Out of the Clay

How many times in your walk with a church have you have heard that you should do something because “Christ died for you ..” or “because of all that He has done for you”?  Surely, if you have spent any time walking with a church, you have heard this as motivation to a call to commitment.  And I will admit that doing things because of what He has done for us sounds like a good and noble reason for activity.  Further, when viewed through the lens of the totality of the cross (Christ’s death for us and our death with Christ) it makes complete sense but, usually, at least in my experience, this statement is not made from the standpoint that we are ‘accepted in the Beloved’ but that we are in need of performing some certain work in order to be accepted.

Let me explain…  In the insitution church, much of the motivation for the believer to move to action is from a guilt driven principle.  As a matter of fact, in the emerging church movement today, discipleship is measured by a person’s level of commitment to a church.  That commitment is encouraged and taught by the leadership from the perspective of ‘Why wouldn’t you want to be committed to the church?  He died for you and He died for the church …’  This type of a call to activity appeals to the guilty conscious of a believer trying to do their best to live for God.

The problem is that before any type of a commitment should be made to any ministry - a believer needs to be taught, through one on one mentoring and training, what really happened to them at salvation and what God really desires of the believer.

So, the question is, what does God really desire of the believer?  Well, I believe that God’s plan for every person on the planet can be summarized into three spiritual milestones.

• Salvation
• Surrender
• Identification

Further, each of these three spiritual milestones in the maturing believer are attained by an inner realization (or revelation) that all that is needed to have a fulfilling and satisfying walk with God has already been freely given to them by His Grace!  There is nothing more that needs to be done in order to walk free of besetting sins, behaviors, and attitudes.

More and more commitment to a church might cause a believer to feel better about their self but these feelings will eventually subside.  Why?  Because Christ wants to be All in our lives.

The point is this - believers, old and new, need to be taught and trained how to rest in the finished work of The Cross.  They need to see that by the supernatural work of The Holy Spirit, not by their own effor, they were baptized into Christ.  And that includes His death, burial, resurrection, and ascension.  They need to see that they have been ‘transferred from the domain of darkness into the Kingdom of His Son’.   They need to see that ‘they have died and their real life is hidden with Christ in God’.  They need to realize that they have become new creatures.  Eternal Life is Christ’s Life.  At salvation, believers become new creatures - totally free of all guilt and condemnation.  There really is nothing more that a believer needs to do in order to attain any level of righteousness or holiness.  God desires to be our all.  Period.

So, next time that you feel like are being guilted into some decision.  Remember that Romans 8 says that ‘…there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus…’.  You are forgiven, accepted, and loved.  Further, you have been given supernatural status and significance.  You are an heir to the throne, adopted as children, a royal priesthood.  Those things are true of you whether you feel like it or not.  So, quit putting your faith in your feelings.  Start taking God at His word … and next time the ‘guilt trip’ won’t bother you.

God Bless.