Sin and Love

    
 Philosophers have measur'd mountains,
Fathom'd the depths of seas, of states, and kings,
Walk'd with a staff to heav'n, and traced fountains:
     But there are two vast, spacious things,
The which to measure it doth more behove:
Yet few there are that sound them; Sin and Love.
                         ~George Herbert, The Agony

So that no one may boast...

Yesterday, we finished up our post reflecting on the fact that it is through the church that God has chosen to put the immeasurable riches of his grace on display, and the fact that all of this is completely a work of God. You can read that post here. 

Today we will explore why it is that everything in the life of the Christian is a result of God's grace, and why it is that we can take zero credit for the things God has done, and the things that God is doing in and through us as Christians.

So let's start by looking at Ephesians 2:8-9:

 “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God; not a result of works, so that no one may boast…”

Everything we will receive, everything we have received, is simply a gift of God. Everything is a result of grace, even our faith. Why?" So that no one may boast." The Apostle Paul makes clear, our salvation…our life in Christ…is completely a gift of God.

“…but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Isn’t Romans 6:23 pretty clear?

We can’t take credit for anything. We can’t boast about anything. Well, we can certainly boast on Christ, but individually we have nothing to boast about. Everything we receive is a complete act of grace on the part of God.

As I've said many times, everything is ultimately about the glory of God. Everything is to point to God’s glory. God is about God’s glory. If there were anything in our Christian lives that we could take credit for, then it wouldn’t all be about God’s glory would it? If there were some part of our faith that we could point to and say, "Look, see what I did there", then God would cease to get all of the glory. This isn’t how God operates.

God does not share his glory...

We can partake of the glory of God, we can radiate the glory of God, we can breathe in the glory of God, but we cannot receive the glory that only God is deserving of. Understanding this is essential to the living out of our faith, and even in us analyzing our faith, and seeing where we are in our lives of faith.

Look with me if you would to Luke 18:9-14

"He(Jesus) also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt. "Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee standing by himself, prayed thus: 'God I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.' But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, 'God, be merciful to me, a sinner!' I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted."

If we could take credit for any part of our faith, or of our standing with God, or of our righteousness(and we have been made righteous in Christ), or of whatever Godliness we may have, or display in our lives…We would.  And many people do. But, this is completely contrary to the truths of Scripture, and how we are told faith works in the Bible.

But even here, in Luke, you see plainly, Jesus is telling us that our righteousness is not in ourselves, or in anything that we can do or will do. Our righteousness comes when we realize that we have no righteousness in ourselves. The one who was justified by God was the man who humbled himself and simply cried out, “God, be merciful to me a sinner!”…This is a prayer we should all pray often by the way…

I think we see the same thing in the Beatitudes…

In Matthew 5:3 Jesus says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven…”

We receive the kingdom of heaven, when we realize that we are poor in spirit. When we realize that we have nothing within ourselves that warrants salvation, or nothing we can offer God to make ourselves worthy of salvation...That’s when we cry out to God, and then, thanks to his immeasurable grace…he saves us.

And then, we become the grace of God on display that I talked about yesterday. By the grace of God, we become something new.

Friday we'll look at Ephesians 2:10 and see what it is that we've become, and what the implications of this beautiful truth are. 

Four Days Without Facebook-Reflecting

Last week I deleted my Facebook account. I have serious doubts as to whether or not this is a permanent thing. As a matter of fact, I'm certain it is not. I miss it.

As I debated deleting my account, I encountered many questions as to why I've chosen to delete it...and honestly, settling on one answer is pretty complicated.

The lowest common denominator I suppose is that I was beginning to get annoyed with all of the noise. Social media during a political season is not a pretty place. Everyone seems to think their candidate/candidates are the only ones who has the answers. If their candidates aren't elected, the world is doomed. This is an expected attitude for some folks...But for those who profess faith in a sovereign God...I don't think so...

And herein lies one of the problems...I think.

Everyone has an opinion. Everyone on social media has a platform. Everyone on social media feels the need to express their opinions...and everyone has that right. And I was getting sick of reading everyone expressing their opinions...As I'm sure many people were sick of reading me doing the same...especially as I expressed my opinion of others expressing their opinions.(So I blog about it?)

The political season pushed me over the top, but that certainly wasn't the only issue. I've been dealing with this for some time. I had grown tired of reading people gush over the ones they loved, of hearing about your cute grandchild and how cute and smart he is, of how wonderful everyone's life is, of how terrible everyone's life is...I had grown tired of people being fake...and people being too honest.I had grown tired of everyone's pettiness in pointing out every little flaw they could find in others...(Ironic, huh?)

I was so sick of it...I began questioning everyone's motives for why they posted what they posted. I began making character judgements and pointing out flaws...Not in public mind you...not even out loud most of the time....maybe not even consciously in my mind. But, it was happening. As I told a few friends of mine, I was beginning to have a hard time loving people.

This should never be...And I hated it.

And there is no excuse for it.

So my biggest problem, was not everyone else...it was me.

I didn't like what social media was revealing about myself, and my own heart. I was vain, I was prideful...my ego was over-inflated. It still is...And I don't know that it's going away anytime soon. But with God's help I'm working on it...

Ironically enough, all of these character flaws that were revealed to me ,and in me,  through social media...were at the same time making themselves more and more known in my 'real life'...I'm not saying social media created these flaws, or even made them worse...But I think it rather naive to think social media doesn't spill over into the real world and have a real impact on real life.

Ultimately I was a sinner who had much better access, and a much more convenient way to interact with other sinners...I didn't handle it well. I pray that if(when) I re-engage with Facebook, I'll do a much better job.

Just a few days before deleting my Facebook, I scribbled this down in a notebook:

"Sometimes I simply want to withdraw from the world until I've grown enough as a person to have something worth contributing."

When I wrote this, I didn't specifically have Facebook or social media in general in mind...But I think the same principle applies.

There is one thing I have noticed...Spending less time worrying about what others are doing on Facebook, I have much more time to enjoy my family. I have much more to contribute to them. This is a very good thing. And I pray that when I do join the Facebook fray again, I will intentionally strive to not lose that, and even more than that, that I will have learned how to contribute more to, and better edify the world of Facebook.