The Simplicity That Is In Christ

If you belong to a number of work-oriented congregations, you may be ignorant of the simplicity that is in Christ. And yet, that exact phrase occurs in the bible at 2 Corinthians 11:3. In a previous post, we alluded to the fact that Christ will profit such congregations nothing.

Today, we want to highlight the fact that Jesus has already worked out all the kinks in man’s relationship with God. By His life and death, Jesus made it simple for us to relate to God. Contrast how we approach God now with what happened in the old testament.

There, we see the wrath of God on full display. Poor Uzzah, who thought to help God by steadying the ark of God, died instantly. You may remember the story, in 2 Samuel 6:7. If you lived in those days, you had to be extremely careful around God.

Everything was about keeping the law, letter, and spirit. Any little deviation from the law earned you severe punishment. That is until Jesus came. With His coming and the simplicity that is in Christ, we can now relax around God. He is our Father.

Please don’t mistake that attitude for taking liberty for license. Not at all. We must reverence God in our hearts and in our actions, and at all times. Don’t forget that God is a consuming fire and you most certainly do not wish to be consumed. At least, I don’t. Consequently, despite the simplicity that is in Christ, I reverence God.

Judaizers Don’t Know The Simplicity That Is In Christ

How can they, when they constantly revert to Jewish practices every time they approach God? They fail to see that although Jesus was a Jew, He is also the Christ. He represents the bridge on which a Jew can cross to become a Christian.

But they refuse to get on the bridge, trying instead to work their way to the Christian side. They fail to appropriate the simplicity that is in Christ. Okay, the term Judaizer is not one with which you are familiar. And until you know who a Judaizer is, you may not truly appreciate the simplicity that is in Christ.

A Judaizer is a teacher in the church who is always pointing you to the Old Testament. All their examples are based on the law. Judaizers are full of dos and don’ts. Don’t leave your head bare. Don’t apply makeup. Do pray for several hours every day. Do read your bible every day and so on.

Judaizers are depending on their own works to make them right with God. They do not know the Righteousness of God, whose other name is Jesus. Such people struggle in their Christian walk as they continue to trust in their works, setting aside Jesus.

But the reason we call them Judaizers is that they teach their own faulty practices as doctrine. They want others to adopt those same practices, setting aside the simplicity that is in Christ. Judaizers want to convert as many Christians as possible into Jews.

A believer will immediately recognize this as a backward step. Apostle Paul did, wondering who bewitched the church in Galatia that they reverted to a practice of dos and don’ts. He wanted them to stay with the simplicity that is in Christ.

Jesus Plus Anything Equals Nothing

The church in Galatia fell under the spell of Judaizers who insisted on circumcision for salvation. And those poor believers were in the process of believing that they needed something in addition to Jesus. But fortunately, Paul caught that apostasy just in time.

Once you have Jesus, you have eternal life, as we pointed out in an earlier post. Not only do you have eternal life in the future, but you also have it right now. For you to buy into the doctrine that says you need something in addition to Jesus is wrong. It means you are setting aside the simplicity that is in Christ. Don’t do that. Jesus is all you need.

Anytime you add your work – circumcision, fasting, praying, or whatever – to your salvation plan, you do err. Do you recall when Jesus was in agony in Gethsemane just before His crucifixion? He asked the Father then if there was any possibility of the cup passing over Him.

The answer God gave Him shows that there is no other way by which you and I could come to God. If there had been any other way, do you think God would have put His Son through that gruesome experience? That means there is nothing you can do to gain your salvation. Nothing.

And anytime you seek to add something, you insult the Son of God. You set aside the simplicity that is in Christ. He has already paid the price. All you need to do is to accept the gift of everlasting life and enjoy it. What could be simpler? Accepting the completeness of Jesus’ sacrifice is the simplicity that is in Christ. You just take it.

Jesus Is The Fulfillment Of The Law

Remember how He cried on the cross “It is finished?” It truly is. Even though we were once far off, by His death, Jesus Christ reconciled us to God. It is only as you understand the awesome work that Jesus did on the cross that you truly have everything. That is, everything that pertains to Godliness, which God has given us with Jesus Christ.

Unlike the Judaizers who enjoy laboring under the law, believers appreciate that Jesus already fulfilled the law. That means when He comes into your life, you immediately fulfill the requirements of the law. Precisely because Jesus is the fulfillment of the law, with Him in your life, you are no longer under judgment.

Please don’t take that to mean you can live any kind of way. No, you obey God out of love rather than by law. And guess what, what you do from love is of a higher quality than that which you do by compulsion. That means that the Christians who understand the simplicity that is in Christ are better Christians. They function on the basis of love rather than with doctrines or the dictates of the law.

Maranatha!