Monday's follow-up to Sunday's message: Do! Or Done?

 

The law says, "Do this," and it is never done. Grace says, "believe in this," and everything is already done.—Martin Luther

You need to pay attention to what I’m about to say, because it has the potential to change the way you think about everything that has to do with the faith.  It’s that big.  Here it is:

If you’re always concerned about how you’re doing, you’re doing it wrong.

There it is.  That’s the major life-changer.  Now, I know you’re not some heretic preaching salvation by works.  You’re not the one pushing some new idea to implement Old Testament dietary laws.  If I were to ask you how you are saved, you’d confidently say you get saved by grace through Jesus Christ.

But you’re human.  And so you like  . . . well, you like checklists.  You like to be able to gauge your spiritual progress.  You get comfort from checking the fact sheet.  From seeing a gold star next to your name.

And so you spend a lot of time in front of the mirror, so to speak.  Constantly looking up the list of rules and commands and measuring how well you kept them.  And maybe you love some preacher’s sermons because they’re so relevant, and they really let you know what you need to be doing.  For that matter, maybe you even did read one of those Bible diet books and thought to yourself, “Gosh, maybe I should be eating holier.”

And if that’s you: STOP.  Stop doing all the time, because you’re doing it wrong.

Do you suppose that if you just do enough, you’ll find yourself in God’s presence?

Do you suppose that if you just do more, God will be content with your work?

Do you suppose that if you just do and do and keep on doing, that God will bring you into His Kingdom?

I suppose that you do.  But . . . hasn’t Christ already done all that for you?  Hasn’t Christ already done everything that needed to be done?  Doesn’t He now stand before the Father, reminding Him that you’re one of His own?  And one day, won’t He open the door for you, inviting you to step into eternity with Him?

What’s left that needs to be done?  Nothing, that’s what.  And if you keep focus on your doing, you’re going to miss the fact that Christ says to you, “It’s already done.”

Consider this your wake-up call: Christ has done, is doing, and will do everything that’s needed for you to live life with God.  There’s nothing you need to add to that.  Heck, there’s nothing you can add to that. 

So get your eyes off the mirror, and get them on Christ.  I promise you, you won’t miss your doing, not once you grasp Christ’s done. 

Monday’s follow-up to Sunday’s message: The old has gone, the new has come

 . . . except that the old really hasn’t gone.  It’s still here.  We’re surrounded by it.  We live in the old.  And that’s okay . . . because the old is good.

It’s good because the old is part of the good gifts God has given us.  The old church, the old friends, the old hangout.  All of these memories and experiences and relationships that God has given us and blessed us with throughout the course of our lives . . . they’re very good things!  And who’d want to see good things go away, even if they are a bit old?

No one would.  That’s kind of my point.

We cling to the old, familiar things because they are a source of comfort for us.  They’ve become part of our identity.  When we think about the old, familiar things we have a sense of belonging.  We feel we understand who we are.

But when we do that, we can miss the better thing that God gives us in Christ.  Because when we take a bit too much comfort in the good things God gives us, we can miss the fact that we still need God’s best thing. 

We still need His forgiveness. 

And none of the good things God has given us can offer that.  Only the best thing.  Only Christ.

Christ is the best comfort that makes all the other comforts seem small by comparison.

He is the sacrifice given for you that makes all your sacrifices for Him needless.

His blood alone gives you peace with God.

The old is still good.  There’s no shame in admitting that.  But good is not good enough.  It has to be Christ, or it’s not God’s best.

And thank God that He gave us Christ: His very best.

“How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!”

Hebrews 9:15