If Jesus Tells Me To Do Something, Do I Have To Do It?

Seems like a simple question, and you might assume the answer is obvious, but sadly, you would be wrong about that.

I asked that exact question on social media and the responses I received were along the lines of:

"You can't."

"Even Jesus' closest followers didn't obey Him"

"I can't."

"Mountains can't be moved even though He said they could."

"I tried."

And I have been fielding those sorts of responses for years now. Every time I suggest that we who follow Jesus should actually follow Him, and put His words into practice - or even that we CAN do these things - I am constantly told that we simply cannot.

I've been through a lot of this kind of thinking the last few years and I'm at the place where I can see that Jesus does empower us to do everything He asks us to do.

That's why He can say, "Why do you call me 'Lord, Lord' and do not do what I say?"

Because if we are in Him, then we can! Otherwise, Jesus is just messing with us, and I don't believe that's what's going on at all.

I think our problem is that Christians today need to move from a Romans 7 mentality into the Romans 8 reality.

Romans 7 is where Paul goes on and on about how the good he wants to do he cannot do and the evil he doesn't want to do he ends up doing anyway. Many Christians live in that chapter and never move on from there.

But Romans 7 ends with Paul asking a question:

"What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death?"

Which he then answers triumphantly:

"Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!"

See, Paul knows that we are all likely to focus on our weakness and less likely to embrace our ability to actually obey Jesus the way He asks us to. So, that's why he gave us Chapter 7 of Romans to sort of get that all out in the open and let it sit there for all of us to see.

Yes. We are powerless against sin. We all feel that way sometimes, don't we? Yes, sure we do.

And then...Romans 8 comes right along and blows the whole thing to smithereens.

"Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death." 

- Roman 8:1-2

That freedom is about so much more than salvation, by the way.

We are set from from the law of sin and death which keeps us pinned down in Romans 7. In Romans 8 we are set free by Christ and we are given life and the power to rise above our powerlessness to sin.

Paul then goes on in Romans 8 to talk about how we are now living "according to the Spirit" and not according to the flesh.

"You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ." - Romans 8:9

See, we often tend to accept the Grace of God as being only strong enough to save us, but not strong enough to transform us into people who are like Jesus.

But the NT says otherwise:

"For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives IN THIS PRESENT AGE, while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, " - Titus 2:11-13

And...

"His divine power has given us EVERYTHING WE NEED for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires." 2 Peter 1:3-4
And of course,

"If you abide in me, and I abide in you, you will bear much fruit" - Jesus, John 15:4

And my fave: 

"This is how we know we are in Him: If anyone claims to be in Him, he must live as Jesus did" - 1 John 2:5-6

Do we fall down? Yes. But so do little children learning to walk. No parent says, "Well, he'll never walk, I guess. He just keeps falling down. I guess I'll stick him in this walker forever."

We shouldn't do this to ourselves, either.

More and more we learn to walk in Christ, and we learn to stand more than we fall over time.

It's not about us trying harder. In our strength we know we can do nothing. But we also know that if we abide in Him and if He abides in us, then we will "bear much fruit" and that fruit is the working of the power of the Holy Spirit within us who empowers us to live like Christ in this present age.

It really is about daily resting in Him and learning to abide in Christ. 

It's a process, but it's possible.

If it weren't, Jesus wouldn't say to us, "Follow me" and expect us to do what He says.

-kg

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Love Dealers

If the God you believe in hates anyone, it’s not the same God that Jesus reveals. Jesus doesn’t hate anyone, and he told us that God doesn’t either. In fact, he told us, famously, that “God so loved the world” and that means everyone.

So, we cannot hate anyone and claim to be in Christ. Because to be in Christ is to be immersed in His other-worldly Agape love.

“We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.” (1 Jn. 4:19-20)

“For love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.” (1 Jn. 4:7-8)

Therefore, the true test of whether or not we are filled with this Christ-like love or not is simply this: Do people around you feel loved?

If the people you live with, work with, engage with on a regular basis do not feel loved, then you might need to return to Christ to be filled again with the love that flows from Him alone.

For me, this has meant taking stock of my own relationships to see where I need to be filled anew with the love of Christ so that I can love others around me in practical ways.

So, do my co-workers experience the boundless love of Christ whenever I’m around? Uh…no. Not so much. Maybe. A little. But honestly? No.

Do my friends bask in the glow of God’s unmerited favor when I walk in the room? I wish. But, again, no.

What about my family? Well, yes. I think so. I mean, I hope so, anyway. I do try to let them know I love them in different ways.

So, sadly, it appears that there’s still more space between the man Jesus intends me to be and the man I am at this exact moment. The Good News being that Jesus knows this, and he still loves me. In fact it is his intention to transform me from the inside out. One day I will be like Jesus. That’s his promise. [See 1 John 3:2]

For now, I suppose the reality of all of this is that we all need more of Jesus. It can’t be good enough to simply “not hate” people. (Although that’s a wonderful place to start and certainly a base level standard for anyone who claims to be “in Christ” to adopt).

But, no, we have a higher calling from our Lord, Jesus, don’t we? Love is our birthmark. Love is what sets us apart. Love is our whole deal. We can’t simply admit our failure when it comes to following Christ and then continue to go on failing to follow Jesus – as if that’s an acceptable status quo for someone who is following the most radical person who ever lived.

