Friends of mine will tell you that I have a tendency to turn conversations towards theology. I can’t help it – it’s a topic I’m passionate about.
In a recent conversation, a friend was telling me about the journey that he is on in an effort to grow closer to God. He’s engaging in the run-of-the-mill activities: prayer, Bible reading, fasting, etc.
This is a common story.
But inherent in these activities is a devastating misconception: that something we do gets us closer to God.
Consider the junior high Sunday School analogy: mankind stands on one cliff, God on the other with a wide gulf in between. Place the cross over the gap and a bridge is built. Kablam! We now have direct access to God.
But the way most of us talk about our relationship with God – specifically when we talk about getting closer to God – the picture is more accurate with God being a mile’s walk inland from the cliff. Jesus might get us to the other side, but we still have some work to do if we’re going to have a good relationship with God. It gets worse when people talk about how having a relationship with God is what saves them.
This, my friends, is a fundamental misunderstanding of the Gospel. The cross of Christ isn’t just a bridge that gets us to other side where we then have work to do to build a strong relationship with God. The cross of Christ puts us directly in the presence of God and gets us as close to Him as we could ever be.
No amount of prayer, Bible study, fasting, etc. – in other words, nothing we can do – gets us closer to God; that’s the Gospel. Christ, and him alone, gets us close to God. For the man or woman who has trusted in Christ, their relationship with God is perfect. Nothing could add to or take away from it.
Isn’t that great news?
If you’re a Christian who has suffered under the guilt of never being able to be disciplined enough to read your Bible as often as you should, or pray with the fervency you wanted to, this makes Jesus’ claim that his burden is light actually feel true. Because it is.
Want to get closer to God? Stop trying. Trust instead in Christ getting close to God on your behalf and imputing that righteousness to you through his atoning death on the cross.
Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: | Christianity, God, Gospel, Grace, Jesus, Salvation, Theology
I appreciate your commentary on the topic. I would argue that we can get closer in relationship to God, but that this is a temporal institution. Certainly, a relationship with God is not salvific, but a relationship with God is a gauge for our usefulness in this life.
As we seek God in prayer and search the word, we learn more about God. As we are obedient in this life, God reveals himself more and more to us. It’s as Christ said, you can tell his disciples by the fruit they produce (paraphrased). It is in the proportion that we submit ourselves, that God will use us, all for his own glory.
Hi Anthony,
Thanks for your comment! I definitely agree that, having received God’s grace and put into right (and close) relationship with Him through Christ, the change that results should produce fruit.
Amen to that!
Yes…… we need to learn to cease “striving” but there is much more to learn about “abiding.” A plant doesn’t decide to grow a flower… or a tree an apple. We may not be aware of our spiritual growth, but we should recognize the need to “abide” and let the vine nourish us. Without that, we all know what happens to the branch.