Are you still on the performance treadmill?

Performing is a human preoccupation. It is in the air we breathe as human beings. Most of us grow up with it. We learn it. We think we can earn whatever it is we desire -- acceptance, approval, favor, blessing, respect, love. It becomes our default position. And some people never escape its grip on their lives.

Then, when God awakens our dead hearts and opens our blind eyes, we realize our performance is never good enough -- not in His estimation. The message of the Bible is we "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Rom. 3:23). The Word tells us our righteousness we hope will make us acceptable to God is like a "filthy garment" (Is. 64:6).

By God's grace, we cast ourselves upon the sole Righteousness One, and His righteousness is credited to our bankrupt account. Yet, too often, we see the gospel of grace as only the entrance to the Christian life. Then, even as recipients of this unending grace, we live as if our acceptance and approval by God is based on our performance. As a result, our distorted theology can lead to debilitating feelings, wavering assurance and ineffective ministry.

I addressed this at one point in last Sunday's sermon on the final four verses of Luke. It wasn't in my notes, but part of what I said was essentially a paraphrase of the quote below. This paragraph from Milton Vincent's book, A Gospel Primer for Christians, has provided strategic help to my life in recent years. I commend it to you as an aid to help you preach the gospel to yourself and remember whose performance you are always to trust in:

The gospel also reminds me that my righteous standing with God always holds firm regardless of my performance, because my standing is based solely on the work of Jesus and not mine. On my worst days of sin and failure, the gospel encourages me with God’s unrelenting grace toward me. On my best days of victory and usefulness, the gospel keeps me relating to God solely on the basis of Jesus’ righteousness and not mine.