GIG 192 - Us Living For God or God Living Through Us?

Life truly is God's gift to us! But is it really also true, as a common slogan goes, that "what we do with it is our gift to Him?" God created the universe, and everything in it - easily! Do we really have something of value to offer Him? Can we pay Him back in any way for the gift of Life He's given us?

This week we take a look at the difference between us living our life "for God," and God living His life through us. Rather than trusting in our own strength, we realize that we have died and now have a new life --- Christ lives in us. It's not us doing great stuff for God, it's Him expressing His very life through us. With this in mind, what does it mean to present ourselves as living sacrifices? We discuss this and more on this week's episode!

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Let it go... Depend on Him!

As I ever so slooowwly put material together that will eventually turn into a book, I sometimes find it helpful to look back on my old blog posts. Sometimes I'm reminded of some things that I would truly love to include in a book and sometimes I'm reminded of how I once saw things and how my thinking has changed, even if only slightly most of the time.

When this blog was still brand new in June 2006, I wrote Let it go... Depend on Him!

At the time, it went like this:

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I've been "growing in grace" for a long time now. I mean, trusting in God's power in me - Christ's life - to be my victory and to be my sufficiency. But still I don't do everything perfectly. "I'm not what I want to be but I'm not what I used to be."

Growing in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus doesn't mean everything changes instantly! Growing "slowly" hurts as it is, but forcing it to happen quickly is deadly! There are certain things I wish God would change in me right now, and I've prayed for certain changes in my life. Sometimes I can see how I've changed and sometimes I can only see just how far I have to go! But the thing about resting in God's grace and sufficiency is that YOU don't control the changes in your life. The One who knows best is the one who's life is working in you according to His perfect plan. Jesus said if you rest in Him, you will bear fruit... right?

Take a deep breath. Hold it for a few seconds. Let it go..

Literally, let it go.

The only power in you to change is the perfect power of the Almighty. He may not be doing things the way you think you should be doing things. That's OK! He's got your -- WHOLE LIFE -- in His hands. You might not have come as far as you wish but you haven't slipped so far as to be out of His plan!

He has taken into account your weakness.

In fact... He has said that His strength is made perfect in your weakness. He is not depending upon YOU. Rather, you are fully dependent upon Him. And He will accomplish what He wants to accomplish in your life. Don't doubt it!

Man looks on the outside. God looks on the heart. You are a person after God's own heart - not because you have done everything perfectly, but because you trust Him.

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I like a lot of what I said back then, but some things that I would add or change today would be to say that the reason we are weak is due to the fact that we no longer live! But Christ lives in us! When we are weak, then we are strong... but also when we are dead, then we are alive! "I have died, and I no longer live," says the Apostle Paul, "but Christ lives in me." Christ is my life. I'm not worried about "becoming" something better. I'm not concerned with "how far I've come" and "how far I have to go." I'm concerned with "today." I'm concerned with "right now." And Christ is my life right now, and I'm fully alive with Him right now! That's what matters!

Sure, I do look ahead. I "press on," as Paul would say. But press on toward what? Toward becoming a better person or a "better Christian?" Toward my own personal growth goals? Toward bigger and better "supernatural experiences?" No, I press on that I may lay hold of that for which Christ has already laid hold of me! It's a pressing on toward experiencing more and more fully who Christ is in me, and who I am in Him. A maturing... not of my actions, but of the realization of the fullness of Christ. I keep my eyes on Him.

Will my actions change? Sure! Will my attitudes change? The outward expression of the inward reality will truly change as I grow and mature, and as the life of Christ is more fully developed in me. And it all happens as I rest in Him, realizing more and more that He Himself is my life and sufficiency.

The message of the cross of Christ is foolishness

Excerpts from 1 Cor 1:18-2:2
For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God... Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?... it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men...

But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence.

...And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.

Along with what I said in my Goody Two Shoes post last week, I think that when the church today preaches the "foolishness" of the cross, they wrongfully make it mean that a Christian who is living a godly lifestyle appears "foolish" to ungodly people. But that's nowhere close to what the message of the foolishness of the cross really means!

The foolish message of the cross has nothing to do with how righteously a person is living. That's why it was a stumbling block for the Jews, who sought righteousness by their own works and not by the gift of God (Romans 9:32-33). The message of the cross is also not "look at how logical all of this is." The message of the cross is not about anything that man can think of, devise, work toward, strive for, plan, solve, etc, etc. The message of the cross vs. logic or science is not a debate you can win! It's not meant to be debatable --- because the message is foolishness to the wise!!! It can't be "proven." A person either believes in the "foolishness" and "weakness" of God or he doesn't.

Part of Paul's message to the Corinthians was that even as a Christian, filled with the Holy Spirit and with the great power and life of Jesus in Him, his speech was still lacking in persuasiveness and wisdom. He knew he could never prove his words or his message to anyone. But, you see, it's not Paul that Paul was interested in showing them. Rather, he said, "I determined to not know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified." There you have, in a nutshell, the foolish message of the gospel of Jesus Christ!

Boast in your weakness

Why would I follow up my last post, "Be strong in the Lord," with a paradoxical statement like "boast in your weakness?" Be strong in the Lord and boast in your weakness. Hmm. "Paradox," of course means "a seemingly contradictory statement that may nonetheless be true." These statements, to some, may seem to be contradictory... but yet it all adds up!

In my last post, and in the links I provided for my previous posts that went along with that post, one thing that I was aiming at was showing how everything that has to do with us being "strong in the Lord" is the result of God's grace, and His gifts to us. In no way, shape or form is it our own human strength that we're relying upon. Our own strength, compared to the strength we have in the Lord, is really nothing more than weakness.

