves, a sense of gratitude towards God and a desire to please Him should grow in our hearts. Our affections should be for God and not sin. When our affections, our desires, are more for God than sin, we will exercise self-control, resisting the desires of the flesh, which should give us assurance and motivation to keep running the race.

(2) Winning the prize takes focus

Muhammed Ali was famous for his saying, “I float like a butterfly. I sting like a bee.” Those two qualities allowed him not only to make quick work of his opponents with his pounding punches, but it also allowed him to make his opponents look foolish for striking the air instead of him.

Paul tells us if we want to finish the race and win the prize, we can’t be like Muhammed Ali’s opponents. We can’t flail around the ring, “beating the air” or running aimlessly (1 Cor. 9:26). Instead we have to box as one determined to knock their opponent out, and we have to run as one determined to win the race. In order to do that, we must be focused.

What we need to be focused on is Christ and the eternal heavenly reward awaiting us, so that we will keep our eye on the prize and stay on the track.

(3) Winning the prize also takes us heeding the warning of the past

Israel had a troubled history. One littered with fall after fall. What was at the heart of Israel’s sin was their pride. They thought they didn’t need the Lord, that they knew better, that they had it all figured out. They, however, were wrong, and their many falls prove it.

In fact, all of us are wrong if we believe we have it all figured out. Proverbs 11:2 tells us that,

“When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with the humble is wisdom.” (Pr 11:2)

And Proverbs 16:18 says,

“Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.” (Pr 16:18)

Those who think they know better than the Lord, that they don’t need Him, that they have it all figured out will not succeed. They will fall. You see, if we are going to finish this race, if we are going to win the prize, we can’t go at alone. We must depend on God. We must look to Him for how we are to live. We must humble ourselves before Him and allow Him to lead us.

(4) Winning the prize takes us resisting temptation

In 1 Corinthians 10:13 Paul says,

“No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.” (1 Cor 10:13)

Paul delivers to us a wonderful promise from God. A promise that tells us we don’t have to sin; we can resist temptation.

We can resist temptation because God makes a way of escape. In other words, He doesn’t allow us to get in a situation where we are forced to sin. We always have a choice.

John Piper commenting on this verse says,

“You can endure any temptation if you are relying upon and delighting in God more than what you are being tempted towards. A sufficient reason of obedience will always be given in the time of temptation.”

Then he goes on to say,

“Some kind of evidence that God is preferable to the sin we are tempted with will be given…That evidence might be:

(1) Remembering a threat, command, or promise God has made in His Word.

(2) Recalling an experience we have had of God’s kindness.

(3) Receiving a word of encouragement about God’s glory and beauty from a friend.”[1]

God will always provide us a way of escape. If that is true, the real question is: Do we want to escape the temptation and please God, or do we want to succumb to the temptation so we can please ourselves?  That is what it comes down to — who we desire to please – God or self?

If we desire to please God, if we delight in God, then we will be able to resist temptation because God always provides a way of escape for us.

(5) Winning the prize takes us fleeing idols

We can’t be united to Christ and an idol. We can only worship one thing. If we choose an idol over God, we are in jeopardy of running of the track and not finishing the race.

What is an idol?

An idol is anything we allow to take the place of God in our lives. It’s those things we give the most weight to, or think are necessary for life and happiness. Ultimately, an idol is anything that stands between us and God, hindering our relationship with Him because we are giving it our love, affections, and worship instead of God.

How do you know what your idol is?

Think about what you give your:

  • Attention
  • Time
  • Money
  • What you sacrifice for
  • What you can’t live without

That which fits those categories could be an idol in your life. It could be the thing that is stealing your affections, love, and worship away from God.

Paul tells us if we want to finish the race, we have to flee idols. We have to run from them toward God, allowing Him alone to satisfy us (1 Cor. 10:14).

Question for Reflection

  1. What are some other ways to run the race to win the prize?

Resources

Post adapted from the sermon Run the Race to Win the Prize which you can listen to in its entirety here.

[1] John Piper, The Sovereignty of God and the Sin of the Believer, found at: http://www.desiringgod.org/articles/the-sovereignty-of-god-and-the-sin-of-the-believer

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Run the Race of the Christian Life to Win the Prize

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Discipleship, Practical1 Comment

Dan Jansen was always close with his sister – in fact it was she who suggested he become a speed skater. In 1988 his dream came true when he made it to the Winter Olympics in Calgary, Canada. With just hours to go to his first race he informed his sister had died.

