Who Merits Eternal Life? Me or Christ?

I want to share a conversation that recently happened on Facebook between me and a friend of mine.  I love these long, well-thought-out written discussions.

This is what I posted on Facebook:

• "Some pastors pore over the injustice of preaching "hyper-grace"... But is there any other kind? Partial grace? Somewhat grace? "Only if" grace? Conditional grace? Give me grand, hyper, supercalifragilistic grace!!! Grace is scandalous because it is freely given at all times. People try to put conditions on it, like we can only have it if we try to clean up our act... There is nothing keeping you from God, not even that sin. And its not up to you to fix it. trust in Jesus to make you whole. Jesus died on the cross and it is Him who makes us holy, not our lifestyle. Our choices don't make us pure, Christ makes us pure. Our value systems don't make us righteous, HE is our righteousness. Our attitude doesn't bring us joy, HE is our joy. Our actions don't gain His love and approval, He already loves and accepts us. Cast your cares on Jesus. And trust in Him. He is your hope and your future. He is the light that shines in your darkness. He is your peace, and your joy. All other pursuits faded away. But He is everlasting, the ecstatic source of unimaginable bliss that never ends. He is the restorer of innocence and purity. And He believes in you, and knows the great things you are capable of. After all, He made you. Grace is unending, flowing from God to us an through us. Don't let anyone make you think you have to earn it."

Almost immediately I got a message from this very good friend.

• "Dear Susan, I saw your post about grace and my immediate inclination (for better or worse) was to respond, so here it is! I think I know where your pastors are coming from, and I think they have a valid point. I think all of the alternative to "hyper-grace" that you offered (partial, somewhat, "only if", conditional) are certainly all false ways to think about grace, and the pastors who hold that sort of conception need to be convinced of the complete, grand and supercalifragilistic nature of grace!! That being said, I think the problem lies not on the side of grace, but on the side of us. The overly complicated phrase that popped into my head that describes my dissatisfaction with what I perceive to be your understanding of grace is "Applied Neo-Monophysitism". Monophysitism was a heretical teaching on the nature of union of the human and the divine in Christ. It taught that the human nature was assumed by the divine in such a way that it was "engulfed" or completely assimilated into the divine, so that there was really only one nature in Christ--the divine. When this position was refuted, adherents still tried to construct a similar doctrine--the most popular one for awhile held that Christ had a true human nature, except in his will which was taken over by the divine will. Even these compromise positions were refuted and the true teaching of Christ was proclaimed--he is true God and true man, complete in two nature, united in one person. The reason why this was so important is that if the Son of God did not become man, we are not saved. If he took on only part of human nature, or if the result of the Incarnation is some new nature that is above (and therefore not identical with) that of ours, then we are not saved. So that's all background to the present tension. Just as the Monophysites upheld the divinity of Christ in such a way that his humanity was truncated, rather than sanctified, so this "hyper-grace" idea seems to overlook the reality of our humanity and rather than really sanctify it. Many of your statements are undisputable: Jesus makes us whole, we must trust in Him for all, and grace can accomplish all things. But at other times, this "hyper-grace" also seems like an exclusive grace. You say "our choices don't make us pure," I say they do if we make our choices in Christ. You say "our value systems don't make us righteous," I say they do if they are from Christ and lived in Christ. You say "our attitude doesn't bring us joy," but it does bring us joy if our attitude is from Christ. You say "our actions don't gain his love and approval," but our actions are those of Christ and indeed are worthy of all love and approval! You say that not even sin can keep us from God, but if that is absolutely true, then Christ died in vain. (And I don't think you hold that to be absolutely true--but it sounds that way.) So that's my understanding as it stands. (I'm sure I still have a ways to go.) I think you're right about how awesome grace. Perhaps it is even more awesome than that."

Here was my response:

•  "Yeah, I am definitely not a Neo-Monophysite. I firmly hold that Christ is both natures in one: fully God and fully man. Haha. What I was trying to say was that Christ is our righteousness. Our actions in Christ, our values in Christ, our lifestyle in Christ are all fruits of righteousness, but those things are not the source of our righteousness, nor do they cause us to be righteous because then we are saying that our actions can make us worthy of salvation, and are therefore saying we don't need Christ. It is Christ who makes us holy, and it is our trusting Him to live through us that enables us to manifest righteousness. I'm giving credit where it's due, pointing to the source. There is no true righteousness apart from Him. Though we do things IN Christ, the righteousness is still from Him. As is our joy. There is no true joy apart from Christ. And though things we do IN Christ bring us joy, the joy is coming from Christ himself. I am saying that BECAUSE (sorry for the caps, I want that to be in italics, lol) of Christ's death, our sin no longer separates us from God. I am saying that our actions don't earn his love and approval because He already loves us unconditionally.  If it is our actions that cause Him to love us, then his love isn't truly unconditional."

