God...concerned or not concerned about sin

God is not at all concerned about our sin and is totally concerned at the same time.

How?

God is not concerned…

Our sin has absolutely no effect on God's attitude and posture of perfect love, attention, and care towards us if we are in Christ. It is one of complete love and commitment to us no matter what we do or don't do because, first and foremost, it is based on the work of Christ not ours.

But also, because we are created in his image. He values his image in us and desires as His image bearer that we develop to the maximum of our potential, i.e. that we become all he intends and designed us to be for His glory and our joy. As his fully redeemed image bearers, God's commitment to us is fixed and unrelenting. Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus, our Lord. 

God is very concerned…

The essence of sin is our alienation and separation from God due to our rebellious distrust of him. Even as his children, who are completely forgiven and fully loved, this alienation ¹still exists, is very real and has real effect/harm; but in Christ, it exists only on our side of the relationship, not God's side. As someone once said, "if you don't feel close to God, guess who moved. Hint... it wasn't God."

It is not that God is worried by our distrust, but he cares greatly about our experiencing all he has for us as well as our putting him on display so others might be drawn to him and also experience that love.

To love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength and our neighbors as ourselves is to be fully aligned and in harmony with the heart of God. To the degree which we are not loving God and our neighbor in this way (i.e. with everything we have) is the degree to which we are not in harmony and alignment with him. Again, this has nothing to do with God's love for us. This is totally settled if we are in Christ. But this has everything to do with our love for him and our properly displaying him in all his glory.

To be out of alignment with him is to not see and enjoy him fully or display him truly. He is relentless in uprooting those areas of unbelief in us that keep us from being closer to him, for our joy and his glory.

This alienation/ misalignment (by us) is completely separate from his alienation from us. His alienation was already fully addressed in Christ and no longer exists. As Christ shouted out, "it is finished." There can no longer be any separation from God's side. This separation is now only on our side. 

Our moving away from him in rebellious distrust does not keep God from loving us but keeps us from fully participating in the manifestation and experience of his love already totally and absolutely fixed upon us in Christ.
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*our alienation from God still exists because remnants of our rebellious unbelief still exist within all of us, even as his children. It is this unbelief God continually works to eradicate for our joy and his glory. 

Being diligent...motive is key.

Being thoughtful, careful, diligent, obedient, disciplined etc are all good and important things in themselves, not bad.

Though "obedience" can be legalistic and in fact often is, it does not have to be nor is it necessarily (true love driven faithfulness/obedience is never legalistic).

The question is why are we diligent and obedient. What is our motive/reason for being diligent, careful and thoughtful etc? 

Motive is the only difference between true God honoring behavior and feigned legalistic "obedience." Otherwise on the surface we can't tell the difference; they can look exactly the same.

There can only be one of two reasons (motivations) for our external obedience. Detecting the reason however, is not at all easy because we rarely know our own heart and the true motives behind our behavior. 

And what are those reasons? 

1.     To honor and bring attention to (glorify) God out of love and awe for him.

2.     To take care of myself. 

Everything we do, is done for one of these two reasons

Mixed motives

We complicate things however because our motives are #mixed. Rarely do we do anything with a pure (singleness of) motive. What is most important is which motive is primary i.e. leads/predominates. 

# being mixed doesn't mean there is a third motive, it simply means these two can be intertwined. They are still distinct nevertheless.

Self interest, good or bad?

Plus desiring both things (God's honor and our best) in itself is not necessarily bad. It's ok and in fact normal for us to desire our best. Christ assumes self interest (not condemn it) when he tells us to love our neighbors as (in the same way) we love ourselves  or care for (love) our wives as (in the same way) we care for our own body. 

In fact the appeal of the promises of God is to our best interest. The promise of eternal life is made to who? To me, to self i.e. a promise is a direct appeal to my self interest. I want life, not death and so do you. 

There is nothing wrong with our *wanting what is best for ourselves. Why would God appeal to it otherwise? It is no more wrong than it would be for God to want what's best for himself. Does God ever do anything that is ultimately against himself? It may appear so short term but never long-term. In fact our wanting what is best for us is because we are like God, who wants what's best for himself. This in part is what it means to be in his image. 


