To the Independent Man: You Are Not Christ

In a world of hustle and vision boards for success, perhaps one of the most celebrated words in the 21st century is independence.

Nothing’s wrong with the word, really. In a competitive society, you’ve always been encouraged to strive, compete, excel, and work, else you’d fall behind the billions who’ve been trying to make through life longer than you’ve been. And that’s true. You don’t sit around waiting for the fish to flip from the water and land on your lap. That does not happen in real life (unless you’re going boating on a river teeming with ADHD fish waiting to be fired up).

Many too often we find ourselves forgetting the essence of the good news we have received about God’s kingdom (we are saved by grace). Even Paul was perplexed with the Galatians who seemed to have forgotten how they were saved, going back to the law to “add justification” through works – and it had only been less than a century since Jesus Christ’s ascension! It’s human nature, isn’t it? No matter the situation, we are constantly driven by our proud nature to do something about our life concerns, to make it work, etc. We take things into our own hands. Perhaps you get back at that guy who cut in line. Maybe you do the whole job yourself when your team doesn’t do anything. Maybe you jump on a job offer without waiting for consultation because it’s a crazy world out there and it might be too late when you try to take the time to think it over. Or, maybe, when you get (or don’t get) caught in sin, you try to patch things up yourself – work harder though good deeds to eliminate the sin.

But of course, you won’t admit it. You most likely won’t even notice it.

My head says I was saved by grace – by the blood of Jesus Christ shed on the cross – but after deep thought, I realized I don’t really practice what I say I knew. When I do a good deed, I feel more saved than I’ve been before. I feel closer to heaven the more I engage in service than when I haven’t. When I fail in the good deeds department or fall into sin, I don’t feel forgiven until I’ve done a greater good – more time in service, extended Bible studies, etc. And when the guilt makes it harder to believe God would not get tired of my apologies, I drift into a stagnant phase – not doing anything about it at all. Have you ever felt the same way?

My dear reader, do not mistake joy in bearing fruits with salvation.

Peter, who was so sure he loved Jesus there was no way he’d deny Him, denied Jesus three times just as predicted! After Christ’s death, he went back to fishing, disheartened and discouraged at his denial and of the death of his Lord. This is normal; you’d probably run into this point a few times in your life. And that is fine. Just because you’re a Christian does not mean you would no longer disappoint God. This is no excuse to cling on to sin, however. In fact, this truth should motor us towards Jesus – in humility. For what are we but believers in our earth suits?

After Christ’s resurrection, He went to the disciples who were fishing all night and when John told Peter, “It is the Lord!” Peter wrapped his outer garment around him and jumped (threw himself) into the water. (John 21:7)

Imagine having denied your Lord and Friend three times after you swore you wouldn’t and He shows up in front of you, smiling – resurrected. Every time I read this portion of the passage I start tearing up, thinking how Peter must’ve felt when his Lord comes back after he denies their relationship. How he must have been so excited to fall to Christ’s feet. How he must have felt a little miserable inside, wondering what could happen next.

Peter was a leader, having leader-tendencies – leading, initiating, working with his hands, etc. But there really are things you could not do on your own. Peter’s own grace (or efforts) could not vindicate himself. Neither do yours.

You are not Christ. You could follow the thousands of religious rituals known to mankind and still be lost. Just because you feel better after doing something good does not mean you are forgiven through it. Grace is not earned. Why act like it is? Again, it goes unnoticed most of the time. After all, are not good deeds, well, good?

“Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?” Galatians 3:3

“Does God give you His Spirit and work miracles among you because you observe the law, or because you believe what you heard?” Galatians 3:5

This strikes me hard and deep because my subconscious gets confused sometimes. Of course I knew good deeds are and should only be consequences of my faith and that’s what I tell people when I share the gospel. But the selfish in me still thinks there’s no such thing as free lunch; hence, it gets a little restless when not driven by effort.

“You mean, we can’t work for grace and mercy? Isn’t it too much to receive? What do we do?”

Isn’t that why we call it grace and mercy? Because no matter how much we try, our efforts could not afford the value of His Grace. But the good thing is this: the God we serve – the Great I AM – is good. He is full of grace and mercy – generous to those who seek His face.

Good deeds, fruits, are good, yes. But remember, independent reader, that they do not cause our righteousness. They are merely responses to it. The quantity of works does not add up to nor take away God’s love or your righteousness. One does not bear fruits apart from Christ.

It is a difficult battle with your sinful nature. It is tempting to think you had a share in this blessed life. It is tempting to think you are favored because you did good or because you spent more time serving or reading the Bible. But remember, independent reader, that there is nothing much better than depending on the Lord. His favors are at His disposal. His gift of salvation is not earned, and our efforts – big or small – could not discount its greatness.

Look to Him, my friend. Yes, look at Jesus. You are only a branch living off the living vine. You are not Christ.

Updates, updates, updates!

I apologize for the lack of update, guys! Times are hard and hectic. Although I’m not pushing my one hundred percent for Law School (like some of my friends are thinking), I still do attend classes after work, leaving me exhausted and dying for an adequate rest for the next grueling work day. And I’m not mentioning how far our home is from the city proper. Basically, I get home past eleven in the evening (because my mom has to ride with me and I have to wait for her) and sleep two hours after because I still have to clean up the mess I’ve made in the morning (and feed the pets, too).

