OBEDIENCE: IS IT ABOUT SUCCESS, OR JUST ABOUT TRYING?

How Do You Read the Bible and Life?

In the New Testament we run across the words keep, do, and obey in reference to a proper response to what is good in life or to what God commands. Below are but a few examples. 

• “If you love me, you will keep my commandments." -John 14:15
• "Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.” -John 14:21
• "You are my friends if you do what I command you." -John 15:14
• "By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments." -1John 5:2

When you read the above passages, how did you understand the words do, keep, and obey? Let me clarify. When you read the third statement that to be a friend of Jesus requires doing what He commands, did you interpret the word do to mean: feel good about, to unsuccessfully attempt to do, or to succeed at doing? Likely you resonated with the statement and felt good about Jesus' call to do what He commands. This response of yours was good but insufficient because Jesus is calling a person to action beyond just feeling. Do you see yourself as a friend of Jesus? It is good to be Jesus' friend, but have you done what He said is required to be His friend? Do you do what Jesus commands? Think of what you consider that Jesus commands you to do. Have you done it? Do you do it? Has your doing been successful or unsuccessful? In other words, is success in action important to Jesus, or is He simply interested that you put in an effort even though you fail? 

Obedience: Victory or Failure?

In sports competitions, one person or team wins the competition. The winner declares that victory was achieved. The losers declare that they tried to win, but failed. The loser's attempt was unsuccessful. When you think of Jesus' call to keeping, doing, or obeying His commands, have you achieved victory, or been unsuccessful? I suspect that more clarity is needed. First, is Jesus declaring that His friends keep, do, or obey what He desires just when it is convenient, or all the time? Second, does Jesus want us to evaluate success by looking at our effort or the lack of success of others? Many non-Christians have told me that for moral issues, comparison to other people is never good. 

• Does God desire you to succeed at being righteous, or just that you try to be righteous?
• Does God desire you to succeed at being holy or only that you try to be holy?
• Does God desire you to succeed at being free from sin or merely that you try not to sin?
• Does God desire that you succeed at keeping all His commands all the time, or simply that you put in an effort?

The Standard of Evaluation

It is good for God to desire that you always do what is good. It is not good for God to think or declare that it is satisfactory that you only imperfectly do what is good or only do good part of the time. Thus God's expectation for you (and all other people) is that you always do what is good. No compromises. Do you agree? Are you succeeding at doing good always?

Let's apply this to obedience. Do you agree that imperfect obedience is disobedience? Let's say that God gives you a glass of pure water and commands you to drink all of it. Let's also say that you drink 60% and decide that that is enough for you, and so you don't finish the glass of water. Did you obey God? No you didn't. Imperfect obedience is not good and thus not satisfactory to God. 

Jesus came into this world to reveal what is good. On all moral issues, it is good to compare ourselves and all other people to Jesus. It is never good to compromise that standard of evaluation. Compared to Jesus how are you doing in terms of holiness, obedience, and keeping the commands of Jesus? Are you an obedient Christian? 

Honesty About Confusion

The first step in understanding God's ways is to notice our confusion about what God desires. I have the privilege of living in a culture that is overwhelmingly Mormon. It is a

surprise blessing because they use our words, but with different definitions. This helps us to think more critically about what we believe. As we here are challenged, we at least occasionally realize that we have lies in our own minds. This is a wonderful revelation. Until I notice a lie that is in my thinking, I am unaware that I need to discard it. I witness to hundreds of Mormons annually and in nearly every conversation I hear words something like, "Since it is good to do good, this means that we need to try to do good. God doesn't expect us to be perfect, but only to do our best." People commonly tell me that the commandments are a goal to shoot for, not something to expect success at now. Therefore, I commonly get corrected for telling people that God expects immediate success at doing good, being righteous, and obeying His commands. When I tell them that God always expects perfection now, the conversation opens to the gospel. All people know that I am not perfect in my thoughts, words, and actions, and so how can I so gladly and confidently preach that only perfection counts with God? I preach to myself first this message of perfection now on all topics of the Christian life. I find it in all of life and everywhere in the Bible. Thinking this way makes life a joy and makes it easy to preach non-hypocritically to others. 

Do you preach to yourself first that God expects from you perfection now on all aspects of the Christian life--say holiness, obedience, keeping the commandments, and loving others? If you don't preach perfection now, by what authority do you compromise God's goodness, or what verses or reasoning do you use to correct me to embrace your view that God doesn't expect perfection now--that, for example, He doesn't expect complete holiness now? I have commonly heard Christians (including pastors) talk about obedience, loving others, keeping Jesus' commands and more, and have wondered how they could speak so positively since it was impossible for them (or me) to be succeeding at what they were preaching since what they were saying was clearly about behavior. It is clear to me now that they were not meaning successful obedience but rather an attempt (unsuccessful) at obedience. We Christians know that we shouldn't say try to obey because obedience really includes success. But we have been tricked into a pretense. We mean try but don't say try because that is not good. It is okay to use the wrong words as we express ourselves. But it is deceptive to use good words when we mean something that is not good. God sees the heart. 