Gods glory and our best are not at odds 

The issue isn't us wanting our best, it is how is our best truly achieved; through independent self effort or as a result of pursuing God out of love for him in response to his love for us. 

Is our best the fruit of honoring God (which is legitimate) or the result of our **direct and independent pursuit of that best (which is not legitimate, since it involves trust in self as one's best provider, instead of God who is the only true provider and sustainer of all things)? 

The ***mystery of life (life as God originally designed it to be) is that pursuing and experiencing God, is in fact the best thing we can do for ourselves. And it is in him alone we find true life, joy, meaning purpose etc. 

Yet this is not the primary reason we are to pursue God. We pursue him simply because he's most glorious and worthy of our total pursuit. And because he is, our greatest joy is found in pursuing and knowing him. This is the "natural" (originally designed and intended) outcome of who God is and the way we are. To go contrary to this not only dishonors God, but is against us; our best interest and well being. 

To say it simply, desiring and pursuing God's highest glory is our greatest good and joy.

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*For an engaging article by Kyle Strobel (Professor of Spiritual Formation at Talbot Seminary) on whether self love is valid or not click here

**If pursuing a specific objective is honoring to God then we can and are to pursue it with all the energy God gives us. In this instance this would be a direct pursuit of something but it is something that God has told us to pursue. And since it is, that direct pursuit is obedience to God and therefore also honoring to him. Some examples would be to "go and disciple all nations" or "love God with all our heart soul mind and strength." Faithful obedience/direct action is the only legitimate response to these directions.

***true life, which is in God alone, is a mystery in the sense that it goes contrary to our fallen nature and therefore is not obvious, but mysterious to us in our present fallen condition. Who we were designed to be (i.e. those who find God to be our true life) and who we are "naturally" inclined to be (i.e. those who seek life apart from God due to our fallen state of rebellion) are contrary to each other.

This is true of both believers and unbelievers in the sense that we all are inclined away from God...even Christians. BUT as believers we have a new and additional dynamic within us i.e. the love of God shed about in our hearts by the Spirit of God. This new inclination empowers us to live once again as God originally designed us to live. And it is only by this new dynamic/power/love/Spirit that we can. 

How can God love the unlovely?

First we must be lovable i.e. there must be something about us that God cherishes (loves) deeply. While at the same time, there is also something unlovely about us that God opposes. How can this be? Can both be true? 

What does he cherish?

First and foremost, he cherishes (values) himself, for he is the greatest, most valuable, wisest, loveliest, most powerful, and beautiful being in the universe. There is no one more glorious, significant, or powerful.

And we are like God. And because we are, we are able to glory in and enjoy the beauty of who he is and to reflect back to him and out to others his greatness in a way no other created being can. Our capacity to appreciate, enjoy, and reflect the infinitely valuable God gives us value; makes us significant. Valuable both to others as well as to God himself.

What does he oppose?

God opposes anything that diminishes the recognition of His great glory/value.

Why does he oppose this? Because everything is from, through, and to him. For him or us to conduct ourselves contrary to this not only dishonors who he is but also brings harm to others as well as to ourselves. It is contrary to who we are as well as who God is. In short, it doesn't fit the way things are. For us to value anything above God most high (the most valuable) is to be misled and to mislead others; it is to live a lie. This ultimately leads to our eventual destruction and separation from the Source of life, love, and all things. 

So if both of these qualities (lovable and unlovely) are within us at the same time, how does God reconcile these two opposite characteristics? How does he love the unlovely?

He removes the consequences of our unloveliness by putting it on himself in and through his own son Jesus. Once the consequences are removed, by our rightful suffering being placed onto Jesus, he is free to focus only on who we are as his image bearers with the capacity to receive and give love, honor, and glory, and reflect him out to others. In short, to make us like his Son. Because of Christ, God is now for us, not against us. 

overcoming addiction

What enables us to successfully break away from an addiction?

Is it guilt and shame? 

That may play a temporary roll short term. But if the change is to last it must go beyond guilt and shame.

Long term change occurs only if ¹three things happen:

1. ²We realize the consequences of an addiction outweighs the benefits; that the ultimate rewards for discontinuing the addiction are greater then the ones gained by it.

This often takes time i.e. the pleasure of an addiction is usually immediate, whereas the benefits of turning away from it often don't appear right away but ³over time. 

