Here's another excerpt from "The Prodigal God." I think it's a good follow up to yesterdays - a good balance to it.
"In the end, Martin Luther's old formula still sums things up nicely: "We are saved by faith alone [not our works], but not by faith that remains alone." Nothing we do can merit God's grace and favor, we can only believe that he has given it to us in Jesus Christ and receive it by faith. But if we truly believe the one who sacrificially served us, it changes us into people who sacrificially serve God and our neighbors. If we say "I believe in Jesus" but it doesn't affect the way we live, the answer is not that now we need to add hard work to our faith so much as that we haven't truly understood or believe in Jesus at all."
Friday, October 23, 2009
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Avoiding Jesus
An excerpt from a book I've been reading called "The Prodigal God" by Tim Keller:
"... Most people think of sin as failing to keep God's rules of conduct, but, while not less than that, Jesus's definition of sin goes beyond it.
In her novel Wise Blood, Flannery O'Connor says of her character Hazel Motes that "there was a deep, black, wordless conviction in him that the way to avoid Jesus was to avoid sin." This is a profound insight. You can avoid Jesus as Savior by keeping all the moral laws. If you do that, then you have "rights." God owes you answered prayers, and a good life, and a ticket to heaven when you die. You don't need a Savior who pardons you by free grace, for you are your own Savior.
... In the same way, religious people commonly live very moral lives, but their goal is to get leverage over God, to control him, to put him in a position where they think he owes them... If... you believe that God ought to bless you and help you because you have worked so hard to obey him and be a good person, then Jesus may be your helper, your example, even your inspiration, but he is not your Savior. You are serving as your own Savior."
I hope this is encouraging and challenging, and I hope we try to avoid Jesus less - I know I hope I do
E
"... Most people think of sin as failing to keep God's rules of conduct, but, while not less than that, Jesus's definition of sin goes beyond it.
In her novel Wise Blood, Flannery O'Connor says of her character Hazel Motes that "there was a deep, black, wordless conviction in him that the way to avoid Jesus was to avoid sin." This is a profound insight. You can avoid Jesus as Savior by keeping all the moral laws. If you do that, then you have "rights." God owes you answered prayers, and a good life, and a ticket to heaven when you die. You don't need a Savior who pardons you by free grace, for you are your own Savior.
... In the same way, religious people commonly live very moral lives, but their goal is to get leverage over God, to control him, to put him in a position where they think he owes them... If... you believe that God ought to bless you and help you because you have worked so hard to obey him and be a good person, then Jesus may be your helper, your example, even your inspiration, but he is not your Savior. You are serving as your own Savior."
I hope this is encouraging and challenging, and I hope we try to avoid Jesus less - I know I hope I do
E
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