When we buy into the belief that we can somehow prevent God from working, we end up like Sysiphus, eternally trying to push back the weight of guilt and shame.
“I’m afraid that because I was disobedient, God’s plan was thwarted.”
“I just don’t want to take the wrong job and prevent God from working in my life.”
“If we don’t take action when we have an opportunity, we hinder God’s work.”
“If we allow the Spirit to work in us, God can do great things.”
Having been one of the many Christians weighed down by the false theology that undergirds statements like these, I get pretty riled up when I hear the non-gospel taught. For here we are, freed from bondage to self, yet hunched over like Sisyphus trying to push up that huge hunk of guilt and blame that I’m pretty sure – that’s just an expression – I’m absolutely sure – Jesus already died for.
The gospel of grace exposes the problem with such statements. Though they may appear “Christian,” when defaced, they turn out to be only humanism in disguise. In the scenarios described above, we humans take our place at the center of the world, preventing or hindering, by our own actions, God’s redeeming work in and through us. In this line of thinking, redemption depends on our obedience (not Jesus’), on our doing the right thing (not Jesus’ finished work on the Cross). Whether we make a bad decision after seeking God’s will or rebel outright, according to this pseudo-gospel, we have the power to derail God’s plan.
Think about this. Can our failures or our sin truly prevent God from working His will of redemption? Let’s just take a quick read of some Bible heroes who went pretty miserably astray.
How about Sarai, who, in a fit of lost faith in God’s promise, demanded that her husband Abram sleep with her servant Hagar to produce the awaited heir? Painful consequences, yes. God’s plan of redemption through Abraham and Sarah derailed? No. (Read this great story in Genesis 16).
David: What about that whole Bathsheba and Uriah incident? David had a good soldier killed and married the guy’s wife. Catastrophic fallout for his family, yes. But if you think this disastrous move miscarried God’s plan for Jesus’ birth, well, check out those tedious genealogies sometime. (Read this amazing account in 2 Samuel 11, and to see how David’s heart was redeemed, read Psalm 51).
Or, there’s Peter. He denied Jesus three times. Did his cowardice stall the spread of the gospel? I would argue no. Days after Peter’s denial, in a typical gospel reversal, Jesus offers his impetuous disciple three chances to affirm his love, and each time calls him to “feed his sheep.” Peter did just that, preaching a fiery sermon on the day of Pentecost and courageously continuing to proclaim the gospel until the day he was crucified upside down for doing so.(Read this beautiful story in .
Please don’t hear what I’m not saying. Our sin, our selfishness, our foolishness, can and does harm us and others. It grieves God. But what we must always remember is that God is sovereign, and our power NEVER trumps his. His glory will reign, in our lives and in the cosmos, which he has redeemed and will one day perfect. Take heart, and bow before the One whose redemption plan you cannot foil.
“I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted” (Job 42:2).
