The Rest of God

I am indebted to Dan Stone and Greg Smith, authors of “The Rest of the Gospel,” for this chapter (and for much of what I am going to say in this book). I see this book as a continuation, explication and expansion of their teaching. I’ve read and re-read that little book many times over the last 15+ years, and it continues to open new applications of Holy Spirit revelation to me.

Stone and Smith’s overarching theme in the book is this: Holiness comes from rest, not activity. As we learn to rest in God and His finished work on the cross of Christ Jesus, God Himself manifests the life of Christ in us. But this doesn’t happen through mental assent to the Word of God. Rather, the abundant, eternal life of Christ only manifests itself in our temporal, seen reality when we the truth of resting in God by faith is revealed to us by the Holy Spirit Himself — as we at Sounds and Conversations Church like to say, “When it gets into the second stomach” (more on that in a later chapter).

The Sabbath Day in Genesis

Genesis 2:3 says something that quite literally upended my entire perspective on the gospel, once it got down in my spirit: “Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done.”

The Law of First Mention

This is the very first mention of the concept of “holiness” in the Bible.

There is a hermeneutic principle that teachers of interpretation utilize often, called the Law of First Mention. The Law of First Mention states that, if you want to understand a concept in Scripture, it helps to go back to the very first time the concept was mentioned or used in Scripture. When you understand how the Spirit used the term at its first instance, then you can apply that concept to future texts going forward to help illuminate deeper levels of meaning.

So let’s go back … to the beginning. In Genesis 2:3, God ceased from all his labor of creating the heavens and earth. Up till this point, God was busy working: creating light, darkness, planets, solar systems, stars, plants, animals — everything we see in the heavens and earth.

But on Day 7, something changed. God saw all He created was good, and He … stopped working. Scripture says, “By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work.”

Then, God blessed the day and called it holy.

Why was it holy?

Well, probably for lots of reasons. Discussing this verse one day with Pastor Mike, we both heard the Spirit speak to us in unison: “I called it holy because I rested.”

Holiness Comes from Rest Not Work

In Genesis 2:3 the single, distinguishing characteristic of the Sabbath day was simply that God ceased from all His work. That's what made it holy. That’s what set the 7th day apart from all other days (incidentally, the number 7 is a symbol of completion or perfection in Scripture). What the Spirit of God was teaching Mike and me is this: In the life of a believer, holiness comes from rest, not work. What makes you holy--what sets you apart from everyone else is this: while everyone else is working, you’re already finished, just like my 7th day. You need only rest in that and to stop working.

But what do we do as Christians? We try to work to become holier, don’t we? If we’re honest with ourselves, we spend much of our Christian lives living and acting as if holiness is something we can achieve through working. We tell ourselves things like “If I pray more or harder, then I’ll get free of this or that sin;” Or, “If I fast more, I’ll get victory in this or that area;” Or, “If I serve in the church more, I’ll get more blessings from God.” Or, “If I work on this fault or that flaw more, then …” If we’re honest with ourselves, we tend to view our relationship with God in very transactional terms: “If I do this, then God will do that.”

“Faith without works is dead!” the preacher hollers. “So, make sure you’re working for God! Make sure you’re serving God! If you’re not, you need to question whether you are even in the faith!” We hear these types of messages and fall under fear and self-loathing that we cannot “live up” to God’s requirements.

So, we double down even harder. We think that if we read our Bibles more diligently, we will eventually gain the wisdom and knowledge to obey God more. We think that if we do more acts of service we will become more godly. We work and toil and strive to “resist” the devil or “resist” sin. Or how about this: If we participate in an accountability group and confess our sins and shortcomings to each other each week, we will eventually rid ourselves of those sins (I explain why accountability groups don’t work later on).

But what I’ve found is this: None of that labor actually made me more holy! In fact, the opposite happened: it simply made sin come alive in me more and made sin stronger and made me more outwardly wicked. Also, it made me weary. And frustrated. And demoralized. It made me feel like giving up, to be absolutely honest.

Yes, I said it. As much as I wanted to obey God, the more work I put in the less able I was to obey God.

I remember a time during college when I was heavily involved in a Bible Church. I was a devout member, attending church every Sunday, serving on the praise and worship team, and was a campus ministry leader. I was at church 3 times a week, “doing the work of ministry” with all that entailed. We would go out every month to "evangelize and share the gospel in the community. I studied apologetics and attended Christian conferences and campus apologetics events every chance I got. I was one of those of whom we used to say, “He’s on fire for God” (a phrase I loathe today!)

There was only one problem: I had a raging porn and masturbation addiction which hid in the shadows and got worse the more I served.

