There is a lot of tension in being a follower of Christ. If you haven\u2019t noticed, you haven\u2019t been reading the manual very closely.<\/p>\n
We often call them paradoxes: To be first, you must be last. To save your life, you must lose it. What good is it to gain the world and lose your soul? You know, little things like those.<\/p>\n
But recently, I have been pondering a grace and works tension. Not regarding salvation \u2013 no, no!<\/p>\n
There is nothing to add to or take from the work Christ did for us on the cross.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ll leave some space here for the presumed \u201cAmen\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n
But, sometimes, we carry that theology of salvation into a theology of discipleship where it does not fit as neatly. This is not to say you\u2019re covered by grace until salvation and then transferred to a kingdom of works as a disciple. Not at all.<\/p>\n
Every Christian is offered grace before, during and after our salvation \u201cmoment.\u201d But once we become followers of Jesus, we are disciples.<\/p>\n
And disciples have discipline. And discipline takes work.<\/p>\n
See, there\u2019s that tension.<\/p>\n
As a disciple, it\u2019s not a question of grace or<\/em> works but a reality of grace with<\/em> works.<\/p>\n Paul explained this beautifully in a single verse: \u201cFor this I toil, struggling with all His energy that He powerfully works within me.\u201d<\/p>\n First,<\/strong> being a disciple involves \u2018toil.\u2019 \u00a0The word is kopio<\/em> in Greek and means to labor, work, use some energy. In this verse, Paul describes the ministry to which he was called to steward and says it requires \u2018toil.\u2019<\/p>\n I can\u2019t think of a better way to say this, so I will blurt it out: This means some stuff\u2019s just on you. Getting up in the morning, walking through your disciplines, submitting to your Lord, fulfilling the obligations of your calling.<\/p>\n There is no escaping it. It\u2019s work. It\u2019s hard. And it\u2019s on you.<\/p>\n Second,<\/strong> we cannot ignore the beautiful end of this tension, described as \u201cstruggling with all His energy.\u201d The word for \u2018struggling\u2019 here is agonizomai<\/em> (probably no need to break that down for us).<\/p>\n Yet, in the agony of the struggle, we find that everything we do is with all His energy. We\u2019ve all felt it when the task is too big, the obstacles are too difficult \u2013 and yet somehow there is enough strength. Miracles change our circumstances, serendipity is replaced by the supernatural, and you must step back and say, \u201cWow, Lord, thank you.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s spiritual inertia becoming momentum. It begins with a step of obedience to enter the toil, then being fueled by the filling of \u201call his energy\u201d \u2013 and suddenly you find you have become a spiritual juggernaut impossible to stop because of the God who saved you, called you and fills you.<\/p>\n