Almighty God, who upheld your servant Irenaeus with strength to maintain the truth against every blast of vain doctrine: Keep us, we pray, steadfast in your true religion, that in constancy and peace we may walk in the way that leads to eternal life; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace. What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? By no means! Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance. You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.

—Romans 6:13-18 (TNIV)

Here Paul deals with the issue of sanctification, the slow, arduous process of acquiring God’s holiness and becoming like Jesus through the help and Power of the Holy Spirit.  In the previous chapter, Paul has talked about how we are found not guilty (justified) in God’s sight by the blood of Christ. Does this mean that we are now free to do anything we want? Are you out of your mind, says Paul? To the contrary, when you understand the great gift that has been given you in Christ Jesus, a gift none of us is worthy to receive, your faith will naturally lead you to obedience. Just as you want to please others who have done a great thing for you or given you a wonderful gift, so you will want to please God, says Paul. You’ll want to give yourself to Christ rather than follow your natural sinful desires to be your own boss and do your own thing. This, of course, takes a lifetime to accomplish and we don’t do it on our own. We have God’s help but we have to do our part; we can’t just sit back and wait for the Spirit to do all the work in changing us into Christ’s likeness. We have to make the effort and be intentional.

If you are struggling in this area, ask the Lord to show you if you really have Good News or if you are just paying it lip service and going through the motions. It may be that some of your difficulty stems from the fact that you really don’t see a reason why you need to work this hard (or why you would even want to become like Jesus!).

The first lesson God gives us in training our will is in making us go halfway with him. He first puts us through a series of disciplines to see if we are worthy to make hims team. After this lesson is learned we discover that there are many, many times that God goes all the ways with us. Over and over again he gives us far more than we have any right to ask. We call this “his Grace,” which goes so much farther than “his law” requires that he should go. God’s mercy goes so much farther than mere human justice goes.

And then there are many times when God gives us the opportunity to go all the way with him. He did that with Job. He did it with Abraham. He used it as a school for many of his greatest saints and leaders. One of the great privileges he may give you—if he is preparing for you great leadership—is the opportunity sometime of going all the way with him. One of those who did this was Thomas à Kempis. Hear his profession of faith:

“O Lord, thou knowest what is the better way; let this or that be done as thou wilt please. Give what thou wilt, and how much thou wilt, and when thou wilt. Deal with me as thou knowest, and best pleases thee, and is most for thy honor. Set me where thou wilt, and deal with me in all things as thou wilt. I am in thy hand; turn me round and turn me back again, even as a [potter’s] wheel. Behold I am thy servant, prepared for all things; for I desire not to live unto myself, but unto thee; and Oh that I could do it worthy and perfectly!”

—Glenn Clark, I Lift Up Mine Eyes

Consider what Clark is saying here and then study à Kempis’ prayer. There is great humility demonstrated in both. Do you see it?

[It is the] God of Israel, who makes a divine promise to live by: “Fear not, I shall be with you. I will lead you. You will conquer!” The infallibility of Christ did not rest on the weakness of human beings, but on the divine omnipotence.

—Carlo Carretto, I, Francis

When you undertake some special endeavor, look upon it as something secondary; and by entire surrender to God open yourself up to God’s grace, like a vessel laid out to receive it. Whoever finds grace finds it by means of faith and zeal, says St. Gregory of Sinai, and not by zeal alone. However painstaking our work, so long as we omit to surrender ourselves to God while performing it, we fail to attract God’s grace, and our efforts build up within us not so much a true spirit of grace but the spirit of a Pharisee. Grace is the soul of the struggle. Our efforts will be rightly directed so long as we preserve self-abasement, contrition, fear of God, devotion to him, and the realization of our dependence on divine help. If we are self-satisfied and contented with our efforts, it is a signt that they are not performed in the right way, or that we lack wisdom.

—The Art of Prayer

This week, as a follow-up to yesterday’s sermon, I will be posting some resources that pertain to our devotional life. May God bless them and help you find them edifying.