Blessings blocked by dollars?

What is the number one barricade that people put up against faith in Jesus Christ? Is it the struggle to believe without seeing? Is it the difficulty to admit sin and need? Is it a false faith in the lies of Satan? Is it the difficulties of following the Lord rather than the world?

If Jesus had not said it, I wouldn’t have thought it, but in His judgment, one of the biggest barricades is money. When He was approached by a rich young man who wanted to know how to inherit eternal life, rather than telling him the need for simple faith, Jesus told him that he had to give up all that he had.

And when Jesus saw that he became very sorrowful, He said, “How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God! For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” And those who heard it said, “Who then can be saved?” But He said, “The things which are impossible with men are possible with God.” (Luke 18:24-27)

A strange reply. The Bible is clear that salvation is not about giving up in order to get eternal life. We don’t earn it much less deserve it. Yet after salvation and receiving eternal life, following Jesus is about just that — being so committed to Him that I am willing to go wherever He takes me and do whatever He asks. If He wants me in Afghanistan or Zambia or any place in between, I need to be willing. If He asks me to unload all that I own and live in a tent, I must also be willing.

The rich young man wanted eternal life, but he was not willing to follow Jesus. He simply didn’t know it. He claimed to have followed all the commandments, but he relied on his own goodness. Little did he know that goodness and obedience cannot earn eternal life or save anyone. Ephesians 2:8-9 is clear, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.”

The key word is boast. If I could earn favor with God, I would boast about what I had done. I know that is true. By grace, He gave me eternal life and I cannot take credit for that, but as I walk with Jesus and experience His blessing in many ways, I find it difficult to give Him the glory when He does something for me. My sinful self so easily takes the credit that is never mine to take.

Having money results in so easily trusting money, even boasting in money. When I have it, I wear it on my back, or hang it in my closet, or add it to my fabric stash or household improvements. When I have it, I can give it away, and I can be thankful to God, but when money is scarce, I know that my faith is being tested.

It seems to me that faith in Jesus Christ should not be affected by riches or poverty. It is a sin issue. Poor people can trust in money too. The only difference is that they do not have it and want it, while the rich have it and flaunt it. Again, the key word is boast. What is it that I will boast about? Is it the wonder of God? It should be.

Aside from this barricade of being rich is the question asked by those who heard this exchange. They wondered who then could be saved, if not the rich? The attitude of the time was that God favored the rich, so if the rich could not easily enter the kingdom of God, who could?

Jesus hinted at the answer. Salvation is not about what we do, but about what God does. What is impossible for us — earning or deserving salvation — is possible with Him because salvation is from Him, a gift of grace. He does the work in human hearts. He breaks down barricades. He reverses priorities. He gives new life. He can save anyone He chooses to save. Salvation is His gift.

This is the most humbling truth that I know. All the externals, the doing of good, the having or the not having mean nothing. Jesus saves sinners, period.

Illustration by Michael Elins from Time Magazine (10 Sep 2006)

Sweet peace

We have a Jewish friend who once told me that he thought it was impertinent that I should call myself God’s child. In his mind, this was an outrageous presumption and could not be true.

In the Old Testament, God designated that the place of worship for those who belonged to Him be divided into separate areas for the Jews and Gentiles. Anyone who was not born into a Jewish family was a Gentile, and almost all of them worshiped idols; they did not know or care about God. Anyone who wanted to believe in the God of Israel was accepted into their worship, but they were only allowed into the Court of the Gentiles. They didn’t have the same access in the temple as the Jews.

After several centuries and before Christ came, the animosity grew. The average Jewish rabbi thanked God every day that he had not been born a Gentile (or a woman). Our friend’s attitude may be a carry-over from this, and his annoyance with me is certainly mixed with the prevailing rejection by his people of Jesus as their Messiah.

In Ephesians 2, Paul writes to those who were “aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.” He wanted them to know that this separation was over, that they were included in the family of God. Since most of those in the early church were Jewish, this news caused considerable debate.

Acts 10 tells about the conversion of a Roman centurion named Cornelius and the stir over that remarkable event, yet the problem continued so the early Christians needed instruction about this change. Paul continues in Ephesians 2:13-16 with an explanation of what was different. He says:

But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity.

Christ changed everything by perfectly obeying the law that neither Jew nor Gentile could obey. The commandments that separated them were abolished so that both could come to God on the basis of changed lives.

In the mind of God, there is no difference between sinners. All need forgiveness and all need new life. By sending Jesus to die for us, He established a new covenant. No one comes to God through law-keeping (as if we could anyway), but through faith in His Son.

The thing about this peace is that it doesn’t just happen without both parties putting their faith in Christ. A believing Jew is not going to have this amazing peace with his brother who does not believe or with any Gentiles who do not believe, any more than a believing Gentile has this peace with non-believing people. Rather, this is a peace and a unity that happens for those who, by faith in Christ, are reconciled to God and made new by the power of Jesus Christ.

This peace is an incredible blessing. Today I plan to simply rejoice in it and praise the One who made it possible and gave it to me.