Spirituality, many of us were taught, consists of “do this” and “don’t do that”. Accordingly, we constantly checked the list of what was permissible and what was forbidden, carefully attempting to be good and upright people. Since, in this way of thinking, a godly person is someone who adheres well to what has been commanded, spiritual pride easily develops if one is better at keeping rules than others.
However, even the most diligent and conscientious rule-keepers inevitably fail, and so all are guilty of sins. The hope we were given was to place our trust in Jesus as Savior, for he had died to remove our transgressions. Thus, the spiritual life was summed up in striving to keep the commands of God while depending on Jesus to save us from our failures to actually be good enough.
Unfortunately, this gave us a poor understanding of spirituality and a limited relationship with Jesus. We were only a hair’s width away from being full-blown legalists and were more followers of the rules than of Jesus. The right pieces were here for an authentic understanding of spirituality, but they were arranged poorly. Let’s redefine and put in better order these elements.
First, the essence of the spiritual life is not keeping the commands of God but abiding in Jesus who unites us with God. Numerous passages speak of this mystical oneness with God through Christ. Note especially what has been highlighted since we tend to read right past what these statements:
The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me. (John 17:22-23)
Jesus is not praying for Christians to be unified with one another in some fellowship of denominations, but for us to be one with God through Himself in the same way that the Father and Son are one.
And to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God. (Ephesians 3:19)
For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust. (2 Peter 1:4)
One with God like the Son and the Father are one.
Filled with all the fullness of God.
Partakers of the divine nature.
This is not about keeping a list of moral dictates with Jesus there to take up the slack, but how we through Jesus enter into union with God. As St. Athanasius (296-373 A.D.) said, “God became man so that men might become gods.”
God did not become man so we could become better rule-keepers, or to simply forgive our failures at being good rule-keepers. God came to us, as one of us, to do something much more astounding: to take us where rule-keeping could not, into union with God. This, of course, is why we were created in the beginning.
We cannot truly be like God by keeping rules, even God’s rules. Whose rules is God keeping? God is living out of his own nature what is good and right, and so we too must live out of the nature of God if we want to be like God! This is why Jesus and the apostles spoke about union with God, being filled with his fullness through love, and participating in His divine nature.
The commands of God have their place. They are a remedial course for those who are not ready for abiding in God. Is that not Paul’s meaning when he calls the law a tutor to bring us to Christ (Galatians 3:24)? Jesus first directs the rich young ruler to the commandments before suggesting what lies beyond the “dos and don’ts” (Mark 10:17-21). Paul clearly states that laws are not for the righteous but for the lawless (1 Timothy 1:9).
Rather than the essence of a spiritual life, following what to do and not do is a needed beginner’s course for those who are caught up in their own disordered appetites and impulses. Unfortunately, many have not heard that spirituality is anything beyond diligent adherence to the commands of God.
The true essence of the spiritual life is abiding within the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the Trinity into whom we were baptized (Matthew 28:19). It is abiding in love, for God is love (1 John 4:8). It is Christ in you, the hope of glory (Colossians 1:27). Spirituality is the way home, a journey of becoming.
I said, “You are gods,
And all of you are sons of the Most High.” Psalm 82:6Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. 1 John 3:2
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