Of course, the news of his sister’s death stunned and devastated Jansen, but he decided to compete anyways. His sister had encouraged him to be a speed skater and supported him along the way to his Olympic dreams. It is what she would have wanted.

As he raced across the ice that day, grief proved to be too much. He feel in both races, dashing his hopes of winning the gold.

Although he was grieved and defeated, Jansen decided he couldn’t quit. He continued to chase the gold. In 1992, he came back to the Winter Olympics hoping to win, but the gold eluded him once again. Still undeterred he set to train for the next Olympic games.  Finally, in 1994, all his effort paid off. He not only won the gold in the 1,000 meter but he also set a new world record.

Jansen succeeded because he didn’t give up. Despite all the set backs he kept pressing forward toward the prize.

Likewise, as Christians we must not give up. We must keep pressing forward. Despite set backs, road blocks, and distractions, we must, as Paul tells us, run the race of the Christian life to win the prize (1 Cor 9:24).

Run the Race of the Christian Life to Win the Prize

Paul, using an image from the Isthmian Games held in Corinth, says in 1 Corinthians 9:24

“Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one received the prize? So run that you may obtain it.”(1 Cor. 9:24)

Now when Paul says this, he doesn’t mean to imply only one of us will win the prize, that is pressing Paul’s image too far. Instead what Paul wants us to do is run the race of the Christian life in such a way that we will win the prize.

When I was in elementary school, I was one of the fastest kids in the school — it was a small school. I remember one year I was cocky. I knew I was faster than everyone else, so on the first race of the heat I held back; I didn’t give it my all. I still came in first, but when I went to brag to my teacher about how I had just won he said, “You didn’t win by much. You better step it up, or you won’t make it to the finals.”

My teacher taught me something in that moment. He taught me that I didn’t have it in the bag and that I had to give it my all, I had to run so as to obtain the prize.

Christians must do the same. We have to run so as to win the prize. We can’t give a half effort. We can’t be lackadaisical about our Christian walk. If we are, we may not cross the finish line and win the prize.

Not Works Based

In saying we have to run in such a way so as to obtain the prize, Paul is not advocating a works based salvation. Paul is holding a tension between Christ’s work and our work. Yes, those who are Christ’s will finish the race, but that doesn’t mean we don’t have to work to finish it.

The encouraging part of running the Christian race is that we don’t have to run it in our own power. At salvation, not only is our heart created anew, which causes us to desire to run for Christ, but we are also empowered by God to run. In Philippians 2:12b-13, Paul tells us to:

“Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.” (Phil. 2:12b-13)

Do you see what Paul is saying? We are to work out our own salvation – run with all our might, striving for the finish line – but we don’t run in our own power or alone. God runs with us, empowering us by changing our will, causing us to want to work to please Him, and giving us the strength to press on. What a glorious truth!

What is the Prize?

“Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable.” (1 Cor 9:25)

Once again using an image from the Isthmian Games, Paul tells us our prize is greater than any earthly prize because: It is not perishable, but imperishable. It’s not temporary, but eternal. It’s not a laurel wreath, but a crown. Our prize, the prize we run the race to receive, is eternal life.

Since our prize is so great, we should give it our all. We shouldn’t run the race at half-speed, but full steam ahead until we cross the finish line.

Question for Reflection

  1. Are you running the race to win the prize?

Resources

Post adapted from the sermon Run the Race to Win the Prize which you can listen to in its entirety here.

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How & Why We Need to Live Out the Golden Rule

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Practical7 Comments

Broken Glasses

We all know the Golden Rule. It is found in Matthew 7:12. There Jesus says,

“So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.”

While we have all recited this rule throughout our life, do we know what it really means?

For this is the Law and Prophets

In order to answer the question, we have to start with the last phrase, “For this is the Law and Prophets.” Later on in Matthew we come across a conversation Jesus has with a Lawyer who asks Him what is the greatest commandment.

In response to the question, Jesus says,

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” (Matt. 22:37-40)

It is important we start with this phrase because Jesus’ commandment in verse 12 is another way to summarize the command. We can’t do unto others as we would have them do unto us without first loving God and then loving others.

The reason we need to love God before we can love others has to do with our heart. Before our heart is penetrated by the gospel we are enemies of God. We don’t love Him, we hate Him.

After our heart is pierced by the gospel, a change takes place. We no longer see God as our enemy. Instead we love Him, which is crucially important because only after we love God, will we obey His command to love others and practice the Golden Rule.

