Weve loaded down the Gospel of the grace of God in Christ with a lot of oughts: I ought to be more committed, more disciplined, more obedient. When we think or teach this way, were substituting duty and obligation for a loving response to Gods grace. As one pastor expressed it, we often dont make the Gospel good enough. We preach grace to the non-Christian and duty to the Christian. As Richard Gilbert has written, It sometimes seems that there is plenty of grace for you if you are not a Christian, but when you become a Christian then there are all sorts of laws you must obey and you feel like you were better off before you were converted. Even our terminology betrays the way we dichotomize the Christian life into grace and works compartments. We speak of the gift of salvation and the cost of discipleship. The cost of discipleship isnt necessarily an unbiblical expression, but the connotation we build into it is. We often convey the idea that Gods grace barely gets us inside the kingdoms door; after that, its all our own blood, sweat, and tears. I firmly believe in and seek to practice commitment, discipline, and obedience. Im thoroughly committed to submission to the lordship of Jesus Christ in every area of life. And I believe in and seek to practice other commitments that flow out of that basic commitment. Im committed to my wife until death do us part. Im committed to integrity and fairness in business relationships. Im committed to seek to act in love toward everyone. But Im committed in these areas out of a grateful response to Gods grace, not to try to earn Gods blessings. - Nabigators
Posted on: Mon, 28 Apr 2014 14:38:17 +0000
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