Grace Is Opposed to Earning and to Owing.

Noah, “by his faith”— as a result of his profound trust in the justness of God’s justice upon an unjust world and in the majesty of God’s mercy by warning it for 120 years {Gen. 6:3}— “condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which comes” {and can only come, I might add} “by means of faith” {Heb. 11:7b}.  This anonymous testimony about an ancient hero of faith leads us back to an eternal reality, one deeply imbedded in the hearts and minds of the 1^st century Faithful: that there is a righteousness revealed by God and given by God, which men and women on their own could never conceive and never achieve!  This “righteousness” you cannot work for, labor over, or sweat under; you can’t give enough, do enough or be enough to earn it on your own.

Why?  Because grace is opposed— inherently opposed, by its very nature— to earning and to owing.  And if you could earn it, Abba would owe it!

This is the righteousness Abba gives, graciously and eternally, to those who believe on the name of His Son.  As the ultimate Account Holder, Abba credits to our bankrupt accounts the perfect righteousness of His only Son.  To use the theological language, He ‘imputes’ to each and every one of His Children the righteousness His Son possesses.  This is the basis for how He views us; this is the foundation of our Eternal Identity; this is the reason our souls are secure!  It didn’t, doesn’t, and never will depend on you.  The determining factor of your heavenly Citizenship {Phil. 3:20a} is your faith, your trust, your belief in the full and finished Work of Jesus Christ {cf. Gospel of John}!

Now, here’s the dilemma… and it’s a big one.  Those who feel they’ve worked hard enough and long enough minding all their ‘p’s and q’s,’ holding themselves to a rigid and relentless morality— regardless of its Scriptural validity— to earn their place in Abba’s Kingdom, who by virtue of their superior ‘virtue,’ are worthy of this perfect righteousness, are now robbed of the entire complex upon which they’ve built their lives and based their behaviors.  And paradigms like this don’t shift easily.  For one’s worldview to be radically realigned means the ‘old world’ has to fade so the new one can come into focus.  When you’ve built your foundation on the sand of self-righteousness, and it suddenly shifts …into the breach you go.

Legalists the world over, from antiquity to post-modernity, start to sweat when there’s no ‘fear’ associated with our redemption— no whip to crack, no stick hiding behind the carrot of the Cross, no sweating and straining to secure our self-worth, no laboring for and earning our standing before God!  You can imagine the inner turmoil.  “How are we going to herd people into our particular pen?  How are we going get them in line and keep them in line!?  If there’s no fear or worry or anxiety over their identity, how will we ever control them?  How will we— or, how will God, rather— get them to behave!?”

With infinite grace, tons of Truth, and limitless love.  That’s how.  We live and love as the Royalty we are, in response to these precious gifts, or we don’t.  You see, control is our crutch, not God’s.  Listen to me closely.  The Freedom of Jesus’ Followers is not in our hands, or under our authority, and never will be.  On the flip side, Scripturally ‘saving faith’ is not, and never has been, mere passive assent to an intellectual idea.  It is actively staking one’s life— all we have and all we are— on the claims of Abba.  And this, my friends, is a certainty and assurance sufficient to radically rearrange our scale of values and to alter eternally the course of our lives!

This is what I would call the ‘stark raving reality’ on both ends of the equation.  That [i] You’ll never control people— no matter how much fear and intimidation you push their way.  And [ii] Those who believe in the God of Love and the love of God will serve Him faithfully… because they long to, not because they have to.  Amen?  Anybody want to shout ‘Hallelujah’?

HJC	Ric Webb  |  Shepherd Heart’s Journey Community 9621 Tall Timber Blvd. |  Little Rock, AR 72204 t +1.501.455.0296
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Heart’s Journey – Live Generously and Love Graciously