I will begin by saying that this analogy is not perfect. It is simply a picture that helped me to understand the proper balance of faith and works within the Christian life.
Let me tell you about the disease that I have. Mine is a painful and deadly disease which produces visible and grotesque growths, as well as brownish-green skin patches. When I first noticed that I had this disease, I began trying to hide the growths. Occasionally, I would cut a growth off myself. I would also put makeup over the skin patches. Everyone thought that I was fine. I found that I even had some friends with the same disease! We would get together and show off our growths. I reached the point where I believed that my disease was normal, and that it was nothing to worry about. Yet it was slowly eating away at me – slowly killing me.
When the disease became too painful for me to bear, I began to fall apart. But at just the right time, the one doctor who specialized in this disease came to me. He explained that there was one, and only one, way to avoid death from my disease. He told me that the disease was a form of cancer present both in my blood and in a large tumor within my heart. He had a treatment plan. I needed to go to him for a blood transfusion. He used his own blood to give me the blood transfusion which saved my life! He also instructed me to return to him every single day for radiation on the tumor. Failure to return for radiation would result in the return of the growths and skin patches. The radiation would sometimes hurt, yet at the same time it also somehow felt so good!
Of course you realize that this story is an analogy. The disease in my life represents sin. Sometimes the sin was obvious to others who looked at me, though most of the time I was able to hide it from them. Yet whether or not I was successful in hiding it, my sin was killing me. Jesus, the doctor, saved me by his own blood. We’ll return to the story a bit later.
We previously discussed how we are saved by faith, and not by works. Yet we are saved to do the works which God has planned for us. If we are truly saved – that is, if we truly have saving faith – our faith should lead to a changed life which will bear fruit. That fruit is a changed life.
The story in the previous writing spoke of a man who claimed to believe that his building would be destroyed in a week, but he continued to live his life as if nothing were going to change. I argued that the lack of change in his actions was proof that he did not truly believe that the building was about to collapse. Now, after salvation, do we just go back to business as usual? If nothing changes in our lives, wouldn’t that be just like the man whose actions proved that he did not actually believe?
So if our lives need to change, does that mean that we need to start religiously following everything in the Bible? Yes, it does, and no, it doesn’t. We should absolutely obey God’s Word, but should not be striving to do so in our own strength. You see, we are saved through faith. We are to continue living through faith as well. Galatians 5:4 speaks to believers – to those of us who have received God’s gift of salvation. It says, “For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law, you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God’s grace.”
Notice that the verse did not say that we should not keep the law. Though through salvation we are freed from the law, we certainly are not free to put other things above God. We are not free to murder, lie, steal, and commit all sorts of sins against God. Yet if we are relying on our own ability to do what is right, we are blatantly stating that we do not need God after all. No, we do not make ourselves right with God by keeping the law. Instead, when we are right with God, when we are yielded to His Spirit, this proper relationship will be shown by our actions. Galatians 5:16 says, “So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves.” So we should be following the instructions of the Bible, but if we are relying on our own abilities rather than on God’s power, it would all be wrong!
Going back to today’s story, what if instead of returning to the doctor for radiation, I were to simply go back to using makeup and cutting off some growths? I would be addressing the visible signs of the disease, but the changes would only be external. We need God to work in us, as only God is able to do what is necessary within our hearts to change us from the inside out.
Wow, it sounds complicated! There is so much that we have to understand, and so much that we have to do! Wrong. All we need to do is believe; and if we truly believe the doctor, we will allow him to work.
Now here’s a question: if we believe, then we live our lives for God, isn’t that works? Shouldn’t we get some of the glory?
No, that’s just it! You are not doing the work, but rather are letting the doctor do it. If I say to you “I did a great job in overcoming my cancer!”, you could simply say, “no, the doctor knew what he was doing when he treated you.” Who gets the glory when a surgery is successful? Is it the patient, or is it the surgeon? “But I came in for surgery, just as the doctor ordered,” I could say. That’s great! Does that mean that I did a great work? Actually, it simply means that I believed my doctor enough to go to him for help. All we need to do is trust in God, and that faith will lead us back to Him for our treatment.
Of course, as the Spirit works in us, He will lead us to do certain things and to make certain changes in our lives. He will lead us to the point of loving God with all our heart, soul, and mind. He will lead us to the point of loving our neighbors as ourselves. He will bring forth love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control in our lives. These changes are not for our own glory, but rather are proof that we are trusting the doctor enough to allow him to work.
Are you allowing the doctor to work in your life today?
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