A Simple Truth

"Entering into this fullness is not something you figure out or achieve. It's not a matter of being circumcised or keeping a long list of laws. No, you're already in—insiders—not through some secretive initiation rite but rather through what Christ has already gone through for you, destroying the power of sin. If it's an initiation ritual you're after, you've already been through it by submitting to baptism. Going under the water was a burial of your old life; coming up out of it was a resurrection, God raising you from the dead as he did Christ. When you were stuck in your old sin-dead life, you were incapable of responding to God. God brought you alive—right along with Christ! Think of it! All sins forgiven, the slate wiped clean, that old arrest warrant canceled and nailed to Christ's cross. He stripped all the spiritual tyrants in the universe of their sham authority at the Cross and marched them naked through the streets." Colossians 2:11-15 (The Message)

In Paul's letter to the Colossians he was writing a church who started out in the right path but started veering towards a Christianity that was "performance based." Looking to set the record straight he wrote a powerful message in this letter urging them to resist the voices of others in doing things to earn the fullness of Christ.

For me, Christianity has been a journey of constant discovery. When I first was able to realize the love and sacrifice of Christ I couldn't resist the allure of salvation, but once I got saved things changed. It became more about how to dress, where to go, what to do, and Christianity became more about what I could do to earn and keep my salvation instead of reveling in the love of Christ that afforded to me a gift that could not be earned. I can't say that my Christianity began to diminish, but the effects of trying to earn it on my own began to wear on me spiritually. I started to think that if anyone could earn their salvation then why was it necessary for Christ to die?

When I started to understand grace, and how it operated in my life I began to be free. The turn-around wasn't quick as there would be times I would lapse into trying to earn God's "approval" of me, but the more I realized that in my own human condition I was flawed and terribly unworthy, the more I embraced what it says in Romans 8:1, "So now there is NO condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." This trumped all the teachings of my past that strongly urged me to live a legalistic lifestyle. One I don't believe God intended for His children, (as attested by Paul in his writings, and Christ himself). This reality brought about a freedom and appreciation for this gift God so lovingly lavished upon me.

Where do you find yourself today? Do you find that you HAVE to read the bible, HAVE to pray, HAVE to go to church all to gain God's approval? Understand this liberating fact... God loves you no matter what. Once you've accepted Christ as your Savior the blood coursing through your veins has His DNA. He paid it all upon the cross so that we can be free to not only live free, but tell others of this amazing gift of salvation. Not be slaves again to the law. It is a liberating process... I know, I went through it myself.