GOD & MY PERCEPTIONS 1: GOD IS GRACE
In life so many issues can be traced back to who we think God is. When we are looking for solutions to our stress or pain, how we perceive God isn’t typically top of our list. But like A.W. Tozer said “what comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us”. In reality, the stress & pain of life can greatly influence our perception of who God is. If we don’t take time to explore this, we can move through life completely missing out on the absolute goodness of who He truly is.
There is a good reason that there are literal BOOKS written about this topic - God’s vastness could take many lifetimes to explore. But expressed through His Trinitarian nature and creation of mankind, we know that God is relational. He himself is a relational being and has designed us to operate in tandem with that. So I find it helpful to address relational concepts that get easily skewed. Because our human experience gives us a lens through which we tend to interpret all future experiences, there are some common relational misconceptions that give us a good starting place:
-He is unloving
-He is a performance based acceptance God (PBA)
If these are false perceptions, what would be true?
-God is not distant, He is near
-He is not unloving, He is love
-He is not PBA (performance based acceptance), He is….what’s the opposite of PBA?
I love asking this question to a group. Usually the general consensus is that the correct answer is unconditional acceptance. Easy answer. But wait. What if I lie, cheat, murder, and steal? Does God unconditionally accept me now? What if I am disobedient? At this point people grow uneasy, and the consensus changes. So, maybe His acceptance IS conditional, maybe God is PBA after all…
I like starting here, because it greatly informs how we understand God as near and loving as well. I also think we miss out on the most amazing truth if we don’t pause and grapple with the discomfort of talking about something like PBA. And this takes a minute to wrap our minds around it. So let’s take a minute.
Let’s connect with the PBA paradigm - what does PBA really mean?
-God likes me more when I am doing a good job
-When I fail God is disappointed
-When I sin God moves away from me
-I have God’s ear when I am measuring up
-God is pleased when I obey, and angry when I sin
-God accepts good people and rejects bad people
-God loves everyone, but only accepts good people
Do you relate to any of these?
Bottom line: PBA means that God’s acceptance or approval of me is based on my performance. This is a very real human experience, and the foundation of every religion at it’s core. But is it really who God is? What is God’s system of acceptance?
When Jesus showed up as Immanuel - God With Us, He showed up first to His people the Jews. A people group largely committed to following God and obeying His law. But as Jesus began to speak to them, He challenged them in some incredible ways. I think Jesus actually was very interested in solving our dilemma over PBA. Does God have a condition for our acceptance?
This is what Jesus said: “You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” Matthew 5:48
Woah. Wait. This is a steep condition. Any honest person would say an impossible one. This condition of perfection is far more severe than Jesus' listeners were expecting of themselves. Perhaps it is far more than you have expected of yourself.
This is why I think it important to grapple with PBA in an intellectually honest way. We have to work it out to its end. When placed under an expectation or pressure to perform, we can easily respond “Well nobody is perfect, I am doing my best”. But that doesn’t work if the condition is perfect.
I think Jesus wanted His listeners to feel that pressure. To face the weight of what an expectation or condition like that means. When we are willing to face the massive problem this presents for us, we are then available to receive His solution. And here it is: Jesus Himself.
“For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” 2 Corinthians 5:21
Let’s break it down:
-For our sake - lost, helpless, facing an impossible condition
-He made Him to be sin - Jesus who was sinless took on sin
-So that - all for us
-We might become - we could be made into, turned into, BECOME
-The righteousness of God - PERFECT
This is no small thing. What Jesus did at the cross was literally FULFILL that condition - provide a way for you to BECOME PERFECT. We are not talking about “acting perfect” we are talking about the condition to become acceptable before God, to have His approval - and Jesus’ righteousness is not only ENOUGH it is the ONLY way.
“For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified” (Hebrews 10:14). Did you catch this? Jesus’ one time offering of Himself was sufficient to do the impossible: perfect for all time.For you and me there is only to receive - to accept this amazing work of what Jesus did FOR YOU, and by faith say “thank you”.
If you want to know you are acceptable and pleasing to God, take Jesus. This is our only entrance into true relationship and acceptance by God. He is The way, The Truth, The Life (John 14:6). You want to know the way? You want to experience Truth? You want Life? Take Jesus.
So is God PBA?
God is not PBA, God is GRACE.
PBA says that God’s acceptance or approval of me is based on my performance, but grace is God supplying to me something I did not/cannot earn. God’s acceptance or approval of me is based on Christ’s performance. Jesus fulfills the standard of perfection and offers it to me.
If you are a believer, you have already embraced Jesus as your only way for salvation. But have you embraced Him as your only way of acceptance? Perhaps it is time to stop trying to earn God’s favor and just take Jesus.
Let His grace be sufficient for your salvation AND for your life. Let go of your performance to please, and say yes to His rest. When you “receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness” (Romans 5:21) you will reign in life through Christ!
