Performance vs. Acceptance

The choice is yours, says the Lord. But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.  That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do. James 1:6-8

As the beloved, we are often aware in our minds that we are loved and accepted by the Lord, but in our hearts, we frequently find that we are trying to earn God's favour through our performance. This produces the double mindedness that James speaks about, tossed to and through by every wind of thinking. On one hand, we believe that the shed blood of Jesus means we are acceptable to God, that we are his adopted sons and daughters, and that we receive his favour. On the other hand, we are driven by the desire to earn that favour or to somehow pay for our sins ourselves. One way of thinking produces a place of rest and contentment. The other place drives us to despair, where we give up, knowing we are not good enough. 

It’s a simple choice: do I do this in my own strength or trust in Jesus’ strength? The reality is often that we mix performance, which comes from the law, with grace, which comes from God’s acceptance. In one way or another, we can bounce between the two to the extent where we find we are discontented and deeply frustrated.

So, the Spirit of the Lord says, now is the time to settle this. Use the measure of faith I have given you to decide in your heart that you can never achieve God's acceptance through your good works alone and instead receive my loving acceptance in Christ Jesus. It's time to lay aside the requirements of the law and be led by the Spirit into rest and contentment. 

But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:22-23