Free From Selfish Ambition

Another freedom that comes from our new heart, new nature, and new disposition is the freedom from selfish ambition.  Throughout the New Testament, the apostles highlight selfish ambition as one of our worst enemies.  James writes, “If you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth.  This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, natural, and demonic.  For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing” (James 3:14-16).

Selfish ambition is arrogance unchecked.  Selfish ambition is earthly, natural, and demonic.  Selfish ambition sows seeds of discord, disorder, and every evil thing.  We and our selfish ambition really are our last and worst enemy.  So what is the remedy?

The cure for selfish ambition is its opposite; humility of mind.  “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard each other as more important than yourselves…Have the same mind as Jesus Christ who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.  Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Phil 2:3, 5-8).  We are to have the same humility of mind as modeled by Jesus when He humbled Himself.

Do you know that this humility of mind is available to you?  Do you know that if you have received Christ, you have been indwelt with the mind of Christ?  In I Corinthians chapter 2, the apostle Paul highlights the fact that we have been given the mind of Christ.  “But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them because they are spiritually appraised” (I Cor 2:14).  To the natural man, humility appears to be foolish.  To the spiritual man, we see its great value.  And we can appraise things spiritually because we “have been given the mind of Christ” (I Cor 2:16).  This short last phrase of chapter 2 almost seems to appear in passing, “We have been given the mind of Christ.”  But it is extremely powerful to dwell on.

Did you know you have the mind of Christ?  Now put that mind into action by embracing the humility of Christ (Phil 2:5-8) and letting Him set you free from selfish ambition!

The Gospel for Believers

The latest buzzword in Christian publishing is “the gospel”.  From J. D. Greear’s straightforward title, The Gospel:  Recovering the Power that Made Christianity Revolutionary, to Timothy Keller’s Center Church:  Doing Balanced, Gospel-Centered Ministry in Your City.  Overall, this is a positive direction as we seek to rediscover the core of the gospel message for the church.  But what exactly is “the gospel”?

The gospel literally means “good news”.  And I think we can divide this “good news” into two forms.  First is the gospel for unbelievers.  It is a gospel message we are very familiar with.  When Jesus came to earth, He initiated a new arrangement between God and man.  His message of release from the penalty of our sin was totally founded upon His death, as a substitute for each of us, on a cross.  Under God’s old arrangement, the default arrangement for the whole human race, we stand guilty of breaking His moral code.  But that all goes by the wayside when we agree to God’s new arrangement by acknowledging our guilt, accepting the free gift of Christ’s death in our place, and embracing what Jesus says as true.  If you wish to say “I’m in” with this new arrangement, tell God in prayer about your decision.  Then, talk to someone about it.  This is the gospel for unbelievers.

But what happens next?  Once we place our faith in Christ for the forgiveness of our sins, how do we move forward in living the life of a Christ-follower?  This leads us to the second form of the gospel; the gospel for believers.  And this contains just as much “good news” as the gospel for unbelievers.  However, as a church, I believe we are much less familiar with this gospel message.  It is indeed “very good news” for believers.

The “good news” for believers is that as part of God’s new arrangement, His New Covenant with you and I, we are not only set free from sin’s penalty; but in an incredible supernatural experience, we are set free from sin’s power as well.  Prior to your initial salvation, sin was your capacity and propensity.  Now, as a child of God indwelt by His very presence in the form of the Holy Spirit, your propensity is righteousness, not sin.  Oh yes, we still have a sin capacity, but it is no longer our default mode.  It is no longer our inclination.  If this concept is new to you, let me recommend our series of posts titled, Walking in the New Nature, as a starting point to understanding this overarching message of the New Testament.

And why might believers not be familiar with this gospel?  It might be because it is largely missing in our new gospel literature.  Look at this quote from Dr. Keller that has become a popular re-post on the web.

