The Rejuvenating Power of the Gospel: Which was granted to us in Christ Jesus

Three weeks ago a friend gave me a very generous gift. It wasn't my birthday, and there was really no reason behind it other than he wanted to show how much he appreciated me. It was so exciting to open, and yet it was really hard to take. I immediately began to think of what I could have done to deserve such a gift, and then started considering how I could express my thanks back to him in a significant way. I actually felt bad that I was the object of such a lavish expression of love, and immediately started thinking about how I could be extravagant back to him and make it all even.

Isn't that just like us? We feel we have to earn our gifts, or at least do something that makes us feel like we "deserve" the extravagance. The problem is our pride. To have something wonderful given to us while completely undeserving and unable to reciprocate rubs us the wrong way. We live in a quid pro quo world, and when things are too one-sided we actually feel bad.

This explains why Paul had to remind Pastor Timothy that every ounce of his acceptance before Almighty God was made possible by a love grant from heaven. His rescue from the ravages of sin as well as his position in the family of a holy God had been completely effected by God. His own good works played no part. Rather, he had been graciously gifted a new, eternally satisfying life in Christ Jesus quite apart from any merit on his part.

Perhaps Timothy had forgotten this wonderful part of the gospel story. Perhaps as he went about his ministerial duties in Ephesus he began to consider that God certainly had made a good choice when he decided to draft him into ecclesiastical service. Whatever the case it is clear that Paul thought he needed to hear the simple truth that all he had received from God had been granted to him. He didn't deserve it, and he certainly couldn't reciprocate in kind.

The whole idea that somehow God is indebted to us has gained a wide, if uninformed, acceptance. I would suggest that the vast majority of America's evangelical Christ-followers actually believe that God saved them in response to their decision to let him. They were wandering through life, mostly doing okay. But at some point things took a turn for the worse. They decided to give religion a go, and maybe read something, or talked to a friend, or in some fashion got themselves onto a path that took them to the story of Jesus. They listened, analyzed, considered, reflected, and at some point, decided to try it. They decided to give Jesus a chance to live up to his billing. They made the decision to put Jesus into the game of their life to see if he could get the win.

If that story sounds good to you, watch out. Better yet, go back and read 2 Timothy 1:9. I don't know what was going through Timothy's mind, but two things are clear: First, although he had been appointed by God, he was now ashamed of the gospel, back on his heels, and basically burned out. Secondly, he was in desperate need of clarity when it came to the gospel. His position in grace, like yours and mine, was never conditioned on our works. It was never even conditioned upon our belief, since our faith itself was included in God's gift (see: Ephesians 2:8-10, and further explanation below).

Rather than our salvation being a result of our works, the entirety of our rescue - including our faith and repentance - was the result of God's work, accomplished by God the Son and applied through the gospel by God the Spirit. Paul might easily have stated it this way: "God the Father thought it, God the Son bought it, God the Spirit brought it ... and Timothy my son ... you've got it. Now, enjoy it, live up to it, rest in it, and stop trying to earn it. You've been gifted what you could never earn nor buy. Now, let that wash over you as you rest in the garden of grace we call the gospel."

Now, maybe you're confused about something I said about faith and repentance above. Let me try to clear it up:  The truth is, being dead in our sins (Ephesians 2:1-3) we could never have worked up repentance over our sin or saving faith in Jesus Christ on our own. It is clear from Ephesians 2:8-10 and 2 Timothy 2:26 that both saving faith and true repentance are gifts given by God. However, it is not true that this makes faith and repentance unnecessary, or even something other than our own actions.

Since our repentance and our faith start with our own mental decisions, they are, in every sense, ours. They are the product of our wills. But, as we grow in the knowledge of God and his great rescue mission, we come to see that he enabled our sin-corrupted wills to want righteousness. We came to love him because he first loved us. We came to know him because he first knew us. We came to see the reality of our sin and the magnificence of our Savior because he first gave us new life, opening our blind spiritual eyes and ears to see Christ and hear his voice calling us to himself (see: John 5:25).

Here's the essence of it all, the sine qua non: While we cannot separate them chronologically, logically regeneration precedes faith. His life made our love both possible and actual. His power in giving us life made his offer of redeeming love irresistible. And all this was according to the plan that was granted us in Christ Jesus.

Timothy needed to hear that. You and I need to hear that, and we need to reflect on it, and find rest in it everyday. Otherwise our natural tendency to bristle in the face of undeserved generosity may pull us back into the riptide of thinking that we did, or are doing, something to keep God on our side. In Christ he is always on our side, and - as we will see in the next post - has been "from all eternity."

Hope this helps,

David