The Process of Coming to Know God (in an authentic way)

I was listening to Mark Driscoll's audiobook of "Religion Saves: - And Nine Other Misconceptions" - a series he did at his church based on questions people in his congregation were asking.  Driscoll's book provided answers in response to some misguided ideas that religious people have about God - ideas that distract from a real, living relationship with God.  You can read more about my thoughts on Religion Saves and the audiobook version of it at the end of this blog post...

So... what about my title? "The Process of Coming to Know God (in an authentic way)?"

One really interesting thing I took away from "Religion Saves" was Driscoll's take on the "process of salvation."  This process, referred to in latin as the "Ordo Salutis," is simply the process by which God reveals Himself to us, and how that revelation leads us to loving Him.

Driscoll is an avowed supporter of predestination - he believes that God has purposed, in advance, for us to come to know Him.  Before reading Religion Saves, I didn't really feel comfortable with the idea of God predestinating things into our lives, but I think I took something positive away from the book. Let me share what I learned from Driscoll's teaching on how a person makes a transformation from being 'dead in their sins' to 'walking with a perfect God:'

1. "Election" - A perfect (pure) God reaches into time, choosing to save us. We are literally dead at this point, like one who has just flatlined in cardiac arrest - dead on the desert pavement. Heart rate zero. We are doing nothing at this point - we cannot even ask to be saved, because we're DEAD!  We're just laying there dead in the death of our sin.  As far as we are concerned, our imperfections are an insurmountable, paralyzing chasm separating us from a Holy God. We are clinically dead, and it is only God who can, and does dispatch the paramedics.

2. "Injection" - God gets us the medicine. He brings out the paddles. God brings the CPR. While we are still dead, he pushes 3:16cc of Epinephrine and fires 200 Joules through the defibrilator paddles.  We can neither resist nor ask for this treatment - our state of "clinically dead" gives God implied consent, and he bears His weight down on our chest, working to pump our un-beating heart; we can neither accept or deny this: we're dead.  God gives us the antidote to the death we are suffering - he proclaims the Good News that we don't have to die in our sins, but that we can call on Jesus to be saved. Although death surrounds us, we need not be condemned to the grave eternal. The Good News is that God loves us - we need not run from Him.  While we're running down that dark tunnel into the abyss, He calls us back to life:  "Wake up!  Come back to me!"

3. "Regeneration" - This is the intensive care unit. God revives us. We need simply turn away from deathly sins and believe in God's real efforts to love us.  Doing so gives us a pulse, and a huge gasping inhalation of air, like a baby taking its first breath after the doctor gives that loving tap on the back!  Once we are in the ICU, and awake enough to be coherent, we are offered a contract of care with our Surgeon.  He offers us a new heart, one that will not just take us off bypass but will last us; He offers a heart that will not bring us swiftly to death's door once again.  We must simply "sign on the line," giving up our broken heart, our heart so impaired by death, and receive the transplant.  Note - He is not giving us a brain transplant, but a heart transplant. Receiving this new heart is called being born again.  This new Heart acts as a conduit.  It allows the good to flow into us, from God's own perfect Spirit.  Our new heart is not bent on seeking out poisons, but delights in the new life it has been given.

4. "Conversion" - Tragically, some people read the word conversion and believe that conversion is the process whereby people are turned into robots for God.  Nothing could be further from the truth.

Out of the Intensive Care Unit, our new lease on life, our new heart, motivates us and enables us to choose God in a new way, unlike ever before. Instead of the trans-fat triple-stack heart-attack binge food we've been living on, we suddenly have a sweet tooth for what's really good...
Something has changed in us: whereas before, we felt pangs of guilt every time we took in some bad cholesterol - we knew it was killing us.  So we tried to fix our guilt, but alas, the guilt just made us binge all the more!  We were in a deathward spiral...
Yet now, we have faith in God's message and his Truth. The miracle we have experienced transforms our life - and we will never be the same again. In two words - we repent in our actions and have a faithful belief growing from our new hearts.  We are not ruled by the law and guilt, but rather, we can see bright light in our future, and we act and prepare accordingly.

IMPORTANTLY: Nothing in the process of "conversion" is meant to be shown externally (i.e. in actions) before the new heart has been fully accepted on the inside.  If you were a couch potato before, then nobody should expect to see you with ripped muscles and 6-pack abs out of nowhere just because you stopped eating chips!  If you were a liar before you received your new heart, chances are you will drift towards that tendancy as you set off.  God would never ask you to put on a false front or have you pretend to be healed and perfect, while you are still bandaged and in pain.  You are imperfect.  I am imperfect.   God is a god of process.  He loves our growth process.  Walk it out - don't fake it out.

