Faith

I Am Not The Captain of My Ship

by Jeff Drinnan
11/30/17
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It's human nature to not want to be judged, to be held to standards, especially God's standards. In the Garden of Eden, humans fell. Adam & Eve thought they didn't have to obey God. Like our first parents, we tend to rationalize our behavior, make excuses and blame shift.

But God promised to redeem us by grace through His son, Jesus. Christ saved us, who were going our own way, and He works in His children to make us more like him. And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns. Philippians 1:6

We are not the captain of our ship. God is.

When I was in the Navy, shipmates called me Drifty Drinnan. In the Navy, a drift is someone who daydreams and doesn't give his full attention to what's going on in the real world. In my spiritual life, I drifted off course, not following the Great Captain's orders. I headed into troubled waters.

For a time, I didn't want to listen to the counsel of others trying to help me. Not the pastor, family, Christian friends...

The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, But a wise man is he who listens to counsel. Proverbs 12:15

I finally came around and listened to good advice and sought God's guidance and have been trying, though faith, to get on the right course. When I start drifting from the faith, and try to figure things out completely on my own, I need to be reminded:

My son, forget not my law; but let thine heart keep my commandments:
For length of days, and long life, and peace, shall they add to thee.
Let not mercy and truth forsake thee: bind them about thy neck; write them upon the table of thine heart:
So shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man.
Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Proverbs 3: 1-6

The Pharisees did not want to listen to or obey Jesus. They continually, habitually, wanted to make their own law, rules. They were more than just not obedient to God, but were in competetion with Him! Dispite Jesus' graceful admonishment to try to set them straight, they continued to be beligerent.

I recently started rereading "How to Help People Change", by pastor and father of the Biblical counseling movement Jay E Adams. Dr. Adams argues for genuine change, from the inside, from the heart, not just external, outward appearances for show like the Pharisees. Some lines from his book speaks volumes about what's happening in the world and in the churches that don't follow scripture: "If I had to choose between a saloon or a liberal church on a corner I'd choose the saloon every time. People who drink up the pay check in the saloon are less likely to become Pharisees thinking they don't need the Great Physician, than those who weekly swill the soporific doctrine of man's goodness. This is why 'sinners' and 'tax collectors' flocked to Jesus and the religious leaders did not. It was because He continually exposed the hollowness of their wicked lifestyle that these socially acceptable leaders ultimately put Him to death (see Matthew 23)."

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--  Sola gratia, baby!

Sanctification is a lifelong process, and Jesus molds us into God's image. We are sanctified, and justified, by faith alone.