At the recent RTC preaching conference on Romans, Rev. Dr. Bryan Chapell asked the question, “What more can you do for God the Father to be more pleased with you than what he already is in Christ?” The long and short answer is “Nothing.” In Christ, we already have the 100% righteousness that we require for the Father to be most pleased with us. Bryan Chapell then went on to speak about the ‘three deadly spiritual ‘be’s’ that preachers sometimes fall into.
The first one he mentioned was to ‘Be like’ a person mentioned in the Scriptures. On the one hand, we can learn from good biblical models such as Barnabas who was an encourager. However, it is spiritually deadly to base faith or favour on us being like anybody. So, if the preacher’s message is simply ‘Be like Jesus’ it is a deadly spiritual message for two reasons. In the first place, it causes the hearers to think that their salvation rests in their efforts to be like Jesus, rather than resting in what God the Father has already done for them in Christ. Or, it causes the hearers absolute despair, for they know in their heart of hearts they cannot be like Jesus. The result of such narrow preaching is either ‘pride’ or ‘despair’. So, if to be like some biblical character is all we hear from the preacher, it is a ‘spiritually dead’ message.
The second deadly spiritual ‘Be’s’ mentioned was to ‘Be good’. Of course, it is necessary to be good (far better than being bad) but if being good is entirely dependent on our own resources, we will fail. A ‘be good’ message is spiritually deadly if it is not accompanied by someone, namely Christ. “Apart from Me (Christ), you can do nothing” (Jn 15:5). So, to say to someone, ‘just be a good little boy or girl and Jesus will love you’ although sounding sweet, is spiritual poison. God the Father loves us because He loved us in Christ before the foundations of the world were laid. He loves us in Jesus, despite our sin. Sure, there is and must be a response to the Father’s gracious salvation we have in Christ, but our ‘being good’ is because we are in Christ which God the Father accomplished through His word and Spirit. We are never ‘good’ apart from being in Christ.
The third deadly spiritual ‘be’s’ mentioned was “Be disciplined messages.” For instance, ‘read your bible more, pray more, be at Church more’ etc. All this comes down to the question(s), “How much more can you do until your Saviour God is satisfied? How much ‘filthy rags’ does God need until he is pleased with us?” If this is you hear from the preacher then it will lead to a comparison mentality. For example, “I’m not perfect but am better than so and so and therefore God loves me.” Again, on its own, this would be a terrible message, for we will never really know with certainty whether we have ever read our bible enough or prayed enough or attended church enough for God to be ‘happy’ with us. In fact, as good as it is to read your bible and pray and attend church, it is a false gospel message, for those things will never save us.
What more do we need to do for God the Father to be pleased with us? Absolutely nothing. God the Father has done it all for us already in Christ. Therefore, being found in Christ by the power of God’s Word and Spirit is the good news alone. Any ‘be’s’ that come with that is simply a response the grace that has already been shown to us and should never be regarded as the root of salvation, but the thankful fruit of salvation. JZ.