Martin Luther on the Christian Life

"Who can even begin to comprehend the glory and riches of the Christian life? It can do all things and has all things and lacks nothing. It rules over sin, death, and hell and at the same time seeks to serve and benefit all people.  Unfortunately, this type of life is unknown in our day. It is not preached about or sought after. Indeed, we are totally ignorant of our name and do not even know why we are Christians or bear that name. Now we ought to know that we are named after Christ—and not because he is absent but precisely because he dwells in our midst! Our trust in him means that we are Christs to one another and act toward our neighbors as Christ has acted toward us. But in our time of very human way of teaching sets the tone, telling us that the life of faith involves the seeking of merits and rewards. The result is that Christ is seen simply as a taskmaster who is far harsher than Moses." - Martin Luther, The Freedom of a Christian, 1520.

Written 495 years ago, does this describe how Christianity is preached today? Have you been taught that some things are just impossible, that you haven't "arrived" yet and are still lacking?*  Do you hear today and believe that sin will continue to exercise power over you and that you will inevitably give into sin?** Has your pastor promoted a type of faith that seeks merits and rewards?***

Just food for thought....

Grace=Peace,

Jeremy

* Philipians 4:13; Colossians 2:10

**Romans 6:14

***Romans 4:5; Hebrews 4:3

Your Testimony!

Many churches today focus on Jesus' works as a model for a Christian's life.  "You should do more and live better lives!"  "You should give more of your time to church activities and be a role model for people to see Jesus!"  "Don't let anyone see you sin!"

It's as if Jesus did nothing but teach about how to live the model "good life" and that if you follow His teachings well enough, God will be happy with you.  He may even give you extra points when you stand before Him, hoping that He will say, at the very least, "Pretty good, mostly faithful servant who did your best."

What?  What???  But we really believe that deep down, right?  We fear we will have missed the mark after having lived our lives trying to be as morally good and selfless as Jesus.  That's not the Christian life!

I suggest that we stop focusing on the things Jesus did and rather look to what happened to Him:  He was miraculously born of the Spirit.  He was crucified, died, and was buried.  He was resurrected.  He ascended into heaven and then sat down in the place of highest honor and glory.

Oh wait!  Snap!  Were we just talking about Jesus, or are we talking about you?!?  You???  Yes, YOU!!!  His testimony is yours, too!  It's the SAME STORY!!!  You overcame by the blood of the Lamb *and* by your testimony, which is wrapped up with Jesus's.  Read that list above; the very same things that happened to Jesus also happened to you!  (You were re-born, right?  Same Holy Spirit, right?)

So, quit trying to follow the teachings of Jesus, and instead allow His resurrected life--which is united to yours--to flow out of you and produce a bumper crop of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, and self-control.  It never was about you.  It was never about following someone's teachings.  Admit it, you could never follow them anyway, and no, God neither honors effort, nor does He grade on a curve.  Only faith pleases Him.  Will you now stop all your effort and trust that Jesus obeyed perfectly on your behalf?  You should, because you are fully forgiven, and your righteousness is a free gift that you receive ONLY by simply believing it's true about you.

Read your testimony above again.  That's how you overcame.  You with Jesus.  Jesus with you.  You don't really need anymore teaching than that.  Now, go let the Spirit out of you!

Grace=Peace,

Jeremy

Grace - The Gospel of Grace

James Barron said this:  "He [Jesus] is able to save me because He always lives, not because I always live right."

At the end of this year, I will have been listening to, feeding upon, and growing spiritually because of the gospel of the grace of Jesus Christ for seven years.  Sadly, I have been a Christian for much longer than that; but you can't draw near to God through your own efforts (See Hebrews 7:19)—only through the New Covenant do you come close to God.  This gospel of grace is of such significance and causes such radical spiritual transformation and growth, that the Apostle Paul himself declared that in order to be able to finish the course of his life and ministry, he could do nothing other than to testify solemnly of it; it was this gospel of grace which he viewed of greatest importance and prayed that those to whom he ministered would understand fully.  (See Acts 20:24, 32; and Ephesians 1:17-18.)

After seven years, I am still finding myself in wonder of the intricacies of God's actions toward us.  The reason the vast majority of Christians are joyless and burning out, or at best, continuing on as "normal," is because instead of looking at this mystery of Christ in them and them in Christ, they are preoccupied by their own selves.  Christian-centered Christianity ultimately kills.  Christ-centered Christianity produces wonder, amazement, marvel, and joy.

After seven years, unfortunately, I've also seen people move away from the message of grace as they place their eyes back on themselves.  They grow bored and can no longer be enthralled by good news.  They believe that to grow further in the "Christian life" means to move on to other topics.  They leave Jesus, Who is grace, thinking more about "I" and "me."  But this grace, Who is our Life, is the basis for everything else we know and experience.  You can't move past Him.  You can't grow beyond Him.  You will never be able to rename Him as a doctrine.  You'll suffer if, to you, He is no longer of benefit and you check Him off – "Been there. Done that."  I'm not saying you lose your salvation; but you have lost true joy and cause to celebrate daily!

After seven years, however, I'm still seeing individuals' heads being lifted up to see the goodness of Christ.  They're discovering that they've believed lies about God and about themselves.  I'm still seeing them set free and experiencing peace and freedom, not to indulge in sin, but rather to be simply amazed at how good God has been to them all along.  The life the Spirit brings to them brings transformation, renewal, and the realization of hope thought dead.

There really is no gospel other than that of Jesus Christ.  It is His glory and it is based on His goodness; nothing about us made Him do what He did.  His love, his steadfast love alone, raised us from the dead with Him so we could walk in newness of life.  We move from trusting in our faith to trusting in His.  We have exchanged our glory for His.  Having redeemed us, He has returned us to be as we should:  in Him.

This message isn't boring and it doesn't encourage laziness or sinful deeds:  He blows us away with His love; He impresses us, and we can't help but talk about it.  If this is not the case for you, then you've probably taken your eyes off of Him and put them back on yourself.  Dive into this better hope that draws you (again, see Hebrews 7:19) to God and even joins you (eggizo) to Him.  Life such as this is like none other.  You won't be the same.

Grace=Peace,

Jeremy