You likely have heard this prompt before: Here is one simple trick to … . It is what people want to hear. That the fix to their problem is easy and requires low effort. The flesh desires doing something – but not too much. The solution to sin is simple, but not effortless: dying. This does not sound like a simple hack that we want to hear: Be dead to all sin because we cannot be righteous, since we are born into sin and live for it.
Dying is excruciating and ugly. It can take months or even years; sometimes even decades. The quick and self-determined way is murder, but that denies God His authority over us who are made in His image. The Lord allots our life, and this is sacred and not to be violated. Sin is what brings death.
You could say Baptism is a simple thing to do to become Christian. It is, but what it entails is a lifetime of dying to sin and rising with Christ. True life is no trick. Baptism is a holy promise and act of God to engender faith and bring one into Christ, which is a living relationship.
The Bible frequently speaks of the fear of God. This is not something that can be done in any number of steps. No amount of external deeds can guarantee this—it is a product of the Holy Spirit, who humbles and directs us away from our fleshly passions. We need a life lived according to God’s Word to cultivate this fear, which is a part of faith. So no list of commands to “do this …” will suffice. No list of actions will secure the end result.
Faith is ultimately in God Himself, who reveals Himself in Christ, the Crucified One. We don’t manipulate God by what we do—that would be to prioritize sin and our wickedness over the true Lord. Faith is a living trust and reliance in the grace shown by Jesus’ death and resurrection. This is a lifelong struggle. No one has accomplished it—if they are still alive here on earth. Not that I have already obtained [the resurrection from the dead] or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own (Phil. 3).
So while Baptism is easy to perform and faith is simple to explain, neither is painless to live out—sin and Satan make sure of that. It is dangerous to the flesh and never to be taken lightly, as if we have taken care of that already. The cliche-version of Christianity takes sacred doctrines and profound Bible verses and turns them into sound-bites without context or scriptural context. While eternal life is quite straightforward and the Gospel child-like in its frankness, it is no walk in the park to live in this world very long following the Lord who died for us. We do a disservice to make it seem appealing and painless for the flesh.
In fact, we do a great injustice by overemphasizing our own comfort, safety, and plans. The “one simple trick” mentality allows for the sinner to keep a worldly, here-and-now, mindset. But dying changes everything, not just a few minutes a day. The entire life of the Christian is reduced to one thing, dying—putting all things into perspective. All things contrary to God are to be sacrificed to this great goal. We are to live in a renewed mind and heavenly citizenship.
So it is not about fitting Christ into the box of our current life-plans, but being reborn to God in Christ—new to the holy Father. Faith is not a small element of our existence. It is to be for all of it. Fear of God is not an add-on to earthly lives, but a crucial component of godly living, reorienting our entire existence to heaven above.
So a simple proclamation of the saving message changes everything. All that is old and fleshly must die and be separated from your new, righteous man given by the Spirit. For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live(Rom. 8). I think we can all agree that living is not a cheap trick. There is no shortcut to Jesus without being incorporated into His death and sufferings. Baptism is not finished until we are completely holy and with Christ, without any of the filth of our flesh. We must die to the quick-fix and painless antidote addiction.
Salvation is already won—Christ is risen for you. But do not think this will be effortless or automatic for your flesh. The Gospel is simple, but we are not by birth. Therefore, we must have much suffering and tribulation to exercise our faith and win the victory of Christ for ourselves: suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us (Rom. 5).
The flesh wants to take it easy to preserve itself—and not die prematurely. But what is rotten, gangrene, and dead cannot be saved or tolerated. So sin must be crucified. And our loving God allows plenty of crucifixion opportunities in our daily walk. This life-long battle is quite simple and clear-cut from the perspective of eternity. But we are sorely mistaken if we think it will come easy to us as sinners in a wretched world of iniquity.
So, in training children and reminding adults of the battle ahead, we must continually remind them to be on guard and watchful, calling anew to repentance and faith by the Word of God. Let us not be distracted by the seeming simplicity of the Christian faith. We have not ceased dying yet. But we press on through all difficulty and trials—knowing to please the Lord is hateful for the flesh and contrary to this world. Make me to know your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths. (Ps. 25:4). Amen. –ed.
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