Then he said:

•  "Thank you for the response, Susan!!
  
  I agree with almost all of it, but I'm going to respond to the two sentences with which I partly disagree. "Our actions in Christ, our values in Christ, our lifestyle in Christ are all fruits of righteousness, but those things are not the source of our righteousness, nor do they cause us to be righteous because then we are saying that our actions can make us worthy of salvation, and are therefore saying we don't need Christ." The first half of this sentence is spot on, but I think there are problems with the last part. I think part of the disagreement will go away if I affirm that the first grace we receive is wholly and completely unmerited, in no way relying on our action or willing--pure gift. But then being established in righteousness through Christ, I say we can then perform actions that merit salvation.
  
  This should at least clarify against your last point, "and are therefore saying we don't need Christ." I am saying that we can only perform meritorious actions because of the grace we have already received from Christ. So to be entirely clear, without the righteousness that comes from Christ, it is impossible to perform an action that merits anything from God. We are impotent to earn God's grace apart from his grace.
  
  That being said, I still want to say that we merit or earn eternal life and receive it as a reward. Does that sound scandalous?? Perhaps, but grace works that way. Without grace, our actions won't get us far with God. With grace (for which we need Christ), our actions can merit eternal life. To show that this is possible at all, I want to point to Christ. Christ is the one who merited all the graces of God through his passion and death. This means that Christ merited according to his human nature, offering himself up with a perfect human will, entirely united to the divine. Thus it is possible for a man to merit. What stopped us from meriting then? Our broken humanity, wounded by sin. But in grace, our humanity is restored and made pleasing to God--by grace, we love as we ought and thereby earn a reward. We couldn't have loved him unless he loved us first (before any initiative of ours), but now in his grace we can love him and receive the reward. And some proof-texts: 2 Tim. 4:8 "Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing." Col. 3:23-25 "Whatever your task, work heartily, as serving the Lord and not men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward; you are serving the Lord Christ. For the wrongdoer will be paid back for the wrong he has done, and there is no partiality." I know it may sound odd to say that we merit eternal life through grace, but these seem to be the alternatives:
  
  1. If a man cannot merit eternal life, then Christ cannot merit it for us. And we are not saved.
  2. If we cannot merit by grace from Christ, then our human nature is not fully restored by grace.
  
  And one more sentence from you: "If it is our actions that cause Him to love us, then his love isn't truly unconditional." True, it is not our actions that cause him to love us but his love that causes our actions. But that his love makes our actions worthy of his love--I believe his love extends even this far."

And this was my response:

• "I am with you on that last sentence. His grace is powerful enough to change me and enable me to live holy.
  
  I used to believe that actions can merit eternal life... But I no longer embrace that concept. I don't even side-hug it (haha).
  
  I have many reasons for rejecting this idea, in addition to a scriptural basis. In Philippians 3:1-9 Paul speaks about how the works of the flesh are garbage. Note he says "works of the flesh" and then lists off righteous acts. He also says that he does not have a righteousness of his own, but that of Christ through faith. Add to this Gal 2:20
  
  I believe grace enables us to be righteous, but the actual righteousness we are given is Christ Himself. No one can boast of their righteous acts. Those verses you listed do speak of a reward, but not necessarily eternal life itself. Aside from that, The joy and satisfaction we get from doing those holy things in which grace enables us to do is Christ himself. He is our reward. Relationship with Him is most rewarding and enjoyable. But He is the one by whom we merit eternal life.
  
  I cannot agree that our actions merit eternal life because that allows for boasting, which Paul clearly states is ridiculous. Even allowing for Christ's involvement by saying that "through grace we can do righteous acts that merit eternal life" is in my opinion not what Paul was trying to say. Paul considered his efforts rubbish. Not that they were of no good result, but that they did not earn him anything because it is grace through faith that justifies us. The concept that we can merit eternal life though righteous acts is the very thing I am saying is not valid. It also doesn't line up with Jesus' parable about the kingdom of God being like the employer who hired men in the morning, promising them a certain payment and throughout the day kept hiring more workers. At the end of the day he gives everyone the same amount of money and the men who came in the morning were upset because they worked more... I forget this scripture reference, but this speaks of our reward, and how it has little to do with our actual work. Aside from the scriptural basis, I can list for you a slew of results from believing in the ability to merit salvation by acts "through grace", and compare them with the results from believing that Christ IS our righteousness, and I can tell you that in my own life the latter has had far more rewarding results.
  
