Having worked in corporate finance for many years, I’m familiar with formulas, macros, and the use of financial software programs. In fact, over the years, I’ve created hundreds of budgets and forecasts using these programs. One of the essential functions in creating these sorts of models is the “if-then” statement. It’s simple really, you establish a condition, the “if”, when that condition is met, a specific outcome occurs, the “then.”
I know, you’re thinking “Where’s this going?” And the thought “boring!” is entering your mind. Here is the point: While “if-then” is a useful tool in finance, the sciences, and other areas of life, “if-then” is completely inappropriate when it comes to our lives as believers. We shouldn’t base our actions, the “ifs”, on an expectation that God will reward us in return, the “thens.” As believers, our actions should be motivated by love and gratitude, not by the expectation of reward. Unfortunately, and I know it may sound harsh, many of us live out our faith in this way. Sometimes, not even realizing it.
Most of us can identify the most common form of this kind of thinking. Those who misunderstand God’s love for us, think they have to work to be good enough for God to accept them. I’m a good person, is the thinking. I do good things. So, God is obligated to accept me. Most religions, in fact, are wrongly based on this kind of thinking. I am accepted for what I do. I can achieve heaven, nirvana, paradise, or whatever because I deserve it based on what I do.
Christianity is different. We understand that God loves us because that is who He is. We understand, or we should understand, that no amount of good work or action qualifies us for God’s grace. Rather, God’s grace displayed toward us stands on its own. “Because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved” (Eph2:4-6).
It is God’s love, not our actions, which causes Him to act graciously toward us. To forgive us. To give us eternal life. This is a good thing. A very good thing. Why? Because, left to us, left to depend on our own actions, we can never be good enough, or do enough good things, to earn what God gives us freely and lovingly. What we see as good isn’t even close to the goodness of God. As the prophet Isaiah puts it, “all our righteous acts are like filthy rags” (Isa 64:6).
These are pretty basic ideas for those of us who have been believers for any period of time. Unfortunately, while we say we understand, the “if-then” thinking is insidious. I find myself, and I’m guessing you do too at times, thinking that if I obey that somehow God will love me more. If I’m just a “better” Christian, He will love me more. Look deep inside. We may not say it out loud, or even admit it to ourselves, but the feeling creeps in.
The funny thing is that the opposite is true. A paradox of sorts. God does not love us more the more we obey. Rather, the more we obey the more we come to know Him and to love Him.
God’s love for us can not change. When we obey Him and submit to Him, because of what He has done for us, we change. The Apostle Paul puts it this way, “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will” (Rom 12:1-2).
How do we offer ourselves “as living sacrifices?” We submit ourselves daily to God because we recognize His mercy toward us. We submit ourselves, willing to do what He wants us to, in obedience. When we respond out of love and gratitude, He changes us. If we are looking for a reward. If we need a “then.” It is not that He loves us more. It is not that He accepts us more. The “then” is that He transforms us.
While the “if-then” thinking has no place for us, not in the sense that we can earn anything from God, there is an “if-then” that does make sense. “If” we have become a follower of Jesus, “if” we have accepted Him as our Lord, and our Savior, “then” we live differently. “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things” (Col 3:1-2). Why would we continue to live in the same way?
We obey. We live differently. We live with the eternal in mind. We allow God to transform us into who He wants us to be. Not to earn His love, but because we love Him.
Written by Dave Foucar
Purchase Dave’s book What Do I Say When Asked About Jesus? here.
This is an updated edition of a post originally published on Christian Grandfather Magazine
Featured Image by Mabel Amber from Pixabay
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