From Jerry Sittser’s book ‘The Will of God as a Way of Life:’ (continuing from a previous post. . . * To Jesus Christ Alone)
Dietrich Bonhoeffer understood Jesus’ radical commands, he wrote: Again, it is no universal law. Rather it is the exact opposite of all legality. It is nothing else than bondage to Jesus Christ alone, complete breaking through every programme, every ideal, every set of laws. No other significance is possible, since Jesus is the only significance. He alone matters. 11
God lays claim to us and plans to transform us until we become the creatures he always intended us to be. If Christ represents the perfect picture of what God wants us to become, then the commands of the Scripture are like the directions that will get us there. There is nothing trivial and superficial about God’s plan. His commands are radical because his plans are perfect. He wants to make us new in every way. Such transformation will also make us free.
Jesus called this the “narrow gate.” 12 It is not narrow as we often understand narrowness, as if Jesus were calling us to become hyper-conservatives. His way is narrow because it squeezes all selfishness out of us. It deprives us of the right to live for ourselves. Jesus demands everything from us, not because he wants to make life miserable for us but because he wants to give us purpose and joy. He knows that real life is gained by giving our lives up to God.
Token obedience betrays an errant theology. We think that real life is gained by what we keep to ourselves, not by what we give to God. So we do the minimum in terms of obedience—just enough to get by—so that we have plenty of choices left over for ourselves. In our way of thinking, God’s commands are like paying taxes.They are part of the deal of being Christian, but hardly a welcome part. So we fulfill our obligation to God and, once that is finished, start to enjoy life again.
But Jesus will have none of that. He rejects all token obedience. He keeps demanding more because he knows his followers will find true life only by obeying God, not by living for themselves. Thus, while the Mosaic laws forbids murder, Jesus forbids hate. While the Mosaic laws forbids adultery, Jesus condemns lust. The narrow way Jesus taught is the way of complete obedience, an obedience that leads to freedom from self and freedom to live for God.13 ~Jerry Sittser, The Will of God as a Way of Life (Grand Rapids, MI 49530, 2004), 61-62