The critical issue for you to consider concerns how you use words. It can be painful to be honest, but honesty is important in order to embrace change. When you talk about obedience, doing what is right, or loving others, do you mean success when compared to Jesus, or do you mean just putting in an effort? Is success important to you like it is important to Jesus?

The Next Step: A New Question

If perfection now is God's expectation and imperfect obedience is disobedience, then you need a new question when you read the Bible and when you think about life. I suggest that not asking good questions has us in much confusion in seeking to understand both the Bible and life. If the Bible and life are to be trusted, then either God is confused, the writers of the Bible didn't hear clearly from God, these writers were confused, the Bible has been radically changed all over the place, or you are seriously misunderstanding the Bible and life. Is it possible that you are confused about what Jesus meant by keeping the commandments, obedience, holiness, and much more? Is there even a slim possibility of this? It is true for me. It seems to me that we Christians often talk like God is confused. I suggest that both all of the Bible and all of life are perfectly consistent with God's call to perfection now. The big question I ask myself and I urge you to consider is this: Is it possible that you are confused about what Jesus (or the other writers) is talking about? 

As stated above, my Mormon culture has confronted me much and taught me to daily check myself for confusion. Just because I don't notice any today doesn't mean that it isn't there. My principle it to pray every morning that God would bring to me during the day a Mormon, atheist, or child to say something that would reveal another lie in my thinking, that I might discard it. Please join me in this prayer.

"Do or Do Not, There is No Try." 

This quote by Yoda of Star Wars fame is on a wall at Oasis Books. It gets laughs but also affirmation from everyone I ask about it. Do you affirm it? If you do then it is a wonderful tool to use to cleanse your mind of the polluting affect of manageability--of worldliness--of do and try harder--of the flesh--of human glory--of quenching the Spirit. Yoda's words point to Jesus, since only Jesus succeeded in always doing what is good. 

As you read the Bible or think about your behavior and that of other people, I encourage you to seek to read every verse in light of God's good expectation of perfection now. Think of Jesus. Think of Yoda's words. Learn to notice failure clearly in light of perfection. I predict that you will begin to enjoy the people who previously have rubbed you the wrong way. Also your reading of the Bible will be like a treasure hunt for new riches. It may even feel like you are reading the Bible right side up.

The focus of this post is to tease you to notice that almost certainly your mind is infested with trying where success should be. This is for life and for reading the Bible. I have sought to only hint at fresh ways to understand both. In other posts at this blog you can read my views on what complete holiness now means and the simple way to do it (perfectly), what Jesus meant by the fruit that reveals certainly if a person is a Christian, and much more. Soon I will post an article on how I know why you have done every sin that you have done as a Christian. Do you know? Are you surprised that I claim to know this about you, even if we have never met? Watch for it. Here is Jeremiah's hint (it foretold of Pentecost) "I will fill the priests with abundance, and my people will be satisfied with my goodness, declares the Lord." (31:14)

Let's celebrate God's goodness as our full satisfaction!

IS YOUR HOLINESS ABOUT YOU OR CHRIST?

I spend much time meditating on questions to help me think more clearly about life. Here are a some to ponder on the topic of holiness. 

-Is being a Christian about you or about God?
-Who maintains your relationship with God: you or Christ?
-Is it good to lower standards of obedience and goodness to some manageable level so as to feel good about yourself or others?
-Did Jesus ever lower standards from perfection?
-Is your holiness about you or about Christ?
-What does it mean that Jesus is your holiness? (1Cor 1:30)
-What makes a person holy?
-If holiness means to be different, then different from what?
Hint: Mormons tell me that holiness is about trying not to sin.
-Is holiness a process? If so, then how do you do it?
-If holiness is a process, then why did Peter command complete holiness now? (1Peter 1:15)
-Is holiness about behavior or about a way of seeing?
-If holiness is a way of seeing, then how does it work and how do you do it?

My view is that holiness is a way of seeing just like love is a way of seeing. In my view I don't have to compromise any scriptures to make them fit with something manageable. Shepherding the heart versus shepherding behavior. As we begin to see what is at the root of the difference we begin to see that it is easy to be "deceived away from the simplicity that is in Christ." (2Cor 11:3) That simplicity is the root of all holiness and love, and so much more. 

LEGALISM: HOW TO DO IT WELL

The Blessing of Life in a Culture of Pure Legalism

I have had the privilege of having significant relationships with Christians from various traditions. Because of our Mormon culture, Christians here are sensitive to the issue of legalism and discuss it often. Mormons specialize in legalism because their religion is all about legalism from beginning to end. They talk much about the importance of doing good things. We agree with them that it is good to do good things. But when we Christians explain how grace is unmerited favor, they object and declare that obedience to commandments is necessary to please God and be accepted by Him. One can't get forgiveness free they tell us because that would make people lazy. They do use the word grace and are doing so more and more, but don't be fooled. If you listen closely and ask questions you will discover that what they mean by grace is usually some form of kind or gentle legalism—another chance to keep the rules. Grace doesn't free you from the rules, but gives you help and more time to keep them. Rules must eventually be kept. So living in this overwhelmingly dominant culture of Mormonism of pure legalism forces us to stay alert. Without alertness here one can easily get sucked into the lies of legalism.

