DO YOU FEEL LIKE A FAILURE?
A man nearing the end of his life confessed that he had strong doubts about his faith. He did not doubt God. That was not the problem. He struggled with how he had lived his faith. Did he live a good enough life? Did he do everything he could have for the Lord? Had he been a good disciple of Jesus?
It was plain to see that this man felt that he had failed to live the Christian life to the fullest extent. I knew that he had been a baptized believer from his youth; he had taught Sunday School faithfully; he was involved in church boards and gave his energy to serving Christ and his church. Still he wondered if he hadn’t failed to be Christian. His pain and remorse over a failed life were palpable.
I am not yet half the age this man was and already I feel the weight of my many failures. I suppose it’s natural to reflect on one’s life from time to time and recall those failings. I remember times when I failed to speak up as a Christian and defend the faith. I know that I have failed as a pastor countless times, to have a pastoral heart as they say. I fail constantly as a husband and father to be what my wife and children need. Worst of all, like the elderly saint, I fail to be Christ’s own.
Do you feel like a failure?
We asked some weeks ago when we were studying chapter 9 whether God was fair. Did God fail in his purposes when Israel rejected Jesus? Remember, they had all the advantages in terms of recognizing and receiving the Messiah, but refused to accept him. So did God fail? And we said, no, of course not.
Now Paul flips the coin and we look at the other side of this question: Did Israel then fail spiritually in their refusal to accept Jesus as Messiah? And if they failed, did God reject them as his people? Is there any hope for Israel in view of her rebellion?
This is a very pertinent question for us if we feel like spiritual failures. Does God reject us when we fail?
1. Does God Reject Failures?
What are the consequences of spiritual failure? And by spiritual failure I mean moral failure, failure to love God and accept his will, and failure to live a holy life. What does God do with people who reject him? Does he also reject them?
This is the question Paul poses at the beginning of our chapter: “Did God reject his people?” for refusing to believe in Jesus?
It is a logical question, one that concerns Jews and Gentiles alike. For if God does not literally keep the promises he made to the Jews, how can we be certain he will keep his promises to us? God said to the Jews that they were his chosen people. Has that changed? Is everything else he promised them now void?
Paul answers his own question with four affirmative examples. Does God reject his people? By no means, says Paul, and here’s why:
a) God did not reject Paul – Paul begins with a personal example: “I am an Israelite myself, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin” (1b). Before meeting Christ on the road to Damascus Paul was a very religious person. A Pharisee who did everything right he loved all things Jewish. In defense of all things Jewish he hated Jesus and the people of the Way. It was his privilege to go around stamping out the faith of Christ by arresting Christians. This was a Jew who rejected the Messiah.
Now Paul makes it clear “I am an Israelite.” Not “was” but “I am one.” Once a hater of Christ, he preached Christ; once a terrorist, now an evangelist. Paul says, “Look at me and remember what I used to be and what I am now.” It may be cliché but if God can save Paul, he can save anyone.
And I love to read Acts and see Paul continue to fail. His outbursts of emotion, his rejection of John Mark, his conflict with Peter all reveal a man who was human, who failed and was still used by God.
b) God did not reject Israel – If Paul can be saved then Israel can be saved. There is hope. “God did not reject his people, whom he foreknew” (2a).
There are a couple of differing views on the place of Israel in the future of the church. One camp says that the Jews are done and had their chance and that the Church is now God’s chosen people. Another says they are still God’s chosen people and will one day all come to faith. I tend to disagree with both.
What is Paul saying? God is the center of attention, not Israel. Israel’s future does not depend on her genetic code, or her works. The focus is not on her failure, which is obvious, but on God’s faithfulness. The fulfillment of God’s promises rests not on fallible humans but on God. Note the two phrases: “his people” and “he foreknew.” God chose them and they are still his people. That’s what “foreknew” means – chosen and loved beforehand. That has not changed despite their failure.
c) God did not reject Elijah – Paul then turns to a biblical-historical example of the sovereign grace of God. This illustration comes from 1 Kings 18-19 when Elijah, a prophet of God, challenged Israel’s evil king Ahab and his wicked wife Jezebel to a contest on Mt. Carmel. This was a contest between the false gods Ahab and Jezebel worshiped and the true God of Elijah. The false gods were exposed when God revealed his power by sending fire from heaven and consuming the watered-down sacrifice offered by Elijah.
