What is Your Drift?

"People do not drift toward holiness. Apart from grace-driven effort, people do not gravitate toward holiness, prayer, obedience to Scripture, faith and delight in the Lord. We drift toward compromise and call it tolerance; we drift toward disobedience and call it freedom; we drift toward superstition and call it faith. We cherish the indiscipline of lost self-control and call it relaxation; we slouch toward prayerlessness and delude ourselves into thinking we have escaped legalism; we slide toward godlessness and convince ourselves we have been liberated." 
-D.A. Carson-


In this quote, I think Carson touches on a very important trend I've noticed within myself, and also among Christians in general. The trend is this: Grace and disciplined effort are opposed to each other. I'm afraid we have created a dichotomy between resting in God's grace and grace-driven effort as if the two are mutually exclusive. Unfortunately, a lot of times I find myself drifting into this mentality that mistakes laziness with true gospel rest. 


Yes, the gospel does save us from having to justify ourselves with our own works and from having to prove our selves day in and day out. However, it also saves us to something.  It frees us from the slavery of sin and of self-justification and, in turn, frees us to pursue righteousness. The gospel frees us to life as it was meant to be lived. 


In Christ, we are no longer slaves to drift into compromise, disobedience, and lifelessness. In Christ, we are free to drift towards God. We are free to experience his grace in such a way that we are driven to action. God's grace is the empowering force behind our discipline and it is our motivation. With that being said, diving deeper into in the gospel and the union we have with Christ necessarily results in actively sharing in this life. 


Further, as Carson points out, our default gravitation is not towards holiness. Our default mode is to sink deeper and deeper into self-worship. Therefore, we must run to the gospel everyday and look to God's grace as the source of our effort in order to live this life. It is a mistake to call this legalism or unnecessary effort. God longs for his children to live in him. He longs for his children to experience the power of his resurrection.  He longs for his children to freely obey him. We only find this in the gospel of God's grace. When we taste of this, only then will we be in hot pursuit of righteousness. 

That we may not Grow Weary

With finals week underway........

"...let us also lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself. so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted."

Hebrews 12:1-3

Indicative ---> Imperative

"Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you." Ephesians 4:32

In this verse, the Apostle Paul reminds of our reason and motivation for Christian living. Because we have been forgiven in Christ, we forgive others. Because we have been loved, we love others. Because we have been shown grace, we give grace to others. The indicative empowers the imperative. As we are gripped by the truths of the Gospel (the indicative), we will be compelled to live out the imperatives (Godly living). Our absolute confidence in God's acceptance in Christ must serve as the motivation and empowerment to holiness.

Most Christians (myself included) often fall into the trap of trying to earn, prove or legitimize their acceptance or security with God by trying really really hard to live a Godly life. If I keep doing the right thing, then God will love me. This produces radical spiritual insecurity and ultimately comes from a lack of belief in the sufficiency of Christ's work. Rather, we need to be rooted in grace. When we are confident in our union with Christ, that neither life nor death, nor any powers of this earth can separate us from Christ, and that we are fully justified in Him, that Christ has removed all of our dirt, guilt, shame and vileness, and has given his righteousness, loveliness and heavenly acceptance, only then, will we be compelled to forgive others. God's grace is the only lasting motivation. Human strength and discipline will last for a season, but real sanctification has its roots in our union with Christ. The motivation and empowerment for real sanctification comes from the indicative, that God is 100% for us.