LOST IN THE CHURCH Part Three CIVILIZATION / RESPECTABILITY One of the greatest things religion could achieve at its highest level is to try to make a person extremely good and civilized. However, being civilized is not a fruit of the Spirit, it is not holiness, and it is not Christianity. A civilized person may be someone who believes that he can calm God's anger through good behavior and by keeping religious laws. The origin of this kind of civilization is the attempt to please God by conforming to the spirit of this world—by obeying human expectations more than the will of God. Many people assume that being loved and accepted by the world is the same as being loved by God. But Jesus Himself was not "civilized" according to the standards people often use today. How could He be, when He called Herod, the ruler of His country, "that fox"? (Luke 13:32) Where have you ever seen a "civilized" person make a whip of cords, drive people out of the Temple, overturn the tables and chairs of the merchants, and scatter their money? (John 2:15) Tell me, where have you ever seen a civilized person behave like that? It amazes me that today civilization and politeness are sometimes mistaken for Christianity. THE GRACE OF GOD > "For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ." John 1:17 Jesus did not come to establish salvation through the Mosaic Law. And if the Law given through Moses could not accomplish God's ultimate purpose of restoring humanity to Him, then holiness cannot be achieved merely by keeping laws. Rather, it is through the grace of God, freely given to the person who looks to the Lord. However, I am not saying that there is no law under grace. What I mean is that the law operating within grace is the law of love. Love must come first, and obedience follows. To put law before love is slavery. And the Lord clearly said that God's children are free. (Matthew 17:26) Therefore, we do not obey God's commandments in order to create love within ourselves. We obey because we have already begun to love God. Remember what the Word says in John 14:15: > "If ye love me, keep my commandments." Notice the order of the words. The order matters. Love comes first. He loved us first. (1 John 4:19) Therefore, when we obey His commandments, His laws, or His truth, it should be because His love has taken root in our hearts. Otherwise, we risk falling into the very spirit of deception and error that has existed throughout history—the spirit of religion. If you read 1 Corinthians 13, beginning from verse 1 onward, you will see the Apostle Paul explaining how empty it is for a person to perform even something apparently spiritual or divine when there is no love in his heart. SALVATION: GRACE AND WORKS Salvation is by grace, and it is freely given because of the finished work of the Cross of Jesus Christ. Therefore, any attempt to offer our own achievements as payment for acceptance before God is essentially an insult to the Cross, because it suggests that Christ's sacrifice was insufficient. And the Lord will not accept anyone who attempts to approach Him on such a basis. GRACE VS. WORKS Today, a large number of believers are lost in the Church because they have failed to properly distinguish between these two concepts: works and grace. The way of life often passes through truths that appear to be in tension. I do not mean grace alone while completely rejecting obedience. Neither do I mean works alone while ignoring grace. It is not everything done by God, nor is it everything done by us. Some have gone too far into the direction of legalistic works. Others, after thinking they have understood grace, have been pushed to the opposite extreme and become lost in a distorted understanding of grace. If you approach Scripture with a distorted "grace-only" mindset, you can become lost in that extreme. Likewise, if you approach Scripture entirely through the lens of works, you can also become lost. The Bible clearly says: > "Faith without works is dead." Yet it is also a great deception to perform works merely so that you can be considered a person of faith. Yes, the Lord carried the Cross for us, and that is grace. But have you ever asked yourself why He also told us to take up our own cross and follow Him? (Luke 9:23) That is where we discover that we also have a part to fulfill. Once you understand that it is not grace without responsibility, do not overreact and jump with both feet into legalism. If you do, you will fall into another dangerous deception: believing that God can be found through human effort. Some people believe that if they pray for extremely long periods, jump up and down, give this or that offering, perform certain religious activities, or do particular things, then God will finally hear them. Sadly, such ideas have become widespread in the house of God today. I have often wondered about the prophets of Baal and how they cut themselves with swords and knives until blood flowed while calling upon their god in the days of the prophet Elijah. Could that not also be a picture of people who would arise in our generation, believing that God's goodness can be obtained through religious effort and works of the law? May God bless you greatly. #ToBeContinued... Mwl. Ernest Nyalula +255 616 609 885 #LostInTheChurch #GraceVsWorks #GraceOfGod #Christianity #ChristianFaith #BiblicalTruth #BibleStudy #JesusChrist #ChristianLife #SpiritualGrowth #GodsGrace #FaithAndWorks #TheWordOfGod #KingdomOfGod #ChurchLife #ChristianTeaching #KnowTheTruth #WalkWithChrist #Holiness #FaithInJesus