  Anyway, I have totally rejected that concept (meriting eternal life by acting righteously). In fact I feel a great deal of determination to shatter it in the minds of those who are willing to hear. I consider it to be a huge stumbling block to the church. That's how strongly I feel about it."
  
  
  
  
  This conversation is still going on and unfinished, but I really feel there is much to be gained from it thus far.
  
  

For Believers Who Have Been Struggling With Sin

Here's the scenario:  A guest speaker came to your church (or a leader you know).  He spoke about how he is now free from fourteen years of homosexuality... or how he was able to resist pornography after years of struggle.  And he's telling you that now is your opportunity for freedom.  "If you want freedom, come up to the altar.  Come on, we're all family here.  Don't think about the person next to you, or what others are going to think.  If you're struggling with (insert sinful habit here), come up to this altar and let me pray for you."   He says things like, "It's now or never," or, "Don't miss this chance.  You might never get one again," or, "Don't come to me afterwards and say, 'I should have gone up.' "


But you were too afraid.  You don't want others to identify you as "that former lesbian" or "that pornographer".  So you didn't go.  Shame was too overwhelming for you.  You don't know these people around you.  Can you trust them?  You don't know!  And you've gone up before and you're still struggling with this issue.  Why go up and go through the embarrassment, when you barely have hope for change?  I mean, you've been dealing with this for years...

Now you feel even more ashamed, perhaps cowardly, and your hope for freedom has diminished because you feel that your one chance is gone.  You didn't go up.  You didn't have that speaker pray for you.  Now what?

Your chance is not gone.  It's not too late--it's never too late for you.  Freedom is still for you.  God is not limited by that one person who spoke at church.  He or she is not the only one anointed to pray for your freedom.  The last time I checked, Christ is the one who is anointed to bring freedom, and He has already done what was necessary for you to have it.  Christ is in you; in the Christian beside you.  He is not limited by time or space.  He does not only set people free in church, in a sanctuary, after a good sermon.  Those are great places to be, but God has no limits.  He's right there with you.  He knows you. 


God is not in the business of exposing people.  Did Jesus publicly shame people?  Only those who thought they had earned their righteousness by their own actions (the pharisees).  Did he embarrass people?  No.  Jesus was loving.  To the sinners, He was forgiving, even protective.

"For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.

Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need."   Hebrews 4:15-16   "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death."  Romans 8:1-2 "The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, 'Abba, Father.'  The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children"   Romans 8:15-16 You are already a son or daughter of God.  There is no condemnation for you. "For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him." John 3:17   "So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed" John 8:36 Christ died for you.  Yes, you.  Not just for unbelievers, but for you.  His death on the cross not only enabled you to take part in salvation, but He also freed you from sin.   "The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, 'Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!' " John 1:29   Just because you have entered into salvation, it doesn't mean now it's up to you to maintain your salvation.  It's up to Christ.  Trust in Him to do it, and stop trying to fix yourself out of your own effort.  You have no power or ability to do so.  But He has given you the ability to trust Christ to do it.  He will bring you out of every struggle, out of every sinful habit.  Those sinful things are not who you are "...he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."  Phil 1:6b "The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged." Deuteronomy 31:8 And furthermore, there is no separation between you and God.  Not even your sin.  The only separation between you and God is in your own mind; it is an illusion.  He is ALWAYS with you "Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?  If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, 'Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,' even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you."  Psa 139:7-12   "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?" Rom 8:35   "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Rom 8:38-39   If you long to be free from homosexuality, from pornography or addiction--from sin--trust in God.  give it to Him.  Let Him take care of it.  He WILL do it.  Freedom is for you. It is God's will, and it is for you NOW.  Believe it.   **all scripture taken from the NIV

Of Little Consequence?

I just left a leadership class in which we are studying from a book called "The Servant".  We missed a class due to snow, so the teacher rushed through this little bit at the end to get us back on track.

He began with a quote, "What you believe is of little consequence.  The only thing of consequence is what you do."  By someone I don't remember.  He followed with another quote, "You are more likely to act yourself into a feeling than you are to feel yourself into an action."  And furthermore he ended with a quote, "A thought forms an action, an action a habit, a habit a destiny."  (I am probably slightly misquoting all three of these).

The students "amen"-Ed that first one, agreed with the second one and really "ooh"-ed and "ahh"-ed that last one.

