What is the nature of your relationship with the Lord?

How well do you know Him?

What expectations do you have regarding your relationship with Him?

It is often the case that evangelicals give focus to the inauguration of their relationship with God. They get saved. They repent of their sin; they acknowledge the Lord’s provision for the penalty of sin through the cross; and they mark that day as a life-changing event that’s provided an alternative to going to hell when they die. That is truly Good News.

The next phase is to live a life that reflects the impact of that event. We start going to church. We tell other people about this salvation experience, or we support others who are willing make that presentation. We try to live a life that reflects our salvation experience by avoiding certain behaviors regarded as sinful. Our definition of what is sinful is informed by the dos and don’ts reflected in the Bible and in the teachings of the church. Initially, we feel much better for the decision that we’ve made and we enjoy being part of a group of like-minded people.

However, in the process of all this how well do we really know the Lord? Some people do have an encounter with the Lord when they “get saved.” They might feel like a heavy weight was lifted from them that provided a sense of relief. Some folks experience supernatural phenomena leading up to, or resulting from their initial experience of salvation. Others simply know that they’ve made the right decision to believe and confess the truth of the gospel. But these experiences, whether profound or simple, don’t really establish a relationship with the Lord. It’s sort of like experiencing a momentous event like a musical concert or an important speech. You engaged what was presented, you were moved by it, and you have a sense of connection with those around you who shared the experience. But you don’t really know the band members or the speech maker.

Why is that the case? First of all, the prospect of intimacy with God may not have been clearly presented or understood. This may be due to not knowing what the Bible says or it may be that this sort of relationship is not emphasized in the local church. Yet scripture certainly presents such an opportunity when it talks about believers being adopted as children of God who are heirs to all the riches that pertain to knowing the Lord. (Romans 8)

Another way of looking at it is that we may not expect such a proposition. Again, this may be due to the manner in which the gospel was initially presented, or it may be due to what is given emphasis in the local church. Or, it may be the case that neither the individual nor the church expects such a possibility. And this may be due to the fact that the church is mis-informed. And the church is misinformed because of the limitations of the individual Christians who lead and populate the church.

As we progress in the faith we can become aware of inconsistencies within ourselves and within the church. Exposure to the scriptures reveals a standard of conduct that is difficult, if not downright impossible, to achieve. Jesus set the bar and His immediate followers continued to promote a standard that goes beyond behavior, challenging both our intentions, and our thoughts. Both the Old and New Testaments point in this direction. (See 1 Peter 1:14-16; Matt 5:27-28) And it is also common for there to be strife within the assembly of the Church; very common. With this in mind, it’s difficult to believe we could be worthy of such intimacy with God. We’re not good enough to have a relationship like that; therefore it must not be possible.

However, not only does the Lord call us to such intimacy, He’s made provision for that to take place. That provision is the indwelling Holy Spirit. Evangelicals generally appreciate this aspect of God’s salvation through the Christ. However, in considering the role of the Holy Spirit in the experience and expression of salvation much emphasis has been given to the gifts of the Spirit, especially the presentation of tongues. Do Christians need to exhibit the gifts of the Spirit in order to be considered legitimate believers? Are there different phases with regard to the presence of the Holy Spirit that Christians need to achieve and present? Or is the presence of the Holy Spirit in a believer’s life simply reflected in the ongoing conduct of their lives?

It’s definitely been made clear that the Lord has given us a helper in order to live our lives in a manner that pleases Him. (John 14-16) But pleasing God is not just about following the rules or exhibiting certain behaviors; it’s about getting close to the Lord. It’s about establishing and developing a relationship with God. The Bible tells us that God is love; and that truth points to the nature of God that is expressed in relationship with those He has created in His image. (1 John 4) This intimacy was expressed by Jesus when He indicated that He was the life giving vine that believers needed to abide in, to the extent that without that kind of relationship those that call themselves Christians will not be able to please God and reflect His nature in their lives. (John 15, Galatians 5)

In order to foster that kind of intimacy with the Lord we need to reconcile two basic truths. God is holy and intimacy with Him requires us to be holy as well. How do we reconcile these two realities? In an effort to do that the Church in general has often taken a legalistic approach. Behaviors that are consistent with the Lord’s holiness have been codified: a set of rules and regulations have been established and adherents are expected to follow these rules or suffer some sort of disciplinary action that is stipulated by the leadership of the Church. This is done in order to train people to be holy. Another approach is to accept the fact that we will never be able to measure up to God’s standard of holiness and, in accepting that, giving emphasis to the ongoing effect of the cross to counteract the penalty of sin, or reducing the penalty and payment for sin to a form of commerce.

None of these approaches achieve what is stipulated by the scriptures, which is true godliness. We’re not called to mimic the Lord’s holiness; we’re called to be holy as He is holy. There is only one way to achieve this. It can only be achieved through intimacy with God. It’s only through such a relationship with God that we can hope to fulfill His calling for holiness to be reflected in our lives. This approach is further verified by the fact that through this approach our holiness glorifies God and not ourselves! True holiness is a reflection of God. And our exhibition of this holiness is the result of our intimacy with the Lord.

But this doesn’t happen overnight. It’s a process that requires that we submit our lives to God, recognize that His involvement in the process is essential and that this training can often be unpleasant. Hebrews 12 speaks to this, using the metaphor of fathers disciplining their sons. In so doing the term scourging is presented as a disciplinary tool. This suggests that the Lord is aggressive in the process of training us. However His training is not simply a process of making it painful to disregard His standards of conduct. Those painful episodes of discipline are part of a growing familiarity with Holy God, a familiarity that counteracts and supplants the severity of a fallen world. Getting to know the Lord introduces us to a way of life that touches and reforms those hard to reach places of our souls, bringing a sense of belonging, acceptance and connection that nothing else can.