In this FAQ series, we will try to answer questions that will hopefully help us become more biblically informed and better equipped to live out our faith in community. To submit and vote on questions you would like to see answered on the blog by our pastors, click here. To see other FAQ Friday posts, click here.
Shannon Wham, a member of our Pelham Road Campus, answers this week’s question from Gavin in Greer.
Is there anything God wants me to do that I'm not willing (vs. able) to do, or to stop doing that I'm not willing to stop?" This has been suggested as a test of whether I am saved. Isn't this too experiential and subject to misunderstanding?
Gavin, to cut to the chase, if you are a believer and if He hasn't already, God WILL ask you to do something you will not want to do. In all likelihood, He will also ask you to stop doing something you don't wish to stop doing. With that in mind, the answer to your question hinges on the answer to one other deceptively simple question -- who calls the shots in your life, you or God?For a Biblical example, look at Genesis 22. In this chapter, God asks Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac as a burnt offering. Abraham and Sarah had waited for nearly a century for Isaac to be born. God Himself had promised them that He would give them a son, which He did. Now God asks Abraham to kill this son he and Sarah had waited so long and endured so many trials for. Abraham could easily have refused. He could have said, “I'm sorry, Jehovah, sir, but you are asking too much this time. I WILL NOT SACRIFICE MY SON!” But Abraham didn't refuse. He did not follow his will, but he followed God's will. God called the shots in Abraham's life.
God called the shots in Abraham's life.
On the other hand, in 1 Samuel 13, Saul blatantly disobeys God's command. Only the priest – in this case Samuel – was allowed under the Law to offer burnt sacrifices to God. Saul was ready to fight a battle and got tired of waiting on Samuel to show up and offer sacrifices to ensure God's blessing on the Israelites in the upcoming conflict. Since Samuel didn't come when he said he would, Saul performed the sacrifices himself in complete disregard for God's will and command. Saul called the shots in Saul's life.
In the first passage, Abraham was blessed for his obedience and Saul was punished for his disobedience. Some people would look at these two passages and wrongly conclude that everyone who obeys God is blessed while everyone who disobeys God gets into trouble. As believers, we ought not to obey God's commands and follow His path for our life out of fear of punishment or hope of reward. To do so would lead us to think that our actions have some influence over God's behavior towards us and our deeds – our works – somehow figure in to our salvation. This is simply not true. We are saved by God's grace and will and by His grace and will alone. Our obedience or disobedience has nothing to do with the matter.
Who calls the shots in your life?
I was born – of necessity – by Caesarean Section. This was in the days before laser scalpels and tiny stitches. C-Sections were still far from routine and very dangerous. My mother has a white, wrinkled scar just below her navel. She very nearly gave her life on the operating table so that I could live. When she asks me to do something for her today, I don't do it out of duty, need for obedience, or fear of punishment. I do what Mama asks because that scar is livid and lasting proof of how much she loved me. I do what she asks because I WANT to and if it happens to inconvenience me or cost me money or opportunity, so be it. Mama gave me temporal life and almost died doing it. She deserves my love and obedience.
If I am so loyal to the earthly mother who brought me into THIS world, how much more loyal and obedient should I be to Christ who, by His horrible death, has assured my birth into an ETERNAL world? God sent Jesus to die for us. We didn't deserve that by any stretch of imagination, but because of His love for us, He sent His Son to die and because of the Son's love for us, He willingly came and laid down His life for us. How can we, without hypocrisy, say that we love God and Christ and set ourselves up in rebellion against Them?
In closing, let me point you to Paul, who endured and described a problem with “willpower” much like you describe. In Romans 7:18-21 Paul speaks of how he truly WANTS to do what is right. His will is set to follow Christ. Unfortunately for Paul and for us, sin often overcomes our will, but when it does, we must, like Paul, refuse to remain in sin and willful rebellion and rise up, and do as Jesus commands us to do when He said, “If any would come after me, let him take up his cross and follow Me.”
Will you be Abraham or Saul? Will you submit to God's will in humility and love or will you continue in arrogance and rebellion? Who will call the shots in your life?