What is legalism?

This simple question is not simple to answer. I have thought about it for many years and been dissatisfied with my own study, with my own understanding, and with what I have heard others say or write about it. A few years ago I sought to avoid using the word because, even here, we tend to be sensitive to legalism in other people but not in ourselves. Why is it that when we Christians use the word legalism we are almost always pointing the finger at other people and not at ourselves—at other denominations and not at our own? Why do I never point the finger at myself and say something like the following? "Wow, I am really having legalistic thoughts today." Do you notice any legalism in others? Some likely notice it in you. When is the last time you noticed it in yourself? Isn't this an interesting dilemma?

The Key Word: Manageable

Just recently a word or thought came to me that may be helpful: manageable. Mormonism is all about making God's expectations manageable. Does God really want us Christians to do that? To think or speak of God's law or commandments in a manageable way is legalism. To think or speak of my (or your) obedience in a manageable way is legalism. Now that seems to have enough clarity so that I can begin to notice legalism in myself and you can notice it in yourself. Am I making the law, commandments, or my obedience manageable? We all have an intuitive sense about this and are somewhat sensitive to it in other people, but need clear thinking to see it in ourselves. 

Manageability is like judgmentalism. Hundreds of Mormons have told me that what they really don't like about other Mormons is that they are so judgmental. In each conversation I affirmed the evil of judgmentalism and then gently asked if it was easy for the person to resist judging judgmental people. Every time the person responded in embarrassment admitting to being just like the people being criticized. It is good to judge if we judge by perfection as God does, otherwise we are judging unrighteously. What authority do we have to do that? Righteous judgment—judgment by the standard of perfection—reveals that we are all in the same boat together as failures and makes it impossible to look down on another person—truly impossible. When we judge by some lowered manageable standards, we have entered the arena of competition where some of us succeed and others fail. Judgmentalism then is unavoidable. You may think highly of yourself that you are able to have manageable standards without being judgmental, but by doing so you are just proving my point that you think that you can succeed where others fail. You are fooling yourself. In the same way, God's law and obedience to God are good. Could it be that legalism is simply the natural result of shrinking either of these in such a way as to make them manageable? 

Isaiah's Experience

Notice the following beautiful verse in a Messianic chapter in the Gospel of Isaiah. I call it the Gospel of Isaiah because it is filled with grace—unmerited favor poured out on God's people—righteousness as a gift—God's delight in His Son and in His people.

"The Lord is well pleased for His righteousness sake; He will exalt the law and make it glorious." -Isaiah 42:21

Does this verse convey a sense of awe and glory, or of manageability? Exaltation is the opposite of manageability. God can manage the exaltation of the law, where as no flawed human can. Read Isaiah 6:1-7 and notice his experience.

In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train^a of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said:

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
the whole earth is full of his glory!”

 

And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!”

Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.”

Whatever Isaiah saw crushed his pride. He realized and cried out that he was a spiritually ruined man. What he saw was so big that it made him realize that all the people of Israel were spiritually ruined, too. The result was that Isaiah was spiritually healed and transformed. What did he see? I suggest that he saw the perfect righteousness of God and the surprise of unmerited favor that flows from that righteousness. In John 12:38-41, the Apostle John declares that what Isaiah saw in his vision was Isaiah chapter 53—"by his knowledge the righteous servant will make many righteous, for he will bear their iniquities." I have been greatly blessed to notice this connection and meditate much on it. See if such meditation might bless you.

How to do Legalism Well

I would like to give a humorous exhortation of how to do legalism well. If you live in Mormon culture you likely will hear an echo of this culture. That is the point. Manageability is the name of the game in Mormonism. Satan is alive and well and seeking to get us Christians to believe his lie and to think like Mormons, who are expert legalists or managers of God's expectations. They use religious words with unbiblical definitions in an attractive and persuasive way. Thus in the following, most religious words will be used with enticing Mormon definitions: worldliness, godliness, flesh, walking in the Spirit, laziness, obedience, and more. Remember that Satan masquerades as an angel of light and so his advice will be subtle counterfeits of truth. Here is my version of some of his advice to Christians as to how to obey God. See if you can detect the lies in the words and how manageability is ever present. Especially deceitful is the word flesh. Let's learn to laugh at ourselves in our failures so that we might better notice when we have bought into the lie. So here goes. What follows is Satan's advice for how to obey God.