“The gospel of justifying faith means that while Christians are, in themselves still sinful and sinning, yet in Christ, in God’s sight, they are accepted and righteous. So we can say that we are more wicked than we ever dared believe, but more loved and accepted in Christ than we ever dared hope — at the very same time. This creates a radical new dynamic for personal growth. It means that the more you see your own flaws and sins, the more precious, electrifying, and amazing God’s grace appears to you. But on the other hand, the more aware you are of God’s grace and acceptance in Christ, the more able you are to drop your denials and self-defenses and admit the true dimensions and character of your sin.”

I think this “dynamic for personal growth” is missing a critical ingredient.  His description of believers as “still sinful and sinning…more wicked than we ever dared believe…able to admit the true dimensions and character of your sin” does not agree with the Scriptural description of us as “holy and beloved saints” (Col 3:12) or having a new nature “which in the very likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth” (Eph 4:24).

In Romans chapter 6, the apostle Paul anticipated the greater sin – greater grace question and Paul’s answer is this.  “Should we continue in sin so that grace may increase?  No, No, No!”  As we have explored in this blog many times, Paul’s basis for telling us not to continue in sin is because that is not who we are.  We now have “become infused with the righteousness of Christ” (II Cor 5:21) having been “raised with Christ, in the likeness of His resurrection, to walk in a brand new life” (Rom 6:4-5).

I believe Dr. Keller and many others would answer Paul’s question, “Should we continue in sin so that grace may increase?” with “No we shouldn’t, but we will.  And when we do, we will realize how great God’s grace is.”  Where is the hope for victory over sin in that?  Where is the power of victory over sin in that?  This is not what the New Testament teaches.  Propensity for sin is what you were before Christ; not what you are now.

What is the gospel message for believers?  What is the “good news” we should be preaching to the saints in our churches?  Based on God’s promise, based on God’s indwelling, based on the new creation you are; you have been set free from sin’s power.  This is incredibly “good news” and needs to be broadcast throughout our churches as widely as possible.  This is the gospel for believers.

Self-Correcting Grace – An Illustration

Last post, I addressed the issue of indulging in sin as a way to abuse God’s grace.  I explained Titus 2:11-14 and the concept that grace, properly understood and applied, actually teaches us to deny sin and live godly lives.  Grace has a way of self correcting.  Today, I would like expand on this idea.

Pastor Judah Smith of Seattle’s The City Church shared a useful illustration along these lines in a recent interview with the Christian Post.  In addressing a question about grace, Pastor Smith first talks about his relationship with his wife, Chelsea.

He summarizes, “Chelsea is just the most incredible, considerate, compassionate, loving, gracious spouse, she’s a lot like Jesus.  In the 13 and a half years of her loving me and serving me and being so kind and committed, faithful and loyal, I’ve never had the thought ‘because she’s loving, gracious, kind and faithful, I could cheat on her and get away with. In fact, I could do it multiple times.’ I’ve never planned to cheat on her, by the grace of God I haven’t at all. Because the exact opposite desire and emotion are conjured up due to her love and grace and faithfulness.”

“I think when grace is merely a principle and a biblical concept – if it’s just the favor of God, or the forgiveness of God, or the love of God, it’s easily abused. But when grace is a person, when he has beautiful eyes of love and compassion and mercy and we fall in love with this incredible savior and his grace and his mercy pours over our lives, the ultimate result is not ‘Gosh, I can get away with sin.’ … quite the opposite happens really.”

This is such a clear illustration of the draw of grace and has been my experience also; not just in my marriage, but in my obedience to Christ as well.  When I understand grace as a person – Jesus Christ – rather than a principle, I run to Jesus.  I desire a close relationship with Jesus.  I don’t want to sin more.  I want to sin less.  Why?  Because I do not want to do anything that would harm the relationship.  I don’t want to do anything that would cloud our connection.

I am talking about clouding the connection from my end.  The connection itself will never go away.  God is faithful.  And His connection to us is secure.  We cannot lose the connection because its fulfillment depends on His faithfulness, not our actions.  God will never leave us.  From my end, I want my love for Jesus to be deep and strong.  And His grace draws us into that desire to love, not sends us on our way to unrighteous living.

