What Benefit?

What Benefit?

My son is 3 and is having a tough time with potty-training.  If you were to ask him, “Connor, where do we go poo-poo?” He’d tell you emphatically, “In the potty, not in your pants!” When he makes a mistake and goes in his pants he is genuinely remorseful, “Papa, I’m sorry,” with little tears welling up in his eyes.  As parents we understand the concept of ‘stages’ of development…  infant, toddler, ‘terrible two’s,’ potty training…  hormone enraged teens, etc.  Their behavior doesn’t change our love for them, but it can cause frustration on our end because the fewer mistakes they make the more opportunities they have in life.  Connor’s doctrine of potty-training is solid, but he’s unable to put it into practice consistently.  Connor is truly remorseful when he makes mistakes, but remorse alone doesn’t ensure consistent obedience.

The same thing is true with Christianity.  Having solid doctrine/understanding doesn’t ensure obedience.  “In the potty, not in your pants!” Knowing and doing are not the same.  That’s why Samuel told king Saul, “To obey is better than sacrifice.” Nor is remorse the same as repentance unto obedience. “Papa, I’m sorry.”  Remorse is helpful in demonstrating our personal inability and need for the Almighty.  In Romans 7:15 Paul, the great saint who had a personal encounter with the risen Christ, the greatest missionary after Christ…  noted “I do not understand my actions. I do stuff I don’t want to, and don’t do the stuff I truly desire!”  Repentance literally means TURNING from something. 

The tragedy is that many Christians are content with redemption and never pursue, or cooperate with, God unto conversion. The general idea of being ‘redeemed’ means that your standing, or position, had to of been less desirable (before) – and then improved (after).  Webster’s short definition of redeemed is “to make something better or more acceptable.”

1. To buy back

2. To free from harm

3. To change for the better

4. To repair or restore

5. To free from a lien of payment

6. To atone/offset an error.

All of these are true regarding redemption in Christ. The Bible is explicit in teaching redemption has nothing, nada, zero, zilch to do with our merit, but is rather EXCLUSIVELY the work of Christ. In Ephesians 2:8-9 we read, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.”

Paul teaches us an important lesson in Romans Six. Prior to our being redeemed in/by Christ we were slaves to sin. The chains of sin kept us in the prison of condemnation and could never be broken by anything other than God’s love – obedience personified – at the Cross. Whether you had 5 minutes or 5 million lifetimes of a million years each – there is NOTHING you could ever do to merit, earn, or deserve Christ’s love.  Apart from Christ we are incapable of love. Jesus said, “Apart from me you can do nothing.” But in being REDEEMED, which as we said is exclusively the work of God; we are set free from the prison and chains of sin through Christ.  It then becomes impossible for those redeemed in Christ to unwittingly do things contrary to the mind and mission of Christ.  Being a slave to God, as Paul notes, is not really the same as being a slave to sin.  In being a slave to sin you had no choice but to offend God in and through every thought, every deed, and every moment. That’s what it means to be a sinner.  Feeding the hungry, building hospitals, rescuing a puppy… sin, sin, and sin.  Why? Anything that does not come from faith is sin (Rom 14:23), and faith only comes from God (Eph 2:8-9). But in being a ‘slave’ to God it does NOT mean that anything & everything a Christian does is automatically & completely pleasing to God.

Redemption is not a process.  Certainly circumstances in life progress toward the moment of redemption, but the process is not redemption – it is the ‘body of sin’ or our life prior to Christ.  Redemption is a one way transaction…  God doing something for you, not you doing something for God.  God reveals Himself to you in a transcendent way that is not reducible to the Scientific Method. God’s gift of faith exceeds our senses, logic, rationale, human wisdom and understanding.  Tragically many who receive it are content to remain just there – marinating in the grace of redemption – and never become disciples, never engage in ministry, never invest in kingdom business, never pick up their cross to participate in the mission of God.  That’s the key difference between redemption and conversion.

Where redemption is wholly the work of God, conversion (aka progressive sanctification) requires our cooperation.  You can’t progress toward redemption, but you can progress in how closely you adorn, reflect, and are identified with Jesus.  Redemption is all about what Christ did for you; conversion is all about what we do for Christ.  Redemption is “you” centered; conversion is Christ centered.

The tragedy of Christianity in America is that many stay stuck in ‘redemption mode’ and never move into and persist in conversion.  That’s what the author of Hebrews was talking about in chapter six, which begins with, “Therefore let us move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and be taken forward to maturity…” Those stuck at redemption are the people who complain about anything & everything.  They complain about stuff ranging from the color of the carpet, wine vs. grape juice, music, parking, lighting, service times, not getting called/contacted enough, getting called/contacted too much, the priest/pastor’s attire – hair – voice – smile – frown…   They complain because they’re stuck in redemption mode and they THINK EVERYTHING IS STILL ABOUT THEM.  People who are participating in conversion would meet with the church (people not a building) on a Tuesday morning at 3:30am in a parking lot, while the redeemed skip going to a building/activity unless all the planets align just right for them.  People being converted would drink grape juice, or go with green carpet, or encourage contemporary music for the sake of edification (being built-up) unto unity rather than split the church and blemish our witness in our families, neighborhoods, communities, nation, and the world.

Just as we desire for a 2-3 year old to move from superficial understanding (doctrine) and remorse unto repentance (turning from old ways) to persistent cooperative obedience - Jesus desires for His Redeemed to move unto and through conversion (i.e. progressive sanctification).  You can stay in the selfish state of redemption where everything is about you, but the Bible questions whether those who remain there for any length of time – stuck in selfishness – ever truly experience God’s grace –or– if it were merely something of synthetic origin regardless of the ceremony surrounding it.

In Romans 6:21 Paul queries, “What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death!”  From time-to-time there is shame in conversion.  The Holy Spirit convicts us of things from the ‘old self’ that we tend to cling to rather than clinging completely to Christ.  Entitlement, recognition, power, respect, influence… And when those who are participating in being converted recognize those lowly things are still present in our lives we are ashamed, albeit only momentarily, before God’s grace comes in a makes all things new.  Convicted – ashamed – repent (turn from) – progress – cooperate – obey…   That’s the rhythm of the converted life until we are so intimately inseparable from Christ that His Presence is manifest in and through us.

Between redemption (the moment we are gifted by God with faith in Christ) and glorification (the moment God brings us home to be with Him forever) we are here stuck in the slime pit.  Many are stuck in sin and unable to do anything pleasing to God, so we are the light of Christ and the gospel (Good News) to them. Many are stuck in redemption and choose to do nothing to edify the church unto unity, and instead live as the world lives – exclusively seeking to satisfy worldly desires (food, fun, finances, etc.). Others are cooperating in conversion and gladly dying to self and living for Christ until He comes a second time to bring us home.

Paul closes Romans chapter six by noting, “now that you have been set free from sin (redemption) and have (willingly) become slaves of God (converted), the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. For the wages (what we earned) of sin is death (whether eternal death being stuck in sin or death of any meaningful ministry being stuck in redemption), but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

What wage/benefit do you reap from being stuck in sin? Eternal Death.

But the gift of God is faith – eternal life in Christ.

What wage/benefit do you reap from being stuck in redemption? Death of ministry.

But the gift of God is conversion – opportunity to participate in the mission of God as a member of Christ’s bride, viz. the Church.

Blessings,

-Kevin