If you happen to be like me and wondering about this argument of grace vs. accomplishment for the kingdom (see Entry Nine and comments) here is a wonderful sermon I heard this morning. Still don't have it all figured out, but at least we know that there is a Scriptural way to explore all the questions we have about how we should be living under this new covenant.
Godliness and the Kingdom of Christ
Click on the link, then scroll down to select the correct sermon :-D
This isn't quite connected to that sermon, but here's kinda the bottom-line thought where I think I'm landing:
ReplyDeleteRather than saying, "The thing you desire is already yours in Christ," (as I did before) I think I should be saying, "Something BETTER than what you desire is already yours in Christ."
Because for the person in 1 Corinthians 3:15 who is disciplined, yet still saved, I feel like the fact that he is SAVED will outweigh the former. And for everyone who hears, "Well done, good and faithful servant," won't the line "enter into the joy of your master," be even better?
Kinda like that C.S. Lewis quote: "It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased."
Now, a lot of people would need to be instructed that, just because their reward of Christ is secure, that doesn't mean that we just do nothing here and now. Because it's that reality of our salvation that MOTIVATES our work, and our work confirms that the salvation is actually there. But I kinda feel like you and I get that... and I know for me, I more often need the above reminders. Otherwise I accidentally make working for Christ stressful and fix my eyes on the wrong prize.
So I have to guard myself against fixing my eyes on being a reputable Christian rather than fixing my eyes on Christ. In your case, that would mean working on replacing the desire for a sense of accomplishment with a greater desire for Christ himself.
Hmmm... that's a good way of looking at it. Thanks for your thoughts. Maybe I'm just a glutton for trying to figure things out, cause now I'm thinking, "Well, how in the world am I supposed to give myself a greater desire for Christ?" Why does it always come back to simply spending time with our Lord? Haha. Remaining in Christ, similar to faith, I think is one of the hardest parts of this whole deal.
ReplyDeleteYup. It blew my mind when I realized that the command in John 15:1-11 isn't to produce fruit but is to abide in Christ.
ReplyDeleteI do think, though, that there are more ways to stir our affections for Christ than just spending time in the Word and prayer. And that doesn't look the same for everyone (well, except that everyone's list should include the Word, prayer, fellowship, worship, obedience) because your list probably includes learning new science stuff and mine... just doesn't.
Haha, true enough, but it is so sad that the whole world can't be interested in learning about the creativity of our God who created macula adherens with dozens of interacting proteins that have to be translated and synthesized and taken to the correct places just to form one of dozens of necessary adhesions within your epithelial cells:-)
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