Many circles within the Evangelical movement, and the broader expression of American Christianity are at risk of losing the applicational heart of the Gospel due fear of legalism and/or dead, lifeless worship/works. I view legalism through three-lenses: (1) Attempting to earn God’s love or favor by works or law alone, (2) suppressing calls of obedience to Jesus’ commands in a justifying manner to treat people poorly or control them, and (3) justifying disobedience to Scripture in the name of experience or lack thereof. This article aims to offer an alternative; namely, our adoption is both underserved mercy and grace for worship-based obedience. Mercy perpetuates mercy. God had mercy on humanity through Jesus’ death, which satisfied God’s righteous justice, providing reconciliation between God and humankind. Due such a mercy, God thus provides the grace necessary for humankind to worship Him. Mercy perpetuates dependency on God’s Grace. Biblical worship is not reduced or defined by praise and worship bands alone. Every area of one’s character, nature, and behavior is a demonstration of human desire, one to worship God, and one to succumb to the flesh and the devil. One’s worldview, then, is simply one’s built-in justification to support their worship, which is the revealer of the desires of the human heart. God help our impressionable minds, deliver us from ourselves, and by all means, save that which is hellbent on worshipping itself and our own self interpretation of who God is. Lord align our heads and hearts with Your Scriptural worldview.
OBEDIENCE TO GOD IS PROOF OF WORSHIP
Romans 12:1-2 reads, “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present you bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect” (ESV). Therefore, obedience to Christ’ commands is spiritual worship. The popular expression of worship instituted by singing and the playing of instruments is one aspect of individual and corporate gratitude for God’s mercy and grace. The Apostle Paul names this clearly when he conveyed, “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Cor. 10:31). The case for our ambitions are confronted by our understanding of obedience in terms of worship. Obedience is then motivated by the hearts-desire to worship God in Spirit and in truth. And, if worship is the motive of obedience, neither the snare of earning God’s love, or favor for that matter, nor one’s assessment of experience may determine to what extent legalism is present. Of course, though Christ lives in us by the indwelling Holy Spirit, Satan is still the ruler of this world (Jn. 14:30), and in our demonstration to the powers and rulers of the air (Eph. 6:12-13) believers will face unmeasurable pain, sorrow, disappointment, and various trials and suffering (2 Cor. 11:24-31); and this is not withstanding human dull-heartedness. Obedience to God is not a constant joy ride, in fact, I would go so far as to say what many are kicking against is the reality of boredom and being still. Worship, of the fullness of the expression of one’s faith, is one of great emotion. And these emotions, both in joy and aguish, are moments for which human hearts depend upon God for mercy and grace. Though methodology vary, repentance, prayer, fasting, loving one another, and all therein lies obedience to Jesus, is not theory. In fact, obedience to God’s Word is literally the most pragmatic thing we can do. Obedience to God is proof of worship.
SIN OUTRAGES THE SPIRIT OF GRACE
The false-grace movement, though nuanced in its expression, is at its most destructive when Scriptural truths are reduced to interpretive opinion. Meaning, if one does not agree with the text, they simply accuse historical doctrine and seek a new interpretation to fit their desired narrative. And to ensure the strength of their argument, then they take what they have done, ignoring plain and simple truths of Scripture (the reality of eternal hell, Jesus’ death absorbed the wrath of God we rightly deserved, the real and present reality of sin living in us, and so one and so forth), and propagate that all doctrine, or any absolutes period, are man-made and not from God. Of course, this is the extremism, however, the results from movements like the Emergent Church are reaping fruit. The results of emasculating sin, judgement, and consequences such as eternal punishment for disobedience to God have taken shape with an incomplete definition of God’s love, a resounding rebellion against authority, and a false sense of disillusionment from deep research of the Bible or anything sounding theological. And to be sure, this is not a neglect or at the expense of real sin and abuse experienced by many at the hands of leaders in the Church. The point is not to excuse real hurt and pain. The issue here is what I have called over the past decade, “Pain, Perplexity, and the formation of the Gospel.” Simply put, when pain and perplexity overwhelm us, and especially when this pain and perplexity comes from Church hurt, we tend to run to reasonings which ease the pain. We find peace in ideas which soothe the perplexity. And whether we’re thinking in terms of extremism reactionary deconstructionists (Emergent Church Movement), or the more subtle false-grace messages (It’s okay, God’s doesn’t hate your sin, God loves you, you don’t have to do anything other than rest in His’ love for you).
