Lay it Down by Bill Tell

Helping you find freedom by laying down performance-driven Christianity. There is a place for you here. Welcome.

John 14:21 – prescription or description? (55 seconds)

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“Whoever has my commandments and obeys them, he is the one who love me…” – John 14:21

For years I read this verse wrong. And when we read it wrong it becomes a heavy load. It was for me.
I think most of us learned to read it first as a prescription on how to become one who loves God… “if I obey his commands I will become one who loves God.” In other words, my obedience transforms me. I also learned to read it as the prescription of how to show God I love him. I will prove to Him that I really do love Him by working hard at keeping His commands…and the harder I work at keeping His commands, the more He will see that I love Him and the more pleased He will be with me.

But what if this is not a prescriptive statement but an identity statement? What if because I am one who loves God (my identity), the result is I now have an ability to obey, and I do obey.

If we learn to read John 14:21 this way, it becomes an affirmation of the truth that our obedience is the evidence of what God has already done in us…rather than it being what we do so that He will do something in us.

My Worst Day (65 seconds)

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Okay – quick review. Because God relates to me on the basis of the life and death of Christ – and not my behavior – we have looked at four things that are true. First – my sins will never come between me and God again. Secondly, I am free from condemnation…never do I need to feel condemned again for what I do. Thirdly, God will never punish me for my sins as a believer! And then fourthly, with the elimination of punishment is the elimination of fear in my relationship with God.

Now – a fifth true reality. Because all the above is true, now on my very very most worst day – God is still head-over-heals crazy about me! My sin does not diminish His love for me…He does not distance himself…He does not loosen His grip on me. As a matter of fact, I think He grips me tighter. As Romans 8 so beautifully portrays, nothing in all of creation can separate me from the love of God…that is now based on the life of Christ…not even my sin!

So how do I know I have found a friend who treats me with grace? I know I have found such a friend when I tell them the worst there is to know about me…and they come closer to me, they hold me tighter, and they love me more. They love me just like they have experienced the love of God on their worst day. Interesting – until we experience the grace of God in the worst of our times, we cannot extend it to others in the worst of their times.