The Naked Gospel: Truth You May Never Hear in Church (16 page)

There is this kind of dangerous element about the true
presentation of the doctrine of salvation.

D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1981)

W
HILE
I W
AS A PROFESSOR AT THE
U
NIVERSITY OF
N
OTRE
D
AME, WE
lived in a three-bedroom home in downtown South Bend. Our two spare bedrooms served very specific purposes. One was for guests, and the other functioned as my office. We kept the guest room spotless, just in case. We never knew when we might have a last-minute guest. My office, on the other hand, was a complete wreck. Old books, papers, and equipment were strewn across the room. It was difficult to walk around in the room without stepping on trash.

Imagine you’re walking down the hallway of our home. And let’s say you’re looking for a spot to throw something away. Where would you be more likely to toss your garbage? In the guest room? Or in my office? In my office, I suppose. Well, thanks. I appreciate that! No, I can understand why you’d choose my office. It’s already full of trash anyway.

As you reflect on this scenario, let me ask you an important question: Which room are
you
—the dirty office or the spotless guest room? How do you see yourself? Your answers to these questions determine what you do with garbage that comes your way.

Picture a sinful thought traveling down the hallway of your mind. If you’re the dirty office, then why not just add one more
piece of trash to the pile? You’re dirty anyway, so it doesn’t really matter. But if you’re the clean guest room, garbage doesn’t seem to fit there. It’s out of place.

Our standing as completely forgiven, righteous saints is given to us, before heaven, for a reason. It has everything to do with daily living. In the moment we’re offered a sinful thought, how do we perceive ourselves? As dirty or clean? As sinful or righteous? As sinners or saints? If we’re dirty sinners, then why not just place one more sin on the pile? But if our slate has been wiped clean and we’re now righteous like Christ, then sin just doesn’t fit.

It’s out of place.

Some are afraid the teaching of the New Covenant will somehow lead to more sinning. Nothing could be further from the truth. God himself has declared that awareness of our clean state is the way for behavior change to occur. In fact, anything other than this motivation for upright living isn’t the gospel in action.

Below are two Bible passages that directly link knowledge of our forgiveness and new identity with daily behavior choices. It’s easy to see that our beliefs about our spiritual state can directly affect our actions:

Make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being
ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But if any of you do not have them, you are nearsighted and blind, and you have
forgotten that you have been cleansed from your past sins.

2 P
ETER
1:5-9, italics added

Those who listen to the word but do not do what it says are like people who look at their faces in a mirror and, after looking at themselves, go away and immediately
forget what they look like.

J
AMES
1:23-24, italics added

What are we really afraid of when it comes to believing in our clean, righteous state that is not obtained daily through confession or request? Do we really believe it will lead to more sinning? What’s the difference between sinning first and then asking for forgiveness versus being forgiven already and then sinning? Is the former somehow more humble or more spiritual?

The reality is that the amount of time we spend sinning won’t increase if we agree with God about his Son’s once-for-all sacrifice. In fact, the opposite will occur. We’ll begin to realize that our slate is clean before God. We’ll see that Jesus Christ accomplished this in order to remain in us every moment of every day, no matter what. With awareness of his unconditional presence comes the power to say no to sin.

In Ephesians, Paul also addresses the attitude of forgiving and releasing others from anything they’ve done. His reasoning is that it’s the same treatment we received from our heavenly Father: “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you” (Ephesians 4:32). Essentially, Paul is saying “Pass it on!”

Since we’ve already examined our once-for-all forgiveness in Christ, this passage can mean a lot more. As a blanket statement, God has declared that he keeps no record of our wrongs. We can’t
begin to pay him back. He has released us from what we owe him, even if we continue to do the same things over and over again. If we never realize what we’ve done, or even if we forget about our sins altogether, we’re still forgiven.

Our own forgiveness isn’t contingent on our memory, our sorrow, or our apology. It rests solely on what was accomplished at Calvary. This is the amazing forgiveness that God
chose
for us through the finished work of his Son.

