Fully Pleasing To God

Romacs 3:19-26, 5:1

Introduction:

According to the Christian church calendar, today is the Reformation Sunday. About 500 years ago, Martin Luther rediscovered the truth of "Justification by faith." This discovery started the Reformation movement.

Martin Luther's father wanted him to be a lawyer, but he entered a monastery and became a monk. The monks lived a very simple and disciplined life. It included minimum sleep, long hours of prayer and meditation. There was also physical self-abuse in the form of self-flogging. This was their way of pleasing God, gaining a right standing with God.

There was a movie called "The Mission", based on a true story in S. America in the 18th century. The main character, Robert DeNero found out that his brother was in love with the woman he loved. Out of anger, DeNero killed his brother. This murder brought him severe remorse and total alienation from people around him. Then a catholic priest came and befriended him. He challenged him to join his mission. But the condition was that DeNero must complete his penance. That is, he must pay for his crime with harsh discipline. He would carry a heavy load of his belongings and climb up high mountains and walk across rapid rivers. He would repeat this until he was finally at peace with himself.

What is common between Martin Luther's monastery's life and DeNero's penance? It's this statement: "I must meet certain standards to feel at peace with God and with myself." My self-worth is based on my reaching certain standards.

I. Slavery to the Performance Trap.

Does this sound familiar to us? Sometimes we too perceive that "we must meet certain standards in order to feel at peace with ourselves." We base our value and self-worth on our performance. The more I accomplish, the better I feel about myself. The more I read the scriptures, attending church meetings and sharing the gospel with others, obeying his commandments, the more I will feel being loved and accepted by God. This is how we can feel at peace with ourselves. And we ended up in the Performance Trap.

But have we ever paused to ask is it right to think that "I must meet certain standards in order for me to feel at peace with myself, and my relationship with God"? No, this is wrong thinking. The devil wants us to believe that this is true. This is devil's lie.

This faulty thinking can have a profound effect on our behavior. One of its major impacts is the fear of failure. Let's briefly explore some of its possible expressions in our daily living. First it could lead to

1. Perfectionism. A perfectionist is someone incessantly driven toward attaining goals. We are unwilling to fail, because failure means a big blow to our self-worth. Thus, we want everything perfect: perfect house that is perfectly clean; perfect grades; perfect church; perfect fellowship; perfect spiritual disciplines; such as: daily devotion, church attendance and evangelism.

When others criticize us, we perceive it as a personal rejection and become quite defensive. For we view criticism as an indictment to our failure to meet certain standards. A perfectionist also has the tendency of wanting to be in control.

Very often our excuse for perfectionism is that we want to see things done right. This is good, and we should do our best to see things done right and properly. But the problem is that so often this becomes the basis for our self-worth.

2. Avoiding Risk. Another expression of fear of failure is the tendency to avoid risk. We become involved in activities we're familiar with and do well. We try our best to avoid new challenges because of the risk of failure. Sometimes its almost impossible to make any decisions that involve change, because with every change, there is always risk. Our life is comfortable for we stay with what is familiar. But this will inevitably limit our creativity and the scope of our service to God.

3. Anger and resentment. Since we are so afraid of failure, we become easily angered when we can't have what we want or when we perceive others contributing to our failure. Instead of being a loving person, we become an angry person.

4. Pride. When we base our self-worth on performance, and if we're good at what we do, this will definitely lead to an inflated view of self. We become very proud of ourselves. We feel that we have all the answers to all the problems. We are always the solution providers. And you know, this can be very unhealthy in relationships. It will drive people away from us.

5. Low motivation. When one is afraid of failure, thinking that I'll fail, then there's no reason to try.

6. Depression. Another effect that the fear of failure will have on us is depression. Depression can be caused by a deep sense of loss. When one experiences failure, or afraid of subsequent failures, depression can set in.

These are some effects of the 'fear of failure'. This is what happens when we swallowed the devil's lie that "we must meet certain standards in order to be at peace with ourselves." So many of us, without any awareness, have bought into this lie. The moment our activities cease, we feel useless. We are slaves to the Performance Trap.

