No Slipping

“The steps of a man are established by the Lord, when He delights in his way; though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong, for the Lord upholds his hand… The law of his God is in his heart; his steps do not slip” (Psalm 37: 23-24, 31).

Oh, how often we think that our salvation and sanctification depend on our ability to hold onto God! We strive to keep the law of God and to be perfect because we fear that we’ll fall away if we aren’t extra careful. We forget that God is the one holding onto us. David and the other psalmists wrote:

Psalm 18:36- “You gave a wide place for my steps under me, and my feet did not slip.”

Psalm 66:8-9- “Bless our God… who has kept our soul among the living and has not let our feet slip.”

Psalm 17:5- “My steps have held fast to Your paths; my feet have not slipped.”

In Christ we are set securely upon the Rock. Those who belong to Him cannot be snatched from His hand (John 10:28-29). However, we need to remember that some who think they are Christians actually do not belong to Him (Matthew 7:21-23). They may agree that there is a God and that Jesus is the Savior, but they are not following Him as Lord.

If you think about it, the fear of falling away from faith is probably a good sign that you are securely in His grasp. You don’t fear losing something if it doesn’t mean anything to you. The good news for true believers is that God’s grace far exceeds our ability to sin. In the words of Dane Ortlund, “The verdict really is in: nothing can touch you. He has made you his own and will never cast you out” (Gentle and Lowly, 186).

We may sometimes feel like the psalmist, “But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled, my steps had nearly slipped. For I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked” (Psalm 73:1-3). When we step back and look at God we can see that we are not the ones who are slipping, but rather the wicked are: “Truly You set them in slippery places; You make them fall to ruin” (v. 18). They are sliding toward eternal condemnation and they neither know nor care.

Though we do need to be careful that we are not deceiving ourselves, there is great peace to be found in knowing that our salvation doesn’t depend on our perfect obedience, because “we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ… because by works of the law no one will be justified” (Galatians 2:16).

Therefore, let us take heart and rest in the salvation that was completed on the cross and the sanctification that we will see fulfilled at His return.

“When I thought, ‘My foot slips,’ Your steadfast love, O Lord, held me up” (Psalm 94:18).

© 2021 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture are ESV and all images are copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.

Planned Obsolescence

Our church has been working through the book of Galatians for the past several weeks. The recurring theme is that salvation is by faith and not by works. “We know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified” (Gal. 2:16-17).

Obedience to the Old Testament law cannot save us. As James says, “For whoever keeps the whole law but fails at one point has become guilty of all of it” (James 2:10). Try as we might, we cannot perfectly obey and therefore we cannot obtain righteousness through our obedience. The law was never intended to justify anyone, but only to point us to our need for a Savior. As Paul wrote in Romans 7, “If it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, ‘You shall not covet.’ …The very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me” (7:7, 10). But now, if we are believers in Christ, we have “died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to Him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God” (7:4).

We are now under a new covenant by faith in Christ. “In speaking of a new covenant, He makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away” (Heb. 8:13). The author of Hebrews doesn’t just say that the old covenant of the law is inferior to the new covenant, but is actually obsolete. How is that possible? Jesus fulfilled all the demands of the law by perfect obedience. Through His sacrifice on the cross, we who trust in Him receive His perfect record.

“And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This He set aside, nailing it to the cross” (Col. 2:13-14). In Christ, “It is finished” (John 19:30).

We as individuals and as churches can tend to lean in one of two directions. We may lean toward legalism and create our own set of rules and regulations: don’t drink, don’t smoke, no tattoos, never skip church, read through your Bible every year, always look respectable, etc. That is likely to make people feel a constant vague guilt for not measuring up to the “standards,” and may lead to an abandonment of anything related to the church.

Or we may lean toward license and say “Do whatever feels good so long as you aren’t hurting anyone by it.” But that is to ignore the necessity of sanctification in the life of the believer. We are set free from the law, not to do as we please, but to become who God always intended us to be: people who reflect the perfect image of His Son. “So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 6:11).

We belong to Him body and soul, and if we are living in His grace through faith, we will desire to do all that we can to please Him—not because we have to in order to retain our citizenship in His kingdom, but because we love our Father. We will fail and fall at times, but He picks us back up and dusts us off and reminds us that His love is not dependent on our perfect obedience. “For You, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon You” (Psalm 86:5).

