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The Life-giving Spirit

"It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But there are some of you who do not believe" (for Jesus knew from the beginning who those were who did not believe, and who it was who would betray him.) And he said, "This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father."
After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. So Jesus said to the Twelve, "Do you want to go away as well?" Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God."
John 6:63-69


The Spirit gives life. The flesh is of no help at all. Notice what happened when Jesus said this. Many of His disciples left and followed Him no more. Why is that? Perhaps they were trying to earn salvation and Christ's words made it clear that it was impossible to earn salvation by one's own righteousness.

I've had a plethora of conversations about free will and predestination, and one argument that I always hear is that if God chose us all in advance, His grace is cheapened in some way. If we don't get to choose, what's the point of missions or living a moral life?

Where do these ideas come from? It seems that often times they come from human emotion rather than from Scripture. What does God's Word say? That should be our primary concern. Instead, how often do we let our emotions and rational thought dictate what we believe about God?

The flesh is of no help at all. I praise God that He has given me the exact way to know that I am spending eternity in His Kingdom. I don't have to try and be good enough to earn a spot in Heaven. In fact, it is the exact opposite. I have to realize that I could not live well enough to attain righteousness. Instead, I must acknowledge that I am a sinner who falls short of God's standard. Sorry to sound like a pessimist, but you cannot live up to God's standard by human means! That belief has led countless "good" people down the road to destruction.

We must be humble. We are not worthy of God's grace and mercy, yet He freely gives them to us. We must acknowledge the mystery of God in choosing us out of the world. Just because it doesn't make sense doesn't mean that it is not true! Trust God's Word and watch Truth transform your heart and renew your mind in the likeness of Jesus Christ!

I rejoice in the fact that the less pressure I put on myself, the more Christ can do in and through me. The less I try to perfect myself, the more I see the Spirit of God guiding my steps. God's grace is not diminished because He knew us and chose us out of the world. It is quite the opposite when you acknowledge His unchanging goodness and desire to share that goodness with everyone.

Comments

  1. EHApril 1, 2009 at 5:30 PM

    Amen brother here is a quote for you that you might find interesting
    and in support of a well written thought.

    " This doctrine of election disturbs a lot of fine people. They do not think it is fair. They believe it makes God's people prideful. But in fact, the doctrine of God's choosing does the exact opposite- it humbles us.If you want to complain about a doctrine being unfair, then complain about the reward of heaven by grace. If ever there was an unfair doctrine in the world. Heaven by grace - that is purely discrimination. There is nothing more humbling than the realization that you are saved by grace alone because of absolutely NOTHING YOU HAVE DONE OR WILL DO. There is no one who has really embraced the doctrine of God's sovereign choosing and is proud of that fact...This truth humbles us to the dust."
    J. Ligon Duncan III

    ReplyDelete

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