This set-up is the reason why I’m not posting as often as I did before. My head can’t even focus on a single topic without shifting to another one! Probably the fatigue. Or PMS. I’m not sure. Nevertheless, the excuses aren’t heavy enough, I know. I’ll try to keep up. In fact, I’ve been working on this experimental short story for a while now. I just can’t seem to move forward with a muddled head, constantly floating with pressure. I’ve been telling myself to work faster so I could publish it here, but the more excited I get, the slower my thoughts run. Frustrating, is it not?

I’ll try to finish my piece soon so I could share it with you. Speaking of sharing, there are still a lot going on that I have yet to share with you. Like things that are going to happen when the year ends. Things that are going to happen when the school year ends. Things that I desire to happen. Or things that have already happened. I’ll save these for future posts. I still can’t get myself to spill them all on a single, random, fill-up post. It’s just too much, don’t you think?

If you’re reading this, thank you so much! You are so cute for staying with me.

Loving you with the love of the Lord,

Aine

P.S. Would you look at that. This post is more blog-gy.

Feeling Earth

I found myself going through the Humans of New York page this morning, reading several Syrian refugee stories, reminding myself that I ought to avoid the usual posts on the city fiesta and the popular love team hundreds of thousands (if not millions) have gotten crazy over. Eventually, I started to break into tears when I realized how many the refugees were and how far I am from actually seeing them in person. There they are, thousands of miles away from me, each with a distinct and complicated story about their loss and journey, and here I am, snuggled in bed with my pillows and blankets in double portions, reading it over social media with the immediate choice whether or not to click on the like button to virtually send my sympathy. I felt terrible. It has been 12 hours since the time I read their experiences but I am still haunted by the sheer agony seeping in from their stories of grief. I picked up my Bible and thumbed through the pages and went to Luke 21 – when Jesus explained to his disciples the signs of the end of times.

I wasn’t exactly surprised by what has been happening all over the world. Typhoons, earthquakes, economic crises, and wars. They weren’t foreign to me at all, having lived in the ring of fire for the whole of my life. Although I had anticipated them, I also wasn’t exactly prepared for them. For such ugliness. For such grief. And instead of people calling out to God, more and more of them are blaspheming Him, blaming Him, or chucking out the entire idea of Him, even though some of them are being very polite about it. It was actually worse than what I have pictured.

When I was a lot younger, I never really expected having to run through certain arguments over the Bible I haven’t thought of before. Or if there were thoughts I have thought about, I have never really bothered to actually acknowledge them as worthy to be stressed over. But, I soon started to realize, in comparison to our assumptions, people actually have much deeper issues about God, which roots down from their individual experiences on spirituality, traditions, and religion. Some accept the gospel like a sponge, but some just aren’t like that. That’s reality. But why are we going to stop witnessing to these people just because they demand more reason?

One night, I found myself talking with a friend about the Bible and the gospel. It turns out smart people have a way of running an argument. We weren’t exactly arguing, but he did have questions about the Bible and its validity, which although I had anticipated, I wasn’t exactly perfectly in knowledge of. I mean, I’m not the smartest Christian out there (not that it’s a shock to any of you) and I do not understand every interpretation of the Scripture (surprise, surprise), nor do I know all the facts about the discovery of the manuscripts of the gospels and epistles, so I could not flaunt the vast knowledge of the logic behind the Bible that I do not really have. But, I did remember the Lord sending Moses and Jeremiah who were slow in speech and of filthy lips, and they didn’t have to do anything but to be of good faith and go.

Jesus Christ has reminded us in Luke 21 that these things are a part of the signs of the end of times. We could be brought to kings or governors (or, perhaps the smartest/most influential people we will ever meet in our life), and they will question our belief. Criticize it. Ridicule it. Discredit it. That will happen, if it hasn’t, yet. They will give us a rundown of all the logical reasons why we should abandon our belief, but Jesus Christ reminded us to be firm, saying, “…make up your mind not to worry beforehand how you will defend yourselves. For I will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict.” (Luke 21:14-15, NIV) Now, I could not really picture how amazing that sounds like, but if He talks about wisdom that not even the person against it could contradict or resist, that is one promise I’d gladly cling on to. That is perfect wisdom.

It’s so wonderful how God could use His power on regular people like us to proclaim His good news to the world, or how He could crush every seemingly perfect human logic by His wisdom. I wrote a separate post about it here a few years back.

“By standing firm you will gain life.”

Luke 21:19, NIV

Above all else, he only needs us to be still.

Too often we see people negating God and His kingdom in skepticism because of what is happening to the world. Too often we hear the same questions, “Why does a loving God allow this to happen?” “Is there redemption for us at all?” “Why care about what’s after death when we only have one life to live? YOLO, right?” Is this not the time to step up and be bold for the Lord that we serve? Is this not the time to boast about God’s love instead of tucking it in our prayer closet? Is this not the time to stop being kept to ourselves in church meeting the same set of faces every Sunday? Do we not realize that the more we keep ourselves all comfortable in our barracks with a war outside, the more people would see in us, only streaks of hypocrisy?

The world is weeping for Someone they do not know. The world is grasping for something they have not yet felt. The world is seeing its own destruction and is not sure why. Is it not too selfish to hog the joy that they do not have yet? Is it not too hypocritical to keep the love we said was eternal and free? Do we even feel the earth at all?