An anatomy of motivation

There are two overall but opposite approaches we observe in scripture regarding our motivation to obedience. All underlying forms of motivation fall under these two. They are...

·        positive motivation

·        negative motivation

There seems to be an indication that at a minimum we are to be moved initially on the path of obedience by the negative (which results in a positive outcome). As we mature the positive elements of our motivation become increasingly greater and the preferred (and ultimate/highest) form of motivation. However, since the negative appears to be where scripture starts we will look at this first.  

Pro 1:7  The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge (wisdom, true understanding). We could say it's the foundation on which all other knowledge and true wisdom is built. It is the starting point (though not the ending) for living obediently.

Why? Because any true movement towards God must start with the recognition that he is the God of great glory/worth and that all things come from him and belong to him. Therefore we answer to him on how we conduct our lives. If we act contrary to who he is and how he designed us, there are always consequences. In short, we are to respect (fear) he is God; he sets the boundaries of how things operate, we do not. 

But how does God use fear? As we dig further into the context of Prov 1 we see consequences for living contrary to God's will, direction, commands, address the meaning and basis for this fear.

To say it another way, there is a good way to live and a way that is harmful. To ignore this basic reality has consequences. To respect this is to have a healthy fear of acting contrary to God's expressed (spoken) will and our design. Ultimately this is a respect for God and that there are consequences for violating his design/will/word.  

There are consequences because we live in a world of design and purpose. We see evidence of this daily in simple things like, stop breathing and you die. Cut off your arm and you bleed to death and so on. 

Just as there are physical consequences for violating God's design, there are spiritual and moral consequences as well. To go contrary to these basic realities is to violate ours and the world's design. The reality of what is. 

The spiritual, emotional, and psychological world have a design that is equally consistent and predictable. 

And there is design simply because there is a designer. So living contrary to our design is indirectly living contrary to the will of the Designer. To respect or fear this reality is wise and ultimately a respect/fear of God i.e. the fear of the Lord (the designer of all things) is the beginning of knowledge.

Solomon goes on to lay out why we should follow God's instruction and if we do not what the consequences will be e.g. terror, calamity, distress, and anguish in verse 27. Destruction, dread, and disaster in verse 32 and 33.  All of this based on not recognizing truth and not choosing "the fear of the LORD" in verse 29. Whereas on the flip side verse 33 also promises security and ease if we follow his instructions/direction/will.

It's worth noting that LORD -- in all caps -- meaning self-sufficient one. (The word in the original is YHWH, also translated Jehovah). He is the "I AM" who needs no one. We need him.

Pro 1:27  when terror strikes you like a storm and your calamity comes like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come upon you.

Pro 1:28  Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer; they will seek me diligently but will not find me.

Pro 1:29  Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the LORD,

Pro 1:30  would have none of my counsel and despised all my reproof,

Pro 1:31  therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way, and have their fill of their own devices.

Pro 1:32  For the simple are killed by their turning away, and the complacency of fools destroys them;

Pro 1:33  but whoever listens to me will dwell secure and will be at ease, without dread of disaster."

Click here to see the entire chapter.

So again, we can see from the above passage, a central element of fear is knowing there are consequences for violating God's design/will. We also see this in Heb 11:7 

"By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this, he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith."

Noah built the ark because he feared he and his household would drown if they did not i.e. he respected (had faith in) God's warning. Him taking action on God's warning was an indictment on the rest of mankind for not taking action, hence their ridicule of Noah's efforts. 

This was opposite of the disposition of Adam and Eve. They did not heed warning that they would die if they ate from the forbidden tree. They did not fear God.

The role of trust/faith

This foundational motive is acting out of respect (fear) for God. To say it another way, if God says it, don't question it; it's true. A key element of this fear is trust. If we don't believe/trust the one that warns us of harm, we will not heed their warning. If Noah didn't believe God was someone of his word he wouldn't have built the ark.

If Adam and eve had feared and trusted God they would not have eaten from the forbidden tree.

