 | “If you want to be a successful Christian, you just need to do this more, do that less, and try harder to be a better person, like me.” This is the modern day “gospel” message you may find in many churches, online and on television with little effort. But is this the actual message that God put forth in His word? As the pastor showed us from Romans 2:1-11, the real gospel is not how hard we work, how we judge our brothers and sisters, or how we even judge ourselves, but it is what God say about us, what He did for us, and the change brought about as we respond to His grace, love, and kindness. |
God’s laws and rules in His word may inform us, but they have no power to transform us. They can only point out the standard of perfection that God requires, and in turn show us all how far off the mark we all are. The modern day “holiness” messages that are so prevalent in our culture tell us how bad we are and what we need to do to fix it, but they do not empower us to make the changes they demand. Unfortunately, this just compounds the problem of our feelings of unworthiness. Our proclivity to point fingers at the behaviors and words of others really does not do anything to help the guilt and condemnation we are burdened with because we are doing and saying the very same things we are quick to call out in our family and friends.
...do you despise the riches of His kindness, restraint, and patience, not recognizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance? - Romans 2:4
God does not change us this way. Instead of heaping more accusations against us, He chooses to love us. He loves us for who we are, not because of what we did or did not do, not what we say or wear or anything else we could accomplish in our power. Scriptures like Romans 5:8, John 3:16, 1 John 4:19, Ephesians 2:5, and many other all show us that He loves us as we are, faults and all, and demonstrated His love in a most unorthodox yet spectacular fashion. He came to earth in a flesh and blood body to live the perfect, sinless life the law required but we could not accomplish. He paid the price for our sin which was death, and rose from the dead making His gift of righteousness available for us to receive.
When the Spirit of God draws us through the reading of His word or through someone that shows us His love without any conditions, that is the moment our hearts are touched and our lives are transformed. When Pastor Ellery was elaborating on this thought it was revealed to me in this way - we do not change from the accusing fingers pointed at us, we change because of the open arms of God's love.
The pastor further illustrated this by recalling Fred Rogers, an exemplary example of someone who displayed the love of God to countless people on television. He did this by simply telling children they were valuable, special, and were loved for who they were, not for what they could do or say. He was a clear reflection of his Lord, who proved to be the ultimate neighbor by the love He demonstrated on the cross. So I pray that we let His love flow through us to those around us, because people are in need of a good neighbor, not a harsh judge.
When the Spirit of God draws us through the reading of His word or through someone that shows us His love without any conditions, that is the moment our hearts are touched and our lives are transformed. When Pastor Ellery was elaborating on this thought it was revealed to me in this way - we do not change from the accusing fingers pointed at us, we change because of the open arms of God's love.
The pastor further illustrated this by recalling Fred Rogers, an exemplary example of someone who displayed the love of God to countless people on television. He did this by simply telling children they were valuable, special, and were loved for who they were, not for what they could do or say. He was a clear reflection of his Lord, who proved to be the ultimate neighbor by the love He demonstrated on the cross. So I pray that we let His love flow through us to those around us, because people are in need of a good neighbor, not a harsh judge.
John Clark
John Clark is a husband to Julie, a father of one son living in Valrico, Florida. He has an Associate Degree of Theology from Life Christian University, and serves at Life Center of Brandon where he is a teacher and writer.