Faith: Entering God's Rest

"You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified?  This is the only thing I want to find out from you: did you receive the Spirit by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?  Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?  Did you suffer so many things in vain--if indeed it was in vain?  So then, does He who provides you with the Spirit and works miracles among you, do it by the works of the Law, or by hearing with faith?"

Here, Paul rebukes the church because they took control of their own spiritual growth (Galatians 3).  They recognized that they were saved by faith, but got it into their heads that they needed to perfect themselves through works in the flesh.  Just like the Galatians, we too can fall into a pit of self-determined religious regulation; however, God wants us to give up control on our own spiritual growth and maturity.  This comes about when we grow in our revelation of what Jesus accomplished on the cross.  When we have faith in what has already been done, we can rest in His work rather than straining to achieve something that is already won.

“Therefore, let us fear if, while a promise remains of entering His rest, any one of you may seem to have come short of it.  For indeed we have had good news preached to us, just as they also; but the word they heard did not profit them, because it was not united by faith in those who heard (Hebrews 4:1-2).”  “For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His.  Therefore let us be diligent to enter that rest, so that no one will fall, through following the same example of disobedience (Hebrews 4:10-11).” There is a reality, a state of being, that God has made available for us; it is a place of rest.  In verse 2 we see that the key ingredient to step into this rest is faith.  Faith in what?  In the good news of Jesus Christ, our salvation. 

“So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure (Philippians 2:12-13).”  In verse 12, the ‘work’ that is instructed for the believer is the Greek word Katergozomai; which means to ‘narrow down’, or ‘to work down to a definite conclusion.’  This is our role, to ‘do the math’ and come to a conclusion on our salvation.  We realize that Christ worked salvation on our behalf, that He did what we could not do. We begin to look to God to find the truth of our salvation and position with Him.  In verse 13, God’s ‘work’ is the Greek word Energeo, which means to work in a ‘situation to bring it from one stage to another.’  God is the one who actually produces faith in us.  We know He is the ‘Author and perfecter of our faith.’  In verse 13 it says that works in us both to will and to work for His good pleasure.  To will is the Greek word ‘Thelo’ which means to ‘desire’ or ‘want to’.  Sometimes we get caught up in trying to get hungry, trying to get passionate, and we make it out to be a work; when really it is God who manifests that desire and passion in us.  He also inspires us to ‘work’ and this is the Greek word Energeo again.

There are two different types of ‘work’ in the scriptures.  The first are ‘dead works’ and the others are ‘works of righteousness’. Dead works are those we do outside of faith; meaning that we are doing them to attain, achieve, or grasp hold of something that has already been given to us.  It is dead, because it functions outside of faith, for if we had faith we would realize that we already have it.  The second type of ‘work’ is done in righteousness, in faith.  This type of work manifests from a place of fulfillment and divine contentment in God.  It stems from a place of wholeness, knowing that Christ has made us ‘more than conquerors.’  No longer do we strive to make God pleased with us, or to ‘get closer to God’.  We don’t do good works or religious practice to appease our own desire to be validated or seen as spiritual.  We don’t spend time with God to be closer to God, we spend time with Him because we have already been melded into one with Him.  We don’t evangelize because we are told it’s a good thing, we evangelize because we have tasted and seen that the Lord is good; we can’t help but tell people about Him.  Works of righteousness are not guilt driven, nor are they performance driven.  They aren’t motivated by the desire to attain or receive, but the overflow of fulfillment. 

All our desires to attain, achieve, and perform, stem from our insecurities and weaknesses; from our unbelief.  Many of us can and do struggle with unbelief because we are experiencing fear, anxiety, and/or sin struggles.  We experience this lack in our lives and therefore try to supplement it in one way or another. This is the reason why we fail to enter His rest, because we lack faith in what He has done in us, because we see His work to be 'unfinished' we end up striving and straining.  To put a different spin on it, we suffer insecurity, only because we don't know who we are in God! We are believing a lie and God wants to show us the truth to set us free! 'God's perfect love casts out fear, we can be anxious about nothing, and we don't have to worry about tomorrow.' We begin to live in that reality as we grow in our knowledge of Jesus Christ.

The knowledge of Jesus Christ, knowing Christ and Him crucified, also means knowing that we have been crucified with Him.  Our sinful nature is gone, we don't need to struggle with sin anymore.  Satan has nothing on us!  We are seated in heavenly places, blessed with every spiritual blessings that lies within.  We are whole, redeemed, loved unconditionally.  We lack nothing.  Alleluia, let us grow in that revelation, may the Holy Spirit give us faith to believe it! For it is here that we enter His rest.  "Come to me all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest."