In light of the continuing violence and divisiveness in our country, I was pondering; that If (as so many of us say) we are saved through Christ and have the love of God, why does it seem our relationships as a nation continues to deteriorate? What prevents us from loving with the love of Christ and growing together (as oppose to tearing ourselves apart). As I was meditating, it occurred to me that we have self-imposed constraints on our salvation. Let me be clear from the beginning that I am not saying anything can constraint God’s salvation. But I am suggesting that maybe we have put constraints on the application of the gift of salvation that has been bestowed upon us. God has done his part, but we fall short. Maybe we can’t begin to really change ourselves, our families, our communities, and this world until we un-restrain our salvation.
Of course the first step in un-restraining something is to define what has it constrained. What follows is a list (and in no way would I say this is a complete list, it is just what God gave me) of things that generate self-imposed constraints on our salvation and some corresponding Biblical principles that will lead to our salvation being unrestrained. I will explore these in devotionals over the next few weeks/months/years……(whatever)
Constrained by prejudice…….unrestrained by Love
Constrained by church tradition……..unrestrained by true Theological Tradition
Constrained by fear……..unrestrained by Blessed Assurance
Constrained by hurt…….unrestrained by Forgiveness
Constrained by hopelessness…….unrestrained by Purpose
Constrained by my ability……….unrestrained by God’s Sovereignty
Constrained by a focus on me………unrestrained by a Focus on God
Again, I know this is not a complete list and I’ll probably add to it over the next few weeks. In fact, if you have one you’d like to add (something that holds us back), please free to add to the list. For today, let’s look at……..
Restrained by prejudice………unrestrained by LOVE
Does anyone besides me find it interesting that the first instances of prejudice in the Bible where perpetrated by the chosen people of God. How we want salvation and deliverance for all God’s people…..as long as they look, or have the same lineage, or have had the same experiences as us.
Divisiveness in opposition to God’s plan is, unfortunately, not new to us imperfect creations. Yet we talk of mission work and spreading the Gospels as if it is something “new under the sun”. Abram was sent out and blessed so that he would be a blessing to others (those others would not have been Israelites as there were not Israelites at that time. (Abram had a mission to serve others). We argue who was the first to preach to the gentiles (Paul or Peter) forgetting that during the prophet Jonah’s life (circa 788-746 BCE) with all of his prejudicial baggage, he was called to preach to the gentiles (Jonah had a mission to preach salvation to others). And when God used Cyrus as the instrument to free the Israelites from Babylonian bondage he did it with instructions that they were to be an impetus for all nations to know the power (and grace) of the only one God. (The people of God have always had a mission to proclaim the only true God to a lost world). And yet, Sunday morning is still the most segregated time in America. We use new code words to mask the same prejudices and racial divides that have plagued our nation and our world since the time of the Israelites saying that the only appropriate use for the Gentiles were to fuel the fires of hell.
So when we are divided, when we are use to doing what we have always done, when we have been hurt by what has been and are fearful of what may be, when there is hopelessness all around us and we wonder what can we (insignificant creatures that we are) do. How are we not constrained by the problems of the world, how can we live out the true purpose of our salvation? I think 3 scriptures are key to us living an unrestrained salvation in the face of prejudice that would constrain us:
- For God so love the world that he gave….. (John 3:16)
- But God demonstrated His own love for us in this: while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us…. (Romans 5:8)
- Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the law and the prophet hand on these two commandments. (Matt 22:37-39)
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, correctly observed:
“Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that”
Now let’s not be confused, the love I am talking about (and believe Dr. King was speaking of also) is not a passive, woe is me, masochistic, do to me as you will weakness. But a God-like love in all it’s manifestations. Yes, we have to have genuine love for those who hate and would harm us. But like Jesus we must love righteousness, we must love justice, we must love the generation of opportunity for those less fortunate than us, we must love the call to service, we must love the call to forgiveness. We must love our neighbors (and all humanity is our neighbor) with the same passion that we love our own lives.
We must follow the example of God himself in our love.
- We must be willing to sacrifice something dear to us (He gave His only Son).
- We must show (an active) love even when it’s not deserved or reciprocate (while we were yet sinners, He demonstrated his love for us).
- We must put the love of God first. If we truly love God, then we will follow his commandments.
If we do this, then we cannot help but; love, be concern for and actively seek to help our neighbors. Outside of our love for Him, this is what our Savior said was His most important commandment.
And in doing this, our salvation will not longer be constrained by prejudice, but Unrestrained by Love.
Salvation Unrestrained 