Getting back to grace

The more I go on in my Christian walk the more concerned I am becoming at the number of Christians who seems to go astray from the core of the Gospel i.e. the grace and mercy of God. It is a phenomenon I have noticed here in Spain and am sure that it is occurring in many other places.

There seems to be a very subtle undercurrent afoot in some churches here which implies that you are saved by faith but after that you better look out because from here on in you better keep your socks pulled up and your nose clean or God is going to finish with you. There is a big culture of obedience to God being a guaranteed path to achieving your dreams and to a guarantee of blessing. Now do NOT misunderstand me. I am NOT and NEVER will be an advocate of antinomianism (the idea that we as Christians are under no obligation to obey God's law...see
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antinomianism for a definition.) Paul makes this clear in Romans 6v1-2. "What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?"

However, it would appear that these teachers who promise that obeying God will guarantee that you fulfil your deepest desires and guarantee you success in life are in danger of falling into another trap that the Paul is equally censorious of, and that is legalism. Wikipedia defines legalism as "the notion that obedience to a code of religious law is necessary for salvation." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antinomianism

From what I have seen this also seems to apply to sanctification and to a life of blessing. What ever happened to "it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose." (Philippians 2v13)(See also 2 Corinthians 9v8 Philippians 1v6, Hebrews 13v20-21) These passages make it clear that it is God who works the desire for obedience in us and who keeps us persevering in our faith. He does not do this because we deserve it. He saves us as an act of grace (God's riches at Christ's expense....He accepts us on the basis of Christ's merits) and He keeps us by His grace too. Peter reminds us in 1 Peter 1v5 that we "are kept by the power of God" until Christ's return when we will be made perfect. (Andrew Bonar has some excellent thoughts on this. See http://articles.christiansunite.com/article20.shtml

Jesus gives a harsh lesson to those who think they can earn God's favour. He said "For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven." (Matthew 5v20)Thankfully if we are trusting in Christ, God sees you as having never committed any sins and as having done all the good deeds that Christ did on earth. He also sees Christ as guilty of ever sin you ever committed and of every good work that you omitted to do. It was for this reason that Christ lived a perfect life and died as a perfect sacrifice for sin. If you want to access God's blessing on your own merit you will be doomed to failure because you cannot obey perfectly.

You came to God by the cross and it will ever remain the only route to Him. It is the only merit you can plead when asking for His help and favour. Obey Him because you love Him and out of a grateful heart. Don't obey Him to try to curry favour.

Also, take into account that often those who obeyed God best suffered most. Look at the life of Job. If you are striving to please God in the hope of realising all your ambitions this guy's story will not make for pleasant reading. Are you prepared to come to the place where instead of saying "God can make my dream of being a teacher etc come true so I will obey Him" to become "Though He slay me yet will I trust Him."? (Job 13v15) Psalm 37v4 and Matthew 6v33 show us that we must prioritise God's desires and not our ambitions. God's priority is for us to glorify Him. If that means you have to stay in a dead end job all your life He doesn't mind. If that is the best way for you to glorify Him take pride in it. He will magnify His grace to you in it.

For those who have failed remember that God accepted you by His grace and that is the road back. The blood of Jesus cleanses and goes on cleansing us from every indivual sin and avery type of sin, all we have to do is repent. (1 John 1v7,9) Psalm 51v17 and Isaiah 57v15 show us that God values a humble spirit and a heart broken because of sensitivity to sin. We must realise that even our best obedience is tainted by sin and is only accepted by God because of the merits of Christ. If you are not daily beseeching God by the merits of His grace and the blood then dear friend you do not really know your own heart nor do you realise the magnitude of what was done for you. I finish with John Newton's words "T'was grace that has brought you safe thus far and grace shall lead you home"