And in reality, many "obey" this truth on a regular basis whether they believe in God or not. We have simply learned (come to recognize/believe/trust) that if you go contrary to certain "baked in" rules you will incur harm to yourself or others i.e. if we violate certain principles and step over certain boundaries we suffer harm. So we don't necessarily have to trust God, we trust violating or not pursuing a certain "law" will always result in the same negative outcome.  Things operate in such a manner its hard not to recognize there is design even if we don't acknowledge the Designer. To use a biblical expression, we have come to recognize we reap what we sow. This too is why I think this fear is the beginning of knowledge since even unbelievers recognize this on some basic level.  

Until higher motivations are developed we act by faith out of respect for God or at least "belief" and respect (fear) for the consequences of acting contrary to the design we see all around us and in us.

This is an action that is often absent any feelings (except the fear itself) or affections for God, but simply acting out of respectful or reverential trust that to go contrary to design causes harm/pain, etc. 

If all we have is trust and there is no felt love and affections for God then we are still to act and will still experience the consequences of not acting - or the benefits of acting - regardless of how we feel. Obedient faith is not contingent on feelings but on confidence in the faithful character of God (or at least his law if we are believers or observable "laws of nature" if we are not).

So what must we believe about God in order to act?

What exactly is it we respect regarding God? That he is all-wise, powerful (He can and does what he says) and loving, in his being and the directions he gives us. Because he is, he knows there are negative consequences for going contrary to his loving design that is harmful to us. 

*Sometimes God in his mercy suspends the normal consequences of violating his design. When does this occur? When we truly and genuinely see the foolishness of going contrary to his design before the full consequences occur. The desired outcome of the consequences (i.e. repentance) has already occurred so that the full consequences are no longer needed. God's goal is not punishment, but repentance -- to change our course to a path of alignment with our design which is also in alignment with His will.

More than fear

However, for a believer, there are additional, higher elements to obedience (aligning ourselves with God's design); the positive ones I alluded to in the beginning.

I say higher because the fear of consequences primarily involves saving our own neck. These other and higher motivations, however, involve the benefit of another i.e. the focus isn't self but God and his creatures/creation.

What are these higher motivations? They are love and a desire to honor God.

I propose that honor is the greatest, best, highest and ultimate motivation. It is the most mature kind of motivation as it's solely focused on the benefit of another instead of our own. It will even move us to sacrifice our own benefit for another. And that in great part because we come to see all we ¹have and are, comes from the one we desire to honor and He rewards those who seek and trust Him.  

And in fact, we draw our truest sense of value from displaying the value of another i.e. God, the most valuable and honorable of all. So our honoring God actually does benefit us, but not as an exclusively isolated benefit and therefore the primary focus of our efforts. It is tied to the benefit of others and only comes about as the fruit of focusing on honoring another. 

It is the place we come to when we are so certain he only has our best interests at heart (only allows things that are for us not against us) we no longer need to concern ourselves with our best interest. We are so trusting of God's love, goodness, wisdom, and ability to bring about what is best (not necessarily easiest, most comfortable or most reasonable [to us anyway]), we only desire his honor (a place I do not consistently live in, by the way, but see more and more as a part of my motivation). 

In short, we are so convinced he's working in our best interest, we no longer give thought to it or feel the need to insure it ourselves because He insures it. We are convinced God "has our back" and there is no need to concern ourselves with our own welfare.

We may relate to God solely out of respect in the beginning but as we mature our affections for God grow as our awareness of the full extent of God's love for us increases. This results in ever increasing trust in God. As our relationship matures and we see more and more the greatness of God and His love for us, this blossoms ultimately into honor/respect for God springing out of these affections of love and delight (pleasure) in God.

To come to the place we are moved by God to obedience (faithfulness) out of this ultimate higher motivation of a desire to honor God goes as follows...

* a strong desire to honor God (our highest and best end and the ultimate end where God seeks to bring us), 

* out of deep love and trust in and for him, 

* because of a clear understanding of his sacrificial love for us, 

* demonstrated in giving us his son Jesus i.e. we love him because he first loved us.

When someone sees us as we truly are in all our brokenness and still:

·        Does for us what is required of us and from us (because of who God is and this is who we were created to be), ...totally providing the remedy for our brokenness (because we have not and can not do it ourselves), how can we not love them (Him) in return?

·        Pursues, receives and embraces us fully, how can we not trust them?

