More and more dead to sin; more and more alive to God

 

For several years, my daily devotions, morning and evening, have been guided by a wonderful resource compiled by a friend and colleague, the Rev. Dr. Steve Manskar.  His book, A Disciple's Journal, combines lectionary scripture readings with a relevant "word" from John Wesley, portions of a hymn from Charles Wesley, and a pattern for charting one's acts of compassion, justice, devotion, and worship -- works of mercy and works of piety.  For at least six years, this has been my primary, though not my only daily companion for prayer and reflection.

This week's "word" from John Wesley comes from his sermon entitled "The Scripture Way of Salvation," one of the most succinct expositions of his theology and thought, particularly with regard to his understanding of justifying and sanctifying grace and the assurance that we receive when the Spirit witnesses with our spirit that we are children of God.  It's one that seminary students tend to be somewhat familiar with for that very reason.  

I have read it many times, but I have found with Wesley's writings and with Charles Wesley's hymns that, just as with scripture, we find new insights and new treasures every single time we turn to them.  Like that old saying that one never steps in the same river twice, we never hear the same message in quite the same way when we immerse ourselves in the richness of Wesley's sermons.  If you are familiar with lectio divina, the meditative way of feasting on a few verses of scripture that invites you to let the Holy Spirit guide you to a particular word or phrase, you may not be surprised to find that reading the Wesleys can function much the same way.  

This week, as I read the following passage from "The Scripture Way of Salvation," I found myself returning again and again to one sentence, the one from which this post takes its title.

From the time of our being "born again" the gradual work of sanctification takes place. We are enabled "by the Spirit" to "mortify the deeds of the body," of our evil nature. And as we are more and more dead to sin, we are more and more alive to God. We go on from grace to grace, while we are careful to "abstain from all appearance of evil," and are "zealous of good works," "as we have opportunity doing good to all men;" while we walk in all his ordinances blameless, therein worshiping him in spirit and in truth; while we take up our cross and deny ourselves every pleasure that does not lead us to God.

That sentence leapt out at me every single time I read this excerpt -- And as we are more and more dead to sin, we are more and more alive to God.  I love the parallelism of it, the balancing of our increasing death to the forces of sin and evil with the increase of our "aliveness" to God and subsequent growth in grace.  It's a satisfying way of expressing a profound truth, for we cannot wallow in sin and increase in grace.  It's simply not possible.  We must crucify the passions of the flesh in order to receive new and abundant life in and through Christ.  As we leave behind our old ways of thinking and behaving and being, we are drawn ever closer to becoming the people we were intended to be, created in the divine image, only a little lower than the angels.  Being alive to God implies a real change within, a change that is reflected without.  If we are born anew, born again, born from above, it will inevitably show in the lives we lead through the words we speak, the ways in which we interact with other people, and the expressions of love and service that we joyfully offer in obedience to Jesus's command that we love one another.  We will consecrate the work of our hands in gratitude and love to the One who creates, redeems, sustains, and cares for us even before we know anything of it.

I fall short of this life of holiness every day, and yet I cling to that promise inherent in the words of Christ in the Sermon on the Mount -- "be perfect as your Father in heaven is perfect."  Jesus wouldn't have said for us to do it if it weren't possible, and so every day, I rededicate myself to the goal of becoming more and more dead to sin and therefore more and more alive to God.  I know I won't be able to do it on my own, but as I live a life filled with those works of mercy and piety, I believe that I will indeed go on from grace to grace, as the divine potter continues to shape and mold me into a holy vessel.  

My new life and ministry in England is teaching me new things every single day, and it's a little overwhelming sometimes.  I don't always know what I don't know, if you see what I mean.  I'm afraid that I will forget or that I will get it wrong or that I will somehow not be the minister I want to be, yet I am assured of that wonderful reality of dying to sin and living to God.  I hope that you can examine your life and say the same, and if not, what might you do to enable yourself to die more and more to sin in order to live more and more to God?  None of us does it alone, so surround yourself with good influences, with companions who will encourage and support you even as you support them in their Christian journey.  That is my hope and my prayer for myself, for you, and for all who are called by Christ's name.  May it be so!