How quickly we forget the foundation.
It started as I was preparing to teach through Romans, but as soon as I began to focus on the theme for the book this topic hit me head on. As Peter said, "it is good that I keep you in remembrance of these things."
How quickly we forget some basics...since we are saved, we grow, we begin to get into ministry or start to apply our new life in Christ to our daily lives, and in the process we learn about the do's and dont's of a life devoted to God. Not that this isn't a good thing, because it is. And it is essential to grow in that grace. "For how can those who have been saved from sin continue in it?" The problem is not that we don't learn the "thou shalt not" or "thou shalt" aspects of practical living. The problem is that we divorce it from the theology of grace by which we were saved.
Let me explain. Paul reminds the church in Rome that they are saved "by grace through faith and not by any works of the flesh." This means that there is nothing I can do that merits favor from God. If there was something I could do to merit favor from God, then it would not be grace, it would be obligated to me. And God is obligated to no man or woman. Now keeping this in mind, as we learn about what is righteous and unrighteous, is essential. So that as I do these things, I don't fall into the trap of thinking that somehow the grace that I need on a daily basis is necessarily connected to my "righteous deeds." Because if they were, then God would be obligated to give me favor for my deeds, and there we go...fallen from grace.
But how do grace and works interact? Surely God has some compensation for maintaining my righteous deeds on a daily basis. But if it is not favor and blessings, then what is it? The key is to maintain these two in a tension and understand that my good deeds do not earn me favor from God. It is what is essential to simply maintain my relationship with God. When I begin to practice sin willfully and without repentance, my relationship is damaged. As John taught, How can one be in the darkness and the light at the same time? The rhetorical answer is that it is impossible. The light cannot exist in the darkness since the darkness is the absence of light. And the light illuminates all things making darkness impossible in the light. When I am constantly guarding my conscience and actions from sin, I am "abiding in Christ." This however does not obligate God to give me anything or do anything for me. I am simply receiving the reward of HIM. Nothing more nothing less. And this is all the reward I need. It is also based on the work of Jesus, not of my good works.
Now, through on this ongoing relationship, God now chooses to give grace for living and for ministry. Think of this as me simply making sure that the hose connecting my spout to the water source is free from blockage. When the hose is clear, then God sends water in my direction as he sees fit, not because somehow I have earned the water. It is still based on the righteousness of Christ and not on ours. He gives grace because of Christ and his love for the Son. The Spirit gives his gifts because of his love for the Son. And all of this is because the son loves us enough to give his death as the payment for our sin so that we even have "a hose" at all!!!
It is through our "position in Christ" that we have any favor at all. But when the connection is free, the grace can flow through. Not BECAUSE I am living righteously, but simply because I am "In the Son, and the Son is in me"...It is no longer I that live, but Christ that lives in me, Paul says.
Now let me bring this full circle to see the implications of this through the wording of Romans 1. If we, the righteous, who have the imparted righteousness of Christ credited to us based on our faith in Christ, LIVE by faith, then it is not my works that I live by. My works have a different function. They maintain my relationship and fellowship with God by repenting from sin and striving to please him in all that I do. But the relationship allows me to receive favor and grace that I do not deserve when God sees fit, and how God sees fit. This allows me to walk humbly with my God as I do good works and they glorify God in heaven for it as I point all glory to God for his grace and mercy that he has given to me.
If for a moment I confuse the two and think that as I do more righteous deeds, then God will give me more favor, then I make my works to be worthy of his favor. I have in essence said to God in my heart, "See my good works God! These show that I DESERVE your favor and grace." OOPS. For God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.
On the other hand if I say in my heart, "Lord, I purify my life as much as I can of the sin that you hate and therefore, based on your promise and the sacrifice of your Son, make your home in me! Fill me with your presence!" He will. But then, because of this useful relationship, God begins to do amazing things through me by the favor and grace that he gives. Ministry, outreach, wisdom imparted, gifts fanned into flames, and the growth that comes spiritually as I am taught by him through his word and in prayer or in discipleship relationships... All of these are graces that he gives simply because he desires to do his ministry in this world though us, his church! Thus we LIVE by FAITH and through the POWER of the GOSPEL that we are saved by grace through faith, and not by our good works. The application of this humility is necessary to be repeatedly played out in our lifelong relationship with God. The gospel is 'from faith to faith,' or from beginning to end, as most understand this phrase in Romans 1.
The failure to understand our life in Christ in light of the gospel of grace is that arrogance and carnality will ensue. That truth was specifically played out in the churches of Galatia, Corinth and in Rome. And unfortunately it is played out in our lives on a daily basis. Each moment that we think that the outpouring of God to others is BECAUSE we have follow the "righteous rules" that he has shown us, we have fallen from grace and arrogance is present. And God resists the proud. We have lost our first love.
But when we focus on maintaining a clear conscience in regards to the sin that he brings to our attention and maintain that abiding relationship IN CHRIST, then (by his grace and by faith in the glorious gospel that tells us, he loves us even though we do not deserve it, and he blesses us because of the imputed righteousness of the perfect lamb) God gives us favor and grace to do things that we could never do in and of ourselves. And all the glory is for him. For he gives grace to the humble, and he sets before us doors that no one can shut.
Let us then glory in our weaknesses and bask in his love and undeserved grace. Let us find reward here on earth only in his presence, and let us seek in heaven after those riches that are stored up for us not here on earth, so that we can cast our crowns before his throne...since all glory, all praise, and all honor are HIS alone. May we all grow in grace and the knowledge of Jesus.
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