A surrendered life 

“I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless I live, but Christ lives in me, and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”

Galatians 2:20

When the apostle Paul wrote these words around 49 A.D., a controversy was brewing on the matter of faith in Christ alone or faith plus adherence to the Mosaic Law and customs that had been a part of Jewish life ever since Moses came down from Sinai with the words of God carved into stone. As the apostles spread the good news of salvation found in the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross, they had been taught by Jesus Himself that He was the perfect sacrifice for sin since He was God in the flesh. The essence of the gospel was not built upon the continuation of animal sacrifices on the altar but upon the One who had been prophesied as the sin-bearer for the people (Isaiah 52: 13- 53:12). It destroyed the notion that we can save ourselves and that the performance of “good works” will usher us into eternity with God. Our foolish attempts to rectify our situation are grounded in the notion that we can be righteous without the direct intervention of a holy God. When we read Paul’s assessment of human behaviour in Romans 3:10-18, we can see that trying to “clean up our act” is futile and a barrier to the fact that all salvation is of the LORD, and we have nothing to do with it.

The German pastor and theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945) wrote a book dealing with a key point many of us who call ourselves Christians tend to overlook. The book was entitled The Cost of Discipleship, written shortly before his execution in a Nazi concentration camp for denouncing Adolf Hitler and His devilish acts against the Jews and the start of World War II. The book's opening words were, “When a man comes to Christ, he bids him to come and die.” This is a sobering statement and is a counterpunch to the notion that if we come to Christ, He will bring us health, wealth, and prosperity and will answer our prayers with just a word as if our sovereign LORD were nothing more than a butler to pamper our spoiled and lazy selves.

This brings us to something that came to my mind recently, and I pray it will benefit you, the reader. If you recall one of my last columns, I put forth the idea that the Word of God presents the struggle between religion and relationship. For example, let’s go back to the passage of Scripture with which I started this column. Paul was dealing with a problem that had been started by a group of so-called “believers” who insisted that salvation was a combination of faith plus adherence to the laws and customs of the Jews, including circumcision and dietary standards. It was a case of man doing what he always seems to want to do, and that is to improve what has been established by the LORD in the matter of salvation. For some reason, we think we need to add our own concepts and ideas to the free gift of salvation found only by repenting of our sins.

We throw ourselves upon the mercy of Christ to free us from the grip of sin and the revival of our dead souls. The apostle was adamant that what these “believers” were presenting was in fact a false gospel that he blatantly condemned (Galatians 1:8-9). Paul argued that anything that denied the exclusivity of Christ being the ONLY way to salvation and peace with God was not what he had risked his life for in preaching and teaching as a “chosen vessel”. He was saved from his self-righteousness on the road to Damascus. Only when he submitted to the Lordship of Jesus Christ and renounced his religiosity did he truly know what it was like to serve and love God? When Paul was transformed, he surrendered everything he was to come under the sovereignty of the LORD.

When you read his letters to the churches, we see that he never got over the fact that Jesus Christ had saved and called Him to service and that enthusiasm had an effect upon his readers, who were instructed and encouraged to keep focused on Jesus and His directions for all their lives. He stressed that we are no longer the master of our life but that everything and anything we hope to do or be is now under God's sovereign rule and will. In the overall scope of historical and prophetic progress, we see that he uses us to fulfil His will, but he doesn’t need advice or counsel from us. Often, we think too highly of ourselves by even suggesting that we can improve or change the direction of what the LORD has in store for not just His people but for the overall scope of human history.

When you read the Bible with a desire to see how God works things out, the thought should occur that those who are called His children should not allow our flesh and mindset to occupy the throne of our lives. When we come to Christ, it is not just to receive salvation, but is a clear call that we now belong to Him and He can do with us however He pleases. When we try to run things, it almost always leads to disaster personally and for the progress of a nation. All we have to do to illustrate this is to go back to Eden and read about what happened when our ancestors were exposed to the devilish idea that they could be like God.

We are living out the bitter consequences of self-indulgence and the result of putting ourselves in the position of sovereign. The Scriptures are filled with men and women who were deluded by either the devil or their own selfish pride, whether it be king or commoner. When men decided that they could get along without God, the moral freefall that we now see accelerating did not catch the LORD off guard but has been recorded in Scripture, showing that He brought about dire consequences to individuals and nations, with some peoples being wiped off the map of history for their blatant disobedience and wickedness. The Scriptures show that when God is honoured, the people and nation are blessed and protected (2 Chronicles 7:14).