Category: Theology: Thinking Deeply About God and His Relation to the World

Who is God? What is He like? What has He done?

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Reformation Day: Why Works Won’t Work

The central protest of the Protestant Church is that justification is by faith alone and not by the works of the law.

When it comes to our standing before God, works won’t work.

Why? Because the law says that we’re guilty. When the law speaks, we become aware of our sin and are held guilty before the law (Rom. 3:19 & 20).

Martin Luther, whom God raised up to begin a Reformation of the Church 500 years ago this month, saw this very clearly.

Martin Luther believed that he could be justified by his works. He tried very hard to be declared righteous on the basis of what he did.

He also saw that he had sin, so he would spend two hours confessing his sins, walk away, and realize he had committed more sins that he had forgotten. This led him to adopt very strict practices and even to inflict pain on himself as a way of paying for his sin.

The more he worked, the more he saw the futility of it.

He realized that no one would be justified by the law because all have sinned, and all stand condemned and guilty before God.

Now, most people don’t take that approach. Most people aren’t trying that hard to do what’s right. Most people get around the weight of their sin by bringing the law down to their level.

We can do this in a variety of ways. Most of the time, we think we’re OK with God because we’re not that bad, perhaps go to church, and don’t do anything society considers really bad.

Sometimes, people avoid the law by focusing on a few moral issues. However, usually that morality does not touch our heart. It’s external things that we can easily avoid and look down on others for. “We don’t smoke, and we don’t chew, and we don’t run with boys who do” (see Mt. 23:23).

Sometimes, we can make religious knowledge or awareness the basis of our standing before God. I know these doctrines, so I’m OK. Those who don’t are not in the club.

Sometimes, even grace can become a sort of club. I’m better than others because I get grace!

Wherever we tend to view ourselves highly and look down on contempt on others is a place where we are tending to rely on as our righteousness before God.

But none of these will work. They’re actually a distraction from the real issue.

They won’t work because God’s holiness demands that we obey His law, all His law, to be declared righteous.

And we haven’t. We’ve all sinned. So, we’re in trouble.

We all stand guilty and condemned before a holy God.

So, where does that lead us? To Luther’s glorious insight. We stand guilty and condemned before God, but God offers us acceptance as a free gift because of what Jesus has done.

“All are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:24).

That’s justification by grace alone through faith alone. This is what the Reformation is all about. This is what the Bible is all about.

We all stand guilty before God, but God accepts us a free gift to be received by faith alone because of what Jesus has done.

That’s a rallying point. Think about it. Meditate on it. Live it. Let it transform you. Let it transform your churches. Let it soften your heart.

Works won’t work, but the Gospel will.

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Is God Telling His People to “Be Better”?

“Put off your old self . . . and put on the new.” That’s one of the central teachings of the Christian faith.

Does this just mean “be better”? You could take it that way.

And, of course, there is one sense in which God commands us to be better. It is always our moral obligation from God to be better: to love more, to hate less, to be more kind, and to forgive.

There is also some advantage to a reminder to “be better.” How often do I think, for example, that I’m supposed to pursue “compassion” or avoid “slander”? It’s good for me to be reminded that this is what I’m supposed to do.

The problem is that I fail. The commandment just isn’t enough to get me where I need to be. It’s more like the New Year’s resolution that I continue for a week and then forget (and usually don’t do perfectly even that one week!).

Further, the Bible teaches that salvation and transformation is a gift of God’s grace from first to last. How do we square this with the call to “be better”?

One way people have understood this is to recognize that the commandment is good but that we need God’s grace to fulfill it. As Augustine said, “Command what you will, and give what you command.”

I do believe that this is taught in Scripture. However, I’m not sure that this is what the Apostle Paul is after in Ephesians 4:22–24 when he tells us to put off the old self and put on the new.

I take his command more like this: accept the work of God’s grace in your life and avail yourselves of everything God provides in order to make you what He calls you to be.

Let me suggest that this involves at least 5 things.

First, confront the issue. Sin is not simple. It is complex. It involves a way of thinking, wrong desires, and even ignorance (see Eph. 4:17–19). We need to do more than look at the outward action. We need to consider where our heart is, what our mindset is, and what our thinking is.

Two ways that I have found particularly helpful for discerning the pattern of sin are to look at my strong emotions and desires. When we feel strong negative emotions like anger or anxiety, it is an opportunity for us to examine what’s going on under the hood. When our desires take over us and lead us in wrong directions, it’s a good idea to ask, what is the source of these desires? Why am I wanting this recreation, relationship, or reaction so much?

This consideration will help us see more clearly how we need God’s grace to work in our lives.

Second, convert our thinking. It’s not just about behavior. It’s what’s in our hearts and minds that is the issue. Paul begins his discussion of the old self in this passage by saying there is “futile thinking.” The new self involves being renewed “in the attitude of our minds” (Eph. 4:23).

