Heavenly Mindedness (74)

 

As we work through the final two paragraphs of Vos’s message, we are considering: “Here it is impossible for us to tell how truly and to what extent our relation to God is a relation of pure, disinterested love in which we seek Him for his own sake. There, when all want and sin-frailty shall have slipped away from us, we shall be able to tell.”

 

In the last post we noted that there are three components to the above; “here,” “there,” and “pure, disinterested love,” then we considered the “there” of the three. Now let’s ask whether in this life we can really know how much we love God, that is, “to what extent our relation to God is a relation of pure, disinterested love.” Or we might phrase it, “Can we really know the full extent of our subjective – experiential spiritual condition while “here” on this earth?”

 

I am reminded of Psalm 19:12 – 14: “Who can discern his errors? Acquit me of hidden faults. Also keep back Your servant from presumptuous sins; let them not rule over me; then I will be blameless, and I shall be acquitted of great transgression. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my rock and my Redeemer.”

 

Then we have Psalm 139:23 – 24: “Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me and know my anxious thoughts; and see if there be any hurtful way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way.”

 

Whenever I think about spiritual formation into the image of Jesus Christ, I have the sensation of being on the beach and pondering the ocean – its vastness and depth are overwhelming and comforting at the same time. Its sounds are usually soothing, but they can also be roiling and threatening. In some coastal areas, riptides are ever – present, in others their potential is there. While there are typically no visible markers, such as buoys, in the ocean, the seasoned sailor can read the currents, the skies, the stars; this reading can be enhanced with instruments. All of the foregoing has its counterpart in our pilgrimage in Christ. Most professing Christians sail within sight of land…assuming they enter the ocean at all, but those who trust the Holy Spirit and the Bible can anticipate the adventure of a lifetime.

 

When we recently explored 2 Cor. 3:17ff, Col. 3:1ff, and 1 John 3:1ff, we saw that our lives are to be focused on Jesus Christ, oriented toward Jesus Christ, and that it is as we behold Jesus Christ that we are transformed into His image. This is framework for our pilgrimage in this life.

 

Within this context and understanding we are told to examine ourselves in 1 Cor. 11:28, 2 Cor. 13:5, and Gal. 6:4. In Romans 12:1 – 2, we are told that, in light of Romans chapters 1 – 11 that we are to present ourselves as living sacrifices, not being conformed to the world and the present age, but rather transformed by the renewing of our minds that we might prove what the perfect will of God is in our lives. This “presentation” of ourselves includes Romans 6:12 – 13, in which we present our “members as instruments of righteousness to God.” This certainly speaks to us of being engaged with the Holy Spirit and the Word of God – the grace of God empowers us and acts upon us, our grace – enabled response is critical.

 

Then we have the enigmatic Philippians 2:12 – 13: “So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.” Our working out of our salvation, of our holistic growth and trajectory in Jesus Christ, is only possible because God is at work in us – God is doing both the willing and the working. This is how we live, this is the dance of grace; and a mysterious dance it is.

 

I agree with Vos that it is impossible to measure our relationship with God in this life and that it is impossible to really know the complete nature of our love for Him…at least in one sense. After all, God’s love so far surpasses our love that our love, as it is transformed into His love, will always (I think) be growing in God – God is infinite are we are not, so I cannot imagine a time or place…whether here and now or in the far reaches of eternity…when His glorious love will not always be overwhelming us and our love (yes, yes, here again we have a mystery).

 

And so our orientation is not self-examination, it is not self-critique, but rather our orientation is Jesus Christ and the perfect and complete salvation which He has bought for us on the Cross, Resurrection, and Ascension. The Christian life is not about tallying up debits and credits on a daily basis; we are justified by Jesus Christ…we must not fall into the trap of measuring debits and credits, and this includes the process of transformation into His image – this is a work of grace and of the Holy Spirit, it is not a work of self-righteousness. As Jesus says in John 15, without Him we can’t do anything.

 

However, this does not mean that we don’t experience conviction of sin in our lives, and that we don’t experience a continuing awareness of areas in which we are called to grow into the image of our Lord Jesus.

 

I’ll pick this back up in the next post.