Does this make sense to you? Do you want to do something about it? Are you tired of constantly wanting everything to be perfect? Are you tired of running away from risk, being an angry person whenever you perceive failure and rejection? Do you want to stop being defensive when criticized? Do you want a change from having to constantly project an image of self-sufficiency that everything is under control?

II. God's truth will set us free.

Jesus said, "???????????????????"(John 8:32). God's word will set us free. Free from what? Free from sin's control and from all kinds of lies that have been propagated by the devil. Including the one that says "I must meet certain standards in order to feel at peace myself, or to feel right about my relationship with God." Let's see how God's truth can literally set us free.

1. No one can be righteous through performance.

In Romans 3:23," ???????????? ????." v20," ??????????????????? ?????.??????????."

The bible tells us that we have all sinned and come short of God's standards. No matter how hard we try to obey the commandants and all the teachings, it will not make us righteous before God. On the contrary, it only causes us to become more aware of our sinfulness. No amount of work or performance will make us right in our relationship with God.

Martin Luther and all the other monks did not find peace with themselves and with God through the spartic and harsh life. It only brought them more agony and turmoil. It drove Martin Luther to the point of despair. Until one day he came upon this passage.

2. We become righteous through faith.

v22," ?? ?????????????????????????." v24," ???? ????????????????????" and v28," ??????????????????????????????." 5:1, "?????????????????????? ???…." What do these verses tell Martin Luther and us? Because of our faith in Jesus, we are considered as righteous, being right with God. We're justified by faith. In 2 Cor.5:21,"???????????????????????.?????????? ????" Faith in Jesus Christ is the instrument by which we become right with God.

Try to visualize two ledgers. On one is a list of all our sins; on the other, the righteousness of Christ, that is, fully pleasing to God. Now exchange my ledger for Christ's. This is justification. God transfers our sins to Jesus, and his righteousness is given to us.

No amount of work, no matter how perfect our performance maybe, will make us pleasing to God. Only through faith in Jesus, are we fully pleasing to God. This is God's grace.

This truth set Martin Luther free from the bondage of work and performance. He realized that he was fully pleasing to God through his faith in Jesus Christ.

When we believe in Jesus Christ, not only our sins are forgiven, but with faith as an instrument, God also imparted great value to us. So great is this value that we can boldly stand before God. We can come to him anytime. We are fully pleasing to God. Therefore, we don't have to please God, gain his approval by reading his word more, faithful attendance at church or fellowship meetings, or more involved in ministries and evangelism. All these activities are important, but at the same time, no amount of work can make us more acceptable, more pleasing to God.

You see, you do not have to get that degree, that position to make you feel good about yourself, to make you feel you are somebody. You do not have to achieve every goal you have set, you do not have to have everything and event under your control, you do not have to have a perfect profession or house in order to feel your worth. Because the day you put your trust in God, you are justified and God has already imparted great value to you.

May this truth sink into us and capture our mind. So that whenever we hear the lie that "I must meet certain standards in order to feel good about myself, in order to gain God's approval," we can respond to it by saying, that's wrong! I don't have to meet certain standards in order to feel good about myself, to be accepted by God. Because I am fully pleasing to God through my faith in Jesus Christ.

III. Reasons for obedience to Christ.

If my value before God is independent of my performance, having nothing to do with how complete I keep the commandments, then what should I do with all the instructions in the bible? Why should I even bother to obey them?

I would like to suggest to you several reasons for obeying God's instructions.

1. Christ's love compels us.

The bible says, "???, ???????…" Our love for Jesus is a response to his love for us. We love because he has first loved us. The way to express our love for him is to obey his commandments. Not because we have to, or because this will make us feel good about ourselves, but simply because we love him. Our obedience is both a response to his love and an expression of our love for him.

