Avoiding a DIY salvation!

 

On those mornings when I wake up tired and feel like staying in bed, an inner compulsion overrides that lethargy and I get up. On those days when I’d rather watch television than do the dishes, an inner prodding gets me off the couch and into the kitchen. In my heart, I know this is the mind of Jesus Christ at work, overriding my fleshy laziness and motivating me to do what needs to be done.

Today’s reading begins with the prayer of Jesus that is a promise for His followers:

“I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. (John 17:20–21)

The problem the author has is believing that the will of God’s people overrides His will and that He cannot keep His promises if we don’t want Him to. What kind of salvation is that! I’m saved only because I cooperate? If that were true, no one would ever be saved…

As it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” (Romans 3:10–12)

However, there is something deep in the human heart that wants to be loved, loved in spite of being imperfect and full of flaws. People usually don’t love flawed people, but when the Spirit of God reveals to me that “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8) then that deep desire is filled. Believing in Him changed me, gave me the life of Christ and the growing realization of how much He loves me. Not only that, I love Him “because he first loved us.” (1 John 4:19)

But then today’s reading spoils the wonder of this by saying, “We may have it all, dear Christian, if we are but willing.”

What? To be a Christian means that God made me willing, that He wooed me into His forever family with that powerful love, with grace and undeserved mercy and kindness. While I was still a sinner, He died for me. With that new nature,I am now willing.

The only problem I have with my will comes from that dead (separated from God) old nature that the devil appeals to with lies. He suggests God does not love me. He says I know more than God and I can run my own life, and I don’t need Him. The Bible is filled with warnings to not buy into those lies. Fleshy thinking cannot rob me of that new life that God has given, but it can trick me into thinking it can. Such nonsense can fill me with despair or with the notion to “try harder” to save myself by an act of my will. But God says:

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)

He not only makes me willing but able to do His will. I’m fully aware that wanting the will of God is part of what Jesus does in redemption. Otherwise I would never want it. I pity those who are caught up in the idea that God only keeps His promises if we cooperate or in other words, even after being saved and reborn, my will is stronger than His? Really? I could not worship such a God.

PRAY: Lord, this morning my will is to forget Wednesday and have a long nap. Your will has other ideas. Yet my old nature could nap and You would not strike me off Your ‘fulfilled promise” list. I’d still be Your child, still be saved, still enjoy Your blessing, and still experience the reality that You can use even my disobedience in some way to make me more like Jesus. Just confessing it puts me back on track because I am safe in Your care, even when stubbornly sinning or not listening. You have saved me, still working to that end, and will not quit until one day I see you face-to-face and become just like You. My will is part of my old nature and will never want to cooperate with the perfection You have promised — it is only interested in do-it-yourself projects.

The need to be weaned . . .

 

 

READ Psalm 130–134

My mother gave me a great gift. It was not wrapped in paper or visible but a gift of how to think about life. I realized it when the Lord drew me to consider these verses and what they mean . . .

O Lord, my heart is not lifted up; my eyes are not raised too high; I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me. But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child is my soul within me. (Psalm 131:1–2)

Any mother who breastfeeds her children knows the eager search for her supply when they are hungry or sometimes just want comfort. For some, that grasping for her can continue as the child grows older, even after learning how to drink from a cup. However, a weaned child is not like that. That child can sit on mother’s lap and be content, calm and quiet with a sense that mom is right there to care for all needs but able to wait for her to do that.

It is the same with learning how to trust God to supply, knowing He is there and able and I don’t have to make hungry demands because I have been weaned from all desperation. In effect, my mother did that by her often saying, “We must need it or we wouldn’t be getting it.” Those words expressed a trust in God to take care of needs. While she came at it from an almost negative perspective, my mother was calm, accepting, rarely anxious with that attitude of “I must do something.” She didn’t get involved with “things too great and too marvelous” for her. All that belonged to God.

Today’s reading also includes this verse: “Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!” Psalm 133:1) As I read it, it seemed the two ideas are connected. That is, those who are “occupied with things too great” for them seldom fit into the idea of being united with others. Unity is not a group of ambitious people, even if they all have the same ambition. Competition and striving for something that is marvelous sounds wonderful, but only if the Lord is in it. If not, the sinful flesh takes over and conflict easily follows.

Today’s devotional refers to the church at Corinth in the NT. Those believers wanted lofty things without relying on the Lord to direct them, never mind grant their ambitions. Paul wrote to them about their lack of unity.

I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment. For it has been reported to me by Chloe’s people that there is quarreling among you, my brothers. What I mean is that each one of you says, “I follow Paul,” or “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Cephas,” or “I follow Christ.” Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? (1 Corinthians 1:10–13)

Their disunity caused other problems besides this competitive spirit. Instead of focusing on Christ, they were seeking their own glory.

Certainly we cannot confuse unity with uniformity. Unity involves relationships of respect, mutual love and an attitude of trust in God to supply, much like a weaned child who is content that all needs will be met without grasping or fighting for them.

Unity is also pleasant. It brings a sense of satisfaction, contentment, the ability to be calm knowing that God is there to take care of all things. It comes to hearts that realize how the Gospel has put them all on the same footing — saved, forgiven, a child of God through grace. In this way, unity is a blessing, not just for believers but for the culture around us. The world needs to experience the salt and light of Christian unity, of weaned people who are content because without Christ they are not aware that it is possible to live that way! Our example can provoke others to want that same harmony, that same calm heart that isn’t striving against others as if in competition or self-defense, and that isn’t anxious about missing out unless they have everything they want.

Being weaned from that human striving to have/get/be something has far-reaching effects. Thank God for my mother who showed me what it means to live in contentment, trusting God to supply. God used her in my life to answer Jesus’ prayer, “I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; that they may all be one; even as You, Father, [are] in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me.” (John 17:20–21) Thank You Lord for my mother!