If you were born and raised in a legalistic church, the question that you might have after reading Part I of this series might be, “what about Eph 2:10; aren’t we created to do good works?”
Nowhere in this series am I suggesting a life of passivity. The crux of the matter is our motive behind our well-meant actions. Are we ‘working the principles’ or are we yielding ourselves so that He can work through us?
Suppose Tim (a fictitious character) is suffering from a certain illness. If Tim is trusting in his prayer and fasting for the purpose of getting healed, then he is excusing himself from depending on the healing provision that he already has in Christ Jesus. Why? In his mind, Tim thinks he is not healed and therefore to be healed, he is sincerely following a set of godly sounding principles prescribed, probably by his church or a Christian book. The truth is, Tim does not know that he is already healed, in Christ Jesus. Christ Jesus bore Tim’s sickness two thousand years ago by His stripes, so that Tim, the child of God, can live in abundant health. But the manifestation of the healing comes only when - a) he knows the truth b) he receives that truth, by faith.
We can see plenty of Tims in the body of Christ - trying to be healed, trying to be prosperous, trying to be righteous, when they already are healed, prospered and righteous in Christ Jesus, regardless of the circumstances. The writer of the book of Hebrews calls it disobedience when we do not rest in His works.
There is no delicate way to put it, but another word for this mindset of “I don’t have it OR I am going to earn it with my effort”, is pride. [Please know that I am not sitting on a high throne and pointing my finger at you. I speak from experience.] The prominent character here is the ‘self’. This is why the legalists were offended by the teachings of Jesus - ‘how dare he questions our traditional beliefs?’ Legalists today get offended when the message of 'Grace' is proclaimed, for it is hard for the legalistic mind to acknowledge the truth that we cannot ‘move’ God with our actions. Jesus Christ made us righteous. We do not, or cannot earn our righteousness. It would be called self-righteousness if righteousness came as a result of our effort. It is impossible to earn and maintain our right standing with God with our effort. This is why the Gospel is called the ‘Good News’.
Nowhere in this series am I suggesting a life of passivity. The crux of the matter is our motive behind our well-meant actions. Are we ‘working the principles’ or are we yielding ourselves so that He can work through us?
Suppose Tim (a fictitious character) is suffering from a certain illness. If Tim is trusting in his prayer and fasting for the purpose of getting healed, then he is excusing himself from depending on the healing provision that he already has in Christ Jesus. Why? In his mind, Tim thinks he is not healed and therefore to be healed, he is sincerely following a set of godly sounding principles prescribed, probably by his church or a Christian book. The truth is, Tim does not know that he is already healed, in Christ Jesus. Christ Jesus bore Tim’s sickness two thousand years ago by His stripes, so that Tim, the child of God, can live in abundant health. But the manifestation of the healing comes only when - a) he knows the truth b) he receives that truth, by faith.
We can see plenty of Tims in the body of Christ - trying to be healed, trying to be prosperous, trying to be righteous, when they already are healed, prospered and righteous in Christ Jesus, regardless of the circumstances. The writer of the book of Hebrews calls it disobedience when we do not rest in His works.
There is no delicate way to put it, but another word for this mindset of “I don’t have it OR I am going to earn it with my effort”, is pride. [Please know that I am not sitting on a high throne and pointing my finger at you. I speak from experience.] The prominent character here is the ‘self’. This is why the legalists were offended by the teachings of Jesus - ‘how dare he questions our traditional beliefs?’ Legalists today get offended when the message of 'Grace' is proclaimed, for it is hard for the legalistic mind to acknowledge the truth that we cannot ‘move’ God with our actions. Jesus Christ made us righteous. We do not, or cannot earn our righteousness. It would be called self-righteousness if righteousness came as a result of our effort. It is impossible to earn and maintain our right standing with God with our effort. This is why the Gospel is called the ‘Good News’.
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