What do you say to someone if they come to you and ask "Do I have to stop sleeping with my girlfriend to become a Christian?"?
You may not ever encounter such a person with such a question, but then again you may. Perhaps it won't be this exact question, but there's always something that stands in people's way; something that they have to address before they go ahead with the deal. Now my point here isn't to discuss the topic of pre-marital sex, or any kind of sex for that matter ("phew", you say, and rightly so). This question is like a spring-board, and a very good one, which is why I'm using it. I myself have never had anyone ask me this or anything like it, but one Charles Price was asked this very question by someone, and he gave an interesting answer. His answer was "No".
"No"!? That doesn't seem right, does it? You don't have to stop sleeping with your girlfriend to become a Christian? I mean would that be what you would say to your potential convert? Talk about getting off on the wrong foot. And even if you're not a Christian, if someone asked you this question you'd still probably know enough to say that "Well of course you do. That's part of the deal, and what a crap deal it is, eh?".
Well, "No" was Pastor Price's answer to this full-blooded young man, and after much deliberation in my own mind, I have to say I'm in full agreement.
Given the nature of what this guy asked, it seems only logical for Christians to say that you most assuredly have to stop doing that to become a Christian. However, nothing could be more illogical, at least for a Christian.
The reason for this is that the Christian life isn't logical as our natural selves define logic. And so while naturally speaking, the only logical answer for Charles Price to have given this young man was "Yes", there was another logic at work which made "No" the right answer, the godly answer. This logic is what Aslan called the "deeper magic" in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe; it's the logic of grace.
(I said "logic" and "logical" a lot in that last paragraph. I apologise.)
If this man -- or any other man for that matter -- has to give up sleeping with his girlfriend to become a Christian, then grace goes out the window and the entire basis of the Christian life collapses. If "Yes" is the right answer, then we're left with a religion where you have to bring yourself up to the required standard, and then God is forced to let you in because you fit the bill. I've probably described many people's "Christianity" in that last sentence, but nothing could be further from the truth.
If you're a Christian and you're struggling with this, think of it another way - Did you have to stop lusting to become a Christian? Or did you have to stop lying? I can only assume that you didn't. And so this same principle applies across the board. To become a Christian, you don't have to draw up a list of sins and vow to stop committing them. It doesn't work like that, simply because it can't work like that.
Charles Price went on to say to this guy, "You don't have to smarten yourself up to become a Christian". I would go a step further and say that God doesn't want any of us to smarten ourselves up in order to come to Him, nor are we able to do so. To try and bring ourselves up to "the standard" is completely counter-intuitive in God's mind, because by employing a DIY scheme of righteousness all we end up doing is actually usurping the role of Christ, and undermining the power and efficacy of His cross.
No fixing up on our part is needed before we approach Christ, nor can it be done. We can only come to Jesus as we are, poor in spirit and desperately needy. If anyone is thirsty for Christ, we must not tell them to go away and sort their lives out before coming to the Saviour we claim to know. It doesn't matter what the sin is - it cannot be removed by human effort, and so Christians have the responsibility to tell people as much, rather than imposing on people a list of demands to adhere to in order to becometwice as much a child of hell as they are a Christian. Jesus Himself said,
"If anyone thirsts, let Him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, 'Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.'" - John 7:37-38
He doesn't specify any prerequisites, and neither should we. It's sola gratia, by grace alone. Such logic fights against our human stream of thought, but it's the only way any of us can be saved, so all we can do is be thankful that God's ways are not our ways, and His thoughts are higher than our thoughts.
Charles Price went on to say something else to this young man. Something very important, and something I'll talk about in another post. Maybe even the next one. Ooh, the suspense!
You may not ever encounter such a person with such a question, but then again you may. Perhaps it won't be this exact question, but there's always something that stands in people's way; something that they have to address before they go ahead with the deal. Now my point here isn't to discuss the topic of pre-marital sex, or any kind of sex for that matter ("phew", you say, and rightly so). This question is like a spring-board, and a very good one, which is why I'm using it. I myself have never had anyone ask me this or anything like it, but one Charles Price was asked this very question by someone, and he gave an interesting answer. His answer was "No".
"No"!? That doesn't seem right, does it? You don't have to stop sleeping with your girlfriend to become a Christian? I mean would that be what you would say to your potential convert? Talk about getting off on the wrong foot. And even if you're not a Christian, if someone asked you this question you'd still probably know enough to say that "Well of course you do. That's part of the deal, and what a crap deal it is, eh?".
Well, "No" was Pastor Price's answer to this full-blooded young man, and after much deliberation in my own mind, I have to say I'm in full agreement.
Given the nature of what this guy asked, it seems only logical for Christians to say that you most assuredly have to stop doing that to become a Christian. However, nothing could be more illogical, at least for a Christian.
The reason for this is that the Christian life isn't logical as our natural selves define logic. And so while naturally speaking, the only logical answer for Charles Price to have given this young man was "Yes", there was another logic at work which made "No" the right answer, the godly answer. This logic is what Aslan called the "deeper magic" in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe; it's the logic of grace.
(I said "logic" and "logical" a lot in that last paragraph. I apologise.)
If this man -- or any other man for that matter -- has to give up sleeping with his girlfriend to become a Christian, then grace goes out the window and the entire basis of the Christian life collapses. If "Yes" is the right answer, then we're left with a religion where you have to bring yourself up to the required standard, and then God is forced to let you in because you fit the bill. I've probably described many people's "Christianity" in that last sentence, but nothing could be further from the truth.
If you're a Christian and you're struggling with this, think of it another way - Did you have to stop lusting to become a Christian? Or did you have to stop lying? I can only assume that you didn't. And so this same principle applies across the board. To become a Christian, you don't have to draw up a list of sins and vow to stop committing them. It doesn't work like that, simply because it can't work like that.
Charles Price went on to say to this guy, "You don't have to smarten yourself up to become a Christian". I would go a step further and say that God doesn't want any of us to smarten ourselves up in order to come to Him, nor are we able to do so. To try and bring ourselves up to "the standard" is completely counter-intuitive in God's mind, because by employing a DIY scheme of righteousness all we end up doing is actually usurping the role of Christ, and undermining the power and efficacy of His cross.
No fixing up on our part is needed before we approach Christ, nor can it be done. We can only come to Jesus as we are, poor in spirit and desperately needy. If anyone is thirsty for Christ, we must not tell them to go away and sort their lives out before coming to the Saviour we claim to know. It doesn't matter what the sin is - it cannot be removed by human effort, and so Christians have the responsibility to tell people as much, rather than imposing on people a list of demands to adhere to in order to become
"If anyone thirsts, let Him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, 'Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.'" - John 7:37-38
He doesn't specify any prerequisites, and neither should we. It's sola gratia, by grace alone. Such logic fights against our human stream of thought, but it's the only way any of us can be saved, so all we can do is be thankful that God's ways are not our ways, and His thoughts are higher than our thoughts.
Charles Price went on to say something else to this young man. Something very important, and something I'll talk about in another post. Maybe even the next one. Ooh, the suspense!
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