It’s a serious question to ask and very important: are we saved by faith or are we saved by discipline? You ask, “What do you mean?” Let’s try again: do you eat because the doctor tells you that you must; or do you eat because you’re hungry? If you’re never hungry, you’ve got a problem, and you’d better discipline yourself and force some nourishment down or you’ll starve. A healthy person has an appetite that drives him or her to breakfast, lunch, or dinner.
Do we discipline ourselves to read the Bible and pray just because of the stern voice of duty? If so, if we sense no “hunger and thirst for righteousness” (Matt. 5:6), that means we are in God’s hospital in His critical care unit where we are sustained by intravenous feeding. Yes, if the only reason why you pray or read the Bible is discipline fueled by fear, DO IT. The Old Covenant kept ancient Israel alive for a time (but oh what a dismal up and down life they had under it).
Let Jesus help you: He says, “Blessed [happy] are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.” He went on to warn against doing good things just because of a selfish motivation: “Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven” (6:1). Could we read the Bible and pray for a selfish reason? Millions do or at least have done so, for Old Covenant reasons; and they hope to get to heaven. God bless them. (The Old Covenant was better than heathenism; still, it led to crucifying Christ.)
But Jesus begs you to let Him, permit Him, allow Him, grant Him, stop resisting Him, let Him give you His New Covenant promises, and then you believe them. He has spent thousands of years trying to teach His people, and still today we can be right back where Israel was when they fastened themselves under the Old Covenant (Ex. 19).
To answer our question, let’s let the Bible speak: “By grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of discipline, lest anyone should boast” (Eph. 2:8, 9; this liberty with the text is correct--that’s what self-centered “works” means). You don’t have to beg the Lord to give you the gift--He’s already done so and keeps trying. Do the only common sense thing possible: repent for resisting so long. The ball’s in your court.
P.S.: He is still your Great Physician on duty 24/7 in His Intensive Care Unit, for you alone.
From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: March 3, 2004.Copyright © 2011 by Robert J. Wieland.
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