Day 22 – Two Ways to Go
2 Corinthians 5:16–21; Romans 12:1–2; Galatians 3:1–3
Previously we learned about prevenient and justifying grace; how God is always wooing us to himself and how he justified us (made us free of sin and separation from him) through his only Son, Jesus Christ, who came to live among us, teach us, reveal God to us, die in our place to save us from our sin, and rise again to defeat death. We learned that when we put our faith in Jesus, God only sees us through the righteousness of his Son because we are “in Christ.”
However, we remain functionally fallen human beings living in a broken world. I am dead to my old self and alive in Christ while still dying to my old self and being raised in Christ. Therefore, what must take place while we live here and now is the ongoing transformation of our hearts, minds, and characters. This second, ongoing work involves God’s sanctifying grace, which is the transformational work of the Holy Spirit dwelling in us. We are being changed from our broken image into what we were created to be—Christlike people, stamped with the image of God, witnessing to him in the world. This process of sanctification, becoming more and more Christlike, occurs as we cooperate with the Holy Spirit by surrendering or submitting ourselves in obedience to the Holy Spirit. We will talk more about what that looks like, but now I want to share the greatest threat to our sanctification: self-reliance.
Deep within us exists the desire to be in control of our own lives (think “me god”). We think, “I really messed up and need Jesus to clean up my mess.” When we accept Jesus’ offer of grace and forgiveness, many of us essentially say, “Thanks for the forgiveness, God. I’ve got it from here.” Perhaps we believe that our now-forgiven “me god” is more qualified to sit on the throne, especially if some of the behaviors (acts of worship) the “me god” demands now include religious stuff like Bible reading, praying, serving people, and other religious activities. Quickly these activities drive us toward self-righteousness instead of being means of grace by which we grow in love of God and others.
The result is one of two outcomes. The first—disillusionment—comes when we make a mess of our lives again and know it. It produces a defeated, bitter, joyless, jealous Christian who bears no fruit for the kingdom of God. The second—delusion—comes when we think we really are righteous enough to run our own lives. Delusion produces a self-righteous, judgmental, mean-spirited, hard-hearted Christian who bears no fruit for the kingdom of God. Both make poor witnesses and are often cited by nonbelievers as reasons they remain uninterested in faith.
Closing Exercise
Share with your group members if you’ve ever experienced life down and to the right on the drawing. Describe how that felt (or feels). Also share if you’ve had cringe-moments (without sharing names) with others who are living in disillusionment or delusion. Ask God to show you if and how you are relying on yourself in your spiritual journey.