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The Reformation Herald Online Edition

Looking in the Mirror

Following the Master
Looking in the Mirror
P. Stemmler
Looking in the Mirror

I looked in the mirror today—more than once! Was my hair neat or messy? Did I have dark eyes or did they look bright? Were there blemishes or was the skin clear? Was I pale or were there rosy cheeks? What about the clothing? Were the colors helping or hindering? Were the combinations suitable to honor the Lord instead of looking like a scarecrow? Was I sloppy or tidy?

Why all the questions? Why all of the inspection? There could be more than one reason.

The most obvious answer in our world would be that I was looking because of pride and vanity. Am I looking good for others? Will I impress them with my appearance? Will I achieve my goal of power, position or influence because of my looks?

The second reason could be, Am I looking ok, because looking ok is linked with my sense of self-worth, my value as a human being. I may think that if I don’t look perfect, I am nothing and unimportant.

Another reason could simply be that I want to look my best in my present circumstances to bring honor to my Creator. The questions asked, especially about physical features, are actually telltale signs about my inner health; therefore, they are symptoms of my adherence or lack of it to physical laws.

Now, in the book of James you will find another writer explaining a different type of mirror.

“Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: for he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was” (James 1:22–24, emphasis supplied).

James writes about the phenomenon of looking into the mirror and seeing something, and then turning away, forgetting all about it, pretending it wasn’t there. This mirror is not the glass hanging on the bathroom wall, but the mirror of the moral law of Ten Commandments, that revealer of our internal condition before God.

Again, we can look into this mirror for different reasons:

Am I looking good enough (or doing good enough) so that I can make an impression on others by my appearance of holiness or righteousness, so I can achieve my goal of power, position or influence?

Or maybe, am I good enough so that I won’t be lost since I have heard that if I don’t match up I will not gain eternal life?

Or maybe it is simply to do as Psalm 139 states—that we look into the mirror, asking God to show us our internal state, so we can grow in health for His honor and glory?

The Bible admonishes us to present ourselves to God as a living sacrifice. The apostle appeals: “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Romans 12:1, 2).

Am I looking holy and living acceptably before God? Some of us really like the verse in 3 John 2 which states: “Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth.”

So we might be looking in His mirror to see if we are “prospering.”

The psalmist prayed, “Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (Psalm 139:23, 24).

Am I asking God to search my heart and really show me myself?

The secret reason why

In this article we are dealing with motive—the inner reason why we do something. The Lord is trying to help us all to understand the reality of Christ’s great love towards us and to truly understand the motive behind why we do the things that we do. Our motive is often affected by our belief systems. We could and can be doing the “right” things but maybe for the “wrong” reasons.

Recently, I was studying the aspect of faith and works. I read a summary of differing beliefs and especially how they affect works. Notice the subtle differences and their consequent actions.

1. Some say we are saved by grace through faith apart from good works, which makes obedience irrelevant.

2. Some say we are saved by grace through faith and good works, which makes obedience meritorious.

3. But the Bible teaches that we are saved by grace through faith unto good works, which makes obedience inevitable.1

Did you catch the different beliefs leading to the different reactions? Let’s expand these thoughts.

1. If we think we are saved by grace through faith apart from good works, we will not feel any need to obey—in fact, we will shun those who talk such things. These are often the people who would label the obedient as legalistic.

2. If we think that we are saved by grace through faith and good works, we are thinking that there is something that we need to do to add to Christ’s work, and therefore, maybe unconsciously, we are thinking to add our own merit or our own goodness to our salvation. This can create self-righteousness in a smaller or larger degree; it can create a legalistic approach to what needs to be done. It can lead to criticism and judgment of others. It can create confusion when we see that we are just not “cutting it” in our attempt at perfection. It can result in discouragement and despair—and can actually lead to belief in other winds of doctrine, to add more merit to my works, to my sense of worth or my sense of holiness.

3. If we believe, but not just believe, but experience that faith unto good works, we see that Christ has done so much for us, that we must, we will, respond in loving, right actions when He is our all in all! When we can see the great love wherewith He loves us, when we can see how much He cares, how much He gave to give us this gift of forgiveness, of new life, of power, of hope, of grace, of peace, of eternal life, then we WILL respond with “Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?” We will be obedient, not because we have to, but because we want to. His law will be written in our heart; we will delight to do His will (Psalm 40:8). Self will be surrendered to His control. We will long to be like Him, because we see how good, right, perfect, and loving He is—and as a child seeks to imitate the parent he/she loves, so we will behold and be changed into His likeness.

This will give us joy in Him, not in our achievements, or despair over our faults. We will have love for others and a great desire to share with them the blessings that we have found. We will have humility, for pride cannot even be thought of when we understand that it is all Christ! We will seek to reach any soul, for in them we see one more child that has wandered away from home, another who needs help and encouragement to gain eternal life.

The love of Christ will constrain us! (2 Corinthians 5:14).

Living with new motives

“There is not a point that needs to be dwelt upon more earnestly, repeated more frequently, or established more firmly in the minds of all than the impossibility of fallen man meriting anything by his own best good works. Salvation is through faith in Jesus Christ alone.”2

Can we see the different motives? Can we see the differing perspectives and how they work out in the life?