This was a tremendous victory. Yet in spite of this event Israel did not repent and now Elijah was a hunted man because Jezebel wanted to kill him. What Elijah saw was not victory but failure; his ministry was a failure because Israel did not believe in the one true God. Therefore Elijah was himself a failure, so he ran away and hid.
In Paul’s reflection on this he says it this way: “Don’t you know what the Scripture says in the passage about Elijah – how he appealed to God against Israel” (2b). Elijah pled, not for Israel, but against Israel. Why would he pray against Israel? Because Elijah had given up hope for Israel. Did God reject his people? In a moment of despair, Elijah thought that Israel was doomed. He ran and hid because he thought God was done with them and their wickedness.
Look at the focus of Elijah’s complaint: “Lord, they have killed your prophets and torn down your altars; I am the only one left, and they are trying to kill me” (3). Elijah’s focus was on Israel, his enemies and himself, but not on God. His vision was fixed on man rather than on God and for this reason only saw failure. Thus he himself was a failure in his own mind.
But what did God say? “I have reserved for myself seven thousand who have not bowed the knee to Baal” (4). God’s answer is God-centered. Elijah’s failure was inconsequential to God accomplishing his purposes. In fact, God had reserved a “remnant”, a small group of the faithful. There will always be some who believe.
Some talk about the church in these terms too. We see human effort and activity as not being enough. We have failed to care, to meet the needs, to minister. Some think the church is dead or dying because it lacks emotion or experiences. Who are we to judge what is dead? Even in the midst of a church that has gone stale there is always a remnant. And just because we fail does not mean God is failing in his purposes for our church.
d) God does not reject you – Now the link between Elijah’s day and Paul’s day and our day is the same sovereign grace of God which he exercises in choosing and keeping a faithful remnant for himself. Among the Jews there is a remnant; in any church too there are always those who believe. Why?
Paul tells us: “So too, at the present time there is a remnant chose by grace. And if by grace, then it is no longer by works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace” (5-6). Interestingly, this is not “works vs. faith” but “works vs. grace.” Works vs. Faith would be between two kinds of human activity. The contrast here is between divine activity (grace) and human activity (works). If God chose us based on our success or failure it would no longer be grace. Our success or failure as Christians is not the basis of God’s love and approval. God’s election of us by his grace is the reason he does not give up on us, even if we are failures.
2. Does our failure frustrate God’s purposes?
When we think of Judaism we may be inclined to think of legalism or works as a means to salvation. The Jewish elders and Pharisees made up rules so that they could keep the law – rules for rules’ sake. But we know that in our efforts to be righteous we will fail. And the Jews failed to keep the whole law too. So if they failed to keep the law and become righteous, does this frustrate God’s purposes?
Trying and failing, trying and failing again can be frustrating in itself. You would grow weary and apathetic after a while. The Jews did: “What Israel sought so earnestly it did not obtain, but the elect did. The others were hardened” (7).
The word “hardened” is Greek for the toughening of the skin when a callous is formed or scar tissue develops. You know how it is when you have a really bad scrape that bleeds then leaves a scar – you lose sensation in that part of the skin. If someone touched you there you wouldn’t feel it.
In this situation it is the heart that is calloused and covered in scar tissue. The heart has become insensitive to the Lord’s touch. That is the result of trying to earn your own righteousness or trying to prove your goodness.
The remarkable thing is that even this callousness can serve God’s purposes and fulfill God’s plans. Paul quotes two OT passages to explain the consequences of rejecting Christ. But even in these quotes there is hidden God’s grace.
a) The purpose of the hardened heart – The first OT quote is a combination of Deuteronomy 29:4 and Isaiah 29:10. “God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes so that they could not see and ears so that they could not hear to this very day” (8).
This reminds me of when Jesus was telling a parable, the one about the sower and the seeds, and the disciples did not understand why he spoke in story like this. Jesus replied that it fulfilled prophecy in Isaiah where it says, “You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. For this people’s heart has become calloused…” (Matt 13:14-15).
This sounds like condemnation. These people will hear the stories of Jesus but never understand salvation. If they could see and hear they would have a chance to be saved. But it seems like Jesus keeps them from this opportunity.
Now Paul is saying the same thing. It sounds like the Jews will never have the opportunity to see and hear the gospel because they are not graciously elected by God. We might be tempted to think the same of our loved ones who do not believe, that they are forever blinded to the gospel. Is this what Paul means? Are the Jews forever condemned to blindness? Are our loved ones?