Positive, Not Negative

The second thing we need to look at in order to understand the Golden Rule is the nature of Jesus’ command. His command is given in the positive, not the negative.

Instead of not doing what we don’t want done to us. Jesus tells us we are to do to others what we would want them to do to us.

In other words, if you want others to…

  • Serve you
  • Love you
  • Care for you
  • Give to you
  • Be nice to you
  • Respect you
  • Honor you
  • Listen to you
  • Learn from you
  • Hold you accountable
  • Comfort you
  • Counsel you
  • etc

…then you do these things to them. In the way we want to be treated, we are to treat others, which is the Golden Rule.

Easier Said Than Done

I know it is easier said than done. It is easy to not do what we don’t want done to us. For instance:

  • If we don’t want others to steal from us, we don’t steal from them.
  • If we don’t want others to hurt our families, we don’t hurt theirs.
  • If we don’t want others to aggravate us, we don’t aggravate them.

It is much easier for us not to do what we don’t want done to us because of the benefit we receive.

It is much harder, however, to do what we want others to do for us because we don’t always benefit. We may do and do, but never see any return. Here is why love is necessary.

True Love

True love is not built around our emotions, getting what we want, or what makes us happy. The culture defines love in that way. The Bible, however, defines love as self-sacrifice, which means we don’t always get what we want. When we are not getting what we want, it is harder to live by the Golden Rule.

The golden rule, however, isn’t about us getting what we want. Jesus doesn’t give it so we can be selfish. He gives it because He wants us to understand what it looks like to truly love one another.

Salt and Light

When we live out the golden rule, truly love others, we live as salt and light to the world. We are a witness for the gospel because we live in a way the world doesn’t because the world doesn’t give without getting.

Not only are we a witness to the power of the gospel when we live out the Golden Rule, but we also promote peace and societal flourishing. In other words, we make the world a better place, and give others a glimpse of what the world to come will look like simple by doing unto others what we would have them do to us.

Questions for Reflection

  1. Do you truly live by the Golden Rule?
  2. What would you add to the discussion here about the Golden Rule?
  3. Do you agree or disagree with my explanation and application?

If Paul has not arrived…

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Discipleship, Practical7 Comments

If Paul has not arrived, then neither have we. The apostle Paul, arguable the greatest Christian to walk on the face of this earth, tells us in Philippians 3:11-16 that he has not arrived. He has not attained the prize. He is still running the race and pressing forward. He says,

“that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. Only let us hold true to what we have attained.”

Why does Paul not believe he has attained the prize?

Paul has not attained the prize because he is not yet in heaven with his Savior. Nor has he received his glorified body at the second resurrection. Since he is neither in heaven, nor clothed in his resurrected body, he has not yet finished the race.

Paul believes only those who persevere in the Christian life will be raised to be with Christ for all eternity.

A one time confession of faith is not enough for Paul. Yes, he believes the phrase “once saved always saved.” But there is more to that phrase than most people want to include. Along with a confession of faith, there must be growth in Christlikeness and endurance until the end. A one time confession of faith. A trip down the aisle. A faith that has no growth will not do.

That is not to say we muster up Christlike character and endurance on our own. No, it is God who empowers us to live the Christian life and endure to the end (Phil. 2:13; 3:3). He is the One who predestines, saves, sanctifies, and glorifies (Rom. 8:29-30).

We still must endure

Even though God has promised that those who are His will be glorified, we still must endure. We cannot become complacent, prideful, and apathetic, thinking we have attained the prize, when we have not. This thought is what leads Paul to say,

“that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.” (Phil. 3:11)

An objection

Some of you may be thinking:

“Hold on a minute. Are you telling me that Paul, the greatest Christian to ever live, is not sure if he will be with Christ in heaven?”

Yes, in one sense I am saying that, because Paul is saying that. Paul believes he is saved and as one who is saved he believes he will endure to the end. However, since the end has not yet come, he holds this assurance in tension with what he knows of his own sinful heart and what he doesn’t know about the future. He will only know that he has “arrived” when he crosses the finish line at the end of his life.

You see, Paul knows those who have professed faith in Christ and lived like Christians, only to have walked off the track never to return and cross the finish line. You all know people like that as well. People you thought were solid Christians, who denounced their faith, lived the rest of their lives like atheists, and died, having never returned to the race. At one time, you may have thought they were a shoe in for the finish line, but it turns out they were not. Since they did not finish the race, they will not attain to the resurrection from the dead to eternal life when Christ returns.

