“Cease Striving and Know I AM God”

As Christians we often get caught in the trap of striving. Despite that our faith is in Christ alone to save us (Philippians 3:9), somehow we find ourselves striving to appease God, to please God, to seek God, and to become more regenerated. But the Lord spoke and said, “Cease striving and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth." (Psalm 46:10). Why is to so hard to cease striving? Why do we persist in trying to do something to make God satisfied when He already is? Did not Jesus our Lord say this to the religious leaders?, 

“But go and learn what this means: 'I DESIRE COMPASSION (Mercy), AND NOT SACRIFICE,' for I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners: For I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners." (Matthew 9:13). 

Christ says He desires Compassion, not sacrifices. And yet church history is full of people trying to offer sacrifices to God through monasticism, asceticism, and even martyrdom. People became beguiled into thinking that The Lord wanted them to live an austere religious life on a pole (Starlets), in the desert (Desert Fathers and Mothers), and many thought in 2nd and 3rd centuries that martyrdom was necessary for salvation, when Scripture disagrees, “ If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved,” (Romans 10:9-10), and, “become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God's way of making us right with himself depends on faith.” (Philippians 3:9). And though the Bible makes it clear salvation is easy, “believe in the Son of God, Jesus Christ,  and confess Him as Lord you shall be saved,”  (Paraphrases of John 3:16, John 6:40, 1 John 4:15, Romans 10:9-20, Acts 15:11), there has always been those who intend to add to the Blood of Christ with good works and asceticism, which is folly, “These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh,” (Colossians 2:23) and “How much more severely do you think someone deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified them, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?” (Hebrews 10:29). This is what the monks, nuns, fathers, mothers, and priests from 2nd Century to 16th Century did, they followed “manmade religion” and trample on Christ and His blood by trying to achieve eternal life through holy living which is folly, “do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!" (Galatians 2:21), “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. Listen! I, Paul, tell you this: If you are counting on circumcision to make you right with God, then Christ will be of no benefit to you. 'll say it again. If you are trying to find favor with God by being circumcised, you must obey every regulation in the whole law of Moses. or if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law, you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God's grace,” (Galatians 5:1-4), “even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast,” (Ephesians 2:5-9), and “be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith.” (Philippians 3:9). 

We must be careful of Satan’s most seductive trap,  to put us under the  law again rather than trust in the Grace of Christ and His work on the cross! For this is what caused the Council of Jerusalem, there were those who wanted to do works in addition to Jesus’ Grace fo be saved, “And certain men came down from Judea and taught the brethren, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” Therefore, when Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and dispute with them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas and certain others of them should go up to Jerusalem, to the apostles and elders, about this question. So, being sent on their way by the church, they passed through Phoenicia and Samaria, describing the conversion of the Gentiles; and they caused great joy to all the brethren. And when they had come to Jerusalem, they were received by the church and the apostles and the elders; and they reported all things that God had done with them. But some of the sect of the Pharisees who believed rose up, saying, “It is necessary to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses.”

The Jerusalem Council

Now the apostles and elders came together to consider this matter. And when there had been much dispute, Peter rose up and said to them: “Men and brethren, you know that a good while ago God chose among us, that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the word of the gospel and believe. So God, who knows the heart, acknowledged them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He did to us, and made no distinction between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. Now therefore, why do you test God by putting a yoke on the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved in the same manner as they” (Acts 15:1-11). Peter settled it with Paul and Barnabas supporting him. Sadly the Church of Rome and its Pope which purports to be the to be the apostolic successor of Cephas doesn’t follow His advice that it is the Grace of  our Lord Jesus Christ that saves you, not good works and trying to merit God’s favor, Grace literally means unmerited favor! 

Mankind likes to make sacrifices. There is a pride in human nature that wants to appease God with a sacrifice, a hardship, a struggle of piety. But all of this is a war on grace, “How much more severely do you think someone deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified them, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?” (Hebrews 10:29). There is no need for sacrifices anymore! Jesus has replaced the old system of making offerings of blood sacrifice with His once for all sacrifice on the cross!  To this day priests in the Roman Catholic Church, some Lutheran Churches, and etc offer the Mass, the Eucharist of Christ’s blood and believe they are sacrificing Him over and over for sins via Transubstantiation, but this is contrary to Scripture!, “Now there have been many of those priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office; but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them. Such a high priest truly meets our need—one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens. Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself. For the law appoints as high priests men in all their weakness; but the oath, which came after the law, appointed the Son, who has been made perfect forever.” (Hebrews 7:23-28). Those who believe they can preform pieties to make God favor them have abandon grace (unmerited favor) and are trying to offer sacrificed like RCC priests which is antichrist! 

One of the best explanations to this pride that compels men and women to preform merits for God is explained quite well by Oswald Chambers: 

“The gospel of the grace of God awakens an intense longing in human souls and an equally intense resentment, because the truth that it reveals is not palatable or easy to swallow. There is a certain pride in people that causes them to give and give, but to come and accept a gift is another thing. I will give my life to martyrdom; I will dedicate my life to service— I will do anything. But do not humiliate me to the level of the most hell-deserving sinner and tell me that all I have to do is accept the gift of salvation through Jesus Christ." (Utmost For His Highest, November 28th).  Oswald explains the hubris that causes this reaction in people who want to do a service to please God when God has pleased Himself via His death on the cross! 

Do not become enticed by man made religion (Colossians 2:23) and the traditions of men, “You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men. And he said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment (Matt 22:36-41) of God in order to establish and maintain your tradition!” (Mark 7:8-9, ESV and BSB). Let us remain placing our faith in Christ’s Grace and that He alone saves us! That believing in Him justifies us!, “Now there have been many of those priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office; but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.” (Hebrews 10:24-25). Do not fall for the lie of the devil who wants people to go back to the old sacrifice system of man made religion, and law keeping (Galatians 5:4, Hebrews 8:13). Instead keep your hope and faith in Jesus Christ and His grace, “even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” (Ephesians 2:5-9). Amen.