The Call to Worship
Crucifixion – to destroy the power of the flesh – sacrifice
Convenience – something conducive to comfort – selfish
Chapter 3 – Crucifixion (not Convenience)
I believe we have things backwards in the American church. We make becoming a Christian convenient, but then crucify those in the Church for wrong behavior. “Getting saved” has been reduced to a handshake and a card rather than being identified with Christ in His crucifixion, burial, resurrection, ascension, and seating at the right hand of Father, then the infilling of the Holy Spirit whom Jesus sent to help us. While it is true that we do not have to die physically to atone for our sins (we would not be an acceptable sacrifice anyway) we are called to be “crucified with Christ.”
Galatians 2:20 (ESV)
I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
Salvation is more than a prayer. It is an exchange; my life for that of Jesus. It is a surrender of my will. We take on His Call. There is pain and suffering in our soul as we go to war with the person we have been up to the point of our encounter with the Holy Spirit.
Being “born again” is instantaneous. Our spirit is recreated by the Holy Spirit. We become a new creation, what the Greek word κτίσις describes as “a species of being that has never existed before.”
2 Corinthians 5:17 (ESV)
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation (κτίσις). The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
Everything from that point forward is “the saving of our soul”, the process of being conformed to the image of Christ. The writer of Hebrews (whom I believe to be Paul) put it like this.
Hebrews 10:36-39 (ESV)
For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised. For, “Yet a little while, and the coming one will come and will not delay; but my righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.”
But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.
The saving of one’s soul is not convenient. It requires a complete change of priorities, plans, and pursuits; or at the very least, a change in motives for all of these. Becoming a Christian does not mean a change of occupation, spouse, or geography. What does change is the requirement that we now represent Christ in all of these. In our work we no longer cheat our employer, employees, or our clients. In our marriage we now love our spouse with the love of God, unselfishly giving them our affection. We sacrifice our will for that of the Holy Spirit, who now leads us by His still, small voice.
Lest you draw the wrong conclusion, please know that there is nothing we can do to earn salvation. You cannot be good enough. You cannot purchase this salvation. You cannot rely on the family name. The only way into this New Covenant relationship with your Creator is by the provision made through Christ.
There is only one way to receive the New Life that is available in Christ. You must be born again.
John 3:3-6 (ESV)
Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”
Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
The moment we are willing to admit that we cannot save ourselves is the beginning of salvation. When we ask God to save us we must be willing to identify with Christ is every way: His death (we must die to self), His burial (old things pass away), His resurrection (new things come), His ascension (we begin the process of renewing our mind to His ways which are higher than ours), His seating at the right hand of Father (we take on the authority we have in the Kingdom of God), and His sending the Holy Spirit (we receive the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit).
It’s not convenient to become a Christian. As I mentioned at the beginning of this chapter, the American church seems to have reversed the process. Instead of judging the new Christian we should pray for them, disciple them, encourage them, celebrate life with them, and worship our Savior and our Lord with them. We seem ready to extend grace to the lost, but require law-keeping of the Christian. How we must frustrate our Lord. Grace is for the lost, but it is even more so for the Believer. Let’s find a way to do better than this. If we are truly crucified with Christ then we need to respond to others, inside and outside the Church, with the love of God. Let’s answer The Call to worship and be crucified with Him.
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