·       Treats us with great value and honor, how can we not value and honor Him in return?

The more we understand Gods great and personal love for us in and through Christ, the more we trust him and are moved to faithfully follow his directions i.e. obey.

(But lack of affections does not mean you should not act. We act by faith anyway if only out of fear/reverence for God.

When we act by faith without any feelings we also act in the confidence that this both honors God and is in our best interest)

Stated simply, the primary motives for obedience after and beyond fear and pointing to the ultimate motivation of honor are 

* love

* trust

* honor

So the lists of all forms of motivation started from the most basic to the highest are:

* fear

* love

* trust

* honor

Whether we are mature followers of Christ or new followers, all of these come into play. But as we mature it appears we move and more to honor as the dominant motivation and the one we ultimately should seek. 

But what about hope?

From scripture, we get the sense that hope is not so much a motivator as it is a sustainer i.e. something that keeps us from giving up on faithfulness (obedience). Hope seems to go hand in hand with faith, but is not itself faith but more about the objective of that faith i.e. that thing we believe we will obtain but do not yet have. So you could say it's a support to or element of our faithful obedience more than a cause of it. 

Hope is more confidence that what is promised to happen, will actually happen. Sure hope is confidence in an objective certainty that is not yet a subjective experience or reality. 

Heb 11:1

(AMP)  NOW FAITH is the assurance (the confirmation, the title deed) of the things [we] hope for, being the proof of things [we] do not see and the conviction of their reality [faith perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses]. 

(DRB)  Now, faith is the substance of things to be hoped for, the evidence of things that appear not. 

(ERV)  Faith is what makes real the things we hope for. It is proof of what we cannot see. 

(ESV)  Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. 

(GNB)  To have faith is to be sure of the things we hope for, to be certain of the things we cannot see. 

(KJV)  Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. 

___________________________________________Footnotes:

¹not only did God create us and give us all things, he also took human form and stepped into this broken, pain-filled world and embraced the pain so we could one day be freed from it. To know this truly causes us to desire to honor him fully. 

Love and/or consequences

As God's children, we are no longer ³condemned by God for our ¹poor choices. Legally there is no ³condemnation for those who are in Christ.  

But neither are we ⁴protected practically from the short-term consequences of those choices and the actions that follow. 

The creation - which includes us as bearers of God's image - operates best according to God's design (law). To violate that design results in things not operating properly or fully.

When the legal consequences of our rebellious distrust are removed, it changes us. We are now "seated in the heavenlies" in Christ. Grasping this new reality of our status with God creates within us gratitude and love for Jesus, who removed the kegak consequences. 

There is a difference between a supernaturally changed heart and a morally restrained one. Love changes us. The law restrains us. Love changes us from within. The law restrains us from without. Both are necessary in making good choices. 

God's law is good and necessary because it lays out and defines how things are designed to operate. To ignore it results in harm to us and others.

These two realities - ⁷love and law - are the positive and negative guardrails that are intended to help drive or guide all true believers' words and actions. 

Love motivates believers to make the right choices (which leads to right actions). 

Fear (respect) of negative consequences motivates us to avoid the wrong ones. 

As God's children, we have no fear of rejection by God, but should still recognize and fear that living contrary to His design always has practical - vs legal - negative consequences. 

As image bearers of God, all our choices matter because we are created to love and honor God. To live contrary to this design results in harm and destruction to ourselves and others. Consequences aren't a direct judgment of God but the organic result of violating God's design.

As God's children our choices do not matter as far as being perfectly loved and accepted by God. In Christ we are always infinitely and perfectly loved and fully accepted and embraced. 

But as the bearers of God's image our choices still must align with how God designed us and the world around us to operate.

These two realities - love and law - appear to be at ⁶odds with each other. But being fully loved and ²experiencing consequences for poor choices are each as true as if the other does not exist. But because of Christ these ⁵exist and work together. Both for our ultimate gain and benefit. 

For a further discussion on the "anatomy" of motivation, click here. 

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Footnotes:

¹By poor choices I simply mean disobedience. Disobedience is the resulting outcome (actions) of our rebellious distrust of God. (This always result in harm to ourselves and others). And distrust is at the heart of our choosing to be our own god. Our desire to be like god - in a way we are not designed to be - was the temptation our original parents bought into that brought pain and death into the world. 

