This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. 1 John 5:3–4
I too easily act the part of the defeated. I give into temptation as if this is the norm, as if this is my m.o., as if this is who I am. But God’s Word tells me that this is not who I am...this is who I WAS! At present, God’s Word tells me I am an overcomer. How so? Because I am good enough or clever enough or strong enough? No. By faith in Christ. Jesus, who is the ultimate overcomer, enables me to overcome. To walk in obedience feels so complex at times. But God’s Word makes it so simple…turn to Jesus in faith. And this is the real challenge, is it not? To learn to turn to Jesus in faith. To learn to turn to Jesus instinctively, immediately. Thing is, I’ve known this truth, intellectually, for a quarter of a century. Yet I still struggle to know this truth in my heart. I still fall back on rationalizations and “try harder” Christianity. But the endless refrain from the Word is believe, believe, believe. “Jesus, I do believe…help my unbelief!” It is one thing to exercise faith in the sanctuary while singing songs of worship with Christ’s people, it’s another thing altogether to exercise faith in my car when another driver has just cut me off. To exercise faith in the midst of good times around the dinner table is easy, but to exercise faith when there is a strong conflict at the dinner table…not so much. Faith isn’t a problem when I am taking in the beauty of God’s creation on a sunshiny day, but it’s a great problem when gloomy clouds fill the sky or when I feel encircled by life’s storms. Yet, it isn’t merely a matter of “activating” faith, as if it were some sort of magical formula or impersonal force. It is faith in Jesus that we need more of, a faith that is in relationship, a faith grounded in love. That is the faith that “has overcome the world.” And it is out of this love-based faith that obedience comes. We have this picture of obedience as conformity to a list of do’s and don’ts, as if its primarily legalistic or external. But the picture of obedience in Scripture is a conformity to Jesus out of love for Jesus. It’s not conformity for conformity’s sake, but conformity for Christ’s sake. We want to be like Jesus because we love Jesus, hence John’s statement above, “This is love for God: to obey his commands.” Be like Jesus?!? Who can be like Jesus? Isn’t this impossible? He’s God, I’m not! That last statement is certainly true. However, it is also very clear from Scripture that not only are we enabled, by the indwelling presence of God’s Spirit, to be like Christ, but we are called, compelled, commanded to be like Christ. Consider these Scriptures… Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ (1 Corinthians 11:1) Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus (Philippians 2:5) For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son (Romans 8:29) Until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ (Ephesians 4:13) And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit (2 Corinthians 3:18) Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did (1 John 2:6) These are profound statements…even mind-boggling. And yet, this is the teaching of God’s Word. We are called to be like Jesus! But how? How is this possible when I so often feel defeated, weak, unable? The answer takes us back to where we started…by faith in Jesus. It’s not a one and done kind of faith. It’s not a one-time acknowledgment that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, which is then placed on a shelf for a rainy day. It is an active, daily, moment by moment faith. It is a faith which must be activated over and over again in the face of trials or temptations or choices. It’s a faith that learns to turn to Jesus not as an afterthought or a last resort in the midst of struggles, but as our first stop, our anchor, our rock! It is faith grounded in relationship...love! What does this look like, this turning to Jesus? Well, it looks an awful lot like talking to God through prayer, like seeking God in His Word, like listening to His Spirit rather than my will. And it looks a lot like preaching the Gospel to myself, over and over and over again. What’s needed is reeducation. We who have trained ourselves to look to ourselves rather than to Christ must learn to live in Christ and to accept who we are in Christ: loved by God, lovers of God, overcomers! I am not saying it’s easy, but I am saying it’s simple, as simple as a children’s song—”Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so. Little ones to Him belong, they are weak, but He is strong.” In HIS Strength, Pastor Dan
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Dan GannonDan has ministered at Renton Bible Church, with his wife Debbie, since 2003. Archives
June 2022
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