5. "Justification" This is the truly exciting part! We take ownership of our new status. We are no longer "heart attack victims" but we are renewed and healthy. We stand before a perfect God and instead of saying "look at what I have done to show my excellence," we say "I know I am declared pure by what Jesus has done for me, and I have done nothing to earn it." God accepts our plea for, and full acceptance of his abounding mercy, and we obtain an amazing new legal standing before God. The sin that had condemned us to eternal death is wiped out by God's perfect payment. We can say with certainty "I KNOW where I will spend eternity - I will certainly spend it in the presence of the God I know and love!"  Do you have that certainty today?

6. "Adoption" - God welcomes us into a family unlike any other. Unlike gangs or cults, we discover God’s enduring family, the church.  The church is like a fitness & dietary centre for the cardiac survivor.  In this place, in this family, you can rediscover health, in a welcoming atmosphere.  You will be challenged, supported, and comforted.  You join "the called out ones" - just like the ones called out of the Matrix.  ((It's worth saying - it's important to ensure you find the real family and not get trapped into a gang or some group that claims to be God's people but is really a brood of snakes!  Jesus advised simply: "by their fruit you will know them."))

7. "Sanctification" - Being sanctified means "fully making use of something according to its original purpose."  For example, BBQ sauce is sanctified when it's used on steak, not when it's used as car fuel or as an ice cream topping.  God has a purpose for your life - a wonderful and deep niche that only you can fill.  Listening to God, and hearing from His people, you can discover this purpose and enjoy living in it.
In this stage, we undergo ongoing growth in holiness, becoming increasingly like Jesus. (We don't become religious people or slaves, we become friends of God.)  We don't just kick the junk food; we discover a lifestyle of health that we enjoy. With our health, we go on to do many more things we could never have done in our sickness. We discover "kayaking, mountain climbing, exploring and scuba diving" which were never options for the cardiac-arrested in sins.  All in all, we discover what we are meant to be as people - we discover the meaning of life!

8. "Perseverance" - Life grows on and on.  It deepens.  Our relationships with people become healed and we discover intimacy like never before.  We walk out an ongoing love relationship with Jesus as Christians.  We "fight the good fight" and stay on our guard, now that we are aware of the trick traps which could lead us into death again!  We desire to help those we find in cardiac arrest, and show them what they've been missing.  We expand a new kind of thinking - what Jesus called The Kingdom of God (link to MP3 by Tony Fitzgerald of COTN).  We help others realize that God is for them, not against them.

9. "Death" - Although our body goes into grave, an amazing, real beginning occurs. The essence of who we are (both our soul and spirit) goes to be with Jesus. This is not clouds and cream cheese, this is life, more than you have ever imagined! If God is the one who created everything we see through the Hubble Space Telescope, then He surely has much for us to discover in "Heaven"- much more than harps on clouds.

10. "Glorification" - We receive a resurrection body according to Jesus’ example.  Although it defies standard logic, much of what Jesus did defied logic... Jesus' resurrection body apparently enabled him to do things like walk through walls or locked doors...{& more})  Our spirit and soul are reunited in this resurrection body.  One thing to note here - despite what magicians and cults teach - God's desire is not for us to be able to walk through walls in this life!  Rather, we are to go through the doors he has opened for us.

What do you think?  Write me via my contact form at the bottom of this page!

Audiobook Review - "Religion Saves" by Mark Driscoll

Firstly, I want to say that the audiobook of Religion Saves is less engaging than I had hoped (the narration by Driscoll himself seems a bit unpolished and is less than exciting.) That said, the content is certainly worth consideration for the Christian seeking clear answers to advanced-topics, or to a seeker who can cut through the noise to hear what's underneath.  Also, I got the book for free, since Crossway was giving it away in February, so I can't really complain!

People say about Driscoll - you either love him or you hate him.  I like him!  My observation is that he is very "in your face" - but that can really be an advantage at times. The topics under consideration in the book lend themselves to direct confontation, rather than tip-toeing around.  He presents a balanced view, and makes known his personal biases.  I recommend the book to anyone interested in the topics he covers, or if you want more content than is provided in the Youtube videos he does which cover the same topics.

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Notes: 1. Article on Driscoll's book - Ordo Salutis