“I can do it myself”

Most mothers know the words in this title. they come from little ones who want to demonstrate their skills, often long before they are able. I have three children. When they announced their determination to be independent long before they were able to ‘do it myself’ I told the first two that they were too young and shut them down. For the third one, I let him try and find out for himself that he was not able.

I don’t know if that made a lot of difference in their view of salvation, but that attitude remains in human hearts when it comes to pleasing God or obtaining eternal life. Like the rich young ruler who came to Jesus and asked, “What must I do to be saved?” this is a the normal approach of people seeking eternal life. 

This morning, I read about a group of Jews who insisted that salvation involves human effort or human works. . . .  

But some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” (Acts 15:1)
This flies in the face of the gospel that says: “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” (Ephesians 2:8–9)

On that occasion, the leaders of the early church responded:

Now, therefore, why are you putting God to the test by placing a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? But we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will. (Acts 15:10–11)

Instead of circumcision, they did target a few things that particular group of new believers needed to watch out for and not do:

Therefore my judgment is that we should not trouble those of the Gentiles who turn to God, but should write to them to abstain from the things polluted by idols, and from sexual immorality, and from what has been strangled, and from blood. For from ancient generations Moses has had in every city those who proclaim him, for he is read every Sabbath in the synagogues. (Acts 15:19–21)

In other words, they knew the laws Moses gave and knew they could not save themselves, but there were past sins that they needed to avoid because they were vulnerable to them. Most of us know how this is. Our problem is thinking we can overcome our bad habits, or do something ourselves to be stronger Christians.

I’ve heard similar thinking among cults and even Christians who try to add something we must do to perfect our faith in Christ. One large denomination believes that if a Christian is not keeping all the commandments before they die, they cannot be saved. A cult believes that Christ died to give them the right to earn their salvation. Some Christians struggle with the idea that they must do certain things or they are not Christians. That attitude of childhood carries forward and “I will do it myself” pops up even in serving God. 

To this, Jesus said. . . .  

I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. (John 15:5)

And Paul echoed that when he asked God to remove a troubling weakness in his life:

Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. (2 Corinthians 12:8–9)

The idea is that “I must do something” — better than thinking God or others will do it all and I can do whatever I want, but if that ‘something’ is only what I want, or motivated and energized by the sinful nature, or anything other than the Spirit of God, it is ignoring Him to do my own thing. No matter how good that might look, it is sin…

All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:6)

PRAY: Sin, even the sin of trying to show my faith by doing what I think You want without talking or listening to You or being filled with Your Spirit, may interfere with Your will. But not only that, it is an insult that declares my ways are better or just as good as Your ways. May I simply trust You, seeking Your will and Your guidance in all things — never boasting but giving You glory. Always. Forgive all notions and actions that think I can do it by myself. I need You just to breathe, never mind to live a godly life.

Broken to make us united…

 

The term “broken” is often used by Christians to describe the way God deals with our selfishness. Instead of letting us be the boss of our lives, He ‘breaks’ that old nature using circumstances and other means to show us that the old person is dead in Christ and useless to God. However, when the NT speaks of Christ being the “Bread of life” and His body being broken for us, He had no sin to be dealt with.

In the NT, this metaphor is not literal nor about Jesus. His body was not broken, not one bone. Some decide this is an argument for Transubstantiation. Others say it signifies something about the church because the Bible also uses the term “body of Christ” when speaking of the church.

Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church, (Colossians 1:24)

When our church celebrates communion, Jesus is often quoted: “And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’” (Luke 22:19)

Each time I hear it, I tend to think of brokenness as first described — the way God deals with the old nature to ‘break’ our stubborn self-rule and bring us into a yielded body of believers. He wants us to be useful and fruitful to Him, united in our spirits.

As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 2:4–5)

The old nature cannot do any of this. “The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned…” (1 Corinthians 2:14–15) Other verses describe this:

For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not being merely human? (1 Corinthians 3:4)
Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. (1 Corinthians 6:19–20)

There is no way we can be the church without this experience of a changed life. The call to deny myself for the sake of love, to return good for evil, to forgive seventy times seven, to endure one another, and to keep on doing this with joy for fifty or sixty or eighty years is not possible to the natural human. It is only possible supernaturally as Jesus said:

I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. (John 15:5)

All of this says that this breaking of bread is more about the church than it is about the physical body of Jesus. One verse puts it this way:

The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? (1 Corinthians 10:16)

But what about the brokenness? Is it the process of becoming yielded? Or something else? Is it about the unity of many different members? Or about Christ giving His body so that the many could be one?

For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ.  For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.  For the body does not consist of one member but of many. (1 Corinthians 12:12–14)

Whatever Jesus meant, it was for us to remember. He died so that we could be His Body and when we take the bread, we need to remember that we are united to Him and to one another. As He said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” (1 Corinthians 11:24)

PRAY: Jesus, I do think of Your shed blood and Your battered body on that cross when I take communion. You prompt me to think also of those who take it along with me. We are one, unified because of You. I feel it and need to always remember it — as I remember all that You have done to make that unity possible; breaking sin’s hold on us by allowing Your own body to be nailed to that cross and allowing Your life to flow out that we might have life everlasting. 