This usually starts with a desire to get away from the harm the addiction is causing. The longer one continues life addiction free, the greater the benefits become. The short term benefits of the addiction are no longer as great as the long term benefits. 

2. We come to see/experience something more satisfying that overpowers our addictive desires (or severs it's pull) i.e. when we find something more desirable than what we are presently addicted to, it draws us to it instead of our being drawn to the former addiction. 

3. A desire to honor God because we understand how he has honored us. And how has he? By giving something of great value to us so he might have a relationship with us. This says something very significant about our value to God, does it not? 

For more on what motivates us to obedience click here. 

For more on our worth to God, click here. 

For a discussion on what is our greatest reward click here.

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¹We may experience short term change if the first or second reason occur. But the greatest chance for permanent change involves all three. 

Plus the 3rd reason never stops expanding. The more we understand what God has done for us, the greater our desire to honor him and the less likely we are to fall into former or new addictive behavior. 

²The significance of these three reasons is the reverse order, 3 being the most significant. I only list them this way because this is usually the order in which we discover and experience them organically.

³Or maybe not appear at all. Maybe only through confidence/trust that the eternal benefits far outweigh the temporary loses are what we must depend on to break away from addiction i.e. only the hope of (and belief in) a future reward for faithfully pursuing God - vs partaking in an addiction - is what enables us to avoid destructive/addictive behavior. 

the fight of faith

The following are some thoughts stirred up by a message from Tyler David (excerpts from his message italicized and in "quotes" below). Tyler is one of several teaching elders/pastors in my former church.

"One of the most conscious and consistent ways you can love God is by striving (battling/fighting) to live for his will more (rather) than our own." 

"The constant for the Christian is the fight against sin (i.e. unbelief or distrust)."

"Faith does not make you sinless it makes you fight." 

Some related thoughts:

I would add that faith is the fight i.e. fighting to trust or not trust God is at the heart of the battle against sin. 

The essence or heart of sin (all ⁴wrong/ bad actions) is distrust in God. Was this not at the heart of Adam and Eve's rebellion?

When do we choose relief - i.e. self-comforting through some temporary gratification to ease our pain - over the fight against unbelief? When we stop believing that what we are fighting for (i.e. Gods way and design) is better-more rewarding than immediate relief from the pain of pursuing God. Denying ourselves immediate gratification - i.e. taking up our cross - is painful. That's why it's called a cross. 

To say this another way, when we believe what we are getting through immediate gratification, is better and more rewarding long term than what we are giving up short term - i.e. delayed gratification promised by God - we stop our faithful pursuit of Him.

"You should never be discouraged because you ¹always are in the fight, you should be discouraged (concerned) if you wish to no longer engage in the fight."

The problem with indulging in our natural human desires is they only give temporary satisfaction and always have negative repercussions; if not immediately, eventually, and particularly in eternity.

1Pe 2:21 "For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps (i.e. suffer like him). 22 He committed no sin, (he never stopped trusting or turned away from God in his suffering), neither was deceit found in his mouth." i.e. not only were his actions right but everything he said was true, not misleading...

1Pe 2:23 When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but instead he continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly (Christ never stopped believing his Father's goodness and that His Father always did good and right by him in all he called him to say, do, and allowed him to go through/ experience, even in the midst of His experiencing great opposition). 

22 He committed no sin... i.e.  Jesus'  attitude was "I am going to trust the promises of my Father over the comforts/ promises of sin, even if that means suffering loss of relief in the moment."  This was the essence of his response to the satan (the deceiver and accuser) when He was tempted after 40 days in the wilderness. Because Christ did this, it enabled him to suffer well (endure) and not verbally lash out or strike back at those who caused his pain, i.e. Christ was long-suffering... He suffered over an extended period.

What is natural for you (us) without God in your life is actually contrary to what is best for you according to God's design/will.

Seeking immediate gratification or comfort is only natural because of our present state of pain due to our rebellion...not because of our original design, but rebellion to that design (and the Designer).

Our natural (fallen untrusting) heart seeks to find life apart from God, when it's just not possible (at least long term), simply because we are designed by God and for God and therefore can only find true meaning, fulfillment and purpose in and through God. This is the only way, simply because it is the way we are made as His image bearers. We are designed to receive and reflect back His love to Him and out to others.

