Dead Works part 1
Its funny to me the way we twist things around--usually after saying, "The Bible clearly says!" For example, we have almost made repentance a bad word. At the very least a misunderstood word. Here's the way the "church world" seems most excited about using that word, "Repent of your sins or you're going straight to hell!" Get right or get left. Straighten up and fly right or else you're in for a world of hurt. Do better so you can be better. But... wait a minute. Isn't that the lie that the serpent hissed into Eve's ear back in the misty gardens of Eden? And, shockingly, when the Bible talks about repentance it doesn't mention sin at all. Look at Hebrews 6:1, "Therefore leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection; not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God." What this says to me is that repentance is a foundation of our "Christian walk." Its something that comes very early in the process of perfection, or maturation. It is NOT the be-all end-all of what we're trying to do here. And the thing we need to repent of is not sin. Sin is unbelief. And Jesus took away the sin of the world when He gave us something (someONE, Himself, LOVE) to believe in. What we need to repent--or change our minds about--is OUR part in this whole thing. The lie was, "Do in order to be. You're not good enough right now, but if you try hard enough maybe someday you will be." But here's the problem with that: When there's a carrot on a stick, you usually end up getting BEATEN with the stick, instead of ever getting to enjoy the carrot. Jesus said it like this to the rich young ruler, "...Yet lackest thou one thing..." (Luke 18:22). In that case it wasn't that the man had a lot of possesions. It was that his possesions had him. He wasn't willing to let go of the world. And we know that we cannot serve two masters. That doesn't work. And here's the point of this Rant series: Works don't work! Because, in the same way that faith without works is dead... dead works don't get us where we want (or where our heavenly Father wants us) to go. You can't earn a gift. And that's what God gave us when He gave us His only begotten Son. That's what Jesus gave us when He gave His life for us, and to us. He gave us a gift. The gift of eternal life. The gift of living and loving, because we know that we ARE loved. And yet we still spend so much of our lives--our three t's; time, talent, and treasure--looking for love in all the wrong places. I'm telling you: Dead works are working hard to earn something that can't be earned. Dead works are working hard to earn a gift that has already been freely given. Let me say it another way: "Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?" (Galatians 3:3). It's not what you do that matters. It's who you are. Because what you do FLOWS from who you are. When you repent from dead works, and stop trying to be someone you're not in order to get something you think you haven't got (but something you really DO already have) that's when you can start to live from a posture of rest. That's when what's inside of you can start to come out. Naturally. As you fill yourself to overflowing with what you've already been filled with. When you know and believe that the love of God is in you... that's when you receive it and release it. That's when your works stop being dead and start giving life!