Satan says:

• The first step in obedience to God is to realize that obedience is very important and that it is wrong and sinful to not obey God. 
• Second, it is important to realize that there are two serious errors to avoid in seeking to obey God. Just as one can go in the ditches on either the left or right side of the road when driving, so it is possible to be a lazy Christian or a legalist. Laziness is obvious. There are a lot of people who don't want to take seriously living the Christian life well—growing in the lord and living a holy life. This is a big problem, but the other problem can sneak up on a person who is taking obedience seriously. In seeking to avoid laziness it is possible to over correct and end up off the other side of the road in the ditch of legalism. Legalism is about using the law in a wrong way. The law is good but some people get way too pushy with it. That is legalism. So be careful to avoid being lazy, but also avoid being too pushy with the law.  
• Third, let's clarify and solidify our understanding. Make no mistake: God wants us to do good to our families, fellow saints, and unsaved neighbors. The Good Samaritan was one of Jesus' most popular parables. That Samaritan went out of his way to help a man who likely hated Samaritans. Use this parable as a reminder that no one is too bad for you to help. So be a good Samaritan to the people in your life. As you go through your days visualize others as hurt and in the ditch and in need of some kind of compassion from you.
• Fourth, you likely already notice that we all sometimes forget to do good and fail. It is important to not condemn yourself for that. Remember that Jesus is everything you need. And as long as you aren't a lazy Christian, you can look at your past and see that you have come a long way. That should be a big comfort. When you fail, thank God for Jesus. Remember that He doesn't expect for you to be perfect in your obedience but only  to make progress in becoming a more obedient Christian day by day.
• Fifth, keep in mind that the key to winning the spiritual battle is to know your enemy. It may be that the flesh is the greatest enemy in the Christian life. The flesh is your weakness and tendency to sin. So watch out for those in every situation. You can do all things through Christ who strengthens you. Don't let your weaknesses and sins rule you. 
• Sixth, another enemy to watch out for is worldliness. This is a deceitful trap. Many men get trapped in watching too much sports and some women get trapped in following the latest fashions. Many young people get hooked on cell phones. These are just three obvious examples, but there are many more. Use self-control or you will find yourself getting pulled into sins of various kinds. There are many ways to sin; so be alert for temptation.
• Seventh, the third thing to watch our for is ungodliness. We can approach this topic from a positive direction. Live a godly life and ungodliness will not be a problem for you. Choose to fill your life with prayer, Bible reading, evangelism, helping the poor, and visiting the shut-ins in your church. These days there are so many children from broken homes. Seek to speak blessing to those people at church because they have it real rough. All these things are good and so when you focus on them you won't have time for ungodly things like greed, selfishness, anger, laziness, and more.
• Eighth, remember that you are a new creation in Christ. This means that you have a new nature and thus sin can now really be a thing of the past for you. The Holy Spirit has power. Don't get tricked into thinking that the Spirit isn't strong enough to help you resist sin. 
• Ninth, remember that you are not a lone-ranger Christian. You are part of God's people. Therefore apply all the above principles to the Christians you know. Remind them of these principles and exhort them to apply them.  
• Last, walk in the Spirit and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh. The Spirit always leads you to its fruit: love, joy, peace patience, kindness, goodness, etc. The Spirit never points you to immorality, impurity, envy, idolatry, strife, anger, drunkenness, and such like. The flesh does that. Keep these two lists in mind as you seek to be led by the Spirit. The Spirit will never lead you to sin.
• Now you are ready to obey God. The sky is the limit when you have the Spirit to empower you to do God's will.

Legalism is seeing God's expectations—His commandments and our obedience—in some manageable form. God always expects perfection and only Jesus can manage perfect expectations. This applies when thinking of Christians and non-Christians. 

ARE YOU A GOOD CHRISTIAN?

What would you think if you overheard a friend tell someone that you were not a good Christian? Of course if you claimed to be an atheist, Muslim, or Buddhist you would not in the least disagree, though you might wonder about the motive for such a confused statement. But let's assume that you see yourself as a Christian. In that case, what would you think of those words? Would you think them to be judgmental or hypocritical? Might you feel a bit offended? Now let's say that the next day you overheard another friend talking about you, and that person said that you were a good Christian. How would you respond to those words? Let's evaluate more closely.

The Surprise in a Good Question

Are you a good Christian? There are only two possible answers. If you are not a Christian at all then the answer is obvious. But if you are a Christian, then what does it take to be a good one? I live in a part of Utah which may be the friendliest and most expressively religious part of the USA. Ninety percent of the people claim a heritage with the Mormon Church and all of them now claim to be Christians. Outsiders may say that they are not, but they claim to be. I discuss religious matters with hundreds of Mormons annually and commonly inquire whether they consider themselves to be good. Nearly all Mormons tell me that they see themselves as good. I always ask curiously how they come to that conclusion. They then always explain that they simply compare themselves to other people. One USU student said that she was good compared to everyone else. When I then ask how they would do if compared to Jesus, all stop smiling and say they would not be good. The conversation usually turns humorous at this point as they all declare that it is not good to compare oneself to others, but that we all do it. They are often surprised that they think it good to compare oneself to Jesus. They also say that they don't like people looking down on them but freely do it to others to feel good about themselves. Do you see the quandary this puts us all in?

Now back to our question. If we honor what my Mormon acquaintances tell me, then it is never good to compare myself to you, my wife, or any other Christian to determine if I am a good one. The Apostle Paul declares in 2 Corinthians 10:12 that it is not good to compare myself to my past performance. Now compared to Jesus I am a failure. How about you? Thus no one is a good Christian if being a good Christian is based on right behavior. But what does God see when He sees a Christian? Certainly He notices our behavior. But when He sees me as a person He sees me in Christ as dead to law--as dead to my old identity under the obligation to always do what was right. My righteousness was corrupt, lawless, and sinful. Christ took my righteousness, my identity as a law breaker, and gave me His identity as a righteous son. Because of the cross He could do this. It is a real identity exchange; it not an illusion. It is not just God checking a box in heaven and then continuing to relate to me like I am still in my old identity as unrighteous under law. I really am always in Christ and thus am always in a right relationship with God. God sees me as being as righteous as He sees Christ because Christ is my righteousness. This means that my behavior is not my righteousness. 

