Abiding is related to being unable…

Piper’s devotion for today is a list of resolutions that he wrote for teenage children to help them determine to honor their parents. I chuckled a bit as I read them. Would teens have as much trouble keeping resolutions as adults too? They reminded me of the Laws of God written for His OT believers. They vowed to do everything God said, but wound up unable to keep them.

The NT says this about those laws: “For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.” (Romans 3:28) and the book of Galatians explains  that those laws cannot save but they do have a good purpose. They show both sinners and saints where we fall short, and how much we need to live by faith and be enabled by the Spirit of God. Without abiding in Christ, as Jesus says in John 15, we can do nothing.

So what is the point of resolutions? Good intentions? Do they not reveal the human inability to keep them? How slow I am to learn that my determination to obey God is not enough to make it happen. I need Him to be the governing force, the motivator who prompts me and works out that obedience.

Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, 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. (Philippians 2:12–13)

So if God is working in me to want His will and do His commands, why then the next lines?

Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain. (Philippians 2:14–16)

Certainly any grumbling or disputing is contrary to those prior words about pleasing God. They show me what does not do it, and therefore I cannot say complaining and arguing are obedience. I can resolve to do God's will, but if it does not fit the descriptions of His will, then I know I need to confess my sin and be forgiven and cleansed (1 John 1:9). I cannot excuse any of those negatives by thinking my mean-spirited manner is one way to tell the truth and use that as a claim that I’m obedient. 

The NT laws work the same way; they reveal selfish and fleshy attitudes and the sinfulness of my old nature. Confession is needed, but also being filled with the Spirit. God will fill me — as long as I’m empty. But herein is the rub; no one likes feeling empty and unable.

Those teens may want to do all the resolutions, but part of being a Christian is learning that I cannot do God's will apart from being yielding to Him because I’ve realized that I cannot obey just because I want to. He supplies the power only when I’ve admitted my lack of it. He calls me the light of the world and not to hide it, yet displaying it has a caveat: 

In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven. (Matthew 5:16)

I don’t take credit, or boast — I must obey in such a way that He gets the glory!

PRAY: Lord, just learning to give You glory is a challenging lesson, yet even more challenging is learning to live Your way so others do not put me on a pedestal. You must get the glory. I stopped making resolutions a long time ago, but I still desire to obey You and know I cannot do it without abiding in You.