The Problem With Rededication

Perhaps more than any other challenge I gave people during my years of legalistic teaching in the church was that they should rededicate themselves to Christ. I believed that the need we all have is to try harder, to be more sincere and more zealous in our efforts to live for Jesus Christ. I rededicated myself until I felt worn out from it at times.

Rededication isn’t the grace way. The real answer to a sense of need in our walk with God isn’t to promise Him that we’ll try harder. That’s true even though we may ask for His help when we rededicate ourselves. Although many are sincere in rededicating themselves to Christ, it’s a wrong approach to the desire to be more consistent in our commitment to Him.

The problem with rededicating ourselves to Christ is self, which is really just another word for the self-sufficiency of the flesh. The essence of religious flesh, as strange as it might seem, is our attempt at trying to live the Christian life. That is what actually prevents us from living the Christian life. In fact, the harder we try, the greater the likelihood that we won’t succeed because victory in the Christian life doesn’t come by trying. It comes by trusting.

Self-determination, self-discipline, self-sufficiency – those are what stand in the way. Jesus is the way to victory in your grace walk. He said, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me.” Note His words in that statement. What did He say we are to do in regard to our self-life? Dedicate ourselves to Him? No, He said that we are to deny self.

Rededicating ourselves to try harder, then, isn’t the answer. It doesn’t matter how sincere we might be. It simply won’t work. The answer is to trust Him. That’s the only cure for an unstable, up and down sort of spiritual experience.

You won’t ever live a victorious Christian life by rededicating yourself to God, and telling him you’re going to try harder to do a better job. Instead, we must come to the end of ourselves - our self-life. We need to say, “Lord, it’s not just hard for me to live a life that honors you, it is impossible for me to do it. So I will stop trying and just trust you. You are my life, now Lord Jesus, live your life through me.”

We didn't become a Christian by revving up our religious rpm's and trying to make progress toward entering God's kingdom by what we did. Instead, we came to the place where we realized there was nothing we could do to get into a right standing with God. Nothing has changed in that regard now that you are a Christian.

In the same way, now we are to simply acknowledge that, no matter how hard we might try, there is actually nothing we can do to make ourselves stronger. Just like when we were saved, we have to come to Him in faith and total dependence that He will be the One who does what needs to be done; and He will.

The Apostle Paul said, "As you have entered the Lord Jesus Christ, so walk in Him." We continue the walk in the same way we started it -- by grace through faith. The answer to a sense that we are weak in our commitment to Him is to trust in His grace and know that He is committed to us. The one who has begun a good work in you will finish what He has started. Just trust Him, knowing it's not up to you and how hard you try. Faith is the key. That's all it takes.

(This blog is an excerpt from the 101 Lies Taught In Church manuscript I'm working on now.)