That's not saying we can not find any meaning-fulfillment-purpose outside of God (we obviously can and do), but not lasting meaning, fulfillment and purpose and therefore not true meaning-fulfillment-purpose i.e. whatever we do find or gain apart from God is temporary and superficial.

The immediate comfort, relief and meaning we are able to obtain appears to be true because it is what we are experiencing "in the moment" i.e. It is what seems most real only because it is what we are presently experiencing. Yet when the moment passes we find ourselves left still wanting and looking again, never truly or fully finding what we seek.

What comes natural to you and me, leads to death. What seems most enjoyable and satisfying in the moment is usually what is most harmful and destructive long term.

What is actually best for us is contrary to what we naturally desire. This in itself is evidence of the power and deception of sin; of our blindness and unbelief i.e. that which brings us greatest satisfaction or relief in the moment is actually a means to our ultimate destruction, not our best long term. This is the essence of why Adam and Eve ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Faith and trust in God is not what comes "natural" to us (it is supernatural) i.e. it must be God focused and inspired. 

Choosing God must be a conscious, deliberate choice. A choice based on the promises of God and who He is. A choice that believes God keeps his promises and what He calls us to is better than what we are naturally inclined to. In our present fallen condition and without the Spirit of God revealing to us the beauty of God, we default to distrust in God, seeking things to satisfy us apart from Him. In short, to use the biblical expression, we seek to be our own god.

We are so utterly blind to the love and goodness of God we choose to pursue that which results in our ultimate destruction instead of Him who is life. The true nature of our condition is ²we would not seek or pursue God at all if He did not reveal His beauty and loveliness to us.

Of course, the opposite is true. What is often hardest and most painful, most faith demanding is usually what is best for us. Not short term, but long term; not in the moment but in eternity, where it matters most.

And this is where faith comes in. God tells us death to (or loss of) temporary pleasures ultimately increases our capacity and experience of life (God) now but but even more importantly, in eternity. Delayed gratification can only happen by faith. 

So it all comes down to faith. What (who) do we believe knows best and is best. Do we believe God and what he tells us (promises) is best or do we latch on to the immediate pleasure of something (or someone) other than God, believing it is best?

This was the choice presented to Adam and Eve in the beginning. They chose the latter (being their own god i.e. to sustain themselves apart from God), which we still are naturally inclined toward to this very day.

The greatest source - generator and instiller of trust in God's love for us and his desire for our good, is Jesus. If or when you are tempted to question the love and goodness of God, look at Jesus - what he deliberately and willfully put himself through for us, for you - to restore us back to our Father. 

Why would he do that? Why would he and the Father agree to do for us what we needed most and could never do for ourselves when we totally rejected him and the life he alone gives? WHY!!?? It is certainly not because God needed to or felt he had to fix the mess we felt He created (he actually didn't but from our perspective we think he did) by allowing man to make a choice to reject him, when he knew we would.

But we would not truly be like God if we did not have our own understanding (ability to think/reason) and choice.

A most important prayer

God help me to see you more and more in all your beauty, goodness and love so that I might fall more in love with you and entrust myself more fully into your care so I might live more fully for your honor and glory.

Participating in God's love more fully

Often a key way God reveals himself more fully to us is in our acting in faith that he is exactly who he claims to be; God is most beautiful, lovely, trustworthy and good even if we can't see it at the time. 

Trusting God is exactly who he claims to be, brings God honor and joy. 

Christ also tells us if we are faithful in a little, we will be entrusted with more.

Not just greater resources necessarily, but greater responsibility and the resources needed to carry it out. He who is faithful with a little is given more but also to him whom much is given much is required.

So when we step out in obedience by faith, we do so believing God is exactly who he claims to be and will do what he promises, while also asking God to reveal who He is more fully.

We all must operate by faith

Everyone has a trust issue, i.e. no one can operate without trusting someone or something. The reason is simple; we are not all-knowing/wise or all-powerful. We don't have all the information we need to know whether we are taking the best course of action and even if we did know, we don't have the ability (power) to act/execute the task according to that knowledge.

