Narrow road
Somewhere between James 2:17 and Romans 4:5 is the "narrow road":
James 2:17 So you see, faith by itself isn't enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless.
Romans 4:5 But people are counted as righteous, not because of their work, but because of their faith in God who forgives sinners.
Matthew 7:13 "You can enter God's Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. 14 But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it.
The narrow road is elusive for many. A few attempt the impassable road of the law...applying their natural strength and discipline to resist whatever they can, only to find out that attempting strain gnats out of their lives is a recipe for missing camels. But most, especially in the western Church, choose the wide road of "grace". Assuming all things are permissible and even good... Taking the grace of God in vain:
2 Corinthians 6:1 We then, as workers together with Him also plead with you not to receive the grace of God in vain.
Paul and James were really talking about two sides of the same road...the narrow road Jesus described. James was saying that my actions, what I am willing to do, or not do, are a "thermometer" for my faith. The thermometer doesn't change the temperature in my living room, but it does tell me whether or not my furnace is working. James wasn't saying doing good things makes your faith alive and real, He was saying what you apply your life to reveals the faith you are really walking in.
So if works are the thermometer, what is the furnace?..what increases my faith, how do I harness grace in a way that keeps me from taking it in vain?
Most people naturally default to choice A: accept grace, live carelessly, and trust it will all work out...or choice B: kind of believe you are saved by faith alone, but never really be confident in that and keep reminding yourself to have discipline. Always living with a little regret that you could have spent more time reading, or praying, or helping do dishes at the potluck, or volunteering for VBS...neither of these choices will keep you joyfully on the narrow road. Both will eventually end in burn-out, confusion, and as the pressure increases...falling away.
Paul said the most amazing thing to the Colossians:
Colossians 2:21 "Don't handle! Don't taste! Don't touch!"? 22 Such rules are mere human teachings about things that deteriorate as we use them. 23 These rules may seem wise because they require strong devotion, pious self-denial, and severe bodily discipline. But they provide no help in conquering a person's evil desires. 3:1 Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God's right hand. 2 Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. 3 For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 And when Christ, who is your life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory.
10 Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him.
This is simply the most freeing passage in the letters of the Apostles, if I can grasp what Paul is saying. He is saying the natural mind's way of thinking is broken. Common sense tells me that to be more Christian, I should do more Christian things. Paul said that discipline to do "Christian things" are useless for making me more Christian (vs 2:23), but that the furnace to increase the temperature of my Spirit, the way to on-fire faith, is in "setting my mind on the things above". The power is in getting to know Jesus, finding out what His plans are for me, realizing the fascination and excitement there is waiting for me to experience in the kingdom, and experiencing the very real power available to me when I connect my mouth and my hands and feet to the mind of Jesus through the Holy Spirit living in me. Power to change other people's lives, but power, when exercised, to captivate my attention and fascinate my mind. There is within my grasp the power of a life really connected to the Author and Creator...in tangible ways...hearing Him in my heart, seeing Him move my circumstance, feeling Him release things like peace and joy when nothing else can. Setting my mind on Him is meant to fascinate me, and that fascination is the furnace that sets my faith, and my heart, on fire.
Mankind was meant to live with a bright and vibrant spirit, connected fully to an exciting life with the Author of love, fascination, and power. Instead, many like me have spent years struggling for balance between being a good christian, responsible husband, good golfer, backpacker, fisherman, homeowner...I spent years forming an identity based on what was offered to me from the world, and then trying my best to attach it to being a good follower of Jesus. This simply results in a burnt out and dull spirit...spiritual boredom. My heart is made for eternity...nothing that lives in this fading earth is ever going to be able to fascinate my heart for very long.
Paul said when I connect my heart...when I seek my fascination in God and what is available in Him..both feet in the kingdom, that all of the sudden my fascination ...my obsession .. .my unbalanced view...this is what fuels me to be intense and bright, pouring everything out on Jesus. You can't experience real power and not get hooked. God, when I get a glimpse of who He is, the power He has, and the intense love and desire He has for me, is more addicting than anything else I have ever experienced. When I live in this mode, obsessed with God, doing "the stuff" is natural, not requiring unbearable and unsustainable discipline. I can't wait to read my Bible, and I wish everything else would get out of the way. I can't wait to sign up for VBS so I can talk about Him, or serve someone else by doing the dishes so I can agree with His idea of being a servant, or give my money away...I simply desire to do what Jesus is doing, say what Jesus is saying, and think what Jesus is thinking. Jesus said "when you love Him you will obey Him!"I always got this backward! I thought He was saying "prove your love by obeying me" but what He was really saying "when you fall in love with me, you can't help but obey me!"
John 14:24 Anyone who doesn't love me will not obey me. And remember, my words are not my own. What I am telling you is from the Father who sent me.
This is wholeheartedness. This is the first commandment being first. The hidden truth in going all in for Jesus is that all of the "life" things are still present...Jesus brings life in full. By being unbalanced for God, true balance...balance that agrees with heaven...enters in. I still hunt, or golf (kind of), or backpack...but it is no longer my preoccupation...it is no longer who I am.
It takes God to love God. If I want to set my mind on the things above, If I want fascination with Jesus I have to go to the one who has it and humbly ask for it. I can't earn it. I have to receive it like a child. He gives food to the hungry...and even the hunger is a gift given to those who ask:
Matthew 7:7 "Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.
9 "You parents—if your children ask for a loaf of bread, do you give them a stone instead? 10 Or if they ask for a fish, do you give them a snake? Of course not! 11 So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him.