We still operate this way to this day, perpetuating that pain. The present pain, suffering and death we see in the world now reminds us that our choices still matter.

²God may mercifully suspend the the full consequences of poor choices when we sincerely acknowledge them - i.e. "repent." But there is no guarantee. This would be a supernatural intervention and interference of their natural (organic) outcome. Without His mercy (intervention) the consequences will remain, hence His intervention is merciful.

Plus only God knows the sincerity of our heart (and what best aids our maturing) and when we truly abandon (turn away or repent of) a poor choice or only pretend to in order to get some kind of relief or benefit. 

God's objective is our drawing nearer to Him, which is a matter of the heart first. This results in a change in behavior.

³Why are we no longer legally held accountable and condemned for our words and actions contrary to our design and God's will? Because Christ was condemned in our place. The very fact that someone (Christ) was condemned means God's law (will, design) matters. It is vital that these are adhered to. There are always consequence for violating it (them). Because of Christ stepping in for us and taking the condemnation we rightly deserve,  the long term legal consequences no longer fall on us but fell on Him. Instead of the judgment and death rightly due us we are given forgiveness and life. These were earned for us not by us.

For those who ask why there is still pain and suffering in the world after Christ bore the legal consequence of mankinds rebellion, it is because our choices that spring forth from our rebellious distrust of God matter. 

⁴there are also benefits (positive "consequences") for operating according to God's design. Whatever we sow - both good and bad - we also reap. This is why non believers can flourish circumstantially by operating according to God's law. 

Nowhere does the Bible indicate the law is bad, but the opposite. It is seeking to justify ourselves through obedience to God's law that is wrong, not the law itself. 

⁵"Steadfast love and faithfulness meet; righteousness and peace kiss each other." - Psa 85:10 

⁶Our natural inclination is to try to earn God's love. This is why those who claim to be believers have a hard time acknowledging how they come up short. In their minds this means our rejection by God. In order to be fully honest about our rebellious condition we must see God's perfect acceptance and embrace of us because of Christ.

To believe this it is possible to earn God's love does not recognize we can never be perfect enough to earn it. This is why Christ came.

⁷giving us the law is actually an indication and expression of love. What we value most we desire is well cared for. Because everything operates best by design, giving direction on how something (someone) functions best is because we value i.e. love it (or them). Law is not our problem. Using it in an attempt to justify ourselves is our problem. It is a misuse of the law. 

AI edit...

The gift of the law reflects love, as we seek to care for what we cherish most. When we value something—or someone—we provide guidance to help it thrive according to its design. The law itself isn’t the issue; the problem arises when we use it to justify ourselves. This is misuse of the law. 

Combined...

The gift of the law is actually an indication and expression of love. We seek to care for what we cherish. Because everything operates best by design, giving direction on how something (someone) functions best is because we value it i.e. love it (or them). Law is not our problem. Using it in an attempt to justify ourselves is our problem. It is a misuse of the law. 

Grace or reaping what you sow...or both?

How the fall played out is an overview of how all rebellion towards God plays out.

When we rebel, we violate God's will and our design. As a result, consequences happen (Gen 3:13-19; 3:23-24) but grace is right there and also happens (Gen 3:9,15,21).

For us today, as than, the love expressed through grace is no less, even though the consequences are there and so destructive. And the consequences are no less even though the love is so great i.e. one does ¹not diminish the other.

In fact the greater the consequences the more loving it is for us to experience the ¹full brunt of them. Experiencing the full consequences of our rebellion demonstrates to us the fallacy and destructiveness of seeking to operate our way versus God's way. In short it shows us the importance of total dependence and trust in God and the destructiveness of not depending on and totally trusting him.

Because God is the source of all life, all goodness, all wisdom and all love, dependence on him and trust in him is not just the only way but also the best way to operate. It is operating according to who we are and who God is i.e. according to how God designed us and the world. 

All the pain and suffering that we see all around us today is a grand object lesson of the foolishness of distrusting God and seeking to be our own god. Yet it is also an even grander object lesson in the greatness of his love. 