Hebrews 10:26-27 reads, “For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgement, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries” (ESV). The writer of Hebrews continues, writing, “Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace? For we know him who said, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge his people.” It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (vs. 10:28-31). Look, we need the love of God message to balance out any sense of hope in this faith and life, yet not at the expense of outraging the Spirit of grace. And one might say, “Well, that’s just like your opinion man.” What do you mean this is just my opinion? There is nothing to interpret here. Authorship has stated in plain terms what is to be meant. The text is subsequently and consequently interpreted by itself. To rewrite a text like this is to really state, “I have a problem with God.” And the consequences of trusting in the wisdom of humankind is to make a god after one’s own image; even if you name that God Jesus and call it Christian. And this is why it is so integral for enemies of Gospel truth to dismantle and deconstruct Scripture; all hell is at work to get us disconnected from faith and belief in the Word of God. And while certainly church history and its doctrines are not canon, it is a grave danger to assume we have all the answers, notwithstanding, false-grace messages are doctrines, it is the working out of theological wrestling. Or do you think it’s a get out of hard truths and rigorous Bible study free card, and that you are exempt from the very scrutiny it places on everyone else? This is what pain and perplexity does when our anchor is not rooted to the source of truth. Let us not neglect real pain and abuse incurred by the Church. Let us also not reshape our understanding of the Gospel to feel better about ourselves and others who have been hurt. I do not say this naively, I have been hurt deeply; and the only thing which kept the water out of my lungs, which provided air and kept me afloat was dependence on the Spirit of grace and knowing that our Lord too suffered epochally in my stead. His’ suffering in my place is the anchor of relation which brings healing upon my broken heart. Forsaking Jesus in times of pain, or reinterpreting Jesus to fit the narrative of my pain only serves to stroke and comfort my own horrid ego.
HAPPINESS AND THIS DARK AGE
One of the primary tensions which entices the interest of many lies with our eternal reward in Christ, which is future, versus an assumption for which the eternal state of joy and happiness may be received and unhindered in this dark age. Fales-grace, by applying anthropologic psychology and sociology seeks to cure the human condition on the basis of Christianizing what secular sciences have valued as tools to serve humanity’s pursuit of happiness and joy. And this is not to say there is not usefulness of these tools, however, when Christian understanding of the pursuit of happiness results in the pursuit to eliminate emotions and experiences effected by the corruption of sinful nature, it denies the great high priest, Jesus, His right and ministry to sympathize with us in our weaknesses. Furthermore, the very weaknesses and “bad vibes” which one seeks to dismiss are the very means by which God uses to produce real, lasting joy upon the human heart, i.e., we need the sympathy of our great high priest for healing and maturity in Christ. This postmodern attempt to achieve happiness on the basis of eliminating toxicity not only marginalizes people who need the Gospel, it restricts discipleship. The “good vibes only” Church culture, thinking it has the key to joy, in reality, lives in their own self-prescribed echo-chamber. Meaning, at the first sign of trouble, there is little to no depth to persevere. What many generations would recognize as minor hardships are now seen to dismantle the faith of many.
J.I. Packer foresaw this inclining issue in his day, conveying, “The preacher wants to win his hearers to Christ; therefore, he glamorizes the Christian life, making it sound happy and carefree as he can, in order to allure them. But absent of bad motive, and presence of good motive, does not in any way reduce the damage which his exaggerations do” (Packer. 223). As I fell in love with this Sonship/Father-heart of God motif I began to encounter a resistance toward obedience which interrupted a progression and sustained state of joy. This distortion is meaning to be freeing, it means to honor the truths of God’s love, mercy, and grace for the human heart. However, unwittingly, it plays down the effects of sin, suffering, and the trials of life. Grace! Freedom! Joy! Their aim is to highlight the love of the Father, to demonstrate the purpose of God’s goodness within the hearts of believers-which is sold through the teaching of eternal inheritance as a means of accomplishment in this present age. These Biblical foreshadowing promises of the eternal state suddenly become the measurement to determine maturity and healthy Christian discipleship; rather than the prize when this life fades into everlasting glory. A subtle perfectionism then becomes the plumb-line of the Christian life. Many who preach and teach this way would certainly be shocked to hear it spelled out this wat; I think. Yet, what happens to the human heart which believes any form of negativity is not of God? Or, life’s stressful pressures are not meant to have any effect upon the Christian life? Packer elaborates, writing, “There is nothing unnatural, therefore, in an increase of temptations, conflicts, and pressures, as the Christian goes on with God-indeed, something would be wrong if it did not happen. But the Christian that has been told that the natural Christian life unshadowed and trouble-free can only conclude, as experiences of inadequacy and imperfection pile upon them, that they must have lapsed from normal. ‘Somethings gone wrong,’ he will say, ‘it isn’t working anymore!’ And his question will be: ‘How can it be made to work again?’” (p. 224). Thus, “A certain type of ministry of the Gospel is cruel. It does not mean to be, but it is. It means to magnify grace, but what it does is rather the opposite. It scales down the problem of sin and loses touch with the purpose of God” (p. 221).