Identity or Behavior?

So in God's judgment--which is the only one that really matters--I am always righteous and He always smiles on me because of Christ, even at my worst. This implies that God always sees me as a good Christian because of Jesus. Thus to be a Christian is to be a good Christian--to be filled with all goodness as Paul says in Romans 15:14. This is true for you if you are a Christian. Our question reveals how much we are gripped with seeing ourselves and all other people through behavior. Behavior is important, but it needs to be kept in perspective. A non-Christian who works hard and stops most of his sins is still trapped in his identity under law under God's good reaction against all evil. I live surrounded by some really nice people who hate the gift of righteousness with a passion. They are in big trouble with God if they don't swap identities with Christ. It is important for us saints to take seriously our role as God's ambassadors of reconciliation to these nice lost people. The behavior of Christians also concerns God. He cares so much about it that he has made our good behavior the work of His Spirit. I suggest that the Spirit always points every saint to the person and work of Christ--to perfect love and righteousness as a gift--and when we hear the voice of the Spirit and keep our minds set there, then the fruit of the Spirit flows out effortlessly to everyone we meet. This sounds like good behavior to me. God worked at the cross, and when we remember the meaning of that work, then we work God's way.

Identity, identity, identity. Right thinking leads to right action.

The answer to our original question depends on whether you are thinking of behavior or identity. God thinks in terms of identity. Which will you think in terms of? It is critical to learn to think and speak clearly so that God gets the glory and we don't quench the work of the Spirit. I suggest that you start by pondering the meaning of your identity as fully righteous in Christ, then begin thinking about how that identity applies to all the Christians you know, and finally ponder how it applies to all the non-Christians you know. Especially apply this to the obnoxious people you know--non-Christians, Christians, and yourself.

MOTIVATION OF GRACE: THE TESTIMONY OF TWO NON-CHRISTIANS

Some years ago while in conversation with students on campus, a student from India said that back home he had a Mercedes sports car which he loved to drive fast. I asked him if he was concerned that the police might stop him. He said that they did stop him. I asked what he did. He smiled and told me that he simply showed them his I.D. and then his father’s photo, and because his father was the chief of police, they smiled and always waved him on. This man had immunity from speeding tickets because of who his father was. He seemed to be saying that he took full advantage of it. How sad.

Not long after, I met Issa, a Muslim attorney from the Middle East. His wife was working on a Ph.D. here and he spent his days caring for their son and so has little pressure. His home country is ruled by a king who has real authority. One day I asked Issa what would happen if his king’s son raced his Mercedes through the capital city—would the police give him a ticket. He laughed at me, saying that he was the king’s son and so was above the law and could do what he wanted. I suggested that he could run over old ladies in crosswalks. He said that was true. He also said that everyone in the country wished to have this special relationship with the king so they would not have to be under the law. He said that it was his impossible dream. I then asked how it would affect him if his king paid the fantastic and unheard of price to adopt him into the royal family, giving him that privilege. He smiled and said that he would be so thankful that he would always drive carefully watching out for the safety of others. He then added that he would never ever do anything wrong again out of thankfulness for what the king had done for him. I suggested that there would be a time where he might do something wrong. He said that would be impossible. I kept pushing and finally mentioned that if he forgot the price the king had paid, he could do something wrong. Issa smiled and agreed.

Two men above the law. The first had no motivation of grace since he naturally was a son above the law. And so without the threat of punishment, he was careless about the law, being motivated by his own whims. The second man also had no obligation to law—and an even greater certainty of freedom. But he knew that his awareness of the king’s love for him and the fantastic price paid to buy his adoption, was the obvious and sufficient motivation to always do good and not do evil. The gift was so great that he didn't consider that he could ever not be thinking about it. Remembrance of the king’s grace would move him to always do good.

My Muslim attorney friend knows the heart of true Christianity. When I told him such and had him read Isaiah 53 and Hebrews 2 in a bilingual Bible, he smiled and asked if I could get for him such a Bible. He gladly took the one we were reading together. Sadly it seems all too common for us Christians to fall into the thinking of the man from India--that no threat of consequences means little or no motivation to do what is good.

ARE YOU A CHILD OF GOD OR OF THE DEVIL?

“It is always immoral to lower moral standards.”

–a philosophy professor’s words to me last fall

First, do you agree with this statement? Second, read the following verses from 1John 3 and evaluate yourself without making an immoral judgment, and then do the same for your favorite Christian. If no Christian honestly passes the test then either the translation is faulty, the text has been corrupted, the apostle John was confused, or you are reading his words in a confused way.