For example, if we think our acceptance is based on what other people think of us, we will be continually frustrated (futile thinking!). If we believe our acceptance is based on God’s view of us, we are open to the peace that is available to us in Jesus Christ (Eph. 1:7). So, we convert our thinking by keeping in mind all the things that God has said about His grace in Ephesians 1–3, that we have “every spiritual blessing in Christ.”

Third, connect to God’s grace. In the first part of Ephesians, the Apostle Paul speaks of God “enlightening our hearts” and “giving us power to see.” Transformation is a gift of God’s grace.

However, there are places where God’s grace is flowing. We call these “the means of grace.” They include the Word of God, the sacraments, prayer, and people. If we want to experience God’s grace, we should humbly make use of the means that God has given to experience His grace.

Fourth, continue in grace-empowered effort. It is important that this not come first, but it plays a part. I believe we should try hard to be compassionate and kind, but this is not always the effort that is needed. Sometimes the effort is working on re-shaping our thinking, making time to spend with Jesus, devoting ourselves to prayer, and taking the risk of connecting with people who can help us.

Fifth, conform to the pattern of Christ. It is important for us to remember that the call to transformation is always directed toward Christ as the power for transformation and as the example to which transformation will conform. “Walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave Himself for us” (Eph. 5:2).

If we just look at ourselves, we might not have any hope for transformation. Looking to Christ and the power of His resurrection, we have tremendous hope for change! We don’t have to rest in the same old patterns. By God’s grace, we can experience the grace of out with the old and in with the new. Christ is risen!

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God Is Our Ultimate Source of Value, Love, and Provision

I have accomplished many things that give me satisfaction. When I put together a small group program and see people connecting, I feel good. When I am able to help someone get involved in an area of service where they flourish, I am thankful to God. When I finish a paper and hand it in, it gives me a sense of accomplishment, especially if I get a good grade!

God has also blessed me with many friends, an amazing wife, children who value me, parents who care about me, and various mentors, counselors, and advisers. When I think of all the people in my life, I am truly grateful for the love that comes my way.

I am also financially stable. I have money in the bank. I’m putting money toward retirement. My church takes good care of me.

The problem is that sometimes I try to do things and fail. Sometimes people hurt me or are not there for me. Sometimes I get a huge bill, and I’m not sure how I’m going to pay for it. If I lean too hard on any of these things for value, love, or provision, they fail me.

And that reminds me that all of these gifts cannot be the ultimate source of my value, love, or provision.

The ultimate source of my value, love, and provision is God Himself and the promises in His Word that He loves me, values me, and will take care of me.

Most of our great sins and pathologies arise from trying to take God’s good gifts and make them the ultimate source of our love, value, and provision.

It is only when we trust in God’s promises that we have an unshakable foundation of value, love, and provision. It is only when we trust in God that we can value His gifts for what they are and not turn them into an idol.

For example, if God is my ultimate source of love, then I can take my children’s love for what it is, a small but wonderful reflection of God’s infinite love. But what if I try to make my children the ultimate source of love? They will always disappoint. It will also probably crush them by placing on them a burden too great for them to bear.

If we can trust God as our ultimate source of love and let humans just be humans, then everyone will function better and have the opportunity to flourish.

Trust in God, then, is necessary for human functioning and flourishing (for a fuller discussion of this issue, see my article here).

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God Wants a Relationship with You

I have always loved science fiction. I have always wondered about what life could exist in the vast expanse of the universe.

Within the past decade, scientists have taken a step forward in their quest to answer that question. Amazingly, they have been able to “see” planets orbiting around other stars in our galaxy. In fact, astronomers have discovered over 4,000 of them. This is astonishing in light of the fact that there are two large planets in our own solar system that you cannot see with the naked eye (Uranus and Neptune), and these new plants are thousands of times further away.

Among those 4,000, a few of them seem to be similar to earth in size and are located in the habitable zone of their solar system. Astronomers have focused their radio telescopes on these planets “listening” for patterns of communication that would be an indicator of intelligent life there.

And what are they looking for? They are looking for patterns that would be improbable in nature. For example, if you find two sticks in the woods that are shaped in a V, you will probably not conclude that they were there by intelligent design. However, if you find sticks arranged in the form of the word BIOLOGY or even a series of 40 V’s in a row, then you probably cannot not conclude that they are there by intelligent design. That’s the sort of pattern astronomers are looking for.

But I think they have forgotten one very important question. Is there intelligent life . . . on earth?

A friend of mine recently described his laughter at seeing that question as a title of an article, but it brings up an important point. Is there evidence of intelligent life besides our own on earth?

I think there is all sorts of evidence of it, but one of the most astonishing is the language that exists inside your body: DNA. DNA is almost like a computer language. It contains information that is the basis of the construction of our bodies. The information contained in even one cell is so extensive that it could fill several libraries. It includes code that makes it able to reproduce itself over and over again.

If we found that sort of code in space, we would easily make the induction that there is intelligent life elsewhere in the universe. So why not with the code in our own bodies? I believe that this code demonstrates that there is intelligent life other than humans. That intelligent life created us (for a more detailed case, see Stephen Meyer’s book Signature in the Cell).