Even though we seriously messed up, God himself took all the pain and suffering we caused upon himself in Christ and made a way for us (and eventually the creation itself) to be fully restored back to all the fullness of His love again.

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Footnotes:

¹If the full consequences of our rebellious distrust of God are ever witheld, it is only because God,  in his wisdom, deems it best to show us mercy i.e. His not letting us get what we deserve. 

Early on in our walk with God we experience God's mercy most. This is before we're more fully aware of how great our rebellious distrust is. So in His mercy he withholds the full consequences. But as we mature He allows us to experience more of consequences so we might better see the error of our rebellion and turn from it.

consequences and benefits of the law

Regarding the law scripture tells us there are...

Benefits  (blessings) in following it

and

Consequences (curses) of not following it

(by law I mean God's moral law summarized in the greatest and second commandment)

Those benefits and consequences fall under two broader categories.

·        Legal

·        Practical

Legal benefits:

If we operated according to the law perfectly we would be operating in alignment with and according to God's will and our design. This would be honoring and pleasing to God and result in a right standing with God as well as a harmonious relationship with him. 

It would also result in a harmonious alignment with who we are - i.e. our design - and how the rest of creation is designed to function. 

We would be living as God has designed us to and therefore - as his approved image bearers, instead of rebellious and condemned creatures - not cut off from and outside of his love. 

This was what Adam had before he broke trust with God and would have continued to have had as long as he had not rejected God's instructions/direction to not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Of course, we do not and can not live in perfect obedience now due to our spiritually dead condition that resulted from rejecting God's direction/law to not eat of the forbidden tree i.e. in our present condition outside of Christ and apart from God's Spirit living in us and revealing to us the beauty of God - which stirs us to pursue God - we have no innate resources to obey God as we were designed to. We are helpless spiritually. Without outside intervention by God infusing His love back into us we have no hope. 

Legal consequences:

When we operate outside the law (his design and will) we come under the rightful and just condemnation and judgment of God for dishonoring him and others. We go from being faithful children to self-declared enemies. We are in opposition to what is right and against the true order of things. As a result, we are ultimately and rightfully tried, condemned, and sentenced. Most importantly we are against the one who gives us the proper way to conduct ourselves for the benefit of all and for his honor. 

All harm or loss can not go unaddressed but must be restored/paid back to those we harmed, who suffered loss.

Practical benefits:

When we operate according to our original design (which the law reveals and lays out for us) we are aligning ourselves with the reality of who God is and who we are. We are behaving exactly as we should; fulfilling our design as perfect image bearers of God, perfectly loving him according to who he is and the love and honor due him, and also perfectly reflecting him to others; causing others to consider him and find perfect joy and delight in him through our displaying his worth/glory. 

This results in our operating to the maximum of our capacity and having the maximum impact for good. We are drawing near to God and thereby experiencing more of who God is (the author of love and life) and desires us to experience of him in all his glory. This results in our loving others as they were designed to be loved and our greatest joy in operating according to that design. 

Practical consequences:

Why are we now his enemies? Because this results in harm, loss, and potential destruction to others (as well as our own harm) whom he created and loves e.g. "...you mess with those I love, you are messing with me..." 

That destruction is displayed in two ways. 

Dishonoring Him:

To dishonor God is to harm others because we are not displaying God by our words and deeds as he truly is (all loving, wise, powerful, and glorious). We are not demonstrating to others the complete worthiness and greatness of God, through our total loyalty/obedience to him. This results in others being drawn away from him, not too him due to our behavior, and hinders their experiencing him, the source of love, life, and all things, which is to their benefit.  

In short, we are denying others the love and life in and from God that we were designed to display and they are designed to experience through us as fellow image bearers. 

Dishonoring Others:

To harm others is also to dishonor God.  We dishonor God when we harm those who are in God's image and the objects of his love i.e. God places value on all his image bearers and their well-being. After all, they are like God and therefore his beloved creatures. 

When we operate outside the perimeters of our original design, it results also in our loss of love and life (i.e. God himself) with all the subsequent consequences i.e. pain suffering, and eventual death.

The importance of the law; some additional thoughts:

In order to stay in a harmonious relationship with anything (animate or inanimate), we must understand first that everything operates a *certain way.  We must align ourselves with how something operates if we are to enjoy all the benefits of aligning with that design and not incur the natural consequences of violating the design of whatever/whoever that is.

