127: Two Ways To Qualify

Can God’s blessing be earned? Is there something we can do to qualify for His favor?

Theoretically, there are two ways to qualify for God’s favor: 1) receive it by grace through faith or 2) earn it yourself.

One way is to see the powerlessness of the flesh, recognizing the flesh for what it is and being completely dependent on the Spirit for every blessing of God, including life itself. The other way is to put confidence in the flesh. That’s a futile and deadly exercise. Paul said, “In my flesh nothing good dwells.”¹ However, at one time Paul put ALL his confidence in his flesh to gain right standing with God and with people:

If anyone else thinks he may have confidence in the flesh, I more so: circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee; concerning zeal, persecuting the church; concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith. (Philippians 3:4-9)²

There are two credentials that Paul mentions that he considered at one time to have given him an advantage over other people: his background and his achievements. Another way to say it is that under the law a person could only qualify for God’s favor by being a Jew (his bloodline) and by obeying the law (his performance). In fact, Paul put so much worth in these two things that he condoned the murder of Christians to guard the sacredness of adherence to the Jewish religion. He terrorized the church, entering every house, dragging off people, and throwing them into prison for embracing Jesus and not obeying the law.³ This was not considered criminal; it was applauded! He was perfectly justified in his actions and passion according to the Jewish leadership of that day. Why? Because of the covenant that they had been under for fifteen hundred years: the Mosaic Covenant of law.

When Paul was ambushed by God’s grace on the Road to Damascus, Jesus appeared to him and asked him why Paul was persecuting Him.⁴ Why was Jesus telling Paul that he was persecuting HIM, instead of telling him he was persecuting the church? It’s because the church IS the body of Christ! When a believer is persecuted, Jesus is persecuted. Can you see the identity that we have in Jesus?

That same identity in which we share in His suffering is the identity that qualifies us for every blessing of heaven. As the body of Christ, we are worthy of everything that He is worthy of!

(from pages 206-207 of Unveiling Jesus)

Want more from Tricia Gunn? Check out excerpts from the Unveiling Jesus 20-part series!

Unveiling Jesus, by Tricia Gunn, is a verse by verse study of the pure gospel of grace. It’s an amazing journey of love, identity, and freedom in Christ.

---

Shop Unveiling Jesus Products

¹Romans 7:18
²Scripture taken from the New King James Version®.  Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson.  Used by permission.
³Acts 8:3
⁴Acts 9:4″