Two Roads: Please God, Or Trust Him?预览

When our primary motive becomes trusting God, we discover there is nothing in the world that pleases Him more! The citizens of the Room of Grace have pleased God by choosing to trust Him. God has specific areas of our lives that He would like us to trust Him in, and looking for these opportunities is one of the best parts of the journey.

The word “grace” appears 122 times in the New Testament. The Judaizers in the apostle Paul’s day hated it. They feared what it would do if it got loose. “Paul, you can’t tell them this!” they said. “These people are immature, lazy and have little religious background. They’ll abuse it as soon as they can. They’ll live Christianity-lite. These people are weak and want to do whatever they want. And believe me, what they want is not good.” Paul responds, in essence, this way: “You’d have a great point, if it wasn’t for two truths. First, these people have a new nature. They have Christ in them. They’re not who they were. They don’t want to get away with anything. They want to enjoy Him, and can’t find a way to do that within your ugly system.

“Second, they have the Holy Spirit, who is able to correct, encourage, rebuke, and challenge. They have God, you know.”

If you’re looking for compliance, you can get that without God. Just wield enough power and people will do what you want them to. At least as long as you’re around. But when you’re out of sight, eventually—inevitably—they’ll revert to what they’ve been denied. The real trick is to allow the desires of the new heart to come out and have a run of the joint. We’re hardwired for heartfelt obedience. We have to be religiously badgered into compliance, which leads to eventual disobedience. Only bad theology can do that. Sin and failure is all we think we have until new life is wooed forth. We need others to show us God beautifully, without condemnation, disgust, and unsatisfied demands. We long to obey Him. It makes our souls sing.