*(i.e. according to absolute and objective laws/principles. For a discussion of the grounds for right and wrong/morality click here).

This starts with God first. God is the first cause of all things. He is also a certain way (he is love) and operates according to a specific purpose/end i.e. to multiply his love to others which only occurs when others see him in all his majesty. Therefore all he has created is designed to operate a certain way and toward a specific end (for us that means to receive his infinite love and reflect it back to him and out to others).  

When we do not follow his design (spelled out in the law) we are acting contrary to God's design and will. This results in our harming others (as well as ourselves), which in turn results in the necessity (i.e. requirement) that we restore those we have harmed (it is required because they are also designed for love and worthy of being treated with love by virtue of God's design). This violation is a practical result of not following the law (his will/design), which has legal consequences.

This also addresses the question of sin. What is it exactly? 

For sin to exist, there must be a violation of some objective reality, order or design i.e. for a violation to occur, there must be an order or design that can be violated.

Sin is simply rebellion from or violation of who God is (the God of love, life and all things), who we are and how he designed things to operate. 

God's declared moral law is simply God communicating in words how we are designed to operate. To disobey the law is to distrust and reject the Designer. 

How does violation of God's law harm others: a recap

First it dishonors God i.e. it minimizes or out right dismisses the honor and glory *rightly due him. A glory that belongs only to him because he alone is the cause and sustainer of all things.

It does not harm God in the sense God is diminished in his person/being in some way. 

Act 17:24  The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, 25  nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything... 

God is self sustained within his being as Father, Son and Spirit and therefore needs no one outside himself. Whereas everything needs and depends on God. The very existence of everything is caused by him and depends entirely on his existence. We owe everything to him. He owes us nothing. 

Though he can never be diminished in his being, he can be diminished in the eyes of our fellow images bearers (and the rest of creation can thereby be harmed). This is displeasing to God because God is love and loves all of his creation and particularly those who are in his image (God said everything he created was good Gen 1:4 ff). This harm carries with it both legal and practical consequences.

It also dishonors and harms others. How? It is to their harm because God is the source of all things. If we live in a way that points others away from God as that source, instead of to him, it is to their harm. This is a practical consequence.

This destruction/harm must be restored, fixed or paid back. This is a legal consequence.

The challenge however is without God we do not have the resources to follow him perfectly or to adequately restore those we harm. We simply don't have the resources because we no longer have the source of them i.e. God. As rebels to God's will and design we have broken off relationship with the only one who gives life and love which enables us to live according to his design for us and fully pursue him. As rebellious image bearers we are cut off from the source of life and love, alone and powerless to carry out or pursue Gods design and will i.e. we are not able to see or pursue God on our own. A practical consequence.

This was the essence of God's warning that the day we act contrary to God's direction (which was to NOT eat of the tree of  the knowledge of God and evil) we will die i.e. he was warning us that we will cut ourselves off and no longer be connected to the source of love and life which enlivens, empowers and inspires us to pursue him. This resulted in our immediate spiritual death and eventually our physical death. Again a practical consequences.

 
The solution to our violation of God's law

Because Christ stepped in on our behalf and paid for the harm we have and do to others, and credited to us his track record of total faithfulness (Matt 5:17-18) to his father (as spelled out in the moral law), we are now looked upon as if we are those who perfectly obey God and therefore live in perfect harmony with his will and design (his moral law summed up in the greatest and second commandment) for us even though in reality we do not. He treats us (love us perfectly and infinitely, cares for us completely, receives and embraces us fully) as if we are perfect when we aren't.

Christ's work has totally secured  for us a right standing/status with God and therefore his infinite love for us as well, but this does not change the violation of our design or the need to operate according to God's will. There will still be practical consequences for not doing so, though no longer legal consequences i.e. if we are in Christ, there is no longer or every will be any judgment or condemnation again for violating God's will and the subsequent loss of God's love for us (Rom 8;1, 38-39).

There is still loss and harm to others however, when we do not love them as God does. And that loss must still be repaid. But because Christ has paid for it, we can now forgive those who violate us just as God offers to forgive them and us in Christ for violating him and others.

