Following Christ Part 2

Following Christ Part 2:

Forgiveness & The Cross of Christ

As I continue to grapple with the relentless grace of God in Christ, I am constantly confronted with this one fact: I do not fully understand the necessity of resting in the finished work of Jesus Christ like I think I do. And I would argue that much of the mainstream contemporary American Christian Church is in the same place. Oh sure we preach the gospel and we try to serve because of it. We even strive our best to love one another in the way that God in Christ has loved us through it. The problem is more times than not, we try to do it in our own strength. We strive. We fight. We argue. We labor intensely. But we usually do most of it out of guilt or a sense of obligation, in the power of our own strength & ability. And when we are tired or worn out from the strain of it all, we stand on our soapbox and exhort others to do the same. But is that really what Jesus meant when He said "Deny yourself pick up your cross and follow me"?

And if that's the case, why did He say His "Yoke is easy and [His] burden light", because that is anything but. Personally I don't think that's what what He meant at all. And I don't think the problem is as much in what Jesus said or even what He meant by it as much as how we interpret it and choose to act upon it. It has more to do with the way we understand it than it does with what He has actually declared through it and requires of us because of it. And I think much of our time is spent thinking about how we can better communicate it or live it out when it should be spent saturating ourselves with it, so we can actually understand it first & walk it out in our own lives. And I would argue that it is for that reason that Paul often repeatedly & exhaustively revisited the gospel in most of his letters before he even began the work of exhorting his readers to "do" something about it. 

I would even go so far as to say that he did not exhort his readers to "do" as much as how to respond to it. Or you might say it this way. Paul encouraged his readers to live in a manner that was consistent with the profession of their faith. Instead of simply telling them what to do or how to act (as a Pharisee might do) he often encouraged his readers to remember what had already been done for them on their behalf in the gospel first (Eph. 1:3-14 for example). And then, having established that fact he would continue by reminding them what a response to such a glorious work of redemption actually looks like in reality (for example Eph. 4-6). 

Let me explain, because there is a huge difference between the two: the exhortation to do & the encouragement to respond. For Paul the distinction is clear and I imagine he wrestled with it constantly himself, as a former Pharisee. Doing vs being. Grateful service vs sacrificial obligation. RECEIVING redemption in the gospel vs GIVING to God out of fear or responsibility. The distinction was no doubt very important to Paul and he seemed to make it a point to say so. Paul seemed to understand that even circumcision was a gift, unearned and indicative of a deeper revelation (Rom. 2:28-29). He understood that the temple was only instituted as a temporary means to God and not the end in and of itself (I.e. Eph. 2:19-22/1 Cor. 3:16-17). He understood that the glorious revelation of the scriptures is NOT what we must do to satisfy the demands of the Holy God, but rather what that Holy God has already done to satisfy His own Holy demand and affect & cultivate a lasting redemption on behalf of every person who puts their trust in Him, for their eternal benefit to the praise and glory of His name. 

And this brings me to part two of this little series on following Christ. What does it actually mean to "pick up our cross" in the light of this revelation? What does it mean to live out the reality of the gospel before others? I believe the answer is actually quite simple, but oh so difficult to put into practice. It means in short to lay down our own life for the benefit of others at the cost of our selves, both as individuals & as a corporate body of believers as we are led by the Holy Spirit. But how do we do that in practice? How do we sacrifice our own life for the benefit of others in a way that is consistent with the teachings of Christ? Isn't that doing? Isn't that works righteousness? How can we live under the burden of such a difficult task without losing our way? How in the world is that restful or "easy" like Jesus said? All valid questions, I assure you. 

But the answer to us again in scripture is not what we might expect it to be. Scripture tells us that we don't, not actually, at least not in our own strength. We do it by FAITH in the power of the Holy Spirit and HIS ability to work in and through us (often in spite of us). But what does that actually look like? To start, faith is always practical. It requires ACTION. As we extend our will in the direction of tangible sacrifice, in our ordinary mundane lives, for the benefit of others (even those who frustrate us at times), we find that we are actually walking by faith in the power of the Holy Spirit, in the way that the Bible instructs us to. The problem is more often than not we don't see it this way. We romanticize it and imagine a more mystical experience. So we miss out on the very practical ordinary leading of the Holy Spirit in our every day lives. 

But carrying our cross in Christ is essential to our development as believers, essential to the proclamation of the gospel in the world around us. And it is for that reason that we should neither take it lightly nor try to do it on our own, in the power of our own strength or ability. Carrying our cross requires an ongoing rugged faith in God for His work on our behalf. It requires an intentional, determined dependence on the Holy Spirit in ACTION. In order to do it in the right way or even at all, we must first be moved by the One who did it for us, who works in us even now by His Holy Spirit. 

And this brings us back again to our own need for the gospel. We can only carry our own cross for others as we are reminded again of the cross our Savior carried for us. As we saturate our hearts and minds in the reality of HIS sacrifice for us in the gospel, our prayer, (if we are in Christ) will become, "Lord do this in me. Give me the opportunity to share the love I have so freely received in You to the praise and glory of Your name." And our response will be to act in accordance with the opportunity He has provided for us to walk in according to His will. And this again is what it means to WALK by faith according to the leading of the Holy Spirit. This is the practical moment by moment response that Paul has prescribed for us in his epistles. This is the faith our fathers walked in before us. It is always radical; always counterintuitive to our old Adamic nature; always counterintuitive to the culture around us and always worth it in the end. 

