My friend Pam Hatt posted a meme on Facebook this morning:

My soul resounded with a deep Yes. 

I have been working through a variety of lies lately, and in conversations with a few trusted friends I have marveled at the deep hold that these lies can have, even when we  know the truth  For example, I know that I stand before Christ clothed in his perfect righteousness–yet part of me believes that I must be perfect, and then despairs that I am never good enough. In order for the truth of God’s Word to set me free, I need to know that I am living as a hostage of the lie that I must strive for perfection–or that perfection is even attainable. 

Without awareness of the lie, the truth is not as compelling to my soul. It is in danger of becoming a platitude rather than a life-giving antidote for one on the brink of death.

So we stop, and we recognize the lie. 

Sometimes the lie is apparent as we wrestle with God. Other times it requires another person’s insight. We ask the trusted friend or counselor, “What do you see that I don’t see? Where am I enslaved? What am I believing that simply isn’t true?”

Seeing the lie is the first step.

And then?

Repentance.

You may remember my last blog post on Isaiah 30, a life-altering passage for me. “In repentance and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and trust shall be your strength.”  The rest is born of repentance. 

Once the Holy Spirit reveals the lie under which I am living, I have two options: cling to the lie in all of its habitual familiarity, or flee from it and toward God. Fleeing involves repenting–in this case, repenting of driving perfectionism and stepping instead into the righteous garments of Christ. Repentance involves admitting that I could never earn this righteousness on my own if given a thousand lifetimes and all the best circumstances. Repentance sees the lie for what it is, and turns to grace instead.

The meme jolts us with a deep truth; looking at the passage in which is is rooted reveals even more:

So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” They answered him, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?”

Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. ” John 8:31-36

It is the Son who sets us free, and this through abiding in the Word, truth itself. When we abide in communion with Truth, revealed perfectly in the person of Chist, lies are exposed.  Even more, we are empowered to break free of our bonds of slavery to sin. The One who reveals the truth also provides the power. 

So, fleeing is possible.

As Augustine put it, posse non peccare.

We are able not to sin. We are not enslaved by sin. We have freedom.

But do you ever get tired in this fight against sin, repenting out of exhaustion, not with firm conviction?

I do.

So, I think that is why the next thought isn’t striving. It is rest. Jesus invites us, the burdened and heavy-laden, to turn toward him. He offers the rest born of his own perfect life, his own redeeming death. He sees us there in our weariness, and he invites us to come to him. 

He takes our guilt. 

He goes a step further: he takes our shame. As Heather Nelson said in her life-giving book Unashamed, “Jesus took the shame of our shame-filled (and shame-fueled) performances and misplaced blame, and bore it in his body and shed blood for us on the cross. He covered not only the guilt of our sin, but also the shame of trying to cover up our sin.” Heather Davis Nelson. “Unashamed.” (p 307 in electronic format)

No more guilt. No more shame.

That is the rest into which we are invited by our Savior.

It makes the work of facing the lies worth it, because we trade our lies for the rest of the redeemed.