KCU/04/Individual 1

Second draft: Topic 23: Any place for let go let God? Letting go and letting God! That’s the first phrase a friend or a preacher would tell a fellow believer whenever he or she is facing a trial. The question that is being asked is all about “any place to be completely passive in letting go and letting in our Christian walk with God?” Many people end up using this idea letting go and letting God as a mean to encourage each other. It is very good for those who can use this strong principle, which is also known as faith, in a good manner. In the other hand, we need to be very careful not to let our letting go of things lead us to passivity. Letting go of things and let God take over is not the problem, but being passive is the one thing you need to watch out for because it can surely lead you astray. According to James, Christians need to be active and operating. “14What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? 15Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. 16If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? 17In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.”-James 2:14-16. “There used to be a saying, “let go and let God.” My, how that expression his been misused. It became a spiritual excuse to not be actively engaged in the Christian struggle; just wait on the Lord to intervene. If He doesn’t, it must be His will. Christian passivity is extremely detrimental to personal accountability in our living for God. So many Christians today lack personal commitment and a submissive attitude. It is quite apparent on the local church level.”- Don Rogers. Although letting go and letting God shows that we are living out our faith, we still need to be aware of our responsibilities as Christians. It's not that we can do work to save ourselves, but we need to know that the things we go through in life is part of the cross Christ asked us to pick up and carry. There are two big words in Christianity that the Bible talks about which relate to let go and let God: Faith and Trust. Faith is an unquestioning belief in God and trust is the belief in the honesty and reliability of God; these two kind of work together. Every time one realizes that he can not take care of his needs he will let go of the things he is struggling with and let God help him out, it shows that he trusts God, and he has faith in God. When people have faith in God it makes God happy. Hebrews 11:6a says that it is impossible to please God if one is faithless. Now we have seen that letting go and letting God is basically the same thing with having faith in God, we can say that it is Biblical to turn to God and say: Lord, I leave it all to you. I am letting go of my needs because I trust you and have faith in you. Faith is very important in Christianity. Do all Christians understand, let go and let God (faith) the way the Bible shows it? Calvinist Christians have a theory, TULIP: total depravity, unconditional election, limited atonement, irresistible grace, and perseverance of the saints, they use to explain their Christian faith. According to Calvinists, salvation is accomplished by the almighty power of the triune God. “The Father chose a people, the Son died for them; the Holy Spirit makes Christ's death effective by bringing the elect to faith and repentance, thereby causing them to willingly obey the Gospel. The entire process (election, redemption, regeneration) is the work of God and is by grace alone. Thus God, not man, determines who will be the recipients of the gift of salvation.” This theory, Tulip, is showing that we are not capable of doing anything to save ourselves, but God did all the work alone. This is correct, but in the mean time, there is something very important being left out. The Calvinists are being completely passive letting go and letting God regarding their salvation. They are forgetting their responsibilities as Christians; that shows a lack of faith. According to the Bible, as Christians we have responsibilities. We must SUBMIT to God. - James 4:7 we must submit to His Words and to His providential workings in our lives - 1 Peter 5:6-11 2. We must also draw near to God - James 4:8 a. “Just as an earthly father delights when his children want to draw near to him, so does God “- cf. Mt 23:37 b. We draw nearer to God by "cleansing our hands" and "purifying our hearts" - James 4:8 1) That is, by obtaining forgiveness and then strengthening our resolve to serve Him 2) For the Christian, this involves REPENTANCE, CONFESSION OF SINS, AND PRAYER - Ac 8:22; 1 John 1:9 As Christians, we have responsibilities to have the church as our family. Staying clean and staying close to God shows that we are in relationship with Him. We need to keep our relationship with Him. We need to be working on our relationship with God. We can not be passive saying that there is nothing we can do regarding our relationship with God. Jesus has restored our image of God, and now it is our responsibility to keep it. If I have true faith and do everything that I am responsible to do as a Christian, can I let go of everything and let God so that everything can go the way I expect them to go? Some Christians think of faith as a magical force: if you muster up enough of it, you’ll get rich, stay healthy, and live a contented life, they say. Yet, when we look up faith in the book of Hebrews the author surprises people who think that way. The big picture of faith is described differently as the way we think of it. The author uses words like “perseverance”, “endure”, and “do not lose heart”. “Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons” Hebrews 12:7. “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witness, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us” Hebrews12:1. Faith is like a difficult race according to this passage. The runner has his eyes on the winner’s prize, and despite the nagging temptations, refuses to let up until he finishes the line. Some people think that when it comes to salvation it is okay to give up every possible effort since we are saved by God’s grace only,” we can let go and let God”, they would say. "To get a man soundly saved it is not enough to put on him a pair of new breeches, to give him regular work, or even to give him a University education. These things are all outside a man, and if the inside remains unchanged you have wasted your labor. You must in some way or other graft upon the man's nature a new nature, which has in it the element of the Divine." – William Booth I truly believe that we are saved through Jesus’ grace. In fact, one of my favorite passages in the Bible talks about this. "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not as a result of works, that no one should boast. [Ephesians 2:8-9]” “The goodness of God in converting and saving sinners heretofore, encourages others in after-time, to hope in his grace and mercy. Our faith, our conversion, and our eternal salvation, are not of works, lest any man should boast. These things are not brought to pass by any thing done by us; therefore all boasting is shut out. All is the free gift of God, and the effect of being quickened by his power. It was his purpose, to which he prepared us, by blessing us with the knowledge of his will, and his Holy Spirit producing such a change in us, that we should glorify God by our good conversation, and perseverance in holiness. None can from Scripture abuse this doctrine, or accuse it of any tendency to evil”. It is crystal clear that I am not trying to say that our work can save us, but I am strongly saying that we can not just say we are going to sit and watch Jesus save us since our work cannot save us. I don’t believe that we should use the doctrine of salvation through faith and grace as an excuse to let go and let God. This is not the end. Work has its role in the process of salvation; therefore letting go and letting God, in the since of being completely passive suggests that you are ignoring the fact that we need to be active Christians. For those of you, letting and letting God, means that you should stop working, you are just misunderstanding the whole idea. We know that we have to bare good fruits as Christians or else we will be cut off and thrown into fire. “Every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”(Matthew 7:19) Most people try to live a righteous life because they are afraid of that verse. The facts that the Bible encourages us to live a righteous life and to bear good fruits, or to stick with our subject, do good work, is not all about threatening us. It is simply encouraging us to become closer and closer to our Father, God. God is good and pure. He wants us to be close to him, and hopefully, that is what we are trying to achieve. The only way we can become like Him is by following Him and obeying His commandments.

