One evening for dessert, I decided I’d “be good” and lower my sugar intake by diluting my ice cream. Reasoning they were both dairy products, I mixed plain yogurt with my butter pecan ice cream. Before you rush to your fridge, be forewarned—it tasted awful! The tartness of the yogurt and the sweetness of the ice cream clashed badly. My uninspired pairing ruined the taste of both.
Two other things that don’t mix, spiritually speaking, come to mind: grace and legalism. When someone gives you a gift, you don’t pay them for it, or it’s no longer a gift. If a born-again believer is trying to earn his way to being OK, he is attempting to mix grace with a performance mindset. Now, most Bible-literate believers know they are saved from their sins and obtain eternal life by grace through faith, and not by their own works. But when it comes to living the Christian life, they default to self-effort. Inevitably falling short of the holy life they envision, they become discouraged.
What you do look to for your sense of self worth and emotional well-being? Is it the number on your scale or paycheck, or how many things you checked off your to-do list? Does your value hinge on the achievement of some arbitrary goal? Do you strive for the affirmation and respect of others? I’ve been guilty of all these. But that’s far below what God has for us!
For if by the transgression of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ. (Romans 5:17)
God’s view of us (once we are saved) is summed up in the word righteous. When you’re righteous, it means God’s granted you favor and right standing in His eyes. He’s put His stamp of approval on you, not based on your performance, but based on that of Jesus (Philippians 3:9). Failure to acknowledge this explains so many believers‘ insecurity and dependence on the approval of others. God’s opinion should trump everyone else’s, including your own.
Only when you believe it deep down and identify with your righteousness do you start reigning in life. If you try to mix grace with legalism or performance, the Bible says you have fallen from grace (Galatians 5:4). That doesn’t mean you’re damned; you just got off track and need to get back on the path of righteousness, in which God says He’ll gladly guide you (Psalm 23:3).
Don’t let this truth escape you: grace was what transported you from darkness to light, from death to life, and grace alone will empower you to reign in life. Trusting that God is at work in you, to will and to work for His good pleasure (Philippians 2:13) lets you sidestep condemnation, stop your striving, and rest.
Anything less, and you’ve fallen from grace— you’re trying to mix your self-effort with the finished and already perfect work of Jesus. And that is no more satisfying than plain yogurt mixed with ice cream!
Excellent, JB – spoken like a man with lots of “wrestling” experience. 🙂