I cringed the entire time.  Your beliefs are of little consequence?!  Yikes!  If you've read any of my earlier posts, you'd know I continuously emphasize how our beliefs are the basis for all of our actions.  

Saying that your beliefs are of little consequence but only your actions are of great consequence is like saying that the roots of a tree is of little consequence, only the part that's above ground is. Or like the captain of the Titanic saying the underneath of an iceberg is of little consequence, only the part above water is.  Or it is like a builder saying that the foundation of a building is of little consequence; only the building itself is what matters...

I propose that every action you commit is based entirely on what you believe; not what you claim to believe, or what people tell you to believe, but what you actually believe deep down.  To say that actions make you who you are is backwards.  

Your actions may be the only way for others to judge who they think you are, but things are not always what they seem.  A child frustrated at his parents for keeping him from doing what he wants doesn't see that they are protecting him.  Are they really oppressors as he sees them?  Is a dating couple having sex simply because they are alone together?  Is a pregnant woman a fornicator because she isn't married?  Man only sees actions, so he judges others based on it.  But God sees the heart.  If anyone knows who you are, it's Him.

Strictly psychologically speaking, actions do affect your attitude.  I am not negating this fact by saying actions come from beliefs.  There are instances when what we believe is proven wrong when we do the opposite of what we believe, but we STILL act out of hope that we are wrong.  For example: a man might be afraid of intimacy, and believe that if he reveals his inner self that people will reject him, but when he steps out and opens himself up to a good woman or to good friends, he realizes that he was wrong, and that there are some who won't reject him.  But he opened up because he believed or hoped that maybe he was wrong.

Or perhaps you're in a bad mood and you don't want to do anything, but someone suggests you go work out at the gym.  If you agree to do it, it's because you believe that it might put you in a better mood, or at least that its good for you.

When people do what they are told and disagree with what they are doing, they at least believe in some way that doing this thing will make their lives easier or will honor those telling them to do it.

Is it possible for an action to NOT begin in belief?  If you can think of a scenario, please comment.

Yes, your actions have consequences... But they began from your beliefs.  Coughing may have made my voice scratchy, but it was the virus that made me sick and cough that ultimately caused it. Why would I cough if I didn't have an itch in my throat?  Why would you do anything if you didn't have a reason to do it?  Even subconsciously?

The last quote, "a thought forms an action," and so on... It totally contradicts the first one!  In our minds is where it all starts.  People like to separate things that are intrinsically connected.  Actions are not disconnected from beliefs.  By separating the two, they are limiting their understanding and essentially only treating the scratchy throat symptoms rather than treating the virus itself.  Not that thoughts and beliefs are viruses, haha, but that they are the cause and the actions are the effect.

Ironically, earlier in the class the teacher asked us what we are passionate about, and I responded.  My passion is to help people build healthy foundations of belief.  This essentially affects what we do and the choices we make.  Our beliefs determine our actions, which determine the quality of our lives.  But that premise crumbles under the idea that beliefs are of little consequence.  Simply trying to change a habit is difficult, and often people revert to that habit in times of stress and strain.  And often difficult is changing a belief.  But once the belief is changed, the actions naturally change with it.

Sometimes changing a habit can cause beliefs to change.  But until that belief is changed, I don't consider it a true change.

And that's why I cringed.  I never did like taking pain killers...

Your vineyard.

Dark am I... daughters of Jerusalem, dark like the tents of Kedar, like the tent curtains of Solomon. Do not stare at me because I am dark, because I am darkened by the sun. My mother’s sons were angry with me and made me take care of the vineyards; my own vineyard I had to neglect. Tell me, you whom I love, where you graze your flock and where you rest your sheep at midday. Why should I be like a veiled woman beside the flocks of your friends? (Song of Solomon 1:5-7 NIV)

I recently heard an interpretation of this scripture that I had never heard; one that spoke directly to my heart.

The mother represents the church, and the sons, the leaders of it.  The woman had spent all her time tending other fields--their vision--but had neglected her own, and she was dark, not in complexion, but in spirit.  She was tired and empty.  And then she asks the question, why should I be like this?

In my case, "what is the point of this?"

What is the point of merely working and serving the church when your own heart is brushed to the side?  You do not glorify God wasting away, being miserable.  You do not fulfill the purpose God created you for if you're merely some other person's puppet, neglecting your own life.

Later on in the scripture, the woman comes up out of the desert, leaning on the arms of her lover, and soon after has many of her own vineyards.  She did nothing but lean on Him and her life bore fruit and multiplied.

I am leaning on Him because that is my last option.  That is all I have.  Everything else is pure misery.  It is vanity.  It is useless.  I am in love with my maker.

