It seems like a subtle twist occurs in lots of our
conversations when we talk about our righteousness.
For the most part, we understand that our righteousness is
completely established by the cross of Christ. We know that we can’t buy it,
earn it, or otherwise deserve it. In light of our previous track records as
sinners, this is pretty easy to believe. We know that we can’t be good enough
to earn God’s favour. By grace we have been saved. That being said, we tend to
live like the expression of righteousness in our daily lives depends on us. While
we are saved by grace, I think that we generally live our Christian lives by
the sweat of our brow until we return to the dust. Our experience usually seems
to confirm this as we ride the “roller coaster” of highs and lows, which
usually correlate with how much work we invest into our “relationship with
God.”
What if Christianity is supposed to be effortless?
What if God isn’t calling us to “work on our relationship”
with Him?
What if spirituality isn’t maintained with sweat equity?
When I first heard a friend talking this way, every fibre in
me wanted to shout “baloney!” It seemed so obviously untrue. It was wishful
thinking at best, and a damnable heresy at the worst. After all, we’re supposed
to seek first the kingdom and its righteousness. We’re called to work out our
salvation with fear and trembling. God calls us to obey Him. Jesus wants
disciples and not fans, right?
My reasoning seemed sound enough at the time, but the
difference between my friend’s lifestyle and my own suggested that I was
missing something. Situations where I would crumble under the temptation to
compromise just didn’t seem to shake him. He saw the best in people that I
couldn’t even bring myself to talk to, and it seemed like he flowed easily in
obedience to the Lord in areas where I had to grit my teeth to do the right
thing. Either he lived in a state of complete denial, or this guy was actually on
to something. I was confused and honestly offended when he insisted that there was
nothing he did to produce what was obviously the fruit of the Spirit in his
life. I was doing my best to “press in to God” and to “grow spiritually,” and
it seemed to be of no avail. I knew that I needed to take a second look at what
I was believing!
Scripture instructs us in Colossians 2:6, “Therefore, as you
received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him…”. Our life in Christ was
initiated by grace through faith, and can only ever be sustained in the exact
same way. I have learned through my own experience that I only bear genuine
fruit when I depend solely on His initiative in me, and on His grace working
through me. As Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15:10,
“But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace
towards me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God
that is with me.” (my emphasis)
I cannot “position myself” to receive the love of God; God
positioned His love to reach me when His Son died for me while I was still a
sinner. I can never produce the love of God in my life; the love of God is shed
abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. I cannot work up obedience to prove my
love for God; instead, His love for me and in me produces conformity in my life
to His will and nature. The effort is all God’s, and the benefit is all mine.
The only way I can experience genuine fruit in my life is to forget my
dependence on my efforts, and believe that God is able and wants to see His own
character realized in my own character and personality.
How hard is it for an apple tree to produce apples?
It isn’t.
So how hard is it for a Christian’s life to produce
Christ-likeness?
It isn't!
As believers, we reflect and manifest Jesus by default, by
design!
Just like an apple tree naturally produces apples, Christians are
designed and enabled to mirror the likeness of Jesus in every way. Scripture tells
us in Romans 8:29,
“For those whom he
foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order
that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.”
The destiny of every believer is for the expression of their
life to look like Jesus.
I am convinced that unbelief is the stick in the
wheel-spokes that keeps us “falling from grace” and dependant on our own
efforts. When we don’t understand or rightly believe our inclusion in Christ’s
finished work, we take over God’s responsibility for the production of fruit in
our lives. This inevitably leads to comparison, doubt, envy, or even pride as
we take our eyes off of the gardener and put them onto whatever “fruit” we feel
like we are (or aren’t) producing. This is where the pleasure of tending the
garden of Eden turns to a life of toil, frustration, hardship, and labour.
I’m not saying we are not responsible for our actions,
because we absolutely are. My point is that when the expression of our lives
falls short of the character of God, the answer is not to try harder or exert
more effort, but to effortlessly return our trust to the cross of Christ and
rediscover who we truly are because of His finished work.
I’m also not saying there is no role at all left for us as
believers. In John 15:4-5, Jesus tells us the prerequisite for bearing fruit:
“Abide in me and I in
you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine,
neither can you, unless you abide in me. 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.”
Let’s be very clear about this: abiding is not work! To
abide is to remain under the influence of who Jesus is and who we are in union
with Him; to try to bear fruit through our own effort is to operate outside of
that union relationship. It is Jesus who produces the fruit- we are just the
branches! As we remain under the influence of this amazing truth, the Son sets
us free to become living expressions of the character of God.
As I looked at my understanding of how I lived as a
Christian, I experienced (and am still experiencing) an amazing season of
repentance. There are still days when living and abiding in Christ feels difficult, and I still fall short
and fail often. But, thank God, my failure does not negate or distract from the
reality of what Jesus accomplished for me, or of who He is in me. Through
experience, I have learned that the answer to the failure and frustration is
always the same:
“It is an agonising situation, and who on earth can set me
free... ? I thank God there is a way out through Jesus Christ our
Lord.” (Romans 7:24-25, Phillips)
As I have learned to live in that reality, I have
experienced authentic love, and a freedom that I never thought was possible for
me. More and more I have begun to see people, including myself, for their identity, created value and potential in Christ. Old temptations have by and large lost
their draw and influence on me. My desire and capacity to serve others has
grown. I have seen a dramatic increase in the supernatural manifestations of
the Holy Spirit in my life as I reach out to show God’s love to others. Instead
of being an anomaly, joy has become my daily bread! Every day, my life becomes
a clearer expression of Jesus.
It is through exclusive dependence on the reality of Christ living
in and us and through us that we walk in genuine liberty, free from pretence
and free from natural effort. As we effortlessly behold Jesus, remaining under
the influence of what we see in Him, we reflect Him as a mirror, and live as
Christ-epistles to be known and read by all.