4. "Whosoever commits sin transgresses also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law."
5. "You know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin."
6. "Everyone who remains in Him does not sin; everyone who sins has not seen Him or known Him."
7. "Little children, let no man deceive you: he that does righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous."
8. "He that commits sin is of the devil; for the devil sins from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil."
9. "Whosoever is born of God does not commit sin; for his nature remains in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God."
10. "In this the children of God are revealed, and the children of the devil. Whoever doesn't do righteousness is not of God, neither is he who doesn't love his brother."

Behavior or Identity?

The Apostle John is declaring that all people can and should be evaluated by the words in this passage. I suggest that the John was very insightful about truth and wrote this letter with both the full knowledge of its meaning and the expectation that the Christian reader could understand it. Did you read the passage as about behavior? If so, did you pass the test? If you passed the test, did you do so without compromising the absolute statements in the text? I read this passage as about identity, and read it through the lens of continuous moral perfection. Therefore it is not difficult to evaluate who is of God and who is of the devil. But, you may ask, if one doesn't evaluate identity via behavior then how does one do it? It is by evaluation of words spoken from the heart. One simply has to figure out what the words mean. 

CHRISTIAN MATURITY: NOT WHAT YOU HAVE BEEN TAUGHT

What is Christian Maturity?

How you define Christian maturity significantly influences how you see the Christian life, how you read your Bible, how you deal with your failures, how you deal with the failures of other Christians, and how free you will be to be open and honest with other Christians and non-Christian friends. I suggest that there two general ways to answer this question, two very different roads, and two very different affects on you. The following verse typifies the first.

"I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength." -Philippians 4:13

This beautiful verse was among those I memorized as a young Christian at university 35+ years ago. As a reserved, conflict-avoiding person, this verse really spoke to me. Now that I was a Christian those paralyzing hesitations could be a thing of the past. Christ in me meant that I could handle the difficulties of life. I had the Holy Spirit; I had a new heart and a new nature; God would always be with me. That word strength was attractive to me. To avoid being intimidated by my weaknesses I meditated on this verse and rejoiced in it much. For me Christian maturity was the process of growing in the strength of the Lord. Step by step, with Christ getting all the glory, I could stand firm in Him, in His grace, in His strength. This was what I thought and what I remember hearing others teach and tell me. Do you resonate with this? Can you even think of another way to think of maturity?

Fortunately in those early days I memorized other verses that spoke to me from other angles and they kept me from putting too much emphasis on that word strength.

"But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong." -2Corinthians 12:9-10

This one taught me to see my weaknesses as assets and to celebrate them. It affected me much, but it would be many years before its place in Christian maturity dominated my thoughts and words. I now think that Christian maturity is becoming ever more sensitive to my weaknesses and my desperate need of Christ who is strong. Here is the clear choice of the two options.

1. Christian maturity is growing stronger and stronger with Christ's help.
2. Christian maturity is growing ever more sensitive to how very weak every Christian (especially self) is and how desperately needy each is of Christ moment by moment.

Please don't fool yourself and think that these are similar. Once you notice the significance of  number two you will grasp how radically different they are. In the last week two Christian men told me of two pastors who committed suicide--one was connected by marriage to one pastor and the other by denominational ties to the other. Both pastors couldn't handle the pressure of needing to be strong. Yesterday I was speaking with a friend who writes for the religion section of the Mormon Church's newspaper. He wanted to discuss Mormons, Evangelicals and politics for his article, but we strayed quickly into our usual conversation about self-righteousness as the big sin problem in churches and in life in general. When I mentioned that Evangelicals generally believe number one above, he expressed surprise and declared that such is what Mormons believe. He was intrigued when I told him of my move from #1 to #2. In the past we have spoken much about the need for honesty about sin in light of the standard of perfection, and so #2 seemed to make sense to him for a Christian to believe.

In my dominant Mormon culture many Christians are from a Mormon background. They are Christians because they came to realize that they were fakes and failures. They then trusted that Jesus did all the work for them and found freedom and joy. Suddenly they are part of us. As they hear us say and preach that with a new heart and the Holy Spirit they can now obey the Lord and do what is right, and that maturity is growing in strength with Christ's help, what do you expect they might sense? Mormonism ingrains in its members that if they have real intent then God will help them keep all the commandments. Since they had been crushed by failure and phoniness under that teaching, how could our words not bring back those haunting memories?

Fruit of Each View

Here are some symptoms that reveal that you are thinking that maturity is a process of growing stronger and stronger with Christ's help. Evaluate yourself. Do you consider yourself to be an obedient Christian? If so what standard do you use? Do you struggle with thoughts that you are a horrible Christian and wonder if you will ever be a good Christian? Do you wish that you were a stronger Christian? Do you hesitate to speak openly and specifically about your weaknesses? Do you tend to make excuses for your failures? When you see other Christians, especially pastors, fall into "serious" sin, do you wonder how they could do that? When you sin do you have the thought that you need to read your Bible more or pray more? Do you think that of others? Do you see your weaknesses as a hindrance to growing as a Christian? Are you worried that other Christians might see you as weak? Is your testimony about the positive changes in our life? Is confession a duty, even a drag?

