WORKS RIGHTEOUSNESS

True or False:

You feel close to God when...
1. You are praying.
2. You read your Bible regularly.
3. You are regular at church.
4. You have fewer trials.
5. You are sinning less than usual.
6. Your pastor preaches a good sermon.
7. People around you aren't mistreating you.
8. You are happy.

9. You remember that God loves you, and sent
His son to die for your sins to free you from all
guilt and shame, and to begin, maintain and finish
your relationship with him so that you can be free
to love everyone without worrying about what
you need to do to get God to smile on you.

Is the Christian life about moving closer to God or about remembering and celebrating that He moved into maximum closeness to us at the cross?

WHERE IS YOUR SECURITY?

"For in Him [Christ] all the fullness of Diety dwells in bodily form, and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority;" -Colossians 2:9-10

Every true Christian is complete in Christ, which means that they lack nothing and nothing can shake their identity in Christ. And since Christ is above all other authority, no authority can take away from that completeness. Neglect, misunderstanding, slander, mistreatment, or worse by anyone else cannot shake that completeness. True? Why then is it so common for us Christians to get impatient, offended, proud, angry, and worse with each other? Why this touchiness and defensiveness if my completeness has nothing to do with me or my critics? The whole issue is about setting your mind on Christ as your completeness. Every bad reaction you have is rooted in distraction, ignorance, or forgetfulness of your identity in Christ.

Are you persuaded that this is true? God loves you and delights to help you learn this lesson of love. All your critics and all your troubles are HIS messengers to help you notice and keep focused on your identity in Christ. The last time you were disagreed with, criticized, mocked, or neglected by a fellow Christian, did you embrace such as grace from God, giving Him thanks for your and your critic's completeness in Christ? Did your critic receive a warm saintly welcome from you and maybe even an invitation to expand on the criticism? Did you embrace such as a good opportunity for YOU to learn more about YOUR own weaknesses? Did you see God's smile of delight on that dear saint WHILE you were being mistreated? Or, did you think in terms of your own rights, and respond defensively? The truth about your completeness in Christ while you are being a jerk to others, is also true of others WHILE they are being jerks to you. True? If you thank God often that this is always true for all Christians, it will be more natural for you to remember it in the heat of the moment.

Practice remembering your security in Christ and watch your reactions change.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO ABIDE IN CHRIST?

"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.If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned."-John 15:5-6

Is abiding in Christ about your devotional life—about how well you are living the Christian life—your prayer, Bible reading, witnessing, generosity, bearing the fruit of the spirit, etc? Or, is it about your identity in Christ—about the simple fact that you are a true Christian? Jesus has done all the work to establish our identity and we never waver in the possession our identity. We all do waver in remembering our identity. This text declares that if a person doesn't abide in Christ, he is cut off and burned up. If abiding in Christ is not about your identity, then how low does God have to lower the standard for you to pass the test of abiding? If you are optimistic that you abide and think that abiding is not about identity, then compared to Jesus how well are you doing at obeying God? You are a failure just like I am. Let's be honest and get over ourselves. From beginning to end Christianity is all about seeing the finished work of Christ.