Receiving Grace
I love the way the letter of Colossians refers to spiritual directions and positions. It helps us understand how we can see ourselves in relation to God and one another. Paul writes about how we have been transferred from darkness to light, and he discusses the power of our life being hidden in God. Salvation in God moves us to a new spiritual neighborhood where freedom is defined by intimacy with God, and authority is defined by surrender.
Each person reading this today will have a different story with God, but it is good to pause and ask ourselves, How do we orient ourselves toward God? How can we rightfully view ourselves in relationship to an all-powerful, eternal God?
In my experience, the easiest stance to take toward God is one of passivity. Many believers leave God at a safe distance, only a part of their lives indirectly through their Christian community. Consumer Christianity makes it easy to go through the motions of religion without developing a transformational knowledge of God.
To be clear, sitting through a sermon doesn’t replace the power of pursuing God in his word daily. Singing a worship song at church doesn't replace the power of prayer and intercession. Serving at a church event doesn’t fully fulfill the mandate to live a compassionate and generous life of love. All these things are excellent practices of the Christian faith, scripture-backed, and essential to the life of the church. Yet without a revelation of who we are in God outside of these things, the story is incomplete.
True moves of God are sustained by prayer closets, worn Bibles, and a personal conviction to love like Christ. This kind of devotion faith is not earned or developed. You can’t attain it through practice (you might get close, and you might fool people), and you can’t acquire it through education. This kind of freedom and power is only received through grace.
Colossians 1:27 summarizes Paul’s revelation of the new covenant, “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” Do you have the power to invite God to live inside of you? Could any measure of earthly success and perfection make you worthy of possessing such hope-filled glory? Can you attract God to make his home in your heart?
No such thing is possible! If our relationship with God were based on our works, we would be firmly disqualified from any relationship whatsoever! Jesus said it plainly in John 3:18, “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.”
Our default position toward God is one of condemnation and separation. We can pretend our religion saves us, but until we receive this transformational grace, we are just spinning our wheels.
Therefore, a radical invitation to abide must first break down every wall and shatter every division that keeps us from God. This is not something I can do in my own strength, so for Christ to be in me, a work beyond me must take place. Our faith radically shifts when we recognize that every dream we have of holiness and freedom comes directly from God. If we live in freedom, it is because God desires for us to live in freedom. If we possess glory, it is because God first desired to share his glory with us.
Recognizing this truth allows the burden of self-perfection to fall off. Instead of being worn-out servants, we are treasured sons and daughters who share everything with the Father. We can live as grateful recipients of full grace and freedom.
Amen.