Salvation: gift vs. reward

Beware the man who believes he's overcome sin by his own sheer will, desire, and determination.  He believes that his self-discipline, his growing character, his learning of Biblical truth, his doing of good deeds, his careful study, and his hunger and thirst for righteousness---with the help of the Holy Spirit; with some added strength given to him by the Holy Spirit--has procured victory over sin.

He believes salvation is his responsibility, and sees it as a reward for his good deeds, or at least a reward for his right desires/will.

If he sees he has overcome certain sins, he is either, 1) noticing the work that Christ has done in him and is taking credit for it, or, 2) the sin has taken on a new form and he no longer recognizes it.  His praise to God is an effort to prove himself righteous and holy in God's sight.

He does not rely on Christ, though he may think he does.  He teaches others that their desire for righteousness is what pleases God, and what get's God's attention.  He teaches that their lifestyle and their choices will determine their level of righteousness, or that it will determine their standing with God.  His sermons are full of exhortations to repent and do good, and advice on how to go about doing it.  They are full of challenges to be better and do better.  They are motivational but bear temporary fruit.

This man is always striving and eventually gets tired. The grace of God will always renew him, however he suffers much damage and has the potential to damage others merely by his oppressive, sin-focused doctrine.  His heart is heavy and full of sorrows; sorrows for the sin in his own life, and for the sin in others'.  What he mostly sees in others is their failures, because he is consumed by his own sense of failure.  The leaders in his ministry who adopt his teachings are hyper-motivated to do good deeds, but this motivation is guilt-driven, and full of striving to measure up, and they eventually burn out.  They become scarce and hesitant to volunteer.  They don't stick around for very long because their own strength does not last.


Victory over sin can only be accomplished by Christ.  The man who realizes this, and merely accepts that he did nothing to accomplish it except to receive it by the grace of God, is the one who truly experiences freedom from sin.  He knows that any good he has ever done was Christ acting through him.  This man can truly proclaim victory over sin in all humility.

He realizes that salvation is a gift, not a reward for good deeds.

If he sees he has overcome sin, he knows that Christ alone has done it, which causes him to feel profound gratitude and appreciation towards God.  His praise to God is deep, heartfelt, refreshing, ecstatic, spiritually charged, and often leading to mystical experiences.  He cannot see God as anything other than wonderful.

This man relies on Christ alone for his character, his self-discipline, his understanding, his doing good deeds, and his desires.  Christ does not give him strength, but IS his strength.  He may look like the first man in all respects, but he is truly free.  He teaches others that their righteousness does not come from their thoughts or their actions or their choices, but that Christ is their righteousness and therefore their standing with God will never change.  He never questions whether or not he is worthy of favor or whether or not he has spiritual authority because he knows that he himself did not generate his own worth, nor did he generate his own authority, but that his worth and authority are in Christ.  His sermons are always about Christ.  They always point to what Christ has done and who He is.  He is not focused on sin, though he may struggle from time to time, because he knows the responsibility of taking away sin falls on Christ (John 1:29).

He enjoys God fully because he's not tired or burned out.  He hasn't been fighting against sin out of his own strength, but has been trusting God to take care of it.  He hasn't been focused on his own performance, which leads to condemnation, but is focused on God's performance, which leads to confidence.  He's been resting in the truth of God's word and has been experiencing true joy.  He doesn't need to prove anything to God or to anyone else, because He identifies himself as a son of God.  

He's no longer focused on fixing himself and is freed up to enjoy the deeper things of God.  He knows the truth, which has set him free.

Is Worship a War? Pt. 2

When I was younger, I remember a song called "Fight Thru Praise".  It actually helped me get past all my distractions in worship.  At that time, it was a challenge to get through all my defenses and really express my heart to God. Perhaps it was good for me at the time, but I want to talk about the dangers of getting into this mindset that worship is a fight.

1.) Fighting through "distractions".  For one, when I would go into prayer or worship, the first thing on my mind were all the small concerns of the day; what am I going to make for lunch, when will I get my chores done, how will I get all my tasks done... Or more serious ones like, "is my friend's mom going to make it through this cancer?" Or, "how will her family deal with this?" Etc.  maybe I was dealing with emotional problems; depression, anger, frustration, feelings of loneliness... Maybe even guilt or sin issues.  I used to think that all these were things the devil was bringing up to distract me from God.  And so my goal was to fight through them and get to a place in my mind in which I was only focused on Jesus.  Even recently when I led worship at a small church singing mostly hymns, I used to tell the congregation to put all their worries and concerns of the day aside and to put their focus on God.  This in itself is not necessarily wrong.

