The heart of the Christian is a new heart, made that way by the Holy Spirit in union with Jesus Christ. Our lives are now about a response to that incredible grace that has spilled over onto our lives. That relationship births joy and freedom.<\/p>\n
The reason that it births joy and freedom are not because joy and freedom are a duty, just as the way our relationship with Christ births good works are not because good works are a duty. The Christian life is internal heart change rather than conformity to a code; therefore our activities reflect this intrinsic motivation rather than extrinsic reward.<\/p>\n
Another way to say this is that there can be disobedient obedience. Jesus teaches this in Matthew 22. The king gives a wedding feast for his son (Hmm\u2026 who might that be?!)\u2026 and those invited wouldn\u2019t come (or worse), so he had his servants invite all they could find.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s what happened (Matthew 22:10-14<\/em><\/strong>):<\/p>\n 10 And those servants went out into the roads and gathered all whom they found, both bad and good. So the wedding hall was filled with guests. A couple of key observations: first, the bad and the good came. They all obeyed in an external sense. Second, the man singled out for destruction is not identified as \u2018the bad;\u2019 rather, he is singled out because he had no wedding garment.<\/p>\n This is not the lack of a tuxedo. You didn\u2019t have to have an expensive garment on to celebrate a wedding. What you had to have was something celebratory\u2026 ribbon or flowers or something that reflected you were celebrating.<\/p>\n The king kicked out the one who didn\u2019t have an intrinsic response to the wedding. Obedience without heart, if you will.<\/p>\n This is more important to Christianity than we often think. We are constantly bombarded by calls to \u201cdo.\u201d And we are motivated often not by an intrinsic response to our relationship with God, but by an extrinsic reward\/punishment concept. This is because we misunderstand righteousness \u2013 as if it were an external thing, some external behavior, instead of primarily a heart response that is reflected in action.<\/p>\n This is why justification and sanctification are so linked, why both are a daily walk, and both are upheld by our union with Jesus Christ. When I act in a way motivated by what it gets me\u2026 that\u2019s self-interest\u2026 and it pulls me away from the Gospel.<\/p>\n When I act in a way that responds to what I\u2019ve been given\u2026 that\u2019s self-forgetfulness\u2026 and it shines forth the Gospel.<\/p>\n Bearing fruit includes\u2026 is perhaps primarily\u2026 heart motivation, where our bent towards self-orientation instead bends by the wonder of the Spirit to God- and other-orientation. Miraculous for such twisted creatures as we are.<\/p>\n That\u2019s the wonder of the new creation\u2026 and the amazing truth that we are in a new kingdom, with a new heart, united to the only Savior.<\/p>\n Rejoice!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The heart of the Christian is a new heart, made that way by the Holy Spirit in union with Jesus Christ. Our lives are now about a response to that incredible grace that has spilled over onto our lives. That relationship births joy and freedom. The reason that it births joy and freedom are not … Continue reading Garments of Joy<\/span>
\n11 \u201cBut when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there a man who had no wedding garment. 12 And he said to him, \u2018Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?\u2019 And he was speechless. 13 Then the king said to the attendants, \u2018Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.\u2019 14 For many are called, but few are chosen.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n