“The steps of a man are established by the Lord, when He delights in his way; though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong, for the Lord upholds his hand” (Psalm 37:23-24).

**

You might enjoy this poem from Glenn Scrivener:
https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justin-taylor/we-should-not-balance-license-and-legalism/

© 2020 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture are ESV and all images are copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.

My Way, Your Way, God's Way

Christians disagree with whether there is a specific spiritual gift of evangelism somehow distinct from the office of evangelist or apostle (Ephesians 4:11). (Here’s one such article.) Regardless of one’s interpretation, it is certain that all Christians are called to be witnesses for Christ and to make disciples (Matthew 28:18-20, Acts 1:8). However, each of us have different ways and means of sharing our faith with others. Chuck Smith wrote in Why Grace Changes Everything:

“There are people who are thrilled to talk to strangers. They get bored just sitting at home and they can’t wait to strike up conversations with people they’ve never met. That is their nature. It’s natural for them—and that is the key… Not everybody in the body is the mouth, however, and the mouth couldn’t operate effectively unless there was a brain behind it and feet to carry it where it needed to go. We should not feel guilty because we do not have the same ministry or effectiveness as others. The body works as a unit, and God is the one who has assigned each of us our place in the body…

“When you are doing what you love to do, it is not a work. You are not in a shop. You are not laboring in a factory. Your activity is the fruit of relationship. When the love of God fills your heart, all you want to do is talk about Him: His Word, His goodness, His love. You don’t go around looking for brownie points just because you have been doing what you like to do. You don’t look to be rewarded for what is natural to you (even though God will reward you for the fruit that comes forth from your life). You do it because you want to do it, because it is your nature to do it, because God has put it in your heart to do it. The fact is, you feel as if you would die if you didn’t do it…” (ch. 6).

I found that to be an encouraging word. I’m not one itching to go out and talk to strangers, but I must write my blogs, and I live and love to share my faith and the truths of Scripture in this way. Other people would rather do anything but write.

Evangelism can become burdensome if we think it has to be done a certain way or we have to meet certain goals. We may get discouraged if we find ourselves unable to do it the “right way” or fail to say what we think we should. Or conversely some people may become proud if they find great success and wonder why others struggle so much with it. Despite repeated reminders of God’s grace toward us, I think we all are inclined to drift back into legalism when it comes to any of the spiritual disciplines. In his book Seculosity, David Zahl wrote:

“The law classifies and categorizes. It tells us clearly and confidently where we stand… [A] religion of law promises functional salvation to those who live up to its demands, expressed more often than not in the should’s and ought’s we infer from our shared ideals… There’s a fundamental problem with all religions of law, in whatever form we encounter them. The problem does not reside in the content of the law itself. The problem resides in the human heart: knowing what we should do or be does not give us the ability to do or be those things… The law never has and never will inspire what it commands, at least not in any comprehensive or lasting sense” (164-165).

“What makes Christianity a religion of grace, ultimately, is its essential revelation: of a God who meets us in both our individual and collective sin with a love that knows no bounds, the kind of love that lays down its life for its enemies. It is not a roadmap to engineering spiritual enoughness but the glorious proclamation that on account of Christ, you and I are enough—right now, right here, before we do or say anything. That is to say, Christianity at its sustaining core is not a religion of good people getting better, but of real people coping with their failure to be good” (176).

Christ has already met all the demands of the law for us. There is nothing we must do to gain His approval. If our motivation for evangelism is a desire to measure up to some standard, whether our own or someone else’s, it will not last long and probably won’t bear any real fruit. Bob George commented in Classic Christianity,

“After having led hundreds of people to Christ as a businessman, I found myself losing interest in talking to people about the Lord… [When] you have lost the joy of your salvation and have begun sharing Christ out of habit, competition, or just plain duty, there is no relish in it and not much to keep you going. After all, what can you say? ‘Become a Christian and be miserable like me’? …What was once the overflow of my experience of God’s love had become just an external performance. I was totally committed to God’s plan, true—but I had strayed from the God of the plan… Well, I was tired of it… I’m no longer trying to change the world or anything else. I am content to let God work through me to produce whatever results He pleases” (27-28).

