Freedom not fear
This week is on Romans 8:15-17:
Paul shares these verses in a conversation he is having about sin and grace. Sin, regarding people who live as though grace is available but not needed, and sin as in those who live as though grace is needed but is not available to anyone. We are familiar with the people who live in the flesh, with no awareness of their sin or the need for grace. We hear less about the people who are aware of their sin, but don't acknowledge that grace is available to them.
The sin-deniers are easy to spot. They're selfish, proud, sexually immoral, drunkards, idolaters, etc. The grace-deniers are a bit more difficult. Sometimes they're judgmental people, overly critical of themselves and others, and other times they seem like selfless people because of their constant striving to be good enough. You meet a guy who works every weekend in the soup kitchen, for instance, but you can't tell whether it's because he has love and compassion and wants to feed the hungry, or whether he's trying to pay for his alcoholism by doing "good" things.
Making things worse is that a lot of churches preach a sort of "Gospel of the sociopathic Christ." They preach a God who is fickle, who explodes in unprovoked rage over small things, who watches your every move, checks the mileage on your car, reads your diary, and then finds things to beat you up over. The God they preach never forgets what you did, and wants you to always "remember where you came from." Their God wants ultimate obedience, for you to turn yourself into a doll for Him, or a puppet. Their God always wants more, and yet more, and still more beyond that. The sociopathic God is vindictive. He'll meddle with your dreams if you don't give him everything. He'll cut you out of your plans if you don't get it right the first time. Unless you have something to give him, you have no value.
When confronted with a picture like that, you can't help but always to be in fear of your salvation. "What if I haven't read my Bible this week? What if I haven't been to church on Sunday? What if I looked at Internet porn? What if I walked past the homeless guy without giving him money? Is my dress too short? Is my makeup wrong? Will God still spare me from Hell? Will he still love me? I'm one slip-up away from the very flames of hell!"
Paul slams the truth down on the table: "The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again." The sociopathic God is a lie. If your religious life is filled with fear, and a constant slaving away to avoid punishment, you're not hearing the Holy Spirit's voice of comfort and love. You're probably listening to the accuser instead.
That fear of punishment is a perversion of the truth. It is true that we don't measure up. God does want perfect obedience. Our efforts aren't ever good enough in the sense of the old testament law. God does know everything. He does see all of our sin. All of these things are true regardless of whether the Gospel is true. The difference between the sociopathic god and the true Christ is this: Jesus died on the cross to pay the price of our sin. God loves us so much that he sent his only natural son to die to end that cycle of fear. Who on earth would ignore all of that and try to get us to get back into the fear cycle again? Could it be Satan?
When we live in fear of punishment, we live as though Jesus never died on the cross for us. We live as though God does not love us. Would an ambassador live as though his country didn't exist and its customs were rubbish? I've known people who have lived for years claiming they were damaged goods, or that God could never love them for what they did X years ago. How can you rejoice in a salvation you won't accept as true? And yet it is true.
God loves us so much that he has adopted us as children. Christ accepts us as he would accept a brother. Would you treat a brother like a slave? Would you treat your son or daughter as a slave? We're not property to be abused and discarded. We're family.
Think of the freedom that is in that. Your sin is forgiven. Your shortcomings are known and accepted. You will be invested in, trained to be better than you could be on your own. Treasures await you, an inheritance you get for being family, not a pension you get for working. Is that the life of a despised slave? We're free, and better than free, we're connected to the most powerful family in the universe, and are on good terms.
Our walk with Christ should feel less like a walk through a minefield and more like a walk along the beach. We still have to pay attention to where we're going, but as long as we stick together, we'll get to where we need to go. We're free. Love keeps us from wandering, not fear.
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. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.
Paul shares these verses in a conversation he is having about sin and grace. Sin, regarding people who live as though grace is available but not needed, and sin as in those who live as though grace is needed but is not available to anyone. We are familiar with the people who live in the flesh, with no awareness of their sin or the need for grace. We hear less about the people who are aware of their sin, but don't acknowledge that grace is available to them.
The sin-deniers are easy to spot. They're selfish, proud, sexually immoral, drunkards, idolaters, etc. The grace-deniers are a bit more difficult. Sometimes they're judgmental people, overly critical of themselves and others, and other times they seem like selfless people because of their constant striving to be good enough. You meet a guy who works every weekend in the soup kitchen, for instance, but you can't tell whether it's because he has love and compassion and wants to feed the hungry, or whether he's trying to pay for his alcoholism by doing "good" things.
Making things worse is that a lot of churches preach a sort of "Gospel of the sociopathic Christ." They preach a God who is fickle, who explodes in unprovoked rage over small things, who watches your every move, checks the mileage on your car, reads your diary, and then finds things to beat you up over. The God they preach never forgets what you did, and wants you to always "remember where you came from." Their God wants ultimate obedience, for you to turn yourself into a doll for Him, or a puppet. Their God always wants more, and yet more, and still more beyond that. The sociopathic God is vindictive. He'll meddle with your dreams if you don't give him everything. He'll cut you out of your plans if you don't get it right the first time. Unless you have something to give him, you have no value.
When confronted with a picture like that, you can't help but always to be in fear of your salvation. "What if I haven't read my Bible this week? What if I haven't been to church on Sunday? What if I looked at Internet porn? What if I walked past the homeless guy without giving him money? Is my dress too short? Is my makeup wrong? Will God still spare me from Hell? Will he still love me? I'm one slip-up away from the very flames of hell!"
Paul slams the truth down on the table: "The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again." The sociopathic God is a lie. If your religious life is filled with fear, and a constant slaving away to avoid punishment, you're not hearing the Holy Spirit's voice of comfort and love. You're probably listening to the accuser instead.
That fear of punishment is a perversion of the truth. It is true that we don't measure up. God does want perfect obedience. Our efforts aren't ever good enough in the sense of the old testament law. God does know everything. He does see all of our sin. All of these things are true regardless of whether the Gospel is true. The difference between the sociopathic god and the true Christ is this: Jesus died on the cross to pay the price of our sin. God loves us so much that he sent his only natural son to die to end that cycle of fear. Who on earth would ignore all of that and try to get us to get back into the fear cycle again? Could it be Satan?
When we live in fear of punishment, we live as though Jesus never died on the cross for us. We live as though God does not love us. Would an ambassador live as though his country didn't exist and its customs were rubbish? I've known people who have lived for years claiming they were damaged goods, or that God could never love them for what they did X years ago. How can you rejoice in a salvation you won't accept as true? And yet it is true.
God loves us so much that he has adopted us as children. Christ accepts us as he would accept a brother. Would you treat a brother like a slave? Would you treat your son or daughter as a slave? We're not property to be abused and discarded. We're family.
Think of the freedom that is in that. Your sin is forgiven. Your shortcomings are known and accepted. You will be invested in, trained to be better than you could be on your own. Treasures await you, an inheritance you get for being family, not a pension you get for working. Is that the life of a despised slave? We're free, and better than free, we're connected to the most powerful family in the universe, and are on good terms.
Our walk with Christ should feel less like a walk through a minefield and more like a walk along the beach. We still have to pay attention to where we're going, but as long as we stick together, we'll get to where we need to go. We're free. Love keeps us from wandering, not fear.
Comments
Post a Comment