Does this make sense to you?  Has this been your experience?  It may seem counter-intuitive.  We can think of a few grace abusers we know.  Or we may even secretly fall into temptation ourselves to take advantage of the grace of God.  But it should not be that way.  Instead, if we are in a love relationship with Christ – a relationship He secured at the cross – we should, based on that relationship, be running to Jesus.  And we will be pleasing Jesus.  We will be embracing all that Jesus has for our lives.  And the last thing on our minds will be a desire to take advantage of His love.

Self-Correcting Grace

The apostle Paul had strong words for the rule-makers in the Galatian church, even to the point of calling them “false brethren” (Gal 2:4).  Now I don’t know if these folks were truly evil or just a little over zealous in wanting to keep people in line with their focus on the rules.  After all, the challenge of how far our freedom goes is still with us today.  Are there “false teachers” among us who seek to limit our Christian freedom or do they have a legitimate concern that freedom will be abused and our flesh will be indulged?

One of the ways to address this issue is with the concept of “self-correcting grace”.  Paul wrote in Titus chapter 2, “For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed, and to purify for Himself a people of His own possession, zealous for good deeds” (Titus 2:11-14).

Let’s look at this set of verses very carefully.  “For the grace of God has appeared” (the foundation of all that follows is the appearance of God’s grace), “bringing salvation to all men” (God’s grace brought our salvation; deliverance from the penalty and the power of sin), “instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires” (rather than giving us the freedom to indulge in sin, God’s grace actually teaches us – and I might add empowers us – to deny sin; to put the ix-nay on ungodliness and worldly desires.  Grace properly understood and embraced helps guide us away from sin.)

Paul continues, “and to live sensibly, righteously, and godly in the present age” (So grace directs us away from sin and toward godliness.  Grace, properly understood and applied, is self-correcting.  When we are tempted to follow the wrong path, grace corrects us by teaching us to deny sin and embrace godly common sense and righteous living.  I like the word sensibly in this passage.  It is against common sense for a believer to live in sin and not according to their righteous nature.  Properly understood grace, not willpower or the threat of condemnation, brings us back to the righteous path.

And we become people who are “looking for the blessed hope and appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus, who gave Himself for us to redeem us from every lawless deed” (Christ’s giving Himself up for us – His finished work on the cross – delivered us from lawless living as our default mode), “and to purify for Himself” (Christ giving Himself up for us made us clean), “a people for His own possession” (Christ giving Himself up for us placed us in His family), “zealous for good deeds” (Christ giving Himself up for us infused us with zealousy for good deeds.  He freed us from lawless living and empowered us for righteous living).

That is what this passage, and much of the New Testament, says, “Grace, properly understood and applied, is self-correcting.”  I will share an illustration of this next time.

Free to Obey

Another freedom we experience as a result of our new birth is the freedom to obey; the freedom to choose a new master (Rom 6:14).  James writes in the New Testament, “But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.  For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was.  But one who looks intently at the prefect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does” (James 1:22-25).

The law of liberty is an interesting description.  I don’t know about you, but I don’t usually think of the words “law” and “liberty” as going together.  I think of them as opposites.  I think of law as a restriction of my liberty.  So what is the law of liberty?

I believe it is God’s Word, His law, “written on our hearts” as it were (Heb 8:10).  The liberty part is the freedom and power to obey.  Prior to our salvation, there was no liberty in the law, only condemnation.  In Romans chapter 7, Paul describes the weight of that condemnation that results from trying to obey the law without the new resurrection power of Christ.  He concludes than only Christ – no amount of willpower or effort – can set us free from this condemnation.  “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Rom 8:1).

We have been set free from trying to obey the law by willpower to escape condemnation (something we were unable to accomplish, even if we wanted to).  Instead, we now obey God’s moral law by the power of our new nature; God’s resurrection power literally living through us by the indwelling of God’s Spirit.

James calls this indwelling receiving the word implanted.  “Therefore putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls” (James 1:21).  We put aside sin – filthiness and wickedness – by receiving the implanted word which has the power to deliver us from sin.  With the power to obey now firmly planted in our new nature, we have a freedom the world knows nothing of; the freedom to obey.