When you are in love with someone, and if that person just mentioned in passing that he would like to eat a certain dish, or to have a certain CD, you probably will go out of your way to get it for him. Not to gain his/her love, but because of your love for that person.

2. His commands are good for us.

You remember what your mother told you about the spinach? Its good for you. You see, God's instruction is not there to restrict us, taking the fun out of life, or making us miserable. On the contrary, it gives us greater freedom so we can enjoy life to its fullest. 2 Timothy 3:16, "???????, ???……???????…." By living according to his standards, we begin to live a life with purpose, fulfillment, peace, love and direction.

Moreover, when I obey his teachings, I also become more and more like Christ. All the instructions in the bible, both Old and New Testament are there to help us become the men and women God originally intended us to be at the time of creation.

3. Eternal reward.

For some reason, we always want to dissociate the concept of reward from our Christian living. As if by mentioning reward, it'll make our faith less noble, and make us look greedy. But the concept of reward is an undeniable fact in the bible. 2 Cor.5:10," ????????????????????????????????????." One day we will be rewarded according to what we do on earth.

4. Christ is worthy.

Another reason for being obedient to Christ is that he is worthy of our obedience.

Christ not only is the one who created the heavens and the earth, but He is also the one who loved each one of us. While we were still sinners, being rebellious against him, still kicking and yelling at Him, he came into the world, took our sins upon himself and died for us. He died so that our sins can be forgiven. Not only this, but he is also present with us every moment of our life, watching over and caring for us. For who he is and for what he has done and is doing for us, he is worthy of our obedience.

Conclusion:

What is Justification by faith? That through faith in Jesus Christ, God impart Christ's righteousness onto me. He considers me as being right with Him. He has imparted great value on me. I am fully pleasing to God. This means I don't have to do anything in order to please him, to be righteous, to be able to stand before Him. He has already given me Christ's righteousness. And because he has given me great value, I no longer have to meet certain standards in order to feel good about myself. To think that by trying just a little harder, be more obedient, I can gain more of his love and acceptance in really a frontal attack on who God is and what Jesus had accomplished on the cross.

A few years ago, I completed a self-evaluation form. To my surprise, I learned that I am a perfectionist. Its hard to accept that. I perceived myself as someone who just wanted to do things right. Unless I don't preach, otherwise I preach to the best of my ability. Every sermon has to be proper and good. The bulletin has to be perfect, because this is what it should be. With all the good intentions, its tough to live this kind of live day in and day out.

When I related to my secretary the result of this evaluation, she said, "you're telling me, what's new!" Obviously, this was another surprise. That people who worked with me saw me as a perfectionist.

But what was even more troublesome was the realization how much I depended on good and top performance. If there are negative feedbacks on my sermons, I could become defensive and be devastated. When I realized that I have not done well in my teaching SS, or in conducting a meeting, I not only felt discouraged but also a sense of loss. I began to feel that may be I'm really not cut out for ministry. I'm not good for anything.

Some of these reflections painfully prodded me to ask if I am associating my self worth with my performance? To a certain extent, it appeared so. During the last few years, God is patiently helping me to remember that I'm fully pleasing to Him the day I put my faith in him. No amount of work will change this status.

This familiar truth began to bring freedom to me, making me a more relaxed person. Knowing that not everything has to be perfect and under perfect control. It's all right to make some mistakes. Its all right if the service is not as smooth as it should be. Its alright that the bulletin has typos and mis-spellings. This does not mean that I can be sloppy in my life and in my ministry. In everything I do, I still do my best. But I know that it will have nothing to do with my self-worth. This also makes me an easier person to live with and to work with.

How about you? Are you caught in this "performance trap"? That you have to meet certain standards in order to feel good about yourself. It's my prayer that you'll see this as the enemy's lie coming straight from hell. The truth is: the day you put your faith in Jesus Christ, God has imparted his righteousness to you. He has already given great value to you. Because of God's grace, you're fully pleasing to Him.

Rev. William Hsueh   Oct.28 , 2001    Houston Chinese Church,  Houston, Texas