Interestingly enough, John Crowder says that these things that come up aren't from the devil, they are from God.  He talks about this either in his video about music (http://youtu.be/WDVuMjOzqiU) or his video about prayer (http://youtu.be/yVBGQk_9ZzI). I can't remember which, but both videos are excellent.

From God?  God is purposely distracting me from worshiping him?!  What?  John Crowder says that He's bringing these things up to remind you that he's going to take care of them.  God cares about what you care about, down to the smallest detail.  So in those moments, rather than fight through them, just put them in God's capable hands.  It's a time to place our trust in Him.  Then we can move on to a much more clear-headed state of worship! 

In a sense, you would be putting them aside, but not to deal with later; to let God deal with them.  He's going to do that anyway; there's no need to stress about them.

So in fighting through them I was only creating more trouble for myself.  If you find yourself distracted from worship by your daily concerns, give those things to God.  It's so much better than trying to deal with them on your own.

2.) Fighting through sin / Striving.  In all my years being a leader in ministry, I've never seen one person gain victory over their weaknesses by focusing on overcoming sin.  Not one!  If they overcome one thing, they only realize it's gotten worse; it's hidden itself and reared its ugly head in other, more complicated ways (look at the Jews.  They would stop worshiping idols for a while, but then later on, there they go again, and five times worse!).  I've tried to help people overcome sin.  I've told them all the advice, shown them the consequences, pointed out things they can't see.  Nothing helped. You can't overcome your sin, and I can't help you.

Only Christ can overcome sin, and only when trust-falling into Him will He melt your sin away.  When I say melt, I don't mean he will forgive it.  That's a given.  He already forgave you by dying on the cross in the first place.  I'm talking about taking it away from you so that you never do it again, and you never struggle with it again.  Christ melts it away with such ease, there's no fight.  Trusting God is the most passive "action" you can take to combat sin.  It's practically inaction.  It is simply a realization; a knowing; a quiet confidence that Christ has already overcome sin for you.  With him, your sinful nature died.  It's gone.  Everything is set up to trick you into believing that it will always be there...

In part one of this blog, I mentioned that when we're always focused on our part in worship, we get into a striving mentality.  I think people feel that their worship makes them more pleasing to God; more acceptable in His sight.  What they don't know is that they are pleasing to God already.  People think that what we are doing makes us more holy.  They don't realize that Christ is our holiness.  If there was some way I could make myself holy or righteous by sheer will and determination, Jesus would never have had to die on a cross for me.  Striving implies that we are trying to make ourselves holy for God.  But that is impossible.  It's the other way around; Christ makes us holy by His spirit dwelling in us.   Striving is a battle that lasts as long as you believe you can achieve holiness over time.

A sin-focused believer acts like a sinner.  A Christ-focused believer acts like Christ.

When worship music is focused on God and who He is, real worship happens.  That's the stuff I want to be a part of.

I tend to get frustrated because when real worship starts taking off, someone always brings the focus back to us by saying something cliche like, "just tell God how much you love Him," or, "Let everything we do be pleasing unto you.", or "God we invite you into this place," (as though he hasn't been here all this time) or, "just press in," (what does that mean, anyway?).  People even like to remind us of our shame, "God, we are so unworthy of you, we are such sinners, and yet you love us.  Even at our worst, you love us..."  There they go bringing the focus back to what we can do, or how terrible we are...  Can't we just focus on God for a while?

There's nothing wrong with telling God you love him, or getting into worship in an active way.  There's nothing wrong with acknowledging that he loves us despite our worst moments.  My issue is focus.  Am I looking at myself, or am I looking at God?  Am I worshiping my own desires, or am I worshiping the object of my desires?  Am I trying to impress God with my good behavior, or am I impressed by God?  Realize that everything you have gained physically and spiritually was bought, paid for, and given to you by Christ.  Even your faith has been given to you (Rom 12:3).  Even your good deeds are Christ working through you.  You can't take an ounce of credit.  All your efforts to be holy have been in vain.  You're already holy through Christ (I can't say that enough!).