So what did I do? I decided to pray and fast, consuming nothing but bread and water, for 7 days. And I actually did it.

Guess what happened? After my 7 days were up, I became more gluttonous (for porn as well as food)!

During another semester, our men’s Bible study group decided it would be a good idea to start an accountability group. About 5 guys gathered together weekly to confess our sins, discuss our daily struggles, get prayer, and “hold each other accountable.” That was back during the days when “accountability groups” were all the rage in evangelical Christian circles.

Each week, for an entire school year, we met weekly to confess our sins. We took seriously the Apostle James’ admonition to “confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective” (James 5:16).

And you know what happened? Not a single thing. Not a one of us gained any freedom over any besetting, habitual sins we were committing. I know I sure didn’t. Every week, we came to the same accountability group, confessing the same sins we committed during the previous week. It wasn’t as if we were battling new sins; each of us struggled with the exact. same. sins. Every. Single. Week. Rather than become a time of edification, encouragement and victory, the accountability group devolved into a time of shame, guilt and condemnation.

Not that we were putting each other under condemnation, but that was the general mood of the time each week. One guy struggled with pride, ever week. Another guy struggled with masturbation, every week. Another guy struggled with fear of people, every week. Another guy struggled with cursing his girlfriend, every week. I struggled with phone sex operators (that was a popular form of sexual immorality back before Internet porn was super popular)! No one went away feeling any freer, holier or psycho-emotionally better. Needless to say, the accountability group eventually fizzled out.

I don’t believe in accountability groups any more. The reason accountability groups don’t work, to quote a brother I knew back in my Straight Street Ministry days, is because “you’re focusin’ on the wrong thing.” That brother used to love to say this. Although I never much related to that brother, because we were from two very different sides of the tracks, he was right. Accountability groups don’t work because they keep the focus on self and sin, and this is not where our loving Father wants our focus to be.

We will discuss in later chapters why focusing on eliminating or resisting sin is the wrong focus. But perhaps a bigger reason accountability groups don’t work is this: they’re an awful lot of work! But see, when you don’t have revelation that holiness comes from rest and not labor, that’s all you can do—work yourself to the bone in accountability groups and prayer groups and healing and deliverance groups, etc. You’re like a hamster on a wheel—all you get for all that work is a lot of burned calories and the need for a nap. Laboring for the Lord does not produce holiness. Only rest does.

I remember another time in my life where I was struggling with alcoholism. It was literally killing me. One of the brothers of the church I was attending at the time told me, “Eric, if you just get up at 6am and pray for an hour each day at the church with me, you’ll get set free of this debilitating sin.” We got up every day at 5:30am, opened the church at 6am, and prayed for a solid hour straight, each day. For that hour, at least, I wasn’t drinking. But far from lessening the desire and obsession to drink, those hourly prayer meetings increased my desire to drink. I’m sure there were some days of morning prayer I was drunk by 3pm!

The brother’s heart was in the right place, but the proof was in the results; it didn’t work. In fact, my addiction got worse, not better.

If something sounds good in theory but fails to work in practice, it should force us to reevaluate our interpretations, beliefs or understandings. But as we saw, Sola Scriptura and bibliolatry don’t allow for the Spirit to rise up within and provide a new or different interpretation. We cling to the letter while our soul is dying. As our Lord once said, we search the Scriptures diligently, day and night, because in them we think we have life, but we refuse to come to Him in order to actually have life (John 5:39-40). That is the danger of biblicism. It leads to fundamentalist, rigid, straitjacketed Christianity that only has an appearance of godliness but which denies the true power of the gospel (2 Timothy 3:5).

Labor to Enter Into Rest

We read passages like Hebrews 12:14 and articles from reputable Christian organizations like The Gospel Coalition that tell us how we ought to pursue holiness. And it sounds good in theory. But the question is: Does it work in practice? Is working, striving and pursuing holiness the way to actually become holy?

I’ll let you in on a secret: Is isn’t. And I’m not alone in that feeling. The writer of Hebrews also agrees. Listen to what Hebrews 4:10-12 says:

“There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience.”

One interesting thing about this passage is that, when you really dig into it exegetically, the concept of “disobedience” the writer of Hebrews employs here means “unbelief.” Specifically, disobedience in this context is rejecting the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ the Lamb of God by going back to the Mosaic sacrifices of bulls and goats. Disobedience here does not refer to a specific act; it refers to a belief problem, not a conduct problem. The writer of Hebrews is admonishing the Jewish Christian audience here to keep the right belief in Jesus and not be tempted to fall back into believing in the sacrifice of lambs and goats.

