Are you working tirelessly to please God? Do you live as though God is pleased with you as His child?
Alex Early reminds us that there is big a difference between our position as children of God, as opposed to seeing God as a boss.
“I’ve been a Christian now for twenty years. I think it’s easy and even a natural default for many of us to begin to assume or relate to God as our divine employer, rather than our Abba Father. The reason is, sin is a very tricky animal.”
Alex points us towards Jesus’ teachings in the New Testament,
“The two sins that Jesus continually calls out over and over again in the Gospels is repent of rebellion, breaking Commandments, and sinning against God and others, or you see Him calling Pharisees to repent of their religion.”
Oftentimes we try to work out our own salvation, rather than resting on the promises of God.
“It’s is easy to get into a checklist routine form of Christianity and take what you’re learning in basic discipleship and turn it into more of a contractual kind of relationship:
‘God loves me on my good days and God is mad at me on my bad days.’
‘When I perform well in giving, serving, praying, tithing, going on a mission’s trip, reading my Bible, being in a community group, being involved in outreach, etc., then God is pleased with me.’
‘I base my own spirituality completely on what I do.’
“When you do that, it turns God into more of an employer that you need to keep happy; a boss who will bring the hammer down on you if you step out of line. Whereas the gospel of grace says,
‘I am justified. I’m declared righteous, holy, blameless and pure because of what Jesus has done for me. Because of what Jesus has done for me and in me through the Holy Spirit, I now want to please God.’
‘I want to pray, but I don’t want to pray or do these Christian acts of service or compassion simply in order to maintain my “spot” at the table in the kingdom of Heaven, but rather because I already have a spot at the table and I’m completely secure in that, I now live a life out of gratitude to God, in response to Him, in loving Him and loving others.'”
According to our position in Christ, we are inherently accepted, loved and eternally secure; not because of what we have done, but because of what Jesus has done for us on the cross.
Alex Early is the author of and serves Redemption Church in Seattle, Washington, where he focuses on preaching and theology. He has completed two master’s degrees and is a current doctoral candidate. Alex has been heavily involved in training church leaders both in the U.S. and abroad.
The New Believer's Guide to the Christian Faith
