Thoughts About Freedom

Still practicing the presence of God the last couple days but it's been busy and so it's been challenging. But I am heeding the wise words of Boyd and not beating myself up for forgetting to remember God more often than I am. Still, it's so good just to pause several times a day and just take Him in, so to speak. I am so excited about the point that God IS always present; it is I who need to be more aware of Him. There is no need to "invite God's presence." God is everywhere. 

Tonight I did something remarkable: I pulled a Bible off the shelf and started reading. (This is remarkable for me because of my long history with the Bible and story after story that brings me here; to the place where I only occasionally read and then it's only on my iPhone. But here is some more on that.) Tonight I grabbed.... ready for this ... The Study Bible!   dun dun dun!  Started flipping through and in seconds landed in Galatians 5. What an awesome (and often confusing) passage of scripture. 

Freedom in Christ

 ¹ It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.  ² Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. ³ 

Ok, See! We shouldn't circumcise! But wait a second...

Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. ⁴ You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. ⁵ 

Here's the real point: "You who are trying to be justified by the law." That's the question. Are you circumcising or not circumcising because you are trying to be justified by the law? And wait again...this is not really even about circumcision. That's just the example which Paul is using. The really, really, real question is: Are we doing ANYTHING in order to be justified? That's the real question. Because if we are, we have fallen away from grace. 

[For a good, concise article on free will and grace see Greg Boyd's Q&A here. In it he states, " I firmly believe that salvation is completely by grace, not works. And I believe the Bible teaches that humans would never choose God on their own, apart from the Holy Spirit. Left on our own, we are “dead” toward spiritual things (Eph 2:1, 5), and corpses can’t do much of anything last I checked. To come to Christ, the Father must draw us (Jn 6:44)."  There is also a really terrific analogy about dancing with God in his post, worth a future blog post, but great to take a look at on this page.]


So this means it's time for some soul searching. Turning the magnifying glass on this heart of mine, I honestly start looking for those areas where I might be trying to justify myself. Are there actions or thoughts which I have which are really just an impulse to make myself right? To make myself righteous? For where those exist I have become alienated from Christ; and I have fallen away from Grace. Paul continues...

For through the Spirit we eagerly await by faith the righteousness for which we hope. ⁶ For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love. 

There it is: Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision "  has any value."   In other words it doesn't matter one iota; doesn't amount to a hill of beans, if the Jews back then or if I right now, circumcise. But again, Paul is only using this as an example. What is true is that we can replace the word "circumcise" with any other action word in our vocabulary. Just try it. I'll try "going to church" cause that was the BIG one for me growing up in the denomination I was in.  

• You who are trying to be justified by [going to church] have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. ⁵ ... For in Christ Jesus neither [going to church] nor [not going to church] has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.
  

Now, don't read this wrong. By doing this little exercise we are NOT saying one should abstain from church-going. (Actually, I really dislike this anyway cause we know one cannot "go" to church -- we ARE the church. What we mean then, is going to church meetings.) We are not saying one should abstain from going to meetings. The key words are "trying to be justified by." We are saying that trying to be "justified" by going to church meetings alienates us from Christ and causes us to "fall away from grace." That's pretty serious!  


So we can substitute most any action. How about "serving"? Uh, oh. This is sticky one for sure. There certainly are places in scripture which indicate the faith without works is dead, and I believe that. But if we really believe what God is saying here, through Paul, then we have to be honest about it.

• You who are trying to be justified by [serving others] have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. ⁵ ...The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.
  

Again, we are ONLY talking about "trying to be justified" by serving. That is what Paul is talking about. Bottom line is we cannot "be justified" by anything WE do or don't do. Our actions do not justify ourselves. Period. If actions could in any way, shape, or form do such a thing -- if our actions could justify us -- then we really might not need the sacrifice of Christ after-all. And then we would certainly be able to boast (Eph. 2:9). 

So back to practicing the presence of God. Why do I think God brought this passage to my attention tonight? I think it's because of this tendency in all us to try and be justified by our actions. I can get all excited about this new thing, this very wonderful and spiritual thing, and I can do the very same thing Paul warns against. 

• You who are trying to be justified by [practicing the presence of God] have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. ⁵ ... The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.
  

Once we really come to terms with the spiritual truth that there is nothing we can do to justify ourselves we are then set free to do those very things for God, and do them for the right reasons. Circumcision does not justify. Attending meetings does not justify. Serving does not justify. Not even practicing God's presence justifies. Only Christ justifies. And knowing this truth is the Truth which sets us free! If we in any way try to be justified by what we do we are then "burdened again by a yoke of slavery." It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. That is how Paul begins and ends this passage, just to make sure we get the point. :-) And what a wonderful point it is!

 ¹³ You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free.