The big "IF" that divides us

"God isn't opposed to effort, he's opposed to merit"

"It's a terrible thing to fall into the hands of an angry God"

One of the big doubts or questions I had growing up was, "How far is too far?".  In other words, how far away from God would he let you wander before he let you go and you were lost?

The other side of the coin was, "How much is enough?".  I'd hear my mom say this a lot - "I don't know that I'll ever be able to do enough to make it into Heaven", she'd say.  

Both questions start off with the assumption that God is like us in that he has his limits and that when and if we "try them", he has a point at which he will toss us back like a underweight fish in a bass tournament.

Out of that assumption comes postures like, "Better safe than sorry".  And from that point of view, every belief and decision about faith gets tighter and more fearful - always afraid of "angering our loving God".

I don't know if anything can be more messed up than that.  There probably are some things more messed up than that, but that's super messed up.  

And we'd tell children this kind of thing so they'd "come to know God better and love him more".  Yep, there's nothing to instill love and confidence like a heavy dose of irrational fears.

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In Paul's letter to the believers in a town called Colossae, he wanted to strengthen them in their faith, trust, and dependence on what God has done for us in Jesus and he includes this line (1:22-23)...

...now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation—if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel. 

I was taught growing up that the little word "IF" in the middle of the sentence was evidence that there was a limit with God - a point at which he'd been done with you if you went too far or not far enough.

Now I see it completely differently and in the context of all of Paul's letter and all of his writings and all of the New Testament - "IF" isn't referring to effort and avoidance - "IF" is holding on to our faith in Him.

Paul says, "All these things are true!  You're reconciled, holy in his sight, without blemish, and free from accusation - KEEP ON BELIEVING IT!"  Why?  Because there are people who don't want you to believe in the hope of the gospel.  They want you to earn it through avoiding sin or doing enough good things.

He's not saying you'll lose your salvation, he's saying you'll lose your hope, your confidence, your peace with God because you've stopped trusting in what he's done and started trusting something else.

And this is completely in line with all the other things Paul says about believing, keeping focus on the good that God has done, being people who trust in what God is doing through our faith - we trust and depend on what he is saying is true.

Paul was never afraid of hard work and putting in effort in our walk with God, but he was never FOR the idea that there was anything we do to earn, keep, lose, or regain our place with God.  It's HIS work, not mine.  All I can do is work on my faith in awe and amazement at what he's done.

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So, on more than one occasion before she went to be with Jesus, I affirmed to my mom that indeed, there was NO WAY should could ever do enough to earn a place in Heaven.

The first few times I told her that, she initially took it as offense - like I was saying she wasn't a good person and things like that.

After I explained what God had done for us, she began to grasp the idea that it wasn't about her being good and doing enough good and she began to relax, used different words to talk about herself and others, and to see some new kind of hope that she didn't talk about before.

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I believe there are a LOT of people who I'll spend eternity with/near in Heaven who live in misery in this life because they still think it's about them and what they do or don't do.

My wish/prayer for those people is that they'll hear all the good news of Jesus and not just the manipulative version of religion that makes it all about work and avoiding sin.

And my prayer/wish for religious leaders who heavily defend that idea is that they'll be deeply honest with themselves about why it's so important to hold people to that standard.  

If it's genuinely a true belief based on scripture, fair enough - we'll have no fellowship in that.  

But if it's what I suspect at least some feel - that they'll lose a job, power, control, a position, a history, pride, etc - I pray they weigh it out and make a choice based on knowing that - and own the fact that they'd rather keep people under their/institutional control so as to keep/build their own kingdom.  Just sayin'.

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So if you've lived thinking that it's about you and your efforts to earn God's approval or avoid his punishing or his wrath, may you be free from that and know/remember that grace is a free gift.  

Take it and enjoy.  Remember those old images/painting "of God" from long ago were made by people who believed in and benefited from people being afraid of God and depending on them as church leaders.

Move on to something better.  Much better.

Walk in peace with God today, because that's what he wants.