Grace Church

As I was reading the devotional for today, Galatians 2:20 the Holy Spirit quickly reminded me of what God has been doing in my life over the past 4 years in my life. From my dad who was a pastor for 25 years who then suddenly abandoned my mother, divorced her and then stole all the money they spent saving for over 29 years of their life; To then wrestling with theological concepts such as the elect and then to the deductive conclusion of the non elect in systematic theology while also wrestling with similar concepts mentioned in Romans 9. Wondering if my dad may possibly be in what Romans 9:22 mentions as an idea of people purposely being created to be objects of Gods wrath and then to solely be destroyed for Gods glory. At the same time being faced with a liberal pastor who seems to love God and who in my opinion is honestly searching for the truth in scripture yet isn’t concerned with historical or literal elements but sees the Bible as poetry yet still divinely inspired truth. I then, struggled to have faith in the veracity of scripture through only a conservative approach, but then in faith wanting and believing that scripture is all truth but facing the reality that the way I have been interpreting it may not be. While I was going through my honest struggles to find faith, and contentment in the way that I read and interpreted scripture the Holy Spirit asked one day “Are you broken before me?” And at that point I broke down and the Holy Spirit revealed to me that while my pursuit for truth was honest and right, it slowly became an intellectual approach and in that it became a divergent to Christ and his death on the Cross for my sins. After that realization the Holy Spirit moved to then break and humble me, and as he did he showed me what it meant to honestly pick up my cross and to follow him.

As I was reading Galatians 2:20 as well as the devotional questions which asks, “What is faith and how does God define it?” The Holy Spirit also brought back this word of brokenness to me, and what it means to be broken as a Christian before God. As I was reading Hebrews 11: 1-6 It was obvious that true faith causes action not only externally through our physical actions but also internally through our mind and spirit. Just as James 2:20 says “Faith with out works is dead.” To have faith that causes that kind of action that Paul refers to in Hebrews, we must be broken by the power of God and his love revealed to us by his son Jesus Christ. Once we are broken we can then accept what Christ has done for us. But as Christians we must be continually be broken by the power of Gods love for we must pick up our cross daily and we must continually walk in the grace that God has provided with us with. What is interesting is that in Hebrews 11:13 Paul says “All these people were still living by faith when they died.” This means that saving faith that has been attributed to saving grace that has been given to us by the revelation of the Holy Spirit will endure to the end. As Christians we can take that as an encouragement that God will finish the good work that he has started in us, but we must also recognize the importance of resting and believing and trusting what Christ has done on the cross for us on a day to day basis.

For me I must recognize Christ on the Cross first in all my pursuits whether they be in relationships or in the job market. And from what the Holy Spirit has convicted me this past year I must always put the focus of Christ on the Cross whenever I am reading and interpreting scripture or studying a method of theology that helps me interpret scripture. However I must not only have a mental and intellectual awareness of it I must maintain a spiritual awareness as well.