Not if we look at Isaiah 29 as a whole. The context of Isaiah 29 is this: Israel was willfully rebellious and disobedient to God even after he revealed himself to them. God warns that because of this he will bring on the Jews a blindness and dullness to the truth (29:10). However, if we read the rest of the chapter we find a promise of restoration for Israel in the future (17-24). Notice verses 18-19 (read); the deaf hear, the blind see, and the humble rejoice. Then we read in verses 22-24 that Israel will return and repent and acknowledge the Holy One of Jacob.
So while Paul explains with Isaiah 29:10 the longstanding hardness of Israel’s heart and the reason they don’t accept the gospel of Jesus Christ, there will be an end to this hardness and by the grace of God the Jews will believe. Israel’s disobedience and hardness is actually the fulfillment of God’s plan and purpose.
God will take the heart of stone and make it a heart of flesh as he says in the OT (Ezek 36:26). In the same way that our failure emphasizes the grace of God, our hard hearts emphasize the amazing ability of God to heal the calloused spirit.
b) The purpose of grace in failure – Again as Paul quotes David’s psalm 69 there is more to this reference than condemnation. What we read is, “May their table become a snare and a trap, a stumbling block and a retribution for them. May their eyes be darkened so they cannot see, and their backs be bent forever” (9-10).
As it turns out this is a Messianic psalm. That is, it foretells of Jesus’ experience out of David’s own experience. David’s psalm tells of his being opposed and attacked, how he struggles for being faithful to God, and he seeks relief from God through punishing his enemies. In verses 13 and 16 David seeks God’s salvation by means of mercy and grace, not by anything he has done (works). It is a psalm that realizes that obedience is better than legal sacrifices and rituals.
One verse that caught my attention particularly was verse 6: “May those who hope in you not be disgraced because of me, O Lord, the LORD Almighty; may those who seek you not be put to shame because of me, O God of Israel” (69:6). David is afraid of his own failure to represent God faithfully and how it will affect others. I can relate to that in so many ways and marvel that God can use me at all when I keep messing up.
That is the power of God’s grace. Out of David’s struggles comes a beautiful prophecy of Jesus. The verse previous to the one Paul quotes is this: “They put gall in my food and gave me vinegar for my thirst” (69:21). This is a reference to the wine they gave Jesus to drink before crucifying him. And then in v. 25 we read, “For they persecuted him whom thou thyself has smitten” (NASB). This tells of how Jesus was rejected by his very own people and forsaken by God to the cross at the same time.
Out of apparent failure comes God’s purpose fulfilled; out of our estimate of failure God shows grace and promise. Israel is not rejected – God has reserved a remnant for himself. And we are not rejected either for our failure to be perfect. In fact, our failure is God’s opportunity to show us grace through the Lord Jesus Christ.
Do you feel like a spiritual failure? Maybe that’s a good thing.
If you are feeling comfortable with yourself you may be at risk of a hardening heart. It is when we think we have covered all the bases that spiritual atrophy sets in: we teach, we sit on committees, we do all the things a Christian should – I’m good right?
Thomas Gilson wrote in Discipleship Journal an article called “I was a Legalist and Didn’t Know it” (Nov/Dec 2008). His point was that most of us are trying hard to measure up (and failing at it) when what we really need is a greater understanding of what it means to live by grace. We are saved by grace but we forget to live the Christian life by grace. Somehow we have convinced ourselves that rules and regulations will help us live by grace.
What are the warning signs of legalism? Gilson writes describing four signs:
- The will-power approach. We respond to temptation by telling ourselves, “I shouldn’t do that!” and hoping that self-talk will enable me to resist sinful desires.
- Duty-based approach. We try to motivate ourselves to do something “because I should.”
- Performance-based approach. We evaluate our standing before God based on how well we have been following the shoulds and shouldn’ts. If I keep all the rules on a given day, then I’m okay before God; if not then I’m not worth much.
- Anger-based approach. We beat ourselves up over our sins because we think that our anger will help us do better in the future. We might mentally beat ourselves up, rebuking ourselves, scolding internally “I’m such an idiot.”
These are rule-oriented responses and when we follow them we are ruled by the shoulds and should nots. But when we approach our Christian walk this way we are not relying on our relationship with Christ.
It’s not a matter of trying harder; it’s a matter of trusting more. We never could make ourselves holy – we will always fail at that – but we can make ourselves humble. And God gives grace to the humble. We want to walk with Christ. We want to be in relationship with Christ. The key to this closeness to Christ is intimate prayer, time in his Word and regular worship with the body, his church. Not to keep a rule but to nurture a relationship.
Do you feel like a failure? That may be a good place to start.
AMEN
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