The Sandpit

"You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace." Galatians 5:4

My friend is a former National Football League player and current life coach. As part of his effort to inspire people he produced a video titled "Never Give Up on your Dreams." During this video it shows him training in a sandpit as part of his off-season regimen to stay in playing shape. While in the sandpit we see him attempting to run while pulling a weight that is tied around his waist. Next we see him sprinting in the sandpit while holding a tree stump above his head. Obviously, he is exhausted, but it pays dividends as he was one of the better football players of his era. His desire to motivate people to put in the necessary work to achieve their goals in life comes through in the video. While I was watching the video I noticed how my friend's struggle to pull the weight and carry the tree stump, while inside a sandpit, epitomized the Christian life for so many believers.

How many Christians believe that they are to strive, in the energy of their own flesh, to live the Christian life? They use phrases like Progressive Sanctification and Lordship Salvation. They sound holy and righteous, but are really just the religious version of dragging a weight around your waist or carrying a tree stump over your head while doing it all in a sandpit. It is, as the scripture calls it, a yoke of slavery. A yoke is defined as "an agency of oppression, subjection, servitude, etc." This accurately describes the Christian walk for many believers. Nobody under this "yoke" would describe it as such, much less think of themselves as being enslaved. Yet, that is exactly the type of bondage they will find themselves under. Jesus said, "Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect (Matthew 5:48)." If you believe your life as a Christian is to try and be as perfect as our heavenly Father, you have to subject yourself to some form of law in order to achieve this goal. And that is the first mistake one makes that leads to them falling from grace.

If you fall from something it means that you have fallen to something else. Furthermore, to fall means you have gone down or backwards. This idea alone conjures up thoughts that something negative has taken place. When a Christian accepts the premise that they must live under a form of law it means they will try and live an impossible life of obedience and repentance to that law in order to reach their goal of perfection. All they will discover is the futility that comes from this unattainable goal. They will discover that for every law they obey, there are more laws that they are not obeying. And if you think your right standing in God's eyes is determined by your ability to be perfect, the only conclusion you will reach is that God is completely disgusted with you. As the Apostle Paul said about himself, "I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do (Romans 7:15)." This is the confession of someone realizing his inability to live up to the demands of the law. Eventually, despite all your efforts, you will feel further and further away from God than when you started. You will feel like you are carrying that weighted belt and tree stump around your entire life, never being able to put it down or take rest.

For those who have found themselves trapped inside this lifestyle of endless repetitions in the "sandpit," there is hope. While you may believe that you are obeying God through your self efforts, the Bible says you are being disobedient and calls you to rest from your works. No people on the earth have dedicated themselves to a lifestyle of obedience and repentance more than the Jews. However, the author of Hebrews said to those people following the example of the Jews, "Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience (Hebrews 4:11)." What is that rest? It is realizing the fact that the perfection you seek to achieve through your obedience and repentance to law has already been given to you as an inheritance of your faith in Jesus Christ. It is His obedience and sinless living that makes us perfect in God's eyes because when God looks at us He sees Jesus! That is why the Bible says, "For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified (Hebrews 10:14)." God has called you to rest in the finished work of Jesus Christ. The work has been done in Him. Remember, when you feel you are working for God it may be a sign that you are being disobedient and are falling from grace and to the law of the sandpit. Be blessed.