Philippians 2
Most of you know that I have a strong dislike for boats. It is not the boat itself I dislike; it is the impact that boats have on my stomach. Yet, even I have gone sailing a few times up at Camp Spofford. To be a great sailor you need a few things. First, you need a boat, then a sail, a rudder, a lifejacket, some rope and "voila" you are sailing. Wrong, something critical is missing from this list. Can you guess what it is? You need wind. If you get down to your sailboat, put on the lifejacket, hoist the sail and there is no wind, we have a special term for that, "dead in the water." It means no one is moving anywhere.
For sailing to occur we need two actions to take place simultaneously. In our roles as sailors we need to prepare. But equally important is we need the wind to blow. When those two events occur simultaneously amazing things happen.
In Philippians 2 Paul says, "as you have always obeyed, continue to work out your salvation – for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose."
This is known as the doctrine of sanctification and it deals with our spiritual growth as Christians. The gospel is not just a ticket to get out of hell. The gospel is the process of growing to become like Jesus in our life right now. There is a problem associated with sanctification. Many people expect that God is going to supernaturally zap them with growth. If they just pray a certain prayer they will automatically change. Other Christians develop a Chuck Norris approach and think they can do all of the work without the Holy Spirit. Both are equally dangerous and will leave you "dead in the water spiritually."
What Jesus wants us to realize is that spiritual growth is the result of us working as if it depended on us and praying like it is totally dependent on the Holy Spirit. When we have these two forces working together in harmony that is when we will experience amazing spiritual growth.
No comments:
Post a Comment