A primary way we attempt to handle this is by dismissing the reality that there is design in the world (the unbelieving hearf says there is no designer. Everything came about by chance over a long period of time i.e. it evolved vs created). This enables us to justify not living according to God's will/design. 

However, if there is design, there is a right and wrong way to operate i.e. we should operate according to how things are designed to operate (i.e. in harmony with God, the designer). If we do, we are in harmony with how things operate and if we don't; we are not i.e. doing things a certain way matters. To not be in harmony means we are in disharmony i.e. operating in conflict, discord, friction, etc. This leads to destruction; our crashing and burning, so to speak.

We may despise the battle - the fight of faith - but love the fruit i.e. a closer union with God. If and when we discover the best way to obtain fruit is in and through the battle, we learn to ³love the battle as much as we love the fruit.

For a further discussion on how the righteous live by faith, click here.

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

For a further discussion on how faith is hard work click here
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¹Always being in the fight of faith is a common experience because we are broken [untrusting] and living in a broken (unbelieving/rebellious) world. Expect it, don't be surprised by it.

²whatever desire for God or joy we find/experience in seeking God is only because God has awakened our heart by his love.

To do so God often has to allow us to go through great pain 1st.  For more on this click here.

³i.e. to love the means as well as the end.

⁴at the heart of all good and right actions is faith i.e. trust in God.

Cultural vs grace driven Christians

Broadly speaking there are two kinds of "Christianity" in ¹America:

1.  Cultural Christianity (the majority)

2.  Grace-driven followers of Christ

The first is more of a worldview. The second is a relationship with God or state of being if you will. 

A. Cultural Christianity acknowledges certain fundamental truths of the Christian faith. Some of the most basic and common elements in contrast with a secular worldview are...

·      Man has the capacity for good but is naturally inclined toward selfishness i.e. corrupt by nature.

·     There are moral absolutes and values i.e. objectively there is right and wrong, and these don’t change i.e. they are absolutes.

·      Mankind should be and will be held accountable by His Creator (God) for his choices and actions if not in this life, the next.

These are very important and distinct from a non-Christian worldview, which generally asserts or assumes three contrary beliefs...

·      Mankind is basically good and corrupted by his environment - i.e., from without vs within.

·      Morality is relative and subjective. We have our own truth. What is right for you is not necessarily right for me or others. There are no absolutes -- a key tenet of postmodernism.

·      This life is all there is, so eat, drink, and be merry, i.e. make the most of it... if it feels good, do it, and the like.  

Prior to postmodernism, a cultural Christian worldview was common among the majority of Americans - particularly after the 1st Great Awakening from the early 1730s on - though it has slowly declined from when it was a majority-held view in America (not only among the general population but, to a great extent, among institutional heads and centers of influence) up until the 1960s. Since Postmodernism, the contrast between a Christian and non-Christian worldview has become more pronounced and clear. 

The fundamental differences of cultural Christianity are very significant when compared to a non-Christian worldview and, for this reason alone, are important. So I do not want to dismiss its significance entirely. As a result, how a cultural Christian approaches life is very different compared to a nonbeliever. Holding these different views is not insignificant. 

B. Grace-driven Christianity is rooted in the good news that God did all that was needed to restore us to himself and free us from our inclination to serve ourselves. He did this because we could not free ourselves. It agrees with and holds to the same fundamental truths/values as the Cultural Christian, but goes beyond these i.e. these cultural aspects will still be a key part of a grace-driven Christian's worldview but is not the essence of what defines or drives them to action. To say it another way, their worldview influences their approach to the world but does not alone or in itself empower them to rightly act, i.e. for the glory of God. Only the Spirit of God via the grace of God extended to us in and through the gospel can empower us to live for God, not simply willing ourselves to. 

The distinction between cultural and grace-driven Christians is important for two reasons:

1.  Non-Christians do not understand this difference (because they have not partaken of and experienced the power of grace and God's perfect forgiveness) and therefore lump these different "kinds" of Christians into the same group. 

     Does this matter? Many attitudes and approaches to various cultural issues can be very ³different between cultural and grace-driven Christians. As a result, grace-driven Christians are attributed certain views and attitudes the cultural Christian holds which they don’t necessarily agree with. For these reasons, these two approaches may look and sound the same on the surface to a non-Christian (and on the surface, they are in fact similar) but they are driven by a very different reason-motive. 

