Balance and the Christian Life - Maintaining an Ongoing Relationship Wit...

Thomas, a businessman in downtown Chicago, surprised me with his respect for God’s holiness and an understanding of his own sinfulness by comparison.  So many people trivialize both with an overemphasis on God’s love to the point where God’s love for  justice is ignored and no penalty is required for sin. The effect is that Jesus’ sacrifice for our sin is seen as unneeded, an overreaction to a guilty conscience maybe, or an attempt by church officials to enforce order.

Not so for Thomas.  If anything, he has gone too far in the opposite direction, believing that one must work hard and suffer much to be saved.  God’s loving sacrifice on the cross has instead become trivialized, and he has lost sight of the amazing grace of God found in Jesus.

The tension between law and grace is just one of many areas of Christian theology that require us to be balanced between unsound extremes.  Where can we find that balance and how can we maintain it throughout our lives?

Jesus said “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.”  I think God has designed us for relationship with Himself through His Holy Spirit.  He allows us to become easily unbalanced without regular and prayerful exposure to his word, which the Holy Spirit uses to “remind you of everything I have said to you”.

We can’t maintain that balance on our own.  It only comes through an ongoing relationship with the Living God through faith in Jesus, guided daily by His Word and the Holy Spirit.