The Basic

I’ve had several talks lately about what exactly it means to be a Christian, to be a believer of the Gospel. Some focus entirely on grace, concluding that we have the right to sin because God will always forgive us. Others have told me they feel that they are not allowed to mess up because it would only serve to disappoint Him, stripping them of His favor. I’ve been in both of these positions, and frankly, I think they are both dead wrong.

I don’t plan to do any major exegesis here, but I’d like to establish some basics. Or rather, the basic.

What is the Gospel?
I have a friend, Jason, who tells the story of the Gospel so beautifully that I often ask him to tell me the story in his own words. I’m cheating a little now and, with his permission, sharing with you one of his explanations of the Gospel:

  “God created. And not just put stuff together, He caused it all to exist. He made space and time and light and life. And He also made people. Created to be objects that would reflect His very nature, imaging a perfect, holy, fantastical God. But they rebelled, and spat in the face of the One who gave them life to begin with. And [through] their first sin to the ones I commit myself daily, I constantly tell God He isn't worth what He says He is... And despite this weight, this sin that separates, this rebellion that deserves hatred and malice and judgment and condemnation and wrath, God chose grace instead. Grace that covers my every sin. Grace that is at work now and will continue to work until all is made right. Grace that empowers me to not sin like I used to. And above all, grace in the person of the Son of God himself, Jesus, who bore what I deserve and gave me cleansing, purity, holiness, righteousness, and a new Spirit. He gave me faith to believe and repent once, and He continues to do it now, even at this very moment. And He promises to give me more grace tomorrow, new mercies that will keep me in His hand forever. What could possibly separate me from the love of God if what I've done so far has just proven Him more faithful? He is God, He is good, despite my fears and frustrations and doubts.”

When Jason talks about Jesus bearing what we deserve, he makes reference to the death of Jesus on the cross. On that cross Jesus died in order to cover over all of our mistakes, mess-ups, bitterness, greed, pride, selfishness…you name it, He took care of it. Read about it here. Jesus did that, He took on what we deserve, so that we can have a hope in this world. The grace and forgiveness that Jason talks about. But then, further, we have a hope for more than this world. When we, or the world, ends, we have somewhere else to go. Everybody goes either to Heaven or Hell, dependant wholly on whether or not you choose to believe whether or not the Gospel is truth. And not just truth, but the only truth, and that you are included in those that can be saved. I’m not one to try to scare people out of Hell, but I would love to talk to you sometime about how great Heaven is (or my mom, she’s a bit of an expert.)

I digress…

So I don’t think it is about figuring out how much we can obey God, or how much we can get away with not listening to Him. I think it comes down to whether or not we actually believe it. Because, if we believe it, wouldn’t we live like it? Wouldn’t there be something different about us?  Like a subtle mark of someone who has seen great grief and great joy. If you believed that Someone was tortured and died for you (which He was), wouldn’t you live differently because of it? Sure, you’d stumble and struggle because life isn’t easy…but because you believed He had done this glorious and terrible thing for you, you’d be able to feel the hope and the grace that help you get back up again. Because Someone loved you so much, because God, the Creator of all things, loves you so much that He gave up everything so that you can have life, and have it to the fullest.

I’m not concerned with being good enough. I’ll never be good enough, I’ll never deserve for someone to die for me, let alone God. I just have felt God, I know Him, and I know that He adores me no matter what I do. So I’m going to try to live in a way that would please Him. He gave me guidelines through Scripture, and from what I can tell, none of the directions He gave me will ever lead me into something that will hurt me. They’re not always easy to follow, but they make sense.  So why not? Why not just live like I love Jesus?