“Run, John, run, the law commands, but gives us neither feet nor hands,
Far better news the gospel brings: It bids us fly and gives us wings”
Whilst there’s some uncertainty as to whether the quote above originated from John Bunyan, it is indeed a profound summary of the gospel that rightly deserves our attention.
Our earlier introductory post concluded on the highpoint of the comfort that we do not war alone or in our strength, rather through the help of the Spirit. We follow that up today with a word on how we may profit from the Spirit’s help made readily available to us.
Two sides of a coin
Quite apart from works-based faith systems, Christianity offers salvation primarily on the basis of faith in Jesus’ finished work on our behalf; that faith however manifests in good works, as James concludes – “So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead” James 2:17.
Believers are, on one hand, called to actively put to death (mortify) works of the flesh, and on the other, fan to flames (vivify) a new spiritual life. These two aspects go hand in hand, and involve us consciously keeping in step with The Spirit.
Rarely does the Holy Spirit work in a one-off manner to bring about sustained spiritual growth in a believer’s life; what we see instead, in Scriptures, is a complementary interplay, where the believer has the personal responsibility to pursue holiness faithfully, carefully and earnestly. Spiritual maturity largely depends on how the gifts and resources at our disposal are put to use.
The Domino effect
Giving in to a moment’s worth of guilt or shame may lead us to impulsively embrace new patterns of behaviours, but as we know, quick fixes aren’t always lasting. Tony Reinke in his book – 12 ways your phone is changing you – cautiously warns against quick but ineffective change; and even though his focus is on battling social media addictions, his identification of what we really need holds true across board – “new life disciplines birthed from a new set of life priorities and empowered by our new life in Jesus Christ.” In other words, our new life in Christ empowers us with new life priorities that, in turn, birth new life disciplines. Anything short of that God-given order is unlikely to yield lasting change.
Maturity through habit
Surely there’s a marked difference between a maturing Christian and one who is not, all thanks to everyday choices that slowly, but surely, morph into habits! At the risk of overgeneralising, humans are, by and large, creatures of habit, be they habits we have willingly cultivated or ones we’ve had imposed on us. Nevertheless, we do well to orient our choices and habits for our temporal good and even more so for our eternal good.
Oh that we would fly on the wings of the gospel!
Thanks for reading!
Sike Osinuga