Not My Own

The New City Catechism Devotional begins with this statement:

“What is our only hope in life and death? That we are not our own but belong, body and soul, both in life and death, to God and to our Savior Jesus Christ...

“Timothy Keller [comments]- It means, first of all, we are not to determine for ourselves what is right or wrong. We give up the right to determine that, and we rely wholly on God’s Word… we stop putting ourselves first, and we always put first what pleases God and what loves our neighbor… A woman once said to me, ‘If I knew I was saved because of what I did, if I contributed to my salvation, then God couldn’t ask anything of me because I’d made a contribution. But if I’m saved by grace, sheer grace, then there’s nothing he cannot ask of me.’”

That flies in the face of our culture of self-determination and expressive individualism—“I feel, therefore I am.” There are now two books titled Don’t Follow Your Heart (I’ve read the one by Jon Bloom), which both remind us that “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” (Jer. 17:9). If we follow our hearts, we are following a blind guide. The world, the flesh, and the devil have no power to save us or to fulfill our deepest needs. Only through faith in Christ can we become who God intended us to be from before time began.

I’ve been thinking a lot about the many experiences that have factored in to make me who I am today. Growing up in a Christian home, going to church weekly, and choosing a Christian college certainly played a large part in shaping my faith and my morality. Those were good things, but not everyone ends up in the same place after similar experiences. There were also plenty of negative experiences that shaped me, and I can truthfully say that it is only by God’s grace that I am alive today and that I am endeavoring to live in accordance with Scripture. I know the sinful desires of my heart that would otherwise be seen in my life if I hadn’t surrendered them to God’s will. There are many Scriptures that speak to this surrender of self-will. Here are just a few:

“Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body” (1 Cor. 6:19-20).

“As it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me to live in Christ and to die is gain” (Phil. 1:20-22).

“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Gal. 2:20).

It boils down to this: if God created me, then He has the right to tell me how I am to live. And if He redeemed me by His grace, He also enables me to live in a way that glorifies Him, though I often fail to heed His will when I rely on my own strength and limited understanding. 

There are times when I wonder if it is all worth it, until I remember what eternity holds. Like Asaph in Psalm 73 when he began to envy the prosperity of the wicked and thought, “All in vain have I kept my heart clean” then he remembered, “Truly You set them in slippery places; You make them fall to ruin. How they are destroyed in a moment, swept away utterly by terrors!” (13, 18-19). And as Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians, “For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal” (4:17-18).

There are sacrifices that we make in this life that seem quite painful at the time (hence they are called sacrifices!). We may feel like we are giving up our only chance to be happy and content. But in reality, we are only losing a brief earthly pleasure for an eternity of perfect peace and joy in the new heavens and new earth. I am not my own, but I belong to One who loves me far more than I love myself, and His plan for the entirety of my life is far better than anything I could ask or imagine.

“Whom have I in heaven but You? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides You” (Psalm 73:25).

***

Check out the song “I Am Not My Own” by Skye Peterson and Keith and Kristyn Getty.

© 2024 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture are ESV and all images copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.

Not Me

Last Sunday at our church, Ron Thomas preached on Luke 9:

“And He said to all, ‘If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses His life for My sake will save it. For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?” (9:23-25).

As Ron pointed out, we have accepted a rather watered-down version of Christianity in the modern world. We settle for being “Christian-ish” rather than fully committing to Jesus as our Lord. During the sermon another passage came to my mind:

“After this many of His disciples turned back and no longer walked with Him. So Jesus said to the twelve, ‘Do you want to go away as well?’ Simon Peter answered Him, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that You are the Holy One of God’” (John 6:66-69).

Do we truly believe Christianity is about life or death, or is it merely a lifestyle choice? If it is a lifestyle, then we have no grounds for asking others to make the same choice, no reason to share the gospel—for what is the “good news” of telling others to give up their comforts and pleasures? But if it is a matter of eternal life or death, our choice to obey Jesus as Lord really does matter. We don’t give up things that we enjoy simply for the sake of giving them up. We give up seemingly good things when we know that there is something supremely better to come. “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose” (Jim Elliot).

When the world is enticing, Lord, help us to choose holiness.

When people hurt or disappointment us, help us to seek only Your face.

When culture judges or ridicules, help us to look only to You for approval.

When life is hard, help us to look to eternity.