The outcome of that solution

Now as God's perfectly loved, fully accepted and embraced children, we are free from the condemnation of our violation of the law (God's perfect will and design). This freedom allows us (and also moves us) to now pursue God with all our heart soul mind and strength. It restores the love and trust we need to do so i.e. because God's love is now fully restored to us, this in turn increasingly restores our trust of him and love for him and the desire, will and strength to pursue him again (Rom 8:1-4).

This however does not spare us from the consequences of violated his will and design. Yet even in the pain of that violation/consequence God is working for our ultimate good and best. Our violations can no longer result in our ultimate harm but only in our ultimate gain (Rom 8:28-29) (though it still can cause temporary pain and suffering). 

Why are the legal and practical separate? 

For God's children, the legal and practical consequences and benefits are separated only because in our present state God has to deal with them separately given our ongoing propensity to sin i.e. even in Christ we are still inclined to go against God's law (will and design) and do. Even though in Christ we are just/righteous legally we are still unjust or unrighteous in practice (you could also say we are righteous objectively but not yet subjectively). We simply do not, in our present unglorified condition and present existence, love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength or our neighbor as ourselves. Once we are fully glorified this dichotomy will cease and we will be fully restored and whole as we were originally designed to be i.e. our experience will then match our legal status. 

Originally the legal and practical were both part of our experience simultaneously. But because of our rebellion, in order for God to freely pour out his love on us again, he had to address the legal consequence of our rebellion first and remove the barrier between us created by that rebellion. Eventually the full practical benefits (i.e. no more pain etc) will be our experience as well later in eternity  i.e. at our glorification.

To say it another way, God figured a way to love us even while we were still unlovely (not fully living/operating according to his will and design).  He did this by basing his love for us on the loveliness of another and not on ours (or our lack of loveliness). And because the loveliness of this other (Christ) is perfect, so now is God's love for us. 

Sin not only no longer interferes with or interrupts God's love for us, it now even becomes a tool God uses to teach us how to draw nearer to him. 

*For a fuller discussion of the basis for morality click here.

For additional discussions on how God uses sin to advance us click here.

Legal vs practical relationship with God II

Is there a difference between our legal relationship with God and our day to day relation? Are these completely separate or are they connected in some way? Let's take a closer look. 

Once we are in Christ the legal consequences of condemnation, separation and death are no longer a part of the dynamics of our relationship with God. They are entirely removed and can never be revisited by God -- nor ever should be by us. God’s disposition toward us is as if we trusted and obeyed him perfectly - even when we don’t since Christ did and fully credited this to us. God’s perfect infinite love is now permanently set upon us just as it is on His Son. His settled disposition of love and commitment to us is no longer tied to our trust or distrust in Him but solely to Christ's perfect trust lived out while he was on earth.

The practical consequences of our distrust of God, however, are still fully in play and have a very real impact on our ¹day-to-day relationship with God and fully participating in and experiencing this fixed love. Distrust may no longer be a legal issue on God's side, but it is still very much a practical one on ours. In fact, to the same extent it is not a legal issue, it still fully remains for us a practical one. 

We often mix these up and have a hard time keeping them separate. Both are equally true and significant in how we relate to God. 

If we don't have a clear and firm grasp on our perfect legal status we will look at God's commandments as something required of us to earn God's love. 

If we ignore our obedience i.e. our practical day to day walk with God, we will be ineffective and weak to nonexistent in displaying Him to others. 

When we recognize and focus on our legal standing in Christ we are not to forget the significance of our practical day to day relationship, trust, and pursuit of God and the need to **cultivate these. In fact, as our love and trust grow, this impacts our ongoing daily disposition toward God. The more we grasp His love for us -- legally secured for us by Christ's efforts -- the greater our trust grows. Though our legal standing and our trust are distinct issues they are vitally connected. The latter -- our ongoing relationship with God -- doesn't work until the former -- our righteous status -- is firmly understood and accepted. 

When we recognize and focus on the practical matter of our distrust we are not to revisit God's rejection and condemnation we were once under. In Christ, there is neither, regardless of whether we trust God or not and how much or little our trust is. God's acceptance of us has nothing to do with whether we trust and obey God or not. 

