Who does the work in your Christian life?
The answer: “God alone does the work” is accurate when it comes to our conversion from unbeliever to believer, for God alone can save a sinner who is dead spiritually. That’s what we mean by justification.
That’s what it means to be born again. As a person you didn’t give birth to yourself physically. As a believer you didn’t give birth to yourself spiritually.
What a gift of grace!
Who does the work in your Christian life?
The answer: “God alone does the work” is not accurate, helpful or biblical when it comes to our Christian life after the moment of conversion from unbeliever to believer. It is throughout the believer’s life that God continues to work and so does the believer, by faith. That’s what we mean by sanctification.
If, in my life of sanctification, I expect Christ alone to do all the work, I’m not a disciple. Not a learner. Not a follower. Not an agent of his kingdom.
I find that sanctification is much harder to grasp than justification. Why? Because I’m more involved. I get in the way. I carry exceptions and assumptions that may or may not be helpful.
I need to lean on Christ for me, who is also Christ in me. But I’m just not sure sometimes about my balance of that leaning. It can be awkward. I lack confidence and clarity.
When I focus on what I need to do, it feels like I’m not leaning on Christ. When I focus on what Christ has done and can continue to do, it feels like I’m a spectator, excusing my laziness because Christ can do all things.
Here’s a quick example. How do I pray for my neighbor to come to church on Sunday, or for my friend distressed by mental illness to find peace, or for a child who is hurting because of abuse?
If I pray simply, “Jesus, you go take care of that,” I’m not fulfilling my sanctified life of practicing the empowering commands of Jesus to show love to others.
On the other hand, if I pray simply, “Jesus, I can take care of this if you let me,” I’m not fulfilling my sanctified life of practicing the empowering promises of Jesus to equip me for obedience.
Are you with me? I hope these 3 truths will help you as they are helping me.
First, the justifying grace of Jesus Christ for me doesn’t stop once I’m justified. God continues to forgive me entirely without my help, even when I’m a believer.
Second, this struggle is a good sign. It is a beautiful symptom of a faith-filled heart of love, worship and discipleship. I want to do better. I want more of Christ in me. While at the same time I humbly confess I still fall into sin living in me.
That leads to the concluding trump of truth: left alone in my justification, I am not saved, and left alone after I come to faith, I am not sanctified. But, praise the God of salvation, I am not left alone.
“I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me” (Colossians 3:29).
Spend 10 minutes now continuing below. I’ve added a big bonus in the Take It Deeper section, with a song called “Yet Not I But Through Christ In Me,” and some background about the artist CityAlight.
If you don’t have time now, save this for later, or for tonight, or tomorrow morning. You’ll be glad you did. So will Jesus.
PRAYER: Oh Christ, I live by your work for me, and I live by your work in me. In my life once I become a believer, you want me to work, too. If I try to do too much work, or if I don’t do enough work, please work in me what is right and holy. I want more of you. Amen.
TAKE IT DEEPER: Here is some background to “Yet Not I But Through Christ In Me,” a song that captures our Christian struggle that is “strange and divine.” Click on the song for a listen, and you’ll be able to follow along with the lyrics as well.
“The mission of CityAlight is to write simple melodies with biblically rich lyrics … We began this project with an idea, and over the course of the year we became more and more convinced that our songs should be headed in this direction. The idea was joy. More specifically we had in mind Christian joy which we believed to be something quite distinct, and we wanted that notion to inspire, underwrite, and unify the songs written for this project.
We came across a sermon from the Baptist preacher Charles Spurgeon where he had said, ‘Are there not periods of life when we feel so glad that we would dance for joy? Let not such exhilaration be spent upon common themes, but let the name of God stir us to ecstasy […] There is enough in our holy faith to create and to justify the utmost degree of rapturous delight. If men are dull in the worship of the Lord our God they are not acting consistently with the character of their religion.’ In other words, the realities of Christianity provide us with so many opportunities for deep and lasting joy that if our worship does not reflect this, we ought to ask ourselves whether we are really singing about the Jesus of the Bible.
So we wrote to our team the following: ‘We are asking you to write songs that give our people the language and the opportunity to sing of this joy. It does not mean that your song must be titled ‘Joy’. You might not even use the word at all. What we want you to do is consider the deep and lasting realities of Christianity that provide occasion for true joy. And we want you to write about that.’
Joy is the foundation and, like many foundations, is hidden but essential.
“Yet Not I but Through Christ in Me” took us 12 weeks to write. We dove deep into the idea of what it meant to have Christ dwell in us. What an incredibly profound, mysterious truth. It needed time. We wrote and rewrote the songs many, many times. We struggled for every word.
This is an exploration of one of the greatest mysteries of the Christian faith. Having Christ in us calls together two apparently paradoxical ideas: we contend for the faith and we do it with Christ’s energy (Colossians 1.29, ‘To this end I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me’). Having Christ in us does not mean we do no more work, and neither does it mean we do it all. Rather, we contend and we contend with his energy. Even our final resurrection is made possible by the gift of Christ in us. He will bring us to glory. In our weakness he is strong, and he will complete the work he has begun. He himself is within us, leading us home, step by step. Every believer has been given this gift. It’s worth singing about!”
https://www.challies.com/interviews/get-to-know-cityalight-and-their-new-album/
