Self-Effort

“The secret is that grace deactivates our pride. Removing the law from our lives means our self-effort is no longer prodded to control behavior. The law excites human effort. It encourages us to depend on resources outside of Christ. But unconditional acceptance deactivates human effort and allows the Holy Spirit to be all that he wants to be through us.” – The Naked Gospel

I have lived so much of my life with this unsaid understanding that God was so upset that I couldn’t measure up that in His frustration He sent Jesus so He didn’t have to be frustrated all the time. Ridiculous, I know, but I would challenge you to think about what you see as the Father’s reason for sending Jesus. I would dare to say that a large majority of the church lives with a skewed view of the Father.

The original sin in the garden was not that we couldn’t measure up. It wasn’t that we failed to be good enough. It was that we tried. We chose self-effort over rest. We chose performance over relationship. We chose knowledge over intimacy.

Adam and Eve’s plea may sound noble, “Wow think how good we could be if we knew what was good and what was evil. We could do everything right then. God would really love us then.” Did you know you weren’t designed to know right and wrong? You weren’t designed to know that murder was wrong. Do you know why?

One of the best illustrations I’ve heard is one of two glass buildings. Two young boys are walking down the street and pass the first one without a second thought. When they come up to the second glass building they see a sign with bold letters that says, “Do not throw rocks at glass building.” Well you can imagine what happens next. It didn’t take them two seconds to find the biggest rock around at chuck it through the glass building.

In the same way Paul writes:

“What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? May it never be! On the contrary, I would not have come to know sin except through the Law; for I would not have known about coveting if the Law had not said, ‘You shall not covet.’ But sin, taking opportunity through the commandment, produced in me coveting of every kind; for apart from the Law sin is dead.” – Romans 8:7-8

So why would God institute a law, when without the law sin is dead. It seems insane. How could a good God create something that gives sin an opportunity? It lies in our choice. If God had wanted robots, He would have created us without choice, but also without relationship. Have you ever tried talking to your computer? It typically isn’t a very meaningful conversation (neglecting Apple’s SIRI). God didn’t want computers though, He wanted friends. God didn’t want slaves He wanted children. So instead of programming us, He gave us the right to choose. In the garden we asked God to program us instead. We chose self-effort. We wanted to know how to handle a situation before it came up. If situation a, b, and c are true, then respond with action a.

It turns out programming doesn’t work real well on anything other than a computer or a robot. Seeing as we are neither of those, when we chose to know right and wrong instead of knowing God, we chose failure. You weren’t designed to succeed on your own. That is a huge shot to our pride, but a huge relief in the grand scheme of things. You aren’t a failure for not being able to follow the law. You were never intended to.

Andrew Farley poses this question in “The Naked Gospel”, “Many agree that the ceremonial law, restricting everything from diet to wardrobe, is not for Christians today. Indeed, few Christians attempt to follow those regulations. But should Christians still look to the Ten Commandments as their moral guide? The Ten Commandments are a ministry of death.

“But if the ministry of death, in letters engraved on stones, came with glory, so that the sons of Israel could not look intently at the face of Moses because of the glory of his face, fading as it was, how will the ministry of the Spirit fail to be even more with glory? For if the ministry of condemnation has glory, much more does the ministry of righteousness abound in glory.” -2 Corinthians 3:7-9

I want to go back to why the law was created. It wasn’t created to give us a chance to perform for righteousness. It wasn’t God’s “Plan A” that failed so He sent Jesus. Jesus was always the plan and the law was part of that plan. Adam and Eve chose self-effort in the garden and we have been choosing it ever since. The law came so that we would recognize the futility of our own performance. The law came to show us our inability to measure up. People still weren’t getting it when Jesus came on the scene. This is when Jesus shows the purpose of the law:

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery’; but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. If your right hand makes you stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to go into hell.” – Matthew 5:27-30

Jesus is speaking to people under the Law. Jesus is saying, “Let me show you what my righteousness truly requires, and see if you still think you can really perform for it?” We had to understand the futility of our own attempts and lay down our prideful self-righteousness, before we could accept Jesus death on our behalf. As long as you can do it on your own, you don’t need Jesus.

“It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery. Behold I, Paul, say to you that if you receive circumcision, Christ will be of no benefit to you. And I testify again to every man who receives circumcision, that he is under obligation to keep the whole Law.” – Galatians 5:1-3

You don’t need Jesus when you can keep the law. Paul is speaking to the Galatians who had accepted Christ’s freedom and righteousness, yet found themselves faced with the Law. The law is much easier to accept than Christ, because the goodness of Christ far supersedes what you believe you deserve. After accepting grace, they had returned to self-effort for righteousness. I hear them saying, “Well God wiped our slate clean, but now we have to be circumcised to stay clean.” I’ve lived with that idea for most of my life. God wiped my slate clean, and now I have to make sure it stays clean. God didn’t clean your slate, He took it away.

“He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” – II Corinthians 5:21

You are the righteousness of God in Christ. That isn’t a temporary thing that is maintained by the Law. You are dead to the law and alive to Christ (Romans 7:4-6).

Here is the key to all of this. You have to understand that the law that you are dead to is so much for than the 600+ laws in the Old Testament. The law you are dead to is the law of sin, the law of self-effort. The institution of the law was so that we could see the futility of our own attempts and to stop trying. Regardless of how many good Christian principles you apply to your life, they will never bring life.

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” – John 10:10

The abundant life Jesus came to bring isn’t one of principles, rules, and behavior modification. You will never apply enough principles, follow enough rules, or modify your behavior enough to bring life. Jesus is the life He came to bring. I’m done striving on my own, trying to satisfy my God who is already completely satisfied with me. Where do I stand with Him? I am His righteousness in Christ Jesus. No longer am I a failure. Unable to succeed by myself, I’ve completely succeeded in my Jesus.