Here's another danger of the "fight the war of worship" mentality:

3.). Giving Satan too much credit.  He might be active during worship, sure!  If you think he is, rebuke him and then focus on God.  You don't have to engage in some sort of fight against him.  You have control of your own mind.  Don't get into thinking that Satan has one ounce of sway over you.  He has no right to you no matter how sinful you were last week (or your whole life). And you have authority over him because of Christ, not because you read your Bible every day and were faithful in your devotions.  Not because you have several years of ministry under your belt.  Not because you've racked up a bunch of spiritual points by doing good deeds.  Not because you're a pastor or a missionary.  Our actions have nothing to do with our authority.  It is our right as heirs to Christ's throne.  It is our identity. [see my post about how action does not define identity]  If you are a believer, you automatically have authority over the enemy through Christ.  Who are we as believers to think that our actions have earned us (or lost us) one ounce of spiritual authority?  People who get into that mindset are fooled by the enemy. 

Satan likes to make us think he has legal jurisdiction over us because of that one sin or the fact that we haven't picked up the Bible in two weeks.  He wants us to forget our identity as heirs to the throne of Christ.  Being an heir means that we have the same authority that Jesus has.  The only way Satan can get a "foothold" as they say, is by getting you to believe a LIE about who God is and who you are in Christ!  Sin has nothing to do with it.  Sin gives him NO jurisdiction or foothold whatsoever.  Satan only has as much power over you as you believe he does.  So if he can get you to believe he has power over you, then he can do damage.  The battle against Satan has already been won, my friend.  If you're fighting with him, you've been duped.

Here's another one:

4.) Getting into the mindset that our will is always in opposition to God.  This goes hand in hand with striving, but this is more about how we view God.  This can get us thinking that in order to worship Him, we have to fight.  This is simply not true.  It may be the case if we are ignorant of the truth; ignorant of who we are and who God is.  The more you get to know God, the more you want what He wants; the more you think the way He thinks.  Your desires transform into His.  Then you actually enjoy doing His will because its something you want to do.  If I'm told that my will is always going to be in opposition to God, that will hinder me from truly experiencing Him, or it will take an hour of fighting through my own will before I can get to His... 

This mindset did hinder my relationship with Him!  I thought that my whole life was going to be one loathsome event after another, one fight against my will after another.  I couldn't trust God!  Why would I trust someone who is always going to make me do things I don't want to do?  For someone who was emotionally controlled as a young girl, and then mistreated by spiritual leaders as a young adult, I started to think that maybe God was just like those abusive people in my life; always making me uncomfortable and feel terrible about myself.  But that's just not who He is. 

And then, what about when my will DOES align with His?  I'll think that desire is sinful!  Our own selves are not always going to be our worst enemies.  Your will is not in constant opposition to God.  People call it the "flesh".  They say you'll struggle against it for the rest of your life.  Let me tell you something you might not have heard: your flesh died with Christ on the cross.  We have been crucified with Christ and we [our sinful nature; flesh] no longer live, but Christ lives in us!  Your sinful nature is dead, my friend.  Why fight with something that is merely a memory of what used to be?  It's not you anymore.  And it never really was your identity to begin with.



All these are problems that stem from a wrong view of who God is, and who we are in Christ.  And these wrong views affect us in every way.  Most importantly, they affect our relationship with God, which, in turn, affects how we worship Him.  An like I said in part 1, the truth will set us free.

Is Worship a War?

http://www.relevantmagazine.com/god/church/modern-worship-music-wars

A friend of mine recently posted this article from Relevant Magazine.
 
In a nutshell, it talks about how the "war on worship" has died down from being a debate on whether we should sing the Old Hymns or Modern Worship music, to simply a subtle barrage of nit-picky complaints.  Miller describes them, "The volume is either too loud, or not loud enough. The lighting is either too bright or not bright enough; too showy or too bland." etc.

His main point is that we should not look at church or worship as something that must meet our preferential standards, but rather we should approach worship based on the truth of who God is.

Indeed, it is a mark of maturity when one can overcome the technicalities of the music (lighting, volume, style, etc.) and just worship God for who He is.

As his final statement, he describes worship as war, "So the next time you go to church and the music is too loud, or the leader is singing that song you don’t like, go to war. Fight against the sin at work within yourself. Fight against consumerism and disunity. Fight for a grateful heart. Fight for the truth to captivate you in a way music never could. Fight to stand in awe of a mighty God who rescued you and graciously sings over you.  Fight the true war of worship."

Beautiful words.  Yet I feel it only touches the surface of what is really going on.  I have concluded that there are two deeper issues at work on this subject.

Miller hit on part of the first issue.  He mentioned personal pride [nothing is ever good enough for me].  He says we must fight against it.  But saying that is like taking a pain-killer when you are sick: you're only treating a symptom.  The deeper issue is self-condemnation.  It is almost always masked as pride (the other extreme of the same problem would be false humility: always thinking too lowly of oneself.  Both pride and false humility can co-exist in one person).  The answer comes from how we view God and knowing the truth of how He views us.