2. Those who adhere only to cultural Christianity do not necessarily understand or agree with the message of grace and may in fact be Christian only culturally in how they view the world (the first 3 bullet points above). They are not, in fact, true followers of Jesus as the bible defines it, i.e. they may not be true believers when it comes to the central message of Christianity — the gospel of grace.

So the differences are not immediately apparent on the surface to a nonbeliever (or even necessary to those who claim to be Christians - what I am ⁴calling a cultural Christian). It’s not until you look “under the hood” that you see the difference that drives these externally similar yet very different flavors of Christianity. 

So, is cultural Christianity truly Christian? Yes, in so far as it adheres to these fundamental principles but not in so far as one's relationship with and posture toward God. As his child, our relationship with God is solely based on God’s work in and through Christ, not our work or views. There are many within and without the Church who are cultural Christians i.e. Christian in name only. 

To say it another way, the views of a Cultural Christian may be aligned with the Bible and in that sense are Christian, but this alone does not make one a true believer (a follower/disciple of Jesus) as defined by scripture. The Bible is clear that one’s standing before God is based on the good news (gospel) of grace (the work of Christ on our behalf) and accepting God's offer of righteousness earned by Christ, not in trying to adhere to a certain worldview or moral values or even being able to explain the gospel. I have known several nonbelievers who can explain the gospel well and who professed to be a Christian but never expressed true affection for God. I also know those who claimed to be a believer but later professed true faith, acknowledging they never understood grace or had genuine saving faith before then. 

For a grace-driven Christian, these same views held by cultural Christians are also adhered to but are the fruit of their relationship with God, not the grounds or cause of it. It is only by grace we are restored to a right standing and heartfelt relationship with God and not believing certain things taught in the Bible or about God. As James says, demons believe in God and tremble... but they're still demons. 

For a discussion on why there are hypocrites in the church click here. 

For a discussion on the church's tendency to legalistic morality, click here. 

For a discussion on the difference between the gospel and religion click here. 

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¹and elsewhere though this appears to be more common in the western church and particularly in America. 

²there can be some blending of worldviews between cultural Christians and nonbelievers but generally, if someone adheres to one of the distinguishing fundamentals of a cultural Christian worldview, they tend to adhere to all of them i.e. they all tend to hang together or not at all.

³"Cultural Christians" tend to be more rigid and unyielding in their approach to life. Their emphasis is more about being right than caring i.e. loving your neighbor. Grace-driven Christians tend to be more patient, understanding, and loving (though not automatically). To say it another way they bear the fruit of the Spirit. Like their Lord, they operate by grace and truth, and in that order. They understand the key essence of how we live is based on loving God with all our hearts and our neighbor as ourselves i.e. truth is vital but love - is the primary driving force of their lives. They also understand to love God with all our heart... we must first know the love of God personally -- our love for Him and obedience to him is a response to His love for us. For more on this click here and here. Of course, there are always exceptions among any of these various groups. 

⁴I make this distinction based on my own experience not theory. What do I mean? I used to be a cultural Christian to a great extent up until around 1998 (I came to Christ in 1971). And this was after I had gone to Bible College and been involved in lay ministry for several years. I have found there is a huge difference between being able to articulate the gospel message (which I could do well) and actually experiencing grace. I think I genuinely knew Christ before then but it was far more in my head than my heart. I have concluded there are many (maybe most) within the church today that are like I was rather than how I am now. I think many of those folks are truly Christians as the Bible defines it, but I have observed many who may not be. Only God knows their hearts we do not. Christ did say however by their fruits you will know them. Loving God and our neighbor is the greatest evidence and fruit of grace (Spirit) driven followers of Christ; not how we feel or how much we know but much do our words and 

honor God and advance His kingdom and not our own. 

We know Christ said he will separate the wheat from the weeds one day (i.e. they both exist within the church and will until Christ returns) and it is not our job to do so or decide who is and isn't a true follower of Christ, but for now, they are mixed together. To hear the words "depart from me, I never knew you" by someone who has done "many wonderful works" in God's name is a scary consideration. One we should all examine our hearts carefully over.