Posts Tagged ‘Grace’

I was listening to Mere Christianity this morning, continuing my C. S. Lewis kick, and was amazed by one of the descriptions of the Christian life. Lewis first explained the difference between being created and begotten. That which is created is different from the creator. A statue created by a man is not like a man. Even if it is fashioned in the likeness of a man, it is not like him in essence. Stone is not flesh. That which is begotten, on the other hand, is like that from which it comes both in essence and likeness. There are some really deep implications of these concepts, but I am going to focus on one in particular.

Jesus is the only begotten of the Father (John 3:16). Lewis describes the entire life of the Christian as the process of being made into Christ’s likeness. Most of us have heard that before. What I had not heard before was another way of saying it: that we are being made from the created into the begotten. This is what it means to become “sons of God” (Gal. 3:26-27)

When we are born again, our human spirit becomes one with Christ. Jesus, by the Holy Spirit, takes up residence within our mortal bodies. In this way, our created human spirit is made into the begotten spirit of Christ and we become sons of God. That is the beginning; the foundation upon which the work of changing us from the created into the begotten begins. The remainder of our humanity remains a created thing that must be changed into a begotten thing. Our soul, the mind, will and emotions, are changed into Christ-likeness through the process of sanctification. Our physical bodies will follow suit at the resurrection of the dead when our mortal bodies will be changed into immortal just like the body Jesus now has was changed following his resurrection from the dead.

I threw out a lot of theology there. But there is a point. There is a lot of talk in Christian recovery circles about the whole notion of self-effort vs. grace. While we all agree that Christian recovery is an extension of the sanctification process, how it progresses is at times hotly debated. I would like to slightly reshape the debate using the concept of changing from a created thing into a begotten thing.

The soul cannot change itself into a begotten thing. The thoughts of the created mind, feelings of the created emotions, nor choices of the created will are of any value in the process at all. If they are to be changed they must be submitted to the only begotten, Jesus himself, so that he can do the work of changing them into his likeness. We cannot change ourselves into that likeness any more than Pinocchio could have made himself into a real boy (borrowing a little myth here). It is God’s effort, not our own, that makes this change possible.

When the whole concept of surrender is brought up in recovery, this is really the back of what is being said. We cannot change ourselves, we have to be changed. To that end, we can only surrender to the One who has the power to change us. Any effort should be expended as a means to surrender. Self-control, for instance, is a result of that surrender.

For brevity’s sake, here are a several relevant scripture references. Most are familiar passages, but take on new meaning in the context of being changed from created to begotten.

John 3:16
John 15:1-8
Romans 8:1-26
Romans 12:1-2
Galations 3:1-3
Galations 5:16-25
Philippians 1:3-6
Titus 2:11-12

NPR aired a short, but powerful story of how a woman falsely accused a man of rape who was subsequently incarcerated for eleven years.

She was a victim, but after he was exonerated by DNA evidence, she was the one in need of forgiveness. The man showed incredible grace to her. So much so that she found the strength to forgive her actual rapist.

You can listen to the piece online: Finding Freedom In Forgiveness.

Tonight I was reading through chapter seven of “Grace Walk” by Steve McVey. We are going through it in my church small group. While I was reading the chapter, I highlighted a couple of sections that are worth sharing and commenting on.

Christians who are not abiding in Him [Christ] are walking in a state of continuous sin, regardless of their actions.

Christians, myself included, have the tendency to gauge our spiritual success based upon our feelings and outward appearances. If we are not overtly engaging in sinful behavior then we feel good about our spiritual condition, regardless of whether we are trusting and abiding in Christ or not. However, this is short-sighted and does not describe sin as the New Testament characterizes it. The biblical definition of sin extends far beyond behavior and even thought patterns. It very simply is the condition of living with a broken relationship with God.

Jesus assures us in John 15:5 that, “apart from me you can do nothing.” Yet we strive to keep ourselves from sinning day after day, having no real fellowship with Jesus. This is a guaranteed recipe for failure. We have cut ourselves off from the only source of power to do anything as a Christian – Christ Himself. This is a state of sin no matter what we do.

So what does it look like to abide in Christ? Very simply put, it is to live by faith in Christ. Many references in the New Testament affirm that trusting in Jesus is the only way to live a righteous life. This isn’t just trusting Him for salvation in the sweet by and by. Much more, this is trusting Christ for the resources to overcome temptation and experience the abundance that Jesus said he came to deliver (John 10:10). It is maintaining our relationship with him, not merely doing things for him.

Validating McVey’s point in the quote above, Paul taught that “…everything that does not come from faith is sin.” (Rom. 14:23) If we are not approaching life’s decisions and temptations from a place of trust in Christ and our relationship with him, then we are walking in a state of continuous sin, regardless of our behavior.

