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CASUAL CHRISTIANITY-CHEAP GRACE At first appearance this is a spiritual oxymoron. To be a Christian is to be Christ-like and Christ was not casual about anything. A man of great passion, He evicted the moneylenders from the temple with anger and zeal and awaited His betrayal agonizing in prayer. Likewise, it cost Him everything to bring the grace of God down to humanity. His earthly life and His heavenly throne was a very high price to pay to bring us God’s unmeritted favor. On the other hand, the casual walk at dusk in the garden of Eden or a casual country dinner in the home of Lazarus is the relationship I desire with my Lord. The casual, comfortable, relationship of a long time companion and trusted friend who accepts me as I am now, still spinning on the potter’s wheel. Cost too is relative. Jesus left His heavenly throne to come to earth and live as a poor man of no reputation and die a cursed death by crucifixion. There is no greater price. The widow who gave just two mites out of her poverty, gave more than those who gave from their abundance. Luk 21:1 And he looked up, and saw the rich men casting their gifts into the treasury. Luk 21:2 And he saw also a certain poor widow casting in thither two mites. Luk 21:3 And he said, Of a truth I say unto you, that this poor widow hath cast in more than they all: Luk 21:4 For all these have of their abundance cast in unto the offerings of God: but she of her penury hath cast in all the living that she had. God alone knows the heart of man 2Ch 6:30 Then hear thou from heaven thy dwelling place, and forgive, and render unto every man according unto all his ways, whose heart thou knowest; (for thou only knowest the hearts of the children of men:)and is the judge of all 2Ch 6:30 Then hear thou from heaven thy dwelling place, and forgive, and render unto every man according unto all his ways, whose heart thou knowest; (for thou only knowest the hearts of the children of men:)If we walk in 100% of a small revelation of God, doesn’t God credit that as more effort than the TV evangelist who walks in only 90% of his great revelation? It would seem so if we measure according to the widow’s mites. If we offer the gospel as just a sinner’s prayer and no more, than a person having "prayed through" is living in 100% of the gospel they received. Is that the whole truth of the gospel? Thank God it is not. Here the relativity of the measure changes again, in that the one presenting the gospel in part will receive the stricter judgment. Jam 3:1 My brethren, be not many masters, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation.The "Great Commission" calls us to make disciples of those we lead to our Savior. God does not look at the numbers, but at the heart. He knows us each by name. God forbid that the new name we are given (Revelation 2:17) be Lacka Followthru or Proud O. Numbers Casual, as defined by Webster, is accidental, occasional, uncertain, careless. As a Christian lifestyle this would be the lukewarm state of the Laodiceans whom God states He will vomit out of His mouth! (Rev. 3:16) It would be better to be cold as one who has no revelation or hot as one with much revelation. The true measure is to be like Christ as much as we know Him, for it is only the truth that we know that can free us from the slavery of sin. Rom 6:17 But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.Rom 6:18 Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.We place our life in the hands of the baptizor in baptism fully trusting that he will raise us up from the symbolic death of the water. That is how we trust our heavenly Father to help us die to self and live in Christ. Allowance is made for the uncertain and occasional steps of a child learning to walk and God gives grace for growth also. Casualness is acceptable only as a step toward Christ-like perfection and the worth of grace is measured in repentance for he who is forgiven little, loves little. Luk 7:47 Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little.The human body is symbolic of the Body of Christ. There is nothing casual about how our body functions. A casual heartbeat is as good as no heartbeat, an occasional breath impossible. So it is in our relationship with Christ. For Christians to grow the blood of Christ must circulate from the Fathers heart through every area of our life and every breath must depend on the one who first breathed life into us. We owe a debt we could never pay and He paid that debt. It cost Him everything.
Joh 15:13 |
