Be Better or Be Transformed?

Today's sermon from Luke 6:43-45 was all about inside-out change. Toni I had a good conversation about whether we change because we do better things, or whether we do better things because God changes us.

I believe that the good fruit that comes from the good heart Jesus was talking about has nothing to do with us changing ourselves. Jesus is pretty clear that our natural hearts are pretty rotten (Mark 7:20-22). It reminded me of something I wrote so I thought I would post it here.

Too often the way we explain the “plan” of salvation is dominated by our own actions. I believe. I repent. I confess. But regeneration isn’t a checklist of tasks to complete. There is no recipe for salvation.

In fact we as individuals are doing the least amount of work. It is God and God alone who initiates, sustains, and completes the regeneration of Christians.

This is why the birth metaphor is so vital to our understanding. I have been present at the births of my children and a significant amount of work was done to bring them into the world. Doctors oversaw the progress. Nurses provided help and comfort. Anesthesiologists administered medication. I was a very effective cheerleader. Sure, my wife had a small role as well. The only person who didn’t really do anything was the baby. In fact, because of his size and position during the birth, my son was actually working against being born.

Our being born again is just as passive an experience as my son’s birth was for him. John tells us that when we are born again, we are born “not of blood nor of the will of a man, but of God.” Paul would say it this way in Ephesians: “By grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not of your own doing, it is a gift of God.”

This can be so hard for us to hear. As humans, we have a very active role in our own lives. We correct problems. We take action. We fix what is broken. So, we are uncomfortable with the idea that the most important transformation in our lives is out of our control.

But this is at the heart of what it means to be a Christian. Before we truly experience the new life that comes from being born again, we must stop trying to birth ourselves. We can’t pray enough. We can’t worship enough. We can’t serve enough. That is not how it works.

We must stop trying to make God love us and embrace the fact that He already does. We must stop trying to make ourselves feel transformed and rely on God to make us new.

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