"You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ: you have
fallen away from grace." Galatians 5:4
Imagine this. You are given a long list of things to do. Not just simple things but difficult tasks.
1)Run 20 miles at 6 in the morning.
2) Make 100 rolls of Sushi in twenty minutes by 7 in the morning.
3) Take the next door neighbors five dogs for a walk while making an important business deal on the phone.
4) Learn how to speak Chinese in four days.
5) Gain eighty pounds in one week.
I know these things are weird and random but keep imagining. Now imagine that you would get a prize, a huge great amazing prize that you have been longing for so long and that you truly desire. But you can only get this special prize if you complete the list above.In your mind you're probably thinking "Well I'm never getting that prize." This is what so many Christians do. We make laundry lists of the things we think we need to complete in order to achieve grace, salvation, and God's love. Are list probably look more like this.
1)Go to Church
2) Be kind to others
3) Don't cuss
4) Stay away from drugs
5) Don't lie or steal
6) Don't have sex until marriage
And the list goes on and on and on. The problem is this. Grace, Salvation, and God's Love are not things we can earn. They are not things we can work for and achieve. It's not something we can win. They are gifts. God's Love is always there whether you choose to believe it or not. And salvation is put into our life's as soon as we receive the good news of Jesus Christ. So many of us try to work and work at being a "good Christian" but we rarely ever try to let God work in us to make us become more like Him. That's what it's all about, that's the big picture. You see none of our deeds can compare the the greatest deed of all. Which was Christ dying for our sins. God graciously gave us grace because of his unfailing love for us, and we can not work to achieve those things. Like it says in the bible verse above if you try to justify your selves by rules and guidelines, you are falling away from Christ. You're forgetting that Grace is not earned but it is a gift. Some people will argue "But doesn't God call us to do good works, to follow his law and command?" Yes he does! But you see as we fall in love with God and his glory, He transforms us from the inside out. Him not us. If it were up to us we would constantly be in this struggle thinking we have to earn God's love. But it's not up to us it's up to God, and when we truly surrender ourselves to him we start to do these list of things not because we feel like we have to but because we desire with all of our hearts to do so. When you love God so much his commands are your way of life and you love and honor them."This is love for God: To obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome." 1 John 5:3 That doesn't mean you won't mess up, but that's when Grace steps in. The whole point of this is to realize that we can't do it on our own. That making a mental list of things to do in order to be a Christian is pointless. The point is Christ died for us, God loves us with an everlasting love. And once we accept these truths, God starts to work in us and change our hearts to be more like him and less like the world.
Because it doesn't depend on me it depends on him
See because when I was God's enemy and certainly not a fan
He looked down and said I want, that, man
Which is why Jesus hated religion, and for it he called them fools
Don't you see so much better than just following some rules Not based on my merits but Jesus's obedience alone- Jeff Bethke
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