"Bookends of the Christian Life" - Part 2

Last week I detailed the first bookend of our life: the righteousness of Jesus Christ. We lean on and trust that Jesus accomplished everything that was required for our acceptance by God. He not only died for our sins, but he gave us his righteousness. That means that when we struggle with guilt or self-righteousness we need to preach the gospel to ourselves again and realize we ARE forgiven... we ARE accepted by God.

But this is only one half of the equation so to speak. A bookshelf with one bookend can still fall into disarray. God has given us another bookend to keep us secure in his grace. The second bookend is the power of the Holy Spirit. 

One of the cool verses the authors point to is 2 Timothy 2:1...

"Be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus."

I don't mean to take you back to high school grammar, but that first verb is a passive imperative. That is a pretty strange sounding combo. It means that God commands us to be strong by letting him work in us. Cool huh? This grace that Christ purchased for us continues to be made available to us by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Another verse that speaks to the Spirit's work in our sanctification that is absolutely one of my favorites is 2 Corinthians 3:18...

"And we all with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit." 

Apart from the transforming power that comes from the Spirit, our faces remain veiled, we don't see God's glory, and we aren't transformed.

This is all well and good, it probably leaves some of us (myself included) wondering, "Well, what is my role in all this?"

Perhaps the biggest problem most of us have in the Christian life is trying to figure out how to be obedient and Christlike... without working in our own strength. We know that we are supposed to trust in his power, but how do we know when we are trusting in him and when we aren't?

The answer is dependent responsibility. We are responsible to work in the strength the Spirit provides. These responsibilities are frequently called the spiritual disciplines (like a quiet time, prayer, Bible reading, etc.). We are commanded to do these things. They are the means by which the Spirit transforms us and helps us apply God's grace to our lives. The way we participate in these disciplines without depending on ourselves is to remember two things primarily:

1. The disciplines themselves are not the source of power; the Spirit is. We have to be careful that we don't elevate these disciplines above God himself, not in terms of worship or reverence, but in power. For example the phrase "there is power in prayer" is biblical (James 5:16), however, it is not the prayer itself that is powerful. It is the Holy Spirit. When we make the Bible verses and the verbal prayers the focus of our gratitude and strength, they will be void of the Spirit's power. Just quoting Scripture to yourself does not sanctify you. The Spirit does the work. 

2. The practice of these disciplines does not earn us favor with God or secure his blessings. This is a subtle trap that I have fallen into often. Many times I think, "Well, I have prayed well and read my Bible, therefore God is going to bless me richly today." Then, when good things happen to me I praise my good disciplines instead of his grace.

The converse of number 2 is also dangerous... thinking that if I am not feeling blessed by God, then I must not be praying enough or reading enough. This leads to the self-reliant "Just try harder" view of Christian growth. 

So, lean on the righteousness of Christ when you feel guilty over your present sin or when you feel the lure to self-reliance. And lean on the power of the Holy Spirit as you daily commune with God in his word and prayer. 

If you begin to doubt your own motives... look to Christ, trust the Spirit, and pray to God for the grace to live in his grace.