This could be the theme of my morning on this blustery cold day. I woke up, my mind dreading the things I had planned to do today. If only I could ignore them, and they would just magically get done. But alas, I peeled myself out of bed and, with some hesitation, put on my running clothes in order to fulfill a promise I'd made to a friend.
As my heart raced, so did my mind, like it always does when I'm doing something "mindless." Last night I tuned into a sermon on the radio. The pastor was preaching on Hebrews. He condemned the idea that we somehow fall out of God's grace every time we sin. He declared that we as Christians tend to mix the Old Testament law with the New Testament law. Now, I do understand that we don't earn our salvation, but I had never heard the other side of the spectrum. That, in the same way our good works do not buy our salvation, neither do sins nullify our salvation. I was skeptical of this teaching, but I kept listening. Surely I couldn't just do whatever I wanted and God would just keep on forgiving me, He continued to say. "Now, you'll hear preachers telling you, 'You have to do this, this, and this [in order to be a Christian].'"
I must confess I often feel I just do not measure up when I finish hearing a sermon. I leave determined to make a change in my life, and by the time Monday rolls around I have given up. Maybe I am just not disciplined enough. Why do we feel like we have to keep on being "reborn?" Was I not a Christian before this sermon came across the mic?
I finally connected the dots when the radio pastor said that if we do do all the things we are "supposed to," and we get to the end of our lives, will we say to God, "Here I am, I've done all that you asked of me. Now can I please get past You into the doorway of Heaven?" How terrible, Not only are we completely indifferent to the fact that He gave His Son to live on earth for thirty-three years and also suffer excruciating pain and sorrow, we also think we are somewhat entitled to Heaven. To our shame!
So now I see what this pastor was trying to say. God views us as covered. Covered by the blood of Jesus. That is what is beautiful to Him. He does not want our achievements and our little acts of goodness. He spits on them. He is Good, so why do we think He needs more of that. What He truly wants is surrender. surrender of all the things we are doing, good, and bad, and in place of those a heart that is turned over to Him, and He tells us, " Thank you, child, for this heart of yours, I will now, with My great hand, make it into a heart of gold. You're welcome."
Do not read this post and go on about your day as planned. Stop, stop for an hour, and stop simply doing. You already have His approval, there's no need to earn it.
"For by grace are ye saved through faith: and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast." Eph 2:9
As my heart raced, so did my mind, like it always does when I'm doing something "mindless." Last night I tuned into a sermon on the radio. The pastor was preaching on Hebrews. He condemned the idea that we somehow fall out of God's grace every time we sin. He declared that we as Christians tend to mix the Old Testament law with the New Testament law. Now, I do understand that we don't earn our salvation, but I had never heard the other side of the spectrum. That, in the same way our good works do not buy our salvation, neither do sins nullify our salvation. I was skeptical of this teaching, but I kept listening. Surely I couldn't just do whatever I wanted and God would just keep on forgiving me, He continued to say. "Now, you'll hear preachers telling you, 'You have to do this, this, and this [in order to be a Christian].'"
I must confess I often feel I just do not measure up when I finish hearing a sermon. I leave determined to make a change in my life, and by the time Monday rolls around I have given up. Maybe I am just not disciplined enough. Why do we feel like we have to keep on being "reborn?" Was I not a Christian before this sermon came across the mic?
I finally connected the dots when the radio pastor said that if we do do all the things we are "supposed to," and we get to the end of our lives, will we say to God, "Here I am, I've done all that you asked of me. Now can I please get past You into the doorway of Heaven?" How terrible, Not only are we completely indifferent to the fact that He gave His Son to live on earth for thirty-three years and also suffer excruciating pain and sorrow, we also think we are somewhat entitled to Heaven. To our shame!
So now I see what this pastor was trying to say. God views us as covered. Covered by the blood of Jesus. That is what is beautiful to Him. He does not want our achievements and our little acts of goodness. He spits on them. He is Good, so why do we think He needs more of that. What He truly wants is surrender. surrender of all the things we are doing, good, and bad, and in place of those a heart that is turned over to Him, and He tells us, " Thank you, child, for this heart of yours, I will now, with My great hand, make it into a heart of gold. You're welcome."
Do not read this post and go on about your day as planned. Stop, stop for an hour, and stop simply doing. You already have His approval, there's no need to earn it.
"For by grace are ye saved through faith: and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast." Eph 2:9
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