Hope and a Challenge

For good measure, may I also add that those who never finish the race prove they were never in the race to begin with, even though they thought they were, because those who are in the race will finish the race.

While we know that those who are in the race will finish, we cannot become complacent, we cannot stop running, we cannot take our eye off the prize. If we lose focus, if we are attracted by the lures of the world, we may run off the track and never finish. We must keep pressing on, using every means possible to attain to the resurrection from the dead.

No matter if you have been a Christian for 1 day, 1 month, 1 year, 10 years, or 50 years, you have to keep pressing on. You have to keep running the race, using any means possible to attain to your prize, Jesus Christ.

Again, this does not mean we run in our own power. God is the One who is ultimately working in us to cause us to endure, changing our desires and empowering us through the Holy Spirit. Even so, we must still run.

So then, Christian, hope in Christ. Trust God will glorify those whom He has saved, but don’t become complacent and apathetic. Use any means necessarily by the power of God to attain to your prize. Keep running! Keep pushing! The finish line is in sight!

Questions

  1. How does Paul’s view of finishing the race change your view of salvation?
  2. Have you ever thought of the Christian life as a race that must be finished in order to attain Christ?
  3. Do you know that God is the one empowering you and causing you to endure in the race? How does knowing that change the way you run the race?

Resources

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Does God Help Those Who Help Themselves?

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Discipleship, Practical2 Comments

America is a hard working nation. The average workweek is no longer 40 hours a week, but 50, 60, or even 70 hours a week. Why do we work so hard and for so long? We have been told no one is going to do it for us and so we operate under the mentality that we have to go out there and earn it ourselves. While that is partly true in the secular world, it is not true when it comes to salvation found in Christ.

Sadly, many have applied this concept of ‘earning it yourself’ to Christian life. They live by the motto ‘God helps those who help themselves.’ If we do our part, then God will do his part. Even though that may sound right to our ears and in our culture, it is not true.

What Does Living By This Motto Mean?

Look: I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law. You are severed from Christ, you who would be justified by the law; you have fallen away from grace. (Galatians 5:2-4)

Paul is saying that if we believe we need to do something other than have faith in Christ for salvation, we do not understand the gospel. Instead of understanding Christ we have rejected him and are obligated to keep the whole law, which cannot be done.

So then, by thinking we can add works or merit to the gospel we will earn acceptance with God, we, in fact, do the opposite. We do not gain the acceptance from God for which we were hoping. God doesn’t help those who help themselves.  God helps those who can’t help themselves. That may come as a shock, but that is what Scripture tells us.

By thinking we have to do our part, we prove we don’t believe Christ’s sacrifice is sufficient; we believe we have to make up for something that it lacks.

Christ’s sacrifice, however, lacks nothing. His work on the cross sufficiently paid the price for our sins – past, present, and future. We do not need to do anything to earn or pay God back for our salvation. Christ paid it all and earned it all for us.

How Do We Try To Earn God’s Acceptance?

Even though the Bible tells us that we are accepted and made righteous because of Christ’s work–not because of our works–we still have a tendency to try and earn God’s acceptance. Why do we do this knowing it doesn’t work? The temptation of moralism is powerful. It fits within the framework of our society.

Moralism is the idea that we can earn righteousness, or acceptance through our works, and it is inherent in our DNA; it is natural to us.

For example, if you do well in school, you will be rewarded with recognition or accepted into an elite program. If you do well at work, you will be acknowledged and promoted. This is how our society works, but it isn’t how the gospel works.

In order to combat something so natural to us, we must know what things we typically add to the gospel. If we know some of the things we add to the gospel, we can watch out for them and seek to rid them from our lives.

What Are The Things We Add To The Gospel?

Before we get into it, let me first say, we should do all of the following, but for different reasons. The reason we do them is because Christ has made us righteous, not in order to gain acceptance or righteousness.

What are the things we may add to the gospel, thinking we become more righteous by doing them?

A Quiet Time – Some believe that if they miss their quiet time they will loose God’s acceptance and things will go bad for them. It is almost as if they treat their quiet time like Karma. However, the reason we do a quiet time is to commune with God, learn more about him, and how he would have us live in his kingdom, not so that things will go well for us.

Church Attendance – There are those in the Church who think themselves superior to others and more accepted by God because they come to church every time the doors are open. Yes, we should attend church services. The reason we attend should be to fellowship with, encourage, and serve other believers; worship the Lord; and learn more about our Savior, not to make ourselves more righteous or acceptable to God.

