What counts when it comes to living the Christian life?
Oct 4, 2011
The Race for Grace - part seventeen in a study of the book of Galatians
By Mike Gaudet
In sports, putting points on the board is what counts.
What counts when it comes to living the Christian life?
“But by faith we eagerly await through the Spirit the righteousness for which we hope. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.” Galatians 5:5-6
As far as God is concerned, faith expressing itself in love for others is what counts. “The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.” Reaching out to meet someone else’s needs because of confidence in God’s faithfulness is the spiritual equivalent of “putting the ball in the net.”
Faith and love are Christianity’s basic elements. They are like “Siamese twins” in that they cannot exist without one another. Loveless faith isn’t Christian faith. Faithless love isn’t Christian love.
Faith is the “root” of Christian growth.
Faith trusts in what God says. God makes promises to us in the Bible and . . .”by faith we eagerly await” the fulfillment of these promises.
Abraham is a prime example of an individual who lived by faith. God promised to give Abraham many descendants. Twenty-five years later he was still waiting for God to keep this promise . . . and yet, “Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead — since he was about a hundred years old — and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. This is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.” Romans 4:19-22
Faith and sight are like two “operating systems” that compete with one another in our world. To live by sight is to base our security on what we see. To live by faith is to base our security on what God says. Abraham remained “fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised” in spite of the passing years. Faith is confidence in God’s faithfulness . . . in spite of visual evidence to the contrary.
Love is the “fruit” of Christian growth.
The love we read about in the Bible is more verb than noun. It is active, not passive. It isn’t an emotion that we fall “into” and then “out of.” Christian love is a steady, sacrificial investment in the welfare of another.
This kind of love can only exist within the deep, resilient security that living by faith in God’s promises affords. When we draw security from what we see, fearsome possibilities choke out love. When the roots of our faith go deep into what God says, we experience a growing capacity to resist the pull of self-centeredness. This frees us to serve others in love.
When we live in fearful anticipation of receiving God’s punishment rather than joyful anticipation of receiving His promises, love is drained of power. The fear of judgment unplugs love. “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.” 1 John 4:16-18
Fear and love are like oil and water . . . they displace one another. When love increases fear decreases. In order to increase our love for others we must increase our faith in God’s love for us. “We love because He first loved us.” 1 John 4:19
Faith opens the door to love.
Love opens the door to God.
“God is love.” 1 John 4:16-18