I-anity

A coworker of mine gets daily reminders from an inspirational "Christian" calendar. Every day contains a scripture reference along with an encouraging message based on the accompanying passage. My coworker, an unbeliever, felt the need to share them with me to see if they would encourage me. The entry for January 29, 2009, was based on Matthew 5:6.

None of us is perfect. We all make mistakes, and we can learn to obey our consciences if we can be big enough to say, "I'm sorry, I didn't treat you right, I'll do better next time." If you remain sensitive and maintain a clear conscience, there's no limit to what God will do in your life.

In general this sounds good. However, it doesn't define what the origin of these actions will be and doesn't seem to give justice to the passage it claims to extrapolate on. There is no reference to the author of the passage from Matthew 5:6, Jesus Christ. Furthermore, this attempt at inspiration indirectly sheds light on a huge problem within the Body of Christ. When you make God's work in your life conditional on your ability to obey your conscience it puts God in the position of responding to you rather than you responding to Him. When the emphasis is on what you are doing for God instead of what He has done for you Christ is nowhere to be found. Instead of being a Christian, you are practicing "I-anity."

"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled." Matthew 5:6

Taken out of context, this passage is right up the alley for a person who believes that if they work hard enough God will reward their efforts. Righteousness can be defined to mean just about anything. Hunger and thirst can describe anybody with a desire to be more "spiritual." Scripture says that one of the sinful traits of mankind is our tendency to do what is right in our own eyes. As far as the Christian faith is concerned, many believe that hunger and thirst for righteousness is measured by our commitment to the doctrines of a particular faith. Were you baptised? Do you tithe? Is your attendance at 100 percent? Have you stopped sinning yet? You can fill in the blank with any denominational requirements. For that matter you can insert the tenants of any other religion and the result would be the same. All of it is based on human effort with the goal of getting God to owe you something for your work. And human effort gets you nowhere! What Jesus is trying to do in this passage is point His audience towards Himself. The hunger and thirst mentioned is the spiritual death all mankind suffers from apart from a relationship with the living God. The righteousness we seek can only come from the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ. When we enter into a saving relationship with God, we are "filled" by His life as a free gift for our faith in Christ.

"It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption." 1 Corinthians 1:30

There are only two kinds of righteousness in the world. There is self-righteousness, which is no righteousness at all. And there is the righteousness from God which comes through faith in Christ. If you believe that as long as you are a good person, who obeys your own conscience rather than the leading of the Holy Spirit, than you are guilty of trying to establish your own righteousness before God. While it is admirable to say you're sorry, admit your wrongdoing and promise you will do better in the future, it is futile to believe your efforts will be rewarded by God. We all stand before God dead in our sins and separate from Him. Nothing we propose to do in the energy of our own flesh will cause God to act on our behalf. The love of God is that He acted on our behalf, not because of anything we had done, but because of His desire to have a relationship with us. Jesus Christ died for our sins because no man had a life worthy enough to give that would satisfy God as payment for our sins. Therefore, God was able to offer His life through the resurrection of Jesus Christ to all who accept Him by faith. This life is a gift offered out of the endless love of God. It is not a reward for our ability to keep a clear conscience and remain sensitive to those around us. Apart from Christ we can do nothing. With Christ we can do nothing. It is all Christ. The life we live is through faith in Christ to live His life through us.

"I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." Galatians 2:20