Which leads us to boasting in our weakness. Paul goes crazy with the word "boast" in his letters to the Corinthians (especially 2 Corinthians), as well as in a few other letters. What is it that he's boasting about? He's boasting about his own weakness and he's boasting about the Lord's strength. They go hand in hand.

I guess one could say that Paul is boasting in his humanness. Of course he's not "celebrating" how weak he is as a human in such a way as to say, "Look at me! I'm weak and I sin, and I'm "just human" and that's just the way I am, so Woo Hoo!" Now, the truth is that he is weak and he does sin and he is "just human" - in and of himself. And we could leave it right there and just think that's the end of the story.

But that's not the end of the story! Paul "boasts" in his weakness, in his humanness, because it means that he is rejecting the idea that in and of himself he is strong and powerful. In Philippians 3 he lists out his human strengths and righteous deeds that he formerly boasted in - and it's a pretty impressive list! But before there's any chance for any applause or adoration from his readers, he promptly says "I count it all as dung!" Why does he count it all as dung? So that he can be found in Christ alone, not having his own righteousness, but rather the only righteousness that counts - God's righteousness that is given freely as a gift.

We "boast" in our human weakness because letting go of our own sense of strength and righteousness opens up the door for the Lord's strength and righteousness. Paul says, "I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong."

Related: The Sufficiency of Grace

"Happy is he who does not condemn himself..."

"...in what he approves."

My friend Mike and I talked a little bit about Romans 14 on our latest Growing in Grace program (April 6) as we discussed the subject of what it means to be weak in faith, and we'll be discussing it a little more on our next program too.

To briefly sum up our thoughts from Romans 14, we pretty much both agree that those who are weak in the faith are those who are relying on external works to maintain their salvation, or who at least carry some sort of belief that in their life with God they are still subject to certain religious standards or observances. Paul's examples in Romans 14 include those who believed they can eat all things vs. those who were weak and believed they could only eat vegetables (for religious reasons). Another example is those who consider a certain day as more sacred than others vs. those who consider every day alike. These days we may or may not deal with some of the specific examples that Paul gave, but yet I think his overall point stands... which is: "Accept him whose faith is weak" (v.1). Also, "The man who eats everything must not look down on him who does not, and the man who does not eat everything must not condemn the man who does, for God has accepted him" (v.3).

Those who are strong in faith, and who know they are not restricted to religious regulations should not judge those who are weak, and vice versa. "Who are you to judge someone else's servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand" (v.4). Paul talks a great deal about this, and then in the end he says, "Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves" (v. 22).

(Side note: I used to think that those who were "weak in the faith" were those who drank, smoked, chewed, went to the bars, fornicated, etc. But it's clear that that's not what Paul is talking about here! Those who are weak in the faith are those who are stuck on religion and fleshly works).

The reason I bring all this up is because the sentence in bold above has been on my mind a lot lately. The main reason is because I personally have learned a lot of things in the past dozen or so years that have really freed me up in regards to the grace of God, and I've also been learning a lot of things in the past few years that have really been freeing me up in regards to what "church" is and what "the body of Christ" is. I've shared a lot of this stuff on my blog and I've discussed it with many of you on other blogs and forums.

As I learn and as I grow in freedom, I need to constantly remember that those who aren't on the same page as me are still standing before the very same Lord, and He has accepted them just as He has accepted me. Man, oh man, I will still come against the spirit of legalism in a very strong manner! I will stand up for the truth of grace and will proclaim it boldly! But I must be careful to not judge the people who God has accepted. If someone, just as an example, is fully convinced that they must "go to church" on Sunday, or even that there's really such a thing called "going to" church, which to me is not how I look at it any longer, because I see that "the church" is people, not a place, and I want to meet together "with" the church (the people) whether or not it's at a "church building"... then I must understand that the Lord still accepts those who I see as "weak" in that regard, and even much more than that, I am not their judge. If I go about acting as if everything that people do is worthy of MY approval or disapproval, then all I am really doing is heaping condemnation on myself, because I'm standing before the same Lord.

I don't want to confuse this "condemnation" with the condemnation or punishment of God, which no Christian is any longer subject to. Using this term in this way simply means that if I am distinguishing myself as "better" than anyone else because of what I do or don't do, or because of what I approve of or don't approve of, I'm really distinguishing myself as a hypocritical judge.

In re-reading what I've just written, I see that it might appear as if I'm coming across as a little "heavy" here. :) I seriously do not have that type of disposition as I write tonight! I just mean to say that I want to be serious about not judging anyone who I might see as weak in the faith simply because they don't have the same freedom I have. As I stand up for freedom and grace and as I stand against legalism and bondage, the temptation can be to look down on others, and I simply don't want to be that way!

Boasting

Phil 2:12-13
12 Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; 13 for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.

We seem to stop with verse 12, but verse 12 is impossible without verse 13. Could we even say that verse 12 hangs on verse 13?

This salvation that we have - this wonderful, marvelous, eternal, splendiferous salvation that we have received solely as a gift of God's wonderful, marvelous, eternal, slendiferous grace, through His glorious gospel - is something that we "work out" in fear (awe, reverence) and trembling. Why fear? Why trembling? Because it is GOD HIMSELF - the Almighty, the Alpha and the Omega, the Creator of everything, the Great I Am, the Ancient of Days, the Eternal Living God - who has joined Himself with us and is at work in us in powerful and mighty ways. It's not "me" who's pulling this thing off. HE is at work in us to will and to do for His good pleasure!

If we are to boast about anything, it is in our weakness. In our weakness, He is strong. His strength is made perfect in weakness. "Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me." (2 Cor 12:9)