This article may upset you. It may fly in the face of everything you have ever been taught. It may make you question all of your thoughts about being a Christian. If it doesn’t maybe you’re already there, but if it does I count it as a win. Not because I want to upset you, but because I want you to not be held back in your walk with Christ.
What’s the biggest thing holding you back in your walk with Christ? Your relentless and steadfast focus on rule keeping. While you’re trying your hardest to live for God, you’re probably finding it hard to not feel like a failure.
While you’re focusing on rule keeping, the apostle Paul is praying for something different. When he wrote his letter to the church in Ephesus he tells them that he is praying for them. Surprisingly he doesn’t tell them that he is praying that they would get better at living for God. He talks about something different. This is what he says:
For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, 16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.
20 Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, 21 to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.
A Better Focus Than Rule Keeping
When Paul prays to the Father, he doesn’t ask that the Ephesian Christians would be better at rule keeping. He actually doesn’t mention anything about morality. Instead, he prays that they would be:
- Strengthened with power through the Holy Spirit (v. 16)
- Rooted and grounded in love (v. 17)
- Able to comprehend and know the love of Christ (v. 18-19)
- Filled up to all the fullness of God (v. 19)
Now we can certainly deduce from this that Paul, in asking that they would be rooted and grounded in love, expects them to live in a way that honors God. But that is not the primary focus here. The primary focus is that they would be overwhelmed, filled, and consumed by their Lord and Savior.
What if, then, the Christian life is more about intimately knowing God (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) than it is about keeping rules? Could it be that when Christians focus first on rules that they miss the whole point? I think so, “For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2 ESV).[Tweet “Could it be that when Christians focus first on rules that they miss the whole point?”]
You Died to Law, So That You Might Live to God
Paul furthers this thought even more in his letter to the church in Galatia. Now, while his focus when he refers to law in this letter is the Law of Moses, we should understand that at no time have we who are not Jews been under the Law of Moses. This is a common error in Christian thinking. People say, “I’m so glad that I’m not under the Old Testament Law of Moses.” Well, you never were. What we who are Gentiles (as the Bible would call us) should understand in terms of law is the law written on the heart. This thing inside of us that tells us what is right or wrong.
This is what Paul says:
For through the Law I died to the Law, so that I might live to God. 20 I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. 21 I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly.
Paul, who was under the Law of Moses understood that he had no hope under it. He claimed that he had been crucified with Christ and that it was no longer he who lived, but Christ was living inside of him.
This is true for Christians today as well. You have been crucified with Him and it is no longer you who are living this life, but it is Christ living inside of you. Your life, all of it, is under the authority of Christ. He steers you, guides you, and calls you.
The Spirit has been given to you to take over your life. By faith you follow Christ each day. Yes, you follow Him and out of that you live a life of obedience. But your journey doesn’t start at obedience. It starts at knowing Christ, at being crucified with Him, at knowing nothing except Him crucified. For He is your example. He took up His cross so you shall do the same. He has commanded you to do so. Why do you do it, though?
You do it because you are strengthened by the Spirit, you are comprehending and knowing His love, and you are being filled with the fullness of God. You do so because it is not longer you who live, but Christ lives in you.
The Foundation for Right Living
You see, this is the foundation for right living (among other things): “Not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins” (1 John 4:10 NLT). God’s love for you and you being filled with the Spirit is the foundation for living for Him. Without Jesus, all of your rule keeping is in vain for you will fail. But because of what He has done, your endeavor of living for Him is done with the help of the Spirit.
As you walk with Christ, He will change you. This is the second of the double remedy of Grace.
The Biggest Thing Holding You Back in Your Walk with Christ
The biggest barrier you face is a focus on the wrong thing first. It’s easy to focus on rule keeping, on obedience. But that should not be your primary focus. Your primary focus should be living in fellowship with God. When you do this, you’ll be transformed and obedience will naturally follow. But it only follows when you focus on the right thing.
You see, we still arrive at obedience. The way you get there, though, is by living in Christ and Him living in you. Think about that. It is a mystery, that is, Christ in you (Colossians 1:27).
What are your thoughts on this? Am I off base? Let me know in the comments below.
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