In light of this all-encompassing forgiveness, Paul urges us to allow our hearts to be softened and to issue the same blanket statement to others: “You’re off the hook!” We can
choose
to release others just as God released us, even if they
never
realize what they’ve done and even if they do it
again.
Do you see how an understanding of our once-for-all forgiveness is essential to releasing others with no strings attached?

But it’s not just our forgiveness that leads to good behavior. Paul also makes a direct connection between
identity
and behavior:

Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.

C
OLOSSIANS
3:9-10

This is just one example of how crucial it is to be aware of our new identity in Christ. People tell lies to protect themselves or delay pain—or for other self-edifying reasons. With an unshakable identity and all of our needs met in Christ, we’re not designed to
live in fear. So here we see a bit of divine logic applied to the behavior issue: “Don’t lie
because you’re a new creation.”

Here’s another example. These verses give us insight into what should motivate our expressions of forgiveness and grace toward others:

As God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you have a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.

C
OLOSSIANS
3:12-14

Paul first affirms our true identity. Then he acknowledges that we have a choice to put on one thing or another. He urges us to “wear” qualities that match who we are and how God treats us.

The phrase
clothe yourselves
speaks of getting dressed spiritually. Paul is essentially asking, “What will you wear today?” Just as we wake up every morning and choose the outfit we’ll wear, we also choose what to put on spiritually.

Does this sound like oppressive religion to you? It’s not in the least! Paul is simply appealing to our God-given common sense to suggest healthy choices. The outcome of indulging the flesh can be stressful and divisive. But living from our new identity leads to peace, fulfillment, and unity.

Behavior follows on the heels of the New. It certainly does not act as a condition for it. We forgive because we’re already forgiven. We release others because we’ve already been released. We see others as God sees them because we too have been made new as a gift.

Behavior passages foretell our destiny. It makes sense to seek
them out and crave them, since they quench our thirst for conformity to Jesus Christ. They’re a road map for saving time and expressing who we really are. And as we live out who we really are, we experience peace:

Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything;
what counts is the new creation.
Peace and mercy to all who follow
this rule
—to the Israel of God.

G
ALATIANS
6:15-16, italics added

We can concoct all kinds of doctrines and motivations for upright living. But the only thing that really matters is the new creation. And as we focus on our newness and Christ’s presence within us, our behavior changes.

Nearly two thousand years ago, the apostle Paul penned thousands of words begging the church to leave the law behind, to make central the finished work of Christ, and to discover who they really were. And I believe he’d have a similar admonition for the church today:

Celebrate the New!

     Learn who you really are!

          And then just be yourself!

I
WAS PETRIFIED AT THE THOUGHT OF GETTING MARRIED.
K
ATHARINE
and I had been friends for four years, and then we dated for a year and a half. She was beautiful, intelligent, and sincere in her desire to know God in a deeper way. We had a lot of fun together too!

My reservations really didn’t have anything to do with Katharine. I was just so afraid of making a mistake that I could hardly move forward in the relationship. But one night I drummed up the nerve to propose to her, and we were engaged.

As the wedding approached, I grew more and more tense. At one point, I informed her, “I’ll be at the altar, but I may be on a stretcher.” Romantic, huh? I didn’t know how I was going to make it.

The day of the wedding was the worst. My anxiety level was so high that I nearly turned around and ran out of the church. I wanted to marry Katharine, but I could hardly breathe!

After the ceremony, I wasn’t really sure what I was feeling. But the next morning, I woke up and felt a strange peace. All of a sudden, the emotions that’d been so strongly negative were gone. In the coming months and years, I’ve watched our marriage relationship grow strong and flourish. God was with us for sure.

Why all the anxiety and stress before the wedding then? Again, it had nothing at all to do with Katharine. I was so wrapped up in whether or not I was in God’s will that I could hardly move. In fact, this had happened repeatedly with various dating relationships throughout my early adulthood. I would freeze up and not know what to do. I’d pray for answers, but God never seemed to tell me anything.

