Eugene Peterson, speaking on John 14:6 when Jesus declared HImself to be the Way, the Truth and the Life, commented that these three things must not be separated if we are to live well for God. “The Jesus way wedded to the Jesus truth brings about the Jesus life. We can’t proclaim the Jesus truth but then do it any old way we like. Nor can we follow the Jesus way without speaking the Jesus truth.” (Eugene Peterson, ‘The Jesus Way,’ P 4)
We are so used to the world’s way of working that often, we don’t even recognise that we are not operating in the same way that Jesus did. Human effort, achievement, wisdom, knowledge and pride are the primary ways of the world. James reminds us that there is a difference between earthly wisdom and spiritual wisdom, telling us that our good life must be seen through ‘deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom.’ (James 3:13) He talks about earthly wisdom leading to bitter envy and selfish ambition, and goes on to say, ‘the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.’ (James 3:17) God’s ways may well seem counter-intuitive to the world’s ways; certainly God calls us to do things His way, which includes unlimited forgiveness, kindness and love even for our enemies, none of which will make sense to us if we are only looking at it from a natural perspective.
Faith and grace are the key ingredients to living well (see Eph 2:8-9). Grace is outrageous; it offends all we believe about virtue and the benefits of effort and achievement. It is undeserved, unmerited. There is nothing we can do which will qualify us for it, but there is equally nothing we can do that will bar us from it. God’s grace is there for us to receive freely, and the way that things work in His kingdom is by faith.
Proverbs 3:5-6 shows us how God wants us to live:
‘Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
6 in all your ways submit to him,
and he will make your paths straight.’ (Prov 3:5-6)
To please God, we must be willing to lay down our lives for others, to embrace what may well seem like foolishness in order to obey Him and to trust God no matter what things may look like to our natural eyes. When we do this, then we will not only understand more of how God works in our world, but we can show others how He works by being the visible demonstration of a life of faith.