Holding to a Certain Political View – In the South, I think we have this false notion that being a Republican is the same as being a Christian. Well, not necessarily. There are some who genuinely follow Christ who politically identify with Democrats or Independents. In order to come to Christ, you don’t have to change your political affiliation; you only have to believe in Jesus as your savior. That doesn’t mean; however, all believers should not hold to their party affiliations without biblical discernment.

Social Justice – It is right and good to fight and provide for the needs of others. Scripture calls us to love our neighbor, take care of widows and orphans, and provide for the poor and needy. All these things, however, are the result of the gospel melting our heart of stone into hearts of flesh. In other words, we do them because we have been made righteous, not to gain righteousness.

Being on Mission – Our God is a God of mission. He both calls us and uses us to accomplish His mission. While it is true a large number of Christians avoid, or half-heartedly accept God’s call to mission, those who actively take it up are not more righteous than those who do not. I need to be careful here because I do not want to discount the necessity to be on God’s mission. I do, however, want to make sure those who label themselves as missional do not create a false sense of superiority, or believe they are more accepted for their labors. We are on God’s mission because He has called us to it, not to puff ourselves up or gain greater acceptance from God.

Community – Since we are made in the image of God, community is in our DNA. The Trinity has existed in community for all eternity, serving, loving, and glorifying one another. We are called to reflect or image that community here on earth as those redeemed by Christ. By God’s grace some reflect that relationship better than others. Where I believe some go wrong is to believe better community equals greater acceptance from God. The only reason, however, we can exist in community with one another is because the gospel has changed our heart. Better community then does not equal greater acceptance from God. Better community is the result of God’s work in the gospel.

Other things we may have a tendency to add to the gospel are:

  • Prayer
  • Community service
  • Adoption
  • Home schooling
  • Baptism
  • Giving
  • Eating organic

Again, all these things are right and good, but none of these things make us more acceptable to God. We are justified by faith alone. You see, in Christ, we are as accepted as we will ever be. We can do nothing to make ourselves more acceptable. Nor do we need to do anything. Christ’s sacrifice on the cross is sufficient.

Attempting to gain acceptance outside of Christ, will merit us nothing but exhaustion, because our work will never be done. Exhaustion will turn into anxiety because we never know if God accepts us or not. Exhaustion and anxiety will turn into distress, and finally disappointment as we realize we cannot be made righteous through our own work.

In addition, by adding these things to the gospel message we functionally prove we don’t believe Christ’s sacrifice is sufficient. Rather, we prove we actually believe we have to make up for something that it lacks. But what Paul is telling us, and why this message is so important, is that if we think we must add to the gospel in order to be saved, or to maintain our righteousness, even though we say we believe in Christ as our Savior, we may not be saved.

So as Christians, we have to examine our hearts. We have to ask ourselves why we do the things we do. Is it because Christ has saved us and the Holy Spirit is working in us to produce the fruits of righteousness through the means of grace? Or is it because we think we have to do these things in order to either gain or maintain our acceptance with God? Your answer will be telling of your understanding of the gospel.

God Helps Those Who Humble Themselves

God does not help those who help themselves; God helps those who humble themselves. He helps those who completely and utterly depend on Him for salvation. He helps those who see Christ’s sacrifice as sufficient and who do not attempt to earn his acceptance through their work.

God wants us to depend on him completely and to trust that Jesus’ sacrifice is all we need for salvation. If we are trying to help ourselves, then we do not really understand the gospel. We do not really know what it means to accept God’s free grace for our sins. We do not understand that all our works are like filthy rags and they are not able to merit us even one ounce of God’s acceptance.

We are saved by God’s grace through Jesus Christ’s death on the cross, which means we must stop laboring for God’s acceptance. We must stop laboring for our salvation. We must trust in Jesus Christ for our salvation! Once we realize our salvation doesn’t come through our labors but Christ’s, we can then labor for the right reason. We can labor because we have been accepted, not for acceptance.

Questions for Reflection

  1. Have you thought in the past that you need to earn your acceptance with God?
  2. Do you believe you need to pay God back for your salvation?
  3. How freeing was it for you when you realized that salvation was by faith alone?
  4. If we do not earn salvation from God through our works, why do we work?
  5. What or whom empowers us to work?

Resources

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This post was also posted at Gospel Centered Discipleship. Click here to view my post there. You can also download a PDF copy if you are interested. While you are at it, check out some of their other work.