The 2 Extremes of “Christianity”

As I sit here and write this post, a few thoughts cross my mind.

Why am I doing this?

Is what I’m doing enough?

Do I look crazy to anyone in doing what I do…?

Correct that ^^

*Who do I look crazy towards?*

Is God pleased with what I’m doing?

I’ve been doing this for 8 months now, is it even worth it?

As I re-read the questions above I noticed I used the word doing quite a few times (5 times to be exact), which lead me to this final question.

Have I become so concerned about my “good Christian deeds” that I’ve forgotten Christ in the process?

Whether it be blogging, learning to forgive others, battling sins or practising any other form of obedience, I often find myself treasuring my performance over the One who gave me the art to perform in the first place.

Almost as if I’ve turned into a robot rather than a genuine hearted lover of God.

…….On the other hand

I also know that God expects us to perform and it is those who do His will that enter into the kingdom of Heaven, not those who want to or love or think about doing His will (Matthew 7:21).

So where is the balance? How do I love God and serve Him without becoming an emotionless machine trying to get into heaven?

 

Defining the 2 Extremes

Misunderstood  “Grace”

Many at times I found myself actively and consciously compromising to sin because I was convinced that God must forgive me. These verses humbled me real quick:

 Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?

Romans 2:4

 

What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?

Romans 6:1-2

The scriptures above pretty much sums it up. Grace is not meant to be abused as bandages over our sins, it is rather meant to empower us to pursue righteousness having been forgiven of our wrong-doings through Christ.

Misunderstood Service

The other extreme I dealt with was this:

I believed that the more I sinned, the less God loved me. The more I obeyed, the more God loved me.

This mentality is equally as dangerous as the last. Having this type of mentality in serving God will only lead to self-idolatry of performance. If this were the case, Christians would have all the right to boast in their service to God.But the truth is our salvation is not based on works, but faith in Christ Jesus.

 

²⁷ Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith. ²⁸ For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law

Romans 3:27-28

 

Our Approach

The relationship between Christ and the church is described in the same way as a relationship is between a husband and wife.

Well to be more exact, marriage is rather the symbolic representation between Christ and the church. The husband symbolizes Christ, and the wife the church (Ephesians 5:23-30).

Our approach in walking with Christ should therefore always be viewed as a relationship, rather than “a list of do’s and don’ts”.

We, the church, ought to submit ourselves to Christ out of love for Him.

Consider this.

A wife who claims to love her husband but constantly sleeps around and cheats on him is a liar. Likewise, a wife who anxiously submits to her husband (out of fear of him not loving/ wanting her) lives a sad life.

On the contrary a wife who truly loves her husband will willfully be submissive out of love for him, because of his love for her.

 

Now I want you to think about the person you’ve loved most in your life. Think about how deeply you care about said person. Truth is compared to the love of God, the love that you have for that person is so small that it might as well be considered hateful. Its that’s deep (Ephesians 3:17-19)

 

We must believe God’s love for us to be true, and in reciprocating that love to Him, our actions will show (John 14:23). This is not to say that in submitting to God, our obedience to him will be easy. Like every relationship, many things we do out of love will be difficult and sacrificial. But it is not never done in vain, due to our love for that person.

Just as a wife is submissive to a husband, not out of a fear but out of love, let’s follow the same suit as Christ is the bridegroom and the church His bride.

Seek to do your best due to your love for Him, nothing else. And always rejoice in who He is, and not how far you’ve done.

Let His love drive you to obedience, not your performance.

 

Soli Deo Gloria