Our church has had some helpful training on evangelism this summer, but some people like me may be feeling a false sense of guilt for what we’re not doing and perhaps don’t desire to do. The good news is that God loves us and will continue to love us even if we never say another word. Our role as branches is simply to abide in the Vine (John 15). We don’t have to work at producing fruit, but if we are abiding in Him the fruit will come as He works in and through us. (However, if there is no fruit and no desire to produce fruit, one should question whether they are actually attached to the Vine at all.)

He doesn’t call any of us to be Billy Graham or Charles Spurgeon. He already worked through them. He calls me to be me, and you to be you, each of us with our unique personalities and gifts. I share my faith in the ways that are most natural and enjoyable to me. My way is not your way and my words are not your words. Saving faith is ultimately the work of the Holy Spirit. God doesn’t need any of us to work for Him, but He will produce fruit through all who truly belong to Him.

“Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in Me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing” (John 15:4-5 ESV).

“I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth” (1 Corinthians 3:6-7).

© 2019 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated all images are copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.

Unforgiven

A presidential candidate has been reported as saying he is a Christian but doesn’t ask God for forgiveness. No doubt there is a faulty understanding of what it means to be a Christian. This is the heresy of antinomianism that the Apostle John was addressing in his first letter:

“If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us” (1 John 1:8-10 ESV).

But I wonder if that same misunderstanding tends to creep into the thoughts of established Christians at times. We talk about accepting Christ or inviting Him into our hearts. We may refer to an initial confession and repentance at the time of conversion, but sometimes that’s the last we hear about confession. Have you ever been in a church service (maybe even “revival”), and when the hymn of invitation comes, no one ever goes forward to pray? If someone does go forward, there may be some raised eyebrows as people wonder what’s going on. The implication is that only the unconverted or backsliders need to confess. I love some of the hymns in the invitation section of the hymnal; however, some convey the message that after conversion a person will never again need to confess.

The March 2016 issue of Christianity Today includes an interview with Fleming Rutledge in which she states: “American Christianity, as Richard Neibuhr pointed out long ago, has tended to preach a gospel without judgment and a Christ without a cross. This is an old problem. We want to be happy. We want to be positive. We want to overlook the almost unbelievable problems we face today.” She indicates that we are inclined to gloss over the Crucifixion and jump right to the Resurrection. We want the Good News of salvation without ever hearing the bad news of our sinfulness.

Martin Luther said in his 95 Theses, “When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said ‘Repent,’ he intended that the entire life of believers should be repentance.” A life lived without confession and repentance is a life devoid of God’s forgiveness. The idea that one can be a Christian without ever asking for forgiveness is part of a greater deception that says, “It doesn’t matter how I act or what I say. My faith is private.”

Luther went on to say that faith is, “a living, creative, active and powerful thing, this faith. Faith cannot help doing good works constantly. It doesn’t stop to ask if good works ought to be done, but before anyone asks, it already has done them and continues to do them without ceasing. Anyone who does not do good works in this manner is an unbeliever… Thus, it is just as impossible to separate faith and works as it is to separate heat and light from fire!” (Introduction to Romans).

A living and active faith will be one of continual repentance, but it will also be made evident by the good fruit produced by God’s work in and through us. “What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? …So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead” (James 2:14, 17). If one claims to have faith without having either repentance or good works, he is deceiving himself and one day will be called to account. We can only pray that such people will see the error of their ways before it’s too late.

“For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? For what can a man give in return for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of Me and of My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels”(Mark 8:36-38).

© 2016 Dawn Rutan. 

Missional Meanderings

The thought process started when I read this article on the missional church: http://www.vergenetwork.org/2011/09/14/mike-breen-why-the-missional-movement-will-fail/ I confess that although I’ve heard the term before, I had no idea what it meant. According to Wikipedia:

“The movement seeks to rethink and redefine the nature of the church and create a new paradigm in which churches are seen as missional in nature, instead of attractional in nature. Leaders in the movement argue that instead of churches attempting to attract people to churches through church programs, churches should instead take the gospel outside of the church and engage society with the gospel, often by being involved not only in missions and evangelism but also in social justice movements.”

