Archive for January 4th, 2008
Forgotten Fruit
We are plagued with a relentless forgetfulness. We react lopsidedly to distortions of truth and create an equally off-balance view of faith. Such, I fear, is the state of things in Western Christian faith. We have made believing a matter of the mind, a private invitation to Jesus, in our fear of creating a works-based conversion. Yet in the process, we have robbed the Lordship of Jesus out of the response of those seeking to become Jesus’ followers. We have focused on being saved rather than surrendering to the will of God and turning our lives over to Jesus to have Him remake us. I understand the fears of turning conversion into something we can accomplish by our works. At the same time, I am deeply concerned that a crucial element of all genuine conversion in the New Testament is completely forgotten, abandoned, and sometimes villified — repentance.
Repentance is seen by the convicted hearts of those who ask, “What must we do?” (Our reading if from Luke 3 today, so notice verses 11, 12, and 13 as well as Acts 2:37 and Acts 16:30.) They know that while their actions can’t save them, salvation must change them! Couple with that the emphasis that repentance — a genuine change of the mind, heart, and behavior — must involve obvious fruit in the life of the believer (Luke 3:8-9). This life change brought about by our repentance is the dawning of the reign of Jesus in our hearts and lives; we begin to live out the prayer, “Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” Salvation becomes more than something we get in the great by-and-bye and more the dawning of a new lifestyle, a Jesus lifestyle, in the here and now.
//Inspiration: Luke 3:8
“Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham.”
//Incarnation: What this verse means to my life today
I know my good deeds can’t earn me salvation. I know God doesn’t grade on the curve. I know grace is a free gift. But I also know that faith is more than something that happens in my head. Faith involves the yielding of my heart to the Lordship of Jesus as well as the ultimate trust that Jesus is the basis of relationship with God. Faith is also being willing to swim upstream against culture because God has called me to his holiness — His radical character and compassion. So while my deeds won’t save me, being saved shows up in my deeds — I live differently, for different purposes and spurred on by a different motivation. I want to honor Jesus as Lord. I want His values reflected in my behavior. I want others to see my lifestyle, the fruit I produce, and seek the One who is causing it and calling it to happen.
//Invitation: My prayer for today
O Father of grace and mercy, thank you for your rich grace given to me in Jesus. Forgive me for being complacent with that grace and not hearing You call me to conform my life to Jesus. Empower the change in me you want so that I can more clearly reflect Jesus to others. It is in Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
Click the comments link below and share your input on today’s readings!
Here a couple of questions to get you started, but feel free to add whatever you like to the discussion.
What is the verse that speaks most powerfully to you and why?
What makes it hard for you to live out God’s will for you in this passage?
What did you think about Phil’s take on this passage?
(The daily Bible reading schedule can be found online with Heartlight or hard copy out in pdf.)