I enjoy doing work
around my house. Whether it be mowing
the yard, trimming the bushes, even building furniture for our house, I get a
lot of joy from working a task through to completion, and I take a lot of pride
in a job well done. The problem is that
when you are in the midst of doing a job, you often find other problems that
also have to be fixed. It's like those
house flipping shows on TV. "Wow, I
can't believe we have to redo all the electrical in this 1922 model house. I was sure that it would be up to 2016
code! This is really going to blow the
budget!" You get what I'm saying.
I was thinking about
this last night in relation to my walk with Jesus. In many ways, I'm like an old house that
Jesus is still working on. How perfect
is it that He was a carpenter? "Oh
wow, check out these old feelings of resentment here! Look over there, that temper of his is really
going to be a problem. I can't leave
that." I wonder if these are the
things Jesus is saying to himself (and to me!) as I walk with him and try to
know him better? I believe they are. I know they are. The question I've always wondered is does He
love me in spite of them?
I find in the
Christian church you have two distinct sects of people. You have the works people who quote
scriptures like "faith without works is dead" and then you have the
grace people who quote scriptures like "I am convinced that nothing can
separate me from the love of Jesus."
All my life, I've been wrestling with this issue and trying to decide
what is correct. I'm still not entirely
certain of my conclusions, but for me, I think it comes down to Peter.
Everyone knows that
Peter denied Christ. It's shown in Mark,
Luke, and John. The story shows that not
only did Peter deny Christ, but that he did it 3 times. The last time, he even got angry and cursed
at the people. I sure am glad I've never
done anything like that…. I asked myself this morning, was Peter a Christian at
that moment? Of course, he was. He had just spent 3 years walking with
Jesus. Now, think about that. I try to walk with Jesus. I try to pray. I try to have a relationship. But let's be honest, most of the time, it
feels kind of one-sided. At least, that's
true for me. But, it wasn't true for
Peter. Peter literally walked with
Jesus. They were companions. They were great friends. They undoubtedly fished together. They probably built furniture, too. Peter knew what kind of jelly Jesus liked on
his biscuits, the kind of jokes Jesus thought were funny, what the name of
Jesus' dog was. I wish I knew those
things. Don’t you? Can you imagine what it would be like to know
Jesus as deeply as you know your spouse, your brother, or your best
friends? I can't deny I'm envious of
that. Even with that knowledge and
companionship, Peter still had to make a choice though, right? I mean after all, in Matthew 16:13-20, Jesus
specifically asked his disciples who he was, and it was Peter who replied,
"You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God." That's a profession of faith. That's the moment, for me, when Peter becomes
a Christian. Can't you hear people singing
on the way to the swimming pool for baptismal "I have decided to follow Jesus, no
turning back, no turning back"?
That's the moment his life should've been changed, right? So, what happens then outside the
garden? Who is this other Peter? This Peter who is afraid. This Peter who is filled with doubt. Where is the Peter who in Matthew 17 had been
on the mountain with Moses, Elijah, and Jesus whose face had "shone like
the sun" and was confirmed by a voice from heaven saying "This is my
Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased.
Listen to Him"? How could
this be? When you have a moment of
professed faith, isn't that it? After
that, aren't you supposed to be free from sin?
So what is it I'm
talking about? I mean really? Now, I'm no theologian, and I certainly don't
claim to be. I'm just a normal guy with
a normal job and a normal life trying to know Jesus. Trying to be like Him. But growing up in the church, I was taught
that the term sanctification is what I'm describing above. I was always taught that sanctification was
an instantaneous event. That once
sanctified, the hold of sin on your life would be forever broken. I think that's true, but I think it sells it
short. Don't get me wrong, do I believe
in deliverance and victory over sin?
Certainly! My grandfather talked
of smoking a pipe until he was sanctified and then being instantly delivered
from it. I've also heard stories of
people delivered from drugs, alcohol, and other sins in similar ways. I'm sure you have, too. Likewise, I've heard of folks who were
healed of cancer and other life threatening diseases. On the other hand, I've seen people pray and
plead for life and watched as cancer killed them anyway. I think that's a lot like
sanctification. Some folks get delivered
immediately and others continue to wrestle with portions of their flesh the
rest of their lives. Why? I think it's because there's a difference
between outright willful sin and falling into temptation. How can I prove this? Well, I probably can't, but what I would
point to is first the Lord's Prayer. Why
would Jesus, when instructing us how to pray, tell us to ask God to not
"let us fall into temptation"?
If we are on some holy plane where we are completely past sin, what's the
point of praying about it? I think
something that's still more powerful is what happens in Luke just a few verses
up from Peter's denying Christ. Jesus
asks the disciples to pray and then goes away in private and pleads with the
father to the point of sweating "like drops of blood". He returns to find them asleep, and what does
He say? He says, "Get up and pray
so that you will not fall into temptation." Keep in mind, He's not talking to me and some of my
friends. He's literally talking to the
Saints. To the martyrs. To the pillars of the faith! That's what I see. Do you know what I think Jesus saw? I think he just saw a bunch of guys that were
friends of His. Guys he had fished
with. Men he had laughed with. Humans.
Normal men who weren't perfect and weren't going to be, but Men who had
made a decision to follow Him. To love
Him. To try to be like Him. But men He knew weren't always going to be
successful at it. And you know
what? That's ok. Because he knew that it was a daily process
for most of us. He knew Peter's failure
would mean more to me 2000 years later than it might have even meant to Peter
at the time. He knew that I would need
to know that it's ok. That He still
loves me. That no matter what,
"nothing can separate me from His love." But at the same time, He also wants me to
pray for deliverance. He wants me to put
my shoulder into the plow. He wants me
to struggle to shake off more of my sinful flesh and to be like Him. He understood that it's like a quarter. You can't have the heads without the
tails. And, the sweet doesn't
taste as sweet without the sour.
Again, I'm not a
theologian. I'm just a normal man trying
to make sense out of my life, and this is what I think.
This world is not my
home.
