It’s almost impossible for us to be perfect on our own. Galatians 5:5 says, “But by faith we eagerly await through the Spirit the righteousness for which we hope.” We are waiting for the righteousness for which we hope. We do not yet possess righteousness - we are yearning and waiting for it. The use of the word “hope” also makes it clear that righteousness is not something we can muster up on our own. We are waiting to receive it.
However, we sometimes we fool ourselves into thinking that we can be perfect and righteous, so we veer down our own paths and set up our own rules, regulations and standards. To be frank, this leads to failure the majority of the time. When we take this course of action, we are straining in our own strength to reach some goal that we dreamt up with the intention of proving something.
What’s needed when we mess up is not to come up with a new “plan” or goal – we simply need to understand grace and repentance. We have to understand grace so that 1) we will stop trying to prove ourselves through legalistic standards or behavior, and 2) so that we can abide in God’s peace instead of struggling constantly. If we really understood grace, I think that we would stop being so legalistic and setting ourselves up for failure by creating absurdly high standards for ourselves. How many of us have been in that cycle before? You mess up, so you set some outlandish goal for yourself, you fail, and then you begin the process again. It’s not fun - it’s exhausting; and more importantly, it’s not what God intended for us at all!
When we mess up and then set crazy standards, we are not in step with the Spirit. “Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.” Galatians 5:24-25 We are totally walking in our strength and chasing the passions and desires of the sinful nature when we fall into this pattern of behavior – pridefully seeking glory or satsifaction and not submitting to God or following the Holy Spirit’s guidance.
I want to understand grace. I want to understand grace so that when I make a mistake, I can confess it and feel confident that Jesus already took care of that transgression for me. I want to know and believe that I don’t have to do anything special to “cover” or pay for that slip-up – I simply need to confess it, accept His forgiveness and choose to act differently next time, understanding that God alone will grant me the willpower to do so. I also need to understand the reality that I probably will sin again – it is part of being human. But that is not an excuse to sin freely. I need to constantly stay in step with the Holy Spirit and act as he prompts me to act, fully understanding my fragility, powerlessness and weakness as a human. This is what God intended. I want to free up my mind to do and say and think as He tells me, not waste time and energy plotting my next plan to avoid sin or make up for what I did in the past. “IT IS FINISHED!”
God, help us to do as you say in 1 Peter 1:13-14:
“Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance.”
Thank you for taking care of it, Jesus.
However, we sometimes we fool ourselves into thinking that we can be perfect and righteous, so we veer down our own paths and set up our own rules, regulations and standards. To be frank, this leads to failure the majority of the time. When we take this course of action, we are straining in our own strength to reach some goal that we dreamt up with the intention of proving something.
What’s needed when we mess up is not to come up with a new “plan” or goal – we simply need to understand grace and repentance. We have to understand grace so that 1) we will stop trying to prove ourselves through legalistic standards or behavior, and 2) so that we can abide in God’s peace instead of struggling constantly. If we really understood grace, I think that we would stop being so legalistic and setting ourselves up for failure by creating absurdly high standards for ourselves. How many of us have been in that cycle before? You mess up, so you set some outlandish goal for yourself, you fail, and then you begin the process again. It’s not fun - it’s exhausting; and more importantly, it’s not what God intended for us at all!
When we mess up and then set crazy standards, we are not in step with the Spirit. “Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.” Galatians 5:24-25 We are totally walking in our strength and chasing the passions and desires of the sinful nature when we fall into this pattern of behavior – pridefully seeking glory or satsifaction and not submitting to God or following the Holy Spirit’s guidance.
I want to understand grace. I want to understand grace so that when I make a mistake, I can confess it and feel confident that Jesus already took care of that transgression for me. I want to know and believe that I don’t have to do anything special to “cover” or pay for that slip-up – I simply need to confess it, accept His forgiveness and choose to act differently next time, understanding that God alone will grant me the willpower to do so. I also need to understand the reality that I probably will sin again – it is part of being human. But that is not an excuse to sin freely. I need to constantly stay in step with the Holy Spirit and act as he prompts me to act, fully understanding my fragility, powerlessness and weakness as a human. This is what God intended. I want to free up my mind to do and say and think as He tells me, not waste time and energy plotting my next plan to avoid sin or make up for what I did in the past. “IT IS FINISHED!”
God, help us to do as you say in 1 Peter 1:13-14:
“Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance.”
Thank you for taking care of it, Jesus.
Wow, awesome post. This is something I think about often. Difficult topic to grasp, but you did a great job of describing it with the verses. Hmmm.. a new perspective...growing in His grace! What a relief!
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