It is possible to see your weaknesses as the place of celebration in life, and be inconsistent, as I was, in a confused middle ground. When I heard #2 expressed, I embraced it immediately as the hidden cry of my heart. It had been there but I couldn't get it out without help. Do you see the clear distinction between the two options? Is #2 now the cry of your heart, and do you hope to never again say or think #1? If so then welcome to the party.

Here are some positive symptoms that indicate that you may think or are ready to think number 2. Do you see in yourself the seed of every sin you notice in others or can think of? Do you see yourself getting worse in the Christian life rather than better? Do your tiny sins that are invisible to others bother you? When you see other Christians, especially pastors, fall into "serious" sin, do you feel pity and know that such could happen to you if you forget your weakness? When you see Christians nearby sin, do you feel the urge to speak of the cross to comfort them? Do you know for sure that you are not an obedient Christian because perfect love is the standard? Do you find it easy to share your weaknesses and failings with others? When others point out your sins, do you freely welcome that criticism, knowing that you are worse than they know? When others share their failings with you, do you tend to smile and remind them that Jesus is all they need? Is you testimony about God saving a helpless sinner.  To you is confession of sin a glad reminder of your weakness and Christ's finished work? Is confession of sin a joy rather than a drag?

Pretending Away Weakness or Strength?

We all waver in our thoughts, but what you declare openly in your calm clear moments will be what you use to comfort, encourage, and teach yourself and others in times of trouble. If your principle is that Christianity is about becoming strong with Christ's help, then your weaknesses naturally will be seen as a hindrance. What we see as hindrances we tend to ignore, hide or pretend away. Also we tend to pretend that we are more mature than we really are. In this view we tend to confidence in our strength, which sure sounds like pride. Do you see the implications and how this view of maturity can lead to fear, isolation, pride, and false humility?  On the other hand, if your principle is that maturity is about increased awareness of weakness, then you will see  you weaknesses as good, and not see any need to hide them or pretend about them. You will celebrate them and boast in them--but that is what Paul did. If you have confidence in your weaknesses,then who would dare call you proud? Don't we actually call that humility? In this view confidence in your own strength or improvement is seen as bad and something to avoid and suppress. If you do that and boast about your weaknesses and even exaggerate them, and then on top of this you fool yourself into actually thinking that you have no good points in yourself to trust in--if you actually convince yourself of this--would that really be a bad thing?

If you are tired of shallow relationships, excuse making, and pretending to be something you are not, then I suggest that you consider changing your view of Christian maturity. You may then be surprised at how easy it is to be honest about sin, how easy it is to forgive others, and how much you enjoy life and other people--even when they are failing. But feel free to fight against your weaknesses. As for me, I don't like the pain.

Christian maturity is becoming ever more sensitive to my weaknesses and my desperate need of Christ who is strong.

WHAT IS CHEAP LAW?

A friend asked for more clarification on what is meant by cheap law. I suggest that clarity on this point needs to be shocking. Cheap is the label for something that is inferior in quality. Sometimes that is seen as a good thing if you are looking for a deal at a yard sale. But in the world of personal relationships cheapness conveys insult and violation of what is good. Call a friend, a gift, or a woman cheap and see what reaction you get. This label is insulting, rude, or even crude. God is good and will only relate to his creation in a good way. This means that he isn't stingy, he won't sell himself, he won't lower the standards of goodness, and the surprise is that he is generous. God and the human conscience both testify that perfect love is always required and that evaluation by the standard of perfection is good.

To think or say that God doesn't require perfection, or to say that partial obedience is somehow acceptable to him, is to cheapen (or make inferior) his goodness. This is human pride attempting to mock God in order to get some credit (glory), but God will not be mocked. The person who does this is actually mocking himself and lying about God.

Why was Old Testament Israel often called a harlot—even said to be chasing and paying the men? And why after they claimed to have cleaned up their act did Jesus still call them adulterous? It was because Israel taught and acted like God sold his love in exchange for their payment of cheap imperfect obedience. They even had the gall to declare that they were obedient and God's judgment was really his inability to take care of them.

God is good; his law is perfect and good; his favor is good. But it would be prostitution for him to cheapen his standards and sell his favor for a little polluted partial obedience. To think that he does this is to do it oneself. Cheapness in relationships is prostitution. Human pride loves prostitution, but God hates it with a passion. God gladly offers his favor to all, but that favor must be received in a good way: either by perfect obedience to law or perfect freedom from law—by rest in the finished work of Christ.

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO KEEP THE COMMANDMENTS?

"If you love me you will keep my commandments." -Jesus in John 14:15

It is commonly thought that Jesus means by the commandments something like the ten commandments plus many others. If this is the true understanding, then do you keep the commandments? Can you name anyone who does? All the many people—mostly non-Christians—that I have asked have told me that it is not good to lower the standards or to compare oneself to other people. Therefore compared to Christ how are you doing keeping the commandments? The only honest answer for any of us is: FAILURE. Does this mean that you and I are not Christians? No, because there is another way to interpret Jesus' words where you do keep the commands compared to Christ.

