Remember the fundamentalist Mormon cult in Texas which was raided a few years back? One of the things that stuck in my memory is hearing how hard they had to work to meet their cult's demands - sometimes up to 14 and 16 hour days! Local cops would find some of the men driving erratically at night, and pull them over thinking they were drunk, to find out that they were not drunk, just very sleep deprived.
This is NOT Christianity. This is quite-literally works salvation
When I was a teenager, I had a similiar works-salvation issue going on with pro-life ministry. I felt so concerned about the dying babies I thought that my friends and I had to save them all, or we would be very bad Christians. I also was taught at that time that my salvation could be lost, and I managed to mix these two ideas in such a crazy way that I thought not "saving" enough babies could affect my eternal destiny! Talk about pressure.
Salvation is a free gift. It is not something we earn, or keep, through heavy manual labor, or saving enough babies from abortion, or doing enough homeless ministry, or sharing the gospel (what gospel?! if this is your paradigm) with enough people, or any other zealous effort. (If you don't believe me that salvation is a free gift, read the book of Romans and Ephesians in the New Testament. If they can't convince you, then there is nothing I can say that will!)
One of my favorite hyms is "Rock of Ages". And I love bluegrass. So this version, posted by my friend Heather on facebook, http://redemptionhill.com/rock-of-ages/ , is one I can't get enough of! I love this stanza:
"Not the labor of my hands
Can fulfill Thy Laws demands
Would my zeal no respite know,
Would my tears forever flow,
All for sin could not atone,
Thou must save and Thou alone"
You may be thinking that those two examples given above are pretty extreme and don't apply to most Christians who have their theology straight. That may be, but I think that many Christians struggle with "works salvation" at a more subtle, but still harmful level. We may not believe that we have to work for our salvation, or to keep our salvation, but what about our sanctification? Do we believe that it is God who makes us holy and produces good works in and through us, or do we think that we need to do this on our own? If we cannot make ourselves holy in the first place, what makes us (and I am including myself here) think that if we exhaust ourselves sharing the gospel enough times, or helping enough needy children, or standing up against enough social injustices, this can somehow make us more pleasing to God? This guilt-laden form of Christianity is bondage, people, that Christ died to set us free from! Jesus says, "Apart from me you can do nothing......You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that remains" (John 15).
Fruit that remains is fruit that God produces in us, in His time and in His way. Abide in Christ, and as you do, He will use you to share the gospel or help needy children or do whatever it is He has for you to do, in His strength and when He wants. Remember that if you have trusted in Christ you are "blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ" (Ephesians 1:3), and quit striving but rest in His completed work.
With these things on my mind, I painted this scarf for my etsy shop last night:
This week, I am giving a 10% discount for any item in my etsy shop. The coupon code is "Grace" , which contrasts with God's grace that is completely free!
Are you striving or abiding?
This is NOT Christianity. This is quite-literally works salvation
When I was a teenager, I had a similiar works-salvation issue going on with pro-life ministry. I felt so concerned about the dying babies I thought that my friends and I had to save them all, or we would be very bad Christians. I also was taught at that time that my salvation could be lost, and I managed to mix these two ideas in such a crazy way that I thought not "saving" enough babies could affect my eternal destiny! Talk about pressure.
Salvation is a free gift. It is not something we earn, or keep, through heavy manual labor, or saving enough babies from abortion, or doing enough homeless ministry, or sharing the gospel (what gospel?! if this is your paradigm) with enough people, or any other zealous effort. (If you don't believe me that salvation is a free gift, read the book of Romans and Ephesians in the New Testament. If they can't convince you, then there is nothing I can say that will!)
One of my favorite hyms is "Rock of Ages". And I love bluegrass. So this version, posted by my friend Heather on facebook, http://redemptionhill.com/rock-of-ages/ , is one I can't get enough of! I love this stanza:
"Not the labor of my hands
Can fulfill Thy Laws demands
Would my zeal no respite know,
Would my tears forever flow,
All for sin could not atone,
Thou must save and Thou alone"
You may be thinking that those two examples given above are pretty extreme and don't apply to most Christians who have their theology straight. That may be, but I think that many Christians struggle with "works salvation" at a more subtle, but still harmful level. We may not believe that we have to work for our salvation, or to keep our salvation, but what about our sanctification? Do we believe that it is God who makes us holy and produces good works in and through us, or do we think that we need to do this on our own? If we cannot make ourselves holy in the first place, what makes us (and I am including myself here) think that if we exhaust ourselves sharing the gospel enough times, or helping enough needy children, or standing up against enough social injustices, this can somehow make us more pleasing to God? This guilt-laden form of Christianity is bondage, people, that Christ died to set us free from! Jesus says, "Apart from me you can do nothing......You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that remains" (John 15).
Fruit that remains is fruit that God produces in us, in His time and in His way. Abide in Christ, and as you do, He will use you to share the gospel or help needy children or do whatever it is He has for you to do, in His strength and when He wants. Remember that if you have trusted in Christ you are "blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ" (Ephesians 1:3), and quit striving but rest in His completed work.
With these things on my mind, I painted this scarf for my etsy shop last night:
Here is the link to my shop:
(20% of all proceeds from my shop this week with go to help starving children in the horn of Africa eat! The rest is going to a long-term goal Pete and I have.)Are you striving or abiding?