I have made the additional mistake of viewing the Christian life as a car battery that must continuously be charged to keep my spiritual motor running. This is not to discount the importance of spiritual disciplines. However, as stated previously, if those disciplines are not an overflow or in maintenance of a trusting relationship with Christ, they are of little value.

McVey put it this way…

I’ll never think of getting my spiritual battery charged again. When we abide in Christ, it is like turning a switch into the “on” position and allowing the full power of Jesus Christ to flow through us. When we choose to rest in His life, we experience victory. When we choose not to abide, we flip the switch to the “off” position and we fail.

So what does any of this have to do with sexual purity? Well, I’m glad you asked!

God does not hide his face from us when we have slipped up. Having a few weeks or months of behavioral purity under our belts doesn’t mean that we are any more acceptable to God. We can turn to him at any time because of Jesus. That is what the cross is all about! We don’t do so because of our deep shame, but that is a topic for another post!

The bottom-line is this: if we have a long stretch of sexual purity behind us and yet we are not abiding in Christ, it is only a matter of time before our continuous state of sin (broken fellowship with God) expresses itself in specific sinful behavior. For those like me whose flesh has a bent toward sexual sin, that is the likely candidate.

By contrast, even if we have been recently sexually acting out, we can repent and turn to Christ. We can receive his grace afresh and allow his love that has never changed to begin changing us once more.

I also want to make this last point: I am not talking about losing our salvation. Rather, I am talking about those who have trusted Christ for salvation cutting themselves off from the process of sanctification by breaking fellowship. Fortunately for us, God has promised never to break fellowship with us because of Christ! We can return to him and pick that relationship back up at any time.

As I was enjoying my daily dose of LOL Cats I came across this picture. It quickly reminded me of how it feels sometimes with lust and temptation.

There are times when it seems to follow me around and haunt me everywhere I turn. All I have to do is “stop the car” and I will be overrun by this behemoth that has been following me around. Not unlike this picture, sometimes an attractive woman in my rear-view mirror while sitting at a red light can be something to kick of fantasy.

Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.
- 1 Peter 5:8

Roaring lion, pack of stampeding elephants; same thing, right?! As this verse tells us, we have to be self-controlled and alert. The enemy literally stalks us at times and he knows our weaknesses.

For those of us who have habitually given in to lust, porn, etc., we have given up self-control to our flesh. We have to work diligently to regain it and be alert. However, there is a twist. Scripture also teaches us that self-control is a fruit of the Holy Spirit (see Galations 5:22-24).

As with anything in the Christian life, success is not measured by work but rather by faith. Growth in Christian character, including the spiritual fruit of self-control, is a work of grace that God is actively pursuing in our hearts. We know that he is working to conform us to the image of Christ. The work that is ours is to trust that God is indeed doing a work in our lives and trust him to bring it to completion.

There is so much more to say on this topic. But for further reference, here are a few more scripture references.

Romans 12:1-2
Philippians 1:4-6
Colossians 3:9-10

Shame is such a deep wound that haunts those of us dealing with sexual sin. So much so that we can stiff-arm God; rejecting his open invitation to enjoy his presence. Our shame shouts in our ears and deafens us to the still, small voice of the Holy Spirit that says, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened…” (Matt. 11:28).

Steve McVey blogged about how salvation itself isn’t about us accepting Jesus as our “Personal Lord and Savior” as touted in so many evangelical circles. But rather, it is a proclamation that because of Jesus Christ God accepts us just the way we are. We only have to put our faith in Christ. This is earth-shattering news to those living in deep shame!

Take a minute to read Steve’s post and maybe leave him an encouraging comment.

I don’t have HBO, but I am interested in a documentary that is airing tomorrow called, “The Trials of Ted Haggard“.

It is always interesting and frankly sad to see how the church shoots its own wounded. That is not to condone Mr. Haggard’s behavior, but rather to indict the church for vehemently distancing itself from a man in obvious need of the grace of Christ to rebuild the brokenness in his life.

Somewhat ironically, Ted Haggard spoke at my graduation dinner from Christ for the Nations Institute back in 1999. I was inspired by his passion and knew that he was a prominent evangelical Christian leader. The irony is that now I have been through to a certain degree some of the process that he must be undergoing in recovery from sexual sin. He spoke encouraging words to us about going out and doing God’s work. Now I feel I can with some authority encourage him to do the same!

Those of us who struggle with habitual sin know that the outward behavior is a reflection of the inward condition of the heart. Jesus put it this way…

For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.
- Matthew 15:19

The point is that the behavior was merely an expression of a heart that needed changing. We all have one of those, don’t we?

If you get to watch the documentary, comment here on it. I’d be interested to hear about it.

By the way, Ted Haggard is going to be on Larry King Live tonight to talk about the film.