The Goal and the Heat

God constantly fills me with awe — yet I know awe is only part of His intention. I have four devotional books on my desktop. When the main selection offers only a little, I read the others. Today  all four speak to what is on my heart: the desire to finish well, perhaps not soon, but be ‘with it’ in my spiritual life for the time left here, to be joyful in obedience, living the way God wants me to live:

But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. (Acts 20:24)

Joy is about the perfect fulfillment of why I was created and given the life of Christ, not the successful doing of a thing, not having perfect health or ideal conditions, but being faithful to all that God wants from me. I want to hear Jesus say—“Well done, good and faithful servant” and know that I  have done what He intended.

Peter heard Jesus say, “Do you love me?… Feed my sheep.” I hear that too. My challenge is having choices. I can write — and He told me to write this blog. I can lead Bible studies — and I did that for many years. I can paint and for many years supported myself and children and missionaries with the sale of paintings. I can make quilts to give to needy people — and I still do that. I can encourage brothers and sisters in the Lord at our church — this is happening. Yet as I get older, the physical aging process yanks at my attention span and God uses that trial to show me so many ways that my attitudes need refining and how I need to ignore the demands to feel sorry for myself.

God keeps refining. This is not punishment but purification. He knows my garbage as well as the abilities He gave me and wants to bring out the best. The trials are a blessing, not something to endure but to learn from, to allow Him to transform me to be more like His Son. His love actually MUST do that and I MUST want Him to do it.

One Christian leader says that I have a claim on God, a claim that any pain, want, disappointment, or misery will help make me what I ought to be. I can ask to be never spared one thing that could urge me toward repentance even if it makes me hedged in on every side, thwarted in any desire. He can foil my plans or frustrate my hopes until I see nothing that makes life worth having — only His  presence. This takes time and involves challenging experiences. The problem of getting great things from God is being able to hold on in that last half hour.

He desires a blind trust in Christ to do the thing He asks, an exercise of faith, a coming to the end of self and relying on Him to do the whole work for me and in me. It is being utterly in His hands. I know that resting in Him alone is worth the struggles. I know that nothing is compared with Him, just Him. I also know Jesus said:

I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. (John 15:5)

PRAY: Today my knee is screaming at me. Is wanting to sit all day a way of abiding in You, Lord? Is praise part of resting? Or am I being a coward with this process? You are with me in it and know far worse pain — for my sake. Help me to be a clinging vine, but one that is fruitful rather than withering up out of self-pity and wanting to merely nap the rest of the day.

Life’s Lessons

 

Today’s devotional begins by saying Peter learned five lessons that every believer must also learn. These lessons were part of what he needed to be an effective leader, but they were also important in the transformation process of salvation. Each Christian is to be like Jesus and God uses all things to make that happen.

The devotional lists these five for Peter: submission, restraint, humility, sacrifice, and love. While these qualities are important for every believer regardless of the life Jesus’ calls us to, the methods He uses vary. I learned submission by being married to an unsaved husband. Even though my husband is now a godly Christian, that lesson is never 100% learned. I experience constant opportunities to practice yielding to my sovereign God who controls all demands on my life.

Restraint is about self-control, listed in Galatians 5 as a fruit of the Spirit. This is not me controlling myself but me under the directing and enabling power of the Holy Spirit. Learning this requires realizing the futility of self-effort. It means paying attention to what works and what does not bring results that please God. It means believing Jesus when He says:

I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. (John 15:5)

Restraint is a huge lesson because ‘self-effort’ is the root of sin, the “turning to my own way” described in Isaiah 53:6. We are born with this ‘I will do it myself’ attitude and the Bible continually tells me to put it to death, to walk in the Spirit and not indulge in that old way of life. Much of self-effort is unconscious and it takes a lifetime to become aware of my tendency to take control rather than trust and obey God.

Humility is part of that lesson. My proud old nature thinks I am able. The gospel is an insult to pride. It says NO to all self-effort and while it tells me to “work out my own salvation” it also adds: “ . . . for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure”. (Philippians 2:13) I cannot save myself or keep myself saved.

And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. (Philippians 1:6)

Hearing the gospel is good news, but it is also humbling. So are the many times that I fail because I deferred to my own efforts instead of trusting Christ and asking Him to fill me with His Spirit that I might think, talk, and act in ways that please Him rather than doing my own thing.

Sacrifice is learned in family life, in giving up what I want for what is best for my children. It is also related to the lesson of love because the love of God involves sacrifice.

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us. (1 John 4:7–12)

God’s love is expressed at the Cross, but even coming here to live among us was a sacrifice. He gave up glory to be a man, a servant who died for sinners. He says that anyone who loves does it because of knowing His love, and that involves giving up what I want — to care for and serve others. Who knows what my life would be like had I went my own way, used my skills for self-advancement, ignoring the love of God and refusing to express it by sacrifice.

Sacrifice goes beyond saying no to sin. It means saying no to perfectly good activities as well. This is a challenge when doing something for those who might not even say thank you. Being like Jesus involves the attitude, “Forgive them, for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34)

Jesus, You remind me of other lessons, such as believing You keep all Your promises and that You are sovereign, even when life’s events hurt or do not make sense. You love me and even my worst failures do not turn off Your great heart. You hate sin and wants godliness far more than You want me to be comfortable. You hear and answer my prayers in ways I never imagined. Telling You what to do is arrogant and lack of faith. So much more. Thank You for teaching me and being my example!

NOTE the encouragement in 2 Peter 2:3-10 and the way to firmly plant these lessons in my heart and life.