HUMAN NATURE IS FALLEN
In spite of popular opinion, the human heart is continually wicked (Jeremiah 17:9; Matthew 15:19). If we appeal the Father’s love in anything, we must appeal from a soul wrought gratitude for saving a sinner like me, whom Jesus died for, while yet, I was still a sinner (Romans 5:6-11). If we are to claim that we are children of God, we mustn’t treat our fallen nature naively. We are not yet glorified in the sin-free oasis of God’s eternal garden, where sin and death have died their eternal death, and where, everlasting restoration and unhindered fellowship are our portion. We’re not there yet! We die daily by the grace of God in this age. We press into soul satisfaction in Jesus’ abiding love daily. Brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers, we are prone to wander daily. Rejoice in adoption and freedom from condemnation, freedom from the guilt of our inadequate, imperfect, fallen nature; but, do not reject the Father’s gift of conviction, do not despise God’s correction, and the sanctifying hand of the Lord (Heb. 12:7).
It is very important that the Western Church, especially the American Church, embrace vulnerability. Thousands of thousands of broken hearts flood our Churches each week, acting and appearing like everything is okay. Things aren’t okay! Lovers of Jesus are suffering with conflict of heart. If it’s not okay to put a band-aid on a severed limb, why then have we felt it okay to wear the mask of “I’ve got it all together?” We don’t have it together. And, we need to come to terms with our barrenness of soul to realize the battle over our lives is real. Though we be in Jesus Christ, the weight of our fallenness is still heavy, but, thank God, we have Jesus, our great high priest whom ever-lives to intercede on our behalf, Jesus is a sympathizer of our weakness (Hebrews 4:14-16; 7:25). The Father-Heart of God supplies freedom from the condemnation of sin, yet, the effect of sin and the human condition is an ever-pressing life-long battle of Spirit and flesh (Rom. 7:7-25).
SATAN HATES YOU
Satan is a thief of human hearts. He came to steal, kill and destroy you (John 10:10). Satan is not cute, he’s not someone to play with; he is filled with rage and bent on the destruction of humanity. It’s what makes him tic! At the introduction of the book of Job we are given an imagery of Satan giving an account to God for the things he’s been up to. There is an interesting nuance of Satan’s rage and God’s testing and sanctifying ways, namely, in the giving of permission for Satan to express a little rage against Job (Job 1:6-12). Later on, in Matthew 4:1-11, we see the scheme of Satan against Jesus. However, perfect love cast out fear (1 Jn. 4:18). Thereby, the children of God love their lives not unto death (Revelation 12:11), they do not fear the psychopathic tactics of the evil one. Children of God are in the world but not of the world, they seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness (Matthew 6:33; John 17:16); they are not swayed by the temptations of the evil one (Matthew 6:13). Children of God are not naive to the schemes of the evil one. Children of God know that Satan’s rage is a puppet in the hand of the Lord for testing and maturity, and all their hope and trust remains in the Lord. The Christian expresses rage against Satan by the maturity of love, motivated by worship-based obedience. Worship-based obedience is a holy demonstration to the powers and the rulers of the air (Eph. 3:10). This is our imitational warfare. And we cannot imitate Jesus in the world if our position is to bleed out so-called toxic people from our lives. This is an endless cycle designed by Satan to demobilize our demonstration of Jesus in this life. Our witness is a demonstration to toxic people, namely, there is hope for toxic people. The Church is to be the light in a dark world. While the Church is off busy with perfecting its inner life, myriads of souls drown around them.
THE FATHER DISCIPLINES
Crucial toward our understanding of God as Father, God lovingly disciplines His Children: “In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons? My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.” It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it” (Heb. 12:4-11).
