QT 26 Apr 11

Col 2:8 (NIV) See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.

NOTE: One of the basic principles of the world is that nothing is free, you have to earn it.  This is a hard thing for people to get over because salvation is indeed free.  You cannot earn it, steal it, con for it, sacrifice for it, or trade for it.  It is a free gift.  All the work has been done by Christ on the cross.  But once we do put our faith in Christ by accepting the free gift, then there is a work involved.  We are justified by what Christ did on the cross, but we are sanctified through a combination of things.  Our sanctification is brought about by the Holy Spirit's work in our lives, but we have "work" to do to experience sanctification.  We have to seek God, seek his word, listen to his word, choose to obey, repent of sin, and basically grow to become like Christ.  Yes, the spirit gives us power, but it does not deny our role in working out our own salvation (with fear and trembling as Philippians says).  So, we are saved without any work at all, but we grow in Christ with work and the Holy Spirit's help.

But there is one more issue -- what is the work for Christ that we do to grow?  The human tradition comment would seem to suggest that some people might think it is obedience to the OT law.  But, in almost every letter of the NT, there are comments that we are not under the law.  What does that mean?  It means that those are not the rules that we are required to obey.  But we are under a law, Galatians calls it the law of Christ.  It is found in the statements of Jesus and the apostles on how to live life.  Yes, part of the law of Christ is similar to the OT law, but they are not the same.  And they do not differ just in the ceremonial areas.  Giving is completely redefined under the new covenant -- a fact that many Christians choose to ignore.  I suppose this leads to one other fact.  We work with God for our sanctification, but our acceptance or pleasing of God is never defined by what we do.  God accepts us because of Christ and is pleased with us on the basis of faith.  Our obedience to the law of Christ reflects our love for God and our desire to know the savior more closely by following his example.  Obedience is not a checklist for acceptance but a heart response for a salvation unearned.