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Tuesday, November 15, 2011

The Paradox Between Being Relational and Being Right



I see in my kids a reflection of myself.  We are caught in a paradox seeded in the blueprint of humanity.  An inner desire to be in relational conflicts with a passionate drive to be right.  For my kids, this comes out in epic sibling battles.

My kids love each other, and depend on that sibling relationship for encouragement.  Through their friendships with one another they gain an understanding of the world of High School and Middle School.  They share in common the burdens and blessings of being a child whose Dad is a Pastor of Worship.  They rely on each other to endure the German stubbornness and sometimes quick temper of their dad.

But, while they see their need for a sibling relationship, they are torn with a drive to be right.  Now, I don't mean to say that they look for the right answer.  No, not at all.  They deeply desire to prove that the thoughts and opinions they start with are the right ones.  Scripture teaches that none of us, by nature, are right.  None of us, by nature, are even good.

Romans3:10 As the Scriptures say,
   “No one is righteous—
      not even one.
 11 No one is truly wise;
      no one is seeking God.
12 All have turned away;
      all have become useless.
   No one does good,
      not a single one.”
 13 “Their talk is foul, like the stench from an open grave.
      Their tongues are filled with lies.”
   “Snake venom drips from their lips.”
    14 “Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.”
 15 “They rush to commit murder.
    16 Destruction and misery always follow them.
 17 They don’t know where to find peace.”
    18 “They have no fear of God at all.”

We were made to live in intimate relationship with our Creator.  Because of our sin nature it is impossible for us to have this Father/son/daughter relationship with God here in this life or in eternity.  This sin nature is our inheritance (Thanks grandpa Adam and grandma Eve). We have also inherited the penalty, which is death.

That sounds so harsh. "But, I'm a nice person."  "I do more good stuff than bad."  "I help the poor.  I go to church."

Let me ask you a question.  Where did you ever get the idea that God has a scale and weighs your good things against the bad?  That's not how it works. If the imagery of a scale helps your understanding of the judgement, then you should think of it like this.  If you were born standing one the side of the scale and you needed to throw your good deeds to the other side of the scale, you would not be strong enough to throw them that far. No matter how good your deed is, your arm isn't strong enough. It's not about how good your deeds are.  It's about you not being able to reach the other side of the scale with them.

Romans 3:19 Obviously, the law applies to those to whom it was given, for its purpose is to keep people from having excuses, and to show that the entire world is guilty before God. 20 For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are. 21 But now God has shown us a way to be made right with him without keeping the requirements of the law, as was promised in the writings of Moses[a] and the prophets long ago. 22 We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are.


Jesus came and poured out His righteousness for us. He substituted Himself for us on the cross. He died in our place. Because we were helpless to do anything, He did it all.  Every ounce of our salvation is the work of Jesus.  You can't do good enough works to earn it and you can't do enough good works to prove it.  Try as you might, you can't even live up to the laws we've been given.

 Romans2:23For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. 24 Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. 25 For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood. This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past, 26 for he was looking ahead and including them in what he would do in this present time. God did this to demonstrate his righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he declares sinners to be right in his sight when they believe in Jesus.

Made in the image of God to live in intimate relationship with God under the righteousness of God.  That relationship was broken by Adam who passed on to us an inheritance of unrighteousness. This unrighteousness first inherited then fully embraced by our own sinfulness. Jesus came to cleanse us from Adams stain and forgive our sins.  His work on the cross did it ALL!

I recently saw this tweet - "Supplementing God's grace with your works is like supplementing the Arctic Circle with your ice chip.  You Are You Kidding?" - Scotty Ward Smith via twitter.

4 comments:

Susan said...

It seems that folks who think they are "good" set their standards a little too low for what "Good" acutally is. This is a great lesson. Christians should not only know it by heart, but we should also live what is in our hearts. Sin is sin (period). Jesus saved us from sin; not from mistakes or goofs; from sin! To admit is to confess; to reconsider is to repent. God bless you for having wisdom to share and the courage to share it.
So, how did the writer's conference go?

Alden Schoeneberg said...

The writers conference was wonderful. It was the first one I'd ever been to. I learned a lot about writing and I'm trying to apply that. I have a growing interest in writing fiction and I'm experimenting with several stories.

Susan said...

Writing is kind of what I do, so I understand your passion. I know you like to type everything, but keep a little note book handy at all times - write the ideas down as soon as you have them, because they can get away from you quickly. I look forward to purchasing and reading your first novel. I pray that He will guide you to tell the story well.

Bryan said...

Great post. Tonight the youth and I discuss what makes us right with God and one section hammers the fact that our righteous deeds are as "filthy rags." Good writin'