James 2:17 So you see, faith by itself isn't enough. Unless it produces good deeds, it is dead and useless.
Romans 4:5 But people are counted as righteous, not because of their work, but because of their faith in God who forgives sinners.
Matthew 7:13 "You can enter God's Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. 14 But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it.
The narrow road is elusive for many. A few attempt the impassable road of the law...applying their natural strength and discipline to resist whatever they can, only to find out that attempting strain gnats out of their lives is a recipe for missing camels. But most, especially in the western Church, choose the wide road of "grace". Assuming all things are permissible and even good... Taking the grace of God in vain:
2 Corinthians 6:1 We then, as workers together with Him also plead with you not to receive the grace of God in vain.
Paul and James were really talking about two sides of the same road...the narrow road Jesus described. James was saying that my actions, what I am willing to do, or not do, are a "thermometer" for my faith. The thermometer doesn't change the temperature in my living room, but it does tell me whether or not my furnace is working. James wasn't saying doing good things makes your faith alive and real, He was saying what you apply your life to reveals the faith you are really walking in.
So if works are the thermometer, what is the furnace?..what increases my faith, how do I harness grace in a way that keeps me from taking it in vain?
Most people naturally default to choice A: accept grace, live carelessly, and trust it will all work out...or choice B: kind of believe you are saved by faith alone, but never really be confident in that and keep reminding yourself to have discipline. Always living with a little regret that you could have spent more time reading, or praying, or helping do dishes at the potluck, or volunteering for VBS...neither of these choices will keep you joyfully on the narrow road. Both will eventually end in burn-out, confusion, and as the pressure increases...falling away.
Paul said the most amazing thing to the Colossians:
Colossians 2:21 "Don't handle! Don't taste! Don't touch!"? 22 Such rules are mere human teachings about things that deteriorate as we use them. 23 These rules may seem wise because they require strong devotion, pious self-denial, and severe bodily discipline. But they provide no help in conquering a person's evil desires. 3:1 Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God's right hand. 2 Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. 3 For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 And when Christ, who is your life, is revealed to the whole world, you will share in all his glory.
10 Put on your new nature, and be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become like him.
This is simply the most freeing passage in the letters of the Apostles, if I can grasp what Paul is saying. He is saying the natural mind's way of thinking is broken. Common sense tells me that to be more Christian, I should do more Christian things. Paul said that discipline to do "Christian things" are useless for making me more Christian (vs 2:23), but that the furnace to increase the temperature of my Spirit, the way to on-fire faith, is in "setting my mind on the things above". The power is in getting to know Jesus, finding out what His plans are for me, realizing the fascination and excitement there is waiting for me to experience in the kingdom, and experiencing the very real power available to me when I connect my mouth and my hands and feet to the mind of Jesus through the Holy Spirit living in me. Power to change other people's lives, but power, when exercised, to captivate my attention and fascinate my mind. There is within my grasp the power of a life really connected to the Author and Creator...in tangible ways...hearing Him in my heart, seeing Him move my circumstance, feeling Him release things like peace and joy when nothing else can. Setting my mind on Him is meant to fascinate me, and that fascination is the furnace that sets my faith, and my heart, on fire.
Mankind was meant to live with a bright and vibrant spirit, connected fully to an exciting life with the Author of love, fascination, and power. Instead, many like me have spent years struggling for balance between being a good christian, responsible husband, good golfer, backpacker, fisherman, homeowner...I spent years forming an identity based on what was offered to me from the world, and then trying my best to attach it to being a good follower of Jesus. This simply results in a burnt out and dull spirit...spiritual boredom. My heart is made for eternity...nothing that lives in this fading earth is ever going to be able to fascinate my heart for very long.
Paul said when I connect my heart...when I seek my fascination in God and what is available in Him..both feet in the kingdom, that all of the sudden my fascination ...my obsession .. .my unbalanced view...this is what fuels me to be intense and bright, pouring everything out on Jesus. You can't experience real power and not get hooked. God, when I get a glimpse of who He is, the power He has, and the intense love and desire He has for me, is more addicting than anything else I have ever experienced. When I live in this mode, obsessed with God, doing "the stuff" is natural, not requiring unbearable and unsustainable discipline. I can't wait to read my Bible, and I wish everything else would get out of the way. I can't wait to sign up for VBS so I can talk about Him, or serve someone else by doing the dishes so I can agree with His idea of being a servant, or give my money away...I simply desire to do what Jesus is doing, say what Jesus is saying, and think what Jesus is thinking. Jesus said "when you love Him you will obey Him!"I always got this backward! I thought He was saying "prove your love by obeying me" but what He was really saying "when you fall in love with me, you can't help but obey me!"
John 14:24 Anyone who doesn't love me will not obey me. And remember, my words are not my own. What I am telling you is from the Father who sent me.
This is wholeheartedness. This is the first commandment being first. The hidden truth in going all in for Jesus is that all of the "life" things are still present...Jesus brings life in full. By being unbalanced for God, true balance...balance that agrees with heaven...enters in. I still hunt, or golf (kind of), or backpack...but it is no longer my preoccupation...it is no longer who I am.
It takes God to love God. If I want to set my mind on the things above, If I want fascination with Jesus I have to go to the one who has it and humbly ask for it. I can't earn it. I have to receive it like a child. He gives food to the hungry...and even the hunger is a gift given to those who ask:
Matthew 7:7 "Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.
9 "You parents—if your children ask for a loaf of bread, do you give them a stone instead? 10 Or if they ask for a fish, do you give them a snake? Of course not! 11 So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him.
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