Obedient hearing springs from the moral and spiritual beauty of the Lord Jesus Christ deeply impacting us. A Christian can rejoice at the realization that such inward beauty is his by new birth. He can be inspired to express this beauty through obedience. But, of course, this "captivation" of the heart by the "beauty of Jesus" is the work of God's Holy Spirit through God's Word.
However, a moment's reflection will show that obedient hearing cannot be the result of guilt or an intolerable load of obligation. If such responsiveness does not arise from our innermost self as a deeply felt desire, it remains a work of the flesh. The spirit of the legalist is far removed from what we are talking about here. That is why James goes on to say this:
"But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does." (James 1:25)
It is striking that in this statement James now refers to God's Word at "the perfect law of liberty." So far from being a burden, the law of liberty frees us from above (see 1:18). When Christian living becomes a burden which we must "grind out," we have forgotten what we truly are. Life in Christ is true liberty.
~Zane Hodges, "Six Secrets of the Christian Life", pg. 36-37.
I think I'm starting to get it...
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment