Pleasing God Pt 2: Works of the Law

The Pharisees get a lot of bad rap in the church today. We like to poke fun at them for being so thick-skulled and completely missing what Jesus said to them. We sometimes act like children on a playground, juxtaposing them as the bad guys and Jesus as a sort of good-guy bully putting them in their place. We pray "I thank God that I am not proud like the Pharisee." Ironic?

We miss the fact sometimes that we're just like the Pharisees. You see, the Pharisees were trying to gain favor with God. They prided themselves in knowing the law and spent all their time studying the law to make sure they were doing everything just so in order to please God. Since they had it down so well, it caused them to look down upon the others who had not yet arrived according to their standard. How are we any different?

We go to our social club churches and make lists of "dos" and "don'ts" and pay our tithe and don't drink or smoke or chew or hang with those who do. And we think it gives us license to look down on those who don't fit our mold of what the perfect Christian looks like. We're Pharisees. On the outside we may look good, but on the inside we're as rotten as the next guy. We serve God with our lips but our hearts are far from Him. Then we quote that little over-used cliché, "It's not about religion, it's about relationship." But all we have is religion. Anyone who goes on like that is in for quite the surprise when they meet God on judgement day and hear "Depart, worker of lawlessness, I never knew you."

I was a Pharisee. I grew up in a good Christian home. I never did any bad things. I was a good kid! But then Jesus told the Pharisees what was really in the law. And I was guilty. The vilest of sinners on the inside, no matter how prim and perfect things seemed on the outside. I hated someone; I lusted; I twisted truth; I had mental idols; on down the list... Worst of all, I put myself above others simply because their sins showed up on the outside. After all, hypocrisy looks better on me than it does on you.

I think it is very profound that God says in Revelation that He'd rather we be hot or cold, but lukewarmness makes Him sick. I used to puzzle over that. How could God want us to be cold? But then I learned that at least if you're cold you know you're cold. Remember the parable of the sheep and the goats? The goats were lukewarm. They thought they had it down. They thought they and God were tight. But they were really serving themselves. At least if they had been cold they would've recognized when God said they didn't serve Him.

When you boil it all down, true service and true obedience is born out of love. When you spend your time chasing works of the law and good deeds and concern yourself with pleasing God by *doing* something, you are serving and obeying out of fear or out of pride. You are relying on yourself to save you. God says the greatest commandment is to love Him with all your heart, soul, and mind. When you love someone that much you don't have to keep a list of what they like and don't like. You just know, because there is relationship.

Jesus died to give us that relationship. He took away what needed to be done to please God. There is nothing more to do to please God. That doesn't mean we throw all restraint out the window and live like the devil, but I will get to that in a subsequent post. For now, just rest in the thought that it's already been done. He said "It is finished." That is the end. No more working. No more hypocrisy. No more fear.
Think about it.

Pleasing God Pt 1: Faith and works

I was pondering the other day what it really means to please God. Most people in the Christian religion today are quite preoccupied with trying to please God. Somehow it seems we have this idea that if we please God enough then He'll bless us. Of course, if asked directly we may say that doing good doesn't get us into heaven because we know it's not all about works (the Bible flat-out says it isn't). Why should it be any different while we live on earth? Why should God reward or punish us based on our works while we live on earth, but when it comes to eternity, now we can rely on Christ's sacrifice?

This is not to say works are unimportant. After all, James says that faith without works is dead. But, even though it isn't directly stated in so many words, the Bible also says that works without faith is dead. Hebrews 11:6 says that without faith it is impossible to please God. What then? Again, it is the thermometer vs compass aspect. James says "Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works."

Hebrews 11 also says that God rewards those who believe Him. So then, we are awarded for faith and not for works; and our faith produces works as a natural byproduct. HOWEVER, it is important to realize that just as we are not capable of doing good enough works to please God, so we also cannot manufacture faith that pleases God. I have heard people try to "psych" themselves up into faith. They think that if they say they have faith and do crazy things and call it "stepping out on faith" that it will somehow produce faith. But what does the Bible say? "Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God."

This was a very interesting concept for me when I first began to grasp it. I decided to try it out. I got on Bible Gateway and listened to my daily Bible reading while reading along. The results were stunning! I can't even begin to explain the faith that welled up in me. Just simply by hearing the Bible read aloud rather than silently reading inside my head. Now, that is not to say that if you read your Bible aloud every day that your problems will be over--you will have faith a'plenty and the works to go along with it. No, you still have to exercise and grow your faith and act upon it. But there is just something about hearing the truth aloud that just drowns out all the lies. What does Ephesians say about the shield of faith? "[with it] you will be able to extinguish ALL the fiery darts of the wicked one."

There are many more things to be said about faith, but I don't want to write a novel here and overwhelm my readers. And I feel like with all I've learned I am still only beginning to scratch the surface. Next time I plan to tackle a bit more of the works aspect. Do your works show that you believe in God? Do you try to motivate faith with works or do you simply believe and act accordingly? Think about it.