“Nothing reaches so fully down to the deepest motives of conduct as a sense of the pardoning love of Christ.”3

This is what James saw when he spoke about that mirror.

“Whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed” (James 1:25).

Let’s consider a further explanation of this: “God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:4–10, emphasis supplied).

Even as I was preparing this article, I was reminded of the time when I first read those verses. It seemed so simple then, and so simple now. God has done a great work, and when we respond to that work, we are simply going to do those good works—that God, from the beginning of creation—has ordained for us to walk in. We will simply be doing our God-ordained privilege, duty—our job to be His witnesses, to glorify His name on this dark Earth.

So, what if I look in the mirror and find unhealthy symptoms? Well, in the physical realm I need to do some different things:

I need to decide whether I am going to do something about it. Am I going to put forth effort to be in good health?

If I am going to move towards health, I must eliminate the bad and put in lots of the good. As it is said, if you want to be something you have never been, you must do things you have never done. That means change.

This will take discipline, daily choices, hourly choices, fresh food, juices (concentrated forms of fresh nutrition), more exercise in the fresh air, rest, trust, lots of water, LOTS of water, and then the body, that wondrous example of God’s design, will take those offerings and change the body from the inside out.

The spiritual has its parallel:

We must decide. Do I really want to be Christ’s? Will I respond to His goodness, His love, His leading?

I will then eliminate doing, seeing, eating, drinking, talking of those things which would be detrimental to my relationship with Him.

I will add to my schedule, my life, my heart, anything, especially in concentrated doses, of His life-giving Word through Bible reading, prayer, sermons, meditation. I will exercise those good works in helping and blessing others. I will trust in His power, depend upon His promises, resting in His love, His providence, His care. I will be taking in LOTS of the washing OF THE WORD (“that he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word,” Ephesians 5:26). I will be changed from the inside out to reflect His glorious character.

What if I still see defects in myself or others?

“When it is in the heart to obey God, when efforts are put forth to this end, Jesus accepts this disposition and effort as man’s best service, and He makes up for the deficiency with His own divine merit. But He will not accept those who claim to have faith in Him and yet are disloyal to His Father’s commandment. We hear a great deal about faith, but we need to hear a great deal more about works. Many are deceiving their own souls by living an easy-going, accommodating, crossless religion.”4 The above quote does not excuse disobedience or lack of doing that which Christ has enjoined upon us. It is an encouragement for those who really are seeking to do the will of God for the right reason. In contrast is the summary of what I have already shared:

“There are those who profess to serve God, while they rely upon their own efforts to obey His law, to form a right character, and secure salvation. Their hearts are not moved by any deep sense of the love of Christ, but they seek to perform the duties of the Christian life as that which God requires of them in order to gain heaven. Such religion is worth nothing. When Christ dwells in the heart, the soul will be so filled with His love, with the joy of communion with Him, that it will cleave to Him; and in the contemplation of Him, self will be forgotten. Love to Christ will be the spring of action. Those who feel the constraining love of God, do not ask how little may be given to meet the requirements of God; they do not ask for the lowest standard, but aim at perfect conformity to the will of their Redeemer. With earnest desire they yield all and manifest an interest proportionate to the value of the object which they seek. A profession of Christ without this deep love is mere talk, dry formality, and heavy drudgery.”5

I want the real thing—what about you?

“In God’s forgiveness the heart of the erring one is drawn close to the great heart of Infinite Love. The tide of divine compassion flows into the sinner’s soul, and from him to the souls of others. The tenderness and mercy that Christ has revealed in His own precious life will be seen in those who become sharers of His grace. . . .

We are not forgiven because we forgive, but as we forgive. The ground of all forgiveness is found in the unmerited love of God, but by our attitude toward others we show whether we have made that love our own. Wherefore Christ says, ‘With what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged; and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again’ (Matthew 7:2).”6

“The sinner’s only hope is to rely wholly upon Jesus Christ. . . . Our acceptance with God is sure only through His beloved Son, and good works are but the result of the working of His sin-pardoning love. They are no credit to us, and we have nothing accorded to us for our good works by which we may claim a part in the salvation of our souls. Salvation is God’s free gift to the believer, given to him for Christ’s sake alone. The troubled soul may find peace through faith in Christ. . . . He cannot present his good works as a plea for the salvation of his soul.”7

“Christ is waiting with longing desire for the manifestation of Himself in His church. When the character of Christ shall be perfectly reproduced in His people, then He will come to claim them as His own.

It is the privilege of every Christian not only to look for but to hasten the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3:12, margin). Were all who profess His name bearing fruit to His glory, how quickly the whole world would be sown with the seed of the gospel. Quickly the last great harvest would be ripened, and Christ would come to gather the precious grain.”8

May the Lord help us is my prayer.

References
1 Ty Gibson: In the Light of God’s Love, Pacific Press Publishing Association, 1996. [Emphasis supplied.]
2 Faith and Works, p. 19.
3 The Desire of Ages, p. 493.
4 Faith and Works, p. 50. [Emphasis supplied.]
5 Steps to Christ, pp. 44, 45. [Emphasis supplied.]
6 Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 251. [Emphasis supplied.]
7 Our High Calling, p. 118. [Emphasis supplied.]
8 Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 69. [Emphasis supplied.]