Coincidentally, I then picked up Jen Hatmaker’s book Interrupted: When Jesus Wrecks Your Comfortable Christianity, which shares her journey into the missional movement. I fully support Christians getting motivated to look beyond the walls of their church and living out their faith in every part of life. However, I think there are some problems with the way missional living is often communicated. (I had similar concerns when reading books by Hugh Halter.) Here is one example from Hatmaker.

In talking about the parables in Matthew 25 and Jesus’ judgment “Depart from me, you cursed… for I was hungry and you gave Me no food…” (ESV) she states:

“Be like the wise, watchful servant, not the wicked, abusive one. Emulate the five wise virgins, not the foolish, sleepy ones… Act like the servant with five invested talents, not the scaredy servant with one buried talent. And as Jesus built His case and the disciples began to gauge what counted and what wouldn’t, He hit them with the grand finale: It will matter only if you’re a sheep or a goat. The blessed and the lost will be separated based on one principle: the care of the oppressed. The end” (103).

Wait a minute—that’s the one principle?! Before jumping to that conclusion, it would be good to go back a few chapters to Jesus’ terrifying words in Matthew 7:22-23: “On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not… do many mighty works in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you workers of lawlessness.’” He said in verse 20, “Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.” Outward actions are not the factor that determines our salvation, but they are evidence of it. Paul makes this clear in Ephesians 2:8-10:

“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. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

Not by works, but for good works… Yes, we should feed and clothe those in need and share the Gospel with them, but not so we can feel assured that we are sheep and not goats. I have no doubt there will be many good, socially active people who find out their works did not put their names in the Book of Life.

The other difficulty I have with many in the missional church movement is the implication that it is an either/or choice—either missional or attractional. I see no reason why both cannot exist within the universal Church and within local churches. The Christian mission and calling is not a one-size-fits-all outfit. God’s Kingdom has room for big churches, small churches, house churches, parachurch organizations, high church, low church, cross cultural missionaries, indigenous missionaries, street evangelists, homeless shelters, AIDS orphanages, and a myriad of other shapes and sizes. God uses all kinds of people, methods, and activities to reach the lost.

“Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good” (1 Corinthians 12:4-7).

(By the way, although “missional” is a new word it is not a new idea. The Salvation Army is just one example from history. http://www.salvationarmy.org/ihq/about)

© 2016 Dawn Rutan.  

I Problems

Some time back I wrote about Job’s entitlement mentality. I’m reading through Job again and noticed particularly in chapter 31 how Job repeatedly says “If I have...” The first verse of chapter 32 says, “So these three men ceased to answer Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes.” It appears that the last time Job really had his eyes on God in worship was in 1:21, “The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” Beginning in chapter 3, his eyes are on himself, “After this Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth.”

It’s amazing how easily we can stop focusing on God and starting focusing on ourselves. It doesn’t take Job-like suffering to do that. Such distraction can come from minor suffering, success, and even service. When we’re in pain, we tend to look at the reason for our pain. C.S. Lewis wrote:

“I once read the sentence ‘I lay awake all night with a toothache, thinking about the toothache and about lying awake.’ That’s true to life. Part of every misery is, so to speak, the misery’s shadow or reflection: the fact that you don’t merely suffer but have to keep on thinking about the fact that you suffer. I not only live each endless day in grief, but live each day thinking about living each day in grief.” (A Grief Observed).

And when things are going well and we’ve achieved some success, we are likely to get distracted by our pride. Comfort can quickly lead to apathy in the Christian life.

But even service can take our eyes off of God. We can get so busy doing good things, even church activities, that we lose sight of the purpose behind them. As Pastor Matt wrote in this week’s sermonrecap:

“Many so-called good works are poisoned when we allow the number two command [love people] to eclipse the number one command [love God]. The purpose of our good works is to glorify God. This completes the circuit, closes the loop, fulfills our function. We were created to glorify God, and this is why we do good works. Not to be seen or praised (Matthew 6:1-17), but so that God might be seen and praised.”

In church activities in particular we run into a conundrum: those who serve should be doing so without expectation of praise or recognition, and yet the Body needs to have an appreciation for all that goes on behind the scenes to make things happen. Service itself is a spiritual discipline, knowing that we are ultimately responsible to God for how we use the gifts He has given us. But I believe praise is also be a discipline we need to practice—we need to be praise God for how He has supplied the Body, and we need to express thanksgiving to people for the ways God has been able to work through their service.

Among his many greetings to individuals in his letters, Paul singles out three and says, “I rejoice at the coming of Stephanas and Fortunatus and Achaicus, because they have made up for your absence, for they refreshed my spirit as well as yours. Give recognition to such men” (1 Corinthians 16:17-18). He didn’t stop with saying thanks, but he urged the church to take time to thank them as well.

Unfortunately, our lack of praise is another “I problem.” Some possible reasons for it include:

• We don’t know what is being done that is worthy of praise, perhaps due to inattentiveness.
• We don’t believe it is praiseworthy, perhaps due to jealousy, pride, or judgmental attitudes.
• We don’t care enough to take the time to say thanks.

If we look around us with our eyes focused on God, it shouldn’t be hard to see opportunities to thank others for their acts of service. But in case we don’t get around to it, God never forgets:

“For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for His name in serving the saints, as you still do.” –Hebrews 6:10

Fruitful Works

This week I’ve been working on memorizing Hebrews 13:20-21 (ESV): “Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great Shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.” At the same time, I’ve been praying my way through Colossians 1:9-12. Verse 10 says “…so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.”

In reading those two passages together, I felt that perhaps I was not “bearing fruit in every good work” at least in some areas of my life. I was reminded also of Ephesians 2:10, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” So if God has equipped us with everything we need, and He has prepared the good works for us to do, why does it feel like we’re not bearing fruit the way we should? I think there may be a few reasons:

1) We may be expecting the wrong kind of works. I think we’d all like to be known for accomplishing something great for the Kingdom—saving thousands of people at a crusade, writing a worship song that is sung worldwide, raising a million dollars for missions, etc. But God may have an entirely different agenda—taking care of your kids and raising them to know Him, teaching a Sunday school class, counting the offering every week, or praying for those in need. We’re all doing some small thing every day that can have an eternal impact in our own lives and the lives of those we love. That may be the good work set before us.

2) We may be expecting fruit to grow too fast. The fruit of raising children in a godly home may take decades to realize. Not many people will accept Christ as little children and never stray away. The fruit of being faithful in prayer may not be in ways we can immediately see. The fruit of studying Scripture may be a slow pull away from the things of this world. God never said our good works would change the world overnight.

3) Our good works may be hidden or hindered by life in a fallen world. Being a good, upright employee working for an ungodly boss may feel like a waste of time, but that doesn’t necessarily mean we should change jobs or give in to the corporate culture. Even Christian organizations can be hindered by the distractions of pleasing people and funding programs. Being a prayerful, godly parent may be tough if the other parent doesn’t agree. Scripture is full of examples of people who had to remain faithful in the midst of difficult circumstances. They may not have seen the fruit of their labors, but we can still read about them today.

So perhaps we need to adjust our expectations. In writing about the discipline of service, Nathan Foster says:

“Certainly by our standards Jesus was really unproductive. He spent thirty years in a broken-down, working-class town doing what? In his ministry he really only invested in twelve guys, and even they didn’t seem to understand what he was really trying to do. He didn’t write books or leave clear, concise discipleship methods. Jesus even gave the responsibility of furthering his message to Peter, the guy who had just ditched him. According to worldly values, his service work was inefficient. Jesus was relaxed; we are stressed. Jesus was patient; we are obsessed with progress. Jesus was content; we want more. Jesus’s church was small; we insist on mega” (The Making of an Ordinary Saint, pp. 124-125).

God’s idea of success and fruitfulness has a lot more to do with our relationship with Him than with completing some grand task. The Apostle Paul also links fruit with knowledge of God and His will. Besides the Colossians passage mentioned, in Philippians 1:9-11 he prays “that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment… filled with the fruit of righteousness…” In Ephesians 5:8-9 he says, “For at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of the light, for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true, and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord.”

May we be found faithful in seeking the Lord and His will so that we will bear fruit in the good works He has appointed to us.

“Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.” –Matthew 25:21