Relating to God

If you're anything like me—undisciplined, lazy, apathetic—living the "Christian life" is not easy. Scripturally speaking, there are those disciplines that are not only beneficial for believers but also commanded. How much better would my relationship with God be if I were to continually covet God's words written in the Bible; or to "rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances" (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18); or to meet daily with other believers like that of the early church (cf., Acts 2:46-47)? A tall order it seems, and yet one that is abundantly rewarding beyond the temporal bounds of life. Why then is it so hard...at least for me?

Galatians 3:1-5:

1You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. 2I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard? 3Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort? 4Have you suffered so much for nothing—if it really was for nothing? 5Does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you because you observe the law, or because you believe what you heard?

In this passage, Paul is rebuking the Galatians for reverting back to a legalistic observance of the law (vv. 2-3). Now, don't get me wrong...obeying God's law is a good thing and is highly correlated in scripture with drawing close to the Lord. He is not trying to say that it is not useful or at all beneficial to live obediently, but rather that it should not be our means of growing with God. Instead, in verse 2, he reminds us that we got to where we are simply by "believing what you heard" (v. 2). In other words, faith is our only hope in relating to God.

For most Christians, it is ingrained in their minds that we become His children through faith alone. We do nothing...God does everything; from opening our eyes to see our sin, to giving us the words to claim the faith that He puts in our hearts. Through faith alone, God transforms our hearts and adopts us as His children. "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast" (Ephesians 2:8-9).

But is that where it ends? Now that we have been claimed by God, is it now an exercise of the human will to grow spiritually? I can diligently try to pray and read my Bible in order to draw closer to God, but Paul is refuting the idea that we can do anything in and of ourselves to make this happen. In my experience, actually, one of two things happens: 1 - I begin my efforts, but they quickly begin to dwindle until they are no longer existent; 2 - I begin to think that I am pretty good at these disciplines of obedience and, hence, become prideful.

Read the words of Jonathan Edwards: "But they in a great measure leave off the practice of secret prayer. They come to this pass by degrees. At first they begin to be careless about it…they omit it once: After that they more easily omit it again. Thus it presently becomes a frequent thing with them to omit it and after a while, it comes to pass, that they seldom attend it" (cf., "Hypocrites Deficient in the Duty of Prayer" by Jonathan Edwards). This scarily sounds all-to-familiar. On the other hand, can we go so far as to consider it a blessing that God did not impute everyone with such ease in attending to the spiritual disciplines, if only in order that we might all-the-more rely on Him alone, not only to effectuate our faith, but also to sustain our growth? God continues to conform us to the likeness of Christ simply through our "believing what [we] heard" (v. 2).

In verse three, Paul goes on to ask if we are so foolish that "after beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?" If by "goal" Paul is referring to our calling "to act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God"—and I believe he is—then it is with undeniable clarity that the way we grow spiritually is by the Spirit alone (Micah 6:8).

Spiritual growth then is nothing more than our hearts being so inclined toward the Lord that, in response to Christ's obedient death on the cross as payment for our sins, we abide by the prompting of the Spirit with continual thankfulness. "The spirit of prayer is a holy spirit, a gracious spirit. Wherever there is a true spirit of supplication, there is the spirit of grace. The true spirit of prayer is no other than God's own Spirit dwelling in the hearts of the saints" (Edwards, emphasis added). The only way we will come to pray with any degree of regularity and—to put it more generally, grow spiritually—is by believing. Faith is our only hope in relating to God.