So, I submit to you again that the first work of every believer is not to labor in our own strength to the glory of God but to reacquaint ourselves with the grace we have received in Christ first, then believe on it, rest in it and finally live out the reality of it in the power of the One who did it for us as we depend upon it in practice in our every day life. The gracious person is the person who has received grace. The one who loves much has been loved much. They understand the need for that love because they have received it their self. Only when we have genuinely accepted the reality of God's grace to us in Christ can we extend it to others and so spread the love of God around us in the way we are called to. Only when we have refreshed our own hearts with the gospel first and relied upon it again ourselves will we be willing to follow God's leading in it by reflecting it to others through our own natural sacrificial love for them. 

The problem with much of the American church today is that we have forgotten what we have received in Christ and so do not give what we do not have. It's not that we have lost it per say or don't actually have it to begin with. It's just that we have forgotten that we do and other people need it as well. It is our earthly bend to do so. So doing for God becomes more important to us than what He's already done. Serving others in ministry becomes more important than our own need to be served in Christ first. Having our feet washed in the gospel, being ministered to by the Holy Spirit in our own inner being takes a back seat. And we grow cold and bitter, hardened, self centered and calloused to the outside world. We lose sight of heaven and earth becomes more appealing. And the Gospel the church was built upon becomes a common thing. But this is not what it means to walk by faith. It is the opposite of walking by faith. It is the opposite of being led by the Holy Spirit. 

And this is no one's fault but ours. It is NOT because of God. It is not because of the irrelevance of His word or the absence of His Spirit. 

It is because we have forgotten our identity in Christ, forgotten who we really are and what we really need. We have forgotten where we came from; we have forgotten where we are going. And if we are honest we will admit it is far easier to rely upon ourselves or what we think we know of scripture than it is to follow the One we cannot see with our own two eyes, in practice. 

And the world sees this and wants nothing to do with it because they are also cold & self serving. They also look to earthly things to fulfill them and try to labor for good causes. They also want to have a purpose for their existence and try in vain to make one for their self. They see very little difference between those who profess to know the God of the bible and those who don't so it matters very little to them whether they change or not. But this is not Christianity. This is not what Christ came to give. And if we are honest that is exactly what so many of us have given to them: a contradictory profession of faith. And the line between the world & Christ is blurred, excuses abound for why the church won't live according to its profession of faith, for why they won't love in the way they have been loved. And the world just watches in disbelief, disgusted by the hypocrisy of what they see, conviced it is acceptable to live the way they do, which brings me to my final point. 

The most apparent evidence of the grace of God in our lives, the most mundane and unexpected, healthy human response to the gospel of Jesus Christ in in practice, is an ongoing unconditional forgiveness towards others in spite of their faults & their wrongdoings against us. Living in a state of perpetual willingness to release others of their personal emotional psychological & physical debts toward us is the best way to live out our profession of faith, the most obvious and difficult way to follow God's leading in our own lives. It is the most tangible expression of our faith in a world focused only on itself. They may not listen at first to the proclamation of the gospel but they can hardly deny the willingness to suffer on their behalf. They may not show up to our church at first, but the practice of laying down our life for them will eventually nag at them. Suffering accusation without slander, not responding in anger to the mistreatment, not reacting to the thoughtlessness of other drivers will stand out. Loving when we have been mistreated will be remembered. 

And it is for that reason that we must saturate our hearts & minds with and rely upon the gospel of Jesus Christ ourselves. Remembering the debt that God in Christ has paid for us is the best way to release others of their debts toward us. As we remember & accept again our own need for forgiveness in Christ we will become the agents of forgiveness toward others and so reflect Him in the way we were created to. The people who wronged us will become the means of growing in grace and the places we hurt the most will become the means of our own deep inner healing by the Holy Spirit. The love of God will be spread to others in the most mundane & practical way and the world will be brought into confrontation with its own need for God. 

And this doesn't happen overnight. It is always a process, a long and painful process of sanctification. But it is glorious to behold as God works it in us, as He shines the light of His forgiveness again & extends it to others through us. But it must begin with us. We must choose to return again to the cross of Christ afresh and remember who we are in Him, how badly we need Him first and the fact that we are not alone in our need. Everybody needs Him. Every single person needs the gospel of Jesus Christ, saved and unsaved alike. There is no exception. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and are justified FREELY by His grace (Rom. 3:23). All of us crave freedom (Gal. 5:1). And this is where it begins. This is where the healing of broken homes begins. This is where faith is renewed in the God who saves. This is where the church grows & flourishes. This is where relationships are restored, where a nation of narcissists begin to see what real love actually looks like. This is where real change begins. 

So it is not in vain that Christ says "Pick up your cross and follow Me." For it is in His work on our behalf that our response can be "Lord help me to lay down my own life for those around me." It is in His work on our behalf that our own for others can take its root and grow. It is in the gospel of Jesus Christ that real change can become a reality. This is what I have learned and continue to grow in over the past few months in my own sanctification. And oh how I fail repeatedly! But I am learning I must daily, moment by moment, return again & cleave to the cross of Christ if I am ever to move forward. If I am ever to heal, if I am ever to be the reflection of God's grace to my family that I long to be I must persevere in my own dependence upon the gospel. I must remember & RECEIVE His work on my behalf, first, if I am to REST in the redemption HE has provided for me and reflect it to others. I must be served by Him if I am ever to stoop down and serve His people. I must be restored if I am ever to offer real & lasting restoration to a dying world. The work of reconciliation begins with my own heart. The proclamation of the gospel starts with my own dependence upon it. 

So the question now, is, will I do? Will we do it? Will we walk in the calling He has prepared for us as His body? Will we follow in our Master's footsteps (Jn 12:24-26) as He leads us or succumb to the mindset of our culture and the bend of our earthly heart? Will we let Him wash our feet and send us out as the recipients & instruments of His un surpassing grace or work in our own strength. Wisdom cries out. Let us heed her voice.