Once we admit that His love is not in us, and that we fall short in the practice of that love, our reaction should be to run as hard and as fast as we can to fall at the feet of Jesus and begin to soak up as much of Him and His love as we possibly can. Because we need it, and because the world needs it. Because the whole world is dying for it and we actually have free access to it, anytime we want.

Either we truly believe that Jesus and His love are truly the only hope this world will ever have, or we don’t.

If we don’t, then let’s stop pretending that we are following Jesus and get on with whatever it is that we’re doing.

But, if we really do believe that Jesus is our only hope, and that the love of Jesus is the only force in the universe capable of transforming each and every one of us into the image of Christ, then let’s start living out that faith. Let’s turn back to Jesus. Let’s abide in Him. Let’s ask Him to fill us with more of Himself, and His love, right now.

“No one has ever seen God; (but) if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.” (1 Jn. 4:12)

“So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.” (1 Jn. 4:16)

Lord Jesus, please come live and breathe in me today. Teach me to love like you.

-kg

WILL WORK FOR REST

“Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience.” (Hebrews 4:11)

The author of Hebrews makes reference to another paradoxical Kingdom concept in this passage when he says that we who have received the promise of God and heard the Good News of the Gospel need to work as hard as we can at entering into God’s rest.

At first blush, it seems strange to emphasize the need to work hard, or to “strive” (as some translations render this word), in order to receive God’s promised Sabbath rest. But, from a Kingdom standpoint it really does make sense. Let me try to explain.

This specific verse comes after a series of thoughts that originate in chapter 3 about how the sins of disbelief and disobedience keep us from entering into God’s promised rest. But there are two additional concepts that the author introduces in chapter 4. One is that we need to rest from our own works, (as God rested from His works on the seventh day), and that we should rest in His finished work (which was accomplished by Christ as our Messiah upon the cross). Or, as he says:

“There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his.” (Hebrews 4:9-1)

So, there are probably about three kinds of rest being discussed here; the rest of God on the seventh day of creation, the rest from our own works to achieve salvation, and the rest that is accomplished by Christ for those who place their trust in Him. Or, if you will, for those who are resting in His finished work upon the cross.

So, why is it that we are encouraged in verse 11 to “make every effort to enter that rest” if the whole point is to rest from our own works and to enter into the Sabbath rest of God?

Perhaps what the writer is trying to tell us is that it’s hard work to remain in this place of resting on God’s finished work. Most of us are very accustomed to doing stuff for God. It’s very difficult for us not to define our Christianity by all the things we do for God, i.e. - “Didn’t we cast out demons in your name?”, etc.

When Jesus went to the home of Martha and started to teach his disciples, Martha’s sister Mary famously stayed in the living room with the men and sat at the feet of Jesus instead of helping out in the kitchen. When Martha eventually complained about this, Jesus responded by saying that Mary had chosen the best and most necessary thing by sitting at his feet and listening.

Now, taking this passage in Hebrews into consideration we can see that Mary was working very hard to remain at the feet of Jesus. Think about how difficult it was to stay there with Jesus when she knew that a woman’s place (especially in that male dominated Jewish culture) was in the kitchen. Imagine how hard it was to ignore the clash of dishes and the exasperated sighs of frustration coming from her sister in the next room? When you reflect on all of these factors, you can see how hard it was for Mary to strive to remain at rest near the feet of Jesus rather than to get up and go to work in the kitchen with her sister Martha.

“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.” (Luke 10:41-42)

So, while we need to rest in the finished work of Jesus, we also need to strive to resist the temptation to work for things that are already accomplished for us by Christ.

As if that weren’t hard enough, (or perhaps it’s simple, depending on your perspective), the writer of Hebrews ties all of this together with the concepts of being obedient to Christ and how putting our faith into action is part of what qualifies us to receive this promised rest. At the beginning of chapter 4 he begins by saying:

“For we also have had the good news proclaimed to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because they did not share the faith of those who obeyed. Now we who have believed enter that rest…” (v.2-3)

And he concludes in verse 6 that:

“…those who formerly had the good news proclaimed to them did not go in because of their disobedience…”

So, to put it all together, we should obey the Lord Jesus (which sounds like working, I know) in order to enter the Sabbath rest of God which is all about giving up on our efforts and work in order to rest in Christ and His finished work.

Got it? Probably not.

See, I believe this is actually a seemingly paradoxical Kingdom principle, one where we obey Jesus by resting in His indwelling presence, and we enter into His rest by resting in Him. Or, to flip it around, we do not make the mistake of working hard to gain something that Jesus has already given to us.

It’s disobedient for us to continue working for God’s approval or favor when He’s already declared it finished. We don’t keep trying to drive nails into a house that’s finished. We don’t keep trying to paint a masterpiece once it’s hanging in the gallery. That’s foolishness, and it’s technically vandalism.

We need to trust that Jesus really does love us, and that He really does live within us, and that we have already received the promised rest because of what was done before we ever even knew His name.

What’s really hard work for most of us is to hang on to that perspective and not allow anyone to take it away from us. We are already loved. We are already filled with God’s presence. We are already the children of God. We are already resting in the finished work of Christ.

Let’s rest in Him and take upon ourselves that easy yoke and that light burden that is offered to those who trust in Him. Let’s remember that without Him we can do nothing.

-kg