This is why Pastor Mike and I stress so often: Holiness comes from rest, not work. And the rest here is resting by faith in Christ’s finished work. Hebrews tells us to “labor to enter into that rest.” There is an effort involved, but it’s not the effort you think. It’s not the effort of doing more work for God. Rather, it’s the effort of holding to faith in God. Burn that into your subconscious mind (more on that in a later chapter). You as a disciple of Christ do not become holy by works. Just like you didn’t become justified by works. In fact, nothing in your Christian life manifests through work, as we will see in subsequent chapters.

In chapter 3 of Hebrews, the writer tells us this:

“Take care, brothers and sisters, that there will not be in any one of you an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God” (Hebrews 3:12).

One day, Pastor Mike and I were discussing this verse. He had done some in-depth word-study on this passage. What he found was enlightening. The Greek phrase translated as, “evil, unbelieving heart” also connotes the idea of “a heart that tends towards labor.” And it makes sense why, doesn’t it? Because a heart that tends towards working for God can’t be a heart that rests in God. Everything we receive from God is by grace through faith. When you really dive deep into the theology of the Book of Hebrews, you will see that for the writer, unbelief is the main culprit, not acts of disobedience. And for the writer, unbelief is closely connected to working.

Perhaps Jesus said it best: “The work of God is this: to believe in Him Whom He has sent” (John 6:29).

During that conversation, the Spirit revealed an important truth to Pastor Mike and me: The more work we do, the less faith we actually have. The more we work, the less we rest. The less we rest, the less holiness we actually manifest. Working so hard to “please God” is a symptom of a lack of faith that God, in Christ Jesus, has already finished His work. Isn’t this what Jesus said on the cross, just before He died? “It is finished.” But when we work to obey God, what we’re really saying to God is: “The sacrifice of Your Son isn’t enough; I need to help Him along. I need to do my part.” (In a later chapter, we’ll see why the Christian life is not really a partnership but a union.)

The Martha Spirit

I’ve been guilty of what I call a “Martha spirit.” The phrase comes from St. Luke’s gospel, where he recounts the story of the dinner gathering that Jesus was invited to by some of His friends—Lazarus, Martha, and Mary:

“38 As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. 39 She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. 40 But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”

41 “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, 42 but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her” (Luke 10:38-42).

That’s the “Martha spirit.” It’s the spirit in us that works ourselves into a frenzy, doing stuff for the Lord. It’s the spirit that always needs to be working and planning and preparing. Another way to put it, it’s the spirit of busyness. That spirit can get a hold of a person and even make that person resentful of others who aren’t doing as much as she is. That’s the spirit of Martha.

Now, Martha wasn’t a bad person. She had good intentions. Jesus wasn’t judging her or scolding her. He merely pointed out to Martha that she was doing too much. Not only was Martha doing too much, she was doing things that the Lord Jesus never intended for her to do. Jesus told her that she really only needed to be doing one thing—the thing Mary was doing. What was that one thing? I believe the answer is found in Matthew 20:28:

“…just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve…”

Pastor Mike likes to ask us the question: Are you ok with allowing Jesus to serve you? Or are you so busy doing things to serve him?

Mary understood this. Instead of doing all the things to prepare for the dinner party—things the Lord didn’t even require or intend—she did something else. St. John tells us that Mary brought her most expensive possession—a vial of perfume called nard—and broke it at Jesus’ feet. Mary anointed Jesus’ feet with the nard, and washed His feet with her hair.

Mary’s act symbolizes rest. She performed an act of worship. She understood who Jesus was, that He wasn’t “just another guest” at a dinner party, but that He was the Messiah would was going to be crucified for her sins in a short time. So, instead of worrying about all the dinner preparations, like Martha, Mary chose to rest in her Lord. She felt no need to “do a bunch of things” for the Lord. Instead, she chose to do one thing: sit at his feet and worship Him.

If we’re honest, we all can easily fall prey to the Martha spirit from time to time. We get so caught up in doing for the Lord, in serving the Lord, that we forget that He came to serve us. It’s not blasphemy. It’s not heresy. It’s the truth of the Word. We can’t give anything to the Lord anyway, truth be told. He owns everything and has all authority and power, right? I love the way Job puts it:

“If you are righteous, what do you give to him, or what does he receive from your hand?” (Job 35:7).

True humility is realizing that we have nothing to offer Jesus. He is Lord. He has everything to offer us. But when you don’t know that, you have a need to “get busy” serving the Lord. But the writer of Hebrews reminds us that the only real labor we need to do is to labor to enter into His rest (Hebrews 4:11).