We can not save ourselves by working. God saves us through his unfailing love and grace. Our work as Christians is an opportunity we have to become more like Christ, and we should have the desire to work for Him because we want to be like Him. The part that scares people the most is the fire part. I think it is saying that if you don’t want to be like me you would not want to come live with me. If you are planning on being with God forever, you probably want to start practice being good because He is perfect. Letting go and letting God is to have faith in God. Being completely passive, letting go and letting God, in Christianity is to give up. When we give up it shows lack of faith and perseverance. Lack of faith and perseverance displease God. As Christians, we are called to be strong and to hold on tight until the end. There is no place to give up. God does not guarantee a life of luxury and ease in Christianity. It is tough faith: a constant commitment to hang on and believe God against all odds, no matter what. Never let go as a mean to run away from hard times. Do not take the short way out.

Resources: www.lovehealth.org © Copyright 2003-2005 - Sunflower Healthhttp://www.reformed.org/calvinism/index.html New International Bible: Hebrews chapters 11 & 12 Additional Readings: Pathwork guide lecture No. 213(1996 edition) pages 9-11 How People Grow chapter 18 1. New International Bible Dictionary page1068 author: Douglas Tenny Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary –commentary on Ephesians 2:8-9 (http://www.christnotes.org/commentary.php?com=mhc&b=49&c=2) http://www.sw-mins.org/strat7.htm-by Don Rogers