Romans 8:1 says, "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus".  God does not condemn us, nor does he choose to love us based on our "good" behavior.  He simply loves us.  He simply accepts us for who we are.  But often we tend to feel that our relationship with Him is dependent on our behavior.  It's easy to do since we associate our human relationships with Him (especially our parental ones).  We may have been created in His image, but He is God and not man (Hosea 11:9), and the metaphor breaks down on so many levels.  Human relationships help us to understand God, but they are so limited in that respect.  When you truly understand the nature of your oneness with God, condemnation disappears.  Then the "nothing is good enough for me" mentality also begins to disappear.

The second problem is the wrong or misleading theology communicated by worship music.  Going back to the age-old Hymns vs. Modern music debate, if you read through a hymnbook, you'll find that hymns are choc-full of deep and rich theology.  The bulk of today's worship music is all about our experience, and feeling God. For the most part, it lacks the juicy truth.  Good and true theology always leads to the deepest worship, and I think that our beloved hymn singers can feel that.  They just can't always pinpoint what exactly is bothering them so they point to the music, or the lights, or the look on the worshiper's face.

I do this all the time.  Something bothers me and so I feel off, but I can't put my finger on it because it's a subconscious thought, so I try to describe it by pointing at surface things.  Usually my heart knows what's off before my mind does.  Until I've really stopped and analyzed (or prayed about) the source of my disturbed feelings, I can only guess what is wrong.  I have talked to many elders who still feel that the hymns are the best because of the truth that is expressed within them, even though they have accepted the new style of worship.

Let's face it, a lot of our worship music (I say "our" because I am in the "modern music" generation) is focused on our desires and our actions and our commitment to God.  We find ourselves singing things like, "I will worship you," and "I have decided to follow Jesus" (I know that last one is a hymn.  Some hymns fall under this category), "I just want to be where you are"... all beautiful expressions.  But when the focus is always on us, we've missed the point.  We start to get into this mode of striving.  "I will do this," and "I will do that" or, "purify me," and, "draw me close to you,".  Then there's the ever famous, "Here I am to worship".  Me, myself, and I!  Don't get me wrong, I love to sing these on occasion.  But I am kinda tired of worship being a time of self-reflection, looking at myself and all my failures and trying so hard, making all kinds of promises to make my life pleasing to God.  We get so focused on our desire to be righteous.  Martin Luther called this the "Idol of the Will"

Don't even get me started on the songs that ask God (or the Holy Spirit) to "come", or that welcome Him into His own house.  Would you invite your dad to his own house as if he didn't own it already?  Furthermore, God owns me.  Why would I have to continuously invite The Holy Spirit into my soul, one for whom He has already paid for with His blood?!  I don't invite my husband into our house because it's OUR house!  Okay, I have to step off of that soapbox...  Simply read my earlier blogs for more on this because I constantly talk about it.  It drives me insane.  Every other opening worship song is this long, drawn out plea for God's presence to "come into this place".  It's as though people have no idea that the Bible says He's always with us (actually, He lives IN us).  I used to sing this stuff all the time (and still do out of respect for worship leaders and Christians around me).  I've finally realized the futility of it.  (I am stepping down for real this time)... But the truth is when we finally "feel" His presence, it's not that He suddenly entered the room, it's that we finally came to an awareness of His presence... gah... okay, stepping down...

Ironically, when the theology of the worship is right, people are pulled out of their prideful nitpicking anyway.  Some people may be just that stubborn, but let me tell you, even here at North Central, the biggest response in worship always comes from a song full of good theology.

I have been taught that worship is a lifestyle.  But it is more than that; more than a series of life choices towards righteousness or a relationship with God.  I now believe worship is a revelation.  Only through a revelation of who God is will true, deep worship result.  This revelation comes from the Holy Spirit Himself.

And if it is a revelation, it is not a fight.  If it is a war, it is not worship.  We need only ask for new revelation.

When you know who He is, you can't help but be in awe.  Then you will see that He is irresistible, trustworthy, loving, gracious, wise, hilarious, beautiful, interesting, witty, smart, dynamic, fun, caring, considerate, and interested in your well-being.  You'll see that He is utterly in love with you.  And you will see that He accepts you; all of you.  Knowing these things, and I mean truly knowing them, causes worship to happen at random (gotta love those moments of laughter, rolling on the couch at home).

"How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!" (Psalms 139:17)

We can talk about fixing our attitudes and our behavior, but that will only have us running in circles.  Those are surface issues; symptoms, if you will.  The truth is what we need.  And the truth will set us free.