I had grown up with a heavy emphasis on finding God’s will. I was taught that God has a perfect will and a permissive will. God’s perfect will is like the bull’s-eye on a target, whereas his permissive will is like the outer rings of the target. Ending up in his permissive will would only yield a second-rate experience. Our goal is to stay in the bull’s-eye—his perfect will. How do we do that? Well, we just have to follow his direction. How will we know what he wants us to do? Just listen. And if you can’t hear him, you’re just not listening hard enough. Or maybe you’re deaf to his voice because of the sins in your life.

Needless to say, this view of God’s will paralyzes those who adhere to it, because
God is not interested in controlling our every move.
Nor is he sending us secret messages about what decisions to make if only we’ll listen hard enough. Because I had fallen victim to error regarding God’s will, I was like a deer in the headlights when one of life’s major decisions—marriage—came at me.

Having gone through such a stressful decision-making process, I was determined to find out the truth about the will of God. As I consulted Scripture, I discovered that the will of God boils down to the following:

• that none perish but all believe
  (1 Timothy 2:4; 2 Peter 3:9)
  
• that salvation come to the Jews
  and
  Gentiles
  (Ephesians 1:5-2:22)
  
• that we present our bodies to him every day
  (Romans 12:1-2)
  
• that we bear much fruit
  (John 15:8; Colossians 1:9-12)
  
• that we pray throughout our lives
  (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)
  

God’s will is essentially that Christ live
in us
and express himself
through us
as we are
transparent
before him.

The scriptural view of God’s will turned out to be dramatically different from what I had heard. This put an end to my perpetual wondering about whether or not I was “in God’s will” with regard to daily decision making.

In discovering that God’s will is
Christ in me and Christ through me,
I could see that God was behind every door, even the door of sin. I’m not saying that sinning is OK or that God wants us to sin. Of course not! What I mean is that whether or not I choose a particular door in life, God will always be there. He will be there because he’s in me. He’s not just
with
me, but he’s
in
me. So wherever I go, there he is!

Freedom to choose can be a scary thing. It means that displaying passivity as I wait on God to
decide for me
doesn’t make any sense. It means being responsible and learning from consequences. Most important, it means going through life without secret messages that lead to safe, successful choices all the time. Ultimately, this means there’s an air of mystery about the future. Although the inaccurate view of God’s will is appealing to the flesh, there’s nothing like living and growing under the freedom to choose.

As I contemplated the stress I had experienced over getting married, I noticed that the apostle Paul himself expressed his freedom concerning marriage, stating this about himself and his fellow apostles: “Don’t we have the right to take a believing wife along with us?” (1 Corinthians 9:5). Although Paul was free to choose any believing woman, we know what he ultimately decided. After surveying all possibilities, he decided it was best to remain single. This was most likely due to the distress in the early church. After all, is it an act of love to marry a woman when you know you’ll likely be martyred soon? So, although Paul had freedom to marry any believing woman, he employed some God-given common sense and decided not to.

My point is that many Christians are paralyzed as they wait for God to tell them which car they should buy, which house they should purchase, or whom they should marry. This framework for decision making appears to be very spiritual, but it’s not scriptural.

When we come to the realization that we’re new creations with new hearts and new minds, we can live as God intended. We can wake up every day and ask, “What do I
want
to do?” and “What makes the most sense?” We can trust that if it is not motivated by fleshly appetites, it is sanctified by the very fact that a new creation is doing it. We’re free to live from our wants, since we, together with our hearts, minds, hobbies, and interests, are now set apart in everything we do.

This is freedom! Scary? Maybe. But we’re in a much better position if we live from what’s actually biblical rather than what we
feel
God is like. As we move toward maturity and thank God that we can learn from our past choices, we experience Jesus, who will never leave us or forsake us.

So what do you do when you’ve pondered and even prayed for wisdom, but God isn’t deciding for you? The bottom line regarding tough decisions is to learn your new identity in Christ, live from your heart
and
mind, and enjoy life!

You don’t have to succumb to the paralysis of analysis. Christ is in you, and you are in Christ.

So God is behind every door!