Recreation: Spirit And Union Series

Let me bottom-line you: salvation is not just about God the judge simply ruling “Not Guilty by virtue of the penalty being already paid by Jesus”. Salvation is about loving God and being loved by Him in return.

Let me quote from Clark Pinnock (Flame of Love, chapter 5):

“salvation is union, conversion is awakening to love… Love woos – it does not compel. Conversion is not coerced. God convicts and moves us towards intimacy. His Word is powerful, but there must be a response to it. God does not overpower but saves those who yield to his persuasion. God lays hold, but sinners must consent to be laid hold of. They must let God renew them…

We are not in a position to give God much that he needs. But there is one thing he wants from us that nobody else can give. And if we do not give it, he will not receive it. I refer to our personal love. God can have our love only if we decide to give it. God made us to love him, and the key issue is what we decide to do with that freedom. God empowers, but does not overpower. Grace works mightily but does not override. God is a loving parent, not a tyrant.”

How do you need to respond?

Do you love God? Does your life show that you love Him – do others around you know it and witness it through how you live?

I know that in this group there is a wide range of experiences. We are at different points along our spiritual journey. And all of us are challenged by the Holy Spirit to take another step: Gal 5:25 says, “Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.” What is the next step for you?

If you have never allowed God to lay hold of you, the Spirit invites you to know the depth of the love of God for you. Allow yourself to experience that, and then choose. How you wonder? Pray this simple prayer: “God, if you are real, show me what you are like.”

If you have believed that Jesus paid the penalty for your sin and accepted salvation, but stopped there, you are in a dangerous place. This is the person who claims to be a Christian but lives for themselves rather than God. The words might be right but the actions are wrong. For you the next step begins with seeking God’s forgiveness for the sin of taking salvation lightly and for granted. It is to repent of selfishness and self-reliance, and to turn from that sin. How? Again, pray: ask God to convict you of sin so that you can know forgiveness, and then choose to love God with all your heart and soul and mind and strength, and join the journey. Anything less is dangerous.

Or maybe you are desiring to be united into the life of God, but feeling like something is missing. Like you got stuck somewhere along the way, and you are not in the place you want to be right now. This is often where I feel like I am, personally and as a pastor. Feeling like God’s Kingdom is so much more than I know and experience, feeling like there is greater power available to see real change in myself and in people around me. For us, I believe the next step is in this verse that has been foremost in my thoughts and prayers this week: “seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matt 6:33). It is to seek, earnestly and ferverently, God’s Kingdom. How? Through prayer, alone and together. Through God’s Word, reading it and meditating on it and above all obeying it. Making that seeking of God the cry of our hearts, and pursuing it with all the passion we are able.

As Pinnock writes, God woos. He does not compel. How will you respond?