So, who is this Creator? There was a man who lived 2,000 years ago who actually claimed to be the Creator of all things. His name is Jesus.

Normally, when someone claims to be God, you should start to worry. Better yet, run!

But Jesus is not the sort of person from whom we would run. He’s such a compelling person that even his enemies admit the power of his teaching. So, how could a person whom people would normally think is a liar or a lunatic be one of the most eloquent teachers of all time? The only conceivable answer is that he is who he said he was. In this person, our Creator has actually come down to live with us. As C.S. Lewis, the atheist turned Christian, said, he is either liar, lunatic, or lord.

If that is true, I think there are certain things that follow:

  1. God is very interested in connecting with us.
  2. Our lack of interest in him and refusal to connect with Him is very serious. This is often called sin. How do we know it is serious? Because Jesus had to die for our sins. He didn’t come just to teach but to do something: to live, die, and rise again.
  3. However serious sin may be, it is dealt with because Jesus was raised from the dead. This is not just a metaphor. It actually happened.

And this is the good news: God wants a relationship with us that is by grace and not by works. It’s a free gift to us that we simply say, “yes” to. God has done everything necessary to clear the way to a restored relationship of love with us.

I did a wedding earlier this summer. One woman was talking with another woman and said, “I’m not going to put up with this s—.” Then, she saw me and said, “OMG, I’m sorry!” presumably because she knew I was a minister.

Well, she didn’t understand the God of grace. God doesn’t run from us or smash us in our sin. He comes near to us in our sin. He is a God of grace, and his ministers should be ministers of grace.

Jesus shows us this. He comes right into the middle of a world that is totally messed up and distorted by evil and the effects of evil, real wrongs that real people have done to real people. He comes right into people’s lives and loves them where they are.

Now, here is where people get really nervous. They start to think, then that means people can do whatever they want. Well, honestly, if people never ask that, you probably aren’t preaching the God of the Bible, the glorious Father of Jesus, and the God who made our DNA.

But there is an answer to that. God comes near to us in our sin, but He doesn’t leave us there. He restores us to what we are supposed to be. That’s part of His grace. Eph. 2:10 says that God’s grace saved us so we are His “handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works which God prepare in advance for us to do.”

What that means to me is something like this. We may not be in a relationship with God, but He wants to be in a mutually loving relationship with us. We may think we’re worthless, but God has significant things for us to do. Our relationships may be a mess, but God wants to make us a center of healing. We may be depressed and struggling, but God wants us to be able to enjoy Him and His creation.

That’s the healing power of grace. That’s how the God of grace comes near to us and restores us to what we were meant to be. That’s the relationship God wants to have with you–a relationship by grace and not by works.

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God’s Marvelous Plan

We have a choice in life: we can find joy based on circumstances or find a joy that transcends all circumstances.

The Christian faith, in my view, provides unparalleled resources to find joy that can transcend all circumstances.

A leader of the early church named Paul demonstrated this in his life and words. He shared his life with thousands through his travels. Throughout the Roman Empire, he started little communities of people who had put their hope in Jesus.

As he traveled, he wrote these communities letters (sometimes called “epistles,” but they were just letters). He wrote several of them from prison.

What is striking about these prison letters is the note of joy and optimism that marks them. In his letter to the Christian community at Ephesus, Paul explained the basis for his hope.

I would encourage you to read the whole passage (Ephesians 1:1-14) as a beautiful example of the heart of the Christian life in praise to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. There is so much fruit for reflection in these verses, but consider just one: God’s marvelous plan.

Paul’s confidence was that whatever may be the explanation of any specific circumstances, God had let them in on the secret of the ages. God was going to take everything that was broken and put it back together under the leadership of Jesus (Eph. 1:9–10). That was God’s plan, and God had chosen Paul and the believers of Ephesus to be a big part of it (Eph. 1:11).

Because of that, Paul could rejoice. Whatever the circumstance, he knew that he was playing a part in the plan of the ages, and it was good for him and for everybody else.

As I have thought about this, I have begun to apply it to my own life. I have been working on a Doctor of Ministry degree for the past 3 years. I am now working on my final project. I went to the library at Johnson University to do some research. After gathering some books, I sat down and opened my computer and . . . all the files from all my classes had disappeared! I eventually was able to get most of them back, but it was frustrating, especially the loss of a paper I was working on and a large amount of notes.

As I thought about it later, I realized that as frustrating as it was, I was still part of God’s marvelous plan. He had chosen me to be a part of what He was doing in bring all things together in unity in Christ. What was a few lost files compared to that? This thought helped me to have joy above my circumstances.

Recently, I was thinking about my time at college. I really enjoyed college, but I made some choices that I have often questioned since, especially in the way I carried out those choices.

After reflection, I was comforted by the thought that whatever regrets I may have, the big plan is still in place. It was going to be OK. God was restoring all that was lost in Jesus, and he has chosen me to be part of that glorious work. That is a great comfort.

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” This is what our faith is all about, lifting our hearts to the Triune God and seeing the big picture of His marvelous plan for the world and being amazed that He has made us a part of it.

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