It is because God loves us, and because God is for us that we do not escape the hardships of life. Through hardships and daily trials we lean upon the strength of the Lord. If we sin, He corrects us with disciplinary actions. Not because He hates us, but because He loves us. Though we be in Jesus, this life is not a whimsical fairy tale in which we escape hard realities of life. Though we don’t always conclude the origin of our sufferings, we conclude that God is good! He is on the throne. He is for us. He is committed to completing the work of grace that He started in us at salvation (Phil. 1:6). Paul writes, “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us” (Rom. 5:1-5). We must understand that the trials of this life are molding us into the very image of God. We count our sufferings in Christ, put all our hope in Him, Who became like us and suffered for us; in return, we become holy unto Him.
FINAL THOUGHT
The value of a human heart connected to an eternally minded paradigm is invaluable. If it is true that God’s people perish from lack of vision (Proverbs 29:18), and that we are to set our minds on things above (Colossians 3:2), we must set a high vision to be eternally minded. I don’t want to teach whimsical promises of happiness for this age, when the biblical truth of the promise is not at fullness until the age to come. This is why Paul says, “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death” (Romans 7:24)? Children of God find freedom for joy by faithfully hoping in things to come; the redemption of our bodies, glorified and resurrected in the age to come. Though turmoil and pressures surround the human experience, the eternal reward to be with Jesus forever is our blessed hope for happiness. Jesus truly is enough.
It is foolishness to preach the Father-Heart of God through a lens of “Your best life now!” The happiest, richest, blest soul on the planet is not living their best life now. Nothing surpasses the eternal weight of glory to be revealed in the age to come. Furthermore, humankind is suffering! There is extreme suffering all over the earth. The peoples of the earth are crying out for love and happiness, and the only secure hope for soul satisfying love and happiness, is hope and confidence in things to come-children of God must be eternally minded. The eternal purpose of relating to God as father is so that the children of God would become emphatically devoted in relationship to God. The children of God find hope and confidence in this age, by faithfully hoping in the promises of the age to come. And when hope and confidence shapes the believer’s life, the joy-diminishing experiences of this life have less affect in comparison to that which is to come (Rom. 8:18).
Therefore, subsequently, as with our great example of Trinitarian fellowship, adoption into the family of God is not centrally an inward, contemplative venture of individual salvific expressions, alone. Of course, the Holy Spirit lives in us, and there is certainly much work to be done at an individual capacity. However, the Gospel is family. The economy of Trinitarian fellowship exists through a function of selfless giving to the other. The perfection of their love and roles are defined by their humility. The Gospel of Jesus was, and is, never meant to be an individual enterprise. Thus, an emphasis on Gospel-centered faith communities, familial connection through our adoption into the family of God is central. However, the American Church is largely a Christianized-version of the postmodern expression. Individualism is of high priority. As a culture, we have lost value for familial integrity and loyalty which honors other vessels as more important than the “right” of individuality. Therefore, the doctrine of our adoption in God is an adoption into a family. The children of God look to their Trinitarian example to learn and grow in kingdom culture. The kingdom is not isolated and self-serving, kingdom culture relies on familial bonds and serving others above oneself. Kingdom culture is relational. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit demonstrate perfect relationship. Our imitation of relationship is not perfect with one another or with God. However, the high call of worship-based obedience is growth and life in God through the joys and pains of living and participating in the messiness of human relationships within community.
Thus, while legalism is always a temptation for many faith circles, the current attitude toward obedience to Jesus’ commands in the name of resting in the Father heart of God not only must deconstruct God’s precious Word, it undermines Scripture itself. I pray and plead with readership to wrestle greatly here. You were bought with a price. You are no longer your own. While we may rest in the surety of our salvation and adoption to God through Jesus by the power of the Spirit, our salvation incurs a debt of worship-based obedience; and to sure, this is not a debt to our worldly flesh, rather, a debt to the Spirit of God (Rom. 8:12-17). Our rest, then, is in the surety of our adoption, and confidence to the leadership of the Lord. Though our obedience may incur suffering, we know our suffering is partaking in the fellowship which Christ also experienced (Rom. 8:16-17). In this we have love, joy, peace, and hope; that is, in this present body of death experience, Jesus is our past, present, and future joy. This is possible due obedience being an act of worship, rather than merely Christian duty alone.
Works Cited
ESV. English Standard Version. Wheaton, ILL: Crossway Bibles, 2001. Print.
Packer, J.I. Knowing God. Downers Grove, ILL: InterVarsity, 1973. Print.