“When the gospel comes to you, it will come to you only if you only if you get rid of your middle class spirit and become poor in spirit. You cannot be a Christian unless you are poor in spirit. You cannot be a Christian if you are middle class in spirit. What do I mean by that? I will tell you. Religion appeals to the able. Religion appeals to people who say, “I can do it if I work hard enough.” But the gospel only comes into the lives of people who are poor in spirit who say I have absolutely nothing of value, and I have no power, and no choices, and I need to rely completely on the salvation and sheer grace of Jesus Christ. If you are middle class in spirit you cannot be saved. You’ll enjoy religion. You’ll love religion. But the gospel is not religion.” Tim Keller
In regard to being justified by our obedience, Jonathan Edwards says this, “It diminishes the glory of the grace of God and the Redeemer, and proportionably magnifies man.”
- A few more Edwards quotes -
“Faith abases men and glorifies God.”
“It is the delight of the believing soul to abase itself and exalt God alone: that is the language of it.”
I never tire of hearing the gospel. I read these Edwards quotes yesterday and found the Keller quote this morning in my desk. I am grateful to know that my obedience (even Holy Spirit powered obedience) does not qualify me for God’s presence. I spent so many years believing that obedience saved me. I am so thankful to know that God is glorified when I admit my only hope is the cross of Jesus Christ.
6 comments:
I too believe that my only hope is in the cross of Christ. But I also believe that being a Christian requires me to live a certain lifestyle in obedience to Christ; after all, He is my Lord. If obedience has nothing to do with salvation, then a disobedient person can be saved. I don't think the Bible teaches that. The writers of Romans through Revelation make basically one claim: Here is how a Christian is supposed to live as a Christian. "For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age" (Titus 2:11-12).
If a person who is not obedient can't be saved, is it only people who are wholly obedient and sinless that can be saved? Did you possibly mean that someone who is not striving to be obedient can't be saved?
If not, I'm just curious here, where do you believe the cut off is for God? Can you be saved if you refuse to have sex before marriage, but you have no problem cheating on your taxes?
I really do struggle to grasp these answers and concepts myself.
Does anyone care to clarify?
I deleted my first post and made a few edits before putting it back. It's essentially the same post. I should have proof read it more closely before I posted it, since I am such a perfectionist in this area. Ha. Just didn't want you to wonder what I deleted.
I wanted to add that I don't really think God calls me honey. I got to thinking that might have sounded a little strange (especially to you, James). I used that term of endearment to convey a father/child relationship. I felt His compassion for me at the same time He was exposing to me just how messed up I truly am.
When I believed I was saved based on how good/obedient I was, I never felt like anything but a continual disapointment to God. I knew He loved me and forgave me. But I was afraid to pursue Him because then He would expect even more from me. And I already could not measure up. Correction was equivalent to rejection in my way of thinking. I did not feel like a child. I felt like a weed in the garden who would be yanked out.
Learning about God's grace has changed all that and, as a result, my motivation has never been stronger to obey. I feel like His daughter now because I know I am accepted in Christ.
Sorry I am so long winded today! But I just wanted to clarify. It seems that even after I edit my post, I always think of how I could have said something a little better. ; )
Absolutely, James.
Justification by faith is not a license to live like a moron. He is not only our savior, but also our lord. However, we have to remain poor in spirit and recognize that our obededience has nothing to do with our justification. In a sense, we cannot confuse our justification and sanctification. Our obedience must flow from a heart that knows it is saved by the blood of Christ. Anyone who uses the blood of Christ as an excuse to continue in immorality has not understood the grace of God.
One of the greatest aspects of believing we are justified by faith instead of obedience to the law is that we can preach the full requirements of the law. I grew up in a legalistic church where "moral perfection" was said to be the requirement for salvation. As I look back, the irony is that the morality preached and practiced was far below the true holiness and character of God. Going to the movies or a ballgame was a more serious offense than child molestation. Whenever obedience is given a higher place than faith in the finished work of Christ the scale begins to slide and God's character is lessened to a degree we feel we can measure up to. Now that I believe I am justified and saved solely because of Christ's righteousness being imputed to me, I am free to really look into the beauty of the law and have no fear of not measuring up. There is no reason to lessen his holiness because I know I have been given all that is required of me in Christ. Colossians says we lack nothing. Peter says we have been given everything pertaining to life and godliness. Romans speaks of a righteousness apart from the law. This righteousness (passive righteousness) that we can only accept is what frees us from ourselves to obey God's law.
I just read a great commentary on Philippians 3:12-16 about "Reaching for the Prize" by John MacArthur. It's a Word document Todd Edwards shared with me. If anyone else would be interested in reading it, I will email it to you.
MacArthur explains the difference between living your life as a focused race in which you pursue with all your might the calling for which you were obtained, to be like Christ, and thinking you can actually BE perfect in this life through your efforts.
MacArthur talks about how Paul makes it clear that he has not attained the goal, but nevertheless, he pursues it. The goal and the prize are the same thing; to be like Christ! God will make us like His Son one day. We are promised that. Therefore, we pursue that prize with all our might.
He also emphasizes that when Paul said he had not yet attained the goal and was not perfect, it was 30 years after his conversion.
This shed light on the idea of reaching a state of perfection which would "qualify" us for heaven. In the past, some of us were taught that Stephen "moved out a live soul" because he had overcome and reached spiritual perfection. But are we to believe that Stephen, at the age of 18, was spiritually superior to Paul the Apostle thirty years after his conversion? I don't think that's conceivable. After 30 years of running the race, Paul recognized that he still wasn't where he needed to be. He made that clear. Recognizing our condition is crucial. But he was running for a goal and to win a prize.
The goal and the prize were the same thing: to be like Christ. The reward is to be like Christ! The reward is not eternal life, even though we will be given eternal life in Christ. Eternal life is a gift. Our reward is that we WILL be like Christ. I have never thought of it this way.
Just had to share some encouraging thoughts!
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