The practical consequences of distrust is an entirely separate matter from the legal consequences. The legal consequences are entirely removed, while the practical consequences are fully in play.

To illustrate, once a couple marries they are now husband and wife no matter how strong or strained their relationship is. Being married is their legal status -- they are husband and wife. Until they legally divorce they will remain husband and wife with all the benefits, responsibilities and obligations of that union e.g. they will not engage in sexual intimacy with others as they do with their spouse, to name the most obvious part of marriage. However, while together, they can become completely alienated from each other emotionally due to day to day offenses that might build up and result in distrust of each other. To build trust in the relationship does not legally make them more a husband and wife any more than they already are, it simply makes them a better husband and wife i.e. The practical outworking of their legal status of husband and wife is more fully -- and appropriately – expressed, experienced and demonstrated when trust is a vital part of the relationship. Trust in what? That their partner cherishes them above all others… to have and to hold til death do they part. Trust is tied to love. When we know we are loved, we more willingly submit to and trust the other; the greater that love the more easily we submit.  

So it is with God. If we are in Christ, we are a child of God. This is our legal status. However this does not in itself describe the quality of our relationship, it addresses our standing or status legally as His beloved children. To experience the full benefit of our status we must fully participate in a relationship of love and trust. 

When we trust that our parents love us, it is easiest to follow their directions/ wishes/will. The more we trust in their love the more willing we are and the more we desire to do what they ask i.e. the easier it is for us to follow their direction and submit to their wishes. To say it another way, we want to love them because we know (trust) they love us. The best way to show our love is to do what they want us to do.

But this is a two-way street. As a child proves themselves ³responsible i.e. trustworthy, the parent entrusts them with more responsibility and freedom. A genuinely loving parent always wants what’s best for their child. When they know the child will use things wisely – ⁴for their good and the good of others, not to their harm -- they will give them more freedom. They want this for their child more than anything, because they long for them to enter into the fullness of joy; the joy of experiencing the fullness of parents love and loving others with the love they have been given. 

This is who we are designed to be -- to receive love from our heavenly parent and out of the fullness of that love, overflowing in love to others, particularly our brothers and sisters in Christ. 

We may be fully loved and accepted in Christ regardless of what we do but this is entirely separate from our fully engaging, participating in and disseminating that love to others -- God first, then our neighbor. When we pull away in distrust from God it may no longer cause God to turn away from us, but in no uncertain terms, we can and are pulling away from Him. When we do, it cuts us off practically – we cut ourselves off, God doesn’t cut us off – from entering into the full joy of love God infinitely and relentlessly has for us.

For a summary of the difference between the legal and practical click here

For a further discussion on whether law and grace are in conflict click here.

For a discussion on the value of the law click here.

¹ignoring any relationship results in its weakening, whether that be with a spouse, our kids or God. We are relational beings, designed to give and receive love because God is relational and we are in His image. The more we give and receive love in any relationship, the stronger it becomes.  

²due to our ongoing rebellious distrust of God, even as His children. Not all kids fully trust their parents. We are no exception to our heavenly parent. 

³if you break down the word responsible it gives us some interesting insight. Response-able i.e. able to respond. Respond to what? To love. When we trust we are loved we respond in kind. To say it another way, when we love someone, we desire to do what they desire/wish/ask of us and are diligent in doing so. We desire to please them because we love them. Obedience is the fruit of trust, trust is the fruit of knowing we are loved. This is why Christ said, “if you love me you will keep my commandments...” Keeping his commandments is evidence of our love and something we desire to do, not something we feel required to do. This is also why John said, “...this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome...” It's not a burden to love someone who we know infinitely loves us. Note the verse also says "...this is the love of God...", not just our love i.e. our keeping his commandments starts with and springs out of his love for us. We respond to this love by obedience to His commandments. Doing something against our wills is drudgery. Doing something because we love the one we do it for is delightful. We do it because we want to do it not because we have to. If we are not obedient children, we don't buckle down and force ourselves to do better, we more diligently seek God to reveal his love more fully. 

⁴I am assuming they will also use whatever they are given to honor the giver, but this is a side point to one I am making... so I am putting it here as a footnote.