In 1517 Martin Luther posted his 95 thesis declaring salvation by grace through faith. Today the church desperately needs a second reformation of sanctification by grace. Christians are chained to a treadmill of trying to please God by their behavior, of trying harder and sinning less. If they can just discipline themselves enough and be determined enough, they are deceived into thinking they can become righteous and holy and be close to God and He will be pleased. Grace tells us that our relationship and intimacy with our Father in heaven is no longer dependent upon our behavior...or lack there of. Grace tells us we no longer have to strive to become righteous, because He has given us a new nature that is righteous. Grace tells us that it is the only thing powerful enough to deal with our sin. Grace tells us that God is already head-over-heels in love with us and nothing we do can change that. Welcome to "Formed by Grace."

Monday, October 18, 2010

Is it my behavior that pleases God? (55 sec)

Okay - time to get back with it. If I not only relate to God on the basis of the life and death of Christ (and not on the basis of my behavior)...and God also relates to me on the basis of the life and death of Christ (and not my behavior) - this means that I am set free from attempting to please Him by my obedience. He looks at me through the life and death of Jesus and is already pleased. There is nothing I can do to make Him love me more than he already loves me in Christ Jesus. And there is nothing I can do to make Him love me less. Might this mean that the motive or the purpose behind my obedience is not pleasing God? This could prove revolutionary to me.

Let me say all this another way. God does not love me more when I resist sin, He does not love me less when I give in. If He loves me less, I am under law and not grace. Does this give me permission to sin? Absolutely not. Grace will never inflame the heart of the saint to sin. Our new redeemed heart does not want to sin, and so being out from under the law and in the freedom of grace does not create a desire in our heart to run wild and sin.

So then - what about obedience? What is it's place? What is its role? How should I think about it? Check the next blog, Wednesday, October 20.
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2 comments:

  1. UnknownOctober 18, 2010 at 3:02 PM

    In John's Gospel, Jesus said "If you love me, you will keep my commandments" and "If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love..."

    Love seems to be tied to obedience.

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  2. AubreyOctober 25, 2010 at 7:38 PM

    Hey Dad, I meant to comment on this one last week and I forgot. I think we agree in principle on this, but I think that the way you are phrasing it is slightly unhelpful. After all, Romans 12:1 says that we are to offer our bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God. So I think that our obedience does please God, although it is important to emphasize that our obedience does not EARN God's pleasure. Does that make sense? Sure, God is already pleased with us, but the NT also talks about obedience in terms of doing what is pleasing to God. (2 Cor 5:9 - Col. 3:20 - 1 Thess 4:1) -jeff

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