God Without Religion_ Can It Really Be This Simple_ - Andrew Farley [5]
A God of Divorce?
David and Shelly had been married for nine years. For the first few years, it was like heaven. But little did David know that Shelly had plans for him to change, or else.
Shelly really liked David but saw things in him that she planned to “work on.” If she could change him, she’d stick with him. But if David didn’t change, well, that would leave the door open to who knows what—maybe even divorce.
David entered the marriage a bit naïve. He assumed Shelly was in it for life. Boy, was he surprised when Shelly began to complain about his lazy habits, his low-paying job, and his lack of drive. “Why can’t you be more like your brother? He has a plan and a future. He knows where he’s going in life. You don’t have a clue! Do you expect me to stick around if you stay in the same dead-end job and don’t get us out of this hole?”
David was a hard worker. He worked two jobs: construction during the week and car sales on Saturdays. He was doing everything he could. But it wasn’t good enough for Shelly. Her standards were just too high. At least once every few months, she’d really go after him. She’d tear him down and make him feel like nothing. Then she’d threaten to leave him. David would apologize and make frantic attempts to please her.
David worked double shifts. Then he changed jobs to make more money. Still Shelly complained that David wasn’t giving her the life that she’d hoped for.
David’s heart was broken. He was absolutely in love with Shelly and wanted nothing more than to please her. He just lacked the ability to do it! No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t keep her happy.
Eventually, Shelly made her decision. She met with a lawyer and issued David the papers. It would soon be over, and she could find someone capable of giving her what David could not.
Sound like a marriage you’d enjoy? How’d you like to be David? Most of us would take a pass on that one! But isn’t this exactly what it’d be like for us if we could lose our salvation? We’d be married (spiritually) to a spouse who was constantly evaluating us and ready to drop the hammer of divorce.
God hates divorce. We know this from Scripture. Yet those who claim we can lose our salvation are saying we become the bride of Christ, but God will divorce us if we don’t perform to his standards!
A Whole New Way
As we call upon Jesus, we enter into a new way of relating to God. This new way eliminates even the remote possibility of God “divorcing” us. God’s marriage contract with us truly means “in sickness and in health.” Jesus introduced a better contract with God (Heb. 7:22; 9:15). It’s unlike anything before. It enables us to enjoy God without the rocky road of religion. Here’s what it’s all about:
Heads up! The days are coming
when I’ll set up a new plan
for dealing with Israel and Judah.
I’ll throw out the old plan
I set up with their ancestors
when I led them by the hand out of Egypt.
They didn’t keep their part of the bargain,
so I looked away and let it go.
This new plan I’m making with Israel
isn’t going to be written on paper,
isn’t going to be chiseled in stone;
This time I’m writing out the plan in them,
carving it on the lining of their hearts.
I’ll be their God,
they’ll be my people.
They won’t go to school to learn about me,
or buy a book called God in Five Easy Lessons.
They’ll all get to know me firsthand,
the little and the big, the small and the great.
They’ll get to know me by being kindly forgiven,
with the slate of their sins forever wiped clean.
(Heb. 8:8–12 Message)
Did you notice the trouble with the old way of religion? Just like David’s failure to meet Shelly’s expectations, it says Israel “didn’t keep their part of the bargain” (v. 9 Message). And the result? God looked away from them.
But under this new contract, that problem is solved.
First, God stamps his desires on our hearts, so that we will want what he wants. Second, we receive a place at the table, as part of God’s family. “They’ll all get to know me firsthand,” he says, “by being kindly forgiven, with the