“The world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever” (1 John 2:17).

***

You can listen to Ron’s sermon here: https://www.buzzsprout.com/8612/12235779

© 2023 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture are ESV and all images copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.

To Obey or Not To Obey

Earlier this year here in NC there was a big hoopla about the announced crackdown on speeding. Some drivers were worried that they'd be ticketed for driving 1 mph over the speed limit. It didn't seem to slow anyone down for long though. Apparently people think that "buffer zone" of several mph over the limit is their inalienable right. 

Aside from the enforcement nightmare, can you imagine what would happen if every law were enforced to the letter, with no mercy extended for any reason? How many citations would each person receive in a year? If Adam and Eve couldn't even resist breaking the only rule that was on the books, what chance would we have? Makes you appreciate grace and mercy, doesn't it? According to God's law, even one violation makes you deserving of death and eternal separation from Him. And yet in Christ every sin we have committed or will commit has been forgiven. 

For many people, the rule of thumb is "How much can I get away with," or "What does the law require." The question we should be asking is whether this choice is helpful for me or for the Body of Christ. As Paul stated in 1 Corinthians 6:12 (ESV), "All things are lawful, but not all things are helpful. All things are lawful, but I will not be dominated by anything." And in 1 Corinthians 14:12, "So with yourselves, since you are eager for manifestations of the Spirit, strive to excel in building up the church."

At its root, sin comes from a heart that is intent on getting its own way rather than looking out for the best interests of others. It's no coincidence that the humility of Christ as outlined in Philippians 2 is the same path by which He demonstrated His love for us (1 John 4). Loving others well requires setting aside our own interests and agendas and submitting to God's design for life. And submitting to God includes submitting to the authorities and laws He has established, not to earn salvation, but for the good of society. 

"Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment" (Romans 13:1-2).

© 2016 Dawn Rutan. 

Who's in Charge?

For a while now I’ve been thinking about that controversial word “submission.” It is often considered a dirty word by anyone who has ever felt downtrodden. I’ve wrestled with it myself at times, but I can’t avoid what Scripture commands:

• “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ. For the wrongdoer will be paid back for the wrong he has done, and there is no partiality” (Colossians 3:23-25 ESV).
• “Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account. Let them do this with joy and not with groaning, for that would be of no advantage to you” (Hebrew 13:17).
• “Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands” (Ephesians 5:24).
• “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God” (Romans 13:1).

Wives submitting to husbands is only one example out of many. In a recent sermon on James 4, Alistair Begg stated that failure to submit to one another is failure to submit to God. Sam Andreades wrote in enGendered (a book I would recommend):

 “Obeying or submitting ‘as to the Lord’ is really about trusting the One who tells you to do this… [Y]ou are doing it because you are trusting God, trusting that God is in this picture, that He will take care of you and your own…” (117).

Sometimes it is hard enough just to trust that God is in control, much less to trust those He has placed in authority in any particular situation. But it seems apparent from Scripture that submission is expected. As an employee, a citizen, a church member, [and spouse if I were married] my responsibility is to submit to my leaders, knowing that they will be held accountable for their use or abuse of authority. That’s not to say that there are never occasions for civil disobedience or removal of authority, but that should be the exception to the rule.

As I’ve thought through the conflicting emotions related to submission, it seems that most of the power struggle is rooted in fear. How am I going to be hurt or what am I going to miss out on if I’m not the one in control of this decision? Andreades wrote: “People submitting in relationship are vulnerable, dependent upon the careful and righteous stewardship of the one in authority” (102). 

I’ll be the first to admit that the vulnerability that comes with submission can lead to painful interactions. Trust is built slowly as a relationship deepens, but it can be lost in an instant. None of us really want to be vulnerable and dependent, and yet that is a big part of God’s will for us. We are inherently dependent on Him for life, breath, daily provision, and salvation (among other things). Our relationships on earth are a mirror of that fundamental relationship, to remind us that we are designed to live in community and dependence on one another. It is also a reflection of the mutual dependence and fellowship within the Godhead.

I could raise all sorts of questions as to what submission should look like in various contexts, but I think we each need to wrestle through Scripture for ourselves. The conclusion that I have come to is that I need to trust God more fully and to ask Him for clear guidance for all the relationships in my life.

“Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is… Be filled with the Spirit… giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ” (Ephesians 5:17-21).

© 2016 Dawn Rutan.