If you read John's gospel closely looking for Jesus' commands, you will find that there really are just two: believe the gospel and love the brothers. I suggest that these two are identical. Read John 6:27-40 and ask yourself what is the work Jesus commands. [Note: work is the only command in the passage in the Greek text.] Read John 14:21-23 and notice that keeping the commands equals keeping Jesus' words and that if one does this, Jesus and the Father come to dwell with that person. Don't all Christians think that this is fulfilled when one becomes a Christian? It was true for me 37 years ago. Isn't true for you too?

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.

IS SIN ABOUT YOU OR ABOUT GOD?

"He has delivered us from the authority of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins." -Colossians 1:13-14

Paul declares here (and in Ephesian 1) that forgiveness is redemption. But redemption from what? We tend to be self focused and see sin as a wrong moral action on the part of some human. But what if sin is something far greater, like the authority of God's law and goodness being mocked and violated by you? Rape isn't merely a wrong action, it is the mockery and violation of something and someone highly valued by God. See the difference? From God's view each and every sin is the violation and dishonor of His authority—of His goodness—of all of the moral law (James 2:10). Do we usually think that way? No.

God's vision of the death of Jesus is much grander that just providing a way for those He loves to be forgiven and avoid hell. But isn't that what we usually think? Dishonor of the law is evil and that evil must be dealt with for God to reestablish goodness. And He as a good creator was responsible to not leave evil unresolved. A new creation was needed—one that honored the law and excluded dishonor of it. God did this in a way that is radical and surprising. He became part of His creation taking on our identity under law. He honored the law in its fullness in life and then took on death in the place of lawbreakers. In short, Jesus died the death of all men to establish the law in its glory and honor. The way God did this is something to celebrate because it is the ultimate revelation of the lavish righteous generosity of a good God—"by his knowledge my righteous servant will make many righteous." (Isaiah 53:11) This is the celebration of the lamb and all people are commanded and invited to discard their identity as unrighteous lawbreakers under the old creation and be clothed in the new creation where the finished work of Christ is full completeness. Amen? Are you persuaded?

A Christian cannot sin—he cannot dishonor the law--because Jesus honored the law in its fullness and every Christian is a member of the new creation in Christ where His identity as perfect is our identity and our identity as lawbreakers is gone because He took it away. Do you see this identity as real or merely as a get-out-of-jail-free card? To think this way does not mean that we pretend that Christians don't do what appears to be sin—to do things that are a violation of goodness, to do what is a evil: lying, stealing, adultery, coveting, strife, envy, pride, and much much more. Those are all evil for a Christian to do, but they are simply the fruit of forgetting the new creation—forgetting that only perfection counts with God. Let's be honest about both the beauty of our identity above the law and the evil of our actions that result from forgetting perfection.

THE MOTIVATION OF GRACE—the testimony of two non-Christians.

A few years ago while in conversation with students on campus, a student from India said that back home he had a Mercedes sports car which he loved to drive fast. I asked him if he was concerned that the police might stop him. He said that they did stop him. I asked what he did. He smiled and told me that he simply showed them his I.D. and then his father’s photo, and because his father was the chief of police, they smiled and always waved him on. This man had immunity from speeding tickets because of who his father was. He seemed to be saying that he takes full advantage of it, too. What is wrong with this picture?

Not long after, I met J___, a Muslim attorney from the Middle East. His wife is working on a Ph.D. here and he spends his days caring for their son and so has little pressure. His home country is ruled by a king who has real authority. This friend likely knows that the secret police there have real authority to torture people almost at will. One day I asked J___ what would happen if the King’s son raced his Mercedes through the capital city—would the police give him a ticket. He laughed at me, saying that he was the king’s son and so was above the law and could do what he wanted. I suggested that he could run over old ladies in crosswalks. He said that was true. He also said that everyone in the country wished to have this special relationship with the king so they would not have to be under the law. I then asked J___ how it would affect him if his king paid the fantastic and unheard of price to adopt him into the royal family which would give him that privilege. J___ smiled and said that he would be so thankful that he would always drive carefully watching out for the safety of others. He added that he would never do anything wrong out of thankfulness for what the king had done for him. I suggested that there would be a time where he might do something wrong. He said that would be impossible. I mentioned that if he forget the price the king had paid, he could do something wrong. J___ smiled and agreed.

Two men above the law. The first had no motivation of grace since he naturally was a son above the law. And so without the threat of punishment, he was careless about the law, being motivated by his own whims. The second man also had no obligation to law—and even a greater certainty of freedom. But he knew that his knowledge of the king’s love for him and the fantastic price paid to buy his adoption, was the obvious and sufficient motivation to always do good and not evil. The gift was so great that he didn't consider that he could ever not be thinking about it. Remembrance of the king’s grace would move him to always do good.

My Muslim attorney friend knows the heart of true Christianity. When I told him such and had him read Isaiah 53 and Hebrews 2 in a bilingual Bible, he smiled and asked if I could get for him such a Bible. He gladly took the one we were reading together. May his stay in the USA be a double blessing for him. Sadly it seems easy for us Christians to fall into the thinking of the man from India—that no threat of consequences means little or no motivation to do what is good.