A simple phone-call ,such as to a call-centre this morning, is more than enough evidence that I can easily fail to be like Jesus - at the slightest provocation.
Imagine Jesus INSISTING and getting more and more and more annoyed and agitated at being directed from option 1 to option 2 and back to option 1 again His call would have been, in the first place, a lot shorter than mine! And a lot less heated.
The more I explained that I needed simple advice and have already been to option 2, the more I was referred back to option 2. And the more indignant I got, and round an round the conversation twirled between option 1 and option 2 – dizzyingly!
No wonder Tullian’s writing caught the eye and the heart this morning.
I’ve “lapped up” the contents of his post, then took some thoughts from there, added a few images and bullet points, and took the good news to heart. Of course there are many other aspects to what it looks like to be like Jesus and how to get to look more and more like Him: those discoveries will take more than a life-time, let alone managed to all get mentioned in one post.
None of what is written, will either make sense or have any application value, unless you can say of Romans 4:5: “That’s me!”
| Rom. 4:5 “But to him or her who does not work, but believes on Him who justifies the ungodly, his or her faith is accounted for righteousness.” |
If you’ve not met yet, let us introduce you to…..the writer and then to his writings.
William Graham Tullian Tchividjian (pronounced cha-vi-jin) is a grandson of Billy and Ruth Graham.
So here goes – selected bullet-pointed quotations from Tullian’s post:
Obedience to God matters to God and it should, therefore, matter to God’s people.
In fact, one way to gauge our love for God is obedience to his commands (John 14:15, 1 John 5:3).
Where does the power come from to do God’s will and to follow God’s lead? 
Will more rules keep me in line? Will it be the law– or will it be God’s grace in Christ?
Will guilt or fear or rewards or approval be motivating enough to get me to pursue holiness? 
What will lose sin’s vice-like grip on human hearts? Let’s see what Tullian writes: Long-term, sustained obedience can only come from the grace which flows from what Jesus has already done, not guilt or fear of what we must do.
- The fact is, however, that the only way licentious people start to obey is when they get a taste of God’s radical, unconditional acceptance of sinners.
- The irony of gospel-based sanctification is that those who end up obeying more are those who increasingly realize that their standing with God is not based on their obedience, but Christ’s.
- Let’s pursue, go after, chase holiness. (Without it we won’t see God: Matt 5:8; Heb 12:14.)
- And let’s pursue it centrally through enjoying the gospel, the same gospel that got us in and the same gospel that liberates us afresh each day (1 Cor 15:1–2; Gal 2:14; Col 1:23; 2:6).
So…….
The Apostle Paul never uses the law as a way to motivate obedience; he always uses the gospel.
The obedience that pleases God is obedience that flows from faith and grace; not fear and guilt.
How does the gospel empower us to keep going after obedience and holiness? Like this:
when we fail, the gospel reminds us that God’s infinite approval of us does not depend on our keeping of the law, but Christ’s keeping of the law on our behalf.
God’s love for us does not get bigger when we obey or smaller when we disobey. And guess what? This makes me want to obey him more, not less! As Spurgeon wrote, “When I thought God was hard, I found it easy to sin; but when I found God so kind, so good, so overflowing with compassion, I smote upon my breast to think that I could ever have rebelled against One who loved me so, and sought my good.”
| So we see that it’s the gospel – i.e. all that Jesus has done – that moves and motivates and animates our obedience. The law shows us the way and grace motivates us! |
The Gospel of amazing grace gets us in, keeps us in, and will eventually get us to the finish line. It’s all of grace!
Now, let’s go and spread this defiant, scandalously liberating, counter-intuitive Word around the world…it’s waiting!
Here again is Tulllian's blog site - I'm off to read more of his blogs.
Thanks for spending time here – now for obeying Jesus, motivated by His obedience and grace – some of the treasures that belong to children of God!
