In our last paper we went back to chapter 10 to emphasize again something which much of the religious world has missed in its concept of the Christian life.
God is not the government, with a constitution and laws for religious lawyers to haggle over. God is a real being, who wants a personal relationship with His creatures. Personal piety, legally correct obedience, religious rituals, and church membership cannot substitute for accepting the gift of righteousness from God...the gift of His Son on the Cross...and faith which leads to a life of prayer, penitence and worship, with Christ as the Lord of your life. All the rest is your righteousness, which can never justify sinful man.
Now we return to chapter 12 and find Paul, in verse 3, again emphasizing that what he has is a gift of God's grace. Paul did not even take credit for his
preaching. In this verse, he presses the point again that one should not "think of himself more highly than he ought to think". This is not just personal egotism he is talking about. He is saying that even the abilities we have to work for God, and to worship Him, are a gift, and not something of which we can be self-righteous and proud. If you are charitable, kind, loving, and a helper of others, you should take not credit, nor feel righteous because of it. Paul says that God gives you the gift of being able to do these things. As he says in another place, "It is not I that live, but Christ that lives in me." This is a difficult point to get across to Christian people, because we all have a feeling that we ought to do something to earn God's forgiveness and acceptance. Therefore, when we perform some act of Christian service we feel good about ourselves, and have a certain righteous glow. Preachers and religious leaders take pride in their theological correctness. This, of course, contradicts the necessity for God's grace, Christ's sacrifice, and the gift of righteousness from God, the Father. The ultimate Christian personality is the one who realizes he can do nothing worthy of blessing. The true Christian humbly accepts his role as a creature wholly dependent upon a loving God. This, as Paul said in verse 1, is your real spiritual worship.
Competition between church groups, arguments over doctrinal correctness, pride in one's religious affiliation, seeking to find the perfect pattern, all pretend that our correctness and righteousness is the key. Thus we continually turn to depend on our own abilities and knowledge, as did Adam in the Garden. Paul condemns this, and says we should not "think of ourselves more highly than we ought to think", but realize that any rightness or goodness we have is a gift of God. This leaves no room for boasting. It does not enhance our moral achievements nor spiritual superiority, but makes us grateful to a merciful God, who has given us the ability to worship Him, and participate with Him in loving others and doing His will.
Lest you think this takes all the importance out of studying God's will, or all the necessity for being and doing good, I hasten to remind you that it is the very opposite of that. Instead of trying to gain more personal knowledge and thus be more able to run his own life correctly, Adam should have accepted that the only important thing was God's will. Then all his efforts would have been directed by total faith in God, and a constant attempt to heed what God wanted him to do. Correct religious rituals and pious actions do not change you from being a self-driven person. Only total faith in God, and acceptance of Jesus as Lord of your life can transform you, with a renewed mind, and a proper evaluation of yourself, into a true child of God. This requires diligent study of God's book, much time spent in prayer, and every effort to follow that which the will of God directs in living your life. Be thankful that He gives you the gift of being able to do this, and rejoice.
